Underneath 

 

Ever since my school newspaper published a short essay on children’s rights that I wrote when I was in third grade, I understood that writing would play a key role in me finding my voice. Like acting, writing was something that felt natural to me. Indispensable as breathing. I remember myself always writing. I wrote poems about love, about pain and about love and pain as interchangeable concepts. I wrote essays for my philosophy class in high school. I wrote on my diary. In fact, the first time (out of many) that I abandoned the dream of becoming an actress, I decided that I wanted to write for a living.

 

If I went to law school, it wasn’t, initially, to become a lawyer. None of that. My strategy was to educate myself, so I could write “with knowledge” about the topics I was interested in. I wanted to write about social and political issues. I wanted to write about justice and inequality. I wanted to write about the armed conflict, human rights, corruption and drug trafficking. In brief, I wanted to write about the only reality I knew, having been born and raised in Colombia. A reality that is to some Colombians a living hell and to some others simply a horrendous spectacle that can be observed from far without feeling touched by it or perhaps because they are benefiting from it. Law school and other postgraduate programs that I eventually completed gave me the opportunity to write about all those things. I felt always passionately drawn to them.

 

But I never became a writer. Sometimes we make decisions that take us to very rewarding destinations, but at the same time far away from the plans we once made. I learned long time ago, however, that opportunities just don’t show up. We have to create them. Underneath the Surface is precisely that. An opportunity I am opening to meet with an old dream of mine. An opportunity to connect with my voice and share it.

 

This project will sometimes entail a serious process of introspection, which is almost always a difficult process. It is human nature to try to feel comfortable with ourselves and with who we are. There is enough criticism and judgment coming on us from the outside world, and sometimes it feels like we don’t need to find in ourselves another enemy. But I think it is important to accept the challenge, if we want to grow. The world around us is always changing, and we should be open to the possibility that our opinions, ideas and beliefs may need reshaping, refinement or even a radical shift.

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I am up for the challenge and I hope this space will encourage you to initiate your own process, and allow yourself to confirm your views of the world, or to change your mind if you don't like it.

 

lucia@underneaththesurface.ca