Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Outside of time ~ Além do tempo

Reviewing my smiling photo taken when I was young, I believe that Milan Kundera expressed a truth: "There is a certain part of all of us that lives outside of time. Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless". 

Revendo minha foto sorridente de quando eu era jovem, eu acredito que Milan Kundera expressou uma verdade: "Por uma certa parte de nós mesmos, vivemos todos além do tempo. Talvez só tomemos consciência de nossa idade em certos momentos excepcionais, sendo na maior parte do tempo, uns sem-idade".
   
Quote of Milan Kundera (1927- ) from "Immortality".
 
 
    
Photos taken by my husband.
 
                                          
IMMORTALITY, BY MILAN KUNDERA. (Chapter One)
"The woman might have been sixty or sixty-five. I was watching her from a deck chair by the pool of my health club, on the top floor of a high-rise that provided a panoramic view of all Paris. I was waiting for Professor Avenarius, whom I'd occasionally meet here for a chat. But Professor Avenarius was late and I kept watching the woman; she was alone in the pool, standing waist-deep in the water, and she kept looking up at the young lifeguard in sweat pants who was teaching her swim. He was giving her orders: she was to hold on to the to the edge of the pool and breathe deeply in and out. She proceeded to do this earnestly, seriously, and it was as if an old steam engine were wheezing from the depths of the water (that idyllic sound, now long forgotten, which to those who never knew it can be described in no better way than the wheezing of an old woman breathing in and out by the edge of a pool). I watched her in fascination. She captivated me by her touchingly comic manner (which the lifeguard also noticed, for the corner of his mouth twitched slightly). Then an acquaintance started talking to me and diverted my attention. When I was ready to observe her once again the lesson was over. She walked around the pool toward the exit. She passed the lifeguard, and after she had gone some three or four steps beyond him, she turned her head smiled, and waved to him. At that instant I felt a pang in my heart! That smile and that gesture belonged to a twenty-year-old girl! Her arm rose with bewitching ease. It was as if she were playfully tossing a brightly colored ball to her lover. That smile and that gesture had charm and elegance, while the face and the body no longer had any charm. It was the charm of a gesture drowning in the charmlessness of the body. But the woman, though she must of course have realized that she was no longer beautiful, forgot that for the moment. There is a certain part of all of us that lives outside of time. Perhaps we become aware of our age only at exceptional moments and most of the time we are ageless. In any case, the instant she turned, smiled, and waved to the young lifeguard (who couldn't control himself and burst out laughing), she was unaware of her age. The essence of her charm, independent of time, revealed itself for a second in that gesture and dazzled me. I was strangely moved." (Immortality, by Milan Kundera)


IMORTALIDADE, DE MILAN KUNDERA. (Primeiro Capítulo)
"A senhora poderia ter sessenta, sessenta e cinco anos. Eu a olhava de minha espreguiçadeira, recostado diante da piscina de um clube de ginástica no último andar de um prédio moderno de onde se via Paris inteira através de imensas janelas envidraçadas. Esperava o professor Avenarius com quem me encontro ali de vez em quando para discutir umas coisas e outras. Mas o professor Avenarius não chegava, e eu olhava a senhora; só, na piscina, imersa até a cintura, ela olhava o jovem professor de natação que, de roupão, em pé um pouco acima de onde ela estava, dava-lhe uma aula. Obedecendo a suas ordens, ela apoiou-se na borda da piscina para inspirar e expirar profundamente. Fez isso seriamente, com zelo, e era como se das profundezas das águas se elevasse a voz de uma velha locomotiva a vapor (essa voz idílica, hoje esquecida, só posso transmitir aos que não a conheceram, comparando à respiração de uma senhora de idade que inspira e expira na borda de uma piscina). Olhava-a fascinado. Seu ar cômico pungente me cativava (esse ar cômico, o professor de natação também percebia, pois os cantos de seus lábios pareciam tremer a toda hora), mas alguém falou comigo e desviou minha atenção. Pouco depois, quando quis voltar a observá-la, a aula havia terminado. Ela foi embora, de maiô, andando ao longo da piscina e quando já tinha ultrapassado o professor de natação aproximadamente uns quatro ou cinco metros, virou a cabeça para ele, sorriu, e fez um gesto com a mão. Meu coração apertou-se. Esse sorriso, esse gesto, eram de uma mulher de vinte anos! Sua mão tinha girado no ar com uma leveza encantadora. Como se, brincando, ela jogasse para seu amante um balão colorido. Esse sorriso e esse gesto eram cheios de encanto, enquanto que o rosto e o corpo não o eram mais. Era o encanto de um gesto sufocado no não-encanto do corpo. Mas a mulher, mesmo que soubesse que não era mais bonita, esqueceu isso naquele momento. Por uma certa parte de nós mesmos, vivemos todos além do tempo. Talvez só tomemos consciência de nossa idade em certos momentos excepcionais, sendo, na maior parte do tempo, uns sem-idade. Em todo caso, no momento em que se virou, sorriu e fez um gesto com a mão para o professor de natação (que não foi capaz de se conter e caiu na gargalhada), ela não tomava conhecimento de sua idade. Graças a este gesto, no espaço de um segundo, uma essência de seu encanto, que não dependia do tempo, revelava-se e me encantava. Fiquei estranhamente comovido." (Imortalidade, por Milan Kundera)


29 comments:

  1. a beautiful smile and fresh face that i know still shines.

