Repose II….Prologue – Gibran
March 10, 2023
Will be writing again soon….have several experiences to catch up on and share!! But, as our world spins around….something currently that is on my mind….
And a youth said, “Speak to us of friendship.” And he answered, saying:
Your friend is your needs answered.
She/He is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.
And He is your board and fireside.
For you come to him with your hunger, and you seek him for peace.
When your friend speaks his mind you fear not the “nay” in your own mind,
nor do you withhold the “ay.”
And when he is silent, your heart ceases not to listen to his heart;
For without words, in friendship, all thoughts, all desires,
all expectations are born and shared, with joy that is unacclaimed.
When you part from your friend, you grieve not;
for that which you love most in him may be
clearer in his absence, as the mountain to the climber
is clearer from the plain.
And let there be no purpose in friendship save the
deepening of the spirit.
For love that seeks aught but the disclosure of its
own mystery is not love but a net cast forth: and only
the unprofitable is caught.
And let your best be for your friend.
If he must know the ebb of your tide, let him
know its flood also.
For what is your friend that you should seek him
with hours to kill?
Seek him always with hours to live.
For it is his to fill your need, but not your emptiness.
And in the sweetness of friendship let there be
laughter, and sharing of pleasures.
For in the dew of little things the heart finds its
morning and is refreshed.
“The Prophet” – Kahlil Gibran
Repose …. Prologue – Gibran
September 18, 2022
On becoming, the first journey should/must be inside…and then, we can gain more from what comes from the outside…our beginning…the quality and characteristics of the attention we give ourselves…
Then said Almitra, to the prophet, Speak to us of Love…
And he raised his head and looked upon the
people, and there fell a stillness upon them. And with
a great voice he said:
When love beckons to you, follow him,
Though his ways are hard and steep,
And when his wings enfold you, yield to him,
Though the sword hidden among his pinions may
wound you.
And when he speaks to you believe in him,
Though his voice may shatter your dreams as the
north wind lays waste the garden.
For even as love crowns you so shall he crucify
you. Even as he is for your growth so is he for your
pruning.
Even as he ascends to your height and caresses
your tenderest branches that quiver in the sun,
So shall he descend to your roots and shake them
in their clinging to the earth.
Like sheaves of corn he gathers you unto himself.
He threshes you to make you naked.
He sifts you to free you from your husks.
He grinds you to whiteness.
He kneads you until you are pliant;
And then he assigns you to his sacred fire, that
you may become sacred bread for God’s sacred feast.
All these things shall love do unto you that you may
know the secrets of your heart, and in that
knowledge become a fragment of Life’s heart.
But if in your fear you would seek only love’s peace
And love’s pleasure,
Then it is better for you that you cover your
nakedness and pass out of love’s threshing-floor,
Into the season-less world where you shall laugh,
but not all of your laughter, and weep, but not all of
your tears.
Love gives naught but itself and takes naught but
from itself.
Love possesses not nor would it be possessed:
For love is sufficient unto love,
When you love you should not say, “God is in my
heart, “but rather, “I am in the heart of God.”
And think not you can direct the course of love,
For love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.
Love has no other desire but to fulfil itself.
But if you love and must needs have desires, let
these be your desires:
To melt and be like a running brook that sings its
melody to the night.
To know the pain of too much tenderness.
To be wounded by your own understanding of love;
And to bleed willingly and joyfully.
To wake at dawn with a winged heart and give
thanks for another day of loving;
To rest at the noon hour and meditate love’s
ecstasy;
To return home at eventide with gratitude;
And then to sleep with a prayer for the beloved in
your heart and a song of praise upon your lips.
‘The Prophet’ – Kahlil Gibran
More Beginning of Becoming – The Artist’s Way
April 9, 2022
As I mentioned….Got Tickets!! 🙂 Preparing for destination next!! Typically we don’t have this luxury, the necessities of life make their demands. However, sentient beings can still add this to the mix…
“Often people attempt to live their lives backwards: they try to have more things, or more money, in order to do more of what they want so that they will be happier. The way it actually works is the reverse. you must first be who you really are, then, do what you need to do, in order to have what you want.” (not just who you think you are, but find out who you are…it is a process and a destination – my words)…
-Margaret Young
Eventually, the blog of a traveler may evolve into the most important trip – the one within. So, for a bit, you will see some transparency….simultaneously showing the geographic/surface destinations and more importantly, between the lines….the journey towards the internal one. This book, recommended by my good friend ‘Erzebet Tamas’, is one guide to help make this happen. In short, these geographic destinations are wonderful, yet they are simply the outward representation of what can help us grow beyond an identity based upon our jobs, salary, wealth, and the superficiality of identity created by the worlds in which we reside. Much of this self-identity that we have is simply a response to our environment or the events of our lives versus what we create.
