tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13712809370043159132024-02-06T21:15:54.756-08:00FarfallinaAprendizagens na prática de anfitriã de conversas: O belo e a poesia nas pequenas coisas: O alegre e o doído da vida num olhar singelo: Aquilo que é porque éValentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.comBlogger77125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-33014012218688985382013-04-28T08:25:00.001-07:002013-04-28T08:25:46.106-07:00Rites of Marriage - learnings of a made, a bride a wife (part 1)Marriage, such an arquetipal thing.<br />
As I've been preparing for my, I've been realizing how much evergy it holds. And that not only have to do with the bride and the groom but with the whole system in which we are inserted. So much that comes about when this word in put on the table. And it being a bi-national wedding makes it even more interesting and intense to be part of...<br />
<br />
That is really when many of the difference comes about, the different ways to which cultures, families and each one of us relate to love, commitment and ceremonies.<br />
<br />
All we want is to celebrate Love. To celebrate the fact of having found each other in one corner of the world. Having had the guts to say yes, to stay even in the times when we wanted to leave and go back to the constant search for who we are. Having had the courage to be two when it can be so much easier to just be one. Having had the honesty to understand that it is in relationship that I am me. <br />
<br />
To celebrate the many lives that we have lived until now and that we are ought to live in the years to come. To being strong to holding eachother and encouraging to move forward towards becoming more of ourselves. Yet the transactions behind the fact, and the fragmented perception of our world makes it sound just to difficult and complicated. Something to be scared of or to take as a given institution that cannot and should not be changed.<br />
<br />
In our marriage, I have learned that it takes a lot of courage and conversation to make the common ground where we stand clear and tangible, not to anybody outside of us, but to our own selves. From that place only we can decide and make it be - both in the formalities, as in the everyday life - a true reflection of our commitment. It is an evolving thing. And I am happy we have been taking it process by process.<br />
<br />
The process of getting married in Holland was an eye opener to the different ways marriage can be conceived. Whereas in Brazil the first reaction from people is to celebrate, hug and congratulate you for the exciting new step, in The Netherlands my experience was that people reacted through their minds. They would ask us "Why?" "Why do you want to marry?", and then giving us rational reasons why marriage could be a choice that makes life more practical: like buying a house, having kids, sorting out visa issues. In our case, non of that applied! And we were mesmerized by the feeling and the fact that we had to explain we were marrying because we love each other and we wanted to commit, with all the things that it entails, to this choice of loving and building a life together.<br />
<br />
I would get offended and feel hurt at every occasion (with friends and family) when this question would come up. it felt like an offense to my "right" to simply love and to feel that this is the man I want to build a life with, because often the questions felt so charged with other unspoken assumptions that have to do with fear, distrust and scarcity. All of those characteristics that are not embraced by love and its pure definition. The questions "why?" felt to me as questions about whether or not I was after his money and inheritance? Whether or not I had a secret plan to marry so I could have a Dutch/EU passport? Whether or not he had had enough time to meet me, my family and to know I/we were trustworthy and wealthy? How much did we really know about each other if we had only been together for so little time? Completely did not take into account the fact that we probably had spent more time together and gone through harder decisions than an average couple does in 3 years of relationship.<br />
<br />
(to be continued)...<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-33400471093741870772013-04-28T01:30:00.001-07:002013-04-28T01:30:11.035-07:00There is a silent (re)volution happeningThere is a silent re-evolution happening<br />
Just here, in front of my eyes<br />
When we come together, in kindness, to be,<br />
listening to music,<br />
This temple of Life<br />
Lyrics flowing as our conversations are glowing<br />
<br />
We come in silence to hear,... the voice of our hearts is pulsing together<br />
For no reason we know of<br />
For no explanation the mind can give<br />
Just the simple desire to gather<br />
To join<a href="http://www.ashesandfire.com/"> "both hands, both hands"</a><br />
<br />
Music,<br />
This temple of Life<br />
where Love finds its ground, <br />
a fertile place to grow.<br />
<br />
Around a cup of coffee.<br />
Maybe...<br />
Or maybe just an excuse to come closer,<br />
come closer to our communities, <br />
To our friends,<br />
friends we have lost somewhere - <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzZWSrr5wFI&ob=av3e">where the streets have no name</a><br />
<br />
Here. At Voorstraat they gain meaning <br />
Where friends are realizing dreams <br />
and dreams into ideas<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7kYR_CLaaE">"To make it happen, right now, and change the world"</a><br />
<br />
Een cup of thee, maybe...<br />
verse munt thee or Earl Grey.<br />
We all have a choice.<br />
Which pick to take?<br />
Which sidewalk to walk?<br />
<a href="http://www.ah.nl/">Albert Heijn</a> or <a href="http://www.soeco.nl/duurzame-winkels/Biologische-winkels/S-2EE-2EM-2E--biologische-winkel-Utrecht/details.html">SoEco</a>?<br />
<a href="http://www.puhashop.nl/">Puha Shop</a> or <a href="http://www.hm.com/entrance.ahtml?orguri=/">H&M</a>?<br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Village-Coffee-Music/166724940038201">Village Coffee</a> or <a href="http://www.coffeecompany.nl/">Coffee Company</a>?<br />
<br />
We can go for chains...<br />
Afterall we all come from a long lineage of one: The Homo Sapiens<br />
<br />
We can go for individuals<br />
The people behind the balcony who is one of <span style="font-weight: bold;">your</span> kind.<br />
<br />
We can go for streams.<br />
Between main and live,<br />
I choose for LifeStream<br />
Surround acoustic and <br />
Gezellig atmosphere<br />
<br />
In or out, <br />
here, there and everywhere<br />
Partying<br />
<br />
We are all a part of it.<br />
<br />
Main or live, the stream is the same...<br />
One of a kind: from the lineage of Sapiens<br />
That perfect blend which given a twist, poured over with some good hot water can awaken the world.<br />
<br />
To take away or to stay<br />
It's just a matter of perpective<br />
The blend comes along, it is all in the grains.<br />
<br />
Muffins, to sweeten the taste of that bitter bite, of a broken heart, or a missed job interview.<br />
<br />
Some go for berries, others go for fudge.<br />
<br />
Whatever your choice,<br />
Be natural<br />
Be mellow<br />
Be sweet <br />
