Meetings and Farewells
June 12th marks two special occasions.
It’s Brazilian Valentine’s Day—and it’s also the day I moved to Canada permanently, 11 years ago, to start a new chapter with the love of my life.
I still remember how divided I felt on that flight. I was excited to begin a new life, to be home again with meu amor. But leaving Brazil—saying those goodbyes—made that joyful moment complicated and a little sad. Because sometimes life is both.
Maria Rita, the Brazilian singer, has a song called Encontros e Despedidas—Meetings and Farewells. By coincidence, it was the first song that played on my playlist as the plane took off. I remember listening to those lyrics, thinking about this duality we carry: coming and going, arriving and leaving, beginning and ending.
And today, I find myself in another moment of change. New beginnings are emerging—fresh opportunities. And alongside them, the difficult task of letting go of things that have been part of my life for a long time.
Change is never simple. It brings joy, anxiety, and relief—grief, fear, and loss. And no matter how many times we go through it, change always feels new. Always a little hard. But maybe we do get better at it. We become more resilient. We learn to honour the full spectrum of what we feel—to give those feelings space. And we begin to understand that change is a form of growing pains.
It hurts.
It shapes.
It frightens.
But it moves us forward.
If you want change, you have to embrace chaos.
And you have to hold tight to hope and faith—that on the other side of the unknown, something better awaits.
These 11 years in Canada have brought incredible blessings.
I’ve built a life with the most extraordinary human I know.
There have been joyful moments of growth and wonder, and hard moments of pain and loss I never saw coming.
There will be more change.
More joy.
More grief.
More letting go.
But through all the meetings and farewells, we will continue.
Because that’s the complexity of life.
And it’s what makes it worth living.
Chaotically,
Marcela
