Thursday, March 7, 2013

Dzień, który zmienił moje życie.

      Właśnie się szykowałam na harcerską wigilię, pierwszą w moim krótkim życiu. Namówiła mnie do tego przyjaciółka mimo, iż nie należę do największych fanów tego typu wydarzeń, nawet w moim własnym domu. Cała ta tradycja składania wszystkim życzeń, łamania się opłatkiem, tak jak Jezus dzielił się chlebem ze swoimi apostołami; po prostu wydaje mi się to sztuczne i odrobinę stresujące. W mojej głowie w takich chwilach zawsze kłębi się jedna myśl:"Czego do diaska powinnam życzyć tej osobie? Szczęścia, zdrowia, i czego jeszcze? I tak ta osoba słyszała to już milion razy, więc dlaczego MOJE życzenia miałyby zrobić jakąkolwiek różnicę?"

     Założyłam mój mundur harcerski, będąc z niego bardzo dumna, jako że zarobiłam na niego własną pracą i oddaniem. To całe harcerstwo wydawało się być dla mnie bardzo ważne, chociaż miałam już wtedy dwanaście czy trzynaście lat. Na miejscu całej tej harcerskiej wigilii, którą przygotowaliśmy, było więcej drużyn niż tylko ta, do której należałyśmy z moją przyjaciółką. Jak to zazwyczaj bywa, rozpoczęliśmy wszystko harcerskim powitaniem i zaśpiewaliśmy piosenkę jednym głosem. Po tym nadeszła pora na najbardziej znienawidzoną przeze mnie część- życzenia.

     Każdej osobie, którą znałam, złożyłam życzenia świąteczne, podzieliłam się opłatkiem, i usiadłam po turecku na kocu leżącym na podłodze, czekając, aż wszyscy zakończą ten niedorzeczny zwyczaj, aby w końcu przejść do dalszej części tej wigilii. Siedziałam tam, śpiewając po raz drugi w głowie "Płonie ognisko", myśląc z całej siły, że jestem niewidzialna. Kilka sekund później ktoś udowodnił mi, że nie mam racji- wcale nie byłam niewidzialna.
     
 - Cześć, jak się masz? Mogę przeszkodzić?- usłyszałam. Podniosłam wzrok, aby upewnić się, że słowa były skierowane do mnie. Nie skłamię mówiąc, że to, co ujrzały moje oczy, odebrało mi dech w piersiach. Ponad wszystko, widziałam tylko te wielkie, piękne, ciemnobrązowe oczyska, które mocno się we mnie wpatrywały.

- M... Mnie masz na myśli?- odjąknęłam. 

- Tak głuptasie, Ciebie!- zaśmiał się. I kiedy się śmiał przez ten ułamek sekundy, przyjrzałam się mu uważniej. Był mniej więcej w moim wieku. Miał krótkie blond loczki, które mi nieco przypominały Kupidyna; szeroki uśmiech i, niech go szlag!, to głębokie spojrzenie jego ciemnych oczu, które każdą powaliłoby na kolana. Dobrze, że siedziałam na podłodze.

- Czego ode mnie chcesz?- w końcu się go spytałam. 

- Po prostu zauważyłem, że siedzisz tu całkiem sama i uświadomiłem sobie, że jeszcze nie składałem Ci życzeń. Wesołych Świąt! Baw się dobrze.- uśmiechnął się zadziornie.- Mam nadzieję, że jeszcze będziemy mieli szansę dzisiaj pogadać!  

      Jakbym dostała obuchem w głowę! Nie mogłam uwierzyć, że ktoś taki, jak on, do mnie podszedł i powiedział to, co powiedział. A ten głupkowaty uśmiech na jego twarzy- nigdy go nie zapomniałam. 

- N...No tak. Tobie też życzę W...Wesołych Świąt. T...Trzymaj się.- wyjąkałam. On wyprostował się i, wciąż uśmiechając się do mnie w ten głupkowaty sposób, poszedł dalej. 