Be there!<br />
<br />
<span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;"></span> Poem written by <a href="http://valentinegiraud.wordpress.com/about/">Valentine Giraud</a> during the concert of <a href="http://www.ashesandfire.com/">Ryan Adams</a> @ The Village Coffee & Music in Utrecht, Holland on 13 October 2011</span>Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-29941681093614840382013-04-28T01:28:00.002-07:002013-04-28T01:28:52.723-07:00Blossoming of the FlowersThere is silent revolution happening<br />
I can feel it clearer now<br />
The gentle flowers are blossoming<br />
Violets<br />
Elder flowers<br />
Beautiful grasses that have stayed on their feet for so long<br />
Grasses that have been under our feet<br />
<br />
I have found home<br />
Home has found me<br />
I've always knew that would be so<br />
In the days of sadness<br />
There was always a voice that said<br />
to keep on walking<br />
In the <i>Art of Living</i><br />
<br />
It is time for the artist in me<br />
To be<br />
No fear<br />
No more repression<br />
<br />
There is a silent revolution happening<br />
<br />
It has all been part of the preparation<br />
The elimination, the discrimination<br />
So I could remember<br />
To not forget<br />
So I could remember to not let it melt<br />
To remember<br />
The Netherlands, the land of white light<br />
that has been made dorment, by the black<br />
Those black priests and priestesses who thought they knew<br />
By bringing the pain they made me awake<br />
I shall not ever die<br />
The land of light, where there are blue skies, love and life<br />
<br />
The dark days are gone<br />
With no pretention<br />
With no adaptation<br />
<br />
Parakalo!<br />
We are alchemy of it all<br />
Alchemy of the soul<br />
Divine and loving<br />
<br />
We love<br />
We laugh<br />
We cry<br />
<br />
We all like to kiss and hug<br />
The sky is in fireworks<br />
like the blossoming flowers<br />
on the freshly melted Earth<br />
<br />
We've reached just exactly where we needed to be<br />
Our teachers - the real ones<br />
have never left you<br />
They knew exactly where you needed to be<br />
They have been giving you space to walk your path freely<br />
Who could try to cage a bird?!<br />
Only the fools and ignorants<br />
Do not let yourself fall<br />
<br />
They will come to help you<br />
We all want to kiss and hug<br />
Keep sharing your stories<br />
Go back to the initial plan<br />
The greater story can only but evolve and move on<br />
Keep sharing your stories<br />
Keep weaving the stories<br />
The plan is at work anywaysValentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-77116763257097027062013-04-28T01:05:00.001-07:002013-04-28T01:08:58.577-07:00I am falling in love again<i>Returning from Lithuania- email originally sent to my co-hosting team</i><br />
<br />
It has been a crazy, soft landing here in the dutchlands...yesterday we went and saw the band Counting Crows playing.<br />
<br />
You know, I've been a fan o them for years and years... And this was the first time I went to their gig. The crazy thing is that they are still playing together after all this time, they have grown into their music and each other. They still play the same "classics" of when they were 20's - and used to come to Amsterdam to get stoned - but every so often they are re- arranging them.
Because I am the kind of fan who is not on top of any new album - cause I simply like the one I used to listen when me and my girlfriends were getting dressed to go to parties - it was rather weird to be in their gig yesterday, I could not sing the songs they have been paying for so long. They have grown with each other, but I haven't. Their music is and will still be the one I used to listen to when I was starting to date, when my friends and I would go partying together. It turned out that their music is no longer theirs, but minet too. I share with them the ownership of it - in a way... Cause wasn't for me, along with all the others thousands of fan, they would not still be able to be on that stage performing their old classics remixed and their new inventions...Which probably attract a whole bunch of new fans nowadays.<br />
<br />
Yesterday though, I had this double feeling of being a part of it as much as not. I was eager to sing and dance with them (like we do in a gig), but their songs have become so different, without me having followed their changes, that we could almost not say one phrase together. I could know what were the classics, but something in me wasn't as touched as it used to, simply because they have changed, as much as I...I wish only they had sang 1 or 2 like they used to. And truly believe they would have had the audience going crazy!<br />
<br />
The whole experience is now making me think about us - 15 years from now... 10 years... 5 years... 1 year.... 1 week... 1day... Where do I want to be? It made me re-member that a vision is a setting point in space which can be happening now if I let go of controlling time...And just live the time of my life, every second, every day!<br />
<br />
You have made me free again, your invitation has awaken in me the magic I had been longing for in this long long winter... Your ability to keep sharing and sharing the love, the fire, the crazyness, the seriousness, the subtle, the fear, the trembling, has trembled in me the last cover of thin ice...<br />
<br />
(to continue click on each blue buttom at a time)<br />
<br />
And now I am listening to the Old Counting Crows knowing that I am no longer that girl, but the dreams she had when she would listen to their stories. I've become it.<br />
<br />
I am becoming my dream.... <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBDF04fQKtQ">"with a little help from my friends"</a>...<br />
<br />
And now, just now, time has become time for<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzQtEk9CzCA"> some new beginning</a>....<br />
<br />
I am taking a "creative holiday" to Lithuania<br />
<br />
Cause, once again, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mloERTJtWR0">I am accidentally in love</a>
Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-43760764986173307322013-04-28T01:01:00.000-07:002013-04-28T01:01:04.159-07:00Re-becomingThis has always been the most sacred place for me to share the depths of my ever changing process of becoming. I still remember when I started this blog at the beginning of 2009, as the year of great changes began, and my flying life of a sparrow would reach places that I could not yet preview then.
Now, almost 4 years ago, I am sitting in Lithuania and actively deciding to keep on sharing and weaving the stories, the stories of others with my own story of becoming.
Sitting in Lithuania, out of all places, the place that 2 weeks ago has awaken in me a forgotten part of myself: the artist. Another place that has become my home, my refuge and place of sourcing.
The following blogs are about that finding, that re-membering with the parts of myself I had left dorment, and that had made dorment by the paths I have chosen to live in this past years.
'Cause after all, there is nothing like more human than choosing and by choosing learning, that all paths are paths and that they lead to one, same and single one, which is LIFE.
Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-49707653493229731272011-10-13T01:30:00.000-07:002011-10-13T09:02:22.817-07:00the epic storySo it now feels I am in entering an epic story, a story of struggle and love, frustration and appreciation, openess and closeness. Me and the educational system for integration in Holland. And for that I literally mean the course given by the government for foreigners willing to learn dutch to be able to integrate in the culture, the life, the land that they chose to live, be it for whatever reasons Life has made them choose. <br /><br />And the reason why I say an epic is because it ain't a small story. It's the story of my life, the story of Holland at this time and age, the story of other men and women, of each and every one us, who are constantly sttrugling to find our place in the world. Moving from here to there, in the inside or the outside. It is the story of both the dutchies who have egone to discover the new world, trading merchandises, values and cultures on their big sailing ships, and whom for long in history have been out there, while been in here, making it all possible to survive and to stay in a land that used to be see. Traveling and staying has been always inheritent to these people, to the landscape of this land. It has shaped culture and behaviours in the binnenland and in the bouten land.<br /><br />It is also and the story of those who have come brought by the ships, brought by their hearts, their future husbands or wives to be, the kids to be born, or/and the hard reality which they were victims or witnesses in their landa of origin (Kurdistan)<br /><br />It's been frustrating, good, empowering, challenging and deep.<br /><br /><br />For long I have felt connected to the people who have left and the people who have come. It is difficult to say when did it begin... maybe at the beginning of times, my times on this Earth, my time on this existence. Since young the lyrics of Bob Marley "Oh pirats yes they robbed I, sold I to the merchant ships, minutes after they took from the bottomless pit. ... Bbut my hand was stronwant to hear to sing, these songs of freedom" Or the Brazilian song (that has become my favorite over the years): Foram me chamar, eu estou aqui o que eh ha. Eu vi de la eu vim de la pequeneninha, mas eu vim de la pequeneninha, alguem me avisou para pisar nesse chao devagarinho" The lyrics of bith songs have always spoke deeply to me... Somehting down the soul.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-91325127326856318082011-10-12T10:45:00.001-07:002011-10-12T23:23:26.673-07:00Between Walls and Windows<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWdOF5_unPFCoapckVKhfnFbyU8DMaBEcR90AL0cTmibdESRE3aSqf3ArLcss00YD2HNXIDKrKPpXBV815twzXjluwnZm8Zq1nPcfn-_kFFHNeL4hrUbpqkxVxUeOtYQUGXQ7TJcdPUa-/s1600/Photo+on+10-13-11+at+8.14+AM.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnWdOF5_unPFCoapckVKhfnFbyU8DMaBEcR90AL0cTmibdESRE3aSqf3ArLcss00YD2HNXIDKrKPpXBV815twzXjluwnZm8Zq1nPcfn-_kFFHNeL4hrUbpqkxVxUeOtYQUGXQ7TJcdPUa-/s320/Photo+on+10-13-11+at+8.14+AM.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662856675321695762" /></a><br />And so I sit here now in front of our yellow wall, overlooking the boxes packed and wrapped in front of me, thinking how interesting it is to realize that when this wall was painted we were 2 months to go to Brazil and South America. On my longing for sun and light to the dark and short days of Autumn I decided to paint it yellow so to make it lighter to withstand the cold and the lonely I somewhat felt within.<br /><br />The yellow brought in light, it expanded the room and helped relaxing the mind, taking us to a place far away. A place where all is possible, where there is no limitations. No irony that it happened just before we set off to our journey in South America. It surely helped preparing the body, mind and spirit for the endevour ahead of us... <br /><br />Now sitting with it on my back, feeling held and supported by this wall which has held us with a safe and sacred space to leave from and to come back to, I look over the big windows to the multiple options life again is offering us. The sun rising there... behind the buildings, on the left side of the street, illuminating the alley through which we go to Puha and Ah. Slowly slowly wakening up and bringing its rays to the silent sleepy neighborhood, that awakens from the misty night where Droemenland is. In front lies the future, still to be known, felt, lived, tasted to its entire existence. Hints of it we might already have and grab, the rest will come as it turns into present, on the moment by moment unwrapping of the gift of Life.<br /><br />What to do now, but to trust and be grateful for the windows and walls that exist in our lives. Without one the other is not. Without the other the one is not. Walls and windows, my house, my home.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJBUm0ktdYoZa161QfWsESFAv6eeBKo36loq0cXq34iftV6zZPMfNsaDq_1tIA3NqGozAQSlaBdSNXlwVko8R-arHcdakLTaWrt59IvGO9kOklTTih9Nw4hUQD1D5CV4asK-FxIROBBVK/s1600/Photo+on+10-13-11+at+8.14+AM+%25232.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 213px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJBUm0ktdYoZa161QfWsESFAv6eeBKo36loq0cXq34iftV6zZPMfNsaDq_1tIA3NqGozAQSlaBdSNXlwVko8R-arHcdakLTaWrt59IvGO9kOklTTih9Nw4hUQD1D5CV4asK-FxIROBBVK/s320/Photo+on+10-13-11+at+8.14+AM+%25232.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5662856668980521362" /></a><br /><br />With love,<br />ValentineValentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-12413412775277545732011-06-19T10:42:00.000-07:002011-06-19T10:55:10.212-07:00A nomad whose home is LoveIt has been really long I don't post anything here. Well, life has moved in al possible directions I would say. We have gone to South America for 6 months, got engaged, saw all these beautiful landscapes, got inspired and had many ideas, and are now back in The Netherlands. <br /><br />Maybe for the first time in my life I have a real sense of building up! A sense of getting serious in life. <br />I guess it has to do with the decision to marry and to build a life together. It pushes me to make choices of where I want to live, how do I want to live and more and more what mark do I want to leave on this Earth. <br /><br />After moving for almost 2 years, I now feel the need to stop and to be fixed in one place. One place from where I can go to many places and to be found by many people. Being all over the place, everywhere and nowhere at the same time, has been very important for the past years. I believe to set me free from the conditionings of staying, and returning always to Brazil. It has helped and has thrown me into the world. But now that I have reached the freedom and mobility that I wanted, being stablished in Holland, for now I no longer feel the need to move much anymore. Rather to stay and to move out due to invitations.<br /><br />At times it is not easy to keep walking and trusting this somewhat crazy path of a nomad whose home is Love and a deeper call. It makes me tremble and makes me confuse. But at any new reward I am again strong to hold this vision and keep building this life, opening the path for those who will come after me.