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“desiderata a spiritual poem by max ehrmann”

IMG_1915.JPGGo placidly amidst the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexatious to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs; for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals; and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should. Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labours and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. With all its shams, drudgery, and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

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earthweareone.com

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By Max Ehrmann

Photo courtesy of Robert S. Donovan

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walking, always walking 👞👢👠👟👡

Today I decided to walk back from Cale de Queso which is located on Baltazara de Calderon 3 – 76 y Gran Colombia where I bought a few of their delicious rolls and some cookies. It’s not easy to leave with just that skimpy bag, when (see below) scream to be bought . . . but, I did it . . . this time around.

It’s always nice walking along Simon Bolivar passing interesting places along the way. Hostal Posada del Angel on Estevez de Toral 8 – 91 y Bolivar, and its restaurant, Mangiare Benne, is one of those delightful places where a few of us (remember Emi and Minesh?) had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner last year (minus the turkey). www.hostalposadadelangel.com

Still walking, I reached Hermano Miguel where I turned right and came to Calle Larga. Then down the 88 steps to Tres de Noviembre where halfway over the bridge I noticed this lovely rainbow –

IMG_1913.JPG Grant you, I could have taken a fuller picture, but I could also have fallen into the Rio Tomebamba while holding an umbrella, two heavy bags of fruit, and a phone on a rainy evening.

When I looked up after taking the picture, I noticed a large group of bicyclists at one end of the bridge traveling along Tres de Noviembre, and at the other end across 12 de Abril at Parque de la Madre, adjacent to the Planetarium, there was lively entertainment. I love when Cuenca is busy having fun.

Whew! It’s been a long walk . . . forging ahead on 12 de Abril I finally reach my friendly neighborhood restaurant, Common Grounds at Paucarbamba 2 – 75. This is where crossing four lanes of highway gets tricky. Cars were in full force . . . but . . . tonight apparently gracious drivers were, too. Thank you!

Then along came a foot race on 12 de Abril – I had lots of company on the last leg of the walk.

 

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Wherever you are, be totally there. – Eckhart Tolle

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a quiet presence

This sweet, sweet babe was carefully bundled, and tied to the mother’s body. They were walking in front of me, and I wanted to take a picture of the beauty of this tiny face sleeping so tranquilly.IMG_1907.JPGSo I gently tapped the mother’s shoulder. I was careful when I did this because I can tell it’s sometimes a bit disconcerting to turn around and be face to face with a gringo. I smiled and asked to take a picture of them. The mother was shy, she hesitated, then shook her head yes, and motioned to the baby; she turned her face away from the camera as I took the picture. Muchas gracias, I quickly said, as the mother walked away. I wanted to capture their quiet presence.

That’s all I have to say about those lovely few minutes.

Enjoy a day that’s extraordinary.

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“Eating leisurely is especially important where children are concerned. They are not only assimilating their oatmeal; they are absorbing everything they see and hear. It is a great disservice to try to hurry them through a meal. We need to give them time to ask questions that cannot be answered, to tell stories punctuated by long pauses while they search for a particular word, even to upset a glass of milk, and still get off to school on time; all this is part of a loving breakfast.” – Eknath Easwaran from the Summer 2009 issue of the Blue Mountain Journal, “Learning to Love

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a walk in cuenca

IMG_1911.JPG I’m on the most everyone loves walking in Cuenca list. So today I walked from the area of Santa Ines Hospital along Solano, and then crossed over 12 de Abril Avenue to the bridge and saw the lovely Rio Tomebamba flowing by . . .

IMG_1912.JPG and . . . up those many stairs that are sandwiched in between two buildings – such a dark setting – to Calle Larga . . . left on Hermano Miguel to Carolina Bookstore where I had every intention of signing up for Spanish classes, but instead a Robin Sharma book caught my eye, and I conveniently forgot about Spanish. Another night with Duolingo – glad I have it.
www.robinsharma.com
www.duolingo.com

And how was your day?

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There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars. – Jack Kerouac

When you know that you’re capable of dealing with whatever comes, you have the only security the world has to offer. – Harry Browne

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88 steps

IMG_1871-1.JPG These 88 steps lead up to Hermano Miguel and Calle Larga to the beautiful old historic El Centro, and down to the Rio Tomebamba and over to Parque de la Madre where you’ll find the new part of Cuenca.

