When I was a child, I remember when the parents of a friend of mine invited me, in an unpretentious way, to spend a weekend away from home. My mother always said: "Don't invite her if you don't really intend to - because she will have her bag ready to go, when we get home, without even thinking". Not exactly in these words, but the important thing is that traveling is in my blood since I was young. Without hesitating, I could spend not only one night away from home, but much more. And not because I loved leaving home - but to explore, to visit, to have other perspectives of reality. Little adventures that always inspired me. Today I can't tell if it's a seed that was planted by my family or if it's something bigger inside me. But the truth is, it doesn't really matter. I am very grateful for the opportunity that my family gave me, from an early age, to explore so many other horizons than the one I could see from window of my room.

Small challenges were always part of our family trips. In a foreign country, if we (my sisters and I) wanted to have an ice cream for example, my father said: “go and order your ice cream.” Without even speaking the right local language, we learned to communicate in whatever way we could, to go after what we wanted, without really depending on anyone. We were encouraged to read maps, find transport connections, understand how airports and stations worked. From an early age we were also encouraged to study other languages, in school, but also in real life. Movies were always in their original languages. Children's songs, always in other languages too. In a way, these small details kept me a little away from Brazilian music for example, but opened doors for other pronunciations and melodies. The first time I boarded on a plane alone, I was ten years old. I remember well the feeling of independence and self pride. I felt giant as I walked along the corridors of the plane all by myself, with a small bag hanging from my neck saying ONE - a symbol of an unaccompanied minor passenger. Other passengers looked with curiosity, eager to knowing the story behind that little blond traveling human, with pink cheeks and a shy smile on her face. In this context, even though I was more reserved, I learned to move around the unknown. Arriving at a busy station with thousands of people, in a strange country, and walk fluidly and confidently after the signs that would take me to my destination.

From an early age I say I was bitten by the insect of travelling and living experiences - I definitely have no allergies to that. I am fascinated by observing humans in different cultures. Their ways of speaking, pronouncing, walking, moving, dressing, feeding. The customs. Behaviours. The contexts they build around themselves. Daily landscapes.

And why do I like it so much? And how does this help me with my creations? It kicks me out of my own context. Pushes me to change perspectives. To question my own habits and behaviours. I notice that we are swallowed up by obsessions and truths - and we forget that there is a whole interesting world out there. I also fall into my own mind traps from time to time. But I created triggers that help me identify the cycles, and then creating the opportunity to go out again. I say create, because since I was little, I saved money to travel. I choose to avoid accumulating things - to become abundant in experiences. And each experience seems like a dream when it’s time to go home. A blink of an eye. A moment. A collection of memories that remain within me. It's like oxygen for my walk - and talk. The movements. The changes. The possibilities of observing other beauties, flavors, aromas and words. The mind and heart seem to expand almost immediately. The creative process gains other layers that connect to other experiences. And then creativity - this beautiful thing - creates the connections of what lays now in the past, what is present now and what has the power to happen

It’s as if parallel universes open up.

The blank pages become the perfect setting,

for my compositions to flow.

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leia o mesmo texto em português, aqui :)

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