to be...

first i think and then i draw my think

i’m reading a book on zen and the art of making a living. the author encourages one to try and combine something that we love doing with that of making a living. she reminds us of children and there imagination. what would you like to grow up to be? and a child in drawing what she imagines says… ‘first i think and then i draw my think.’

'it’s never too late to become that which you’ve always wanted to be.' and for anyone who is doing what she loves, i am inspired by you…

the art of friendship

dear Susu from Susu's World gave me the gift of a friends award. and i really appreciate the sweet things she shared about my little writing space here.

you won't believe that i don't know how to link people here in the post area, which is only why i have never done it. as my blog list is not so long, please, when you have a moment have a look at the blogs i will mention. you can find them on the right. it will be well worth your time and i hope my ignorance about linking is not too inconvenient for you. i've been tagged twice so here we go my dears...

6 random things about me.... hmmm, let's see

1. true friendship is especially important to me. now that i am thinking of it i am even considering the 'art of friendship.' that's an idea i'd like to ponder a bit.
2. i love the colour pink! my heart does a little flip at the sight of it
3. i'm pretty calm by nature. it takes me a looonnnnggg time to blow if i get angry, but when i do look out!
4. i'm also deeply curious by nature. i so much want to know. when i was a little girl my mother would shoo me away from her conversations with her friends because i would find a corner, have a seat and listen because i was so curious about what they were talking about.
5. i love having desert first. i think it has something to do with breaking the 'rules.' and also i think the effects of sweet deserts can take effect more easily on an empty stomach:)
6. i am an incredibly poor cook. and that's not cool for someone who loves food as much as i do...

thanks Susu for including me in this friendship party. it always warms the heart when someone asks... 'so tell me about you.'

as i have been especially lucky to be thought of as well by Julianne from Potpourri Promenade. this tag is interesting as well because even i did not know what the result would be. the idea is that i am to go to my 4th folder (my picture folder) and choose my 4th picture and tell about it. and then tag 4 other persons. so my 4th picture is...

this picture by the painter aaron douglas. i actually don't know what the title of it is. the thing is, since i don't know much about the intricacies of painting i kind of follow my heart. when something moves me i try to remember it. this one does, the soft hues, the movement of the people, a kind of community as well. i think it may have something to do with an african (american?) community at work in unjust conditions. and still, much like life, beautiful music and art can come from painful situations.

and my last task of my requests is to tag 6 and 4 other persons. if it is alright with you i won't tag them because really and truly they are you! i only stay connected really with about 6 other persons and for the most part i would be tagging the persons who tagged me. so what i will do if i may, is just take a moment to mention how me wee heart appreciates your presence when you stop by...

you may notice that the list of blogs i visit is not long. time and desire mostly dictates my list. that is, with the amount of time that i have i try to use my time to stay sincerely connected with a few and i do hope that you feel that.

Jorge from el blog de jorge, what can i say, he's an incredibly gifted and intelligent poet always with curious insights to share about culture, literature and politics just to name a few ideas. if i could cook as nicely as him as well as speak the many languages he does... then... i would smile even more than i do now. and i hear i smile a lot...

Indiaj from here, there, elsewhere...and more is a new friend. i am enjoying learning about that which she loves by what she shares. ...like her beautiful family and travels. like meeting friends in paris as well as time spent meandering london markets. sweet! her blog space truly feeds my curiosity gene because she touches on all those little interesting things that makes us go... hmmm. whether it is an incredibly interesting quote, or art and culture depending on where in the world she is or is dreaming of...

la belette rouge, well, i pop into her blog to have my socks knocked off. there through her posts i am tempted to either cry from her feeling life so deeply and sincerely, or laugh at the funny things she shares. and too i get much writing direction as she shares her journey as a soon to be published author (there belette i said it!).

Lala at my castle in spain, pop in here for a pause in a sweet andalusian cafe or for some eye and heart candy from her glorious creations. you listen to the sentiments she shares and so often the goodies she's created and you really do feel like you've been wisked away on holiday. i call it my 'heart moment,' when i pop in.

Julianne at potpourri promenade who keeps forgetting how lovely her posts are. she thinks she doesn't write enough interesting posts but she's mistaken. somehow when i'm meandering her writing space i feel a sense of home, which is a feeling i haven't felt often enough in life. for me, i think it has to do with the gentleness and care she seems to share as she navigates the calm and rocky waters of this life we are all trying to do our best at. thanks so much for the care you share.