For me, traveling helps provide the tools to grow and nurture this self-identity: one of the many amazing pieces of art created by the universe – ourselves!! This isn’t just about what we generally perceive as art…I am talking about creating our life as our own artistic master piece….this process….effect and/or affect….’the Artist’s Way’…
Soon come!! ❤
Becoming-Beginning (Back to Mexico City)
March 15, 2022
To paraphrase: “Invariably as we go through our lives we will sit and reflect on our personal history/experiences seeking to understand them, and in the case of pain…often attempt to redefine the understanding of what took place so that we can reconcile with our souls. But, most often, this is a fruitless effort…What we can do though is place ourselves in new circumstances with new experiences that will dilute the intensity of the past, and allow for the new beginnings to fulfill our lives….”
(Reference to come)
What Frida Kahlo leads us to understand as ‘the process of becoming’ 😊
I had such an amazing time in Ciudad de Mexico last time! Now, I am back again….Landing in the evening…. Views such as this always inspire such an amazing feeling. Knowing that even though I have been here before, there is so much more….the history, the sights, the food, the stories of the people…beginnings….things to support ‘becoming’…
It is a bit late….heading to the abode quickly to try and make sure food is available. While the neighborhood is quiet, people are still on the move….and while searching…this place caught my eye. Jazz/nice music playing…attractive photos…kind of place that makes you walk over to it just to see what is going on. And, behold…the city of street food. Often you will see a person with a regular table set out on the sidewalk, table cloth, seasonings, cooking, people talking, family….now this woman works three (3) corners on different nights and has been doing this for 40 years. I can’t even imagine!! But, you see so many displays of a powerful work ethic here. While I wouldn’t say the food would of made an Anthony Bourdain episode, it made mine 🙂 starving was the situation, sated was the outcome ❤
This time the neighborhood is Zona Rosa adjacent to La Condesa 🙂 A beautiful terrace, very quiet, quaint, just absolutely lovely…especially at night…always interesting how quiet this part of the city is…regardless to this being the largest city in Norteamerica. Area is full of amazing street food, restaurants, parks, very clean, nice people….I love it!! And, right across the street people gather at the local bicycle shop for breakfast and a cafe….admittedly, I’m not necessarily craving tortilla chips in the morning, but when in Mexico…be a Mexicano….the experience was worth it!! ❤
As mentioned, I am revisiting my first trip to CDMX to feed ‘the becoming’…. a new beginning…. First stop this morning…Coyoacan….La Casa Azul – Museo de Frida Kahlo! This is a place to which I will continue to return.
After getting a taste of Kahlo, walking the Coyoacan, and always always taking advantage of a fresh cut coconut (water and meat)….DELICIOUS!! Off to the local mercado…the freshness, the colors, the variety of items….walking through this just brings out the life…sigh….
Taking it all in, and heading back out for more becoming…. It really is interesting how there is such an emphasis on ‘FRESH’ here. I mean it doesn’t take much to find fresh squeezed orange juice…at a stand, in a market, in a coffee shop….you can definitely tell the difference….this one contained the peel….which was a bit much….but, all the same…I will take it…feel me? 🙂
On the way to revisit something that I really LOVE now….a cooking class with an actual chef (mexicano)….so off to Supermercado Juarez to learn about picking ingredients….
I can’t say enough about the pleasure of having an actual professionally trained Mexican Chef take you to the market, teach you how to pick the items, and then spend the afternoon teaching you how to cook. As they say, “if it isn’t fresh, then it isn’t Mexican” ❤
Making homemade salsa, mole chicken, sweet tamale, squash flower tortillas, Atole (chocolate drink)….this is one of my favorite parts of the trip each time….while I love to cook, not always easy to imagine something this delicious didn’t require an act of God for my part…and always interesting the people who come together…and the stories you learn about life…
This is a place where you can just walk, eat, learn, absorb, and feed your vision on how life can be – the becoming. It can make you wonder about the veracity of our decisions when we allow our world view to be so small. Of course traveling doesn’t guarantee a certain world view, but there is value in at least attempting to have a better understanding of people and the world we live in…
Fountains and Squares Everywhere!!! Coffee Bean Tree, Puppies 🙂 Food, Food, and more Food – Street Food!!!! If nothing else…get a good pair of walking shoes….and…COME EAT!! ❤
Mexico City is full of things to do! In fact, I now know that once I’ve been here several more times…I will still know only a small amount…and I am most pleased about that….I’ve got excellent walking shoes 🙂
Now on to a place a saved specifically for this trip!! Bosque de Chapultepec y Castillo de Chapultepec!! Now without going into a full write-up. This place is absolutely amazing….with the right tour guide…you walk away with a lot of Mexican history that goes through the ages, and are full of fascinating views….again, most humbling that we can be so absent of our history….and yes…all of this comes together.
