Let’s talk politics

It is very noticeable that it is time for elections. There are parties’ posters everywhere in the city. As a foreigner I am not allowed to vote but this doesn’t mean that I don’t have an opinion.

The opinion I have to express is not about one party or another but rather about the importance of voting. There are quite a few people that I know who do not vote. They say that it is because it won’t change anything. I just can’t get my head around this idea; if you don’t vote then it really won’t change anything!

In Brazil it is compulsory to vote from the time one turns 18 until the age of 65.  Between the ages of 16 and 18 and from the age of 65 onwards you can vote if you wish but it is no longer compulsory. I’ve been voting since I’ve been allowed to.  My vote is my voice and it is my right. I believe that this is the time we have to decide the future of our country and we must take ownership of that. But with the right to vote comes the obligation - we must take the time to understand what each candidate is proposing and see if it is realistic.  We must also look at the history of the candidates and see what they have done for the people so far.

However I do, to a certain extent, understand why some people get demotivated these days.  What is lacking is the election candidates must show their proposals as well as how they plan to get to the result. People are voting for a party and not for the ideas that they are proposing. That is happening because they are more focused on pointing fingers and trying to damage each others reputation than in actually working on what they can do for the people.

To vote is everybody’s right and duty. Your vote can make a difference.

Wedding cake in the middle of the road

Once upon the time my friend, Suellen, and I were driving on our way to our holiday destination when we spotted a cake on the middle of the road. The cake was lying there completely intact. As we were not in a rush we decided to stop and have a closer look.

As we got close to the cake we realised that it was actually a wedding cake! At that moment all we could think of was the fact that somebody is about to get married and the cake is definitely not on its way to the wedding. We were looking around for clues when Suellen found a receipt with a name and number on it. We called and in the background we could hear a sobbing woman who eventually brought herself to the phone.  It was the bride.

We told her that we found the cake and for reasons that we couldn’t understand it was as perfect as a cake can be. We then made it our mission to deliver the cake. When we got there the bride was so happy that she invited us to be part of her special day. There was no way that we could say no even though we weren’t dressed properly for a wedding.

That night Suellen met Bruno, Juliana’s (the bride) brother who is now her husband! To this day Juliana, Suellen and I are inseparable and we always talk about how our lives changed when we found a wedding cake in the middle of the road.

Story of stuff

A friend of mine sent me this website which has various videos showing the story of stuff. We all know that factories make things that we use and when we throw things away some those things are recycled and the rest goes to a landfill and is destroyed. However that is the same as saying that we are born, grow up, reproduce, get old and die. There is a lot other things that happen in between that we must consider.

For some reason we always want things that we don’t really need, things that months ago you didn’t even know existed will suddenly become vital for your happiness. We are treating stuff as well as we treat people if not better!

Why is it necessary for us to stop and think “Do I really need this?”, why doesn’t it come naturally to us? I guess that we have been in this vicious cycle for a very long time that we can’t see a way out of it.

It is time for us to change this and become conscious of what is really best for us and tell our friends and family about it. I am here doing my part telling you about it, but what will you do about it?

It is a poor idea to lie to yourself

Looking at this title you might think, “how can I lie to myself?” but we actually do it all the time. How many times haven’t you weighed yourself and thought, “my weight is not actually that high, it is because I just ate or it is just because of this or that”. We even lie to ourselves about obvious things, attempting to make justifications for things just to make ourselves think that everything is alright.

That is a terrible idea! You will not gain from it, you will most probably lose. When we lie to ourselves we take actions according to what we want to believe is true rather than what really is true and that is a recipe for failure. When lying to ourselves we complicate life, we create drama where it is not necessary and we give our attention to the wrong things.

Lying to yourself will make you feel better for that tiny moment but when you decide to open your eyes it might just be too late. Hence, be truthful to yourself - it will make you a more confident person and the things that bother you can be resolved quickly and easily.

Run David, Run

On Saturday I attended a conference hosted by the Kidz2Kidz Santa Shoebox Project.  The guest speaker was David Grier, an extreme athlete.  He told us about his run along the Great Wall of China, the run around the coast of South Africa, the kayaking from Africa to Madagascar and the run around Madagascar.

