Dark Nights

“Your dark night teaches you the truth of the moon. Life is not intended to be only solar, and indeed the cool, blue shadows of the moon have a special beauty. You can live in that beautiful glow, that light shaded by painful experiences and doubts and lack of understanding. Life is often more buoyant there than it is in solar brilliance.”
– from Dark Nights of the Soul by Thomas Moore

It is in the dark, on those moments when nothing seems to make sense or that numb our senses, where we finally dig deep in order to bring forth our essence. Everything that lives deep beneath our mind, beneath the walls we plaster over our soul in order to protect the tender areas of our being. We are never safe from the perils life send our way all we can do is face them, if we shy away from them we end up living a meaningless existence. It is in trials and challenges that we begin to live in the manner we are called to live and to stand for our dreams and values. It is the moment when our true colors shine through.

We stand before the mirror and many times don’t recognize the face we see, it is the reality that time and circumstances have changed us not only inside but outside as well. Perhaps we have lost that optimism and good sense of humor in the day to day dealing with circumstances we have been forced to live. Resistance can make up a lot of intolerable moments in our life that we prefer not to live but there is only one way to handle that situation; facing it. It makes take us days, weeks or years but it is ultimately the only way to cross to the other side.

Tell me about your Dark Night experience.

Clary Lopez, author of Simplicity, Richness of Life

Plegaria al Mar

Contemplo el mar y lo envidio. Quisiera ser como el, reflejando el cielo azul que lo techa, ser movida por el viento y acariciar la tibia arena cual dulce beso en la mejilla. Ser banada por los rayos del sol y los destellos de la luna, sumergida en el gran misterio de su profundidad.

El mar, lugar donde todo lo que fluye corre hacia el para asi alimentarlo y bendicir a todo aquel, que como yo, lo contempla. Tener la fuerza y la constancia que no disminuye con el tiempo y sirve para que otros naveguen a lugares distantes nunca antes vistos. Lleno de sabor, mezcla de todo aquello que a el se unio. Suficientemente fuerte para golpe a golpe transformar todo aquello que se resiste a el, como las rocas que segundo a segundo toca; sin excusas, sin razones o explicaciones. El baila libremente con el viento, levantadose tiernamente en su vestido blanco entre sus olas, creando su propia melodia, despertando asi todos los sentidos. Logra complacer y llenar de alegria a todo aquel que lo conoce y lo sabe respetar tomando solo lo que el le quiere dar y nada mas.

Mar llevate mi tristeza y traeme mi alegria, dejala sobre la orilla a la vez que mis pies pisan la arena que vienes a besar. Llevate las lagrimas y sana mis heridas a la vez que me sumerjo en ti. Ensename que como tu, todo tiene un tiempo, un ritmo, un estimulo unico. Que cobras vida en varias formas y que son muchas las influencias que te hacen especial. Que todo cambia y se transforma con el tiempo pero siempre ocupas el mismo espacio y lugar. Y que antes de disminuir mas bien continuas creciendo y siendo aun mucho, mucho mas.

Clary Lopez
11 de julio, 2008

Living Your Life

You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life.
Albert Camus

We can easily get lost in the analysis of life and happiness, it’s natural for us to wonder and want to understand and control every circumstance in our life. It is good to reflect but we also need to act upon some of our yearning dreams, it is only then when they will materialize before us.

Refusing that our physical existence is finite help us waste a lot of time, accept that it is, and most of all that the moment to part can come at any given moment. If you do you will begin to look at your life in a different manner and try to reach for goals you had on your to do list long time ago.

I loved the movie Bucket List, it reminded me that life is too short and that dreams can come true but only if we take action. Who knows when our time will be, the main thing is that we live true to ourselves and that we love one another.

If we live this way and learn to take action along our earthly life, we will live a live a life that will touch others in a very special way.

