Beholding life with pure childish eyes is surely a free ticket to happy feelings and experiences. And almost every day offers infinite possibilities of taking a new ride. No need for big money, superfluous or sophisticated things, just a clean mind and soul and a deep thankfulness for being alive.
One year ago, in January of this year (2020) when the virus (corona virus SARS-Cov2) was already walking among us, even if we didn’t know, I had this same intense feeling of preciousness that I find almost everywhere and in everything (at least in the good ones). But perhaps the state of wonder I was experiencing was even more intense because it was easy to foresee what would come very soon.
I remember how the afternoon of the first day of January of 2020 was sunny and pleasant, though the night became quite cold. Beholding the sunset from the top of a giant wheel with tiny people walking below was like traveling above a fragile precious world that was about to stand still for a long time. Nothing stood really still, only everything was moving in a different way and rhythm.
I tried to adapt to the new rhythm or perhaps I adapted the new rhythm to my own rhythm. I felt I was moving in an immobile world. Restrictions give me this sensation of immobility. But I never felt immobile myself. Childish eyes and mind were always there to put everything in movement, mainly within.
The video below (recorded in January 1, 2020) is just the recording of some moments of that afternoon and nightfall by the sea (at Cascais Bay).
Between Dusk & Night - Photography & video by São Ludovino
The following poem (Turning Still) was written very recently but thinking also about that same impression of preciousness that is offered to us so many times. Even if it is ephemeral, take the gift! It is as precious as a star and there are stars living within each pure soul.
Turning Still
The star that shines in my hands Didn’t fall from the sky Came from somewhere within Stands by my side and persists Walks with my feet and leads the journey Flies and rests with the same thousand wings Sleeps and follows ahead in some unknown corner of my soul.
The star that grows in my garden Is one of a kind, like all the stars of all gardens It has no roots in the ground, only feet of light Large embracing arms that love the same way The sun, the rain of today, the impredictable tomorrow. It feeds from the air and things that are what they are Offers fruits and seeds to the past and to the future To the eternal present of the flowing days.
The star that looks into my eyes Lives entirely in my eyes Speaks the language of truth Simple, universal and transparent It can’t be except what it is Finds its meaning and place Wherever the truth of life exists.
Moving still, I look around and within From within and from beyond I see more than my eyes can see I see the star that was born with me. I shine and merge in a star’s hands and eyes. Turning still is the eternal journey of the ephemeral The one that never began and won’t end.
