Moments

Moments… of fear, sadness, uncertainty.

Thoughts that come and go in waves, but somehow always find their way back.

Glimpses of the shadows that once overpowered you.

Sounds that bring out the not so happy memories.

The awareness of what’s at stake.

The knowledge that you have to find a way to fight, if you don’t want to be swallowed by the dark clouds.

The agility of the events, how fast you can go from being great to feeling… lost.

The loneliness that reminds you of how little your old enemies have changed.

The time that moves so fast and not at all. Your person who has change so much and not a bit.

A shrinking heart and a mind that seems to only grow in the wrong direction.

Feelings overriding reason.

Familiar symptoms, but the cure yet to be found.

A lingering question… Will you ever defeat it for real?

Moments… to keep calm, reflect and control.

Moments that throw you back to the past when you try to think about the future.

Moments that can defy how the next days, weeks, months, and even years will go. 

There’s a moment when everything changes

Do you ever stop for a moment and wonder “What am I doing with my life?”

“Where will I go from here?”

I have moments I look back and fear that in a few years I will realize that time has gone by and I have done nothing with my life, that I’ll have nothing to show, and it scares me. I’m learning to leave in the moment, but when I dare to think about the future it’s scary to realize how far I  am from everything that I had planned.

Time won’t stop while we figure life out, and whatever your choices are, there’s no turning back.

Everything used to be so clear, I used to have a plan, and I don’t know what I fear the most, the fact that I don’t have one, or the fact that I’m not panicking without it. I wonder if I should worry that the years keep moving and I’m yet to find my place, but do we ever really know where we’re going? Or is it that just a lie we tell ourselves to be able to sleep at night?

I came to terms with it, I’ve accepted that the journey may change your final destination, and I wouldn’t change a thing.

I’ve always been a dreamer and one of my biggest fears is to achieve nothing. And if you ask me if I’m closer to my goal than I was 5 years ago, I can’t be sure I am, but then I look back and see everything I’ve experienced and I can’t help but feel lucky to have been where I have been.

However, I can’t deny that there’s this simultaneous feeling of having done so much and anything at all, of having grown so much and yet not enough, of feeling that you’re in the right path and that it might lead you nowhere, of not knowing where you want to go, but being sure that you’re not there yet.

It feels right, it’s like you know that every person and every single experience you’re having is changing you, that each of them is teaching you something, and you’re happy following the tune, but you can’t help but wonder where it will lead. You can’t help but wonder when the time to start figuring things out will come.

There’s a moment when everything changes, will you be able to recognize it when it comes?

Inspiration

Inspiration always seems to strike more when you’re down. Maybe it’s because that’s when all defenses are down and the thoughts you always try to avoid push through.

Maybe it’s because it’s when you feel lonely and misunderstood and you just pour out your feelings without seconds thoughts. Maybe it’s because it’s when you alienate yourself from the rest of the world and go to that special place inside your head. Or maybe none of this is true at all! Maybe inspiration is always there, but when they’re happy thoughts you don’t have the same urge to kick them out. 

Stories behind History/ As histórias por detrás da História

Nota: Versão portuguesa mais abaixo. 

Travelling is more than nice pictures and heavenly landscapes, more than trying new dishes and hearing a different language. Travelling is about the stories behind the History. It’s about going to places were terrible things happened, not because you want to check another touristic place on your list, but because you know that even if it’s unpleasant and uncomfortable, there are certain things that should not be ignored.

We’ve all read the facts and heard the numbers, but to see it, to feel it, to imagine it… that’s different. History tells us about the events, but places like this tell us about the people. And all the stories and dreams that never had a chance to complete.

And the more you think about it, the more you wonder how someone can do such things to another human beings… worst… to millions of other human beings. You can’t understand how it ever got that far. How one person with one idea can cause so much damage.

It makes you think about the power of words and ideas, misconceptions and stereotypes.

Since we think about it as History, there’s a false reassurance that 

this was ages ago, except it wasn’t. It’s still quite recent. And with nations still fighting for personal interests, with racism still so present, with the constant need to label everyone… is the world really that much different from what it was 70 years ago?

It’s sad that we need places like Treblinka¹ to remind us to think about these things, but because we’re selfish or to protect our sanity there are things we don’t like to think about. Maybe because it’s so bad that we wish they weren’t true. However, denial is more dangerous than any crazy idea, so we can’t let History be forgotten. We can’t let those stories be in vain.

As histórias por detrás da História

Viajar é mais do que fotografias bonitas e paisagens deslumbrantes, mais do que provar pratos novos e ouvir uma língua diferente. Viajar é descobrir as histórias por detrás da História. É visitar sítios onde coisas horríveis aconteceram, não porque queres riscar mais um sítio turístico da tua lista, mas porque sabes que mesmo que seja desagradável e desconfortável, há certas coisas que não devem ser ignoradas.

Todos conhecemos os factos e ouvimos os números, mas vê-lo, senti-lo, imaginá-lo… isso é diferente. A História conta-nos sobre os eventos, mas sítios como este contam-nos sobre as pessoas. E todas as histórias e sonhos que nunca tiveram oportunidade de concretizar.

E quanto mais pensamos sobre isso, mais nos perguntamos como alguém pode fazer tão mal a outro ser humano… pior… a milhões de outros seres humanos. É difícil perceber como chegou a tão longe. Como uma pessoa com uma ideia pode causar tantos danos.

Faz-nos pensar no poder das palavras e das ideias, equívocos e estereótipos.

