I hear you!

I was very young when a very high fever stole my hearing.

I saw my parents moving their mouths and gesturing with their hands, but I didn’t understand what was happening, I didn’t hear them.

I felt like my head was underwater, just like when I dived into the sea to play. In those moments all the noises vanished, only to resurface stronger and more vivid every time I re-emerged, to catch my breath.

That day, however, I didn’t re-emerge and in the silence I learned to breathe.

I went to the best schools to learn the methods and to be able to read and write. I did everything possible to keep communicating with the surface and I succeeded. I read the lip, I make sounds very similar to words… yet for the people I’m always “the deaf and dumb”.

In the depth of the silence that surrounds me, I have the privilege of having direct contact with my heart which, extraordinarily, is connected to all the other hearts in the world and you won’t believe it but, I feel you.

I feel the discomfort you feel in relating to diversity, perhaps all that noise has misled you.

I thought that life had taken something away from me, instead it gave me the opportunity to listen to myself. So, who is really deaf?

My name is Rita and I’m a painter!