Former residence of heads of state, immaculate gardens, architecture, views of the city, the ambiance….plan on spending a few hours here…and, it is worth getting the tour guide….so you get the stories of what you are experiencing…
The statues, fountains, the work of artisans….I’ve not done many of these types of tours….castles as such…but, the history that went along with the experience…from what I’ve read previously and then the explanations of the guide made this experience much much more than I had initially expected when first planning on coming here…each one of these pictures has a story and a significant meaning associated with it…captivating…you leave this place feeling much more aware of what takes place in the world and inside yourself….
However, without a doubt, traveling here is not complete without time in The Metropolitan Cathedral of the Assumption of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven (Spanish: Catedral Metropolitana de la Asunción de la Santísima Virgen María a los cielos)….Located adjacent to the center of the Aztec empire…
To read about a place…study it….and then go to see it….well, for me it is very fulfilling…and even though I have been doing this for much of my life….it always humbles me and reminds me that I don’t know a damn thing about nothing…but, it also is illustrative about how many of us have very uninformed opinions. This last picture on the above right…the catholic cross, a snake at the base, and skulls….hmmmm…..there is a story there…..sooooo good 🙂
While I post pictures, there is a much more fulfilling dynamic taking place…as none of these are more significant to me than the human story. Where do our lives come from…and what can we do to grow and bloom responsibly. While this obviously doesn’t resonate with some of us, it is my thing! And, a requirement in my Tribe!!! People…People…why…what….and after all the superficialities of life are dealt with….what is left?
LOVE and how we treat each other…including our own selves!! Even if it takes time to get there!!
And a little something special for you…as we say…those who know won’t say, and for those who don’t know…well… 🙂
Well, to paraphrase a line from ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ which some people hate – but so what!! A person asks god….bless me with winning the lotto…and god said, ‘well you have to buy a ticket first’. Well…I got a bunch of damn tickets – new beginnings of becoming…peace!! 🙂
Seeing Life…Historic Murals in Mexico
November 19, 2021
We can’t talk about Art, Mexico, and Frida without Diego and his association/contribution to both. According to Hayden Herrera, Rivera and the crew functioned from the perspective that ‘Mexican art “is great because it surges from the people; it is collective and our own aesthetic is to socialize artistic expression..” ….
“To move away from the ultra-intellectual and the aristocratic…to make it tell the story of the people”…versus…the story of oneself or just ones personal image…Taking the walk through Mexico City, the works, murals, of Diego Rivera and his students represent this surge…telling the story not of an organization, an institution, or a government…but, if you look closely…the plight of the people….
Not long ago, my yogini took me through an exercise to further develop my yoga. She had me imagine that I was climbing a mountain…but, also in climbing…imagining the rigor, the obstacles, the exhaustion, the effort…and the crescendo…the feeling of getting to the top…and then at the crest…she had me focus my imagination on that feeling of being there…
Standing there…I could feel the wind against me…on my eyes, the open space, life’s existence and opportunity for expansion, every sound was subtle but with depth…my senses responded to feeling verses something easily identified as if it were buoying me in an elevated place, and the recognition of the horizon was a reminder that more was there…the overarching them was freedom and oneness with the reality of everything…even the limitless…
A feeling I’ve had before…Mt. Bromo or Tanah Lot in Indonesia, Monseratte in Columbia, Valle y Sierra Vinales in Cuba, or Las Montanas of the Pacific Coast Highway…the same as those moments when insight into the nature of the human story…rises to provide equivalents.
Do we ever ponder, how do we see ourselves? Can we recognize the limitless? Or are our lives caught up in the self-created grandeur of our own delusions. Whether we go with the mimesis that art imitates life or vice-versa…still, there is that existential question…Who am I? Who are you? Art? Life? Can I see myself within it? How do I see myself?