       "Świetnie! Po prostu cudownie! Pewnie pomyślał, że jestem opóźniona i dlatego sobie poszedł... Głupia, głupia, głupia", zwymyślałam samą siebie za to, że nie rozmawiałam z nim, jak na człowieka przystało. Pozbierałam się do kupy i podeszłam do przyjaciółki, z którą na tą całą maskaradę. Musiałam się dowiedzieć kim on jest. Jedyne co usłyszałam to fakt, że jest w naszym wieku, chodzi do innej szkoły i ma dziewczynę. Jakie zdziwienie. Szczerze, przez jedną krótką chwilę będąc tam, myślałam, że jest wolny, i że ten dzień, ta chwila, będzie początkiem mojej wielkiej historii miłosnej...

      Nie rozmawialiśmy już ze sobą tamtego wieczora. I nie rozmawialiśmy ze sobą przez bardzo długi czas od tamtego momentu. Widywałam go w pobliżu, mijałam nie raz na ulicy,ale nigdy się nie odezwałam, mając cichą nadzieję za każdym razem, że mnie zauważy, że odezwie się do mnie. Niestety, wydawało się, że mnie nie poznaje. Byłam zmuszona podziwiać go zza kulis, prowadzącego życie z dala od mojej własnej egzystencji. Dokładnie tak, jakbym obserwowała postać w sztuce, wyobrażając sobie i marząc, że jestem tam, na tej scenie, razem z nim. 

      Nigdy nie spodziewałam się, co ten jeden, niesamowity dzień ma zamiar przynieść mi w przyszłości...



The Day That Changed My Life

      I was just getting ready for my first Christmas Eve with my Scouts' Team. My friend talked me into this, although I never was big of a fan of social meetings like this, even in my own house. The whole tradition of wishing everybody Marry Christmas and sharing the wafer, like Jesus shared the bread with his apostles; it just seems phony to me and a bit stressful. Inside my head there is always this question "what the hell should I wish this person? To be happy, healthy, and what? He or she have heard this million times, so why MY wishes should make any difference?".

     I wore my Scout's uniform, being proud of it, earning it with my work and devotion to the cause. It seemed quite important to me, this scout thing, even though I was already 12 or 13 years old. At the place of this Christmas Eve dinner we had prepared, there was more than only my team, there were two others from my town. As a custom says, we all started with a song and scouts' "hello", and after that we came to my most hated part- the wishes.

     I wished everybody, whom I knew, a Merry Christmas, shared the wafer, and sat down on the blanket, that was on the floor, waiting for everybody to be done with that ridiculous business. I was sitting there, singing inside my head "The fire's burning'" for the second time, thinking I'm invisible. After few seconds, someone proved me I was wrong- I was not invisible at all.

     "Hey, how are you? Are you busy?", I heard. I looked up to make sure it was addressed to me, not to someone else. I can honestly say that what I saw took my breath away. Above all his being, I saw only those big beautiful dark brown eyes, which stared at me strongly. "Y--you mean me?", I muttered. "Yes silly, you!", he laughed. And as he was laughing for that brief moment, I looked at him more carefully. He was approximately my age, with blonde short curly hair, which reminded me a little bit of a figure of Cupid, wide charming smile, and, damn him!, this deep look in his brown eyes that could sweep anybody off their feet.

      "What do you want?", I finally asked him. "I just saw you sitting here all alone, and noticed I haven't wished you Merry Christmas! So Marry Christmas and have fun tonight!", he smirked,"I hope we'll have a chance to talk for a while". I was stunned! I could not believe that such a handsome guy would ever come up to me and say that. And this goofy grin on his face- I would never forget it. "W--well yeah, Merry Christmas to you, too. Take c--care", I stuttered out. He got up on his feet, still widely smiling at me, and walked away.

    "Great! Just great! He must have thought I'm retarded and that's why he walked away... Stupid, stupid, stupid", I was nagging myself for being unable to speak to him like a normal person. I got myself back together and walked up to my friend I came with to this whole event. I just had to ask who this boy was. All I heard was that he was our age, and went to a different school, and had a girlfriend. What a shocker. I sincerely thought there, for a while, that he is available, and that maybe it could be beginning of my big love story...

    We had not spoken again that night. And we had not spoken for a long long time since our first meeting. I was seeing him around, passing him on the street, but never spoken to him, hoping each time, that he notices me and speaks to me. Unfortunately, he seemed not to recognize me at all. I was cursed to admire him from the backstage, to see him having a life far away from my own being, just like watching a character in a play and imagining I am on the stage with him. I never could have suspected what that one hell of a day was to bring me in the future...

