Malala

This 16 year girl Woman is inspiring.

crack open and shine

There’s something about the early morning that makes me feel full. That if I just sit quietly here long enough, I, too, will crack open the sky and shine.

            -jennifer pastiloff

seed

A legendary hero is usually the founder of something -- the founder of a new age, the founder of a new religion, the founder of a new city, the founder of a new way of life. In order to found something new, one has to leave the old and go on a quest of the seed idea, a germinal idea that will have the potential of bringing forth that new thing. 

- Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces

The Layers

I'm not a BIG poetry person... but this one by Stanley Kunitz its a goodie.

Some serious memory lane kinda stuff...

I have walked through many lives, some of them my own, 

and I am not who I was, 

though some principle of being abides, from which I struggle not to stray. 

When I look behind, as I am compelled to look 

before I can gather strength to proceed on my journey, 

I see the milestones dwindling toward the horizon 

and the slow fires trailing from the abandoned camp-sites, 

over which scavenger angels wheel on heavy wings. 

Oh, I have made myself a tribe out of my true affections, and my tribe is scattered! 

How shall the heart be reconciled to its feast of losses? 

In a rising wind the manic dust of my friends, those who fell along the way, bitterly stings my face. 

Yet I turn, I turn, exulting somewhat, with my will intact to go wherever I need to go, 

and every stone on the road precious to me. 

In my darkest night, when the moon was covered and I roamed through wreckage, a nimbus-clouded voice directed me: "Live in the layers, not on the litter." 

Though I lack the art to decipher it, no doubt the next chapter in my book of transformations is already written. I am not done with my changes.

sparks

"At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lit the flame within us."
-Albert Schweitzer 

Today I'm overflowing with gratitude for all the inspiring people I have in my life who love without expecting anything back, who live in a way that shows that trust in yourself is the most important thing to achieving your dreams. Who believe in you and push you when you are afraid to take that next step. Those who wear a smile. those who don't but remind you that sometimes it's ok to be sad, mad, frustrated, etc... but not to be too hard on yourself. Life is good with people like this who balance me in different and important ways.

current status: in LOVE with life and the people in it

Clouds.

Get the tissues ready around minute 13....

Then enjoy the celebrity video of Clouds:

 

rebirth through travel

"When you travel, you experience, in a very practical way, the act of rebirth. 

You confront completely new situations, the day passes more slowly, 

and on most journeys you don't even understand the language the people speak. 

So you are like a child just out of the womb. 

You begin to attach much more importance to the things around you because your survival depends upon them. 

You begin to be more accessible to others because they may be able to help you in difficult situations. 

And you accept any small favor from the gods with great delight, as if it were an episode you would remember for the rest of your life. 

At the same time, since all things are new, 

you see only the beauty in them, and you feel happy to be alive. 

That's why a religious pilgrimage has always been one of the most objective ways of achieving insight...."

excerpt from The Pilgrimage, by Paulo Coelho

Birthday Variations

I love facebook because it reminds me when a friend has a birthday and of course it reminds all my friends when my birthday is as well... but the downside to this is that you get SO MANY birthday wishes and sometimes the well wishes get burried until we find time after our big day to review them all... believe me, I'm not complaining because I just ran across this gem that was posted to my wall on my big day and i LOVE. LOVE. LOVED it so much. 

The video shows Zubin Mehta, an indian Parsi conductor of western classical music doing a series of classical variations on the "Happy Birthday" song. 
Rendering it how Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Vienna, Now Orleans etc.... would have done it. 
I play the violin, so maybe I'm bias. But I think its pretty sweet. Enjoy!

30 at last!

So once I moved to Washington DC after university I quickly learned with age came more money and more respect. I also gravitated towards 30 somethings and found they were the type of friends I felt the most connected and inspired by. (now I DO have some pretty awesome friends who are my age too) but this was the first time in my life I had so many that were 10+years older than me. They were smart, successful, confident, well adjusted women. So I naturally could not wait to arrive to this time in my life. And as of last week, I'm finally part of the club and it feels oh.so.good.

A few months ago I came across a wonderful writer named Salena Soo, she is my age and turned 30 a few months before me and wrote the article below. Salena is a writer (among other things). I am not. And since she said everything I wanted to say and BETTER I'm attaching her eloquent article below.  It's one of those article where I nod my head on agreement, giggle at some points and shouted "preach it sister" and "amen!" a time or two. Now she started a business... and I'm starting an NGO but apart from that... Soul sistas.