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Clary Lopez, author of Simplicity, Richness of Life

Waves of Emotions

It’s not easy to take time to reflect upon those things that are changing our life, the incertitude that lies beyond the ideas we had about our life. The people we love and that no longer are or no longer love us and the pain it causes. It is hard to come face to face to what lies within our heart to embrace what we can’t change and the feelings we must put aside for a while when we want to deal with the situation at hand. It is a matter of moving on the deep waters of our despair in order not to sink in sorrow. Emotions run through our mind and body affecting everything we do and what we will become. Seeing how our hopes and dreams quickly drown deep below the surface, buried under our survival’s pressure. It goes beyond our strength many times but a much needed exercise in patience and humility.

I move around the house, I read a book, I pray, I meditate and nothing helps me. I walk out to the beach and once on the shore I take off my sandals, sink my feet in the sand and sit right under a palm tree. The waves crash against the shore, the rocks are bathed with each one of them, sometimes barely making it over the top and others overflowing all the way to the other side. Just like my emotions at this moment, they come in waves at unpredictable times and speed and sometimes I feel they are too much for me to handle, overflowing out of my heart and erupting through my eyes, releasing some of the pain lodged deep inside.

Many words come to mind, words I wish I could speak to claim some dignity out of the situation but when the moment comes I remain silent. I don’t want to lose, I don’t want to hurt, I don’t want to cry and yet, I experience it all.

Is it possible to not be completely destroyed by emotion? Could we put aside the wounds and forget about the pain? Can we truly try one more time after being disappointed so many times? It takes courage, courage to be open to worthwhile feelings and experiences in life in order not to die inside. To die while being alive is one of the worst punishments we can choose for ourselves. Buried deep beneath the surface of our soul, crushed and silenced prisoner of sorrow. Is it a life sentence, reigning in the land of perpetual sadness? It is a quenching of all heart’s hope, the one who once was full of love, and that now has been forgotten. I speak about what human nature many times experience throughout life, changing and transforming the pure and sublime creature who believed that anything was possible when in reality few things are. I guess the key is not to look so much at what isn’t possible but to look at what is possible instead, and to fight for it to the end.

The Body of the Soul

Body and soul, two very important components of human nature but totally ignored by many of us along our life. It is so much easier to attend to what we see than to what we don’t see and yet, neglecting the body of our soul soon reflects upon our physical body. No wonder many medical doctors are beginning to realize the body-soul connection to illness and recovery of their patients. Our body is the reflection of our soul. That’s why dead people don’t look the same way when they were alive, because the soul is no longer part of their physical body.

Our physical body is a mere instrument to do and move about our human existence. It should also be at the service of our soul and the divine promptings which it receives. It is through the senses that our physical world nurtures the soul and somehow transforms the simple into the sublime. It is important to notice that all of our senses must have room in our daily life. A beautiful place close to nature can be both a place of torment and a place of rest. I’m not sure if our personality has anything to do with the way we react to our surroundings and what satisfy our soul but to me personally time to enjoy not only the color, sounds and textures of what surrounds me helps me connect my body to my soul.

I’ve spent three days in my parent’s country home, a beautiful place full of the sounds of nature; birds, horses, chickens and more. Somehow all of that was overshadowed by the busyness and the noise of a radio and TV from sunrise to sundown, I was growing weary. The lack of time to be able to go within, to listen to my thoughts and reflect on my reading was slowly sipping the enthusiasm out of me. Today my mom didn’t turn on the TV and decided to sit outside to read. Perhaps she listened to me saying that I couldn’t have noise all day long so she is sacrificing herself giving me the chance to really enjoy my time here. What a difference silence makes in my daily living. I hear the birds singing, the lawnmower while my dad works and I smell the fresh cut grass. At one point I take my camera a go around taking pictures of the fruit trees on the property. Sight, sound and smell, all let’s me know that I’m alive, that there is life around me providing me with the necessary stimulation to feel human and creative. It is impossible to live in total silence but fragments of silence throughout the day can make wonders on the way I feel.

