Je veux \u00e9crire cette lettre \u00e0 moi-m\u00eame depuis toujours et je procrastine; je la remets syst\u00e9matiquement \u00e0 un lendemain qui n\u2019arrive jamais. Quoi me dire et quoi m\u2019apprendre que je ne sache d\u00e9j\u00e0?<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Tellement de choses\u00a0\u00bb, dirait la copine qui m\u2019a jadis conseill\u00e9 cet exercice. Aurais-je si peur d\u2019entrer dans ma t\u00eate? Ou, pire encore, dans mon c\u0153ur \u00e0 moiti\u00e9 vide? Qui suis-je, \u00e0 vrai dire? \u00ab\u00a0Puissante\u00a0\u00bb, dirait la copine, professeure de yoga. \u00ab\u00a0Puissante et vaillante.\u00a0\u00bb<\/p>\n
Certes, j\u2019ai jadis \u00e9t\u00e9 la meilleure dans mon domaine d\u2019affaires. J\u2019ai cr\u00e9\u00e9 quelque chose de nouveau, un concept de restauration r\u00e9volutionnaire pour l\u2019\u00e9poque. J\u2019ai appris \u00e0 gagner de l\u2019argent. Je me suis entour\u00e9e de personnes comp\u00e9tentes et importantes. Je n\u2019ai pas eu peur de m\u2019imposer dans un monde domin\u00e9 par les hommes et je n\u2019ai jamais h\u00e9sit\u00e9 \u00e0 donner mon opinion concernant les choses que je connaissais.<\/p>\n
Pourquoi m\u2019\u00e9crire? Je n\u2019ai ni la gloriole ni le compliment facile. Mais peut-\u00eatre aurais-je peur; affol\u00e9e d\u2019amerrir sur un oc\u00e9an tumultueux? Je pr\u00e9f\u00e8re \u00e9crire aux autres, \u00e0 tous ceux qui sont assez gentils pour me lire. Je leur \u00e9cris pour expulser les averses de mots qui s\u2019agitent dans ma t\u00eate.<\/p>\n
\u00ab\u00a0Longue est la liste, ch\u00e8re Cora, des autobrimades qui alt\u00e8rent l\u2019estime de soi. Essaie d\u2019\u00e9crire cette lettre comme si elle s\u2019adressait \u00e0 une autre que toi\u00a0\u00bb, me sugg\u00e8re la copine. Imagine que tu envoies une lettre de r\u00e9confort et de conseils \u00e0 une meilleure amie qui s\u2019appellerait Corina. Essaie de convaincre Corina qu\u2019elle doit adoucir le regard qu\u2019elle porte sur elle-m\u00eame.\u00a0\u00bb
\n\u2014\u00a0D\u2019accord, je l\u2019\u00e9cris, cette lettre.<\/p>\n
Tr\u00e8s ch\u00e8re Corina,<\/em><\/p>\n Je te connais depuis toujours et tu es ma meilleure amie; g\u00e9niale et talentueuse. Je me souviens de ta jeunesse. Tu \u00e9tais audacieuse et cr\u00e9ative, toujours la premi\u00e8re \u00e0 trouver des solutions \u00e0 nos probl\u00e8mes de jeunes femmes.<\/p>\n J\u2019ai eu l\u2019occasion de fr\u00e9quenter ta famille assez souvent pour savoir que l\u2019amour entre tes parents \u00e9tait plut\u00f4t rare. J\u2019ai toujours su que tu en as cruellement manqu\u00e9 et que ton c\u0153ur a d\u00fb s\u2019endurcir \u00e0 la longue. La m\u00e9saventure du mariage oblig\u00e9 t\u2019a pourtant donn\u00e9 trois merveilleux enfants et ton c\u0153ur a gout\u00e9 \u00e0 l\u2019amour inconditionnel. Je l\u2019avoue, tu as travaill\u00e9 tr\u00e8s fort pour r\u00e9ussir comme m\u00e8re c\u00e9libataire, mais tu as amplement gagn\u00e9 tes \u00e9paulettes. Ne l\u2019oublie jamais.<\/p>\n Toutes ces 13\u00a0ann\u00e9es de mariage oblig\u00e9 avec un homme m\u00e9chant ont abim\u00e9 ton pauvre c\u0153ur et tu as peut-\u00eatre conclu qu\u2019il \u00e9tait d\u00e9fectueux; qu\u2019aucune personne ne pourrait y entrer.