The biggest advantage of writing for a living is that you can work from anywhere. Just open your computer and you’re at the office. It works if you have focus and discipline. In other words, changing your location can give you inspiration. Changing paths, routes, faces, everything we call everyday is very exciting for creativity.
- Jose Eduardo Aguarusa: african mamdani
- Joaquín Ferreira dos Santos: One oversight and I was at the crime scene.
My play Two of Us was on tour in Portugal and I was away from Rio for a few weeks because of it. It ended up acting like an unconscious detox. As the days passed, my body and mind began to rest from the eternal state of alertness in Brazil’s metropolis. “Watch your phone,” “Get in the Uber,” “Get out of the Uber,” “Watch out for bikes,” “Look in the wrong direction for bikes,” “Don’t carry your wallet,” “Avoid that street,” and “Call me when you arrive” are phrases we hear every day and make us feel sick without realizing it. Once I moved away from the endless alerts, I noticed that I started using my phone less, slept better, was more focused, and had a greater sense of presence. No matter where you are, you are actually living in the moment and not thinking about the next moment.
Once professionally (de)trained, journalists become crackers of news channels, listening to them throughout the day as if they were the soundtrack to their daily work. Consuming Brazilian news in real time is for the strong. Screens, posts, messages. Everything is urgent and everything is important. At the end of the day, a feeling of fatigue begins. That cannot change. I didn’t turn on the TV once this season. Interestingly, I didn’t feel less informed. Simply because what matters finds us.
- Pedro Pacifico: Wanted: Unrequited love from when I was a teenager.
Distancing reminds us that it is possible to not be emotionally involved in everything that happens around us. No mental health can handle this. It’s a survival instinct. This feeling is global. In the Tate Modern bookstore, next to the catalogs of Frida Kahlo and Dali, there is a section called “Slow Living” with titles like “Living Calmly” to help you face reality more stably and systematically. They always defend the idea of relearning to live in a world where if you make a mistake you’ll get run over. As his return to Japan approaches, the memory of having to investigate the strange behavior of the Centron family triggers everything.
For this reason, this feeling became clearer to me when I read the book “The Joy of Going Out” (Editor Aguil) by Andre Carvalhal. I have been fortunate to have known Andre for over 20 years. He was always a fan of his time and was perfect at everything he set out to do. In his new book, he talks about exactly this important (and why it’s fun) attitude to stay indoors for as long as necessary to avoid getting sick. This action applies not only to news, but also to people, events, networks, and screens, abandoning the trappings of algorithms. Being outside is more than just a pleasure. It might be a relief.
But sometimes the joy comes from retaining knowledge. Tania Brandao, an ace historian and theater critic, is organizing a cycle at Teatro Grause Rocha starting this week, featuring an exhibition and reading of plays by João Bettencourt, one of Brazil’s most successful playwrights and author of such works as “The Day They Kidnapped the Pope” and “Bonifacio Billions,” marking the 100th anniversary of his birth. In a country that doesn’t place much emphasis on memory, much less theatrical memory, this commemoration is commendable.
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