These past
two years, every time we commented to friends and family our intention to
return to Spain from our Brazilian “adventure” as soon as we can, the answer is
almost the same "are you crazy, everyone is pretending to leave the
country and you want to come back now ? Don’t you see every day in the news how
bad the situation is? ". Whatever they say, we think every moment is good
to be back home. We are not only moved by the feeling of missing family and
friends. Our believe is that with or without economic crisis, after 6 years far
from our country, there is no better place in the World to live.
We
understand the constant “crush” you are suffering by the media, which are the
first to use the continuous drip of discouraging news to keep you glued to the
screen. We understand the drama of mortgage foreclosures and unemployment
levels out of control. We understand the damage the expending cuts are causing to
basic services we have enjoyed (even abused at times) in the last 25 or 30
years. But we also know that to see things clearly and with a renewed spirit
you need to get out of this reality that surrounds you.
We talk
with you and you seem to be stuck under water with no way out to breathe. The
only thing is you are constantly explained is you are drowning with the rest of the country, unable to come
up for air. And that is because from outside, from other countries with very
different realities and other ways of looking at life, we see that the future
is not as dark as they are painting it.
Those of us
lucky enough to be far away from the constant barrage of gloom and despondency
are not so heavily influenced by the entire media hubbub that comes from our
country. Moreover, we see what is happening, at an increasingly rapid pace, it
is a positive change on many levels, whether social, political and economic policies.
Please, be serious, is anyone now surprised about these cases uncovered of widespread
corruption? Nobody knew or suspected anything? Anyone surprised to see that we
cannot sustain an artificially inflated welfare state in a society generally
unenthusiastic when complying with their tax obligations? Does anyone believe that
the cow we have spent years milking lives from the same air we breathe? In
Spain, in the last 30 years, we’ve been accommodated to lend our mouths to the
teat of the cow, that parties and governments have sought to maintain their “tribe”
at power.
We fed the
privileges of banks and savings institutions without stopping to think that we
were ripped off and taken advantage of our ignorance in direct complicity with
the main political parties that have held power. Make no mistake, one day all
this crap had to burst and put everything in place. Such day has arrived.
It is an inescapable and unforgiving natural law that is unevitably fulfilled.
To express it in a simple and clear way, the Universe puts things in place
whenever they are out of control and we are no more than just atoms floating
happily in one of its corners.
What the
reality of life in Spain may not allow us to see is that we are at a crucial
turning point, a historic change in the way we understand the world and how we’ll
live in it in the coming years. This crisis, at all levels, is a unique
opportunity to stop and breathe and realize how precious everything we have
enjoyed so far is. That does not mean we cannot continue to enjoy such things in
the future. We're just going to have to dose it so we will enjoy it much more intensely
every time we can access them from now on. Think well, we have become a society
bored and overfilled of privileges, leisure and enjoyment. And we need a crisis
as deep as this (a "war", to paraphrase our grandparents) to enjoy
what we have now at the plate. We will have to share much more and we’ll have
to get by with less. It is clear for me!
I like to
joke with friends at home saying that you are too "crushed" lately
and you need back those who spent some time out of the country. We come with fresh
air and renewed hopes to give a good boost to all who are trying to pull
forward every day. You need our optimism and our desire to return to enjoy the
best of our land and our people. Clearly, we are privileged to live where we
live and where we are. We need some discipline and even some desire to excel,
we have settled into some privileges that were unsustainable in practice and we
have to reinvent ourselves and adjust our lifestyle to continue looking at the
future with hope. We have plenty potential, ability and pride. We need to let
the mind go blank for a moment, to see the glass half full to convince ourselves
that we will come out ahead even stronger. Our "feet of clay" have
hardened and we are stepping now safe. A friend sent me a few days ago a great
video that exposes the same attitude to convince us that we can return to the
path of growth and prosperity that we have lost in recent years.
Enough of
regret and considering we are a lost generation. From a distance, among so
pessimistic and discouraging news we are already seeing developments that make
us remain hopeful we can thrive again, in the best sense. We are beginning to
see people are mobilized, awaken, they are moving forward with new professions
and new businesses. Many of us left some time ago with the idea to bring back what we’ve
learned outside. And no better time to return home as when our energy and renewed
optimism are needed the most.
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