Category: From the Vault

• Crazy dreams: the path to the extraordinary.

  June 18th, 2021

  We are all afraid.

  Afraid of not being enough.

  We live our lives constantly trying to prove to ourselves that we are worth it. That we have a place, a deeper meaning in this world.

  That we are special.

  But at the same time, we are terrified of sharing our voices. When the spotlight shines on us, that belief that we hold something valuable suddenly seems so obviously wrong.

  And this is why we are so afraid to dream.

  It’s not a coincidence we call them “dreams” – just like the mind-made illusions that disappear when we wake up – dreams most times get shut down and forced to fade away when we share them.

  Because choosing to pursue our dreams, our bigger goal, requires us to say out loud: “ I know I am right, I know I am worth it” and to shut our ears to those who aren’t brave enough to do the same.

  There was this one time, in one of the tutoring lessons I gave to low income teenagers where, after a lot of begging, I was finally convinced by these 5 amazing girls to tell them a story in English. They wanted to hear me speak another language. But there was this one girl that, as I spoke, placed her head against her cupped hands and just stared at me, mesmerized.

  I approached her later, and she confessed how she had always wanted to learn English but had been told that it was too hard, that she would just be wasting her time, that it was impossible.

  And I let her go because I didn’t want to give her false hope. I couldn’t lie to her and say it would be easy or that it would guarantee her a good future.

  But I wish I could go back in time and tell her instead:

  “Girl, you can do whatever the hell you want.

  Will it be hard? Yes.

  Will there be times you feel like quitting? Yes.

  Will there be people who take every chance they get to tell you that you are crazy and that you should be doing something more “useful”? Yes.

  But is it impossible? Never.

  If i did it, you can too.

  And I’m here to help you”

  And just like I failed to tell her that. We fail to tell it to ourselves.

  Just because we don’t see a straight line from where we are now and where we want to be, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist.

  But how can we shine light on this path?

  First, we must commit to the journey because you can’t find something if you don’t look for it.

  Then, we must recognize that there will be roadblocks and dead ends.We will fall, we will feel like quitting, we will have to redraw the path.

  And lastly, we must accept help. Be it a guide who has been thought the same path. Be it people who are also looking. Be it just a rest area. There is no shame in seeking for help, shortcuts don’t make the fact that you got to your destination any less worthy.

  So now I turn it over to you:

  What is that dream you have deep down, that thought that makes your heart skip a beat.

  That idea you are terrified of saying out loud, of even saying to yourself sometimes.

  What is something you are sure that if you told people they would think “you are crazy”.

  And what would the next step towards that goal look like?

  Done that?

  What is the step?

  And the next and the next.

  Because if you keep walking you’ll start distancing yourself from the people who are too afraid to leave the starting line, and you’ll find yourself closer and closer to those who share your dreams.

  People will stop calling you “crazy” and start calling you “extraordinary”. Isn’t it about time we recognize that we have always been both?

• The need to create

  June 16th, 2021

  I have days and days.

  Some days I wake up very lost. I have no idea what I want to do. This is when having a routine comes in handy.

  Some days I wake up anxious. I just want to sit down and work.

  Some days I wake up feeling like putting on my running shoes and sprinting out the door.

  Some days I wake up feeling like going to school and I reminisce over the old days.

  But there are days I wake up and all I want to do, what I need to do, is write.

  It feels very similar to an itch. Just like you can picture yourself scratching that itch and fathom the satisfaction, while I brew my morning cup of coffee, I begin to imagine how right it will feel to run my fingers down that keyboard. To see my thoughts, dreams and doubts be recorded on the (once) white canvas.

  But why do I feel this need?

  The real question is: why do humans feel the need to create?

  My dog doesn’t feel this. She’s happy staying in bed all day, getting up only to bring me a ball and demand treats.

  So, just like hands, upright posture, and immense ignorance (this is the third item on the list right?!) the need to create seems to also be exclusive to our species.

  I feel the need to specify what I mean with creating here.

