Murad Library
RESEARCH#md

RESEARCH

How to Make a /saudade Page

how-to-make-a-saudade-page.md

research·#MD·how-to-make-a-saudade-page.md
Date
Reading
9 min read

A practical guide for creating a /saudade slash page: a personal page for honoring what and whom we love, whether present, absent, living, dead, distant, or changed.

How to Make a /saudade Page

A /saudade page is a personal slash page for honoring what and whom we love, whether they are present, absent, living, dead, distant, changed, or gone.

It is not only a memorial page.
It is not only a nostalgia page.
It is not a public performance of sadness.

It is a place for presences that remain.

What /saudade Means

Saudade is a Portuguese word for a form of longing, remembrance, and love for someone or something absent but still emotionally present.

A /saudade page uses that word as a web convention: a root-level page, usually found at:

example.com/saudade

Its purpose is to gather small, careful records of people, places, times, objects, songs, communities, animals, and former selves that continue to shape the person behind the website.

A simple definition:

/saudade is a page for things that are no longer here in the same way, but still live in us somehow.

Why Create One?

Most personal websites have pages for identity, work, tools, and the present:

/about
/now
/uses
/contact
/links

But many of the things that make a person who they are do not fit neatly into those pages.

A /saudade page fills that missing space.

It says:

  • these people mattered;
  • these places formed me;
  • these times ended, but left something behind;
  • these objects, songs, books, films, homes, and habits still carry memory;
  • not everything that shaped me is still present;
  • not everything absent is gone.

What Belongs on a /saudade Page?

A /saudade page can include:

  • people who have died;
  • living people who are distant, changed, or no longer part of daily life;
  • family members;
  • friends;
  • mentors;
  • animals;
  • homes;
  • cities;
  • streets;
  • childhood places;
  • former communities;
  • old projects;
  • books;
  • films;
  • songs;
  • objects;
  • smells;
  • meals;
  • rituals;
  • former versions of yourself;
  • seasons of life that ended.

It should not be limited to death.

That is what makes it different from a memorial page.

Core Principles

1. Honor, Do Not Exploit

A /saudade page should honor memory without turning other people into material.

Before writing about someone, ask:

  • Is this my story to tell?
  • Would this person be comfortable being named?
  • Am I revealing something private?
  • Am I using grief, distance, or intimacy for aesthetic effect?

When in doubt, use initials, descriptions, or omit identifying details.

2. Remember, Do Not Perform

The page should not feel like a stage.

Avoid writing to impress readers with how deep, wounded, nostalgic, or sensitive you are.

Write as if you are placing something carefully on a shelf.

3. Be Specific

Vague saudade becomes sentimental fog.

Weak:

I miss the good old days.

Better:

I miss the yellow light in the kitchen at my grandmother's house, and the way everyone became quieter after dinner.

Specific details carry more truth than grand declarations.

4. Do Not Romanticize

Saudade does not have to lie.

You can miss something without pretending it was perfect.

A useful pattern:

I remember...

I miss...

I do not romanticize...

What remains:

This keeps the page honest.

5. Keep Some Things Unnamed

Not every person needs to be identified.
Not every story needs to be complete.
Not every memory needs to be fully public.

A /saudade page can include entries like:

### A friend who became distance

We did not really fight. We just slowly stopped being part of each other's days.

I still think about one conversation we had outside a restaurant, when both of us were pretending to be less afraid than we were.

What remains: a tenderness for unfinished friendships.

Privacy can make the page stronger, not weaker.

Recommended Structure

A good /saudade page can be short.

Start with this:

---
title: "Saudade"
slug: "saudade"
updated: "YYYY-MM-DD"
---

# /saudade

Things and people that are no longer here in the same way, but still live in me somehow.

_Last updated: YYYY-MM-DD_

## About this page

This is not an obituary, a complete archive, or a performance of sadness.

It is a place for presences that remain:
people, places, objects, songs, homes, communities, former selves, and seasons of life that changed, ended, moved away, or died.

Some entries have names. Some do not.

## People

### [Name, initial, or description]

I remember...

I miss...

I do not romanticize...

What remains:

## Places

### [Place]

I remember...