All questions we have to ask and then answer for ourselves!! It is necessary, if we want to grow, to step outside of ourselves…and as mentioned by Berger in ‘Ways of Seeing’….consider the lives of others and how we relate…how this relation helps to define who we are…particularly if this art surges from the people…their life stories are told. But, as with art…you can have your interpretation…
In your interpretation, don’t forget the significance of the history being shown in the murals…the labor, inclusion of the natural order (nature), the moneyed-haves, the exploitation and suffering, some of the basis of revolts and revolutions…
Despite hard times, the travails and vicissitudes…those amongst them representing other interests…. Being able to endure, the strength of the collective, the mutual support…the weakness of one being made up by the strength of the other…
Regardless to the insertion of technological advancements or the broader global economic dynamics, shifts of governmental intent…the community was collectively resilient…
And, the natural order endures…it prevails…
And, never forgetting the collective ‘Soy Porque Somos’….’I am because we are’….
This journey in Mexico was absolutely astounding with depth and meaning…some of it mentioned, but most between the lines!! I have one more post I would like to share on CDMX; however, this trip was penetrating enough that I am going to pull a quick turnaround and return in short order. So back to CDMX quite soon, and then I’ll post a few things about being around Ciudad de Mexico!! Amigos!! Nos Vemos!! 🙂
Street Food & Cooking Class – Mexico
November 13, 2021
Comida Mexicana de la Calle y Clase de Cocina
Like with some things, I can be kind of moody. Indeed, I do have a side of me that is a complete ‘FOOD SNOB’…I admit it…but, the admission doesn’t mean it will change…in this case…it will most likely get significantly worse!! With that said, I hold street food within the highest regard…wherever I find it…most of my life I have gravitated towards it…and, now I have even more evidence to support the ‘Bourdain in Me’!!!
But, when I travel…I am prone to find groceries…this evening I was ending a long day…and just decided to grab a few things for the late night munch…lo and behold…I came upon a Walmart…
Sigh…and yes…
Walmart is UBIQUITOUS…it is everywhere…like GOD…it is everywhere…so yes..that is a picture of me…coming out of Walmart…But!! This isn’t the U.S. Walmart 🙂 Love when a place doesn’t have plastic bags…you have to bring your own…or buy one…a certain awareness/consciousness/responsibility…something to be learned there…
And, walking out of the door…ahhh yes…the deliciousness of comida mexicana!!! Mexican Street Food – Everywhere…my friends…I will never see a taco the same way…
The scents, the flavors, the freshness!! I will say straight-up, have not been a fan of corn tortillas…but, here in Mexico City…primarily, it is what you find! I’m not complaining..in fact…we have a believer now!! 🙂 We aren’t talking about adding powder to browned meat with some water….we are talking about something coming alive in your mouth and stomach…street food – it is alive!! 🙂
And be clear…eateries, restaurants…little shops…food stands…a table on the side of a street, with a table cloth…and someone cooking food…just at the corner…ahhh…yes, everywhere it seems…
My wanderlust began as a child. My mother began my travel experiences early…domestic and international…hence, my affiliations with West Africa and exploring overall. One of those early experiences was to Spain…and I always remembered the Paella. Not a dish easily cooked, I’ve learned…thus, not easily found…but, allow me to share this please…
As we say, I’m gonna leave that right there….
This trip, I decided to do a few things different – ehhh, different circumstances call for different actions!! A few I will share…
With all the exceptional food, I decided to sign up for a cooking class!! Food is a big culture item…and I am a culture person…so, FOOD, yes…let us get with it…
I signed up with a group called Mexican Food Experiences/Tours – ‘Private Mexican Food Cooking Class with Food Market Visit’ … what an exceptional day…lasted about 5 hours…and we actually started off at the market, Jalisco Mercado, with Chef Eduardo!!!
No can you imagine walking through an open market with a Chef, learning how to pick vegetables and meats for your special dish…a professional trained chef (masters degree)? Well, now I CAN…and now I see…what he means when he says, “if everything isn’t fresh…then it isn’t Mexican food”….
In my hand you see an authentic ‘Gordita’…not the one from Taco Bell my friends…so, I’ve never had one from there…but, I can imagine it is a bit different!! Always interesting to me how when you travel overseas, some places, there seems to be an abundance of fresh juice stands…fresh squeezed papaya…’shaking my head’…
The spice man…that’s his business…he makes and sells spice mixes…and under the suggestion of our Chef…I went ahead and purchased…a nice amount of his ‘Mole’ powder to make … of course … ‘Mole Sauce’….yes…I am most pleased!!!
