Connections

This is Isabel Allende's web site. Click on the picture to learn more about her. 

“Women want to be valued,” the woman at the podium, said. “They want peace and connections.” I think she is right. In fact, I was listening to this woman speak because I wanted a connection with her world, her voice, her talent. The woman at the podium was Isabel Allende, an author who’s work I’ve admired for many years now. When my niece asked if I wanted to go to this lecture with her, I immediately answered “YES.” I knew that Allende was passionate about human rights, in particular women’s rights, and I wanted to hear what she had to say about global connections among women.

Allende delivered a message that was not only compelling, but funny as well. She started her speech by warning us that she thinks in circles. “I have no capacity for linear thinking,” she said. We all laughed. “I have been a mother for too long,” she admitted, as if that explained everything. And it did. I wanted to give her a standing ovation right at that moment, for I too cannot think in a straight line. Walk in a straight line, yes. But complete a thought from point A to point B without stopping by C, making a U-turn to A, then meandering over to D? I can’t do it. So when Allende told us to be patient, that she would get to her point eventually, I could wait. I could even enjoy the journey.

The room was full of people, young college students, older scholarly types, and middle-aged people like myself. Though outside was downright frigid—my niece shivered all the way from the parking lot to the Student Union Center—inside felt cozy. On a cold night, why did we come to hear this woman from Chile, who lived in Venezuela for some time, then made America her home, yet claims to be rooted to no land? Allende explained it to us. Like women all over the world, we want connections. We want to gather, to hear each other’s stories. We want to share. That’s why we came. Isn’t that why there are so many female bloggers? Isn’t that why there are so many female blog readers? I read to hear someone else’s story in hopes that it will inform my own life. I want to know that someone else has experienced what I’ve experienced, or thought about what I think about. I want to feel part of something bigger. I want to feel like my life has meaning beyond these walls, and beyond this mind.

So that’s why when Allende said, “It’s time to admit we [women] are sentimental creatures,” I could nod my head in agreement. I am not one to decorate my house with knick-knacks or make elaborate scrapbooks detailing every moment of our lives, but give me a box of my kids’ pictures and within minutes you’ll find me sitting at the kitchen table blubbering like a drunk. I keep words too, letters and cards that have touched me in some way. And I write my memories, offering them on my blog like a child brings home a handful of dandelions for his mother. If my kids ever manage to burn down the house, I will rescue them first, then the cat. And then I will grab this computer, which holds hundreds of pictures and millions of words. Because words and pictures are my connections--to myself and to my family. And to you.

Comments

[Alicia Fish]

Susan, you inspire me. You say so poignantly and beautifully and comically what I feel and have never been able to put into words. It is inspiring to be able to connect with people I wouldn't otherwise know.

Thanks for always sharing your thoughts and memories, your words and pictures.