<br /><br />Que Oxala acompanhe!Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-45175067565554289662011-03-07T12:42:00.001-08:002011-03-07T12:43:58.408-08:00Our path, our pacesFinding out our paces, figuring out our path!<br /><br />"I've been told there was so much more to wake up for.<br />I guess you make me see it!"Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-86648932022037531592010-11-09T02:52:00.000-08:002010-11-09T03:14:44.972-08:00Farewell Holland<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAYHZnkZpx0Zal9M40BYRpDxaSaV30EdizhoENIsV2mxkfW9dzafb-kYJN8gQZwgWdTHhlo8uMQjfZlN-mRvnIvto1mM8oOj5etGHMTsfytKkSXTyvp4P7GgZUI9msx3M2eFDUhs7e6Ck/s1600/DSCF9344.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 241px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVAYHZnkZpx0Zal9M40BYRpDxaSaV30EdizhoENIsV2mxkfW9dzafb-kYJN8gQZwgWdTHhlo8uMQjfZlN-mRvnIvto1mM8oOj5etGHMTsfytKkSXTyvp4P7GgZUI9msx3M2eFDUhs7e6Ck/s320/DSCF9344.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5537503551330652434" /></a><br />As I prepare myself to go to Mexico next week for the COP16. I also prepare for departing from Holland and possibly to be living in this country for the last time. It is difficult to predict or to make plans, but both me and Maarten feel we are going to be off for some while ad the the journey we are about to begin in month will take us to our future home.<br /><br />It is a funny feeling t be leaving so soon though, and even if I don't feel much attached to Holland, out house and the life we live here it still feels like a farewell. So I am spending the next weeks wrapping up it all and making sure I had a chance to meet and be with the good friends I have made here in these almost 6 months. After all what we take from the places is always the people we meet and the good moments we spent.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-47738023903584091112010-07-22T03:05:00.001-07:002010-07-22T03:25:03.119-07:00Tenho andado desapontada com as pessoas ao meu redor, principalmente no ambiente, so called, organizacional. E me perguntado, o que acontece com as pessoas, seu brilho, sua sensibilidade, quando estao em organizacoes? Quando se juntam ao redor de um proposito que lhes eh comum e acabam messing around um com o outro??? Parece que a partir desse momento, deixam de sentir, ser capazes de expressar amor, compaixao e compreensao para se tornarem cobradores, devedores, chatos, impacientes...<br /><br />Por que numa organizacao um passa a se relacionar com o outro de forma tao diferente? <br /><br />Sinto me frustrada, sem forcas para querer e poder mudar isso. A clareza que me vem a cabeca eh que eu nao sou feita para estar em organizacoes. Trabalhar em parceria sim, com varias e diferentes pessoas de acordo com cada projeto, momento, impulso, mas nao mais fazer parte de um conjunto de pessoas que se move junto, que se constitui como uma organizacao. E um formato que acaba me tomando mais energia do que me dando energia, me tirando do meu centro de poder e de qualidade e profundidade do que faco e orfereco. Em voo solo me sinto livre e com legitimidade para criar ate o limite da minha imaginacao, sem precisar compromise para me encaixar e ser aceita por ninguem ou por lugar nenhum. <br /><br />Essa clareza me da chao e certeza de que desde o dia em que escolhi sair da ultima organizacao onde trabalhei para me tornar "consultora independente" tenho trilhado o caminho que para mim faz sentido, e que melhor pode servir as outras pessoas. Como isso no coracao, terminarei meus assignements nesta nova organizacao onde estou e seguirei voando livre, levando verao de grupos a grupos ao redor do mundo, como faz uma boa andorinha. <br /><br />Viva as andorinhas!Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-28145256630508867522010-04-28T11:01:00.000-07:002010-04-28T23:29:43.446-07:00Earth time and Sky time<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHY3qvgrJUnUEF0g-4TjPEFiTz6T85I_OMkk6THkXTwJ0BX6sVOOJ0N6LKGI1R6WqtG91xPXsI_peE_UMKRCzQFxTQbnopXcB639W2RGf934TZvxVtZXD9lTqHwSxYlWJWUAf2aj9M16L/s1600/IMGP7068.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxHY3qvgrJUnUEF0g-4TjPEFiTz6T85I_OMkk6THkXTwJ0BX6sVOOJ0N6LKGI1R6WqtG91xPXsI_peE_UMKRCzQFxTQbnopXcB639W2RGf934TZvxVtZXD9lTqHwSxYlWJWUAf2aj9M16L/s320/IMGP7068.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5465442816670073346" /></a><br />Today it's been one year that I have left for this journey, or rather, should I say that I got on the golden thread of The Journey?! A journey which has taken me from the lakes of the Danish Kingdom to the canals of the Netherlands, passing by the deserts of Syria, the Grand Bazaar of Istanbul and the golden dome of Jerusalem.<br /><br />In one chronological year I have crossed thousands of years of the ancient traditions, peoples and religions. In one chronological year I have experienced in my cells the unmeasurable time of God, Love. In this one year I have been dancing in between the time of Earth and the time of Heaven.<br /><br />In one chronological year so much has happened that I can't even fit into the hours and days of our conventional calendar. The pace of time has accelerated in times of joy, surrender and truth. And it has slowed down, as if almost to stop, in times of attachment, control, moaning and distrust.<br /><br />In one chronological year I have flowed in the flow of Yes and have felt the infinite source that responds positively to it. At a point where there are times when it's almost impossible to separate the things which happen on the time of Earth and the things that happen on Sky time.<br /><br />I wonder then, where lies the line in between each of them. Is it in our minds? Is it in our rules? Is it in the nature of things? Or is it in IT all together?<br /><br />One thing I am learning...<br />Love travels on Sky time<br />Papers travel on Earth time<br />Intention travels on both Sky and Earth timesValentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-59063935069820018632010-04-15T11:02:00.000-07:002010-04-15T11:24:23.603-07:00From butterfly to golondrina<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfa4GTJ2bhdTfS8aQMcf4kYpUdVBwpptm9W6LpjAWzVbBmmC8HhrJl5ZwS8gtUbD0ijV2k4nk65eVnp3f2QzdMzhm563aypiyPgLlhdDn9Y6e7v3WVn0wpbbTrQpSuXc7Uit22V52EXvRs/s1600/Golondrina.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 216px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfa4GTJ2bhdTfS8aQMcf4kYpUdVBwpptm9W6LpjAWzVbBmmC8HhrJl5ZwS8gtUbD0ijV2k4nk65eVnp3f2QzdMzhm563aypiyPgLlhdDn9Y6e7v3WVn0wpbbTrQpSuXc7Uit22V52EXvRs/s320/Golondrina.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5460431793087503490" /></a><br />Yesterday I was told my me dear friend Elena that I am now transmuting from a BUTTERFLY to a <span style="font-style:italic;"></span> GOLONDRINA. That because butterflies fly in one region only and golondrinas fly all year long, hoping from Summer to Summer, from region to region around the world. <br /><br />Interestingly enough, says the wiki:<span style="font-style:italic;">Golondrinas: Son aves cosmopolitas, y frecuentan una gran variedad de medios, desde las regiones semiáridas hasta los bosques, generalmente cerca del agua. Muchas especies anidan en grandes colonias.