And yet another one...

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Almada, January 20th 1999 (Almada, Portugal)

Simplify

Once upon a time, there was a little boy. He was just an ordinary boy, even his weight seemed normal (it was at the time).

That little boy (let's call him N) went to Kindergarden, like any normal boy of his age. But he wasn't normal, not according to his teacher. You see, this "teacher" once told his mother that her son had some problems. She said: "He is a little bit slow. He's probably retarded.". N's mom didn't want to hear any more, so she and his father decided to put him in Prep-School straight away. He was supposed to spend one year just learning, and he would only get into the first grade the year after. One month later, his new teacher told N's mom: "I think your son can do the first grade this year. So he won't have to lose any year at all.". N was five at the time, so he got into school one year before he was supposed to.

These events changed N's life. N always dealt very well with older people. His view on the world, because of his parents, his parents' friends and his summer travelling around the world, was really different from the kids his age. He even answered the "million dollar question": "What do you want to with your life, when you grow up?" with a somewhat unorthodox answer: "I want to be happy.". This answer has ever since ruled his way of living.

N was a shy boy. He didn't have many friends, he wasn't popular, but he was definitely a good student. N was always thinking. He thought a lot: about his life, his friends, the world. He still does.

When he reached a certain age, he became more outgoing. He didn't become Mr. Popularity, but he now had good friends, went out and did normal things for a boy his age. There was still a problem: his relationship with girls. He didn't have any female friends. But he managed to solve this problem, aswell.

His real problem is his incapacity to show what he feels about the ones around him, the ones he loves the most. His feelings sometimes are so strong, that they take over him, however, he just isn't able to show them.

He will probably also get through this phase. He will probably learn how to deal with his feelings; with his thoughts. Until then, there's only one thing he can do: live. At first he didn't want to believe that this was the answer to all his problems. It seemed too simple, and he had always looked for the most complex solutions to every problem, and he had became good at it, too. Now, he understands the only way to deal with all the problems is to "keep them simple".

This is his latest discovery, but still the one that is bound to change his life.

MUSIC I WOULD BE (AM) LISTENING TO: "Blame it on my youth", Brad Mehldau
FILM I WOULD BE (AM) WATCHING: "Much ado about nothing"

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P.S.: He did learn.