Hannah Brencher: Love letters to strangers

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Blanca Martínez Reviewer: David Quesada

I was one of the only kids in college who had a reason

Jo era una dels pocs universitaris qui tenia una raó

to go to the P.O. box at the end of the day,

per anar a l'apartat de Correus al final del dia,

and that was mainly because my mother has never believed

i això era perquè la meva mare no hi ha cregut mai

in email, in Facebook, in texting or cell phones in general.

en correus electrònics, Facebook, SMS, ni en els mòbils en general.

And so while other kids were BBM-ing their parents,

Així que mentre altres xatejaven a la Blackberry amb els seus pares,

I was literally waiting by the mailbox

jo esperava literalment al costat de la bústia

to get a letter from home to see how the weekend had gone,

que arribés una carta de casa per saber com havia anat el cap de setmana,

which was a little frustrating when Grandma was in the hospital,

cosa que era una mica frustrant quan l'àvia estava a l'hospital,

but I was just looking for some sort of scribble,

però... jo buscava alguna mena de gargot,

some unkempt cursive from my mother.

la lletra descuidada de la meva mare.

And so when I moved to New York City after college

Quan em vaig traslladar a Nova York després de la universitat

and got completely sucker-punched in the face by depression,

i vaig caure en una profunda depressió,

I did the only thing I could think of at the time.

vaig fer l'única cosa en què podia pensar aquell moment.

I wrote those same kinds of letters that my mother had written me

Vaig escriure cartes com les que m'escrivia la meva mare

for strangers, and tucked them all throughout the city,

per a desconeguts, i vaig repartir-les per tota la ciutat,

dozens and dozens of them. I left them everywhere,

dotzenes i dotzenes de cartes. Les deixava a tot arreu,

in cafes and in libraries, at the U.N., everywhere.

en bars i biblioteques, a la ONU, a tot arreu.

I blogged about those letters and the days

Escrivia un bloc sobre aquestes cartes i sobre

when they were necessary, and I posed

quan eren necessàries, i vaig fer

a kind of crazy promise to the Internet:

una mena de promesa boja a l'Internet:

that if you asked me for a hand-written letter,

que si algú em demanava una carta manuscrita,

I would write you one, no questions asked.

jo li n'escriuria una, sense fer cap pregunta.

Overnight, my inbox morphed into this harbor of heartbreak --

De sobte, la meva bústia d'entrada es va transformar en un refugi per a desconsolats --

a single mother in Sacramento, a girl being bullied

una mare soltera de Sacramento, una noia que patia encalçament escolar

in rural Kansas, all asking me, a 22-year-old girl

a un poble de Kansas, tots demanant-me a mi, una noia de 22 anys

who barely even knew her own coffee order,

que amb prou feines sabia com li agradava el café,

to write them a love letter and give them a reason

que els escrigués una carta d'amor i els hi donés així una raó

to wait by the mailbox.

per a esperar al costat de la bústia.

Well, today I fuel a global organization

Bé, avui impulso una organització global

that is fueled by those trips to the mailbox,

que es veu alimentada per aquests viatges a la bústia,

fueled by the ways in which we can harness social media

per la manera en què podem utilitzar els mitjans socials

like never before to write and mail strangers letters

com mai abans per a escriure cartes i missatges a desconeguts

when they need them most, but most of all,

quan més ho necessitin, però per damunt de tot,

fueled by crates of mail like this one, my trusty mail crate,

alimentada per caixes de cartes com aquesta, la meva caixa fidel,

filled with the scriptings of ordinary people,

plena d'escrits de gent normal,

strangers writing letters to other strangers not because

desconeguts que escriuen cartes a altres desconeguts, no pas perquè

they're ever going to meet and laugh over a cup of coffee,

vagin a quedar per a riure prenent una tassa de cafè,

but because they have found one another by way of letter-writing.

sinó perquè s'han trobat l'un a l'altre escrivint cartes.

But, you know, the thing that always gets me

Però el que sempre m'atrapa

about these letters is that most of them have been written

d'aquestes cartes és que la majoria han estat escrites

by people that have never known themselves loved on a piece of paper.

per gent que mai habia rebut una carta d'amor en paper.

They could not tell you about the ink of their own love letters.

No podrien dir-vos res sobre la tinta de les seves pròpies cartes d'amor.