</span><span style="font-style:italic;">(wikipedia)</span><br /><br />So may it be, that in this transcendent process, I am able to hop from city to city in the most diverse variety of places, finding Summer and bringing Summer, to a great number of people as possible and as do the golondrinas, gathering with other golondrinas.<br /><br />Insh'allahValentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-22091806850682511372010-02-09T04:08:00.000-08:002010-04-23T21:29:10.309-07:00With Bare FeetI had stepped on this land before<br />But I had not stepped on it with bare feet<br />I had not yet let myself to go into this earth<br /><br />With bare feet I am with my soul naked<br />uncovered from any barrier which separates us<br /><br />With bare feet I am letting the earth read me and to absorb it all<br />Molding and shaping itself to my soles<br />Connecting, concealing<br /><br />The earth was cold<br />half frozen, half asleep<br />awakening from a long time within<br />under covered by the thick layers of snow<br /><br />The snow has been melting away<br />as the sun is coming out slowly <br />to caresse our faces with its tender light a<br />and inspiring life.<br /><br />The earth is awakening <br />becoming greener and present<br /><br />The birds are singing in the morning<br />as to salute the sun and the brighter days<br /><br />With bare feet<br />I am able to feel it all<br />let the earth speaks to me <br />sweet and almost silent whispers brought by the chill breeze<br /><br />With bare feet I surrender to the mysteries of this land<br />and the magic it is holding for me<br />as I let it speak and manifest through me<br /><br />And I pray for it to last<br />for my stay to be long and bear juicy fruits<br />when Spring had come and gone<br />and it will be Summer<br /><br />With my bare feet.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-29501307865476257582010-02-09T03:49:00.001-08:002010-02-09T04:00:27.410-08:00Reaching the Generous Limits of the SkyTo love is also to hope<br />To hope for it to last<br />For that which is felt by one to be extended and felt by the other<br /><br />To love is also to hope<br />that ir can be understood<br />that it can be respected and honored<br /><br />To love is to learn to let go <br />of the Self and the pride<br /><br />It is an invitation to be open for the world<br />even when the world seems to be closed to you<br /><br />To love is to be proud of your feelings<br />and don't let anyone doubt their intensity<br /><br />To love is to smile brightly and big<br />even when your heart is small with sadness and disappointment<br /><br />To love is to never let go of the tenderness and care for your beloved<br />just because your ego may say it is the right thing to do<br /><br />To love is to share your happiness with others <br />and let them to feel loved and be loving too.<br /><br />To love is to be courageous to let your love go<br />to let it be transformed by time<br /><br />To love is to say "I love you"<br />even when you risk not hearing it back<br /><br />It is this enormous feeling that transcends the barriers of rational understanding<br />and reached the generous limits of the sky and beyond!<br /> <br />To love is to love more and more and more, at every new story you have<br />and to never be afraid of not having enough to give.<br />Because Love is infinite and it has no owner or expiring date<br />It is immortal and transcendental!Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-74391137815869800272010-02-05T07:16:00.000-08:002010-02-05T08:23:39.880-08:00Living Winter when it is not SpringI have been thinking about anticipation these days.<br /><br />As I walk through the main shopping alleys of the Netherlands I notice that all shops are already selling out, on 70 percent discount or more, their Winter Collection and are starting to display the new Spring Collection. Nevertheless the weather outside their windows is still freezing, rainy and gray... And we start to live a Spring which is not yet there, and will only really come in approximately 2 months from now.<br /><br />From here to the 21st of March we will be longing for a time that still is about to come, for something which is not yet reality. We will be wishing the days were already sunny, the flowers blossoming and the trees green, instead of, as Nature, preparing ourselves to leave this hibernating and introverted period, and being ready to enter a new cycle in our lives. <br /><br />Anticipating what is yet to come prevents us to being present and appreciating what simply is and the beauty and fragile impermanence which resides in it. If only we would walk on the streets and parks of our cities and watched how slowly the trees and loans start to awaken and bring about a different quality of life in their systems. If only we would walk around in our own systems and slowly awaken ourselves to the different quality of life we are able to live and that is being called from us at this time, and only in this very now. <br /><br />So when Spring comes we are not regretting what is no longer there. So when Spring comes we welcome it with our spirits fresh, our hearts open and ready to fully live what it IS.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-82392409546612537092010-02-05T06:23:00.000-08:002010-02-05T08:16:50.498-08:00Love me too<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeebUtZhx0zUUEbBFg862yfB4hwAKjA4lexmPzr5f0cQg1HExWkQ70_ouyJcriDmFkoMknFZ6ghgGDvmsRmI7UuZOfzOsljy1xShv5JxLZdC6W64o2939ZTnu05amhc1As0CpQVRczP81/s1600-h/99998happy_valentines_day.gif"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 225px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNeebUtZhx0zUUEbBFg862yfB4hwAKjA4lexmPzr5f0cQg1HExWkQ70_ouyJcriDmFkoMknFZ6ghgGDvmsRmI7UuZOfzOsljy1xShv5JxLZdC6W64o2939ZTnu05amhc1As0CpQVRczP81/s320/99998happy_valentines_day.gif" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5434776507225906994" /></a><br />In the shop's front windows and shelves Love is displayed in red<br />Hearts and cupids fill in people's eyes on the streets<br />Love is in the air!<br /><br />Soon it is Valentine's Day<br />Hearts get filled with hope and wish for the expected proposal or declaration from the beloved ones<br />Minds get preoccupied with the restless fear of loneliness<br />But we are all tuned into Love...<br /><br />Loving ourselves, so that others can love us too<br />Loving others, with compassion and acceptance for what is<br />Loving our parents, and being grateful for their eternal support and unconditional love<br />Loving our children, and letting them play with the child that always live inside of us<br />Loving our grandparents, and honoring the paths they have walked and made it possible for us to walk differently now<br />Loving our partners, with our most authentic selves<br /><br />Valiant Valentine<br />Valentine Valiant<br />Loving courageously and fierce<br />Loving tenderly and deep<br />Love<br />Love<br />LOVEValentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-76437411526454070172010-01-20T10:18:00.000-08:002010-01-20T10:31:08.544-08:00What can I offer to the young?Here I am now in Jarna, Sweden as a contributor to the Youth Initiative Program (www.yip.se) that gathers young from 18 to 25 for a whole year so can learn and experience practices of social entrepreneurship. The place is beautiful and is considered to be the center for Antroposophy in Scandinavia, so is quite special...