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My friend J.P. likes to know what I think about things. From a slap on the Oscars Award to international politics, he cares to hear my point of view and I certainly appreciate it. For this reason, even perfectly aware of the risks implied, I allow myself to be very sincere with him.

When he asked me about elements to consider when choosing a career, the first thing I mentioned to him was the importance of passion. People usually say that you have to like what you do, in order to become good on it, but I would go even further and say that “liking” it, is just the beginning.

If you plan on doing something for the long term, you need to be passionate about what you do. How passionate? To the point of dedicating an incredible amount of hours of your day, of your life, to it and still have a twinkle in your eye when you talk about it with someone else.

Don’t be a fool: there will always be disappointment, disillusionment and a lot of tears along the way. Will that stop you? No, because you will still know it is part of a game worth playing. How will you know that? You will simply know, trust me, or better, don´t trust me, trust yourself.

Be passionate about what you do, but don´t forget that the word passion carries both sides: the drama and the thrill, high and low, yin and yang. Be passionate about what you do and you will be in tune with the continuous flow of life.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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It is amazing how some dates are engraved in our affective memories. May 5th, for example. It is linked to a very special date for me, my grandmother’s birthday. I’ve already talked about my mother’s mother here and how her faith in education managed to change the destiny of her children. However, as time passes I feel more and more connected to my grandmother not because of what she did for the family, but because I understand what she stopped doing precisely because of the family.

In other words, I admire her for the woman she was.

It may seem obvious, but if you take a look at the social media bios and see how many people define themselves as “mother of…”., “father of…”, you will see it is not that obvious at all. Besides, as much as I fail to understand such personality definitions based on motherhood or fatherhood, these are at least voluntary definitions, I believe. The same cannot be said for what happened to women in relation to marriage and motherhood in the early twentieth century.

Before being a choice, raising a family was an obligation and while men usually managed to keep some outdoors habits, the limits imposed on the life of a married woman with children would be much stricter. My grandmother was a very intelligent woman and I would loved to have chatted with her about many things.

What were her dreams as a girl? Her first love? Her favourite dress? I’d like to have asked her a lot of questions, though I know she wouldn’t have had all the answers. I wish we could have had at least the chance to look for some answers together. I wish many things, but that’s okay, for I know that every time I succeed, she is with me on the way.

“And what about time?”, you may be asking yourself. Well, as Caetano Veloso would say: Time is as weak as water. Happy birthday, Granny!

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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How do you like to learn new things? I love it! At least, this is what I conclude every time I conquer the procrastination monster and start floating through the garden of delights, also known as: “things I did not know about, but now I do”. Learning is like exercising: if you do not like it, it is probably because you never gave yourself the chance. Actually, our body is programmed to like both.

Falling in love with the subject you are learning about and turning your interest into something that can be shared with others is the basic principle of research, and I am glad to remember this feeling while collect information for a new project in music.

Do you also sometimes wonder about how different your life would be, if you had taken a different step in the past? Sooner or later, we find ourselves at this point on the road, questioning some (maybe all) of our previous choices. No shame on that. Just try not to get lost on it, for it is a tricky road. It can easily lead you to nowhere, so whenever you find yourself in a “coulda, woulda, shoulda” situation, the best thing to do is to fight back using a good argument.

Here is mine: becoming a researcher was one of the most valuable and useful achievements in my life. Researching is learning and learning opens your mind. I could say it using a lot of fancy words, explaining how the process of discovering new things increases brain synapses in a way that learning the next thing is a little bit easier, and the process repeats itself every time you experience new situations. Every time you go outside your box, so to speak. Instead, let´s have it short and straight: learning new stuff makes you more intelligent.

A very intelligent man was born on this day, in 1898. He saw the twentieth century rising, overcame tremendous adversities on his childhood and teenage years and managed to build himself a solid reputation as a lawyer and briefly as a politician. He was an amazing guy and he happened to be my dad. I had him around for a short time, but somehow he has always been quite present in my life. His name was Oséas and I tell more about him here, if you are interested.

I would like to wish him a Happy Birthday and tell him how grateful and honored I am for having him as my father. I know he will get the message. Love always find a way.

Be seeing you!

G.F.