  I mean spending time and energy on something that is not guaranteed to add any advantage to our survival – at least not in our lifetime.

  When a spider carefully weaves its web – yes, it is beautiful, and could even be considered art but – the force that drew the spider to do this was a need for survival. Immediate survival.

  So, I’m not only talking about famous paintings, award winning books and huge buildings. I’m also referring to the small things we create every day, like structuring better habits, seeking better relationships, trying new recipes, writing this blog post.

  It is not the first thing we think about when we say “creating” but it is the most abundant kind of creativity.

  The solutions we come up with while we go about on our day to day basis are a result of being constantly surrounded by inspiration and opportunities that make us see what is missing in our lives and in the world.

  It’s in the act of dreaming that our need to create comes from. It is from the hope of a better world – no matter how big or small a change – that creativity is born.

  And it’s this simple desire of creating something that might have meaning, something that will persevere even after we are turned back to dust, anything that points – no matter how faintly – towards permanence that makes me jump out of bed and write.

  Well, it’s really what makes us do anything.

• The perfect day

  May 27th, 2021

  Yesterday I had what I would have considered an absolutely perfect day:

  Wake up super early, journal, workout, go to the barn, spend the afternoon at a cafe and work, go for a hike with my puppy, watch TV with my family, read and go to sleep.

  So perfect…

  …too perfect.

  I used to obsess so much about being perfect, about doing things right.

  The perfect routine. The best habits. Following the schedule, task by task, having my whole day planned out.

  I was like a machine – a strong and rigid robot.

  And that’s why I was so afraid – before starting the altMBA – of what it would be like to have my schedule turned upside down, of leaving behind my robot armor.

  But during the program, there was always this one thing I would have to face everyday – no matter what else was going on, no matter my fears, no matter what other obligations or problems popped up – I just had to ship it.

  It was intense.

  It was challenging.

  It was fun.

  It was mind opening.

  It was a journey.

  Now I’m back “home”, back to my normal life. But I don’t feel like it’s mine anymore.

  For this last week, I have been trying to go back to my “perfect routine” – while attempting to implement some of the lessons from the program – but that armor doesn’t seem to fit anymore.

  Yes, not having it on brings chaos and uncertainty.

  But the chaos sparks creativity.

  And uncertainty means freedom.

  I’m not so sure I want to put it on anymore, I don’t know if I want to keep being this machine.

  I have a new definition to a “perfect day”:

  It’s not about filling it with good things in the best order.

  It’s not about doing 10 things I’m happy with.

  It’s not about all the gods smilling upon me, the stars lining up and everything happening exactly like I want them to.

  It’s about asking myself: “what is the one hard thing I can do today that will make me proud?”

  And nothing else matters. Just that – not solving all my problems, not getting everything right – one thing. One hard challenge.

  Just f*^ing shipping it.

• When everything is packed away

  May 8th, 2021

  I am moving.

  Everything is in a box.

  I’m not talking only about my belongings – even though they are all in boxes as well.

  I’m talking about my habits and beliefs.

  I’m past the halfway mark in the altMBA and – I’ll be writing so much more about this in future blog posts – to sum it up for the sake of this story: HOLLY FORKING SHIRTBALLS MY BRAIN IS A MESS!

  That feeling of fun chaos.

  The constant mix of exhaustion and excitement.

  The surprising moments when you open that closet you haven’t dared to look into for so long and rediscover a hundred things about yourself.

  The feeling of emptiness and lightness when you walk around your empty home.

  That is exactly what the altMBA feels like for me.

  I feel like I’ve been going over and analyzing everything I have, all that I am.

  Luckily I have people to help me pack – 131 to be exact.

  I’m not quite done packing yet and I’m still living with the few belongings I can fit in a small backpack: the essential habits that make me who I am.

  But, I’m excited for when the time comes to start unpacking.

  I’m gonna redecorate my life only with the things (just like Marie Kondo says) “that make me smile!”

  The rest can go to storage.

  ---

  On a less subjective note

  I used the moving analogy because it also relates to what is going on in my life.