<br /><br />As Jasmine (my mate for this work, whom I met in Copenhagen) and I were walking towards the venue where the training would take place on Monday morning, this beautiful deer came running and crossed our way. It was just amazing and I wonder what was the sign it was bringing for us. <br /><br />As the week passes by, and we unfold the Chaordic Stepping Stones to the group and they respond to us saying they are really liking it and that it's being at perfect timing, I realize the deer was telling me about having the courage to step up and take leadership to pass on the knowledge and experience that I have. As I go sharing with these youngsters what my journey has been and what I am holding for the future, it grows bigger in me the sense of responsibility to play an active and intentional role in hosting youth in becoming their full potential as well as bridging them with the adult/ elder world. <br /><br />And I am so grateful for that clarity and for the opportunity to be here now.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-32496601594889712702010-01-10T11:46:00.000-08:002010-01-10T12:02:16.170-08:00ALIA EuropeThis afernoon I got in Elspeet where the ALIA (Authentic Leadership in Action) Program is taking place for the first time in Europe. The place is in the middle of a national park and is all covered in snow now, since it's been snowing strongly for the past weeks in the whole Europe. <br /><br />On my arrival the first person I met was Margareth Wheathley, author of the book Leadership and The New Science and some other around the power of conversations and learning communities. Wow, I said to myself, I am here and having the chance to meet these great thinkers. <br /><br />As the afternoon unfolded I got meet other very interesting people who are here to attend one of the 5 modules that are gonna take place for the next five days. <br /><br />I will be attending the one co-hosted by Peter Merry and Dylan Newcomb called Integral Practice of Evolutionary Leadership and Change, which will explore the living and literally embodied experience of new ways of leadership. Dylan is one of the greatest dancers in the world and has been exploring the combination between dance and theories for the new world for the past years. He has developed what is called the 16 Ways (http://www.dylannewcomb.com/Dylan_Newcomb/The_16_Ways.html). Peter is a facilitator for group processes and designs on sustainability, one of the co-founders of the Centre for Human Emergence Netherlands (http://www.humanemergence.nl/en/index.php) and also one of the partners of Engage (http://www.engagency.nl/). <br /><br />It's now 9pm and I am sitting in my room, quite tired of all the good conversations I had since this afternoon, as I landed in the space and in this group of around 130 people going from one room to the other, from lunch to dinner, introducing myself, telling my story and listening other peoples stories. Wow, I can feel this is going to be a quite intense week, with much to reflect on as the learning journey continues. I can't wait.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-38063325566225768792010-01-06T02:31:00.000-08:002010-01-06T03:25:27.759-08:00AMSTERDAMDia 05 de Janeiro de 2010 e eu estou sentada no sofa do Hub Amsterdam (http://www.the-hub.net/). Pela janela eu vejo a cidade sorrindo com o carinho do sol e do ceu azul, a neve branca nas ruas e as pessoas felizes caminhando na calcada ou pedalando pela rua. Aqui dentro eu observo todas essas pessoas trabalhando em seus computadores, conversando, criando, discutindo ideias e projetos de como fazer deste o mundo que queremos viver. <br /><br />Aqui no meu mundo particular, mil ideias passam pela cabeca, umas mais excitantes que outras... projetos, perguntas, investigacoes, dilemas, desafios... Estar inserida nesse mundo de pratica e experimento, tentativa e erro, me inspira e desperta ainda mais minha intencao de estar "ativa no tatame da minha pratica profissional." <br /><br />Na semana que estarei no ALIA Institute participando do curso: Integral Practice for Evolutionary Leadership and Change(http://www.aliainstitute.org/programs/2010europe/module05.html)com Peter Merry e Dylan Newcomb. O modulo e parte de um programa em lideranca que contara com outros 4 modulos simultaneos ao longo de 5 dias, e traz uma abordagem interessante de movimentos corporais com teorias de liderancaValentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-76344778651702988682009-12-27T14:28:00.000-08:002009-12-27T14:50:47.204-08:00This year...This year I have...<br /><br />danced through the dawn in New Year's Eve wearing white and flowers in my hair<br /><br />written many poems on love and life<br /><br />opened my heart so much that it even hurts sometimes<br /><br />celebrated abundance and offered worship to Pachamama in the Holy Land of Israel<br /><br />raved the Islamic world throughout the Middle Eastern countries<br /><br />loved one man passionately and painfully<br /><br />danced with the Mevlevi dervishes as I was going deeper into the heart of God<br /><br />experienced the pain of being kept a part of a beloved land and people<br /><br />visited the three world famous walls: The Berlin Wall, the Walling Wall and the Israel/Palestine Wall<br /><br />met dear brothers and sisters with whom to share the journey on Earth<br /><br />This year I've lived the best in me and shared it all with the world!<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">(This was written inspired in my friend Filiz's question "What do I celebrate at this time?". Thank you Filiz!)</span>Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-7683765817437809812009-12-27T13:59:00.000-08:002009-12-27T14:23:38.906-08:00Cidades divididasBerlim, Nicosia, Jerusalem. O que essas cidades tem em comum? Sao ou foram cidades divididas, separadas em si mesmas.<br /><br />Aqui em Berlim, me dou conta de que nesse ano visitei essas tres cidades que tem em comum essa marcante caracteristica. Uma marca, passada ou presente, que deixa todo o seu povo, sua arquitetura, sua cultura e a imagem que o mundo tem delas, marcada. <br /><br />Aqui me relembro novamente do poder que as pessoas unidas tem, para fazer a mudanca que querem e precisam no seu mundo. Aqui em Berlim, foi assim que o muro veio abaixo e so assim. Depois de 28 anos, quando as tantas pessoas ja tiveram sido morta tentando atravessar as fronteiras impostas pela ganancia por controle, e tantas outras morreram mortas pelo sistema, quando a vida tornara-se quase insuportavel, milhares de pessoas foram juntas as ruas da parte leste da cidade para gritar por liberdade e para fazer acontecer. E conseguiram, no dia 09 de Novembro de 1989. <br /><br />Isso me faz crer ainda mais que as pessoas de Israel e de Cyprus e das outras cidades que ainda tem seus povos divididos e apartados, facam por onde para que a repressao e a intolerancia acabe. Que facam cair os muros (internos e externos) que tao desumanamente impedem ou coibem a circulacao das pessoas, a troca de informacoes, a manifestacao e regeneracao da vida. <br /><br />Igual, o encontro em Copenhagen, me fez concluir que a mudanca verdadeira vira com cada um de nos e a nossa capacidade de nos auto-organizarmos em comunidades conscientes e influentes por nossa integridade, valores e perseveranca.