We often believe that it’s the others who are richer, smarter, luckier and above all happier than us. The truth is we all have our struggles, big and small, desperate and ephemeral on a daily basis. No one has figured it out 100%, although many pretend to have done so. In these series of very short portrait descriptions I will tell the stories of ordinary people I have met throughout my travels around the world. These encounters have helped me put things into perspective on my own life. These are real people with real stories, nothing is imagined. So, next time when you look at your life and think about the things you’re struggling with, remember, everyone has his/her own battles to fight and nothing is so bad after all.
Portrait 10: Meet Carolina, compliance manager, Mexican, lives in Mexico City. Carolina wakes up every day at 5am to prepare the lunch boxes for her 9-year-old twin daughters and her husband. She struggles to catch up on sleep, find time for her family, be a star at her full-time job, get her Master’s done and her circle of friends “amigas de corazón“. She leaves her home often in a mess, dishes and laundry piled. “I gave up making things perfect.” Carolina always puts her make-up while driving to work.
October 2015
Portrait 11: Meet Angelika, personal fitness trainer, Swedish, lives in Stockholm. Angelika is currently on a sick leave, hasn’t been well for the past 4 years and cannot practice her profession anymore. She suffered a condition, which made her extremely weak to the point where she could only crawl out of bed to eat. Angelika has been trying to get better through medication for the past 4 years. In the meanwhile, she gained weight and her muscles weakened. She struggles to make peace with the new situation and let go of her old self. She is on her way to win this battle and start a new life altogether.
March 2016
Portrait 12: Meet Alberto, percussion player, Cuban, lives in La Habana. Alberto takes care of his teenage granddaughter. He struggles to find the right balance between providing for her like a parent would do and not spoiling her too much. “It is difficult to play mother and father at the same time and be the grandfather“, says Alberto. The father of the Alberto’s granddaughter lives in the US as an illegal immigrant and hasn’t been back to Cuba for many years. The mother lives in a village far from the capital and has a family on her own. Alberto’s granddaughter was conceived in a one-night stand during a village fiesta.”…Who is to blame?“, says calmly Alberto.
July 2015
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