Untied families | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRiodelaPlataED
-
0:07 - 0:11A few days ago
I got an email from my father, -
0:11 - 0:14who I haven't seen in a long, long time.
-
0:15 - 0:17My heart skipped a beat.
-
0:18 - 0:22I decided quite a while ago
to stop seeing my dad, -
0:22 - 0:27because I realized that after
thousands of second chances, -
0:27 - 0:30I couldn't take any value
from the relationship. -
0:31 - 0:33He just didn't do me any good.
-
0:35 - 0:39In the email he invited me to meet
for his birthday. -
0:40 - 0:44And, subtly, he blamed me
for being a terrible daughter. -
0:46 - 0:48Well, maybe not that subtly.
-
0:49 - 0:52Even though I knew that not seeing him
-
0:52 - 0:57didn't make me a bad person
or anything like that, -
0:57 - 0:59I felt a ton of guilt.
-
1:01 - 1:04So I went to see a friend,
-
1:04 - 1:08a bit to digest all these emotions
that I was going through. -
1:10 - 1:14And after listening to me,
he looked at me, chilling, -
1:14 - 1:17and went like:
-
1:17 - 1:20"Juli, we ain't no Jesus."
-
1:22 - 1:25This struck me.
-
1:26 - 1:26Sure, right?
-
1:27 - 1:32Only someone like Jesus
can forgive anyone -
1:32 - 1:33for whatever they have done.
-
1:35 - 1:39But what really got me
from this reasoning -
1:39 - 1:42was that he never
told me anything like: -
1:43 - 1:47"Juli, he's your dad, how come
you don't want to see him?" -
1:48 - 1:50As I had been listening
-
1:50 - 1:53from most people
I've been talking about this. -
1:55 - 1:59Because, who do we call dad?
-
2:00 - 2:02Who does really earn such title?
-
2:04 - 2:10Or, mind me, with just
laying down is enough? -
2:12 - 2:15I realized how much it's taken for a fact
-
2:15 - 2:17that our family is only
the biological one. -
2:18 - 2:22Even when we know other forms of family
-
2:22 - 2:24the biological one has priority.
-
2:25 - 2:30It's always showcased as "the best",
whether on purpose or not. -
2:31 - 2:34The natural one, the one that's right.
-
2:36 - 2:40Where does this idea come from
that we have to love our parents -
2:40 - 2:41just because they're our parents?
-
2:42 - 2:47I mean, why not love them
for the relationship we have with them, -
2:47 - 2:51because they take care of us,
because they do us good? -
2:53 - 2:58I had a hard time understanding that
there's no such thing as a school -
2:58 - 3:03to teach parents how to love
their children, not to hurt them. -
3:04 - 3:07It was hard to get that family
was a construct, -
3:07 - 3:11because it went against what
I had heard throughout my life. -
3:11 - 3:14It was something presented to me
as natural. -
3:16 - 3:19I like to think of family like a t-shirt.
-
3:20 - 3:22Well-sewn clothes.
-
3:23 - 3:26So well sewn that
you can't tell the stitches. -
3:27 - 3:29But what's happens?
-
3:29 - 3:33If you don't feel comfortable,
if you don't have a good time, -
3:33 - 3:36or if there's someone who
is making you miserable, -
3:36 - 3:39they tell you that this what you got.
-
3:40 - 3:43When things start
to crack inside a family, -
3:44 - 3:49especially when this acute pain
comes all of a sudden, -
3:50 - 3:53the seams start bothering.
-
3:53 - 3:54They get visible.
-
3:55 - 3:59They itch, they prick,
sometimes they hurt. -
4:01 - 4:03The sewings started bothering me
-
4:03 - 4:07the moment when being at home
became something unbearable. -
4:08 - 4:11Something that made me suffer
and cry a lot. -
4:11 - 4:13But I had to do anyway.
-
4:13 - 4:15Because that was the hand I was dealt.
-
4:16 - 4:20You can't imagine how it struck me
when I came to know that -
4:20 - 4:23what I was suffering was violence.
-
4:24 - 4:28That's when I thought of turning
this t-shirt I'm talking about -
4:28 - 4:29inside out.
-
4:30 - 4:31And I saw the seams.
-
4:32 - 4:33The ones we all have,
-
4:33 - 4:37which are created and get sewn
as we grow -
4:37 - 4:39and with the relations we forge.
-
4:39 - 4:43Sometimes for good,
sometimes for worse. -
4:44 - 4:47When we have a family
that in some situations do us wrong, -
4:48 - 4:50clearly and effectively wrong,
-
4:50 - 4:53we have a hard time understanding
-
4:53 - 4:56we're not trapped in that web forever,
-
4:56 - 4:59and that we can weave other connections.
-
5:01 - 5:08I began to undo this
I had been sold as "what you got", -
5:09 - 5:11and I looked for other family ties.
-
5:12 - 5:19I allowed myself to know other families
and other ways of parenting. -
5:19 - 5:21Other behind-the-scenes.
-
5:22 - 5:27And I started to find places that gave me
the ties that I was so looking for, -
5:28 - 5:29which I forged and made my own:
-
5:30 - 5:34my school, my friends
and my mom's friends, -
5:34 - 5:38the families of my friends, you name it.
-
5:39 - 5:42I didn't answer that email to my dad.
-
5:43 - 5:46In fact, until today,
I never saw him again. -
5:47 - 5:49But this is my experience.
-
5:50 - 5:54What everyone experiences
throughout their lives -
5:54 - 5:56shapes the way they see the world.
-
5:57 - 6:01We don't have to stay still
and do nothing -
6:01 - 6:02if we're feeling miserable.
-
6:04 - 6:08This can also open the door
to ask ourselves new questions. -
6:09 - 6:10And to undo many plots.
-
6:10 - 6:12Thank you very much.
- Title:
- Untied families | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRiodelaPlataED
- Description:
-
In case you are living or have witnessed situations of violence within your family, call line 137 (Argentina) or the assistance number in your country.
Juliet is 19. She graduated from high school last year and studies psychology at college. She cares about what people think and feel, she likes to get involved, listen, and offer help. During her experience at TED-Ed Clubs, she reflected on the family ties that surround her.
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx
- Video Language:
- Spanish
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDxTalks
- Duration:
- 06:21
Sebastian Betti approved English subtitles for Familias descosidas | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRíodelaPlataED | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Familias descosidas | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRíodelaPlataED | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Familias descosidas | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRíodelaPlataED | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Familias descosidas | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRíodelaPlataED | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Familias descosidas | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRíodelaPlataED | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Familias descosidas | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRíodelaPlataED | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Familias descosidas | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRíodelaPlataED | ||
Sebastian Betti edited English subtitles for Familias descosidas | Julieta Grinblat | TEDxRíodelaPlataED |