Love Preserves

It is not hard to wonder when at the end of a chapter in your life what is coming up on your journey of happenings.  We often want to save the memories that brought us joy, recall the space that we shared in lasting loving moments and truly maintain them in safe keeping.  How do we preserve a love that will last?  For some it is a very natural process, but for others there is a sense of failure and disappointment associated with everything pertaining to love. As we move away from negativity to self-preservation we may actually take the time to lace all fond moments, lasting feelings and magical experiences that also contributed to containing the love.

Like canning or preserving fruit, preserving love may require adding some sugar (affection), stirring (friendship), stewing (romance), and/or increasing natural ingredients (unconditional love).  Maybe the heart is the place where the love preserves are jarred and certainly like glass breaking, hearts go through their share of ruin.  The thing is, shattering a glass jar filled with preserves is messy, like love and life, plain ole messy.  Learning to love and create tools for ourselves while in a mess are some of loves best lessons.  Honestly, it is not until many of us experience the fractured heart, the messy ruptures or the shattering misfortune that we acknowledge the process of conserving or protecting the desired elements that created harmony, assurance, stability and freedom.

We preserve history, culture, furniture, and homes while taking great pride from the process as we maintain and repurpose.  The preservation of love can be haunting in each of us if we are believers of course, but it is healing and freeing as our hearts contain the loves of affection, friendship, romance or unconditional love.  And if our preserves vanish and our jar feels empty, deep within we can reach inside our hearts to recreate, refill or replenish.

As we learn to safeguard love, we learn self-preservation.  Our asana practice allows for self-preservation, learning about ourselves, accepting ourselves and uniting with ourselves.  All of which permit us to connect with others and can more love preserves along the way.

Leave of absence

There are times in life when one just shuts down, physically, mentally and emotionally.  Whatever the reason, those close to your spirit seem to understand since they too have gone through cycles that are reflective, intuitive, healing, empowering and essential. During these times it is best to just be mindful and take one day at a time and not make numerous pending decisions that you think will create instantaneous relief.

The Jeweler’s Daughter

There once was a newcomer that needed to make a living and provide for his family, his culture as do many dictate this responsibility to the male.  The jeweler began waiting tables in an Asian restaurant back in the 1960s making ends meet for his young family while exploring creative ways to sustain in a new land.  Later on moving to another part of the promise land and working in assembly lines while availing himself into small business opportunities due to diligence and determination beginning as a door-to-door jeweler  on his journey to La Llave de Oro.

Words to love and live by…

Today I saw a heart in the clouds, and there you were.  Love & blessings. 

Life is messy, learn to navigate the boundaries. (anonymous)

One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving.      (Paulo Coelho) 

Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.                 (C.S. Lewis)

If you are on the road to nowhere, find another road. (Ashanti Proverb)

Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.                              ( Maya Angelou)

Be true, be you

Have you ever exchanged conversation with someone who is deceiving you straight from the core?  Do you trust? Fall for it? Or are you the skeptic?  Whichever way it rolls, once this cycle starts, it is difficult to break.  If the subject at hand is one serious in nature, to you and involves someone who simply refuses to discuss or exchange any relevant details, I encourage you to assess the affinity around the relationship.

Secret Recipes

My grandmother, Abuelita Falcon, is a fantastic cook. In fact at age 97, she creates meals that are delicious, nutritious and comforting regularly. As a child, I spent many afternoons after school visiting with her and watching her cook as I sampled away.  Upon entering adulthood, people would ask me, how had I learned to cook?  The answer at that time was simple of course, I just do what I saw my grandmother do but I make a few adjustments and in some cases a conscious choice of ingredients that may be a little healthier with increased nutritional value.  Traditional Cuban fare will always be at my core, as I have continued to pass this on to my own children and it is a piece of culture that is transferred with great ease and love.

Hangover honey…

My beehive has been fully pollinating as of late and the honeycomb was in full effect recently; transitions of all sorts, adjustments and the hustle of life for this analog girl in a digital world pushed me to my outer limits.  Yes, spring has sprung and the busyness factor can be overwhelming to say the least, but let’s put it in perspective.  We go against our natural energy to complete these tasks, responsibilities, some of which may be a vision or goal. So rock on, take it to the limit!  By now, if you have read along, you must realize my idea of slowing us down some lives, because many times, certainly, you might ask yourself, what is the purpose of this rush, is it the hangover part we are striving for?  Hmmmm … or shall I just buzz around.

Lonely, maybe … Alone, No

When in flight, literally on a trip, we may experience turbulence.  It may bring you to a panic thinking the worst is ahead, it may also be an opportunity to take some deep breaths and realize that it is temporary and destiny will define the moment.  Have you ever felt frightened or threatened by something or someone? How do you handle it?

Healing Agents

As time passes in our lives we realize the importance of growing, learning, forgiveness, loving and connection.  Many of these experiences come to fruition after healing occurs, it is when we begin to accept ourselves and the life we are living that we realize therapeutic healing is necessary in order to move on, in order to make amends and to forgive while we bond to whom or what we really need.  Hopefully what we learn is that we need to depend on ourselves in order to create healthy relationships and not expect that someone else is responsible for that indispensable element.  At times, this requires a healing agent or un curandero/curandera.

Oxygen Warrior

Have you ever felt like life is squeezing your lungs so tight that it feels challenging to breathe?  Or maybe the injury you have suffered from for decades occasionally pops back into your life to remind you to take it easy.  How about the scent that milk leaves when you leave it heating up on the stove and spills over while you wonder how you let that happen when you thought you were being so vigilant?  What about the annoying bug bite that feels like you need to scratch it constantly?