🌄 English letters 001: It’s about time

From Koh Tao, Thailand

It’s about time.

I have been delaying this for too long.

I have been making promises that I wasn’t fulfilling.

For some time already, every now and then, I have been asked if I was ever going to write in English. That, or I have faced a disappointing interaction when talking with non-Spanish-speaking friends about my writing, and lately about the blog. They would usually ask me: English? only adding to that a weird facial expression, like the looks of smelling something funny but with hopeful eyes. In such moments, I could only reply: Spanish… shrug my shoulders, and make, in return, a similar funny smelling face but with sad puppy eyes.

Today we change that.

It’s about time.

English it is, as well. 

It wasn’t without a reason though, that it has taken me some time to get into this. First off, I wanted to kickstart the blog in Spanish, see how I would work with it, or it with me, see if it would be something that I could enjoy. I do. Much so. Also, as I usually say, Spanish is my tool in this craft of writing, and I’m still trying to polish it, take good care of it, learn how to use it properly. So I was hesitant of grabbing yet a new tool to learn its ways. I thought, because, you know, both tools have a similar purpose, I should learn to perfect one before getting on with the next one. Of course this was a dumb thought. Perfection, in this way, is just fear camouflaged as a subjective high standard. Unattainable until you work your way within. Want to do something? Go do it. That’s a difficult lesson that I am still learning, after waiting too much, thinking too much, hoping too much. And not believing enough. Less life lessons though, back to the topic. I have realised something else while thinking about getting into this: English, although of similar approach to its task, has a different outcome than Spanish. Of course I would like to embrace it fully, soak in it, dive into its complexities (and into its music, the music of a language is something that gets me really excited), as I’m learning to do with my mother tongue, get my own personal perception of the language and use it as freely as painters use their brushes and colours. But it’s never going to be the same. And I don’t mean that out of my proficiency on one or the other language, although at first it will make a big difference (I already miss some of my feathers with these new wings). I mean it because, and watch out for the following mind-boggling sentence, English and Spanish are not the same language. They are not the same, as much as a thick brush and a pencil are not the same, although you might try to use them for a similar purpose. This is an idea that I always fool around with and that I highly enjoy, for the implications that it has on the fluidity of personality and identity (topics that I love): we show different sides of us, we could say we are even different people, when expressing ourselves in different languages. Be it speaking or writing. So I’m actually pretty excited to see what will be the inclination of my writing voice with this new tool. In any case, that is just a side note to the main purpose of these letters that I will be sending. The main purpose of them is the same in English or Spanish: to connect with you. This new tool just brings me the chance to do so with more people that I love.

A disclaimer upfront, though, for the native speakers of this language: forgive me already for the heavy damage and mayhem that I will create, that I must be creating already, within your beautiful language :) . I may be making direct translations from Spanish ways of expression that my head believes are perfect English form. It is, what it is. From lost to the river.

Seaview at sunset in Koh Tao

An informative note,

these letters, although internal to the blog Servilletas de papel, will be part of a different newsletter: English letters. And, as such, you can sign up only for these, or sign up for both the English and Spanish ones. If by singing up you start receiving the Spanish letters and you would like to unsubscribe from those, you can do so by clicking on Unsubscribe in any of the emails, it will redirect you to a site where you can choose what newsletter to be signed up to.

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Music

I usually share some music in my letters in Spanish, and I will not miss the chance to do the same with these ones. I will start with a Spanish song that I have lately been obsessing with (I have been looping through it for half an hour now, while writing this), to make the first bridge between the languages. Es maravillosa.

And, aaand, I will share yet another one, of the same artist; he is a musician from Uruguay that I really love. He mainly writes and sings in Spanish, BUT, most suitably for the occasion, he has a song in English, that I really like. I highly recommend to explore his music, it’s full of gems.

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Ah! I almost forgot to tell you what these letters will be about. They say this is important to promote your writing, right? You have to stick to your field of interest.

Well, I will be writing about whatever I feel like, or fall into, or fly above and through. But, if you want to know a bit of my obsessions and likings, you must know poetry is a big one (we will see if I’ll be brave enough to write some in English; for sure I will share poetry in English that I like); myths, and fairy tales, and lore, is another topic I highly enjoy; and music, and traveling, and nature, and climbing, and motorbikes, roadtrips, philosophy, religion (let’s say metaphysics, so no one gets scared with this one)… Curiosity, in general, everything that sparks it, and anything that makes our eyes brighter and makes our hearts more vibrant.

Somebody said some time ago that the human hunger for understanding is an insatiable instinct. Let’s do justice to that.

Servilletas de papel:

Travel diaries, fables and poetry. And music. Always music. (A friend once asked me: What is it that drives you? I thought: Love. I replied: Mystery). Sending you letters from an open field.

I hope you enjoy them.

Until the next one,

p.

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