Malik Watkins's Bloglines

I once read from a book of the wise that said a seemingly simple thing… “we all have an ends to which we attain”.  My own ends requires a change….a change in part that is facilitated through what I acquire from travel.  Obviously, my own travels, in many ways, are a reflection of my internal journey.  A seeking of sorts…seeking to better understand myself and the world around me…and to acquire the insight to develop the cultural tools to improve how myself and the world around me intersects.  Hence, I’ve been traveling, but not posting as I continually evolve my understanding of the ends I seek.

Over the past few years, the focus of my travel has been Argentina….to the point that I get a really good feeling even before I get there.  Just this sight alone, puts me there –

I’ve had quite the experiences and a bit to say about Buenos Aires and Tango.  But, as I mentioned…this is not a Tango blog.  There are plenty of good ones, but this is not for that purpose.  I was simply fortunate enough to find something that represented an ultimate cultural experience that could be used as a tool to help cultivate various dimensions of my life.  So what I shared, was simply a small part of my personal journey.

And while my times, and there will be plenty more, have been so wonderful…it seems that I’ve gotten to a place in life where the simple things that are soooooo delicious, bring me joy 🙂

I have been fortunate to have friends to walk and guide me through a history that speaks through the ages….the debut of Troilo and Disarli at the Maracaibo –

and, more importantly, to know the feeling of developing friendships in all walk of life –

While it is known, I have personally come to realize that while a master can show us and teach us things…we are the implement.  In essence, we don’t really teach children to ride a bike.  We help them experience a sensation.   If they latch on to that sensation, then they may desire to duplicate it.  We facilitate the process of recreating that sensation by helping them learn to balance, we may use training wheels, go through how to start, to stop…. starting, rolling……’a salida even’, and, when it can be repeated on our own, we have learned to ride the bike.  As it is said,

“I can’t teach you how to feel”  – Carlos Gavito

…and such is life…

Similar to when we get those internal emotional blockages – emotionally, intellectually, …. You get me!!  And we cease to flow internally…we can’t let go of something…our nature…or what we do not usually constrain.  Sometimes we need those who have that special touch to help us…feel the music of life…to help us walk life’s song – no words – just music.  That opens back up our soul…and no matter how we feel…it is okay…it is necessary….or as Maya Angelou says, our soul is our deep longing!!

Like the bike, sometimes we need help to get our insides moving again….even as the complexity of life represented by a Pugliese plays in the background, one helps us move…

As the other comes right behind us unawares with an embrace around our rib-cage and helps lift us up to restart us by telling us when to “breath”…showing us verbally and physically when to stop, soften, feel, and the confluence makes the soul accept its longing again…through the drop of a tear….

Alejandro Gee & Erzsebet Tamas

Like the child riding a bike, and falls.  But, then gets back up again!!  We latch onto that sensation…and as we continue to latch and duplicate, life comes back….

The fall can be painful, uncomfortable, and even embarrassing.  Yet, the come back, getting up off the mat, can be so sweet, that it makes the fall worth it.

And, then we grow!!  I must say, Buenos Aires has been good to me, and I believe I have been good to her….she will always be in my pause…and now, my walk continues….sure I will get a few more bumps and bruises, or even worse; however, I am ready ❤