My Journey begins

Today I leave for Miami.  I look forward to spending the weekend with my friends and celebrating in the love between two people.  It is a formal affair in my mind.  A moment where I must be on my best behaviour and put my heart to my sleeve.  From Miami, though, I am going to Argentina, where family awaits me.  Buenos Aires is always an adventure and always booming with life and activity, but what I really look forward to is Catamarca.  Going to Catamarca is like going to another world.  It is as if time and space are operating at a different pace.  There the world rotates on an entirely different level.  It is slow, calm and peaceful.  The earth is wild and the air is filled with it's distinct smell.  Family is important, close, interactive.  Everything is one, connected in some beautiful, awe inspiring way.  The animals roam free and instinctively come home.  They are loving, protective, and cautious.  The warmth engulfs you, and the breeze kisses your skin with its sweet sighs and quiet caresses.  The river is a calm, cool, sparkling beacon that calls softly to every creature within its wide distance.  I long to be there already.  To sit by the babbling stream of water at its edge and take it all in.  To feel the heat fill my body with warm tenderness.  To watch the magnificent horses with all their colors and strength, dip their heads for a sip and stride, proudly on.  There are cows, sheep, and pigs too.  Everything seems to roam so freely so wild and alive.  There is nothing to do but relax, connect, and energize!  Going to Catamarca is like coming up from the deep ocean with all its dangerous pressures and taking in a deep, long awaited, gasp of fresh air.  My heart is there already!

Valentine

The world is wonderful and beautiful and I am enjoying the moment.  What a gorgeous day it is!  The sky is blue with perfectly formed and brilliantly white clouds, floating like bubbles over water, on a vast and limitless canvas of soft blue.  It is bright and breezy and fresh to the senses!  My world is intensly colorful on this day and I am feeling the vibrant shades soak into my skin like fresh blood on white linens, staining my soul with undeniable vigor and energy.   I can still feel the love of Valentines Day lingering in the fresh air and seeping to the marrow of my bones.  I am working diligently on my project to spread the love via handmade cards.  I have already handed out several with great responses!  These have mostly been to those I know and trust however.  Next step: strangers.  I have about a week left before I am in Argentina and I can't wait to be in Argentina!  I can't wait to see my family, to be able to sit back with nothing due, nothing required or expected of me, and the freedom to do absolutely whatever it is I feel like doing.  My plan is to catch up on my reading, work on some of my website and scout the lands with my adventurous cousins.  I am bringing two books with me; Three Cups of Tea and I have yet to choose the second one but I look forward to sitting under the big tree in my Aunts yard, chickens and dogs scurrying, breeze blowing, children squeeling, and me calm and comfortable with a cup of tea and my book, warmed by the sun, heat and dust.

Black Eyed Peas Tampa Concert

So I have been slacking on my posts...I missed two days!  Tuesday I was sick with a fever and headaches so I guess it counted as a good excuse but yesterday...not so much.  I went to the Black Eyed Peas concert, which was amazing and inspiring and fun!  I expected it to be a fun experience and even anticipated the amazing costumes, beautiful choreography, and obviously fantastic music, but what I wasn't expecting was the overwhelming sense of love that came out of the experience.  I left there feeling united and connected with every one of the fans sharing in the experience last night and I not only enjoyed the concert artists but also the beauty of the fans I shared it with.  The BEPs had a beautiful moment where they turned off all the lights and had everyone waving their arms, lighters, cell phones, and other lightup devices.  Looking into the crowd reminded me of laying on the grass and watching the stars at night.  It was like staring into the galaxy.  I can only imagine the sensations that caused the artists themselves knowing that these fans create such beauty and demonstrate so much love just for them!  They expressed their deepest gratitude to all of us in the audience and you could personally feel the sincerity!  They had the whole crowd singing Where is the Love and even when they stopped and walked off the stage the crowd did not stop and the galaxy kept its beautiful song and swaying motions going...it was fantastic, powerful and deeply moving!  I loved it!

A Dream or a Mania?

My mind is as if in a dream.  I float from thought to thought and each merges into the next and I find myself in a million places at once.  My heart beats in rhythm with my merging visions and I am haunted by the overwhelming number of unaccomplished endeavors and aspirations whipping around in my head, its dizzying sounds and constant varying speeds throwing me out of my comfortable peace and in and out of realities. 

Vilem's Shoes

There is something strangely captivating about a pair of worn out shoes.  They speak to you like looking into someone's eyes and reading their soul.  They tell you so much about the man who wears them.  This pair was particularly beautiful to me.  The precise, yet frayed and worn, unraveling, stitches, the simple round shape, and even the fading and washed shade of unique blue, truly caught my eye and screamed for my attention.  Vilem is just as unique, as his fantastic shoes, and although you can learn about his character from his shoes, there is still a great amount of mystery to both.  They are perfectly beautiful in all their flaws and yet you can't help but wonder where they have been, what they have seen, how many experiences they have been through.  All this crossed my mind in an instant...all because of a pair of perfectly worn shoes!

My Muse

Today was beautiful!  I woke up completely energized and went to the gym and then straight to Tampa, where I was meeting my favorite artist, Michael Massaro and others for lunch.  I ran into Jim Lennon, a fantastic photographer, who gave me great words of wisdom.  He was basically talking about living in the present, which is something I have been working on.  He reminded me that it is important to not over react.  When you feel a bit of jealousy, he said, remind yourself that that comes from the fact that you love and care about the person you are jealous over and that is that.  Do not allow yourself to throw assumptions beyond that.  Once you have reminded yourself of this, tell yourself to stay in the moment, don't assume a future or past that may or may not happen.  Never react on something you have not seen occur and that you are potentially "making up".  This only leads to problems.  You end up hurting rather than helping the situation.  Instead remember that you care about this person and therefore want to continue to care about this person.  You want to make the most out of the time shared with this person and have that time filled with the best possible moments of love, laughter and overall goodness.   You want your life to be beautifully impacted.  These were Jim Lennon's great words of advise, paraphrased of course. 

Jim was in Susan's office at UT, which is just off to the side of the art Gallery.  I noticed as I walked towards her office, the numerous wonderful photos of her different dance students frozen in time during a moment of perfect performances.  It was inspiring and brought a wave of regret that I never took a dance class.  I am sure I would have loved it!  Susan also teaches the worlds greatest story telling class!  The two of them are such a great inspiration!

The Unversity of Tampa Scarfone/Hartley Gallery had a magnificent display of artwork and I was thrilled to find it open on a Saturday.  The pieces, hung perfectly on the wall, were such an inspiration to me that I immediately felt compelled to spit out works of art in any form.  Then I went to the AMORC Lodge and enjoyed a time in the magnificently harmonious and peaceful temple, where I met up with some great friends, who also led me to ponder my eagerness to harness my talents and create!  I want to write a song.  I want to write a piano piece and sing in accompaniment!  I want to paint.  I want to watercolor paint.  I want to start my several sculpture projects!  I want to have enough work to submit into shows.  I want to get into Galleries!!!

Not Much of A Post

So happy it's Friday so I can sleep in a little tomorrow!  Sleep is pulling at my eyes and hazing my mind.  I want to write a song!  I want to sing and create and explore.  But my energy is not enough.  It will have to wait for tomorrow!  Good Night All