I miss...

I do not romanticize...

What remains:

## Times

### [Season, period, or former life]

I remember...

I miss...

I do not romanticize...

What remains:

## Small Things

- [Song] — why it remains.
- [Object] — what it carries.
- [Smell] — where it takes me.
- [Meal] — who it brings back.
- [Phrase] — why I still hear it.

## Privacy Note

Some people and stories appear without names.
Not everything true needs to be public in full.

## See Also

- [/about](/about)
- [/now](/now)
- [/slashes](/slashes)

Entry Template

Use this when adding a new entry:

### [Title]

I remember...

I miss...

I do not romanticize...

What remains:

Or, for a shorter version:

### [Title]

I remember...

What remains:

Or, for a very small entry:

- [Thing] — what it brings back, and why it still matters.

Example Entries

A House

### The old house

I remember the hallway light, the sound of keys on the table, and the way the afternoon felt longer there.

I miss the illusion that everyone was still close enough to be called from another room.

I do not romanticize the silence that also lived in that house.

What remains: my need for rooms that feel lived in.

A Living Person

### A friend who lives far away now

We are still alive, still kind to each other, but no longer part of the same ordinary days.

I miss the casualness: the unplanned coffee, the small jokes, the easy assumption that there would be another time.

What remains: proof that some friendships do not disappear; they change weather.

A Dead Person

### My grandfather

I remember his hands more than his voice.

I miss the way he made practical things feel like care.

I do not romanticize the distance that existed between us when he was alive.

What remains: the belief that love is often quieter than language.

A Former Self

### The person I was when I first learned to code

I remember the impatience, the late nights, the feeling that every solved error opened a door.

I miss the freshness of not knowing how much I did not know.

I do not romanticize the insecurity.

What remains: the instinct to keep taking things apart until they make sense.

A Small Thing

- The smell of rain on hot pavement — it returns me to streets I cannot find exactly anymore.

What Not to Do

Do not make the page huge on day one.

Start small.

Do not add entries just because they sound poetic.

If an entry does not carry real memory, remove it.

Do not expose living people without care.

If a memory involves someone else's private life, protect them.

Do not turn grief into branding.

A /saudade page should feel human, not optimized.

Suggested Page Length

A good first version can have:

  • one short introduction;
  • three to five entries;
  • one privacy note;
  • one last-updated date.

That is enough.

The page can grow slowly.

Design Suggestions

Keep the visual design quiet.

Good choices:

  • simple typography;
  • generous spacing;
  • no heavy animation;
  • optional dates;
  • optional small photographs, used sparingly;
  • no auto-playing music;
  • no dramatic effects.

The writing should carry the weight.

URL and Language

The canonical URL should be:

/saudade

Even on an English-language site, keeping the Portuguese word matters.

You may add an explanatory line:

“Saudade” is a Portuguese word for a kind of longing, remembrance, and love for someone or something absent but still emotionally present.

Optional aliases:

/memory
/remembrance
/missing

But the canonical page should remain:

/saudade

Relationship to Other Slash Pages

A /saudade page fits naturally beside:

/about      who I am
/now        what I am focused on now
/uses       what I use
/links      what I recommend
/slashes    what slash pages exist here
/saudade    what remains with me

If /about explains identity and /now explains the present, /saudade explains some of the absences that still shape both.

Minimal Version

If you want the smallest possible version, use this:

# /saudade

Things that are no longer here in the same way, but still live in me somehow.

_Last updated: YYYY-MM-DD_

## People

- [Name or description] — what remains.

## Places

- [Place] — what remains.

## Times

- [Season of life] — what remains.

## Small Things

- [Song, object, smell, phrase, meal] — what remains.

Some people and stories appear without names. Not everything true needs to be public in full.

Final Test

Before publishing, ask:

  • Is this specific?
  • Is this honest?
  • Is this careful with other people's privacy?
  • Is this memory, not performance?
  • Does this page honor without exploiting?
  • Does it allow love without romanticizing?

If yes, it belongs.

One-Sentence Definition

/saudade is a personal slash page for honoring presences made of absence.

References and Context

Related documents

How to Make a /saudade Page · Murad Library