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  2. I like the quote Sonia and that is a sweet photo!

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    1. I like it... :) Beautiful Sonia! I used to wear my hair like that, only with shorter bangs!

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  3. You have a classic smile. So beautiful, just like the rest of you/.

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  4. Lovely pictures of you, my friend. I don't feel very different from when I was young. Just calmer, more confident and secure in myself, but still giggly and silly.

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  5. Lovely pictures, you look so peaceful and beautiful! - “Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” ― Franz Kafka. Abraço!

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  6. Lovely pictures, you look so peaceful and beautiful! - “Youth is happy because it has the capacity to see beauty. Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” ― Franz Kafka. Abraço!

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  7. I am guessing not MOST OF THE TIME, but much of the time we are ageless. Such a lovely thought to go with that sweet face.

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    1. I agree with you Tabor, not most of the time, but much of the time we are ageless. Sound more real.
      Thanks for your compliment.

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  8. What a great story, and wonderful photos of you a few years ago!

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  9. Thank you so much Tex, Pix, Photo Cache, Shammickite, Inger, Carraol, Tabor and Al for so lovely words!

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  10. Your words are beautiful and hauntingly true. I as a child, a young woman, and now - the same but different.

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  11. We loved so much the post Mom!!! Lovely photos and smile, beautiful and truly words!!!
    Lots of love, Sofia & Steve :)

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  12. Very nice pictures of you, Sonia, and interesting text!

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  13. Thank you so much Carol, Sofia&Steve and Pietro, for so lovely words!

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  14. Your photos are wonderful, Sonia. You and I could be sisters or at least cousins at that age (thinking especially of the dark hair and bangs). The Mila Kundera quote is wonderful -- I'm ordering the book today. At 65 myself, I know I still sometimes use the gestures of an ingenue. Thank goodness for mental clarity so that at least from the inside out, my eyes are bright as ever. Aging is quite a trip!

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    1. Thank you so much Beth for your nice comment! So glad we could be sisters or cousins at that age! Me too, I am grateful for mental clarity! Yes, aging is quite a trip!

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  15. I love seeing these photos of your very beautiful you. Such an interesting story too. I am going to be 65 on my next birthday, and it surprises me how young I still feel and also in some ways how old. Ah life.

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    1. Thank you so much Robin Andrea, for your sweet compliment! The book Immortality is really great!

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  16. Sweet smile and commentary about aging! I feel inspired to read the book Immortality now. :)

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words, Diane!

      I think you will like the book Immortality. I read sometimes ago another book of Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, that is very beautiful. I don't know if you read it... It is a 1984 novel about two women, two men, a dog and their lives in the 1968 Prague Spring period of Czechoslovak history.
      As I love so much dogs, there is a quote on the book about dogs that I love!
      "Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace."

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  17. Kundera is my favorite writer -- did we exchange notes on this at some point? He speaks to me, always. So do you.

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    1. Thanks Karin! I think you and me really have a lot in common. :)
      As you like Kundera I think you liked The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
      I wrote on your blog the same reply I wrote here to Diane AZ.

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  18. That passage is charming. I was on a flight back from Florida about 5 years ago, which was only half full, and a handsome man probably 20 years my junior moved to sit next to me, and flirted the whole trip from Florida to Philadelphia. I felt just like that old woman must have when she waved at the lifeguard: vivacious, vibrant, alive! Your younger pictures are beautiful.

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    1. Hi Marjie, your story is just lovely!
      Thanks for your nice words! :)

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  19. Sonia: I have been watching the Rio Olympics and enjoying the enthusiastic response of the audience whenever a Brasilian athlete is competing! Good luck to your athletes, I hope they win many medals. Of course, I am supporting Canada, my adopted country, and then UK, the country of my birth! Will you be going to any of the competitions? I went to the Montreal Olympics in 1976, what a great experience, I enjoyed being part of such a global event.

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    1. Thank you, Shammie! Good luck to your Canadian and UK athletes too!
      The Olympics Games are being held in Rio de Janeiro and I live in Avaré, São Paulo, about 700 km far away.(450 miles). I wish I could to be there enjoying this great event. :)

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  20. Wow i loved reading that excerpt - very cool and you were/are such a pretty lady.

    I am the age of that lady in the story so it was fun to read.

    I am going to look that book up.

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