A Journey from Serving Others to Serving Myself

During my recent time off work, I listened to a few Brazilian podcasts and thought a lot about being a woman in our western society. We are educated and raised to serve, to take care of the house and the family, and to always be doing something for others. How do women have fun? Do we?

Very early in life, I mirrored my dad’s passion for his work as a thoroughbred horse breeder. He started his career as a stockbroker in Rio. When I was only two years old, we moved to the family’s farm in the interior of São Paulo. This is where I spent my childhood years.

From there, we went to the south of Brazil, where he kept following his dreams and breeding horses. He is 83 years old and still does that—he will only stop when he dies, because horses are the air he breathes, his passion and his whole life. They say that if we work with something we love, we won’t work a day in our lives!

My passion isn’t horses, but I was fortunate to find it. In fact, I have a few passions, and they change, evolve, and grow. As a journalist, I developed a curiosity and appreciation for many types of news. Maybe that’s where my passion for non-fiction books comes from.

I recently read The Great Quake and loved learning more about earthquakes and tectonic plates! Same when I read about volcanoes. Or great and important expeditions to the poles, or climbing high-altitude mountains. Even stories about ordinary lives doing what we know best: living!

I kept evolving with my career and changing as needed, learning to develop websites (something I love doing but don’t do nearly enough of!), and most recently studying and becoming a coach and wellness counselor. I apply everything I learned in the classroom to my daily job, and seeing human beings growing and getting better at what they do is profoundly rewarding.

In my free time, or when I’m not having fun while making a living, I like to be outdoors exploring this beautiful, fragile, and unique planet we call home. This is as important to me as the air I breathe. Seeing my son enjoying his outdoor activities the way I enjoy mine is such a relief—to know that at least I did something right when raising him as a single parent!

And maybe that’s the answer to my own question: women can have fun when we give ourselves permission to chase our passions with the same intensity my father chases his horses—unapologetically and for life.