Zafon points out in his book?That “whoever aspires to maintain good judgment needs a place in the world where he can and wants to get lost. “In addition, he describes the latter refuge, the last place of security, as “a small attachment of the soul to which, when the world sinks into its absurd comedy, you can always run to cover yourself and lose the key. “
This reflection, partly true and partly not, gives us an idea to think about, on the one hand, it seems that we all have that corner of retreat or security in which we feel most protected, can be a physical place, a place in our mind or a combination of the two; where there are objects, but also memories and hopes.
- It is a place where we walk with very few people and where no one has entered.
- We keep the dreams we share with few people.
- And also those we do not share with anyone; the same goes for sources of pain.
Alicia Gray, the enigmatic protagonist of?The labyrinth of spirits ?, she is an almost perpetual resident of this refuge, and at the same time ignores much of its content, he leaves little refuge outside this refuge, so she has very tired eyes to distinguish how the things around her have and identify what defines them and who are in that same corner. Thus, behind his cloak of safety, there is a portrait of an insecure figure, like many people in the flesh.
We keep the smell of the people who helped us, with a very special memory for those who do it every day and for those who did it to feel good. We also keep the pretexts to which we cling to the worst moments, and to the little ones. trophies, fruits of what we live as our best triumphs. With us there are people who have died, who we take for granted and who can no longer touch.
Here are also the dreams we left on the shelf when we grew up. Dreams that have our fingerprints as proof that there were times when we had them in our hands, but also as proof that we didn’t get them back. Mixtures of “unparalleled fantasies”?with “a little confessable”, among which many retain the will to abandon everything and start living.
? Are you all right, Fermin?
? Like an angry bull.
? I don’t think I’ve ever seen you so sad.
? That’s because I have to preserve my image
Daniel didn’t insist.
? What are you saying? What if I invite you to a sparkling wine at El Xampanyet?
? Thanks Daniel, but I don’t think I’ll take it today
? Don’t you remember? What life has to offer!
Fermin smiled and, for the first time, Daniel realized that his old friend had no hair even though he was not gray.
? It’s for you, Daniel. For me, I only have one memory
? The labyrinth of spirits? Carlos Ruiz Zafon?
We also keep our fears, our most fragile and vulnerable part. Those to whom we have given words, but whose fear has still been born; the ones that we only make intuitur, but that we dare not open because we are afraid to discover what is really underneath.
In addition, we keep memories of situations in which we put our worst version, also of those in which we have overcome and that we keep again in our own consciousness, and we wondered how the hell we could have done it being just a small grain of sand. In the universe.
In this refuge, the feeling of immensity is mixed to occupy with our conscience a good part of ourselves, linked to the fact that we are unique, but also a feeling of smallness for how little we are in the face of the vastness of the universe, linked to the fact that we are replaceable.
In this corner is one of our greatest paradoxes: to be replaceable or essential since we are unique.
Too long in this haven fills our eyes with a sea of little navigable nostalgia, it is part of the past and the future, completely eliminating the present in which our senses evolve. People who live in this place for a long time spend the day. on autopilot and projects a sense of absence and withdrawal on others.
In fact, anything positive on the shelves or stacked on the floor, by the fireplace, begins to emit a scent of sadness. It is also then that our interior completely disconnects from the image we project, because the more time we spend in this place, the more complicated it becomes for someone to approach. The others are getting further and further away.
So what can we do to make sure this shelter doesn’t overwhelm us with negative emotions?
As we have seen, this refuge can save us many times, but for others it can become the worst trap we can fall into, my recommendation is that you make the most of it when you are there, but do not end up reducing your life to what exists between four walls, real or imaginary.