Soul Survivor: Paulo Pascoal "... A Brain Tumor Has Changed My Life"

Written By: MIM!—To those familiar with African pop music, Paulo Pascoal is no stranger. The singer from Angola, was once most well-known for his love songs and signature curly long black locks. Having captured pop stardom in Angola and Portugal, (his then residences), it is easy to overlook that Paulo is also an incredibly accomplished model whose career took him to new heights, including pursuing his dream of becoming an actor. Paulo explains, "I always had passion for the arts in every form ... I call myself an accidental model because it is nothing I ever wanted to pursue but it just kept happening so I took every single opportunity thrown at me. I dream big therefore I always worked hard to have those dreams be my reality."

While Paulo thought he was on the path to realizing his dream of acting, he collapsed in 2008, only to learn that he had a brain tumor. In the brief span of two months, a 25-year old Paulo was diagnosed with cancer. He explains, "Cancer is ... everywhere these days, but you never look at those things as if they're coming to you."

Despite the devastating diagnosis and painful radiation and chemotherapy treatments which caused him to lose a significant amount of weight along wih his hair and eyebrows, Paulo considers the cancer a "blessing" that allowed him to regain focus. He explains, "I constantly gave too much importance to things that I shouldn’t ... [today] I am proudly a cancer survivor. I learned that life is not as much about the destination as how we choose to get there. No one is promised tomorrow. Today, in all it's beauty is all we have. I'm enjoying the journey of a soul man in experience seeking to love and learn eternally. I love waking up at the crack of dawn to meditate and thank God for another day. Gratitude is powerful and easily accessible to all of us.”

{capturing Paulo's evolution}

Armed with a new found sense of purpose and passion, Paulo is once again focused on the arts—he released two singles in the Fall of last year, All Over and Don't Stop, and is slated to release a new album Heal this year. Paulo also has a movie in release, Pure Beauty, as well as two more movies in post-production. But 2010 is about so much more for Paulo. Having beat cancer, Paulo is getting involved in projects to make "a better world." He would like to travel the world and "help less privileged children through courses of Art therapy" as well as "volunteer[] to build schools, serv[e] diverse communities with different needs ... hoping to leave them with a smile." That spirit for life is plain even in Paulo's writings: "Riding along in this magic world ... an Angolan decedent ... born in Portugal ... a performing artist ... and loving every bit of it ... fascinated with Life ... and all it brings ... Now ... Longing to attract ... among all ... those positive ... talented individuals ... to cherish the beauty ... in captures that will remain ... forevermore! ... spreading learning ... collaborating ... ... neither the less, experimenting! Willing to share with YOU... the Passion for this Art! Let's have some Fun with Purpose and Objectives! Thank You mates!"

Connect with Paulo at twitter.com/paulopascoal and for more information, visit his official website paulopascoal.com.

(Photography: Courtesy of Paulo Pascoal)