When walking up or down the steps you’ll often see young people proudly selling the nicely-displayed jewelry they’ve made. And at times there are musicians playing, and when they play certain music, they’ll have you feeling the beat as you walk up or down those 88 steps.

These steps have seen a lot of history – they’re worn; they have lots of character; and somehow they impart good energy. There are other stairs leading from the old to the new Cuenca; these though seem somehow different.

Also, tucked away at the half way point is Wunderbar Café. It’s easy to miss, but you don’t want to by-pass it because there you’ll find a charming garden and an equally charming waitstaff, along with good coffee and chocolate cake.

Okay, I’m heading for those stairs now . . . away I go.

Are you having a good day?

 

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play or put it away?

When children are offered pizza dough at certain restaurants they know right away what they want to do with it. What would you do with your pizza dough?

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“A friend is someone who lets you have total freedom to be yourself.”
~ Jim Morrison

“The more real you get, the more unreal the world gets.”
— John Lennon

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good idea?

Let’s let any stress we’re feeling today melt away . . . and have a Saturday of pure enjoyment. Good idea?

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Simply be who you are, do what you do best, be where you are called by joy, and let life work its magic on your behalf.
~ Alan Cohen

If anyone tries to complicate your life, turn and walk away from them.
– Caroline Myss

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that gut feeling

I’ve been in Cuenca, Ecuador a while, and I can say that it’s a nice lifestyle. The city is alive with culture, there are festivals of all kinds, music, restaurants, new foods to taste, inexpensive, sometimes hair-raising, bus rides to north, south, east, west, people eager to meet people, there’s a lot of support, a good medical system in place, lots of possibilities to learn Spanish either with a tutor or at a school, it’s a marvelous walking city, the big mercados are filled to the brim with fresh fruits and vegetables at unbelievable prices, there always seem to be a number of spacious homes and apartments to buy or rent, and, listen to this . . . that’s not all.

Sometimes though one’s heart says it’s time to move on. And as strange as that sounds after just listing the delights of living in Cuenca, that just might be the case. The Quito/Otavalo/Cotacachi area is beckoning. Every time I read or hear about that land north of Cuenca, I imagine what it would be like to live there. It was my original destination before I second-guessed myself, and that says something for listening to one’s gut feeling. Though, Cuenca, thank you, you have been so good to me. Perhaps at heart I’m a vagabond – at least for now.

IMG_1596-3.JPG An invitation to join in the festivities.

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“Just stop! Go in the heart. You can change reality that way. Move from brain to your heart. You can do this very fast. Tune into heart.” – Hira Hosen
tantraoftheheart.com

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it’s that word trust again

I just deleted a post I wasn’t sure about. That word delete makes me think of other ways we delete events in our lives. It can happen when we have a thought that manages to take over, and soon we’re second-guessing what was once a solid plan.

For instance, I like reading travel essays, travel books, and, well, most anything having to do with travel. Lately there’s plenty written about moving to Cuenca, Ecuador where I live. However, I don’t often hear or read about what happens when people cancel a move, or make the move and find that it’s not what they expected. I suppose it could be a good thing that quite a few travel writers don’t write a whole lot about the downside of living abroad because doubts would take hold, and once that happens, the thought of, I’m not going because if it didn’t work for them, it probably won’t work for me would/could easily sabotage what were once solid plans.

Too bad because simply stated, change is probably calling – change in all its many wonderful possibilities, and moving for movings’s sake becomes a secondary reason. For instance, we move abroad and a feeling of regret begins to creep over us. But before we stress about it, we try to understand the situation we’re in, and why we thought it would work.

Then we stop second-guessing ourselves. perhaps it’s not only about the move, but that we had to go from here to there to meet an extraordinary person who will be instrumental in helping us in a meaningful way, or maybe the love of our life is waiting for us when we get to our destination, or we needed a good enough reason to quit that awful job that was pulling us down.

And so, when a decision is made, we simply trust whatever comes our way – trust we have what it takes to expand, explore, spread some joy, have fun with new experiences, meet people, and at times be open to serendipity and spontaneity. Otherwise, we’ll never know the incredible opportunities waiting for us if we don’t go, or if we let regret take hold. Because for sure, if we trust, they’ll be there.

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Simply be who you are, do what you do best, be where you are called by joy, and let life work its magic on your behalf. ~ Alan Cohen