And of course…in the land of the tortillas…a packet of them will do nothing…so right in the market, there is tortilla production process/factory…so many get consumed that they have these little shops all over…where you have the option of purchasing the tortillas or the actual paste to then customize your own…of course we took the later course…all righteous and good…
Our cooking class, took place in a home…not in a restaurant! That was an exceptionally nice touch…a wonderful experience, to spend time inside an actual home…and to take our time…and be guided…
There was no Sous Chef today, so we…well, I wouldn’t say 2nd in command…more like there were a lot of opportunities for learning… 🙂 And, it was wonderful learning…to actually be taught how to cook an excellent 3 course meal…under the guidance of a master…I won’t remember it all…but, I did retain some parts…and, I am wealthier as a person for the experience…
And YES, in the skillet…beginnings of homemade salsa…customized indeed!!! We had to use razor blades to trim leaf veins, cut, slice, refine…and the other cooking stuff!!! One of my tasks was to knead the dough for the tortillas…
Yup!! The goof smile!! I own it!! Admittedly, I didn’t know it would be this much work!! I am reminded to never take for granted the effort that goes into this type of preparation! In fact, even with this class…what most comes to mind is the seasoning of ‘Love’!! My favorite seasoning!! When someone puts that much effort into cooking for us…there is a lot of the seasoning of ‘Love’ going in it!!
Three course meal!! Can we say ‘Truffle Tacos’…never knew there was such a thing…and then again…why would I have known!! What I do know is that this was such a wonderful experience…I even worked on my challenged social skills – successfully, I might add!!
Some would say, “it is just a cooking class”…and that is fine…for me, it was much more than that…I learned so much…but, also not to be diminished…I learned a lot about myself. Exceptional it is to me when we can go somewhere…and learn, then bring it home…home being within ourselves…for future joys and peace…to share with those who appreciate enough to value it as well…For some reason, the folks at ‘TSA’ had the same affinity as I did for my brick of ‘Mole’ powder 🙂
As I mentioned…beyond COVID, this past year was its own thing…but, between those lines…yes, I feel the moment coming when you are on the peak…feeling the wind, breathing fresh air, accomplishing…and you can see off into the distance so far that your eye sight fails…however, inside you know there is more beyond the horizon…add in the fruit cup…fresh, spicy, and alive…you get my drift… 🙂
Keep climbing…digging…Yes, I am feeling a calling…as in ‘Malik/Bourdain – Parts Unknown’ 🙂
Dias de Los Muertos – Mexico!!
November 11, 2021
“Para todas las personas que se nos han ido”
“For all the people who have left us…”
For quite some time I have been curious about Dias de los Muertos. Like many people, my own life has also experienced some significant loss coinciding with COVID. Soo..in some ways it is quite fitting that now is the time I am exploring this cultural dynamic. Such an interesting cultural shift…how the dead are included. And within this cultural dynamic are certainly some major shits that can be incorporated into our own lives.
Forthrightly and honestly, the size of Mexico City had slipped my mind! Around 22 million people…and more than NYC…yes, I was asleep on this gem!! While the Day of the Dead is recognized within Latin America, its strongest affiliation is in Mexico!! I am not trying to summarize the entire significance in this post…but, only to place a few highlights.
Historically, it is said that Dias de los Muertos is essentially a Latin custom that came about from a mix of Aztec rituals and the Spanish conquistadors (Catholicism). Since there were hundreds of tribes in Mexico during this time, I’ll also assume they made a contribution as well!
More importantly, this cultural custom focuses on reducing the intense sadness/mourning that can come with death of a loved one and replacing it with festivities…I didn’t walk the entire parade route but imagine this stretched for a little under 9 mile…and, I walked a good part of it…the entire way was mostly shoulder to shoulder….
Obviously the parade isn’t the only aspect of these festivities, and the main focus is to include death as a natural part of life…of being a human being. To the degree that it is a way of including our loved ones in the day. Many people, such as myself, had the mask painted on half their face – indicating that both death and life are an equal component to the same thing….always with us. As Maria Popova, the Marginalian, writes perhaps, ‘death is not the assailant of life but the ultimate consecration of its lucky possibility…’…
Sure we’ve read the statement that grief is love with no place to go…as in loving someone or something…that is no longer present in your life in a form that allows you to express your feelings toward them or it…consequently, in consideration of people…they could be physically alive or dead. Often times…these people/things remain alive in our mind one way or another…yet these days provide a cultural means to identify and honor it in a healthy way regardless to the physical state of them or the means by which their presence changed…
Well traveled, I am!! Student of culture and life around the globe, Indeed!! An expert on Latin Culture, I am NOT!! However, with what I have experienced, I do love the emphasis on family. How it is included in so many aspects of the culture…families dressing together, made up together…so many babies on shoulders… and to have so many people together…it wasn’t a drunken festive party…it was unimaginably clean and wholesome…especially considering the number of people attending…
Obviously, some take these days very seriously!! 🙂 Love seeing the kids in the trees, on roof tops…screaming when certain characters came walking by… With the way people intermingled and talked, it was obvious the interactions weren’t just for blood family…there was definitely a feeling that people were treating each other a certain way…family that you choose…definitely a cultural item that needs to be transferred to some other places we know of…
And of course what is a festival/parade without food…particularly since Mexico is world renowned for its street food, more on that later 🙂 For awhile I lost focus on the other things and just absorbed the cooking that was going on!! Can I say righteous…and let’s put it right here… even the dead have bread….’delicioso pan de muerto’!!! Much Love!!