Susu is the 'wonder-full' lady of susu's world. pop in on her sweetland for delicious treasures that enrich the heart and mind as she shares thoughts on the beauties that life has to offer; a special drawing that she herself has created, ponderings about non touchables but feelables that make life beautiful. and too ...glimpses into paris through her eyes and heart.

dear P at what possessed me. smart and funny are her gifts. i pop in and i so often find that we are all different for a reason. how we are different brings such richness to our lives. the images she shares along with her comments are so smart and funny. i realise i could never be so clever in a million years. i'm glad and made all the better for her cleverness...

merci beaucoup mon amies!

i say a little prayer for you

the moment i wake up
before i put on my makeup
i say a little prayer
for you

lyrics from aretha franklin's i say a little prayer

these last days much has been going on to touch the heart. i wanted to post some days ago but the time seem to get away from me. my heart would break with the news of what was/is going on between the israelis and the palestianians. i'm deeply grateful for a 'cease fire.' i hope surprisingly it will be forever. i know that seems incredibly unrealistic but we must at least start with a dream followed of course by all the necessary efforts. a great man did once say... i have a dream...

yesterday, well, since friday there have been ceremonies for the inauguration of barack obama. so hopefully we can get back on track, each one of us doing our part.

i so often walk by the hudson river. it's a nice little reprieve from the busyness of the city. as i don't know how to swim (i know! gotta do something about that) i have wondered what if i fell in. i hope to never have this happen. i wondered how long one could last in that water. well, on the day of the plane going down in the hudson, with those temperatures that day, experts say about half an hour. only.

i do love it when things seem to work out alright...

dream big dreams

it's time

smile,

breathe,

and go slowly...

thich nhat hanh

hoping for peace in the middle east, peace next door & right where we are.
above image... little obama with his grandpa...

snow in madrid

i've found out that my beloved city of madrid was covered in snow this past friday. why is this a big deal? i guess maybe you'd have to live there to feel why this is so. it doesn't snow in madrid often. so when you find the wee little flakes falling it's a sweet surprise.

snow in madrid is sentimental for me as well. i'll tell you why. i went for a summer, my first trip to europe. i'd just quit my job in banking, somehow coming to understand that a financial career in nyc is not as glamorous as it seemed to be.

i thought i'd go to spain where i'd read that wine, good food, and friendship the spanish take serious, and i wanted to see with my own eyes. i ended up staying for 5 years. spain has the ability to steal your heart when you're not looking.

i taught english to pay for my rent and drink:) one morning well into my stint there, on my way to a 8am class i walked out of my apartment building to find that the city was being decorated in snow flakes. i thought how pretty. it had been a few years since i'd seen snow.

though i did not know how unusual a real snow fall is in madrid, there was a mix of excitement as well as panic. i arrived at my morning class to find most folks were not coming to work, as well as shops and the doings about the city would not be... well... 'doing.'

i thought for this little covering of snow, the city comes to a halt? though all my classes would be canceled that day, and i would lose a day's pay. i checked my mobile telephone and found my friends were meeting in a cafe for breakfast, and i should get there as soon as i can.

i texted back... voy ahora mismo! i'm on my way now!

deux mots en français

when i popped in on p, from what possessed me, her post today reminded me so much of my one time in paris. though i hope to be in paris again, the few days i spent there one spring were really kinda sweet. funny how we can do something and look back on it and wonder how. i had 2 words of french in my repertoire... no kidding... those words were bon jour & merci. though i must admit these two words can go a really long way.

while there i managed to sign myself up for a bikram yoga course in french. i went everyday and sweated it out in that hot room in paris. comment on dit 'toes' en français... i remember many lovely things about that visit... and i remember that hot yoga class, incredibly delicious food, the intense emotion that captured me upon entering the musée d'orsay, and taking my seat in the cinema to watch the film 'coffee and cigarettes' with parisians and expats in a cinema in the left bank...

moon dreams

anyone who lives in or has visited nyc can tell you the crowds and doings in the city get pretty busy. sometimes... while moving through the crowds i get stopped in my tracks. this evening while methodically moving through all the people i could here the tender conversation of a father and son behind me. the little one looked to be about 3 years old. and you could tell of course the father was trying to allow him some independence in the midst of the crowd, while at the same time protect and guide him. well during their conversation the little boy simply said... 'i wish i could have the moon as a pet. i would take good care of it.'

well... in this moment i am a child again, with all the wonder and fantasy that is real.

image de jmzawodny

nice new year's eve

it was nice. in a way i wish many a new year's eve can be like last night, no matter what our doings are. ...stressfree, good company, lovely atmosphere... and champagne. time spent with people we simply like make life sweet...