<\/p>\n Tr\u00e8s ch\u00e8re Corina, je te connais depuis toujours et j\u2019en sais la cause. Tu as cruellement manqu\u00e9 d\u2019amour, mais sache que ton c\u0153ur fonctionne tr\u00e8s bien. Il s\u2019est d\u2019ailleurs remplum\u00e9 durant la pand\u00e9mie. L\u2019univers ne t\u2019a pas oubli\u00e9e. Il t\u2019a fait un cadeau immense en t\u2019offrant l\u2019\u00e9criture dont la jeune fille en toi avait toujours r\u00eav\u00e9. L\u2019\u00e9criture te permet aujourd\u2019hui de rejoindre des milliers de lecteurs qui t\u2019aiment \u00e9norm\u00e9ment, j\u2019en suis certaine.<\/p>\n Rien ne te manque, ch\u00e8re Corina, pour \u00eatre une magnifique personne. Compte tes b\u00e9n\u00e9dictions. Tu as l\u2019amabilit\u00e9, la g\u00e9n\u00e9rosit\u00e9, la fantaisie, l\u2019amour bienveillant envers les autres et le talent des mots.<\/p>\n Tu es la personne que j\u2019aime le plus au monde. Sache-le, ch\u00e8re Corina. Nous sommes les meilleures amies du monde, des complices et les s\u0153urs de toutes les femmes de la plan\u00e8te. Brunes, noires, vieilles, jeunes, p\u00e2lottes ou bronz\u00e9es, qu\u2019importe notre nom de bapt\u00eame, nos c\u0153urs se ressemblent tous. Ils souffrent, ils palpitent, ils pleurent et explosent de joie lorsqu\u2019ils se reconnaissent dans une glace. Oui, oui! Mon c\u0153ur fait boum boum en me regardant dans la vitre du caf\u00e9. C\u2019est moi, Cora, qui viens tout juste de reconna\u00eetre qui je suis. La copine, professeure de yoga, avait bien raison.<\/p>\n Essayez un brin. \u00c9crivez-vous une lettre, ch\u00e8res lectrices. \u00c0 vous-m\u00eame ou \u00e0 un nom d\u2019emprunt. Pleurez entre les lignes, videz votre trop-plein de chagrin dans la marge; d\u00e9roulez le parchemin blessant et ouvrez la plaie, s\u2019il le faut. Il s\u2019agit ici de gu\u00e9rir notre c\u0153ur.<\/p>\n Cora P.-S. Je vous aime tellement, chacune d\u2019entre vous, ch\u00e8res lectrices. Si certaines d\u2019entre vous voulaient \u00eatre lues par un c\u0153ur aimant, je vous invite \u00e0 me poster votre lettre et je la lirai, je vous le jure. Utilisez un nom d\u2019emprunt si, comme moi, cela vous aide, et envoyez votre lettre \u00e0 mon attention \u00e0 l\u2019adresse du si\u00e8ge social de l\u2019entreprise.<\/p>\n Lettre \u00e0 Madame Cora Je veux \u00e9crire cette lettre \u00e0 moi-m\u00eame depuis toujours et je procrastine; […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":414,"featured_media":22476,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lettre-mme-cora"],"acf":{"img_en":"","contenu_en":"I have been wanting to write this letter to myself for a long time and I\u2019ve been procrastinating. I systematically put it off until a tomorrow that never comes. What could I say or learn about myself that I don\u2019t already know?\r\n\r\n\u201cSo many things,\u201d would reply the friend who suggested this exercise a while ago. Am I too afraid to dive into the depths of my mind? Or, worse, to venture into my half-empty heart? Who am I? What am I really? \u201cPowerful,\u201d would say that same friend, a yoga teacher. \u201cPowerful and diligent.\u201d\r\n\r\nIt\u2019s true that I was once at the pinnacle of my field. I created something new; a restaurant concept that was unheard of at the time. I learned how to earn my keep. I surrounded myself with competent and important people. I was never afraid of asserting my ways in a world dominated by men, and I never hesitated to give my opinion when I knew what I was talking about.\r\n\r\nWhy would I write a letter to myself? Glory and compliments don\u2019t come easily to me. Am I putting it off because I may be worried to find myself on a stormy ocean? I prefer writing to others; to those who are kind enough to read my letters. I write to them to expel the deluge of words raining down in my head.