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Saturday, October 16, 2010

Contending for Contentment

Today's blog will begin abit differently than how I normally start my blogs. I am beginning this blog with a spanish lesson and will then be tying it into the theme of the blog. In spanish there is something that students have to look for called "falso amigos" (false friends). These are words that look very similar to english or may look exactly like an english word but mean something totally different.

The example I'm going to use to demonstrate this is with the word contento/contenta. Our first impression when looking at this word is that it is similar to the english word "content". Yes and no. To be "content" in english means to be satisfied or to have satisfaction. But the word contento or contenta in spanish has an almost similar meaning but not quite the same as what we are thinking when we look at the word "content". Contento/contenta in spanish means to be pleased or if in a verb form you can use to say that you want to please someone. If you say "voy a contentarte" it means "I'm going to please you". Saying "Estoy contento/contenta" means "I am pleased". So the meanings is very close to the english for content and it almost could means satisfaction. But if you are intending to let people know that you are content with something, then it might be better to use the adjective satisfecho/satisfecha instead.

But the are a few rare and beautiful moments in life where either word in both english or spanish can easily be used to describe our circumstances. In the case between me and my best friend Marisa, I would say that both the meanings in english and spanish for "content" in being "pleased" or "satisfied" would be a great description of how things are going. Before I go on and write about what is going on, I would like you all to know that I am writing this blog based on your stats. Right now my stats are showing that all the blogs I am writing on my friendship with her are ranking quite highly and it appears to me that my audience is following the story of my friendship with her the way you are following a story on television. So I am writing in response to you all out there because updates on my relationship with her seems to be both popular and pleasing to my fans and readers.

On thursday nite, I found myself at Centro again where she goes once a week to do her cell group on the basics of Christianity. There is so much going on and it's hard to get a chance to chat with her for more than a few minutes. But I was able to sneak in a few precious moments with her and in that short time, I was able to give her a small gift that I brought from North America as well as really get a sense of her energy and how she was feeling. I gave her a small make up bag with some words on it and I wrote on a piece of paper the translation of the words. Before I write down what the words say, I want to thank my friend Elizabeth for giving me the translation of these words. Without a proper translation, the moment wouldn't have been as beautiful as it was.
Be you: Se vos misma
Be beautiful: Se hermosa
Be Free: Se libre
Be young: Se joven
Be Loved: Se amada
Be fun: Se divertida
The moment that she read the translation of the words, she was obviously touched. Then we briefly chatted some more and talked about maybe spending time together and then parted ways. But in that brief interaction with her, I was able to get a sense of her energy and I felt something that I have never felt before in our relationship. It was a level of peace and contentment and a sense that someone is extremely pleased.

In spanish, if you want to make an emphasis on something, you can add "isimo" at the end. For example, if you want to tell someone that something isn't just easy but it's SUPER easy, you take the word "facil" add "isimo" to it so it becomes "facilisimo". It's like saying "easy peasy". If something is expensive (caro) but you want to tell them that it is super expensive, you would say "carisimo" to say that it is outrageously expensive. And in describing how I feel right now in this friendship, I would have to say that the word "contentisimo" fits perfectly.....pleased beyond words.

I just want explain what I mean when I say that this is the first time I've ever felt like this. When your body is starving, the moment you come across a source of food you will jump on it and your only focus will be to ease those hunger pangs inside of you. That is how season one of our relationship was. I really felt like in her emotional well there was something lacking. There was some kind of connection she feels when she is with me that she wasn't getting in her daily life. So what would happen last season is that the moment I walked into the room, I felt like all her attention and focus was on me. She would zero in on me the moment my presence was in the building and I felt like she was also trying to bond or create a connection to fill whatever was lacking from her daily life.

But I don't feel that desperation coming from her anymore, instead there was just a sense of security. I care about her deeply and the friendship is at a stage where basically anything she wants from me at any given moment she knows that I would give it to her. If she is feeling some kind of lack and she wants attention, all she has to do is ask it of me and she knows I would do what it takes to make sure that she is constantly feeling happy and satisfied and pleased. She doesn't need to be constantly trying to do things to gain a connection with me. She may not dance tango but I can tell you that our friendship like being part of the ultimate tango dance that is just chock full of connection.

Let me explain it another way, if you had a fridge that you knew was only filled with food once a week, you would jump the moment that you knew it was there and it had food because you knew this was your only chance this week. The rest of the time it is empty and there is nothing to ease your hunger pangs. But if you knew that the fridge had food all the time and it was there for your taking, your relationship and behavior towards the food in the fridge would be very different. You would be approaching it at a more relaxed pace with less desperation. That analogy is the only way I can describe the difference between our relationship in season 1 and here in season 2. And it feels great to know that we are obviously doing something right for there to be such a level of happiness and contentment in the air. Stay tuned as our "tango dance" continues and we keep contending for contentment.....

Spare Rooms BA

Amorous Alpacas

Amorous Alpacas