returning to the new life

Years ago, when I was teaching mindfulness in the inner city in Worcester,  I heard a beautiful  Brazilian song called Começar de Novo.   It turned out that this was a favorite song of many of my Spanish-speaking women students -- somehow it reflected the difficulties of their lives and the new hope that meditation was giving them.

I often take heart in this song, especially when I wake up in the morning feeling haunted by ghosts of the past, with their endless stories of failure and judgment.  Começar de novo -- I can start a new life!  Not someday, but right now, in this moment...

The song was written by Ivan Lins and Vitor Martins, and a couple of us translated it into English and sang it together in our final class.  Here is a beautiful rendition by Ivan Lins with the amazing Portuguese singer Simone.  Below are the lyrics in Portuguese, followed by our English version -- a singable if not literal translation.

Começar de novo
E contar comigo
Vai valer a pena
Ter amanhecido

Ter me rebelado
Ter me debatido
Ter me machucado
Ter sobrevivido

Ter virado a mesa
Ter me conhecido
Ter virado o barco
Ter me socorrido

Começar de novo
E contar comigo
Vai valer a pena
Ter amanhecido

Sem as tuas garras
Sempre tão seguras
Sem o teu fantasma
Sem tua moldura

Sem tuas escoras
Sem o teu domínio
Sem tuas esporas
Sem o teu fascínio

Começar de novo
E contar comigo
Vai valer a pena
Ter amanhecido

Sem as tuas garras
Sempre tão seguras
Sem o teu fantasma
Sem tua moldura

Sem tuas escoras
Sem o teu domínio
Sem tuas esporas
Sem o teu fascínio

Começar de novo
E contar comigo
Vai valer a pena
Já ter te esquecido

I can start a new life
Knowing that it's worth it
Counting on myself now
Waking with the sunrise

Here am I, revealed now
After all the searching
After all the hurting
Here am I surviving

Now I've turned the tables
I know where I'm going
Like a boat that's sailing
Safe into the harbor

I can start a new life
Knowing that it's worth it
Counting on myself now
Waking with the sunrise

Safe from all your wounding
Safe for now, for always
You no longer haunt me
Now your spell is broken

Now your words can't hurt me
You cannot control me
I have left my prison
You no longer own me

I can start a new life
Knowing that it's worth it
Counting on myself now
See, I have forgotten you