Braid your sadness

Grandma used to say that when a woman felt sad, the best thing to do was to braid her hair. That way, the pain would be trapped between the braids and could not reach the rest of the body.

She warned that care should be taken not to let the sadness get into the eyes, as that would bring tears, or into the lips, as it would make them utter false words.

She also advised that sadness should not be allowed to creep into the hands, as it could ruin the coffee or leave the dough raw, as sadness liked bitterness.

When sadness invaded her, grandmother recommended braiding her hair, trapping the pain in the skein and letting it escape when the north wind blew.

She said that hair was a net capable of trapping everything, strong as the roots of the ahuehuete and soft as the foam of the atole.

One should not be surprised by melancholy, even if one's heart was broken.

‘Braid your sadness,’ Grandma repeated, “always braid your sadness”. Then, when she awoke to the song of the sparrow, the sadness would appear pale and faded in the loom of her hair.