What if a Free Spirit is Caged?
Culture . SocietySome might say it’s lame to interview one of your best friends —and they might be right— but Eduardo Aristeguieta is the only person I wanted to be part of this with me.
We have been friends for more than ten years, so when I messaged him and asked if he wouldn’t mind me interviewing him, he immediately called me on Facetime. So, just like that, the interview began. Everything with Eduardo is like that: spontaneous.
Since we were around eight years old, I remember him standing out. He always took the initiative; he is the creator of most of the childhood antics I still talk about to this day.
“I always loved trying new things —even as a child— I tried out new hobbies every month, which used to drive my mom crazy. She also had to pick me up from school very often because I kept leaving my classroom without permission. I remember feeling caged”
That last word brought me to ask him if a personality like his feels trapped in a country like Venezuela, where he was born and raised. He took a deep breath and explained that while it is frustrating not being able to be as open as he would like to, it has made him want to grow spiritually.
“No matter where you are, spirituality is what will keep you sane”
“In December of 2019, I got my Tarot cards read. The moment I entered the place, I felt a mix of nostalgia and eagerness to hear what the lady had to say. She then said a couple things about myself that were true —and could’ve also seen in my social media— but also mentioned things about my future that turned out to be true. She said I would lose two friendships in 2020 and that I would finally get to travel in 2021. Both things turned out to be true”
Experiences like this one are the ones that Eduardo loves having. He visited the lady again a couple more times and is planning on visiting her in the future again. Four months ago, on that same search for that “something” that is missing, he experienced what, according to him, is hard to put into words.
“I went to a party made for people ‘looking for their purpose’. There, we were all handed a substance that, to this day, I still don’t know what it was. We proceeded to go into a room where we would take turns to individually talk to a sort of ‘which’. When it was my turn, I sat in front of her, but she was no longer there. I was sitting in front of myself. Me and myself started having a conversation about things I could never discuss with other people. That other ‘me’ said things I didn’t even know about myself and my loved ones. That day marked a before and after in my life and changed the way I do everything nowadays”.
He explained that after that day, he understood that he needed to leave the country even if it was for a couple of months and that he needed to remove people and habits from his life. Thanks to that, he made the decision to move to Madrid and says it’s the best decision he’s made so far.
It has been a pleasure for me to know Eduardo since he was little and to see how his qualities evolved, becoming a free-spirited adult who is in a constant journey towards self-improvement and personal growth.