<br /><br />Da minha parte, continuarei a construir comunidades por onde passar e com quem estiver, cada vez mais conscientes e profundas, com intereza e capazes de agir prontamente as mudancas do nosso tempo, para que elas sejam como nos queremos que seja.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-89756369995287983832009-12-15T05:16:00.000-08:002009-12-15T05:36:21.148-08:00HopenhagenCa estou, sentada na janela onde queimam duas velas altas. Ao fundo, la fora, a neve esta caindo sobre a cidade de Copenhagen.<br /><br />Hoje e dia 15 de Dezembro de 2009. Estamos no meio da Conferencia da Partes para as Mudancas Climaticas 15. Estou fazendo parte do Inner Climate Learning Village. Aqui minha comunidade se encontra para celebrar e praticar juntos da arte do encontro e da conversa com intencao. Aqui encontro irmaos e irmaos, parceiros de vida de todos os cantos desse mundo. Aqui tudo e possivel...<br /><br />Meu coracao esta em pedacos, machucado, sangrando. A relacao que me trouxe para esse lugar nao e o que eu esperava que fosse. O sentimento de amor e intenso e a necessidade de expressa-lo tambem. Um lugar interresante esse em que me encontro. Um convite para ir mais fundo e alem. Aceitando minha fragilidade e ao mesmo tempo minha coragem de amar. Amar com todo o meu ser, e mais e mais. <br /><br />Esse amor me trouxe para este lugar. Nao um lugar fisico, mas um lugar de espirito, em que eu experimento ser o melhor de mim e dar tudo que tenho. Um lugar de constante expansao, onde me sinto cada vez mais uma com UM. E sou grata por isso. I am in the heart of God!<br /><br />La fora tantas e tantas pessoas que talvez nunca tiveram ou terao essa experiencia divina da amor. I pray for them. I wish they get there too!<br /><br />La fora tantas e tantas pessoas juntas por uma so causa, Climate Change. We are all here because we care! Indigenas, lideres politicos, empresarios, ongueiros, musicos, artistas, ativistas, cientistas, todos juntos nessa cidades porque acreditam que podem fazer a diferenca. E talvez mais do que esperar por um acordo binding and ambitious, que nos esperemos por relacoes de mais confianca e verdade que aumentam os niveis de comprometimento com que nos engajamos com aquilo que e importante para nos e com o nosso planeta. Mais do que esperar e torcer para que os ditos lideres mundiais mudem as coisas, que nos mudemos por nos mesmos, usando a forca das relacoes que estamos construindo uns com os outros.<br /><br />E viva Hopenhagen!Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-15092751865337140352009-12-04T11:40:00.000-08:002009-12-04T13:44:10.613-08:00My shaman friendIt was a sunny day in Jerusalem and I had left home feeling broken hearted and sad, I was tired of being on the road and had many questions to where go next. I left home decided to let myself to be guided in the city, willing to explore an area down town which I did not know much. <br /><br />On my way to the old city I decided to pass by my friend Ya’qub’s book shop, Olam Qatan (small world). Ya'qub was one of the first people I met in Jerusalem and with whom I created a good friendship. He is Canadian Jew and has moved to the city 19 years ago, where he has been running his bookshop specialized in spirituality books and Arabic music. Ya'qub has had a long spiritual search and after different experiences end up dedicating himself to Sufism. <br /><br />Ya'qub and I were having our usual cup of tea and talking about my trip to Lebanon, when Manu came in. He was wearing all white and had a hippie look. As soon as he got close to me I could smell the scent of palo santo and that instantly felt very familiar. Well, Manu introduced himself as a shaman who had been sent to the Holy <br />Land by his guides without knowing why. And that after being there for few days he had been told to he had to perform a ceremony to honor Pachamama, the mother land. <br />And that he was there to ask Ya'qub to help him to make that happen. After discussing the necessary items to make such ceremony and finding a place to perform it, it was decided we would all perform the ceremony at Maya's house at 3 pm in that same afternoon. <br /><br />Manu and I left together to go buy the necessary things in the Old City. The connection between us was instant and soon we were laughing and talking as if we were good friends for years. We would speak about spiritual experiences, our life stories, our hopes for the future and share our impressions of the Holy land.<br /><br />We then met Gracy, a good friend of Manu and left to the ceremony. It was the last day of Sukot, when Jewish people remember the 40 years their people spent crossing the desert when they left Egypt. We were six people offering prayers and positive wishes for the land and the people of the Holy Land. It was all very beautiful and touching. <br /><br />For the next four days Manu, Gracy and I spent together roaming around the Golden City, visiting, exploring and letting ourselves to be led to the special places we needed to go. We were staying on the Mount of Olives at the Peace Guesthouse. A place run by an arab man called Ibrahim, who has been an ambassador for peace throughout the world and that hosts people in his house for free. At the Peace Guesthouse there is always a great meal ready to be served to all people who come in.<br /><br />Together we visited the place where Mother Mary was born, the Holy Sepulcher, the Mount of Olives and shared so much. We have shared the wonderful and magical experience of being in Jerusalem offering to it our passion and friendship, our powers and faith. <br /><br />Jerusalem has brought us together. A friendship which has started with the blessings of the Holy land and is yet to grow bigger and bigger.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1371280937004315913.post-34177619118361808992009-11-17T13:49:00.000-08:002009-11-17T13:50:30.477-08:00Stories of a Journey of the Spirit<div style='text-align:center;margin:0px auto 10px;'><a href='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxHLkYszJzRcThwdLL2bYTTzd0sy0A3FEnk_7ntx-1-Z13gb1orLHDM_jDP-rd3fgBn1VD7XzOCSLes9B4p1OWK5rzB-b62rIzHeExh7xtBODEYyGFcF-heRFFiCkWQfhPk1WZhAfmnJu/s1600/Jerusalem.jpg'><img src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMxHLkYszJzRcThwdLL2bYTTzd0sy0A3FEnk_7ntx-1-Z13gb1orLHDM_jDP-rd3fgBn1VD7XzOCSLes9B4p1OWK5rzB-b62rIzHeExh7xtBODEYyGFcF-heRFFiCkWQfhPk1WZhAfmnJu/s320/Jerusalem.jpg' border='0' alt='' /></a> </div><div style='clear:both; text-align:CENTER'><a href='http://picasa.google.com/blogger/' target='ext'><img src='http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif' alt='Posted by Picasa' style='border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;' align='middle' border='0' /></a></div><br /><br />Phew, I am back on my homeland. Exact 6 months after having left planed to stay for only 5 weeks away, I am back from one of the most incredible journeys of my life!