The one I love once asked: “Who are you? I am not asking about your job, status, race or nationality, I just ask who you are, deep inside…”
That was deep indeed… His question was an invitation to set out on a journey that would lead to real self-discovery. I needed to find out what this specific kernel on the cob of our human family had to offer to the world, honoring my calling and joy. For this endeavor I had to let go of many (if not all) assumptions of who I was, am and will be. Oh, so there was something else -and more- than NatHalie, the translator / interpreter / professor, strangely called “Caucasian” in official forms, born in Belgium, who lived and worked in Spain and then moved to the States where she got a Master of Arts in Cultural Studies from the University of Mexico?
Well yes, so much more… But to get to this understanding, I needed to be taught how to master the two sides of the same coin, or the many sides of the same word, for example through anagrams, to see things in perspective or from a different angle. I had to learn how to really be SILENT to be able to LISTEN to the calls of my soul. I am not alone in this journey, even though you could call me a loner. Solitude is necessary for some time, to be able to tune in and reCORNect with self. This is why one of the pictures of the slideshow above shows me grinding corn. One day in my soul search I realized that I felt what corn must be feeling when crushed between the mano and the metate (grinding stone). Even though it initially hurt, I knew that the ‘cornmeal of me‘ was to be shattered first, to contemplate all pieces of me and then start reshaping the new me, to “give my broken pieces a chance”, to quote motivational speaker Nick Vujicic, who was born with no arms and no legs but is one of the most incredible catalysts of strength and hope I’ve ever laid eyes and ears on. Like the little figurines I have relearned to shape, cornmeal would receive water, this divine gift, to keep on ‘brainwashing’ me of any remnant preconception, which would result in a smooth clay ready to shape the new me. As explained in the milpa / home of this website, a little balloon that landed in a Mexican cornfield when I was four years old started to show me the way… but it took me a very long time to learn how to listen to my soul, and I am still learning, every day.
What I know, now, is that I have always been well inspired to surrender to the call of the Land, which decided for me in which landS I would end up living. The journey of self-discovery is not over and it will never be. However, even though I sill have a lot to learn, there is one thing I know: our passions never lie. My passions are languages, intercultural endeavors, spirituality, creativity, cultures, history, stories, animals and New Mexico, and my inner voice is telling me daily, slowly, consistently how to use and serve them best in my work and in service to others. So, please, dear visitor, I invite you, as you follow me in the discovery of my universe, to delve into what brings you joy, passion and happiness…
ReCORNectioN 