So Preach Selen!

I’m Excited About Turning 30, and Here’s Why

SELENA SOO | DECEMBER 23, 2012 | INSPIRING, LIVING, WORKING

At the beginning of the year, I decided that I was ready to start my own business. I was talking to my friend Natalia about my startup and upcoming birthday when she asked me, “So how do you feel about turning thirty?” I responded, “I’ve never felt happier. I’m so incredibly excited about entering this new decade of my life.”

Why Older Is Better

She was shocked, and I understood why. How often do we hear women say that they are actually looking forward to getting older? In our culture, attitudes toward aging certainly seem gendered. When a man turns thirty, it is never viewed as a problem. As women, however, we are told that our intrinsic value lies in our beauty and our youth.

Unlike most women, I’ve never been self-conscious about my age. At a recent networking event, someone asked me if I was an intern, which I took as a compliment. On the flip side, when someone tells me I look older than I am (which almost never happens), I take it as a compliment as well. My mind reframes what others might perceive as an insult. I tell myself I must come across as intelligent and, perhaps, more mature for my age.

Natalia’s surprise about my excitement around turning thirty made me realize something: I think about age differently than most do. To me, the more experiences we accumulate, the greater clarity we can have about the life we really want to live. If each day, we take just one bold step toward what we truly want, eventually it is possible to create the life of our dreams.

On Being an Entrepreneur

Being an entrepreneur has always been a dream of mine. However, it was something I continually delayed. “Maybe five years from now,” I would tell myself.  Maybe ten. In my mind, I needed to be perfect in order to be ready. I needed to have all the answers. But, finally, I realized this truth: Being an entrepreneur is more about a mindset than a skillset. It’s about believing so passionately in your work that there is no other option but to do it. Furthermore, not knowing all the answers can actually be an asset.

As my friend Danielle LaPorte says, “A beginner’s mind is an open mind, and an open mind innovates.”

Many people, including friends and mentors, have tried to dissuade me from starting my own business. It’s much safer, they caution, if I work at an established marketing firm first, move up the corporate ladder, and then venture out on my own. What if this or that goes wrong? While their points are certainly valid, deep down in my bones I knew that I was ready. I also knew that there was no way I could ever succeed by focusing all of my attention on the worst-case scenario.

Being an entrepreneur has been both a joy and a challenge. I’ve had moments of extreme confidence as well as moments of sheer terror. I’ve experienced extraordinary wins as well as painful disappointments. Despite it all, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m learning more than I could in any MBA classroom. I’ve never felt more alive.

The Secret About Success

At the age of thirty, what makes me most proud is not any particular accomplishment, but rather a marked shift in my perception. Today, I define success differently from how I did in my twenties.

For me, success is not about the end goal or even about the journey. To me, success is a state of mind. It’s about the optimism and faith you have in yourself. It’s about the resilience you bring to life’s challenges. And most of all, success is about quietly tuning into who you are and what you really want and then taking consistent steps toward those goals.

The old me used to define success by my external accomplishments. Every day would start at zero; I needed to constantly achieve things in order to feel good about myself. I was constantly seeking approval. As I pushed myself to the point of exhaustion on a daily basis, my physical and emotional health suffered.

Today, the new me is different. The new me understands that being still and content can be more powerful than the constant act of striving. The new me understands that, at the end of the day, the only opinion that matters is my own. The new me understands what I’ve discovered to be my most powerful truth: that self-care is the foundation of my success.

At its core, self-care is about honoring your needs. For me, my primary need has always been to do work that I love. I want to use my life to make a difference, and I want my work to mean something. I’d rather struggle doing something I love than succeed at doing something that makes me feel empty.

When I think about turning thirty, I feel like I’ve finally become the person I’ve always wanted to be. Despite the uncertainty and challenges of being an entrepreneur, I feel deeply happy, at peace, and, most of all, alive. Sometimes I feel like pinching myself because I can hardly believe what I’ve created. Most of all, I feel grateful that I get to wake up each day and do the thing that I love the most: promoting visionary people and helping them change the world, one person at a time.

