I have just come from a friend's house, a flight attendant for at least the past 23 years to whom the world has literally the size of a computer screen. We opened a bottle of a 1995 Haut-Médoc and talked for hours like all friends should do at least once a week. Between many blablabla, we talked about a Paulo Coelho story just published in this very rainy and gray Sunday of a hot summer in Rio. So much water, so much heat, it's simply unthinkable!!!! It has to be lived....experienced...otherwise, it's just unexplainable.
The title is "Change". And it made us think, laugh and make crazy comments!!!! I will take the liberty to reproduce this text below, so someone can feel what I felt...most importantly because the author is an unknown and the hope of finding him in this huge world of God, which is the internet, is always very encouraging!
"Change.
But start slowly, because the direction is more important than the speed.
Sit in another chair, on the other side of the table.
Later, change tables.
When you leave, try to walk on the other side of the street. Later, change the way and walk calmly through other streets, observing attentively the places where you pass by.
Take other buses. Change for a while the style of your clothes; give away your old shoes, and walk barefoot for some days - even if at home.
Take an entire afternoon off just to walk freely, hear the birds chanting or the sounds of a car.
Open and close drawers and doors with your left hand.
Sleep on the other side of the bed. Then, try to sleep in different beds.
Watch other television shows, read other books, live other romances - even if they only exist on your imagination.
Sleep later. Sleep earlier.
Learn a new word every day.
Eat a little less, eat a little more, well, eat differently; try new sauces, new colors, things that you never dared to taste.
Eat lunch in other places, go to new restaurants, drink another type of drink, buy your bread in another bakery.
Eat lunch earlier, dinner later, or vice-versa.Try the new every day: the new side, the new method, the new taste, the new way, the new pleasure, the new position.
Choose another market, another brand of soap, other brand of toothpaste.
Take a shower in new, different times.
Write with pens with different colors.
Go walk around in new places.
Love every day a little more, in different ways. Even if you scare your partner, suggest what you always dreamed of when you're having sex.
Switch purses, wallets, bags, buy new eyeglasses, write poetry.
Open an account in a new bank. Go to other movie theatres, other hairdresses, other theatres, visit new museums.
Change. And think seriously about getting another job, a new occupation, a job that's more in line of what you always hoped for in life, more dignified, more human.
If you don't find reasons to be free, invent them: be creative.
And take your time to travel - a long, unpretentious trip, rather without a final destination.
Experiment new things. Switch again. Change, again. Experiment another time.
Life will certainly present to you better things, and worse things than you previously known, but that doesn't matter.
What matters is the change, the movement, the dynamics, the energy.
The only thing that doesn't change is death, and you are alive."We also decided to change. The plans of a trip to Northeast Brazil suddenly became ugly and dull. Why the blue sky of a paradisiac beach, if we can fly to the cold, gray, but divine and wonderful Paris?
The choice was made right there, helped by sips of the superb wine that made us feel the promise of adventure in the air. Maybe more expensive....but what's the matter with that little detail in face of the prospect of being in Paris and the opportunities it presents? End of nightouts for at least 2 months! Well, something to think about...
But what about the City of Light? The love sights on the corner of Marais? The window of the Fauchon shop at adeleine? The vision of Champs Elysees right there at our feet? The new Prada boutique??? Nooo! I'd rather have the regional crafts, more politically correct... But what about Georges, the restaurant at the Plateau Beaubourg with that breathtaking view? Maybe a humble lobster, with our feet on the hot sand and the hair flying with the tropical wind, woud be definitely more appropriate.But wasn't change the word of order?
God save the tinted effect of contained emotions. Call to arms! Or more precisely, to the telephone! We called Elisa, my friend who's always open to new adventures, because, according to her, she came to this world for leisure. Lucky us, we took a ride...
All set. But of course, the rest will be saved for our next meeting, probably one when I'll make the internet community that reads me, dribble with envy. What better than Paris with your best crazy friends? Yes, definitely worth the risk, worth changing routes!
Let's find out? Next month.For everybody and for myself.
Celina Penteado is a Brazilian publicist and journalist. She currently works for the celebrated Brazilian chef José Hugo Celidônio. Her passions in life include gastronomy, wines, and traveling... the art of living well. After living in Europe for many years, she returned to Rio de Janeiro, the place she considers the best in the world to live...Well!COPYRIGHT © 2003-1997 BRZ GROUP
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