He doesn’t do these runs for nothing.  Every time he does one of these challenges he is actually raising funds for the Cipla Miles For Smiles Foundation. This foundation raises money for the international non profit organisation Operation Smile which gives underprivileged children born with facial disfigurements such as cleft pallets the opportunity to have reconstructive facial surgery that they otherwise would never have received. Hundreds of children received surgery as a result of the challenges undertaken by David Grier.

He told us that on his challenge around the South African coast he would pass through cities where children were waiting for him and they would give him their lunch money as a donation for the cause. On that trip he raised six hundred thousand Rands from the money given to him by children along the way.

From all of his inspiring stories, what really got me thinking was when he told us that while he was in Madagascar he would pass through small villages and, without having to ask for anything, people would welcome him into their homes and give him food and shelter. And he told us, “those who have the least are the ones who give the most”.

The sound of one hand clapping

For one hand to clap it must clap on something else that is not a hand. When a person claps with one hand it is because the other hand is busy holding something and, depending on the situation, it means that either the clap is really deserved or it is just out of habit.

For example if you are holding a baby or holding yourself in order not to fall and you still make the effort to clap it is because you feel that it is deserving and you will clap with one hand. That sound, even though it is not as loud as a two handed clap, will be taken as a very meaningful action.

The contrary would be one hand clapping by itself while the other hand is busy with something unimportant, such as a piece of paper or holding a handbag that could very well be held on the arm. This gives the impression that the clap is not important, the sound is even softer and there is no enthusiasm and appreciation. Some people would prefer no clapping at all.

The sound of one hand clapping can be a sound of joy or a sound of unimportance. It all depends on where it comes from.

Not all who wander are lost

This sentence made me think of people who travel through The Way of St. James (El Camino de Santiago). This is a well known route that people walk along in order to meditate and re-evaluate their lives. The Way of St James has existed for over a thousand years and it was one of the most important pilgrimages during medieval times. The route was named one of UNESCO’s World Heritage sites.

The people who decide to “wander” along those routes for days, sometimes months, are not necessarily lost. They are people who may have everything going for them; they may have a nice house, a great family and good health. Nevertheless they are still looking for something else - for a spiritual balance and the opportunity to learn a bit more about themselves.

They might be wandering through The Way of St. James, but they sure know where they are going.

Growing up

It is so funny to think about “growing up”. When I thing about it I can most see myself as a child wanting to be an adult. And now here I am as an adult, for a while already, and it is very different to what I envisioned as a child. It seemed almost as if I was meant to get some super-powers and that things would change from one day to another.  But guess what?  That didn’t happen…

I don’t have a problem with growing up, don’t get me wrong, but I guess I thought that I was going to have done more. Not that I think I have done a little, but when you are a child you think of being so many things and in the “growing up process” you make choices to leave some of that childhood dreams behind.

I still want to do so many things and maybe that is why I don’t feel that I am as old as I really am. But it does hit home when you start to find the grey hairs (ok, this has been going on for a while and soon I’ll look like Rogue but it is not like I am that old), or when friends from your teens facebook pictures are pictures of their weddings or babies and you think “How come? They are so young!”.  But they are not anymore and then you realise, I grew up!

Who am I? / Quem sou eu?

I guess that the characteristic that is most noticeable about me, at least to my South African friends, is the fact that I’m very proud to be Brazilian. Ironically when I am in Brazil people actually ask where I am from. It is almost like I have more than one culture while at the same time I have no culture at all!

I love my culture and it is a very big and strong part of me. I’m always telling people how thing are in Brazil not because I am comparing but because I enjoy sharing. I also identify myself with the South African way, so when talk to my Brazilian friends I am always telling them how I live my life here; it is almost as I am an advocate for both cultures. For this post to really represent me I guess it would have to be a mix of English and Portuguese and some “yebo” in the middle.

As an individual I am a friendly person; I enjoy being out and about and talking a lot. I am always looking for things to do. I am always busy but I will always make time for the important people in my life. Then again I can very easily get lost in my own world. I like to laugh and do silly things.