They're the ones from my generation,

Són els de la meva generació,

the ones of us that have grown up into a world

aquells de nosaltres que han crescut en un món

where everything is paperless, and where some

a on el paper ja no es fa servir per res, i a on algunes

of our best conversations have happened upon a screen.

de les nostres millors converses han estat a través d'una pantalla.

We have learned to diary our pain onto Facebook,

Hem après a expressar el nostre patiment a Facebook,

and we speak swiftly in 140 characters or less.

i parlem en frases de 140 caràcters o menys.

But what if it's not about efficiency this time?

Però què passa si aquest cop la cosa no va d'eficiència?

I was on the subway yesterday with this mail crate,

Ahir estava al metro amb la caixa de cartes,

which is a conversation starter, let me tell you.

que és una generadora de converses, haig de dir.

If you ever need one, just carry one of these. (Laughter)

Si necessiteu parlar, només l'heu de portar a sobre. (Riures)

And a man just stared at me, and he was like,

Un home s'em va quedar mirant, i era com,

"Well, why don't you use the Internet?"

"Bé, perquè no fas servir l'Internet?"

And I thought, "Well, sir, I am not a strategist,

I vaig pensar, "Bé, senyor, ni sóc estratega

nor am I specialist. I am merely a storyteller."

ni sóc especialista. Sóc simplement narradora".

And so I could tell you about a woman

Us podria explicar el cas d'una dona

whose husband has just come home from Afghanistan,

el marit de la qual acaba de tornar de l'Afganistan

and she is having a hard time unearthing this thing called conversation,

i li costa molt tornar a entaular allò que diem conversació,

and so she tucks love letters throughout the house

així que deixa cartes d'amor per tota la casa

as a way to say, "Come back to me.

com dient, "Torna a mi.

Find me when you can."

Troba'm quan puguis".

Or a girl who decides that she is going to leave love letters

O una noia que decideix repartir cartes d'amor

around her campus in Dubuque, Iowa, only to find

per tot el seu campus a Dubuque, Iowa, per veure al dia següent

her efforts ripple-effected the next day when she walks out

l'efecte onada resultat dels seus esforços

onto the quad and finds love letters hanging

en sortir al pati i trobar cartes d'amor penjades

from the trees, tucked in the bushes and the benches.

als arbres, repartides entre els matolls i els bancs.

Or the man who decides that he is going to take his life,

O l'home que decideix suicidar-se,

uses Facebook as a way to say goodbye

i utilitza Facebook per despedir-se

to friends and family.

d'amics i familiars.

Well, tonight he sleeps safely with a stack of letters

Doncs bé, aquesta nit dorm tranquil amb una pila de cartes

just like this one tucked beneath his pillow,

igual que aquesta sota el coixí,

scripted by strangers who were there for him when.

escrites per desconeguts que estaven allà quan calia.

These are the kinds of stories that convinced me

Aquest tipus d'històries em van convèncer

that letter-writing will never again need to flip back her hair

que escriure cartes mai més haurà d'apartarse el cabell

and talk about efficiency, because she is an art form now,

i parlar d'eficiència, perquè ara és una forma d'art,

all the parts of her, the signing, the scripting, the mailing,

totes les seves parts, la signatura, el cos, l'enviament,

the doodles in the margins.

els gargots als marges.

The mere fact that somebody would even just sit down,

El sol fet que algú s'assegui,

pull out a piece of paper and think about someone

agafi un troç de paper i pensi en algú

the whole way through, with an intention that is so much

amb una intenció que és molt més

harder to unearth when the browser is up and the iPhone

difícil d'exterioritzar quan tenim el navegador obert, l'iPhone sonant

is pinging and we've got six conversations rolling in at once,

i tenim sis converses alhora,

that is an art form

això és una forma d'art

that does not fall down to the Goliath of "get faster,"

que no cau davant el Goliat del "sigues més ràpid",

no matter how many social networks we might join.

tant se val a quantes xarxes socials estiguis inscrit.

We still clutch close these letters to our chest,

Encara apretem fort aquestes cartes contra el pit,

to the words that speak louder than loud,

les paraules que parlen fort i més fort,

when we turn pages into palettes to say the things

quan convertim les pàgines en paletes de pintor per dir les coses

that we have needed to say,

que necessitàvem dir,

the words that we have needed to write, to sisters

les paraules que hem necessitat escriure, a les germanes

and brothers and even to strangers, for far too long.

i germans, i fins i tot a desconeguts, des de ja fa molt de temps.

Thank you. (Applause)

Gràcies. (Aplaudiments)

(Applause)

(Aplaudiments)