I came across this photo exactly as I was listening 🎧 to the song “May We Have More Love” (A começar em mim) — a song that speaks about our wish to have more love in the world 🌎, starting with ourselves. 💖
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGtcg8R8F0A
It’s curious — even surprising — to notice how much we change throughout life,
how much we learn about love through our own journey,
sometimes through smiles, sometimes through pain.
Recently, I read one of my French poems at a festival.
A lovely couple was watching me, and slowly, they began to draw closer to each other… holding hands gently.
That simple gesture reminded me exactly why I had written that poem:
for softness, for tenderness —
for the experience of a calm love.
I haven’t always valued that kind of love, I must admit.
When I was younger — about seven years ago —
a part of me longed for big adventures,
for that intense love that shakes your whole world,
that feels like a movie 🎬...
and maybe even breaks you apart.
Hmm...
Well, I didn’t know what I was asking for.
And I believe she wanted that because she thought she could trust anyone.
Life was beautiful, and she felt completely fine — sure that she was loved and safe. 💖♠️
Today, I come here to confess that I miss her deeply,
and I dream of the day I’ll find her again.
I was spoiled — though I didn’t know it.
“Gâtée,” as we say in good Québécois.
For me, it just felt normal.
I had two healthy and beautiful relationships in my teenage years.
One of them was with my best friend — who was always there for me (and still is),
respectful even after everything between us changed,
and we remained friends despite more than 2,000 km of distance.
We were together for over seven years.
(Well, for a 20-year-old, that’s a lot! 😅🥰)
Now, more than ever, I know what a treasure I had.
A master once told me that learning often comes by contrast —
light exists because there is darkness,
joy because there is sadness,
the present thanks to the past.
Maybe...
Some years later, I broke apart.
I tried not to get involved easily — because I needed to be alone for a while.
And with that, I ended up diving into something dysfunctional, painful —
a harmful and abusive relationship that showed me the worst of myself and others,
but also completely broke my ability to feel safe — especially around men.
My inner child was deeply devastated.
And from time to time, she still is...
She runs, she fights, she gets confused and she cries...
Doubting her capacity to be free again. Or loved. 💔
And maybe that’s why, now — only now — I understand that I was spoiled.
Privileged to have had a sweet, soft soul beside me to walk through life with. 💕
For some, this calm love may seem a little boring.
And it will probably fade when passion goes away...
I just wish that we may “have more love 💕,” starting with myself.
Because, after having been loved — and also hurt —,
now I know, more than ever, what I wish for myself:
A calm love that helps me breathe with my inner child 💕
A love that may seem simple, but that’s there, that brings serenity —
and where I can feel deeply safe.
And that’s why I know — and I never want to lose this place again. 💕💖🤍✨
How hard it is to find a hug where we feel safe?
Where we can simply be?
https://spotify.link/BOAJu3efSXb
At the end of my presentation, the couple came to thank me.
“Thank you, it was beautiful,” they said.
I looked deeply into their eyes and said:
“Si c’est bon, lâchez pas! S’il te plaît.”
(“If it’s good, please, don’t quit, don’t let it go.”) 💖
Today, I share this message with you.
Maybe because my life is an open book, as I often tell my volunteers.
Maybe simply because I needed to let it out.
And I truly hope it brings you something. 💕
Poetry speaks to us now more than ever:
“Be light,
Be brief,
Bring back peace,
Brief shall be the fight.”