Life in rosy hues

Yesterday, my mom and I listened to Edith Piaf's "La Vie en Rose".  I barely understand French, but she does pretty well.  She had an intense study course while in her college years, and although she is quite rusty, she still manages to follow a conversation or at least is able to translate pieces of the song.

This morning I woke up with the tune in my head and had an urgency for understanding the whole song.  The words are beautiful and dreamy, the same way the melody makes you feel airy.  It speaks of a great love, so great and so divine, that makes her see life in rosy hues.  And while skepticism for a feeling so ethereal creeps in my head, my heart knows exactly what it is to feel so in love.  I have a battle in my soul that denies me the privilege of letting go and enjoy love as it has presented to me, and I am constantly letting go of my walls of self defense.  I know he does too.  Love doesn't look so rosy while still having the bittersweet taste of failed relationships on your shoulders.  But love is here indeed.  There's no denying it.  No wonder my eyes filled with tears this morning while reading the song: my heart loves so much that wants to see life in rosy hues too.

LA VIE EN ROSE (English translation) 

Eyes that gaze into mine,
A smile that is lost on his lips—
That is the unretouched portrait
Of the man to whom I belong. 

When he takes me in his arms
And speaks softly to me,
I see life in rosy hues.
He tells me words of love,
Words of every day,
And in them I become something.
He has entered my heart,
A part of happiness
Whereof I understand the reason.
It’s he for me and I for him, throughout life,
He has told me, he has sworn to me, for life.
And from the things that I sense,
Now I can feel within me
My heart that beats. 

In endless nights of love,
A great delight that comes about,
The pains and bothers are banished,
Happy, happy to die of love. 

When he takes me in his arms
And speaks softly to me,
I see life in rosy hues.
He tells me words of love,
Words of every day,
And in them I become something.
He has entered my heart,
A part of happiness
Whereof I understand the reason.
It’s he for me and I for him, throughout life,
He has told me, he has sworn to me, for life.
And from the things that I sense,
Now I can feel within me
My heart that beats. 


You can find the original french song and some info on this site:
http://www.useless-knowledge.com/1234/06apr/article064.html

It's an Etsy thing

Ok, so by now you all know how I dig the whole handmade market revolution.  I've been an Etsy buyer for a long while now, and have actually helped some friends to put up their stores shooting good looking pictures.  I have contemplated the idea of putting up a store of mine, but I just didn't know what to sell.  Of course, selling photography would be my first obvious choice, but I'm not quite there yet.  There is a tight competition of really good photographers and I just don't want to show up with some crappy, unprepared collection.  I have to think this through.

But then my sweetie instructed me on how to make handmade woven thread bracelets.  Ta Daaaaa! I'm hooked. Obsessed.  Literally. And I did a test.... I put up a store and just started selling personalized bracelets, and so far, there's an interest.  There's a cool market out there wanting colorful, funky bracelets, and I just love it :-)  Here is a sample of what customers have requested....

No, don't worry, I won't go overboard and start posting non-stop propaganda on this blog, but be aware that I will be sliding in some posts here and there on Etsy life and how it all works.  It's really worth the try...

Good Morning, Christmas Time :)

My mom came to visit for the holidays.  Yesterday we brought her to our apartment and she stayed the whole afternoon with us, drinking wine and eating pizza.  This is the second time my sweetheart actually met with her, and I think they're starting to know each other better.  We talked about everything and anything that came across, including memories of my father and my childhood back home.  It's good to have her here for the Holidays.  She is my Christmas.  Music and good food have always been present in my life thanks to her.  She brought all the warm memories of happy childhood times with her, and I thank her for that.

P.S.This is the cup of coffee I was telling you about in my previous post.  You see what I mean? ;)

With a cup of coffee...

I got up this morning so cold, that I rushed into the kitchen and made myself a warm and yummy cup of coffee.  Us latin girls like our coffee with milk and sugar.  Steamy and comforting.

So, it is with this hot treat that I come to write.  Writing always has a way with my mind: it quiets it down.  I'm in a constant conversation with myself, and I often think this is the reason why I loose so much hair. My hair falls down like quiet snow does on a winter night.  No, I'm not bald, but I do loose more hair than I know is normal. 

My photography has been on hold for a month now.  I went on a little trip with my sweetheart to NYC.  I know New York pretty well, so I offered my tour guide services to him and he accepted.  We walked and walked like two crazy people! And even though I've been to this city so many times, just being there with him made it so much different.  I had my birthday on a cruise by the Hudson River.  The sun set while we were on it and the city looked amazing.  The lights, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Empire State Bldg.... all those places looked so new to me from that perspective.  Sometimes we think we know everything later to find out that we don't.  I think that's about true with everything.  Think hard and you'll know what I'm talking about.

With November gone, December came with all the cold in the world.  We were happy we were able to leave the North before all the snow started to fall.  But oh, it's been 30 degrees in Miami! That's crazy, I know.  I'm enjoying it while it lasts.  With my warm cup of coffee, I'll be able to beat the cold over and over again.

Lovely Belly

December Blues

The end of the year.  The end of a long, confusing and hectic year.

