“Juan de Málaga was dead and I was free. I can say with all certainty that my life began that day. The years that preceded it were merely training for what was to come."-Isabel Allende (Inés of my Soul, 85)
Imagine being part of
the discovery of the New World, but with the allotted benefits of the
communication technology we have at our instant access today. To then leave out
the pain of waiting, of wondering, and the whirlpool of emotions that
accompanies the unknown facts in that usual long space of time.
Looking back at the
previous events in the lives of Pedro and Inés, they both lived through
countless examples of enduring a present time until their ultimate desires or
goals would be accomplished, ever waiting, working, and enduring.
A few days ago I came
across a story about a woman in Mexico who bid her love off to sea,
while promising he would return and she would wait for him until he did so. The
story continues that he never came back, and she waited there on the shores of
San Blas until her death last year, where her specific wishes were that her
ashes would be scattered in the bay of San Blas.
The point is that from the words of Inés, all of her searching to find the truth, and saving her earnings to travel to the New World until she would meet Pedro would have been utterly worthless if our instant communication that we benefit from would have come into play. Besides the fact that world events would be altered, Inés herself said how incredibly important those years were or "training" in helping her understand the kind of life she wanted to have.
From the song dedicated
to this women and her story, because of her example of this determination, I
then began to understand the crucial roles of patient waiting, and experience
were in the lives of these individuals in this novel, especially the mentioned
who risked the future of their existence on a hope.
Whatever that hope may
be, usually different for all of us, causes one to risk for the unknown, inspiring
the rest of humanity. Meaning we can be free if we are willing to risk, and
begin our life anew, a hope of a beginning.
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