Outside of the parade, one of the most common parts of this custom is to honor the dead by setting up an ‘ofrenda’…an altar. Generally, they have set up flowers, candles, food, drinks, photos, and personal mementos of the person. The home I visited, picture bottom left, even had cigarettes and something to sip for the loved one 🙂 You will also usually see lots and lots of orange flowers that we call Marigolds, but out of respect…they call them ‘zempasuchitl’ (an Aztec word)… You will often see them around the city with the ‘ofrendas’. But, also inside of homes sprinkled on steps and stairs leading to the ‘ofrenda’…I was told that it serves as a conduit to bring loved ones, the dead, into this world…and invitation to come celebrate…
There is no way to capture the significance of this day nor the feelings I am having by being here in one post. This is only an attempt to share a little piece of culture, some lessons learned, and a few tidbits of my own life (between the lines)….
It is no coincidence that this pilgrimage took place simultaneously with other events in my life these past 2 years. As sometimes the dead are a catalyst for the living…and the living are a catalyst for the dead…indeed the relation continues…even if in our own mind…
And to borrow a piece from my home culture, as O’shea Jackson – Ice Cube – said, ‘today was a good day…’….
Fact is: The Dead never really leave us…”Rather they are alive, but we perceive not…” 2:154…
with that noted…
“Para todas las personas que se nos han ido“
Love…
Casa Azul: Museo Frida Kahlo
November 1, 2021
While here in CDMX, I will see the sites, explore, expand my awareness…try and glean tidbits from the culture. However, if you read between the lines, this post is more about personal life experiences and, as such, some of our own as well.
When I travel, regardless to where, I always want to capture something that reminds me of the human story. Our commonalities!! Sometimes the dynamic of nationality or a general lack of awareness hides the fact that many of us walk a path with the same vicissitudes. Obviously being a citizen of the United States, I can’t help but to have been influenced by the proclamations of ‘American Exceptionalism’!
I do recognize the benefits I receive from that designation; however, one of the benefits of cultural travel is to shed that shade of lens. Every country has its wondrous exceptionalism. Especially when the culture is full of those dynamics that shape identity outside of jobs, money, and other accumulations. Interesting point for me, in certain countries the question always arises quickly….as in “what do you do”? Whereas in others or other nationalities, the question generally does not arise immediately!! Simply put, if we are what we do for a living…then there is a lot to learn about living!! When regardless…we can just be…
So in visiting Casa Azul – the museo for Frida Kahlo…
The museo is rather touristy of course, but only to the uninitiated. The Art is quite interesting! It captures…we see it…But, it also provides an opportunity for us to see what is in her vision….what she experienced….her resolution….
As a friend of mine taught me, we also assess the art based upon our ability to see ourselves in it. And naturally, how we relate to it and that which is around us…hence we can watch a person just stare a piece of Art for an extended time frame…over and over again…figuring…
This post isn’t full of original ideas! In fact, I’m mostly organizing my thoughts around what I have read from “The Diary of Frida Kahlo” forward by Carlos Fuentes and “A Biography of Frida Kahlo” by Hayden Herrera. Pulling back the veil, what is in her…
Some called her the ‘Priestess of the Temple’,
Diego wrote of her, “For what she lives is what she paints. But no human experience, painful as it may be, becomes art by itself. How did Kahlo transform personal suffering into art, not impersonal, but shared.”
The rise and fall of native then Aztec empires, colonization by Spain (Cortes), a dance with the French, the implications of Protestant and Catholic Organizations, various dynamics of Mexican governmental policy (Oligarchs), subjugation to U.S. policy, a dance with the French, Benito Juarez, and the rise of Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, but still the dichotomy of Mexican Society…just to name a few…
Prior to her existent, but then bringing her into being with the mixture of European immigration with what is called the Mestizo mix…to her own direct predicaments of a void of loneliness, early polio, impalation from an accident, multiple miscarriages and surgeries, and the piercing all-encompassing dynamic of love…to name a few….yet with those characteristics of her cycle of life, she always found love and returned to it…epitomized it…
Some implied that she was the ‘Mexican of Mexicans’, changing her actual birthdate to coincide with the actual start of the Mexican Revolution…
Carlos Fuentes says, that “Mexico is a country made by its wounds” …. yet, here comes Frida…with the poetry of her life and her understanding expressed through her art….