I'm not complaining.  On the contrary, I am hopeful.  Year end always puts me in a meditative trance, like a buddhist monk in a constant state of meditation.  Reviewing, rewinding my memory and cleaning the dust that comes out from it.  We are the net result of the cumulative effect of our decisions, of our rights and wrongs.  It's ok, I can deal with my wrongs alright.  Let's just move along, shall we?

And that's what year end is all about... moving along.  Stepping into new ground and smelling the fresh grass underneath our feet.  Hopeful. At ease.  Content.  In peace.

Let your breath be your witness

I went to Yoga class today. We had a different teacher, and it was a totally different feeling.  The energy was paced and soothing, and my movements were easier to follow.  Perhaps I'm getting better.  Or maybe the leader's energy agreed with me in some way.

If you've ever been to a Yoga class, you know how breathing is important.  The inhale and exhale mark the  ins and outs of movements and poses.  As the class intensifies, your breathing does too.  It makes us aware of our bodies; it draws our attention to our present.  Those uncomfortable poses challenge our rigid sense of self.  The straightforward idea of all things vertical disappear, leaving only the comfort of a twisted heart and soul.  It was during one of those twists when the teacher said to the class, "Breath.  Let your breath be the witness of yourself." That line spoke to me so dearly.  It clearly stated the intimacy of the Yoga.  You, meeting with your own self in a delightful state of concentration and achievement.

I wish I had more of this intimacy with my own self.  I was reading on some Yoga online forum on the intentions people bring to their practices.  It is at the beginning of every class where we state our own intentions, our own energy.  I usually put my energy towards me, being a better person.  I walk around with myself every single moment, and it is my intention to be at peace with me, to the person that I truly am, and not the person I think I am.  There's a huge difference.  For the most part of my 33 years of age (soon to be 34), I have fed the person I have thought I am.  I'm done with that.  My true self is much more, and I plan to meet with me daily, for the rest of my life.  To spend more time breathing awareness and letting my breath be my witness in the process.

Considering Children Photography

This is my first attempt at baby photography. Of course, I have photographed children before, but not in my tiny studio, and not with a one year old.  Uffff.... it was fun alright! The baby girl was a vivacious one, curious and wanting to touch everything and anything she could lay her hands on.  Most of the first half of the session was an attempt on my part to get at least a couple of good pics.  I wanted to get everything in the frame... head, arms, feet.... and truthfully, it was the biggest challenge ever. But, after a while, her energy started waning down, and that's when I was able to get this one good shot.

Yoga photography and more....

Well.... looks like it's picking up.  I have a couple of new projects and I am really excited about all of them.

Yoga.  I started practicing Yoga about two years ago.  Truthfully, like many other ideas I've had in the past, I started it and didn't follow it. I have to admit that I have a tendency to get hyper and psyched about things, and then letting them drop.  I'm like a kid that wants a toy and cries and cries until it gets it, and then he gets bored and puts it aside.  Yep, that's me alright.  But yoga is such a great exercise, that I've always wanted to put my mind into it and master it.  And since I have more free time than I used to, I decided to rejoin my old yoga school.  My teacher was really happy to see me again and welcomed me in as if I have never left.

I also approached her with my photography and we are already starting a yoga photography project.  We are both excited and looking forward for the photo shoot session this next week.

Of Cash Flow and God

Don't think that I have abandoned my journaling.  I haven't.  I come to the blog almost daily, having all sorts of ideas and experience that I would like to share with you.  But the truth is that I go blank once I hit the New Post icon.

Much is going, but all of it is happening inside of me.  I am trying to build a business that is all about being there and making it happen, but it looks as if I'm not.  I've had some delays in cash flow that have put me in a position of waiting and re-assesing.

Good news: I paid off my car loan.
Bad news: I had to use some of my business resources to do it.

But I had to do it.  It was one of those pending things that float around your head and you just don't know how to get rid of it.  I just did.  Done.

Life is a give and take.  I had a list of things that I NEEDED to buy in order for the photography business to be effective.  The list got shorter.  I managed to downsize it to the minimum, and I have to make it work with the bare essentials.  I am an intelligent and resourceful woman, and I am being put to the test.

There's been a lot of talk in the news about this Hawkings guy in England who says that he can scientifically prove God's non-existance.  I've had a pretty rough couple of weeks, and this article just added to my confused and irritated state of mind.  I honestly stopped for a second and thought about this idea: that God could really be just a reflection of our own delirious and confused psychology.  The thought irritated me, and really made me angry.  Because it made me feel hopeless and insecure.  Because it goes against everything I've believed in all my life.

I resolved my conflict by choosing.  The fact is there's a 50/50 chance of it being true.  There's 50% chance of God not existing at all, and there's another 50% chance of It being there, supporting and surrounding our spaces with Its presence.  I am on the believers side.  I choose to be on the side of the ones that hold their breath when speak Its Name, the ones that pray knowing that is being heard.  I need to know this Being is the one testing my limits right now, and that in fact, is holding something greater and magnificent for my own little existence.  I am driven by a natural instinct of self-improvement that I know comes from a greater source of wisdom.

I chose this.  And I am holding on to It.