Pensamientos sinceros, s/f
– What is your superpower, Nana?
It is a question that my grandson Tomás asks me frequently.
I always answer him that my superpower is imagination, and in my desire to have “intellectual” conversations with him at his seven years old, I quote Albert Einstein “Logic will take you from A to B, but imagination will take you everywhere.”
He looks at me skeptically, but something will remain.
This anecdote would end up here if it weren’t for the fact that the doorbell at my house rang. My handyman who came to do some repairs showed up with a gift for me, dates and walnut cookies, plus wild blackberry jam, all made by him.
I thanked him very much for such a kind gesture and when he finished his work, I sat down to taste the Mamool, (that’s what he told me the biscuits were called) with a cup of coffee.
I don’t know if it was the flavour of kindness, the conversation about superpowers, or Atril’s milestone 150th edition, that triggered a sweet reflection in me.
Simply, I believe that there is nothing more valuable in life than giving something of yourself.
Since I am not good in the kitchen, I give away knitted dolls, “bad” watercolors, and why not? What us writers and readers give each other every week: Atril.
Lines born from the fascinating practice of paying attention, fishing for a moment of delight, finding a rare stone in that treasure box buried in the depths of the psyche.
I am grateful to be part of this “super-powerful” Atril team that offers me the possibility to dream and offer a piece of myself every week, plus a delicious Sunday coffee with the best company.
When Tomás asks me again what my superpower is, I’m going to change my answer to a simpler one, but no less “intellectual.”
- My superpower is “chasing the air with a butterfly net,” as James Barrie, author of Peter Pan, said.
He will offer me the best of gifts, his skeptical smile, and a hug, perhaps…
Congratulations Atril!
Leonor Henríquez (Caracas, Venezuela) Civil Engineer by training (UCAB 1985), writer and apprentice poet by vocation. From her time in engineering emerged her Office Stories (1997), another way of seeing the corporate world. Her latest publications include reflections on grief, Hopecrumbs (2020) (www.hopecrumbs.com) and “The Adventures of Chispita” (2021) (www.chispita.ca) an allegory of life inside Mom’s belly.
Today she shares her “impulsive meditations” from Calgary, Canada, where she lives.
leonorcanada@gmail.com