Hand in hand, heart in heart, soul in soul.

We walked down the street surrounded by beautiful trees leading its path to an eternal horizon. We walked hand in hand, heart in heart, soul in soul. We loved. The way we held each others arms with such yearn and passion for one another. One was the other; one could not survive without the other. The sun shone all around us, splashing rays of its light in to our view. It started to rain droplets of gold and crystals while the sun continued to sparkle its splendor smile. We ardently stared into the fire in our eyes that only burned for one another.We held each other tight as we continued to walk down that blissful eternal road. We walked, hand in hand, heart in heart, soul in soul.

(poem or whatever you may call it, inspired by a dream I had last night, I love it when it rains and the sun is still shining)

Colombus' description of my lovely Island, in 1492, how things have changed.

From that point I saw another isle to the eastward, at eighteen leagues' distance, to which I gave the name of Hispaniola. I went thither and followed its northern coast to the east, as I had done in Juana, one hundred and seventy-eight leagues eastward, as in Juana. This island, like all the others, is most extensive. It has many ports along the sea-coast excelling any in Christendom — and many fine, large, flowing rivers. The land there is elevated, with many mountains and peaks incomparably higher than in the centre isle. They are most beautiful, of a thousand varied forms, accessible, and full of trees of endless varieties, so high that they seem to touch the sky, and I have been told that they never lose their foliage. I saw them as green and lovely as trees are in Spain in the month of May. Some of them were covered with blossoms, some with fruit, and some in other conditions, according to their kind. The nightingale and other small birds of a thousand kinds were singing in the month of November when I was there. There were palm trees of six or eight varieties, the graceful peculiarities of each one of them being worthy of admiration as are the other trees, fruits and grasses. There are wonderful pine woods, and very extensive ranges of meadow land. There is honey, and there are many kinds of birds, and a great variety of fruits. Inland there are numerous mines of metals and innumerable people. Hispaniola is a marvel. Its hills and mountains, fine plains and open country, are rich and fertile for planting and for pasturage, and for building towns and villages. The seaports there are incredibly fine, as also the magnificent rivers, most of which bear gold. The trees, fruits and grasses differ widely from those in Juana. There are many spices and vast mines of gold and other metals in this island. They have no iron, nor steel, nor weapons, nor are they fit for them, because although they are well-made men of commanding stature, they appear extraordinarily timid. The only arms they have are sticks of cane, cut when in seed, with a sharpened stick at the end, and they are afraid to use these. Often I have sent two or three men ashore to some town to converse with them, and the natives came out in great numbers, and as soon as they saw our men arrive, fled without a moment's delay although I protected them from all injury.

Rough Copies

It’s in the moments of utmost despair that one truly finds one self. The moments that push us through the extremities of our hearts, our bodies, our souls… The true test lies within how we deal with difficult situations. Not simply that one overcomes a hard time, but HOW one overcomes. We are all faced with difficult situations; there isn’t a single soul on the planet that has not had to face hardship and the bittersweet hands of time which lead to change. The idea also works with positive change and positive goals, it isn’t simply that one reached a goal, but how that goal was reached. The process work, the “rough copy” as we learned in grade school, is more important than the final piece. The process work which includes battles with oneself, the strive for more, the push, the stress, the focus, the list goes on. All of these things build our character and form our persona. That’s why it’s important to do things joyfully and give our all in every single situation. Our rough copies, do not, I repeat, do not have to be perfect. They are rough copies for a reason, we are simply human, we make mistakes, we learn, we thrive. Instead of trying to go about a difficult situation in the most seemingly conventional, normative way, do it your own way. Instead of reaching a goal the way it worked for someone else, try some new things. We are built differently, with different strengths and means of performing. Lets stop comparing our self to others, lets stop copying, lets stop living other peoples dreams, let’s stop trying to people please, lets stop being selfish, let’s… grow.