Fuentes also says, … looking at how Frida saw herself over time…” gives us successive identities of a human being who is not yet, but who is becoming…” who are we? Are we becoming or are we stagnant? How was she able to grow without replicating the pain she experienced and to do as many do…justifying their existence by placing it on others…how did she do this? Up to each of us to get an answer for ourselves…so that we can do the same…If anyone epitomizes in Art…that it isn’t what you see…it is the meaning within what you see…it is dear pato….(ofrenda de dias de los muertos on the left)….
Ahhh Frida Kahlo…quite the person to know….
Ciudad de Mexico (Mexico City)
September 30, 2021
Quite the beautiful dynamic to go beyond the surface, pull back the layers of life, and dig into beauty…to find….
Por fin, mi viaje continua….con y sin…pero lo continua….
I have been planning this journey for over a year and a half. Aside from the corona virus dynamic, making it happen has been ochos locos!! But, finally, it is here 🙂 Admittedly, this part of the journey is more internal than external. It coincides with some major life changes. The type of changes that you can either sink from or get to swimming. I’m sure many of you can understand. Those vicissitudes of life….they do come a calling when we least expect it! With that said, I am using this as my yogini has guided…as a catalyst to reach those internal elevated places … and I shall!!!
For a long time I’ve had an interest in ‘Ciudad de Mexico.’ But, the interest increased exponentially as I delved deeper into cultural studies and the modality of art. Once I got further along and started to explore the Latin affairs, the interest became more particular. Along this path, Frida Kahlo, came in the light.
As I began to learn more about her work, and learned more about what art is and various ways of understanding it… it became necessary to become more familiar with her art…but more so, to become more acquainted with the dynamics that shaped her perspectives.
Hence more interest in the history of Mexico and it’s global interactions. As said by John Berger in ‘Ways of Seeing’…
“The way we see things is affected by what we know or what we believe…”…
So much of our interpretation of what we see is dictated by what we already believe. or as I might add…what we think we know or believe…would the state of humanity or our personal lives be in the condition it is in…if we were all that aligned with reality? Maybe yes…Maybe no!!
But, how many of us then can admit within the totality of what there is, we don’t know much. Personally, when I started to study this trip, I didn’t know a damn thing about art. Now, I have evolved to a point where I am more fully aware of what exactly I don’t know….nice to apply that to other things as well 🙂
I don’t pretend to be an aficionado….simply put, I just want to learn…add more culture and understanding to my own…
Simply put, it is easy for our lives to get small and intensely confusing when the ochos locos comes. But, we can remind ourselves and reconnect to the grandeur and largess of life. In many ways, this is what Frida embodied and many other aspects of her home culture.
With the contextual timing, this one is similar to a pilgrimage. However, I’m also a believer that when we go places…we only find what we brought with us…same as in relationships.
Thus, this is about using an experience to connect more with what has already been discovered within…as usual, some I will share…and, some is for me…
Usually, I stay in more humble arrangements…however, this time there was a shift to match the original plan and the current purpose…
The abode of the launch…
And yes…’THE VIEW”… 🙂 on top of the hill is Chapultepec Castle maintained within the park called ‘ Bosque de Chapultepec’…for this purpose…view, neighborhood (Condesa), proximity…perfecto!!
