Easy as that. Sometimes we are aware, sometimes we are not.
I was writing these lines during one for my trips from Braga to Porto. Braga is the city where I studied, and I feel like home, is like my student city, but Porto…that city has stolen my heart.
Each time I seek to find myself I’m running like a crazy one to this amazing city, that got me. There I meet with some friends for a coffee or a beer, or sometimes I enjoy the company of myself. Sometimes it feels that I just need to spend time with myself, as I read somewhere that “The strongest man in the world is he who stands most alone”.
And, as life showed me until know, the loneliest moments of my life stand for those moments when I become stronger and stronger. This could also be the reason why I keep saying that everything is on our hands – and the most important, our life.
What is life?
For me is a sum of my dreams, wishes, fears, mistakes, plans, changes, movements, short moments with strangers or the best friends, my travels, my readings, my music, my decisions…
I would like to be able to make you all imagine how I’m writing these lines. Let’s see if I can make it … so, I’m in one of the Portugal Urban Trains that connects Braga with Porto. Is a 1h and 10minutes travel. And since is a rush hour, you can imagine that the train is crowded … With some luck, I manage to find a sitting place next to the window and oriented in the train direction….
Gently I took out my laptop from my backpack… reading something related to my work. On my right side, there is a student boy who is watching a movie, in front of me … a girl is chatting with one of her friends about deadlines at school and projects. As a completely normal reaction in this scenario … I looking for my headphones to listen to some music – my choice Epic Movies Soundtracks.
Oh, I forgot to tell you what time it is: 17:10. I left Braga with the 16:34 train, running like crazy and thinking that I won’t be able to make – I’m always running late – but I did it. And during this time of the year, that’s the best time one can travel on this route. You can catch the amazing sunset and you can see how the dawn covers the city, how the sun says goodbye to this part of the earth while moving to lighten the rest of it.
My epic music goes perfectly with what I’m seeing. A romantic view…white houses with red roofs, colourful houses with red roofs, green trees, nature…then the train stations full of graffiti street art – I just like graffiti). Soon the darkness will cover this side of the world…and when I will arrive in one of the most beautiful train stations it will be already night…but I will contemplate it, again and again, those walls and those tiles…this São Bento station gives me such a unique sentiment…as Porto offers me.
Weirdly, I feel that this is my place, my inspiration, my muse. I think that this is the city from where all my thoughts, believes and characters will fly away in some chapters (hopefully) of a future book. Porto is that European city that makes me feel so creative..in his sunny days.
It cost me a lot to understand and to accept that I’m not ordinary and I’m not like others. I’m different and this is my truth, which could be yours as well. Ignoring that could be a big mistake.
Is easier to stay on your comfort side, but at the same time going out is what makes you feel alive. It is totally s up to me to I decide if to put myself in some challenging situation or not. However, we don’t know … but the great adventure happens while acting, not waiting.
