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When anguish comes in, I run outside. I like to watch and feel the time. I remember as a little girl my mother would teach me to inhale and exhale very slowly when I was in distress, I was supposed to feel the air. At that time, I didn't understand why, but it always worked, it still works today. When I breathe in, I take in what’s out there in the world, when I breathe out, I expunge whatever I want out of me. The breathing is time interacting with our bodies every second, I acknowledge and I see myself that way. When I'm outside I calm down because I look at the swaying trees, it's that gentle breeze or that strong wind that manifests the power of time, which transforms and pushes off everything around. That's when I remember that tomorrow has already dragged the anguish elsewhere. And I realize that the present is a quick breath that dissolves with no attachment to itself. I move away because Iansã shows me the paths through the winds, sometimes with rain and loud noises, but always right. For nature never makes mistakes, we ought to accept it as it is and how we are.

portrait from the serie "corpoelemento" São Paulo, Brasil 2019

photo and text by Andressa Catelan tw: @andcatelan / ig: @andressa.catelan

*there might be a printed version of this piece