Where I came from...

One thing is for sure, when you're in the company of family and friends there is never a moment to doubt that you are loved. You feel it in your soul, your heart and ever fiber of your being. As I stood there watching everyone interact amongst each other and with me, I can't help but to feel a warm glow in my heart, these people love me- for my idiosyncratic ways and all the unexplainable quirks. A home coming to me is a time for reflection, a time to gather 'round and catch up on the goings on in everyones life, a time to fill up the the battery in you that can only be charged by people who has known you through every downfall, every milestone and every heart ache, the people that has been with you to hell and back and are still making a conscious decision to love you - no questions asked. They're the ones who tell you what you need to hear in a world of superficiality and instant gratification, they are the ones who are there at 3am when you are inconsolably miserable, the ones who celebrated your first kiss, your first job, your first child and were just as happy as you are. The ones to whom you owe so much of what you are about because they helped mold you to who you are, who you stand for and what you fight for every day. They're the ones who will fight for you and with you to the end and the first ones to call to check up on you or take care of you when you need some patching up. They're the ones who have been there, are still there and will be there when everyone else has come and gone. They're your real friends and they're your family and in a world of mobility - they are your constants. You just know when you are with them, no matter where you are in the world, you are loved and you are home.

HER

I am back!! I can't believe a whole year has gone by. My mom used to tell me: "After 30 things start happening in lightning speed, so savor the moments and enjoy them like they're your last". I have to say, I've always lived life in a very open mind, open heart, spontaneous way and every year that passes, I am reminded of how precious it is - not only to preach those words but believe it, really, really believe it. It is so hard in life not to be carried away and get sucked into feeling anything less than positive, after all, life doesn't always make things easy but this I can tell you has always been true for me - when life has you by the balls and you're squirming in pain and there's nothing else you want but to get the hell out, why don't you try a different approach? Instead of fighting it, GO WITH IT. Roll with the feeling and let it settle, feel the burn, feel the pain, learn from the pain, even LOVE the pain and I promise you the next thing you'll notice is the pain subsiding and your view of the world has changed. You would have learned that the pain was necessary to cleanse you, to make you appreciate the amazing stuff when it comes, enjoy it when it lingers, hold on to it when it decides to stay and be grateful for every moment it's within your grasp. I can honestly say, there are so many instances in life where I failed to do that, after all, it's human nature to not want to feel the pain - but the pain is there for a reason and the reason is - YOU NEED TO LEARN FROM IT. If you don't learn from this, I'm afraid it will self perpetuate until you finally learn the lesson it wants you to lucubrate and receive. Don't try to fight it - you will never win that battle.

Today, I am inspired to honor life and it's plethora of appropriation and beneficence. It's ability to throw you off course only to find out that this course was better than the one you were trekking all along. It's ability to make you laugh at yourself or even see yourself in a different point of view, it's ability to MAKE you feel uncomfortable and pleasantly surprised all at the same time, it's ability to make you eat a little or a big slice of some of her specialty, the humble pie, it's ability to take things and give things whenever it's necessary just to prove a point. I gotta tell you, Life is sounding more and more like a woman. She holds the key to your success, your happiness, your whole life is in the palm of her hands and you are scared and vulnerable but titillated and curious and all you have to do is accept and deduce her nature and her temperament but it's not easy, it's a serious undertaking, in fact, it may take you a lifetime to know her and just when you think you do, she may throw you for a loop BUT this I know, like a real woman's affection and unadulterated love - when you know how to deal with LIFE and her many inclinations and semblances, you will see that the "ball grab" is gone. You will be enlightened and FREE - free from disquiet uncertainties and vexations. And life will be that much sweeter and will have much more meaning because you have managed to seize her, possess her and accept her for all and everything she is about, because you stopped fighting her. The best arsenal you can bring to any "battle" - is compassion, empathy and a heart filled with love and free of judgments - that is the truth and it is no secret.

So, today - look life in her eyes, grab her by her hair, pull her close to you and tell her: "I am not afraid of you, I want to know what you are about and I am f*cking ready to go on this adventure with you, we will laugh, we will cry, we will sing and we will create so many memories and when the time has come that I close my eyes for the last time, I hope that we've done all that we intended to do and that we simply have no regrets"