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Prologue

Have you ever wondered how other people's life might be? How it is possible for them to cope with their problems and lead such amazing lives full of joy and happiness?  Or maybe you feel that no one really knows you? William Shakespeare once wrote:
All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players:
They have their exits and their entrances;
And one man in his time plays many parts,

He was right. With this new modern world, which is still so unknown and exotic to us, we still are actors in it. We all have our roles to play out. What is the most disturbing for me, is that we lose ourselves in this theater of life. Every single time we close the door of our homes behind us we instantly put on masks that are supposed to hide everything that makes us who we really are. We are the ones who establish the way people see us. And sadly after some time of taking a role of a perfect someone, we start to not recognize ourselves in the mirror.

I bet many of you had this feeling that their passions, dreams, and ideas have vanished into thin air, that you do not recognize yourselves anymore. Well, my friends, I am in that state right now for the second time.
Ever since I was 10 I dreamed of being an English teacher. I knew where I was heading with my life. I had a great loving boyfriend, I finished high school with good grades, got to the college I wanted. What could possibly go wrong with that, right?
What I did not tell you, was that I loved two guys at the same time. You know that story? Most of you probably went through similar situation, too. Unfortunately, in my case, I truly believed that I need to see my ex whom I thought I loved more, and this is how I destroyed something that haunts me till this very day. I cheated on a man I love and I will never forgive myself for what I've done to him.

Soon after that I wanted to move in to a dorm. There was a national holiday in Poland, which was in the middle of the week- a perfect time to move in, and get to know the city when I'm in there. I asked my brother, who always claimed that he would help me every time I needed him, to help me move in. You know what I heard from him? "Radź sobie sama", which in loose translation means: fend for yourself. The only person I counted on told me I should do it on my own, not knowing the city I was moving into, without any driving license, with three huge and heavy bags full of sheets, clothes, pots, and dishes. All of that, because his wife arranged a meeting, 20 minutes before my call, with their friends, they were supposed to watch a movie on DVD. A meeting that could be postponed to any other day. She asked me if I could not sleep without any bedclothes for three days. I got mad and said that whenever they needed me to look after their daughter, I was there for them. I quit classes, some exams,  cancelled all my meetings with friends, just to help them and to see my niece. I wanted them to feel bad, and to show them they could count on me, because I genuinely loved them. And the conversation ended. As well as time I was given to spend with my goddaughter. Ever since that situation I was never asked again to babysit, even when they needed it badly, she preferred to call a friend rather than me.

Those two things that happened to me in a short amount of time, destroyed me. Two people I loved most, my boyfriend and niece, where no longer there at the reach of my hand. There is this funny saying in Poland: "Polak mądry po szkodzie". It means that Poles are always smart after a loss. Sad but true. After losing those people, including my brother, I realized how much I loved them, and how much I need them in my life.

Everything that counted, the college, becoming a teacher, was of no importance to me anymore. I struggled everyday to attend classes, to wake up and do anything. Soon, I caught up in one-night-stands with total strangers. I do not remember most of the nights from my first year of studies. It seemed so fun, and so cool, not to bother with live. But every morning I woke up hangover or still drunk, I felt terrible. I was loosing myself. I did not know what to do. Funny thing is, that everybody at the college, and all my friends never saw me shed a tear. I was all smiley to them, laughed at everything and told funny jokes. The truth was, every time I got back to the dorm, I laid on bed and wept to the pillow like a small child. All the time I was making myself to study, to continue this, just for my parents who paid for all of that. If it weren't for them I would not graduate.

During those three years I met many interesting people, made some friends, and got back to the old ones. Now I have three closest friends, who make my day and to whom I can count on. They are there for me, when I have a problem, and tell me everything they think I do wrong.

Unfortunately, I was playing the happy me for everyone for too long, and I am lost again. I have no passion, no love, no job, and not even a clue who I really am. My friends are trying to help me as much as they can in that matter, but this is the part I must figure out on my own.

If you are interested in reading more about my struggles with myself, wait for another post. If not, well, I figure you won't come back here for more.
Over.