Cadu Martins

We are in the middle of presidential elections in Brazil, and this is the time when all hell breaks loose. People all over the country start arguing and fighting about politics, to the point that friendships end and families are torn apart, simply because they support different candidates. It's amazing how every 4 years, people become like animals and forget how to listen to each other. The first round of the election happened on October 4th, and there were 12 candidates running for president; however, only two of them received a significant number of votes: 47% voted for the far-right candidate, Flávio Bolsonaro, and 45% voted for the far-left candidate, Lula da Silva. That means our country is heavily divided between the two most extreme candidates, and only the remaining 8% of us are actually smart enough to see past their bullshit. I personally voted for Augusto Cury, a writer and doctor. He has no political background; however, he is highly educated, and that's exactly the...

I have written about the time I left my father's place and went to live on my own when I was 18 years old. If you read the story, you know it was turbulent, to say the least. But that raises the question: when should a person move out of their parents' house under normal circumstances? Most people can't agree on a specific age, and some even argue over this matter. But the truth is, there isn't a single age that applies to everyone, because each person is different. It depends on your family, your background, and your plans for the future. However, what we often see today is people who never move out and remain living with their parents until they die of old age. There are two kinds of people who do this: those who don't want to let go of the comfort of having personal servants cleaning and cooking for them for free, and those who are too afraid to face the real world and take risks to achieve their own goals and dreams. If you're not complacent and not a coward...

I had wanted to move out of the house ever since I was a teenager so that I could be free and live my life as I wanted. But it wasn't without good reason—back then, the situation between my father and me was going from bad to worse. He would insult me every chance he got, and sometimes even hit me without the slightest provocation. There was one night when I actually tried to run away, but my father was awake and heard me leaving my room. He found me in the kitchen with a backpack, and at that moment, I thought he was going to beat the shit out of me, but I managed to talk my way out of it and went back to my room. Later, I came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth it anyway; I didn't have anywhere to go, and I was too young to get a job or rent a place to live. So I decided that I was going to wait until 2019, and move out when I was 18 years old. A few years later, 2019 arrived, and on the night before my birthday, I went to the bridge near my house overlooking a river,...

We need to have some rules in our lives. Regardless of how much we change over the years, some things in life stay the same. Things like right or wrong, and good or bad, will be the same even centuries from now. Science and technology must evolve and constantly change, but ethics and morals must be preserved. I'm writing here what I consider to be the ten most important things that we can do to ensure that we live with honor and fairness, or at least the bare minimum. Of course, you're not obligated to follow any of these rules, you have free will, but bear in mind that every choice have consequences. These are the rules: 1. Don't harm or kill people, except to defend yourself or others. 2. Don't steal or damage someone else's property. 3. Don't jeopardize others for personal gain. 4.  Don't turn a blind eye when you witness injustice. 5. Don't tell lies, unless people's lives are at stake. 6. Don't make promises or threats if you won't keep ...

In the past, I used to think that I deserved more, but today I feel like I don't deserve anything, and that I'm not worthy of having good things in my life. I used to consider myself smart and handsome, but now I look in the mirror and see a stupid and ugly person. I wish I could get out of this body and live someone else's life—someone who is happy. But that would be pointless, as I would probably lose everything. After all, the problem is not the body; the problem is in my mind. When you see yourself as a loser, you become a loser; if you see yourself as a winner, you become a winner. In other words: you are what you think you are. But that's easier said than done. I mean, if you are a loser, how can you possibly see yourself as a winner? Somehow, we have to trick our own minds and tell ourselves a lie. That worked for me in the past, but now it doesn't work anymore; I'm losing the ability to lie to myself. So now I can only see myself for what I am, and what ...

While growing up, I was always the odd one out. My mother died when I was young, I didn't get along with my father, and my stepmother despised me. The only place I could look for genuine connections was in school, and yet nobody cared for me there, either. On our vacations, we would travel with my stepmother's family, who always respected me, but none of them could actually love me—after all, I wasn't really part of their family. The only people who really loved me were my aunts and my grandmother, and when I was a child, staying at their place was my favorite thing to do on weekends. However, from a young age, I knew what it was like to feel alone, even in a room full of people, and my whole life I felt like I didn't belong anywhere. So, naturally, I moved out when I was 18 years old—or should I say, ran away when I was 18 (but that's a story for another day). Living alone only increased the loneliness that was already rooted inside me. So I started to travel all o...

Living is not easy; there is no instruction manual showing us how to live. But perhaps we can make one, and that's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm not exactly an expert—after all, I'm still young, and it's my first time living—but I can try my best to write down everything I have learned so far. The most logical place to start would be with the most important things, and I have no doubt that the most important thing in life is to be able to control it and be the master of your own journey. Think about that for a moment: are you in control of your own life? Imagine that your life is a ship: to steer it in the direction you want to go, you must be at the helm. And if you don't steer the ship, you will be carried away by the tides of your impulses. If you're lucky enough, you won't hit an iceberg of failure, but you can't always count on luck. Regaining control is the first step to reaching your intended destination. But before thinking about how to r...

In my previous text, I talked about philosophy and made it clear that I think it's better than religion. However, religion has one main advantage: it's easier to follow. After you choose a religion, all you have to do is live by its rules. Every major religion has a book that serves as a guide for those who believe in it. Christians have the Bible, and Muslims have the Quran. But when it comes to philosophy, things are not so simple. Even if you choose to follow one kind of philosophy in particular, there won't be a single book about it; instead, there will be plenty to choose from, and some might even contradict each other, because philosophy is not an absolute truth. Yet, I've been wondering lately if living without absolute truths is a good thing. I always preferred questions over answers, valued the ability to think over acting, and prized ideas over reality. But that's not enough for me anymore. I guess when you reach 25, you start looking for more stability—no...

In Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, philosophy was much more popular. People would reconcile their spiritual beliefs with the reflections and morals that philosophy has to offer. The downfall of philosophy began with the spread of Christianity, as one of the main "rules" of Christianity is that you can't believe in anything else, apart from the word of God. In the Middle Ages, looking for knowledge outside of the church was considered blasphemy, so people would generally stay away from things like science and philosophy, because they were told that God's truth was the only thing they needed. It's fair to say that Christianity also has its own philosophy, but most of it doesn't have another explanation other than "that's what God wants." And that's the main difference between religion and philosophy: while philosophy endorses thinking and asking questions, religion praises the exact opposite. Perhaps that's why people prefer Christiani...

When I first became an adult 7 years ago, my social life changed considerably. The moment you stop going to school, you don't see your old friends every day anymore, and making new ones becomes a massive challenge. For the first few years of my adulthood, things were even harder because I wasn't working and I wasn't going to college, and outside of those environments, it is almost impossible to socialize. Of course, people always suggest going to bars or parties, but that never worked for me. I don't drink alcohol, and I really don't like the kind of music that plays at most parties here in Brazil. Going to those places completely alone meant I couldn't really enjoy myself, so it wasn't a real option. All I had left was the internet. I got to meet hundreds of people online, but it never translated into real-life friendships. We could never actually go out and hang out. Most of the time, it was because we were just too different, or simply because the other p...