Portugal and the Ocean – Everything changes and is in motion

It came the time that finally I could decide about my holidays, where and when I want to spend it. During my life in London I never was out of the big city for longer than one day and in purpose of being on holidays. More of… during my life I never decided before how I want to spend my holidays, it always became a fact after someone’s else decision or consequence of someone’s action. It pulled me towards a big sea or ocean since few years and somewhere on the horizon I could see Portugal appearing to my eyes.

When I’ve started to work in a Coffee Shop I’ve met a Portuguese fellow called Julio. In time we become good friends and we’ve help each other out. One day Julio invited me to visit him in Portugal. As he told me when we met again in Portugal, he never believed that I will come to his country to visit him – he was shocked!
I was glad to see him as my time in a busy Coffee Shop was more pleasant when he was around, with his humour and way of being. He always cheered me up when I was down or angry. I think the same was with him about me. I always remember as we had the same passion for beautiful women that we could meet in our Coffee Shop. Because of that, we always had something to talk about.
The day that he left London to come back to his country everything changed and I kinda was missing him in my work as the other staff completely changed as well.

For the holiday I went with my other friend (and her boyfriend) from work which is a mutual friend of Julio as well.
We’ve visited Lisbon, Porto, Apulia and Castel de Obidios. Portugal surprised me positively with it’s beauty. Especially the weather that I’ve missed so much from Poland. Of course in Poland we don’t have enough good conditions to grow Lemons in XXL size, but we do have hot summers, which make my life more enjoyable.
Since a long time I was thinking about the Seas and Oceans. I hear them calling me. It’s strange and I know, that after finishing my Uni, probably I will land somewhere near a Sea or an Ocean. It has this kind of energy, silence (well, how silent waves can be), motion, tempo or even wisdom.
During my stay in Apulia – the small village that I was living – the Ocean taught me an important lesson – about transience.
Julio explained me, how the Ocean is expanding towards the coast and it “eats” it year by year.
The other day, I’ve sat in front of it and saw how aggressive it can be. I’ve remembered those many stories that I’ve heard about it’s untamed nature – how the Ocean swallowed people on boats or even those near the land.
The conclusion was obvious: Everything changes and is in motion.

Time doesn’t matter for a huge force like the Ocean. Constant dropping wears away the stone. And it’s a matter of “time” that the Earth will transform due to the Oceans activity. Generations will pass away, but the Ocean, will stay.

I’ve finally understood that I need to live my life for the sake of “living” it. Be present in life and make sure, that it doesn’t pass through my fingers like the sands of Apulia, on doing something unimportant or unnecessary.
Even today I had a thought, while practising my vocals. I dug out my old scrapbook in which I’ve wrote my first lines. I couldn’t believe that about six years ago I’ve wrote one of the first ones in my life that made “damage” in the Underground. I’ve started to think how much time passed away, how much did I did, how much my life changed and… how much time I’ve wasted in between.
Funny enough, since I’ve left my hometown and started to be busy with Photography, the amount of time that I need to catch up with overdue materials (books, articles, tutorials, courses, practices, etc.) is enormous… and probably the only way to do it, would be One Year of Holidays filled mostly with catching up.

I can’t waste time anymore. Of course, the reference point is changing every day, depending on who, or what I’m looking at currently. But if I look only at myself, I need to be in motion, like the Ocean. I need to hit hard against the rocks to finally crush them and get further. I need to swallow life so deeply like the Ocean swallows the Portuguese coasts.

And I’ve learned something very important after this holiday as well. If you travel with someone, it is wise to choose similar minded people with similar interests of spending holidays – to avoid pressure on money and activities during your stay. Similar views for ‘how to spend holidays’ – I think – are crucial for nice holidays. 🙂