But, of course we are in Ciudad de Mexico. Being an Anthony Bourdain acolyte, the ‘Street Food’ must be honored…this place is called ‘Taco, Naco’..will have more on this later…
As our journey continues…
Waking up this morning and looking for today to have a little something special to it!! Is it me, but does it seem as though breakfast in the United States versus most of the other places in the world I’ve been…is, ehhh…well, quite the bit different?? Most places I’ve traveled, well…if there is breakfast…it is a cup of coffee, a biscuit, medialuna, croissant, maybe an egg as such…the only place I’ve been where breakfast is loaded up is the United States, and I am not talking about the buffet at the hotel for the tourists,….if that is the case…well, that explains a lot! But, then again…there are variations…so, maybe it is just me… 🙂
We have a few plans today, so up and out with the sun-rise. I can be a simple person at times, I don’t require much entertainment. In fact, I’m still fascinated at being in this part of the world…experiencing it, seeing it, sensing it…even now…reflecting back on it…the environment…what it is like…what is life like for those living here…a few shots for you to consider as we pass along…
Whether in the dense housing townships or out in the sparsely populated…side of the road life…there is so much to learn about Africa. Even considering the geography. Often times Africa is mentioned as if it is one place. When, many countries, multiple cultures with variability, divergent histories, and, so much to learn that can be integrated…ahhh…to ponder…
Arriving at our destination – Kruger National Park!! Yes, we are going on a personal safari!! 🙂 First of all, let me show you the expanse. Huge wide open areas where you could spend all day driving. This isn’t a BBC or Netflix special, or the old school ‘Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom’. This is a certain reality! Which means, sometimes the animals don’t show up. The benefit of them not being in a zoo is that often times no one knows where they are. And as represented in the 3rd picture, because of the terrain and not being used to them – you can look right at them and not know they are present! 🙂
However, we are fortunate today in that a few showed up to add flavor to our trip. I’m not a professional photographer, no special lens, and as common sense would dictate…these pictures were taken from afar. The vision and experience were perfect though…but, here are a few pictures to share the experience…the elephants…you could feel their power even from the distance…
And, the Zebras. Came across several groups of those. As you could probably tell, much calmer than the elephants 🙂
Now for me, one of my favorites are the Water Buffalos. Maybe not as interesting for some. But, for me I love them. Admittedly, I am an addict to the animal shoes. And, I love how one can get brought down by a Lion or such…but, if they just hold on for a bit…the rest of the herd comes back. Shortly thereafter, you see the Lion running. They stick together, move as unit, they are a crew!! A lot of us could learn some powerful life lessons from a herd of Water Buffalo!!
Ahhh, the Hippos!! Quick Story!
My Mother: Look at the Hippos! Isn’t this nice! Why don’t you get out of the car so you can get closer and take a better picture?
Me: Ehhhh!!! Obviously, you don’t love me! Did we come all this way so you could have me killed. You do know that beyond perception, Hippos are the most dangerous animals in Africa and by far the #1 killer! I am not about to get out of the car to get closer 🙂 I am not trying to end up on the dumb-dumb channel as we see some people do!
My Mother: Guess you have a point!!
Me: Yes!! Guess I do!! 🙂
She meant it in a good way!! 🙂
Rolling through, a few others. A Wildebeest, Hyena chilling, some Antelope, what looked like a Kudu (tough meat – yes, we tried some later in the trip), there was a giraffe in the distance but way to far to catch on my phone.
There are special tours to see the apex predators, but, that would of taken more time and also is dependent upon probability. Nothing missed, this actually was a wonderful experience! Add in lunch looking out over the plains….ahhh….yes, that map keeps expanding 🙂
Feeling very fortunate to have had the experience…but, then also…the most important part was sharing it with family…isn’t that true for many things….individually we can experience so many things…but, isn’t that the sweetest part….the sharing….with loved ones…
Heading back towards our abode, we stop to enjoy a bite to eat….a picnic….as family/friends…at Debegeni Falls – Tzaneen… I am told it means place of the big pot – in reference to the pool of water you see at the bottom of the fall…
This is one of those places where you can just sit…and, breath in the air, the midst, the coolness, but also allow your mind and soul to breath in the moment…the experience…allow it to be a turning point…
Magoebaskloof Forest which you can see on the border, and extends lots of life – birds, monkeys, amongst others out into this area. As you sit and enjoy your lunch, there is always something watching and waiting for an opportunity to snatch a treat 🙂
Sharing a family moment, my mother with the white top, and my long time friend/family Trafton (sipho), and his mother Cordelia Kirk, right along with Renae Ilwae with the distinguished yellow top hat…friendships – in all walks of life – I am getting there….around the globe 🙂
This was just a small snapshot! I’ve learned much this trip, mostly for my personal reflection as I grow as a person and absorb more of the cultures of the world into my own life. I believe it was Thoreau that said, ‘wealth is the ability to fully experience life’, and of course now we have to define ‘fully experience’. That definition may be different for each of us – as it should be!! While I learn to get out of my own way, and to make sure others are not in my way as well when it comes to my own realizations…I’m getting closer…and in fact, these trips are making me wealthier 🙂
And, so a beautiful day…together…a beautiful trip…another one….what a composite being built. Although the sun is setting….over the horizon it continues to shine…igualmente, it continues to shine in me….we shall meet again soon. Destination already chosen…so excited to continue ❤
Amigos! Hasta Pronto!!
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