  My family has decided to move back to the apartment we used to live in before we moved to the small apartment downtown.

  It’s not as big as the house in Jurerê, I won’t be able to ride my bike with Laurinha anymore, I won’t get to see my garden, I won’t be able to jump in the ocean at the break of dust and scream into the emptiness “GO MAKE A F* RUCKUS!” (yes, I did this everyday before altMBA meetings).

  But I feel like this is the perfect timing for a change of sceneries and I’m excited to move back to Lagoa. When I walked into our old apartment my first thought was: “everything is so much smaller than I remember” and the next was “ahh, I’m finally home”.

• Another Storm

  April 19th, 2021

  Can you tell when a storm is coming?

  Because I always can.

  It’s something about the way the wind blows, the chirping of the birds, the smell… I’m not exactly sure.

  It’s probably just a trace of a survival skill we humans have lost due to our commitment to distance ourselves from the wild.

  But I’m not here to talk about a literal storm. I’m here to talk about the storm that I feel brewing inside of me.

  Today is just another day. And, at the same time, it isn’t.

  I’m excited and on my feet just like my horse gets before a big thunder-storm.

  Today, the altMBA has officially started. I’ve been waiting for this day ever since I found out I got accepted.

  I’ve been reflecting over the impact this will have over me for months now.

  But today I’m also reflecting about my entire life. I took the afternoon to visit downtown, where I used to live. Where I lived pretty much all my life. As I walk around the streets I know so well, I feel like I’m taking a step trough time and I suddenly realize how much has changed, how much I’ve changed.

  I think back to all the storms I’ve lived through:

  The first one was back in 2018: starting high school. That meant I had cross the street (Literally. The two schools are right next to each other) from the warm and cozy nest where I had studied all my life, into your typical high school.

  I had to learn all about social hieararquies, get used to the chaotic study routine of a “real school” and find my place in the food chain.

  That first year, it’s safe to say, I was at the lowest level. I was the shy, nerdy girl who constantly asked herself “how did you go from being the best student in the other school, to being a complete failure here?”

  It took some time to get myself up on my feet again, but I did. And by the end of 2019 I was back to being one of the best students in my school. The people who I was so scared of at first, ended up proving to be great friends. The teachers who I thought were so intimidating, proved to be the smartest and most supportive people I’ve ever met. I proved my value. I became a leader.

  Everything was perfect. And then the second – more sneaky and intense – storm hit: a frickin pandemic.

  Again, I fell on my butt.

  Again, I got up.

  In August 2020, I was part of a workshop (The Emerging Leaders Program) that pushed me harder than anything I’ve ever done. I felt as if someone had dunked me into freezing cold water, waking me up and showing me everything I’m capable of. When I came out of the water, it was hard to go back to reality. I was wet and cold while desperately trying to hold on to that energy.

  But now, eight months later, I believe it’s safe to say I’m dry and warm.

  I have taken the time to process what that experience meant for me. I’ve learned so much about myself this past year.

  And today, walking around and seeing my reflection on the glass windows of the huge office buildings, I see how much I’ve changed. I look stronger, I walk with more confidence, I don’t care that people look at me funny because I’m walking around with a backpack taking pictures of places I know like the back of my hand, sights I want to remember.

  A new storm is coming, and this time, when it swipes me off my feet, I’ll fall on my butt laughing and I’ll stand up with pride.

  The altMBA will be another big chapter in my life and I’m curious to see how it will shape me. Who I’ll be at the end of it, and especially, what I’ll do from there. I wrote a letter to that future me:

  Dear future Luisa,

  Thank you.

  For pushing through when it got hard.

  For embracing the fear of sharing your opinion.

  For working hard to ship your best work.

  For listening and learning how to give and accept feedback.

  For keeping an open mind and making new friends.

  I hope you got everything you were looking for, that you earned the tools, skills and connections that will help you achieve your goals.

  I hope you truly understand now that no one is going to drop from the sky and tell you exactly what you need to do with your life. That it’s up to you to determine the impact you want to have in the world.

