I want to start by saying that admiration is dangerous. There are a million good arguments with which I could explain that, but I can only evoke that thought every time I see a sweater inherited by my sister, many years ago. In fact, it's quite curious because it brings up a flood of emotions and memories that become contradictory. It doesn't happen to me often, but enough to make me feel sorry for myself, although it's not my case; seeing the past fills me with strength
Every time I look at the sweater, I go to a place where my sister is a teenager, exhaling excitement from every pore of her skin, excited for all that life can bring her... I loved watching her from a distance, silently, hoping one day to be like her: excelling in everything she does, having lots of friends and being someone with an excellent relationship with her parents. The sweater is really nothing special, it's just white, with a little face of Daisy from the Mickey Mouse show in the middle (it may look childish, but it was all the rage ten years ago) and she didn't give it to me for any specific reason. It still holds a lot of meaning for me.
Days after my sister bought it, my parents decided we could have a little vacation in Colonia Tovar. It was one of the nicest trips we took at the time, but there was one specific day that we did more activities than usual. My dad took us horseback riding, we were racing mini race cars, we ate at a restaurant and we finished by taking a tour through the mountains enjoying an incredible view. Everywhere we went, my sister was the most confident, brave and optimistic person, accompanied by a smile that shone like the sun, always doing everything wisely, but with geniality at the same time. Just that day, my sister was wearing the sweater.
Todos esos datos quedaron guardados en mi cerebro, prevaleciendo las inmensas ganas por yo también usarlo algún día. Por supuesto, llegó mi momento cinco años después, y aunque no recuerdo cómo fue la forma en que mi hermana me lo entregó, no podría olvidar cómo ambas volvimos a hacer el viaje a la Colonia Tovar. Esta vez, yo era la adolescente y el jersey iba conmigo, pero…todo lo demás era absolutamente diferente, lo que es obvio, pero también es el tipo de cosas que te hacen pensar en las vueltas que da la vida.
All those facts were stored in my brain, prevailing the immense desire to wear it someday. Of course, my moment came five years later, and although I don't remember how my sister handed it to me, I couldn't forget how we both made the trip to Colonia Tovar again. This time, I was the teenager and the sweater went with me, but...everything else was absolutely different, which is obvious, but it's also the kind of thing that makes you think about the turns life takes.
En primer lugar, el viaje de esa ocasión lo hicimos con mis tíos, porque ya para ese entonces mi familia no viajaba junta; mis padres habían decidido separarse. También estaba el hecho de que el pueblito ya no era el mismo, a un nivel de infraestructura sí, pero el aire que se respiraba estaba un poco decaído; la economía de Venezuela había cambiado bastante en siete años. Y por último, yo no era la chica extrovertida, vibrante y segura que había deseado ser tiempo atrás, meses antes ya había notado que no quería ser igual que mi hermana; amaba como era ella, pero es imposible ser como alguien más… y eso está muy bien. Cuando usé el jersey en una ocasión del viaje, hasta llegué a sentir que me quedaba mal. Pensarlo en este momento me causa gracia, junto con un poco de nostalgia. Es impresionante como nos imaginamos mil escenario de lo que podría pasarnos, y al final termina sucediendo todo lo contrario.
First of all, the trip that time we took was with my aunt and uncle, because by then my family wasn't traveling together; my parents had decided to separate. There was also the fact that the town was no longer the same, at an infrastructure level yes, but the air was a bit decayed; Venezuela's economy had changed a lot in seven years. And lastly, I was not the outgoing, vibrant and confident girl I had wanted to be some time ago, months before I had already noticed that I didn't want to be just like my sister; I loved the way she was, but it is impossible to be like someone else... and that's fine. When I wore the sweater on one occasion on the trip, I even felt it was a bad fit. Thinking about it right now makes me laugh, along with a bit of nostalgia. It's amazing how we imagine a thousand scenarios of what could happen to us, and in the end the opposite ends up happening
Es ahí cuando la admiración puede tornarse peligrosa, y no estoy diciendo esto porque sea algo malo, de hecho, es uno de los sentimientos más hermosos, ya que siempre he creído, que es necesario buscar un poco de admiración en cada persona para poder amarla. El problema recae en todo lo que le sumamos a la admiración sin ninguna razón, como la expectativa. Nos hace esperar cosas de donde no las hay y suele ser recriminatoria si no consigue su objetivo.
That is when admiration can become dangerous, and I am not saying this because it is something bad, in fact, it is one of the most beautiful feelings, since I have always believed that it is necessary to look for a little admiration in each person to be able to love them. The problem lies in everything we add to admiration without any reason, such as expectation. It makes us expect things where there are none and it is usually recriminatory if it does not achieve its objective.
La gran cuestión se encuentra, en que ver el jersey, me hace echar un vistazo al pasado donde las expectativas me acribillaban por no haberse cumplido. ¿Por qué tenemos que confundirlo todo? ¿Por qué nadie se empeña en dar una educación que sea emocional? ¿Eso no nos quitaría por lo menos un poco de sufrimiento?
The big question is that seeing the sweater makes me take a look at the past, where expectations riddled me for not having been fulfilled. Why do we have to confuse everything? Why does nobody insist on providing an education that is emotional? Wouldn't that take away at least a little bit of suffering?
Puede que sí, como también puede que no. Sea como sea, siempre va a ser necesario que sucedan este tipo cosas, para crecer y hacer de nosotros una mejor versión.
Maybe it would, but maybe it would not. Be that as it may, it will always be necessary for these kinds of things to happen, in order to grow and make us a better version of ourselves.
¡Gracias por leerme y hasta la próxima!
Thanks for reading and see you next time!