In Praise of Paulistas

It’s always interesting to go to a country for the very first time and form an impression of how the people there think and feel about their lives. I’ve just come away from a short trip to Sao Paulo in Brazil with a deep respect for the people I met there. I’m not sure I’ve been to any other place where they seem so content with what they have. Not complacent, because they clearly have aspirations to better their lot. But those aspirations don’t get in the way of appreciating what they have today.

Simon works in a stockroom in a cable company. In his own words, a big part of his job is moving boxes around. He wants to save some money and go back to school to learn technical skills so he can move on in his career. I’d have thought that his attitude to his current job would be tolerant at best. Not a bit of it. “I love my job”, he said, and by gosh he meant it. He even makes a point of getting to work half an hour early, even thought it’s a 90 minute commute for him and he needs to change buses twice just to get there. But he still hits his job with gusto everyday. Simon lives in a small house with his parents, who are separated but still live together, and with his sister. It seems like an awkward arrangement, yet they seem to be genuinely happy to be with each other.

34-year-old Alex revealed the secret to us. “The best place in the world is my home”, he told us, “it’s with my family that I remember who I am and I renew myself”. He told us without a trace of bitterness that after a 3-year marriage that ended in divorce he has put all his energy into his businesses. He talked about these businesses with pride, and with excitement for his dreams of making them even bigger. But the point where his face truly lit up was when he told us about his five siblings who live within shouting distance, his niece who has recovered from serious illness, and the joyful chaos when they all got together for Mothers’ Day a few days ago.

I’ve been places where people are content with what they have, and I’ve been places where they are excited about what they will accomplish in the future, and I’ve been places where people talk with passion about how their lives are centered on their families. But it’s only in Brazil that I’ve heard people talk about all three meshed together so perfectly that regardless of their present condition they are full of happiness and hope.

As Sandra told me half an hour before I took a taxi to the airport: “In Brazil we have a saying, it will all be okay in the end. And if it is not okay, that only means that you haven’t yet come to the end.”

I’ve never heard more beautiful words to live by.