  I’m excited – as you should be – to see what you’ll achieve, what you’ll create after this, how you’re going to put all this awesome energy you’re feeling to good use.

  Remember that this journey is just like one of your long runs: you start with a sprint – to wake up and get all that energy flowing – then, you slow down to a steady pace that allows you to run for hours and you wrap it up with a final sprint.

  So now, please go rest for a couple of days.

  Then, determine what that ideal pace looks like.

  Draw your path: your practice.

  Keep running: continue to show up, just like you did for these past 30 days, sit down and do the work, especially when it gets hard.

  Don’t make the same mistakes I’ve been making, stop coming up with excuses – “I’m not the right person to do this”, ” someone else can do more, do better”, “it’s not my place”, “I’ll start making an impact when I’m put in the right situation” – you have seen how much you can get done, you have seen your potential; you can write that blog post, you can commit to a part time job, you can make new connections even in isolation.

  You have taken that first sprint, where will you be when you take that last one towards the finish line?

  P.S.: This was actually a warm-up prompt for the program, I don’t usually write long letters to future versions of me. Although, now that I think about it, maybe I should 🤔

  P.P.S: As I re-read this letter I’m starting to realize how often I use the “running” analogy, what can I say? I really like running 😂

• The Fear of Living

  April 19th, 2021

  The understanding that we are going to die sets us apart from other species just like opposing thumbs and the rational brain.

  This condition has been tackled by all the ancient schools of thought: Epicureans, Skeptics, and Stoics. They all sought arguments that would prove the “fear of death” irrational and mechanisms to combat it. They believed that only then, free of this weight, would a person truly be happy.

  I disagree with this on two main levels:

  1. Fear of death is not a curse.

  I believe it to be the mother of creativity. It builds a sense of urgency, the need to create something that will last when we know our bodies won’t.

  2. Fear of death is not the only problem.

  We, as humans who have dealt with this problem for so long, have become accustomed to the idea of dying. Yes, it does sometimes knock on the door again and causes great havoc in our minds, but we’re not walking around constantly worrying about a day in the future when it’ll all end.

  The fear of living, however, seems to surround our every waking moment. The constant doubt of what to do with ourselves.

  How should I behave?

  Why am I here?

  Am I making the right decision?

  Am I meeting the right people?

  Am I saying yes to the right opportunities and no to the wrong ones?

  We overthink, question and regret every decision we make.

  We always want the flavor of Ice Cream we didn’t pick.

  We always want to be on the other car lane.

  We live our lives as if looking for something that was lost, something that is ours by birthright and that we have retrieve in order to have meaning.

  And yes, you could say that eliminating the fear of dying would relieve the pressure we put on ourselves, and therefore, make life more pleasant. But would it really? Is dealing with death the best way to accept life?

  My thoughts are no. If we were to completely eliminate all apprehension as to our existence coming to an end, I believe we would still question our choices, we would still want the other flavor of ice cream, or even worse, we would become so stagnant by our lack of urgency that we wouldn’t want ice cream at all.

  Well sh*t… What now? If the fear of death creates the fear of living, but eliminating the fear of death doesn’t eliminate the fear of life, what are we supposed do?

  Hey! Don’t look at me for all the answers! I’m just a 17 year old creating chaos in your brain!

  There’s no easy answer to this dilemma, this weird state we find ourselves in called life.

  I can, although, share what’s working for me at the current moment, and I expect this to change many times during my lifetime.

  I stopped taking myself so goddamn seriously.

  I accepted that there’s nothing out there that’s mine that I need to retrieve.

  I started thinking about life as a happy accident, not a planned superhero movie.

  I don’t know why I am here.

  I don’t know why I was given this body, this family, this personality.

  I don’t know if it was a magnificent entity, or a strange force or simply the laws of physics governing the arrangement of particles (I do tend to lean more towards the later).

  But I’ve come to terms with the understanding that there’s no right answer, there’s no single path, there’s no bigger meaning – at least not defined by anyone except ourselves.