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe list of self-criticism that cuts us down is long, dear Cora. Try to write this letter as if it were addressed to somebody else,\u201d my friend suggests. \u201cImagine that you are sending a letter to a close friend who needs advice and wants to be comforted. Call her Corina. Try to convince Corina to soften the way she sees herself.\u201d\r\n\u2014 \u201cFine. I will write the letter,\u201d I say.\r\n\r\nDear Corina,<\/em>\r\n\r\nI have known you all my life and you are my best friend. You are brilliant and talented. I remember your youth very well. You were audacious and creative, always the first one to find solutions to the preoccupations of a young woman.\r\n\r\n \r\n\r\nI spent enough time with your family to know that the love between your parents was scarce. You suffered cruelly from a lack of love yourself. Your heart likely hardened as a result. Your calamitous wedding gave you three amazing children, and they allowed your heart to know the feeling of unconditional love. As a single mother, you had to work very hard to succeed, but you earned a living that surpassed your needs. Don\u2019t ever forget that.<\/em>\r\n\r\nYour 13 years of imprisoned marriage to a mean man bruised your heart and you concluded that your heart must be defective. No one would ever be able to find their way inside.\r\n\r\nDearest Corina, I have known you forever and I understand. You did suffer from a lack of love, but rest assured that your heart works fine. And it returned to life during the pandemic. The universe has not forgotten you. It has offered you a tremendous gift by offering you the chance to realize your young girl\u2019s dream to write. Today, writing allows you to connect with thousands of readers who no doubt love you.\r\n\r\nYou have everything you need, dear Corina, to be a wonderful person. Count your blessings. You are kind, generous, inventive and caring towards others, with a gift for words.\r\n\r\nYou are the person I love the most in this world, dear Corina. We are the best of friends, allies and sisters of all women on this planet. Brunettes, blondes, old, young, fair-skinned or dark; regardless of the names on our birth certificates, our hearts are all alike. They suffer, they throb, they cry and they explode with happiness when they recognize themselves in the mirror. That\u2019s me! My heart goes boom, boom as I stare at my own reflection in the window at the coffee shop. It is I, Cora, who just recognized myself for who I am. My friend the yoga teacher was right.\r\n\r\nYou should try it! Write a letter to yourself, dear readers. Address it to yourself or an imaginary friend. Pour your heart out and cry a little between the lines, allow the excess grief to overflow into the margins; unfurl the bruising parchment and cut open the wound, if you must. This is all about healing our hearts.\r\n\r\nCora\r\n\ud83d\udc75\r\n\r\nP.S. I love each and every one of you, dear readers! If any of you wish to write your own letter and have it read by a caring heart, I invite you to mail them to me and I will read every one of them, I promise. Use a pseudonym like I did if you prefer. Send your letter, addressed as follows, to the company\u2019s head office:\r\n\r\nLetter for Madame Cora\r\n16 rue Sicard, Local 50\r\nSainte-Th\u00e9r\u00e8se, QC\r\nJ7E 3W7"},"yoast_head":"\n
\n\ud83d\udc75<\/p>\n
\n16 rue Sicard, Local 50
\nSainte-Th\u00e9r\u00e8se (QC)
\nJ7E 3W7<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"