La Biela Y Palais de Glace
April 5, 2017
Sitting here at ‘La Biela’…in my reflections, enjoying my ‘cafecito’ and ‘medialunas’….outside underneath the shade – El “Gran Gomero”…
With all my travels and experiences, my observations are no panacea or romanticization….nor, is it to say that one culture is better than another…it is simply that our personal and social experiences may at times blind us to the value or our own self or culture. At times, a different cultural experience may awaken us to a higher level of existence within our own culture. We can accomplish this by identifying a cultural component and its base/root…and using it to better understand our own base root. Eventually we may merge them and increase the breadth and depth of our own cultural foundation as another expression of the universal stream of life – that is just as valuable.
As I continue to sit and ponder, the discussion with ’Beatriz’ comes to mind…”our intentions pass through individual and ancestral layers of memory and experience on its way to becoming movement.” By creating new memories and experiences…can we then adjust our movements, our actions…our own cultural way of life? More plainly – can we use this as a tool to shape the quality of our contemporary and our future?
As I sit here, the terms happy and joy or sadness and melancholy are not actualized…for I feel peace. Peace like the waters….as in ‘still waters run deep.’ My tumultuousness is at bay…and I feel the place where I can just be…Knowing it will come and go…and I will have to work to make that feeling consistently and perpetually dominant over time…but, never-the-less, knowing it exists is a start to making it ever present….
This becoming ‘aware’, this consciousness – attempting to become aware of the things that we are not aware of…I can only speak of my own journey of my own travels…inside…it is not for everyone…no judgement, but particularly not the surface dwellers….It is for the travelers!!
Following the guidance of ‘Beatriz’ to go see the Tango that exists…obviously we aren’t talking of dance or steps – but experiences that shape the context of memory of which intention flows through…I start at a place where she took me to and left me there to ponder – ‘Palais de Glace’…
Many many moons ago…this place had a large wooden floor inside…and was a central arena for how Tango manifested as the dance….it now holds a large art exhibit…fitting 🙂 Art – as the expression of the awareness of ‘creative consciousness’ as described by ‘Julia Cameron’ in ‘The Artists Way.’ And, awareness of this creativity can create a spiritual path. Hence, these posts are not about dancing…it is about a continual journey of walking through doors whose presence are illuminated by a consciousness of the streams/rivers of life. As, some artists express their creativity whose meaning ultimately is reflected by our interpretation, I will leave your interpretation to you through some of these examples on display:
Artists (Marcia Schvartz) (Fermin Eglia)
Artists (Pablo Paez) (Dullio Pierri) (Nadia Guthman)
Artists (Santiago Garcia Pilloto) (Gabriel Orge)
If you look closely at the presentation of Santiago – you will see a baby calf inside its mother with the head of the vulture also penetrating inside – for you to interpret…
Artist (Nicola Constantino)
Artist (Carlos Ronzsentroch)
Leaving the Palais, I come across another ‘Gran Gomero’…In many ways this tree exemplifies life…this place…As with this tree, are our roots ever straight or do they turn and twist and appear crooked, they are as we are….but, it provides a clear center line of life that with work we can perceptively see it as the straight path…(for those who know)…
Just as poetry facilitates a conversation, this type of artistic expression can also initiate a conversation we need to have with ourselves…and who knows…we may actually discover what the actualization of sublimation means…play with it a bit…nurture your creative consciousness….and just see what may happen….
A la Recoleta….Abrazos!!
“Mis Puertas” en Buenos Aires
March 30, 2017
Well…..here I go again…as my journey continues!!!! Obviously, from my perspective, it is wonderful to travel. In fact, there aren’t that many comparable things. To travel to a place, and eventually to places within places…ultimately you have to come to the people. For, that is how we get to the culture. Now, obviously some just observe cultures and some participate…and, then there are those of us who want to extract something out of it to keep as a token of that which we can continuously participation in ourselves.
