Last year I read Tolstoy’s War and Peace. NOT AN EASY READ! Some chapters were not that interesting or easy to follow. There seemed to be 20 different characters with the same name in the same room and Tolstoy would go on and on about all the minor details of a dance. It was confusing and boring here and there. I am not going to lie to you.
But sometimes the book would turn into something nothing short of magical.
There were chapters where the writing was so beautiful, so perfect, so powerful that I literally forgot to breath. The kind of read that forces you to put down the book and go WOOOW… Beautiful to the point of being sickening.
How could someone write so well? And most importantly: HOW COME I COULD NOT? I knew every letter. I new every word. They were there for me to use and write my own master pieace. And yet I would not be able to combine them to create my personal War and Peace kind of writing. Not in a million years.
I have all the ingredients. I am missing the darned recipe.
I envy people who can write. I really do.
One of my students, Jeanne, is a writer. How cool is that! She worked for a long time writing for TV and I am sure she writes a lot of stuff she doesn’t share with the world. One thing I know. She is talented. I would happily read her stories.
Once, Jeanne and I had a great conversation during one of our lessons: If someone were to write a book about your life… would you read it? would anyone want to read it? I am guessing most people would say no. Out of modesty or honesty we tend to believe our lives are not that exciting.
I disagree.
I believe everyone’s life is a book that deserves to be written and read. Some chapters will be a bit boring and confusing to the reader. But I bet you some of them will make me put down the book and go WOOOOW.
I don’t care if you are a peasant from Peru or a President of a country. I know you have a story to tell. And I know because you do with me every week. At least when your Spanish is good enough to carry out your thoughts and memories. Yesterday I worked 12 hours. I went home with a headache and a bunch of good stories. Happens every day. I kid you not. Best part of my job.
Sometimes your stories. Sometimes your friend’s or your paitient’s or grandma’s stories. But I never ever go home empty handed.
Some are tiny stories. Some are big.
Like the day a student told me how he barely made it out of the Word Trade Center the day of the attack in 2001. How he had to crawl under a truck while the whole world was falling apart around him and he thought he was going to die. I had I to put down my pen to listen carefully. Not to miss a word.
And now for the big news…
Since we all have cool stuff to talk about, I decided it is time to do it. And we are going to do it in Spanish. In the next weeks I am going to introduce a new section to my site: THE STUDENT’S BLOG. Students will write posts and their work will be published. Everybody will have a chance no matter your level (AND YES, IF YOU ARE MY STUDENT, I REALLY REALLY EXPECT YOU TO PARTICIPATE). Even if you are not my student you are welcome to write too. So spread the word. I will correct your work and make sure there are no mistakes. You can write about some important moment in your life, about someone you know, about your favorite movie, about a trip, about world events… i don’t care.
I will start talking to all of you to coordinate. This is going to be good for you and for others. It is time to let your Spanish and your stories shine. Let’s do this!
José Antonio Fernández