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Do you appreciate the richness around you?
🎼 📖 Read Intellego #031 by listening to:
Disparities
I came from a land of contrasts where extremes meet. A place where abundance and poverty coexist. Where delicacy and harshness embrace each other.
The eight and eighty of life. Living in between worlds, I’ve seen a little of everything…
On one side, a beautiful coastline, humid climate, sugar cane smell, vivid landscape, crowds commuting, skyscrapers and opulence.
On the other, the dirt road, dry and hot climate, adobe houses, simplicity, dust and scarcity reign. A place where life insists on existing.
I’ve walked among the rich and I’ve also celebrated with the poor. I’m adaptable, even if some say otherwise.
I’ve seen people wasting food, while others begging for a piece of bread for their children.
Some spend $100 entrance tickets in a nightclub, while others make a living or beg for cents in a traffic light.
I have witnessed floods that devastated entire cities; as well as droughts that forced families to buy gallons of water to survive for months.
I’ve seen well-fed animals thriving in pastures, as well as creatures withered away from thirst and hunger.
Some people take shower with a bucket of cold water, while others have the privilege of a 10-minute hot shower.
The lucky ones drink bottled water, while others drink untreated water from ponds like any other animal.
I have met people who were so rich that all they had was money. And I have also met people with generous hearts and no possessions.
What is trash for some is luxury for others. Think about that.
Today I can reconcile these differences better within myself. But it was not always like this.
Nothing is just black and white. The world I live in has countless shades of gray. It’s plural, diverse, contradictory, so as my inner world. Yours is no different.
“Enjoy the little things in life, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
Commonplace
What is your superpower? Mine is to prepare and bake my own sourdough bread.
See yourself au naturel, without masks or filters. Question your beliefs and perceptions.
When needed, make them obsolete. Enjoy the condition of anonymity. Cheer the perks of being just another one in the crowd.
Let go of the ego, the arrogance of being someone and doing everything. It’s okay not being remembered, applauded, invited, prestigious, influential.
Legacy is more important than a name, a brand, a number. It’s not about power or being in the spotlight. It’s about transformation and generational impact.
What is the impact you want to cause on people’s lives? Positive or negative?
Don’t let money, followers, degrees, accolades, and titles impress you. Instead, embody kindness, integrity, humility, character, and generosity.
Many would rather lose a great opportunity than fix the situation. We live in strange and superficial times.
The greatest luxury in life is health. Just attempt to do something you love when you feel sick. It’s awful, I know.
The second one is the precious time we invest in genuine connections. Time with family and friends is sacred. It gives meaning to life and fills our hearts with joy.
The third is the time invested in our work, passions and craft. Everything that brings fulfillment, sustains our lifestyle and keeps us engaged.
The rest are accessories, my friend. Anything else on your bucket list is unimportant.
"The ability to simplify means to eliminate the unnecessary so that the necessary may speak."
Treasures
How can you extract joy from the ordinary? It’s simple, pay attention to the details.
Love. Peace. Silence. True luxury lies in the simplest of things. This perspective invites us to reevaluate what, in fact, makes us happy.
It shifts our focus from possessions to experiences, from grandeur to the genuine pleasures that often go unnoticed.
What do you consider luxury in your life? What may be a deal-breaker for me, it may be insignificant to you. And that’s all fine.
Society instilled the belief that luxury was scarce, exclusive, expensive, and out of reach for us. But it’s a scam. Contrary to people think, true luxury lies in the ordinary.
As years go on, we came to realize that luxury was those little things that we didn’t know how to value when we had them and now that they are gone; we miss them so much...
Luxury is being healthy, not being on medications, not stepping foot in a hospital, being able to go for a walk, tie your shoes laces by yourself, talking to old friends, hugging your grandma, kissing your mother...
It’s also loving someone and being loved. It’s getting involved in an exciting project, having a long conversation with your father you’ve never had before.
And more...
Having coffee and toasts on Sunday mornings, visiting your hometown in the countryside, making love to your partner, preparing your own meal, spending quality time with your kids.
It’s when you find content in everyday moments. When you find happiness in the trivial. I call it simplicity’s refinement.
The secret is to embrace and appreciate the ordinary. But above all, it’s the privilege of being alive. Here and now.
You know, if I were a flower, I would choose to be a sunflower. Because it’s a symbol of adaptability and prosperity.
Because it’s vibrant, the cheerful blooms look great. A sunflower is a change catalyst. It supports wildlife, its roots silently improve soil health and combats erosion.
Beyond the aesthetic appeal, I admire sunflowers for many reasons. But above all, it’s because they’re always searching for the sunlight.
"The greatest wealth is to live content with little."
Final Thoughts
In a world where the glamor of material wealth often overshadows life's treasures, embracing simplicity invites us to redefine our understanding of luxury.
It beckons us to celebrate the beauty of everyday moments, the richness of relationships, and the abundance of experiences that enrich our lives beyond measure.
By shifting our focus from what we own to what we experience and cherish, we discover that life's true luxuries are not rarefied or exclusive but are everywhere, available to those who seek them with an open heart and a grateful spirit.
"The true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life."
Talk to you next week.
Light and peace,
—FMV
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✍️ Written by Fabíola Maia-Veres every Tuesday at 7pm.
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