In spite of what’s going on in the world out there. The wars, the issues with climate, the human suffering due to poverty and sickness, I work daily to keep my inner world calm and peaceful. It’s a daily practice requiring discipline and contemplation. Beauty remains all around us. In everyday encounters and the small acts of kindness we can witness, if we choose to look. Where we put our attention is what blooms. I see the thorn on the rose bush, but my eyes focus on the rose. I see the clever geometry of her petals and the velvet texture of her tilt against the sun. If my world is an enchanted place to be, then others will be happy to be welcomed into it. Then the effect ripples out into the wider world, as a counter balance to the not such nice things we cannot change.

I was taught this practice by my grandfather. He sang to me as a child. He taught me jokes and card games. He showed me that smiles and kindness and tender caring for others in adversity, is the only path to follow. He created his world like a sunny garden. He led a team of countrymen during World War II. They worked in factories making bombs for the war effort. When peace came in 1945 he brought them home to Somerset to start new lives. He saw them grieve. He saw them cry. Then he would sing to raise their spirits. Of all the people I cherish the most as an inspiration it is him. He would be proud that I am proud to be Portuguese.

Being proud to be Portuguese is as much about what we create in our inner world, as what we show to the outer world. Authenticity is about being vulnerable and at the same time courageous enough to allow the inner world expression. To allow our divinity and divine will to shine forth. As you see my world and I see your world, a better world gets built. Brick by brick. Stone by stone.