  What I’m saying is, why are you trying so hard to follow a script when there isn’t one?

  Take the pressure off life, not by embracing its ending, but by celebrating its beginning.

  The mere fact that we are here – that we have brains that can record memories and create a personality, that we can sense the world, that we can make decisions, that we can try, fail and learn – is incredible. It’s an accident.

  We all come into this world with nothing, and we should be happy that we can add anything to it at all.

  It’s up to us, and only us, to define what life is. And to learn how to embrace our fears, not only of dying, but most importantly, of living.

• My Secret Garden

  April 16th, 2021

  Today I’m gonna tell you another story that will probably make you think I’m completely crazy. Alright, here we go.

  This happened back in the end of February. And things were starting to look good, I had just made a new friend (Laurinha) and had just found out that I was accepted into the altMBA. But I still felt… bored.

  All I was doing (when not exercising or doing chores around the house) was studying for the SAT (fun!), slowly working on my coding skills (this actually is fun, but again SLOWW), and “exploring my interests” which pretty much just means reading about whatever the hell I want, hoping I’ll get a clue of what I want to spend thousands of hours studying in the future.

  But these hobbies, even though I know they will help me one day, don’t really give me any instant gratification or that feeling of “hey! I did something today”. And they involved a lot of sitting around. I hate sitting.

  So, on a beautiful rest day, when my butt got tired of the chair – partially inspired by the book I was reading about WW2 at the time – I had what seemed to be the greatest idea of all time: I’m going to start a garden!

  There’s just one little problem – I live in a pretty modern neighborhood. There’s barely any land left for houses.

  My mom was very mad at me at first: “you don’t even water the little plants we have in the balcony!”

  Well, of course I don’t, they are little. If I’m gonna have a garden, I want it to be the best frickin garden in town!

  To that she rolled her eyes, but then she gave me the solution. She has a friend that lives here in Jurerê and next to her house there’s an abandoned lot. Apparently, the owner of the lot told my mom’s friend that she could use for something if she’d like and she had already thought of planting some stuff there but just hadn’t had the chance.

  The gods approve!

  Crazy idea… check!

  Land to plant on… check!

  My mom says that she’ll talk to her friend to pay someone to go clean the lot and get it ready for me to plant.

  My first instinct was to say: NO! If I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna do all of it! I’m not paying someone to make it pretty and easy, what’s the point in that?

  That same day I asked Laurinha a very weird question: “hey, Laurinha, you wouldn’t happen to have a hoe I could use right?” she must have thought I was completely crazy – keep in mind our friendship was just starting and she was just beginning to comprehend what she was getting herself into.

  Surprisingly enough, she said yes!

  So, later that afternoon, I ran to her house and borrowed the hoe. Then, I began to make my way to the lot.

  It’s only like a 5 minute walk away from her house but I was still learning my way around the new neighborhood and I got just a little lost… nothing more normal then a lost teenager walking around with a huge hoe on her shoulder. I got some funny, and maybe even scared, looks. I’m surprised no one called the police. But, eventually found my way to the lot and sized the job ahead of me.

  Here’s what it looked like before:

  

  I figured it would take me a little while to clean it all up, but I could probably get it done in like… 40 minutes right?

  Hahaah silly Luisa.

  It took me almost 2 hours of pretty intense work.

  But it wasn’t too bad, I even got some prizes!

  It was pretty comical actually, I would smash the dirt with the hoe and a random onion or sweet potato would spawn from the ground (Very similar to when you right click grass in MINECRAFT).

  When I was finally done, all covered in dirt and sweat (because of course I figured the middle of the afternoon on a sunny summer day was the best time to do this) this is what my future-garden looked like:

  

  Not too bad, not bad at all.

  Next step: actually plant something.

  I figured it was enough gardening for a day and I still had to take the hoe back (more funny stares from the neighbors), but that same week I rode my bike to a flower shop and bought some seeds and saplings.

  Here’s what it looked like when after I had planted my little seeds 😌

  

  And here’s what it’s looking like today:

  

  Needless to say I’m pretty proud of my little garden and it’s a good place to go when I need some time away from the daily stresses of life.

