FROM WALLY’S POND … YES, VIRGINIA, THERE IS A(NOTHER) BIRTHDAY

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There is no quote to share, no wise words from a philosopher of the past or present, nor an epiphany that illuminates the mind, transforming it into a brilliant burst of multicolored hues. I am staring at what should be a simple blank computer screen, but instead, in my mind’s eye, I see a beautiful pond surrounded by flowers and shrubs, nestled in a small valley where animals and trees complete the serene image.

This is my very own virtual place where I go when I want some peace and some thinking space. Where some of these writings have come to life and where my mind feels totally at ease and empowered to do just that … roam, think, create, suggest, discard, accept.

There I sit, with my feet in the cool water while my head flies. Yesterday, I was barely fifteen and arriving in a strange land, where people looked the same, but spoke and acted in a way I was not used to. Where everything was similar, yet very different. Now, suddenly, I am marching to my 80th birthday. A daunting, yet celebratory number. Daunting because it lets me know that I am much closer to an end than to a beginning, yet celebratory because I understand there is much to do in the times yet to come

Am I one who will spend a lot of moments, minutes, hours looking back and asking … What if?... Not really. I have come to understand that what was done, or not, will remain done -or not done- no matter how hard we may try to change that moment. We often waste much time, energy and emotion in trying to do just this. All, to eventually come to the point when acceptance of the unwanted reality takes hold. As it must.

During these years, many places, people, and -yes- things, have come and gone into and out of my life. I have had the pleasure and honor of meeting and conversing with many wise men and women of very different minds and beliefs, as well as with a great number of the people who attended my seminar over the many years I was traveling and hopping around the world like a giant, wingless cricket.

It is said by many that politics and religion are topics that should never be discussed. We thankfully avoided the first while truly enjoying many deep discussions on the second topic. I learned much from each one -and well as from many others along the way- and hope that whatever I was able to share, served them just a little.

The previous is not said as a boast; it is an expression of absolute wonderment. If someone had said to me during my early growing years in my country that this would be my life, it would have been dismissed as an unthinkable fantasy. Much has been gained, and much has been lost; a lot has been learned and unlearned, and a world of possibilities has been presented to me over the years. Sometimes these became realities, and at other times just remained missed possibilities.

Life, as we know it, is a compendium of experiences. Good, bad, full of excitement or indifference … Each one is indelibly and vividly etched into our mind and soul. I don’t include the heart because, even if it has been elevated to a subliminal emotional existence in all romantic novels and histories, it is really nothing but a flesh-and-blood organ, albeit extremely (indeed!) useful in its own way. 

I have laughed and cried, I have felt complete and have felt lacking and empty; I have soared into the clouds and crashed into the scorched earth, learning along the way the importance of getting up one more time and never giving up.  Along the way, I learned to understand myself and even to, after accepting I am far from perfect, like myself. Very few issues are considered important enough to allow them to alter my inner peace. There is more patience but less tolerance. 

What other people say is important if only stated as a positive remark. Meaningless or demeaning comments fall on deaf ears. A long time ago, I stopped trying to change the unchangeable or justify the unjustifiable. Or to re-live what could only be lived once. 

There are classes to teach, ideas still waiting to be explored, and an ever-growing international family on our Facebook page who, for reasons I still do not fully understand, continue to put up with me and my occasional unraveling nonsense. 

For that, I am grateful. 

Eighty is approaching, and there is still much to do.

Back soon.



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