After the third decade

"First love, the undergraduate, the second disappointment, the master's degree. In the third decade, minutes start to be counted in a different way. As if there is no time left to chase after the clock hands of other people’s watches. As if the ears cannot be silently lent to support borrowed ideas anymore. As if everything starts to be about priorities: subjects, goals, affections - all organised to the extent that they fit the edge of your soul. Nothing less.

There are a couple or more friends who will undoubtedly be those of a lifetime. Those are the ones who give you the accomplice smile that knows childhood secrets, and who will make you laugh year after year. They are also the ones who listen about the passengers you met on the way, but who didn't follow the route, because you don't stop at meaningless wagons anymore.

In the third decade, there is no longer the fear of getting wet under the rain and so it is okay to forget the umbrella. Thus, the word ‘risk’ acquires meaning when you realise that getting wet unintentionally is the luck of those who seize it, on purpose.

You stop worrying about what the world will give you tomorrow and start thinking seriously about the inheritance you will leave, because most of the time, “I can't” is actually just not wanting to make the effort of being the author of your own paragraphs.

In the third decade, some have already said “Yes, I do”, and others have recently split up. The bouquet came to your hand and you might be next. But you already know that in reality “happily ever after” is the mutual decision to write a love chapter every single day. Only then will the book remain open.

In the third decade, saying “no” is no longer a sin, so you can gracefully retreat from anywhere where your presence is no longer welcome. You can turn your footsteps from any sidewalk that undermines your integrity and let your spirit tell you where to go by genuinely wearing your own shoes. And then you know that, wherever you are, it will be your home. As, even far away from it, you are alone a nation and will carry its name wherever you go, every day, for the rest of your life.

São Paulo, Brazil. August, 2016."