When we don’t attend to the body of our soul our life continues but not to the fullness of its potential. There is always a nagging feeling that something is missing. The soul, that part of our nature that has the capability to communicate to its creator, begins to slowly become weaker and at the same time begins to demand our attention. We realize our full potential when we finally begin to care and nurture the body of our soul and when we align the physical with the spiritual.

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Clary Lopez, author of Simplicity, Richness of Life

Dealing with Emotions and Circumstances

Our life is shaped by the experiences we live and how we deal with our emotions and circumstances. Two people could have the same thing happen to them and have a different outcome according to their reaction to it. One could be crushed while the other is propelled to look for new ways to overcome their situation and create something positive.

Emotions are powerful and they are meant to stir in us a sense of being alive, they move us to act. They can make us feel happy, sad, compassionate, and enthusiastic. The person who is unable to let their emotions flow is usually an unhappy individual, their emotions build up to the bursting point unto the surface of their daily life like an exploding volcano.

The way we approach challenges and changing circumstances shape the magnitude of the impact it will have on our emotions. The mind is the one that begins to form the ideas that will help us act later on to make it a reality.

In dealing with emotions and circumstances it is important to know that many times we have no control over circumstances but we can control our emotions if necessary. Because our emotions are so volatile we must know to distinguish when going with our emotions is the right thing to do. It won’t be easy at times to go against our emotions but at the end it will be the best decision we ever make in our life. To be at the mercy of our emotions is to forever be on a roll-a-coaster ride unable to get off. Getting off the ride every once in a while will give us the chance to experience a certain level of stability and them a thrill when we decide to go back on.

How do you deal with your emotions and circumstances?

To You My Friend

Traveling can get you completely out of sink with writing. I landed on Puerto Rico on Thursday and in matter of minutes my mind went into the things I would encounter; my mom back home from the hospital after surgery last week and my responsabilities as a caretaker for the next few weeks. I wish I could be here with her all the time.

It is hard to think of what to write, to think what you would need to hear today so I will let my intuition do it for me.

Getting the focus out of what our immediate needs might be to attent to others is so helpful in so many ways. You are completely guided by the love you feel for one another and when you do so your worries and tensions disappear. I needed that. Now I understand why so many people began to dedicate their life to helping others. I try to be attentive and to anticipate what is needed of me and get so tired sometimes that I just crash on my bed at night.

Another positive thing about this whole experience is that when you begin to live this kind of service to others there is only one person you can rely on and that is God.

Hopefully this theme would be of interest to you and when you feel tired, worried or just consumed with your daily struggles you begin to look outside of yourself and see who needs you. If you have experienced something like this before I would love to know.

Creating Our Destiny

Destiny, some people think it is an undeniable force that propels us to what we are supposed to be in life. Not counting with our will and effort; what is meant to be, will be. I don’t believe it for a second.

In life we are presented with many different options that affects our life. These opportunities brings us potential carreers, love, our husband or wife and many other things. Not all that is presented to us become part of our reality, because in order to do so we must put some effort integrating it into our life.

I guess the best way to illustrate this is by asking you to think back on your decisions, decisions that shaped your present. Looking back you’ll clearly see what actions took you all the way to where you are right now. There is nothing we can do about the past but to learn from it, not only that, but we many have to live with the consequences of those decisions as well.

If I have learned anything in my years of living it is that we are in a constant evolution of our being. We live, we learn, we grow and continue to do so at so many different levels in our life. We perform certain tasks and responsabilities depending on the life stage we are living at the moment; son or daughter, student, worker, partner in marriage, parenting, seeing our kids leave the nest, reclaiming and recreating our nest, retiring, becoming grandparents, facing sickness and death. The reality is that we can’t be the same person throughout all those stages, we develop and utilize different gifts, talents and attitudes that will help us navigate each one them. Some people see change as a threat, they want everything to stay the same including those around them. It’s an impossibility. If we are alive and growing in any way, (physical, mental or spiritual) we are changing. Try to put a stop to our growth and we’ll only become frustated and depressed.