To build our lives…to move beyond just social expectations and construction or being trapped within our own unawareness not even knowing what we don’t know. But, to extend beyond that…and utilize what our awareness can capture to be used to paint our own beautiful mosaic on the canvass of our soul. This isn’t just a journey around the globe…ahhhh….it is so much more than that…more of a journey into the unseen…and as that internal mosaic is developed, then someone else may catch a glimpse of it … if you or I know what to look for… 🙂
Of late, my journey has been set towards Argentina…and so, I return. And, while I have been talking of Tango…this isn’t a Tango blog…but, reflects how Tango is a part of the overall journey. And, since I am talking about a journey it could just as easily be stated the other way around. Clearly, dancing is a part of it…but, more importantly I am referring to the Tango associated with the Milonga of Life: the Life Milonga – ehhhh….for those that know 🙂
It is wonderful to make it back to Buenos Aires, and to be comfortable with expectations, friendships and new experiences…and growing even more comfortable. In many ways, my friends here in BA, particularly Alejandro Gee and Erzsebet Tamas, are ‘mis puertas’ to other ‘puertas’. The same as ‘mis puertas’ in Atlanta and other places – they know who they are!! In fact, they exemplify the benefit of getting to know people and building relationships when traveling. As, I said…this isn’t about simply dancing steps…it is much more about the steps of life of the heart…of growth…of thoughtful and soulful evolution…in affect…it all means something…to me anyway…
Today, I had the wonderful opportunity to visit one of the esteemed Coffee Houses of Buenos Aires – “La Biela” …. known for delicious coffee and medialunas and such….
At “La Biela”…..I met with a new Special Friend “another puerta” – Senora Beatriz Dujovne. Beatriz is the author of one of the most amazing books I have ever read, “In Strangers’ Arms.”
One thing I love about this place and other cultures…there is only so much political correctness…if you are fat well, you are fat…if you are skinny, well you are skinny…so when I walked up to her…in true Portena fashion…she didn’t recognize me at first…and then when I approached she said, “tu cabeza – your head”…and, then she laughed…and in my own head…I said, “yes, I have a big black bald shiny head”….*laughing*…definitely, so good…well…I do…just is what it is….*chuckle*….
Without going deep into the book – which is easy to do – she provides a firsthand description…of not the surface or the perfunctory…but, of the heart of the culture of Tango which is also an essential history of Buenos Aires. But, here is one atomic tidbit –
“A fully lived Tango is all about the exaltation of a human connection at the primitive level of our senses, movements, and reflexes. It sublimates our basest instincts, which actually interfere with dancing, and draws out our memories, histories, sentiments….”
Beatriz Dujovne
Yes, for some it is just a dance…but, for others…it is so much more. For me…it is another expression of the same things I have found in many other places around the world – ‘A Door.” And, these doors I am walking through. The vicissitudes of life can eventually show us those things that are critically important and those things which are not. Sometimes it is the timing that allows us to recognize the door and then walk through the door. Personally, I am ready to walk!! (no pun intended)…. And, so….This conversation with Beatriz was for me and my journey…so, I will not share it here. We each need our own conversations, our own reflections that are directly associated with our own internal journey.
But, I often think about the places, I have been…but, really more importantly…the people I have met….these people that are doors to other doors….doors that can be opened to find not just another part of the journey, but actually help us find answers to some of the questions we ask along the journey…
If you aren’t a traveler, then you will most likely not understand…and that is okay – no judgement…but, for those of us who are travelers…things are always more than what they seem…
It was so kind of Senora Beatriz to allow me to spend some time with her this morning. And, as we sat and talked – it occurred to me that we don’t always know where our journey leads…or sometimes even where to go…life, pain, frustrations, mistakes, obligations, competing interests, can make the path seem unclear…yet, even when it is unclear…it is still our path.
When our time, at that moment, came to a close…like an oracle, she showed me where I would find the path for tomorrow with steps for another day…
In these places, starting near the ‘Recoleta’…she said…”there is so much life, so much Tango…”…..but, we have to open ourselves to feel it….more on this tomorrow…
Abrazos!!
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