April 8, 2025

On one side you have Catholicism brought by the Portuguese colonization and on the other African spirituality brought through the brutal legacy of slavery. In a country where faith is everywhere it is not uncommon for someone to light a candle in a Catholic church and then leave flowers in the river for African rituals. This presents no contradiction for the participants. It is blended identity in action, and it reflects the broad mix of cultures that defines Brazil. Indigenous roots, African heritage, European influence and colonization sometimes unevenly distributed but always layered defines the complicated mosaic of Brazil. The Escadaria Selaron that I visited in the Lapa neighborhood of Rio by Chilean born artist Jorge Selarón is a metaphor for Brazil. To understand this country, its resilience you must accept its contradictions. Like mosaic steps, broken pieces weaved together can form a beautiful collage.

However massive you imagine the Amazon River to be, trust me it’s WAY bigger than that. It makes the Mississippi look like a drainage ditch. It doesn’t flow so much as disgorge. It swirls and convulses, the differing colors and densities of its many tributaries colliding in constantly changing shades of brown. The black water of the Rio Negro mixes with the caramel-color water of the Amazon, sometimes as remarkably clear-cut lines of demarcation, sometimes as cinnamon swirls, sometimes looking like clouds of milk, newly poured into a giant cup of coffee. Once again, in these “meetings of the waters” I saw another metaphor for Brazil. Somehow, over time, these two waters didn’t just collide they merged like the unique cultures of Brazil.

The Equator passes through Brazil and 11 other countries, half of which rank among the poorest in the world. The rotation of the earth away and toward the sun is what causes day and night. The countries that are located on the equator experience 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness every single day of the year! For people who live in these countries, there is no real change in seasons.

All the countries through which the equator passes are characterized by high temperatures and high humidity. There are only two seasons: the wet season (when the rain comes, May to October) and the dry season (when the rains stay away, November to April). I believe these two reoccurring dynamics creates the need for Brazilians to be story tellers creating legends to break up the routines of their lives.

A story that everyone knows by heart told and retold for generations becomes more meaningful over time. Why do carpenters, seamstresses and 4,000-member samba schools toil for a year creating elaborate floats that are disassembled after 3 days only to start anew again for next year’s competition? Why has Bumba Meu Boi, a story about the tongue of an ox captivated a nation?

Building something so big that it never finishes there is something very human about that. Like it or not, each of our lives leaves a legacy.

Building a legacy is hard work.

Can we do it honestly or will we allow our integrity to be compromised like Waldemar Scholz who exploited others or Henry Wickham who stole seeds for short-lived gain? If you can build a legacy honestly that is an accomplishment. If you can build a legacy honestly and bring others along you may become a legend.

Being in Brazil and traveling the magnificent Amazon River filled with magical and majestic stories left us with a myriad of memories to carry with us. Brazil and the Amazon River beats with inspiration and in equal measure is powerfully humble.

The water lily legend of Boca de Valeria is not just about a flower but about a girl who wants to touch the moon and forever shine in a special way. As my good friend, Marty Shenkman wrote in his comment “what a wonderful lesson for all children to strive to grow up to be a “star different from all the others”.

Here’s a photo of the sun setting after having left Boca de Valeria.

Let your light shine.

Thanks for traveling with us.