This I Believe

At the start of my junior year, my A.P. Language teacher gave us a writing assignment, to develop an essay on something you believe in. The project itself was based on the online organization, This I Believe, an international organization engaging people in writing and sharing essays describing the core values that guide their daily lives. This assignment in particular is an example of the type of work I find so much joy in creating. I'm entering my senior year now, and I was going through some of my past English assignments that I held dearest to me. This happens to be one of them. I hope you understand what I mean as you read.

I focused on the effect bonds with other people has on the human psyche, the importance of it in one's development, and the way it connects us all.

This I Believe

I believe in bonds. I believe in the comfort embedded in eavesdropping, listening for a connection, and the reward of a faint smile. I believe in the unconscious twiddling of your lover’s thumbs. I believe in my mother softly smiling after an argument with my father, simply because afterwards he played her favorite song.

It was a fall evening, I slurped the broth of my dinner with my head facing the table, I could tell my sister was the same. My parents were in a quarrel, nothing new, fighting pettily like children, going back and forth between each new insult laced in condescending sarcasm. Once my father had gone too far, my mother stood from the table and began frantically washing each dish while my dad began making jokes in vain, to ease her temperament. He was obviously sorry, but sorry isn’t in his vocabulary. It was painful to watch him implicitly beg for forgiveness while my mom ignored it altogether. “Fantastic job”, I say, my words glaring at him. Without responding he connects our speaker to his phone, and presses play. As I walk away to my room, thinking yet another family dinner was tarnished, I hear the door slide open, and my mom goes “I love this song”. Playing from our Alexa was “Hello Dolly”, which I knew to be their wedding song. She looks at my dad, they smile. She goes back to dishwashing, smiling while suds fluff and bounce in and out of the sink. I turn to see my dad wink at me, and nod. Bonds have layers thick and thin, thin enough that sometimes it's important to dig out a layer so heavily buried underneath years of memories, to remind people of why they've bonded in the first place.

I believe that one of the most crucial elements of living is connecting with people, making bonds with others. Finding a piece of every individual that you can relate to, all to feel less alone. I believe in the class clown uniting the class with laughter, and something as dumb as students sharing work, just to help one another, even if they've never even spoke. I believe in a teacher changing a student’s perspective on their abilities just with a simple pat on the back, a minute moment which would forever bond that child to their teacher. A core memory which would guide them to success. Bonds can be based on a prolonged series of memories, or even a short-lived conversation. Your bonds with loved ones, to keep you sane, and the bonds with acquaintances, to motivate.

I believe in the bonds that are one-sided. The ones that so deeply resonate with one person, even if the other doesn’t even know of their impact. The bond a person has with someone so far away as a celebrity, or even a character of fiction. Hearing the name of this person is solace, a warm blanket wrapped around your shoulders. A heart made to scorn, and be to be scorned, soothed by their mention. For the memories affixed with their mention could be what ties you to them. Someone feeling an attachment to Billy Idol, a rockstar, simply because it’s all their dad would ever play on the radio. Maybe a queer influence, who makes people feel treasured, or an actor of your ethnicity, who tugs at your tear ducts when you see them on screen, because you finally feel seen. This person doesn’t even know you exist, but your screams will sprint far and wide, spreading their names with pride till the day you die.

It’s the invisible string, the string that delicately seams people together. The world, just a ginormous, beautiful, piece of patchwork. A timeless quilt that connects the generations to each other, that bonds others. No one is truly alone. Just listen to the beautiful sound of discussions all around you, engage, and you’ll notice the quirks of others that match your own. I believe in bonds, and I believe in the reassurance it provides the masses that we all, in a way, are one.

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My very talented friend Lexi also did this assignment and posted it to her blog! Check it out-

https://lexireese23.wixsite.com/daydreamersdiary/post/this-i-believe