Nota Breve

Podia ter chamado este blog "Reflexões de uma luso-americana"; escolhi "Mensagem numa garrafa" por desconhecer o destino das minhas palavras e o impacto que estas terão. Será escrito nas versões de português de Portugal (pelos menos da maneira que me recordo) e de inglês americano.

This blog could have been named "Musings of a Portuguese-American"; I chose "Message in a Bottle" as I will never know who my words will reach and the impact they'll have on all those strangers. It is being written in American English, as well as in Portuguese from Portugal.

23 de maio de 2015

Standing in someone else’s shoes




This video was e-mailed to me by a lady surgeon I recently met. She knows how worried I am and wanted to reassure me that I am not alone and that she understands. For my part, I got something else out of it too: the next time I feel slighted by someone else's actions and choose to criticize, snap at them or curse them under my breath, I should instead remember that I know nothing-to-little about that other person and all that he/she is probably enduring. None of us knows what goes on in other people's lives, whatever hardships they are experiencing. Life is a constant whirlwind of joy and heartache; we need to be grateful for the former and learn to accept the latter with strength, dignity and empathy.

Empathy has nothing to do with pity or charity and everything to do with tolerance and solidarity. It also helps tremendously to maintain a cool head throughout any (and every) ordeal we may be experiencing. I see myself in one of the cases depicted in the above video.
  http://henryharveybooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/aaaa-empathy-quote.jpg

9 de maio de 2015

(more good stuff):

End of the Line by The Traveling Wilburys (Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, George Harrison)



Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze
Well it's all right, if you live the life you please
Well it's all right, doing the best you can
Well it's all right, as long as you lend a hand

You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring (End of the Line)
Waiting for someone to tell you everything (End of the Line)
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring (End of the Line)
Maybe a diamond ring

Well it's all right, even if they say you're wrong
Well it's all right, sometimes you gotta be strong
Well it's all right, as long as you got someone to lay with
Well it's all right, everyday is Judgment Day

Maybe somewhere down the road away (end of the line)
You'll think of me and wonder where I am these days (end of the line)
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays (end of the line)
Purple haze

Well it's all right, even when push comes to shove
Well it's all right, if you got someone to love
Well it's all right, everything will work out fine
Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line

Don't have to be ashamed of the car I drive (end of the line)
I'm just glad to be here, happy to be alive (end of the line)
It don't matter if you're by my side (end of the line)
I'm satisfied

Well it's all right, even if you're old and gray
Well it's all right, you still got something to say
Well it's all right, remember to live and let live
Well it's all right, the best you can do is forgive
Well it's all right, riding around in the breeze
Well it's all right, if you live the life you please
Well it's all right, even if the sun don't shine
Well it's all right, we're going to the end of the line

To be or not to be (Empathetic) – that is the question



(Uma questão de diferenças de opinião e atitude):

You can’t save the world. If you want to save the world join the Peace Corps…” disse-me, de forma meia-exasperada com um tom de voz que dizia, também, “leave me alone…”; com um certo desdenho, mesmo.

Quem me dera poder fazer como tu e deitar a injustiça e outros problemas semelhantes para trás das costas. Quem me dera ter mais imaginação ou mais recursos para poder fazer o que, realmente, me daria gosto e valesse realmente a pena, algo que me fizesse sentir realizada e útil. Quem me dera conhecer alguém com mais meios do que eu que estivesse disposto a arregaçar as mangas para mudar o que está mal.  Quem me dera não sentir esta impotência associada a saber que tenho as mãos atadas e ver o tempo a passar sem que nada se resolva.  Reconhecer esta  impotência dá-me volta aos nervos.


Sei perfeitamente que os problemas que assolam este nosso Mundo são muito numerosos e de demasiada dimensão para serem resolvidos por uma só pessoa, mas será isso razão para não fazermos nada?  Outra frase que oiço com frequência é, “You can’t save them all so, for your own sanity, you might as well ignore them!” Really?... pergunto eu.  Então isso é razão para que se mantenha o actual “status quo” e se continue de papo para o ar, sentado na poltrona a vegetar e a ver televisão? Que raio de consciência é essa? Que raio de iniciativa é essa?  Como escreveu Bob Dylan, “How many times can a man turn his head pretending he just doesn't see? How many ears must one person have before he can hear people cry? How many deaths will it take till he knows that too many people have died?”   
This is what the Dalai Lama says on compassion: “Compassion, tolerance, forgiveness and self-discipline are qualities that help us lead our daily lives with a calm mind.” But of course, you think the Dalai Lama’s full of hot air, so I don’t expect you to get this simple truth. Continue being miserable; by yourself, because I've had enough.

Não sou muito apologista em passar cheques para certas instituições de caridade e solidariedade sem saber exactamente como cada dollar & cent é distribuido; grupos deste tipo há por aí muitos, mas não são para mim. Eu preciso de estar envolvida. Acredito no seguinte ditado: “Give a man a fish and you have fed him today. Teach a man to fish and you have fed him for a lifetime.” Assim sim. Nunca perdi completamente a ilusão de deixar este mundo melhor do que quando cá cheguei e com o fim a se aproximar a passos largos, maior parece ser a urgência. Ou talvez já vá sendo tempo de mudar de “tude.” É  o chamado “if you can’t beat them, join them”: rendição; bandeira branca; mãos ao ar; desistir – mas isso seria passar o resto da vida a “fazer de conta” e isso seria traição ao que sou, coisa que não recomendo a ninguém.

2 de maio de 2015

Because we are about to lose (yet another) music legend




"Because when I leave this time, babe, I won’t be back no more. No more. So give me one more kiss before I go.” 

Consider it done, sir: here’s a virtual kiss from the East coast to your home in Vegas. Please be at peace. Please leave in peace.

1 de maio de 2015

Stand by me

Uma das canções mais bonitas e românticas que conheço. RIP, Mr. King and thank you.