  On one of these days, as I watched the seed finally germinate and slowly win their battle against gravity, I stumbled across a curious question: how do seeds know how to grow up? How do the specializing cells of the plant know that the “root” cells have to go “down” and the rest “up”?

  If you’re also curious about this, check out this post (coming soon) where I try to answer those very questions.

  Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed and maybe even had a laugh.

  And finally, what is something you’d like to do? Not thinking about a huge reward in the future, not thinking about being “productive” or getting anything away from it.

  Just for the joy of doing it.

• The Fish Hero Strikes Once Again!

  April 15th, 2021

  I was on the beach again today and guess what? I saved another fish! I’m calling this one Rupert. I was actually able to get footage this time, it’s not a great video (the paparazzi was too late to the scene).

• The Day I Found My Song

  April 15th, 2021

  Last sunday was a pretty crazy day.

  I had insomnia, which is not uncommon for me – I like to blame my genetics: I remember waking up in the middle of the night and quietly opening my door to peak out and watch the movie my dad was always watching – but honestly, I think, just like my father, I simply had something more exciting to do then sleeping.

  So, at 3:00AM I finally gave up trying to go back to sleep and just got up. I made coffee – COFFEE! Like I’m sure you’d end up realizing sooner or later: I’m addicted to coffee – did some stretching to wake ma bodee and sat in front of my computer. When I got tired of banging my head against coding problems it was around 5:40.

  Perfect! The rest of the world is awake. I can go outside.

  Well… the rest of the world was a little lazy on that beautiful sunday because when I got to the beach there wasn’t anyone there. Not a single soul.

  It was the most peace and silence I’ve felt in a long time.

  The sun was struggling to make its light shine from behind the mountain and the clouds were bright pink.

  

  I took a deep breath.

  And then I started running.

  I had not planned to run. I was wearing pajama shorts and my grandpa’s oversized Clemson sweatshirt. But I ran anyway.

  After a couple of minutes I started to play some random new music on my phone.

  And then this one song begins to play. And wholly shirtballs, it was perfect. It’s like he wrote that song for me, the me at that exact moment. All my thoughts and worries – “am I going to regret waking up so early?”, “did I use this time well?”, “what the hell am I doing with my life?” – it was all answered by that song.

  The few souls that saw me at the beach that day probably had a good laugh at the sight of a messy looking teenager, dancing and skipping as she runs like a little kid.

  The song is called I’m born to run, and here are the best little snippets:

  I’m born to run down rocky cliffs
  Give me grace, bury my sins
  Shattered glass and black holes
  Can’t hold me back from where I need to go

  This part really hit close to home, this last year has had some really awesome moments but it also had some dark phases. But it’s okay, that’s in the past, I’m running.

  I’m gonna spend my time like tomorrow won’t come
  Do whatever I want like I’m born to run
  I wanna see Paris, I wanna see Tokyo
  I wanna be careless even if I break my bones

  I’ve been saying for a long time “I want to do ____. I’ll do it when _____ happens”.

  I want to work, I’ll do it when I’m 18.

  I want to study, I’ll do it when I get to college.

  I want to travel, I’ll do it when covid goes away.

  But then what is left to do today? Why am I putting my life on hold?

  Yes, I’m gonna do all those things and I can’t wait, but now? I still have to live, and I am: I’m running.

  My body moves, it’s speaking loud
  Don’t have to say what I’m thinking now
  All these things I’ve seen and done
  I live my life like I’m born to run

  I don’t own anyone an explanation for what I do. I don’t need anyone’s permission. I have a voice. I have stories. I might not be the most qualified, the most experienced, the best at everything, but I’ve seen and done so much already.

  Needless to say Sunday was a great day. I got this energy and drive that has been with me ever since.

  I’m still running. I started this blog. I let life know that I’m ready and opportunities I’ve been looking for have started to show up.

  Maybe they were there all along and I was just too focused on the distant future to see what was right in front of me.