Let’s work on our own, on a better “rough copy”.

fear

No adventure is a good one without a hint of fear in the beginning. Without a sense of danger, a bit of risk our lives would be quite…dull. I’ve spent the past couple of days alone-in a complete paradise. Endless mountains encompass my view, numerous of different species of trees sway in the tropical breeze. The serenity of the rainfall I just witnessed left me without words, just complete awe. Anyway, all this alone time has definitely got me writing, and reflecting on things that I generally don’t have time for in the city. I am completely alone in this beautiful house in the mountains, with all my more-than-basic necessities covered. The only people here are the ones that cook, clean and take care of the house… I basically have my own maid, named Nelly tending to my every “need”. Nelly’s actually making me a steak as I type. (I feel pretty spoiled, but hey, if the services are available use them right..) I was really feeling the need to get out an experience some small town livin’ in a town called Jarabacoa. So I made up some lame story about how I needed to go to the pharmacy and pick of some…of all things…hair mousse ( I could have said Tylenol, but that’s expensive over here) So, the maid set it all up, this guy that worked next door, named “Luisito” would come pick me up in a motorcycle and drive me to the closest town. I grabbed my camera and pesos, Luisito was outside waiting for me, told me to get on and hold on tight. And what a ride it was, open road, mountains, and booths on the side of the street with families selling fresh tropical fruit. Nelly made me the most delicious fruit salad yesterday; I ate it by the pool while working on my tan. One of those moments in life you wish would never end, and wish someone was there to experience it with you. So this motorcycle ride was epic, of course I had a bit of fear at first, driving away with an unknown man, to an unknown place. But hey, as I began this entry, the best adventures commence with a bit of fear and hesitation.

On Anger

What is anger, what can we blame for it's arousal? Our surroundings, our feelings, emotional imbalances? Lately, i've taken the position of the observer, the observer of my surroundings, people and situations. Not the position of the creep or the stalker, but upon going through my daily routine, i've been observing peoples responses, mainly behavior. The other day I was in Yorkville, in this ritzy french eatery .These two seemingly sophisticated women, started to argue about their place in line. It went like this;

"Excuzme, I was first and you're trying to order first"
-"I dont even know you, who are you, I was ordering, you went somewhere else"
"I was looking at the menu, blah blah blah"
-"blablahblah (angry tone)"

I was surprised, and all I could do was smile, meanwhile both the women laughed it off.. in that rather, I am so embarrassed all I can do is laugh kind of laugh while I squirm out of here(everyone was staring at that point). What happened to common courtesy, etiquette, care for our surroundings. What you give off is what you're going to receive. If you're always frowning, introvertive, expect the same from others. Im not saying that if you're always smiling and out there, you'll get a better response from people. Now a days, people have to wonder, why is she so happy, why is she smiling, why doesn't she have that expression-less face plugged in to I-pod face like the rest of us?
Anyways back to my thoughts on anger, lets take a look at the definition..


Anger: a strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence aroused by a wrong; wrath; ire.

So anger is characterized as a strong feeling. This raises the following questions; what are feelings, and how are they caused?

As good old 18th century philosopher David Hume puts it, feelings are merely our impressions brought forth by our perceptions absorbed by our senses. So if our feelings are dependent on the external world and processed by our internal world, than we sure as hec of a lot of control over them. We can control, we can mold and we can decipher our feelings. Blatant public displays of anger are inexcusable, sometimes necessary but generally very unnecessary like the one I experienced today. The thing is though, we can control our feelings, but we can't control what happens around us, we can't control other people, events, drama. So, our reactions can be controlled, which is very important because thats where true character and personality lies. Freedom of expression is our right, but when its disrupting others, one just looks foolish.

Frustration

Okay, so I'm just a extremely fed up with the daily happenings of political matters world wide. Why can't righteous leaders just rise up, take authority, and do it with pride, for the better of society and not the worst. Why does everything have to be about power, money, authority, subjugation, hierarchy? Why does corruption exist, why does poverty exist, why do inequalities exist?...These things are simply our own creations, human created entities that have presided over our societies for long enough, and are only going to get worse. Im mad that friends don't get along just because a particular point of view, we're all human, we're on the same boat till the end, let's make it dandy.. Maybe I'm just dreaming about an ideal world that has never, and will never exist, maybe the world destiny is to go down the shitter because of our own pathetic self interested creations. What happened to love? Maybe we don't quite understand it's meaning, not of the word love but of the act, and all its constituents. To love is to be empathetic, to love is to put others before ourselves, to love is to be completely self less, but lest we not forget to love ourselves. If we don't love ourselves, we will never be able to love someone else.

Im not going to get in to specifics about the political issues that frustrate me the most, which often causes that nerve in the back of my brain to tingle upon seeing or experiencing an unjust situation. I'm not going to do that because one, I'd be here for nights, and two, it is pointless in writing about something that I realistically cannot change. For now at least.

That is why my focus generally goes towards the more enriching things in life, art; music, theater, cultures,the things that make that nerve tingle but in a more exciting way that pleases my passions, of which I have so many of. Even ones that I haven't discovered I'm sure.

Everyone needs compassion.