god's country

the sky - a deep, penetrating shade of blue, dotted with thick, shapely clouds in a rainbow of bright white to gray-blue. the sky, painted against the backdrop of open road and distant vibrant green mountains. i drove through the valley admiring the view. day dreams of skipping through the clouds, free, exuberant and limitless. the beauty and miracle of our world at play, i drove, unable to adequately describe the scene before me. the best i could do was save a picture with my eyes and store it in my mind. i've seen no daytime sky as beautiful as this or perhaps i just failed to notice.

draft never published 2007

is life complicated or do we make it so?
is it our egos, emotions and fears that take the place of our sensibility?
is it clarity or tragedy we seek to entertain us?

what is the point at which we realize we've lost our way and seek redemption?

the sea of life

life is like the ocean. like the waves that break on the shore it ebbs and flows. it comes on strong then recedes, it's authoritative yet playful. if not cautious and attentive it may use its force to pull you under and carry you away. high and low tides are its ups and downs. it's mysteries lie deep below the surface begging to be revealed but only available to those who truly honor it's magnificence. life is like the ocean, salty yet awe-inspiring, it gives and takes away. with out it, nothing would exist.

todo tiene su final

nada dura para siempre. in the words of hector lavoe - everything has its end, nothing lasts forever. all around us things come to an end. some peacefully, others not so much. some necessary ends, others cut short before their time. but all things do end. "the end"can mark the beginning of a bold new chapter for some and the sad end of an era for others. it can be defined as birth or death all dependent upon which side you are standing on. it's kind of ironic.

well an end is arriving for me. it marks the completion of a cycle in my life that surrounded a period of development. despite the separation of work from play, family and spirituality, it's interesting how it can serve as the context in which all other things happen. similar to how many remember the high school or college years by events that took place within particular years of their studies. my life has been written within the hardbound covers of my professional career. perhaps i'm being dramatic. but when i look back, i see a girl - uncomfortable in her own skin, not sure of her direction. i recall, life changing experiences - intimate relationships, life, death, discovery. as i look to the present, i find a woman - knowing, humble yet confident, looking intently into the future. there's lots more life waiting to happen as i take the next step in my professional life. beginnings and ends. perhaps its time for a new book por que todo tiene su final and this one is just around the corner.

leaving on a jet plane

so i do a lot of traveling. it's one of my favorite things to do. experience new cultures, new countries and ways of life, where the world moves at a snail's pace and is probably happier and healthier for it. well, since i do a lot of traveling both within the US and outside of it, i've made some observations. and the one i find most interesting by far is the airplane environment. so picture your last flight. plane takes off, there's some sleep, maybe a movie, slim to no chance of food but it does happen, a couple of minutes of turbulence and then you land. story over right? you grab your things and impatiently wait to deplane. well that all depends on where you are flying to. After multiple flights to Puerto Rico and a flight to Haiti (all filled with natives) i've first hand experienced energy charged flights which upon landing applause and cheers abound. so i've pondered the catalyst behind the applause.

a. cheers for the pilot, showing gratitude for a job well done
b. general gratitude for having arrived safely
c. a combo of the above

I can't think of any other reasons here. But I tell you this - if it's any of the above it tells me something about the differences in our cultures. I don't clap when I touch down in any US state, or country outside the states for that matter. Am i taking things for granted? Am i desensitized? Or do we all just exhibit our thankfulness in different ways? I say a quick prayer and give my love to everyone (just in case) before each take off and a thanks when i land. all inside, to myself. Maybe i lack the vibrancy of other cultures (and yes i am puerto rican but my native friends have pointed out i'm still a gringa, i do recognize the differences in our ways of being). not sure if there is one easy answer here. but i tell you this. i absolutely LOVE those plane rides that end in jovial celebration. i get a warm fuzzy feeling inside which feels so good!

time races by....

and often i wonder - where did it go? summer is over, another birthday has passed, as has another year on the job. time's race becomes life's marathon but the question remains the same. where did it go? it's as if we glide through life in an almost trance like state. under the control of external forces we seem to allow to take on this control over our lives. i want to say STOP, i won't be forced to take part in this rat race. but then that force shoves my face right back into the mess. i want to stop, breath, forget the responsibilities of modern living. stop, breath, open my eyes to the world and it's grandeur. forget the luxuries and so-called necessities of life, i want the basics - happiness, love, longevity. i want to enjoy good people all the time and allow them to enjoy me with out the stigmas, without office politics. i want to stop, breath.....oh no, lunch breaks over.

la isla del encanto

shades of blue meet at the horizon and calm ensues. the sun adds life to my surroundings as yellow hues rain down from above spotlighting everything in its path. the palm trees remind me i'm in another world. cool, salty breezes on hot sunny days envelope me, sending my mind adrift with colorful tropical thoughts.

i've traveled thousands of miles to get here, a visitor to the birthplace of my parents, my grandparents...but all of me knows that i am home. i envision the era before my time when this land was theirs, when they lived and breathed, worked and played here. their home and the home of countless others, yet i stand here, una extranjera, and i am home. the connection transcends time and distance, it transcends history; born of the power and pride derived from my roots. i breathe in the salty air and with it the spirit of my ancestry.