matilde tomat

Nature never asks an oak to produce leaves in the middle of winter. A fox conserves energy when food is scarce. Seeds remain dormant until conditions allow growth. Winter is never a failed spring. None of these is a failure: they are expressions of wisdom. Perhaps human beings have forgotten that wisdom. Perhaps we confuse relentless effort with courage. Perhaps real courage is knowing when to reduce sail.

There were no healthy models of movement around me growing up. Safety in my family meant staying still: sitting, drinking, smoking, numbing. Fixed bodies. Stationary presences. Sedentary. I was raised by people who anchored themselves to the sofa as if the world outside might swallow them whole. I absorbed that atmosphere like a climate. And I did something extraordinary with it, still: all my movement went inward.

This is my truth: standards are standards. Integrity is not optional. Education should not bend for sentiment or convenience. It should teach resilience, accountability, stamina, the capacity to find solutions for yourself: how to live, truly live, fully, as an adult with a brain in your head and blood in your veins. You learn not by comfort, but by facing the field, by navigating the terrain, by figuring out how to get from A to B, and not whining because the path is hard.