  How about you? What are you putting on hold? What are you waiting for? Go run.

• I saved a fish! I think…

  April 14th, 2021

  This is a story that actually happened a few weeks ago but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it, trying to figure out: am I a hero or a murderer?

  It was a beautiful late afternoon, I was riding my bike on the beach with my friend Laurinha.

  We’re talking and gossiping when I suddenly scream “LOOK! A FISH!”.

  Laurinha almost falls off her bike (it wouldn’t be the first time I make her fall), we stop and walk over to a fish about the size of my hand, flapping desperately, trying to get back to the water.

  I look at Laurinha. When I see the scared and doubtful look on her face I realize: I’ve been the one elected to save the fish.

  Already feeling the weight of the superhero cape on my back, I carefully pick up the poor little guy and prepare myself to throw it carefully in the water.

  As soon as it leaves my hand my brain screams “Shit!” and I’m immediately reminded of my old handball teacher who would scream at me “THIS IS NOT VOLLEYBALL! THROW THAT BALL STRAIGHT!”. The poor fish went 6 ft up in the sky before splashing into the water.

  When she was finally able to stop laughing at my demise, Laurinha tried to make me feel better by saying that I “at least gave him a better death”. Great. That’s exactly the hero you’d want around right?

  So, here’s the big question. Did that fish die? Was the impact enough to kill it?

  I wasn’t going to jump in the water and go all “Finding Nemo” so I settled for the next best thing to ease my consciousness: physics!

  It’s funny how a silly question can lead to interesting discoveries, here’s what I think might interest you from all the research I did.

  So, before talking about fish, why do people die when they hit the water?

  You’ve probably heard someone say that falling into the sea from high distances is the same as crashing into plain concrete. But why is this?

  The problem itself is not the water, but actually the falling person! It’s not the water that turns solid, but actually the person that turns “liquid”. Crazy right?

  There’s a certain amount of energy that is required to “keep things together” or “pull things apart”, this energy is called “binding energy”. In a free-fall, the body’s kinetic energy is higher than its binding energy (if going at a fast enough speed) and the same behaves like a fluid.

  Thus, at high-velocities you have a crash between a “liquid” (the person) and a “liquid” (the water), which would be the same as a crash between a solid and a solid.

  But how fast does one need to be going?

  There is something in the field of Physics called “Terminal Velocity.” By definition, that would be the maximum velocity that something can achieve during a free-fall. When reaching terminal velocity, chances are that the human being – and any other organism – who fell in the water is dead.

  It’s estimated that it takes about 10-14 seconds of free-fall for a person to achieve 99% of its terminal velocity, which would be in the range of 117 to 125 mph. That would be equivalent to a fall of about 1800-1900 feet!

  Now, let’s talk fish…

  There was a research done in 1972, by Bell and DeLacey. They actually found the terminal velocities of different sized fish by throwing them in the water from a helicopter:

  • Fishes 4-5 inches had a terminal velocity of ~36 mph after a drop of 100 feet.
  • Fishes in the range of 23 inches had terminal velocities of ~130 mph.
  • The survival of fish in the range of 6-7 inches was in the 98% range for drops of 100-300 feet.

  The verdict

  Considering that the fish (I’m gonna call him Bob because I’m tired of saying fish) I encountered was around 6 inches, it’s terminal velocity was much lower than larger fish (good news for little Bob!). In the Physics language, lower velocity = lower kinetic energy; thus, binding energy of the fish is higher than its kinetic energy and its body behaves like a proper solid. A solid crashing on a liquid = survival. :

  And, as indicated in (3), the survival rate for fish in the range of 6-7 inches, which have a slighter bigger terminal velocity, is a whooping 98% for drops of 100-300 feet!

  I consider myself a pretty strong girl and I do get confused by the whole feet x meters shenanigan, but I believe it’s safe to say I did not throw Bob 100 feet in the air.

  Therefore, I hereby proclaim, by the powers invested in me by the laws of physics and common sense, that I, Luisa, am a fish-hero!