Selena Soo (founder of S2 Groupe) is a business strategist for personal brands, focusing on marketing and publicity. Her greatest passion is helping visionary entrepreneurs, experts, and authors reach more people and change the world. Selena received her MBA from NYU Stern and her BA from Columbia University. She loves living in NYC, where she throws champagne networking brunches and teaches her signature course Elevate Your Brand. For more on Selena, please visit her website or connect with her on Facebook or Twitter.

Your dear natural possession

…Describe your sorrows and desires, 
the thoughts that pass through your mind and your belief in some kind of beauty – 
describe all these with heartfelt, silent, humble sincerity and, 
when you express yourself, 
use the Things around you, 
the images from your dreams, 
and the objects that you remember.
 If your everyday life seems poor, don’t blame it; blame yourself; 
admit to yourself that you are not enough of a poet to call forth its riches; 
because for the creator there is not poverty and no poor, indifferent place. 
And even if you found yourself in some prison, 
whose walls let in none of the world’s sounds – 
wouldn’t you still have your childhood, that jewel beyond all price, 
that treasure house of memories? 
Turn your attentions to it. 
Try to raise up the sunken feelings of this enormous past; 
your personality will grow stronger, 
your solitude will expand and become a place where you can live in the twilight, 
where the noise of other people passes by, far in the distance. 
— And if out of this turning-within, out of this immersion in your own world, 
poems come, 
then you will not think of asking anyone whether they are good or not. 
Nor will you try to interest magazines in these works: 
for you will see them as your dear natural possession, 
a piece of your life, 
a voice from it.
 A work of art is good if it has arisen out of necessity. 
That is the only way one can judge it. 

Rainer Maria Rilke

Check your Mexican status

Found this burried in my email... made me laugh so I'm sharing it.


If you can run and play any sport while wearing chanclas....Mexican status!!

If you have ever hurt yourself and your mamacita rubbed the area while chanting, " Sana , Sana , Colita de rana....." You're Mexican, big time!!!

If you refer to your wife as your ruca, your hina! , your wifa, your old lady, or your vieja, guess what? Not only are you a Mexican, you're a cholo.

If you throw a "Grito" every time you hear Vicente Fernandez , then not only are you a Mexican, but you are a drunk Mexican.

If you have ever been pinched in church and been told "pobrecito de ti si lloras" or "Vas a ver orita que salgamos." Yes, you're definitely a Mexican.

If you grew up being called "chamaca or chamaco" ..Mexican.

If you grew up scared of La Llorona, or fear the dark because of El CuCuy! Yes! Mexican!

If you ask for something by "dame esa chingadera" instead of calling it by its name. Yup! Mexican!

If you constantly refer to cereal as "! con fleys" or cake as "kay-ke". You're a Mexican.

If you have some Tias that dress up in their prom dresses to go to a birthday party at "el parque". You are a Mexican. If your Tias and Abuela dress up in their Sunday best with heels and all to go to the "pulga." (AKA the Flea Market) Then, yes, you are a Mexican.

If you're congested and your mamasita rubbed "Bicks", you're Mexican.

 IF YOU DON'T NEED ANY EXPLANATIONS FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE, YOU KNOW THAT YOU ARE A TRUE MEXICAN. VIVA LA RAZA!!!

almost out of my 20's

not a gambler.

money

It’s good to have money 

and the things that money can buy, 

but it’s good, too, 

to check up once in a while 

and make sure that you haven’t lost the things that money can’t buy.

-George Lorimer

Presence, not presents.

Like this? Learn to build a better life at Good Life Project.

crisis averted?

"The word “crisis” in Chinese is formed with the characters for“danger” and “opportunity.” A crisis presents traumatic disruption or threat, but it also presents a unique opportunity for growth.

While you are in crisis, you are forced to function outside of your normal comfort zone. The sheer nature of a crisis or struggle creates a certain amount of present moment awareness, which is where the solutions live. Our natural inclination is to look and get away from a crisis situation as soon as we possibly can. This desire to avoid pain and upset is a natural human response, but moving through or away from a crisis without taking the time to understand how it has impacted you can be a mistake. The feelings that get kicked up do not disappear because we stop looking at what happened. They go underground and continue to impact your life in ways that can be very confusing. Denying feelings and pushing them down will eventually distort them in such a way that it is difficult to understand why you might be responding to current events in your life in a particular way."

Terri Cole's Full Article HERE.

Frida is my homegirl.