It's one of my favourite activities in the coastal area between the MiratecArts Galeria Costa property and the Atlantic Ocean—that place I call "the end of the world" because there's no land until Antarctica. I should do it more often. Walk. Think about "infinity and beyond," without constraints. It's rewarding.

I love this corner of the world that I decided to call home 15 years ago. It's incredible how time flies. Adding these adult years to those I spent here as a child, I've lived on the mountain island as much as in my country of birth. There are choices we make in life that we only know were right years later. This choice was like winning a surprise prize. I managed to be with my parents during their last years, and build a life project that will only end, for me, when I'm also no longer here. It's rewarding.

August is vacation month for many. For me, it's a time for cleaning, for change, for planning something different, and also for creating the cultural and artistic programming calendar for next year. It's work.

Arriving in the Azores in the middle of the month of tourist chaos, sun, and houses full of emigrants is never a good preparation for what's to come. The mist, the fog, the cows with their "moo," the empty houses, and the lightning bolt that opens the curtains to reveal the blue sky—all appear when you least expect them. You can't invent this scenario. Nature is the most beautiful canvas that constantly renews itself. Why shouldn't we do the same? It's cool.

Every day I talk to other artists. Whether they are talents from the island, the region, or from beyond. We dream, question, build, plan, think, love... because it's a passion that can only be expressed through what we do. Writing, drawing, music, dance, theater, film, sculpture, imagination. It's enriching.

It doesn't matter where I go in the world. There are always worse places and better places. But I love this land, even with its abandoned trails or those destroyed by the last storm. I've always heard that there's no place like home. I agree. And this is my home. From the small place of Mirateca, in the parish of Candelária, in the municipality of Madalena, Pico Island, Azores, Portugal. It's the best corner of my paradise. Imagine if everything worked around us. It would be utopian!

by Terry Costa (artistic director, producer, cultural agent)

Photo: Terry Costa by Luís Godinho, at MiratecArts Galeria Costa