Journalled on Tuesday, 17 October 2023 | Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro: 30 degrees, hot, sunny with blue sky.

My busiest days for classes are now Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are lighter, allowing me to work out early in the morning and to have time for other activities throughout the day.

In the past, I would try to fill every hour of my day, and if I did not have every moment booked, I would feel guilty. Nowadays, when I have some spare time, I feel good about it. That time allows me to work on other projects, be creative, or relax. We cannot truly create or embrace our creativity if we constantly race through life at 100 kilometres per hour.

Creativity flourishes in peace, in an atmosphere of serenity and tranquillity, when we have time to think. Without that time, we risk becoming like organic robots, mindlessly performing repetitive tasks without any opportunity for personal freedom. By embracing creativity, we can improve ourselves and enhance our lives.

As we grow older, our priorities tend to shift. While money is essential, it loses significance when our health is at stake. If we become ill in pursuit of wealth, it becomes difficult to enjoy that money in the hospital, or, worse, when we are no longer here.

Every time I have been seriously ill and needed hospitalisation, I realised how much I had taken my health for granted. In those moments, I could not help but reflect on what I could have done differently to avoid the situation. There are indeed instances when we cannot prevent poor health; it can strike unexpectedly, as with cancer.

In such situations, believing that tomorrow will be better than today is crucial. We must do our best to manage today; if tomorrow is not brighter, we can hold on to the hope that the day after will be. Above all, we should never lose hope. With the right mindset of hope and positivity, we can navigate all difficulties, challenges, trials, and tribulations.

Today, I am restarting classes with Dona Regina.

She is an 86-year-old lady who has been attending classes with me on and off for about eight years. She stopped in January, but she is back now. Dona Regina is petite, only one and a half metres tall, yet she is highly articulate and cultured in appearance.

Her elegance stems from her long tenure as a ballerina at the Municipal Theatre of Rio.

Her stories about her experiences at the Municipal Theatre of Rio, a significant cultural landmark in Brazil and around the world, fascinate me. This interest is heightened by the fact that I had a teaching contract with the theatre for three or four years, not too long ago.

Regina was married to Paulo Ferraz, one of the wealthiest men in Brazil at the time, the owner of the Maua shipyard in Niteroi, just across the bay from Rio. Due to his business commitments, they lived in Europe for a long time, spending two weeks in Paris and two in London every month for more than ten years.

Unfortunately, Paulo committed suicide as a result of chronic depression, leaving Regina in a difficult financial situation.

It is interesting how Regina went from riches to rags in such a short period. Her late husband struggled with chronic depression, which always left her with the feeling that he would eventually do something foolish, and he did.

The children from Paulo Ferraz’s first marriage deceived Regina into signing documents that would relinquish her inheritance and her rights as his second wife. This story has recurred throughout history, as families with enormous fortunes are often driven by greed to fight over every last morsel.

However, she eventually rebuilt her life and met her second husband, Roberto, whom I know and like very much. We have shared many lunches at the Yacht Club in Rio with its beautiful vista of the bay. It is amusing to see them together because Regina is naturally short, and due to her background as a ballet dancer, while Roberto is exceptionally tall for a Brazilian man.

Watching them walk together on the street is quite funny and enjoyable. They make a lovely couple, and it has been very pleasant every time we have been together.

Our class went very well. She told me how much she had missed me, and I could feel the sincerity in her words. I had been thinking a lot about her recently, and now she is back in my life. Life always throws us curveballs.

We think we know what to expect, but the truth is we never truly know what will happen tomorrow. This unpredictability is the beauty of life. It is about embracing each day as it comes and appreciating every moment.