Tag Archives: bulletin

Unknown's avatar

End of summer – Fine estate

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The oleander did not survive the passing of time.

I need to find a plants’ cemetery

to bury it along with evaluation mistakes.

The earth in Autumn broods

reflections and transformation.

Take time to think

so as to grow:

to adjust more than change

to consolidate what is real and important

to trim down what is superfluous

to eliminate what is damaging.

At the end of summer

the smell of wind and the tone of light

transform and take on

shades of underwood:

I absorb their warmth

along with incense smoke.

A foot to travel

and a foot to stay.

***

L’oleandro non è sopravvissuto al passare del tempo.

Devo trovare un cimitero delle piante

dove seppellirlo insieme agli errori di valutazione.

La terra in autunno cova

riflessioni e trasformazione.

Pensare per crescere:

aggiustare più che cambiare,

consolidare il vero e l’importante,

sfrondare ciò che è superfluo,

eliminare ciò che è dannoso.

A fine estate

l’odore del vento e il tono della luce

si trasformano e si caricano

di sfumature di sottobosco:

Ne assorbo il tepore

e il fumo dell’incenso.

Un piede per partire

e un piede per restare.

Unknown's avatar

Learning to read

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I have been studying Dari for a year now and I finally reached a functional level that allows me to ask to change the dynamo of the generator, check with the plumber that the sewage finally works properly and converse with taxi drivers – mostly about God and religion, conversations that – beyond the language barrier, often leave me with questions that I am not capable to answer.

I have learnt the alphabet since the very beginning, but it has only need a week since I started reading out loud.

It made me feel like a little girl again and Sister Fidalma came to mind – she was the incredibly old nun who gave me reading tuitions when I was in school. When I was little, it took me a very long time before I learnt to read properly. My first oculist got my prescriptions wrong and, despite huge baby-pink specs, I could hardly see anything and the letters on the page would hopelessly blur.

It is funny to think now that my first active relationship with books was one of effort and frustration and it makes me happy to look back and see how much things have changed.

Learning to read as an adult is turning into a funding moment in my personal development. It is a humbling experience where I have to look at myself and my limits without filters or excuses: there is no bluff and there is no hiding. Reading out loud a syllable after the other is embarrassing – I have the impression to blush every time I finish reading a word; making banal mistakes is frustrating, but reaching the end of a sentence – exhausted after barely five words – is a priceless and unforgettable pleasure.

Sayed, my fantastic teacher, has found the right balance with me: he pulls my leg and encourages me at the same time, he helps me laugh at my efforts and not to take myself too seriously.

There is so much that we take as a given, we hardly question our abilities and all those things we believe we are entitled to.

Starting from scratch again is reminding me of the importance of humility, of the satisfaction of small steps, and of the genuine joy of simple achievements.