Saturday, March 19, 2011

Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ...

I am looking for the transcript of this talk, the first part anyway before people gave her a standing ovation. It is oh so nice. I wish that someone had given me this speech.

Sarah Kay: If I should have a daughter ... | Video on TED.com

If I should have a daughter, instead of Mom, she's gonna call me Point B because that way she knows  that no matter what happens at least she can always find her way to me. And I'm gonna paint the solar systems on the backs of her hands so she has to learn the entire Universe before she can say "oh, I know that like the back of my hand." And she's gonna learn that this life will hit you, hard, in the face, wait for you  to get back up just so it can kick you in the stomach but getting the wind knocked out of you is the only way to remind your lungs how much they like the taste  of air.

There is hurt, here, that cannot be fixed by band aids or poetry so the first time she realizes that wonder woman isn't coming I'll make sure she knows she doesn't have to wear the cape all by herself coz no matter how wide you stretch your fingers, your hands will always be too small to catch all the pain you want to heal. Believe me I've tried and baby I'll tell her don't keep your nose up in the air like that. I know that trick, I've done it a million times, you're just smelling for smoke  so you can follow the trail back to to a burning house so you can find the boy who lost everything in the fire to see if you can save him. Or else find the boy who lit the fire in the first place to see if you can change him. But I know she will anyway so instead I'll always keep an extra supply of chocolate and rain boots nearby because there is no heartbreak that chocolates cant fix. Okay, there's a few heartbreaks that chocolates can't fix but that's what the rain boots are for because rain will wash away everything if you let it.

I want her to look at the world through the underside of a  glass bottomed boat, to look through a microcoscope at the galaxies that exist on the pinpoint of a human mind because thats the way my mom taught me, that  there'll be days like this, there'll be days like this, my momma said.

When you open your hand to catch and wind up with only blisters and bruises;  when you step out of a phone booth and try to fly and the very people you want to save are the ones standing on your cape. When your boots will fill with rain and you'll be up to your knees in disappointment  and those are the very days you have all the more reason to say thank you because there is nothing more beautiful than the way the ocean refuses to stop kissing the shoreline no matter how many times its sent away. You will put the wind in winsome, lose some. You will put the star in starting over and over and no matter how many landmines erupt in a minute, be sure your mind lands on the beauty of this funny place called life. And yes on a scale from 1 to overtrusting, I am pretty damn naive but I want her to know that this world is made out of sugar, it can crumble so easily, but don't be afraid to stick your tongue out and taste it. Baby  I'll tell her remember  your Momma is a worrier and your Papa is a warrior and you are the girl with small hands and big eyes who never stops asking for more. Remember that good things come in threes and so do bad things and always apologize when you've done something wrong but you should don't you ever apologize for the way your eyes refuse to stop shining. Your voice is small but don't ever stop singing and when they finally hand you heartache, when they slip war and hatred under your door, and offer you handouts on street corners  of cynicism and defeat,  you tell them that they really ought to meet your mother.  

* finally got to transcribe it after 2 hours ...

1 comment:

Hi! Let's all try to add more positivity in this world and adhere to the saying, "if you don't have anything nice to say, keep silent."

Showering you with unicorn poop so you'd always stay magical! Heart heart!