Destiny is something we create moment by moment as we move along the path of life. We might have taken the wrong turn many times, but then again, there are many routes to arrive at the same destination.

Limitless Mentality

“Never put a lid on God. You can’t give God a thimble and ask for a quart. It won’t work. Your plans, your projects, your dreams have to always be bigger than you, so that God has room to operate.” - Mother Angelica from the book Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality.

Playing it safe, it is the most common mentality in order to navigate life without much discomfort. I really don’t know how or why some of us are so afraid to step out in faith. In the past people didn’t have much and in reality they had way more than we do now. They lived simply and work the land with their own hands, it was hard work and many times they gathered their food on a daily basis. There was no way to store food for a long period of time so they learned to get things as they needed, nothing more. Everyone in the family was expected to lend a helping hand and -unlike now- they did it without expecting to get paid for it, it was something they did because they were part of the family. They had to rely on faith and hard work trusting that they would have what they needed.

(Entrance to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament - built on Faith)

When it comes to God there are no limits on what He can do through us. I’ve seen it with my own eyes on the things He accomplished through Mother Angelica, and yet I’m afraid to step out in faith. “Pagan” she called a loan officer once for not lending her money based on faith. She had no assets and didn’t know what her income was going to be until the end of the month. We have been conditioned to work on “sure” ground, on security, on things we can see and touch.

The other day we had a customer worried about submitting a claim to her insurance company in order to do a repair in her house. Her fear was on the increase of her policy if she submitted the claim, now I just wondered, why in the world do we need to have insurance for everything if when the time to make a claim comes we are afraid to claim what we are entitled to? We spend millions of dollars over our lifetime to insure everything we possess and yet we are afraid to claim a portion of it back. What does insurance provides us? In this case absolutely nothing other than to make us part from our hard earn money in exchange for some “security.”

Having a limitless mentality is not stopping to think of what we can do, but on what God can do instead. We are a vessel and only when we allow to be used by Him are we able to do the great things He had in mind for us. They key to limitless is to tap to the source and open ourselves to the possibilities.

I really don’t know why am I writing on this topic today, all I know is that somehow those lines I quoted at the beginning jumped at me while reading the book this morning. I keep waiting to move forward in my life but at the moment I feel frozen in time, afraid of what might come next. I know I should have faith, the one I used to have years ago but that in many ways I’ve lost. I need to get it back; faith that things will get better, that nothing will last forever, that I can do anything through Him if only I tune in to His will in my life at this moment and that my dreams are His way of saying to go on, that there is so much more to be achieved and accomplished in my life.

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Clary Lopez, author of Simplicity, Richness of Life

Anything Is Possible If You Believe

“Anything is possible,” were Kevin Garnett’s words as they won the NBA Finals 2008 after 22 years. Words couldn’t describe the emotions he felt over the team’s accomplishment last night before the Lakers. “I told you!” were Paul Pierce’s words after receiving his NBA Finals MVP trophy.

We have to believe, we have to visualize our goal already obtained and then we have to give it our ALL no matter what we see happening around us. Everything changes in time if we give enough of ourselves to make things happen.

I noticed how every time they played at home they absorbed all the energy from the fans to win their games, last night was no exception, they drew so much that they managed to win BIG. But before we can draw from others we need to dig deep within and be totally present in order to face the moment. When we open our heart and mind to all the possibilities something magical happens and we suddenly are able to explode our God given talents to the max. I don’t know how to explain it other than we experience Heaven on Earth and that’s what I saw in Garnett last night while he was being interviewed; his physical being was there but his soul was elated to another realm.

Yes, anything is Possible but ONLY if You Believe. Dream, believe and dig deep, it is there and you can make it happen!!!

Congratulations to the NBA Champions 2008, Boston Celtics!!!!!

Kenny Loggins signs If You Believe