Eu sou Safada
Safada is a Brazilian saying which refers to a woman who has no shame to be herself, who’s a little naughty, transgressive and who indulges in pleasure and sensuality. In Brazil, this term usually doesn’t have negative or judgmental connotations.
After spending a week with the most joyful, wild and untamed Brazilian lionesses at Embodied Love retreat in Ibiza, I realised the extent of my own conditioned self-judgmentsI and felt that it is time to allow the “Safada” within me express freely.
Possessing a word that encapsulates this character gave me permission to embody it fully. It enabled me to detach from the weight of moral judgments ingrained in my upbringing.
Exploring my inner Safada has been an interesting journey in which I attempted to tame, hide, or dismiss her. She kept being very persistent with led me to make peace with allowing her to express as freely as she desires.
I’ve recently been reflecting on how cultural our emotions and behaviours can be and how much our language shapes our reality.
When I travelled to Polynesia, I discovered that they didn’t have any word translating to “I’m sad”. Instead, they would describe their feelings about a situation without having a specific term for pure sadness.
Observing this, I questioned whether having a distinct word and concept for sadness affects people's tendency to experience depressive states. It made me wonder to what extent the language used to express emotions influences one's overall state of mind.
Another very special word used in Brazil is Saudade which doesn’t have equivalent in any other language.
It expresses a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing for someone or something that is absent, often accompanied by a sense of love, melancholy, and a desire for reunion.
For example, one might feel saudade for a friend who has moved away, for a past romantic relationship, or even for a place or time that holds sentimental value. It encompasses a mixture of emotions and reflects a deep emotional connection to what is missed.
Why not use the vast ocean of cultural expressions to break free from old beliefs, find freedom in our expression and redefine our narratives and ways of being?
We tend to get stuck in our little bubbles of reality in which we do not feel like we belong anyone but there’s so many other bubbles which might align way more with our values and beliefs.
I feel like a proud Safada who takes pleasure in the Saudade of timeless moments of pure passion!
Thank you Cynthia Senek for giving me permission to full express my inner Safadinha, Danilo Timm for making me travel through all the Saudade moments of your life with your mesmerising voice and Alice for embodying pure joy of being in Nukutepipi!
May our limits be the infinite rainbow or human diversity and beyond!
This photo is a memory of an afternoon at Monopol Berlin where my dear Jaqueline Louan encouraged me to unleash my inner Safada in front of her camera which felt quite challenging at the beginning but also so deeply liberating!
Feel free to comment and share your thoughts about it!
Pauline Marie-Antoinette
December 2023