<br /><br />In total it was 2 months in Europe, mostly spent in Greece, and 4 months throughout the countries of the Middle East. <br /><br />A journey of the spirit, the body and the mind. A journey which was not a trip, it was life. My life! A journey which opened my heart in ways that I had never experienced before, in terms of understanding of human nature, in terms of the infinite ability to love and most of all, in terms of my relationship with God. <br /><br />Motivated by the high speed of Love, which stroke me in Istanbul when I met Luke, at the last days of June I decided to exchange my heavy suitcase for a light "only the necessary" backpack and travel into the East...<br /><br />My first stop was then Istanbul, where I spent one entire month. The magic of the Bosphoros and the Golden Horn holding space for the constant movement of people in that which has always been the crossroads of East and West, filled up my days in the city. To wander in colorful alleys of the Grand Bazaar letting myself being pulled into the numerous shops for a chai and some chit chat with the vendors was simply an activity that could take from one hour to one full day. To sit on the loan around the beautiful fountain viewing the Agia Sophia and the Blue Mosque, watching tourists, vendors, tour guides and local people passing by, enjoying the great view of the most amazing architecture piece of Istanbul, was one of my favorite sightseeing there. <br /><br />In Istanbul I experienced one of the most touching meetings with a stranger a had ever experienced. It all happened at the shores of the Bosphorus late in the evenings. There we met Ahmet, an old sail man from the Black Sea who lives in his boat and works taking tourists for a cruise on the waters of Istanbul. One night Ahmet took Luke by the hand and started pulling him into his boat. Luke was hesitating and did not really want to follow that strange man. For some reason I felt it was safe and we should give him a chance. He seemed so lonely and in need for some love that I said to Luke we should give it a try and hoped into his boat. We then spent some time there with Ahmet, who promptly offered us some beer and cigarettes. He was so happy to have us in his boat that kept hugging and kissing us. He insisted we slept on his boat and stayed longer. We left then promising we would come back the next day. And so we did. Together with our Turkish friend Filiz we went spend some time with Ahmet again. This time, with Filiz’s presence it was easier to communicate and get to know more about him. I then had the idea of bringing the group who was playing the Flow Game to spend the last round on his boat, flowing on the Bosphorus. We made arrangements with Ahmet that we would come back the next day with a group of friends. The next day though no one from the group could join us, and finally Luke and I came to see Ahmet almost at 11 pm. When we got there he was another man, shaved, wearing his best shirt and trouser and a captain hat. Seeing that put tears in our eyes and left us with no other option than hopping into his boat and accepting the invitation to go for a cruise on the Bosphorus. It was full moon night, the sky was clear and the breeze was blowing gently. There was no movement in the city and we could only see the lights and the silhouette of the buildings and mosques of Istanbul. Ahmet took us for a long cruise, and noticing I had tears in my eyes, he came close and started singing for me. It was a very romantic and nostalgic singing that spoke deeply to our hearts. Right after Luke started playing his guitar and singing loud “Everybody need somebody to love!” and soon the three of us were dancing and smiling on the boat. Back on the dock Ahmet was radiant and extremely happy. We were feeling satisfied and touched with the change we saw him going through. He did not accept any money from us, and surely that cruise was one of the most memorable of my life.<br /><br />I spend in total one month in Istanbul breathing in the magic of the city and also the beginning of a beautiful loving relationship. There I learned more about Love and giving. I learned a in about overcoming my own prejudice for people I don’t know and opening myself for the gift every person has to offer you in life.<br /><br />After Istanbul I headed to Cappadocia, where I spent great days with my sister Eliza exploring the extraordinary beauty of that land and being fascinated by the ancient history its carved in those caves. Being in that ancient churches which were built very simply to enable the escaping Christians to worship their God and maintain their cult, is a memorable experience. <br /><br />From Cappadocia I felt called to visit Konya which is the place where the famous Sufi Mevlana Rumi and other Sufi masters have developed most of their spiritual work. Before going to Turkey I was very little familiar with the Sufi tradition and it was there that a deep sense of respect and curiosity started to grow. Going to Konya was a way to follow this connection and be open for learning more about it. The experience was very strong and helped me to connect even deeper with this place of Love and God. It was the first time I could feel in my heart and my soul that the pure feeling of Love is God and the manifest energy of It in the world. That has opened a whole new and deeper understanding of my relationship with God than ever before. It made me feel closer to It and to want to further this experience. Sufism gave me a simple and yet very profound explanation for God and spirituality.<br /><br />My next stop was Ankara, the capital city of Turkey. In Ankara I was not in search for any famous monument or place, I was there to meet Aslihan - a wonderful women I had met in Istanbul previously. Aslihan was a very spiritual person who was practitioner of the Islam and Sufism, and I wanted to spend some time with her. She is my mom’s age, has two daughters and runs a clothing shop. Meeting her was very significant for my journey, since she taught me so much about living a life according to one faith and one stream. Since quite young she had a spiritual master who has guided her through life and helped her to grow and develop according to the laws of the Qu’ran and Sufism. She was the first person I met who had fully devotion to one incarnated master and that was all very fascinating and intriguing to me. It made me reflect about such possible choice in my life and to intent more clearly what I want my spiritual journey to be. From Aslihan I learned I need to “ keep doing business with God” and following the signs He is constantly giving, trusting His power and Love.Valentinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10415878579612042015noreply@blogger.com0