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Conversations
With My Mother
by Letizia De Rosa
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Letizia De Rosa's second
book Conversations With My Mother is a philosophical work meant
to inspire and nurture the human soul. |
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Chapter 1: Essence Of Being A Woman WHAT SHOULD A WOMAN To answer this question she positioned herself upright in the chair and with her right hand pushed back her glasses. “To begin with, a woman needs to value herself and be aware that she can not be all things to all people. Today I think that a woman is expected to be more aware; and society, maybe, expects too much. All women, young and old, should remember that they each have their own magical, mystical beauty and female potency. They ought to remember this as they stand proudly on an imaginary pedestal; whether in church, at home, at work or in bed.” She struggled to find
the words to explain, and then added: “I have learnt to appreciate
how each of us, in some way or other, is the Madonna. By that I mean,
a blessing of gentleness, kindness and strength. Each of us has our own
beauty which can not be measured in external beauty, but in resilience.”
WHAT IS THE PEDESTAL AND
ARE THERE ANY TIPS FOR WOMEN WHICH MIGHT HELP THEM STAY ON THIS PEDESTAL? I ventured to ask my mother this question but I knew she would need to have some time to think it over. After a day or so, she came back with her answer, and explained with delight the following: “The pedestal is what you believe is the most beautiful and wholesome part of your essence which inspires you. For some, this could be your beautiful eyes, your intelligence or talents. I think a woman is on the pedestal when she knows this and is happy. When she is happy in her own skin, loves Life, accepts others and lives with a joyous and kind heart. It is not when finding, keeping and holding on to a man is her sole purpose for breathing. That sort of thinking is what has stopped generations of women from getting on to the pedestal in the fi rst place, and made us slip off many a time. Funny how we can be as women … I think I was off the pedestal more than on it!” She then laughed cheekily and, pointing in my father’s direction, continued to laugh. © Letizia De Rosa. Chapter 5: The TruthIt had been a sun-blessed day in June with a clear blue sky typical of this time of year, and a faint cool breeze, crisper than usual, leaving no doubt that winter had come to refresh us in the Tropics. We had just come back from church, and I thought that this would be an excellent time to ask my mother how she felt about God and religion. Over the years, we had discussed various issues about religion. Mostly we had discussed whether to go to Mass on Sundays, and whether to eat meat on Fridays. The real issues we had still to discuss. I hoped that in this conversation, we should. HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT GOD EXISTS? “I do not know by world standards with proof and scientific equations. God is bigger than any of our equations. For believers, God is a Presence which needs no books, a science which needs no proving. There are some things in life that are not visible and tangible, like love and hate. There are things which we can not see, but they exist and leave their mark in other visible ways.” Mother added: “There are some things which make me believe that there is a God. There is a certain sort of rhythm, a pattern, a puzzle where all the pieces fit together naturally. As a simple example, just look around you, there is mathematics in everything – science, music, art, poetry and even the composition of a little leaf. Everything seems to fit. The other is when I look into the eyes of someone I love deeply, especially a child. There is no feeling more divine or more complete. These moments reveal glimpses of God on earth for me.” WHY DO MOST OF US “Today there is not enough time, too much money, much less love, no quiet time and bucket loads of ego. Letizia, these things get in the way of experiencing any special moments. We have been blinded by too much television. We have become distracted by endless gadgets. We have become cluttered with too much junk … and sluggish with too much junk food. And worse, much worse, there is a growing indifference to others. Indifference immobilizes our senses and stops us from experiencing other things. Our children learn from our values. Have you noticed how they are becoming less used to talking and being with others? We spend less time rocking and singing little ones to sleep instead, we put more energy in making them grow up. We offer presents instead of offering – time and the opportunities to learn how to be with others. It seems that fewer and fewer people sit together as a family to eat, and share around a table, where conversation can begin to happen. Instead, we are creating a disconnected world, a dispassionate world where violence and anger and crime creates emotion. In turn, this justifies the way we live and why we should be detached from one another. How can we feel God when we can not feel goodness?” © Letizia De Rosa. |
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