I've grown up on a sea side tropical place in Brazil, where my mother used to take us for picnics on sunny mornings on weekdays. "But mom, today we have classes", I'd say a bit confused as she would reply " but staying inside a classroom today? surrounded by walls? it's sunny out there, and there is sand, and sea, and we can make castles, and swim, and eat this fruits & go in the water..." Thats how our days would go.
So the beach was my classroom for a few days of the week- and I loved it. I'd make sand sculptures, run, surf, hold my breath underwater, intend I was a fish, or a mermaid, fight with my brother, destroy whatever he had built, and try to make something better then him. It was always sunny, but sometimes big clouds would appear and cover it completely - the sky would become gray, the sun would be gone and quickly we would pack everything and leave. Because the beach was a place to be only on sunny days.
Years passed. Beach week days were over for a while. Real school started, no more picnics, no more escaping from storms.
High School, São Paulo, University. Beach turned into my escape from the gray city on the weekends, the happiness door where sun would shine through. beach+sun - inseparable .
Adult life brought me overseas. Walking on the beaches of Oregon with my mom. No school to worry anymore, no picnic to enjoy, no sand castles, no water sports. In the sun. There's something wrong in here- how come they don't have sun on their beaches? How come they are so fully dressed? How come I'm walking on the sand with my shoes on, I'm an adult walking in silence on the sand, thoughtful, with my mom next to me. It's cold and windy but kids are still playing, running, getting sandy, making castles. I was in shock. "This is all so new to me". I was amazed. The beach suddenly got bigger, bigger then I have ever seen and it wasn't even sunny. It has revealed itself into my eyes as infinite. And there I was, walking through the infinite with my mom. Only then I realized that the beach has never really been about sand, sun and sea. It was way more then an open wild space, it was my mind, beautiful and free- as it should always be.