Como pensamos nisso como História, há um falso conforto de que é um passado longínquo. Mas não é.  É ainda bastante recente. E com as nações que continuam a lutar por interesses pessoais, com o racismo ainda tão presente e com a constante necessidade de rotular toda a gente… está o mundo tão diferente do que era há 70 anos atrás?

É triste que precisemos de lugares como Treblinka² para nos lembrar de pensarmos sobre estas coisas. Por egoísmo ou para protegermos a nossa sanidade há coisas sobre as quais não gostamos de pensar. Talvez porque é uma realidade tão negra que não queremos acreditar que seja verdade. Contudo, a negação é mais perigosa do que qualquer ideia, por isso não podemos deixar a História ser esquecida. Não podemos deixar que estas histórias tenham sido em vão.

¹ Treblinka Penal Labor Camp and Extermination Camp

² Campo de trabalhos forçados e Campo de Exterminação de Treblinka

Follow your heart/Segue o teu coração

Nota: versão portuguesa mais abaixo

Do not let fear stop you.

Surround yourself with people that inspire you.

Do not settle for anything else than your dreams. However, remember to enjoy the journey while you try to make them real.

Failures become experience and uncertainties will fade away. Shut down that voice that says that you’re aiming too high. Your dreams can only be stolen from you by yourself.

Respect yourself. Do not sell yourself short, don’t think that you’re bigger than you really are. Find what keeps you grounded.

Make the most of every adventure, give it your best shot and take the best of it with you.

Cry, if you have to, but let the laugh destroy your demons.

Get involved, allow yourself to get attached, dreams mean nothing if there’s no-one to share them with.

Find the things that make you smile and do them more often. Life’s too short to postpone.

If you’re looking for happiness look inside yourself, nothing will give you more satisfaction than feeling fulfilled.

Don’t stop working on yourself, that’s the biggest project you’ll ever have. Think through, evaluate and progress, but do not kill yourself with regret.

Give yourself a breather, allow things to happen and remember, each detour will lead you to another roll of possibilities.

Stay focused, but don’t forget to live. You’ll get there when you’re ready.

Work hard, but enjoy the process. Do not rush through it, don’t let things go past you unnoticed.

Collect the best of those you admire, but don’t let yourself be define by anyone but you.

Learn to forgive yourself, to cut off some slack. Remember that if you’re not better that anyone it doesn’t make sense that you have to live up to higher standards.

Enjoy yourself, learn to follow your own advice and above all… follow your heart!

Segue o teu coração

Não deixes que o medo te pare.

Rodeia-te de pessoas que te inspiram.

Não te contentes com nada que seja menos do que os teus sonhos, mas lembra-te de aproveitar a viagem enquanto tentas torná-los reais.

Os erros transformam-se em experiência e as incertezas vão desaparecer. Ignora aquela voz que diz que estás a sonhar demasiado alto. Só tu podes roubar os teus próprios sonhos.

Respeita-te. Não te convenças que vales menos do que és, não penses que és maior do que na realidade. Encontra o que te mantém humilde.

Chora, se precisares, mas deixa que o riso destrua os teus demónios.

Envolve-te, permite-te criar laços, os sonhos não significam nada se não tiveres com quem os partilhar.

Encontra o que te faz sorrir e fá-lo com mais frequência. A vida é demasiado curta para continuares a adiar.

Se procuras felicidade, olha para dentro de ti, nada traz mais satisfação do que te sentires realizado.

Continua a investir em ti, este é o maior projecto que alguma vez terás. Pensa, avalia e progride, mas não te mates com arrependimentos.

Para para respirar, deixa que as coisas aconteçam e lembra-te que cada desvio abre um novo leque de oportunidades.

Mantém-te focado, mas não te esqueças de viver. Vais lá chegar quando estiveres preparado.

Trabalha duro, mas não te esqueças de apreciar o processo. Não te apresses, não deixes que as coisas te passem ao lado.

Colhe o melhor daqueles que admiras, mas não te deixes definir por alguém que não és.

Aprende a perdoar-te, a dar-te um desconto. Lembra-te que se não és melhor que os outros, não faz sentido que tenhas de responder a padrões mais elevados.

Diverte-te, aprende a seguir os teus próprios conselhos, e acima de tudo… segue o teu coração!

Rome wasn’t built in a day

Have you ever wanted something so hard that you ended up sabotaging yourself?

It’s good to be focused and to have ambition, but how far should you take it?

When instead of driving you, that will is turning every little mistake into huge failures maybe is time to step back and reevaluate.

It’s cocky even, to expect to be able to learn that fast. And that’s not who you are, not who you want to be. It’s just… you are so eager to know, to understand!

You’re learning, rationally you know it, but why doesn’t it have to be so slow?  

Why does it feel like you learning so much and yet you don’t know anything?

You feel the frustration coming, but you have to remind yourself to ignore it, because you are your own worst enemy, and Rome wasn’t built in a day.

There are dreams and wishes, hopes and silly ambitions.

From the child that smiles, to the adult who now only cries.

There are truths and lies, and secrets that everyone denies.

Is it real, or is it not? Or is it all part of a bigger plot?

There’s good and bad, and the fear of what lies ahead.

What was safe is now unsure, and in your heart you feel so poor.

But there are days when the sun shines, so you believe the change of tides.

‘Cause time has passed and the kid has grown, but real dreams never get old.

So you hold on and push it through, because maybe one day they will be true.