I am not a very religious person. I do not go to church but I believe in god and think I can talk to him from anywhere. I have faith in people until they prove me wrong and because I believe that people will treat you as you treat them I treat everyone with respect. I am a believer in “what goes around comes around”.

As a lover, friend, sister or daughter I am caring.  I worry, I make every excuse to see you and hug you, I definitely tell you what I think, I respect what you think and I make fun of you but all because I love you.

As a student, I am meticulous, I worry and I want to know everything there is to know from every possible angle. I complicate simple things to make sure that they are really simple and I try to simplify complicated things in order to be understood.

As a professional I am a perfectionist, a team player, creative and innovative. My mind works at full speed producing ideas for new projects and sometimes I go crazy because I can’t find time to put all of them into practise.

As a blogger I believe I am still finding myself and my comfort zone. I do see progress and I hope you do too ;). I know I am bringing my perfectionism here too, but I will slowly let it go and I hope you will be with me for that journey. :)

Still that inconvenient

The tragedy that happened in Japan few weeks ago got me once again thinking about climate change. Especially about how everybody, including me, already knows that it is happening and it is not good and we are not doing everything we can about it. It got me thinking especially about the movie “An Inconvenient truth”. Which due to a project at work I’ve watched it over and over in the last three years and I’m more than informed of the facts presented on it.

The movie was done in 2006, five years ago, and the facts presented are from data collected up to 2005. The movie had a very influential opinion leader, Al Gore and won the Oscar® for best documentary in 2006. The movie was definitely a wake-up call for everybody. A lot more people are aware of what is going on but there is still a lot to be done. But as he says on the movie we get used to things and don’t perceive the gradual changes just when a disaster hits that we take not of it.

We are always waiting for rules to come by before change, rules coming from government (Laws) or society (the green movement). I believe that the government has to take the big step, but the big change will only happen with the society buy-in. There are many websites that one can visit to see what else they can do to fight climate change. Here are some tips given by the movie website of things you can do:

Like they say… Think Global, act Local!

How do you step from the top of a 100-foot pole?

Are you confused? Well let’s put the question into perspective. Think of the pole as a big risk, it can be in your business or in your personal life. Stepping out off the pole means taking the risk, taking a leap of faith.

People tend to hold back and don’t give things a chance. The idea of stepping from the top of a 100-foot pole represents our fear of something new, something unknown. Therefore the best way to step from the top of a 100-foot pole is to have an open mind, accept the challenges and believe in you.

If you don’t take the risks, chances are that you will be always waiting for something great to happen in your life and it never will. Great thinks just come to our lives when we take great risks. That is because you can only appreciate the good thing when we really had to get out of your comfort zone in order to achieve it.

We all every now and then have to face a 100-foot pole so don’t be afraid go for it. Make that pole bring you feeling of great joy and pride instead of feeling of fear and hesitation.

Run away… and enjoy the little things

On Sunday I went to the Grand Arena to see the Cirque du Solei show. It was amazing! It made me feel like a child again and I got that feeling of “I want to run away with the circus”. I guess we all want to forget our responsibilities in the real world and delight ourselves with the magic of the simple things every now and then.

I think that if we stop more often to analyse what we really, I mean really, want we would be happier. Most of the time we get caught up in reality and we forget about the magic of the simple things that make us happy. Things like spending the afternoon in the park, playing a board game with your friends or even just being in the company of your family reviving the old stories that just you treasure.

I do not want to convince you to run away with the circus, but just to run away from “reality” and enjoy the little joys a bit more often…

We are what we do

We all want to be seen as individuals but at the same time we are always trying to label people. In all our uniqueness we are just like somebody else in one thing or another.

In a group of people, for example Public Relations students, personalities are not the same even though they are all studying the same things. Even when they all are requested to do the same assignment they will approach the topic from different angles. This is due to everything that they have experienced and done in the past. It is almost as if you get a label for each thing you do throughout your life, but at the end of the day we all have different labels making us unique.

We are all different people. We all have our ways of doing things and handling situations and this defines us and our personalities. Our attitudes and ideas are a great part of what we are; therefore we are what we do.