Journalled on Wednesday, 8 April 2026 | Santo Cristo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 35 degrees, very hot, sunny, but slightly overcast.

It is Wednesday, and for some reason, clarity and authenticity have made me feel more productive over the past couple of weeks, particularly this week.

I think everything comes from what we decide; the rest is planted and becomes the result. Even though you don’t see the results immediately, they are on their way. It is just a question of time.

I needed clarity in my life, and in my relationship with Julie, there was too much doubt. Probably the opposite of clarity, namely chaos, or indifinition, and I was living that.

The moment I decided to have more clarity in my life, even though there would be a certain amount of suffering, I had to understand that suffering is psychological, and pain is physical.

Over time, I reduced it, and this is exactly what I have done and what has happened.

With clarity, as the word implies, everything becomes clearer. When it is clearer, it is easier to determine goals and boundaries, know what is right or wrong for us, and let our lives flow in the right direction. Because of this, I think this is happening.

It is not just Julie; Julie is only a small part. More importantly, I have been able to direct my work better and set objectives through the first half of this year, allowing me to enter the second half with new objectives for the rest of the year.

I was determined before to go much further ahead. I wanted my blog, ‘the long gringo’, to be right, not just more or less, because Brazil is full of more or less. I wanted my blog to be right and to go precisely in the right direction.

I had serious setbacks in December and January, but after a couple of months and a lot of work, the blog is going in the right direction. It has also been a time of clarity about what I expect from myself, the blog, my YouTube channel and future projects.

I expected it to be relatively easy to monetise them, but so far they haven’t, and I don’t expect they will so soon. Monetisation depends largely on the content and on whether people find it engaging and interesting. What is good for one person is not necessarily interesting or good for another.

Besides, I do not want to be a slave to creating any form of content, prostituting myself, my thoughts, and what I write, to make money. That is really not me. The first objective of my writing and content is to serve as a form of self-help and reflection for myself; secondly, if it can be of use, helpful to others, then so be it.

I think I got a little dazzled by the possibility of monetisation and making money from it, but now I see it as bullsh#t. My priority is to produce something I created that is of high quality and supportive to others, too. If monetisation results from this in the future, then so be it.

The main point is to create quality work, for me and for whoever reads the blog.

Returning to the decision not to renew my classes with Dona Vera in Copacabana is another result of my decision for clarity. If I had continued to teach her, I would not have been able to be authentic to myself and to her, so it was better to walk away.

If I had continued, it would have slowly eaten away at my soul, causing me to die slowly, losing the joy and the will to live well and to do the right thing. It is always important to be true, authentic and whole to ourselves; consequently, you will, in turn, be so to others besides yourself.

My true priority is to be true to myself and authentic. Those who do not like it or try to divert me from my authentic self will be very disappointed, and this feels very good.