Between the Cracks: Thoughts on Tenacity
life: examined is a compendium of ideas, thoughts, and questions about living a creative, intentional life—written to you from my perch in Portugal.
—> life: examined is reader-supported through buy me a coffee <—
Hello from soggy Setúbal!
After a week of summer-like warm (almost too warm) weather, Friday has greeted us with torrential downpours. More rain is in the forecast for tomorrow, but I'm not complaining, and neither are the plants on my patio.
I often start each issue of life: examined with a weather report. Why is that, I wonder? Is it my awkward attempt at small talk? A way to bring you into my world? Perhaps.
If you know, do tell.
Oh the Tenacity
Moving abroad, then continuing life overseas requires a tenacity not taught in school. Not, at least, in the public schools I attended.
I think about this uncommon tenacity when I meet people who are new to Portugal.
These newcomers had the fortitude to uproot from their homes and communities to enter the unknown. A place with a new language, customs, and apparently only some of the best junk food brands.
They left the land of strip malls and put faith, more-or-less, in the process that their D7 visas would be approved and that their new life in Portugal would be rich with friends, good food and wine, plentiful sunshine, and whatever else it is that dreamers who come to a new land dream of.
But will this initial vigor and bloom last? Will these modern-day explorers hold on to the oomph that brought them here and alchemize it into the stuff that sustains them?
Yes, some make it. And some don't.
For some people, the foreign things about living abroad are just too…foreign. Too demanding and time-consuming. Too humiliating. Some incomers balk at being reduced to linguistic two-year-olds as they attempt to string together a few Portuguese words with English into semi-coherent sentences.
It's not easy, this living abroad stuff.
Those who are looking for easy will find this experiment too challenging. Or they'll adapt.
I didn't move here looking for ease—I came here to challenge myself, to live along the edges that skirt my comfort zone, and to learn who I am outside a familiar culture. I’m getting all that and more.
Get Growing
There is evidence of tenacity everywhere, wherever you live. Growing through the manhole covers and water drains, sprouting through rock walls and cigarette-butt strewed calçadas, you find proof of strength.
This proof, this strength, is what I wanted to capture in these images.
Notice the greenery around your home. Not the cultivated stuff, but the volunteers. Weeds that are thought to be a worthless nuisance—just something to dig up and discard.
In these images, especially for those of you who hope to transplant yourselves elsewhere, may you find the inspiration to endure and beauty in unexpected places.
JUST ONE GOOD LINK:
This link is via fellow life examiner Rob Walker of The Art of Noticing (get the book—it’s fab!).
When I read his newsletter at the end of December, I was surprised and humbled to see that he used my essay, A writer not writing, as inspiration for his end-of-2022 piece —> The Poetry of Distractions. Oh, and Sherman Alexie… :)
FAVORITE PORTUGUESE TO ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE WEEK:
For those who are amply-endowed—and like a good deal, I offer this new store announcement:
This new site really has everything you need for your big ass (including discounts)
Thank you Susan (!), Sally, Rich, Sande, Peter, Dok, Kris, and Mark & Giselle for supporting life: examined through Buy Me a Coffee. I appreciate all of you!
Whether a coffee, a comment, a like, or a share—I’m grateful to have you along for the ride.
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Until next time —> be kind, hug animals, and thank you for reading life: examined!
Another "life: examined" that was exactly on time. I've been thinking so much about the "bloom where you're planted" metaphor lately, and my camera roll has for years been dotted with plants growing in the most unlikely of places...tenaciously persevering, quietly thriving, gently teaching.
I, for one, love the weather-as-baseline discussion. It sets a tone for context, especially for those who are reading this wondering, "Could I one day possibly be sitting in the very place she's writing from?" Been there. :)
And muito obrigada for another brilliant Portuguese-to-English translation and a SMIDGE SIGHTING!
Hi Shanna, I enjoyed your post. We've been here almost two years now and have experienced much of what you describe. Before we moved from Indiana, I adopted the mantra "Portugal will teach me patience, Portugal will try my patience". (That inspired by the experience of doing the D7 visa application.) Your words resonated because I realized that tenacity is the flip side of patience. We have to have tenacity to keep going and the patience to push through the rough spots. Thanks for expanding my thinking this morning. Obrigado!