I just found out...

Acabo de enterarme que la química es el estudio de la materia y la energía y las interacciones entre las dos cosas. Matter and energy and the interactions between them. Omigod, where have I been? And Physics is the flip side of the coin, so to speak. Chemistry deals with electrons, and Physics deals more with the nuclear part of the atom. Uh, sure.

What does this have to do with my life here on this earth....mi vida y tu vida y las vidas de todos los seres humanos y las plantas y los animales, etc. etc???? Well, just about everything, I think.

Por ejemplo, nuestro cuerpo está hecho de 65-90% de agua, sí, agua como el agua en la foto. Después, no es sorprendente que la mayor parte del cuerpo es de oxígeno. Then comes Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Calcium and Phosphorus. Okay, this is getting a little too complicated for me, the non-science person, the non-mathematical person. Here's what all this makes me think:

¿Dónde estaba el agua de mi cuerpo antes de que se hubiera encontrado adentro de mí? I hope I wrote that right. Where was the water in my body before it found its way into me? Was it in an ocean, the Atlantic, the Pacific, the Indian ocean...or maybe just a pond? ¿Era una nube, una gota de lluvia, un copo de nieve o simplemente un charco ignorado? What stories could that water tell? Is this water why I feel so connected to the Universe...because really I am physically part of it? If I'm breathing the air that was once in China, have I also received its water? (Puedo seguir con las preguntas) ¿Dónde reside mi conciencia...dentro de mi cuerpo o afuera? Where does my consciousness reside, inside or outside my body? If the water in my body came from a powerful waterfall like Niagara, would I be different than if it came from my pond in the back yard? How does the water affect me?

No tengo respuestas, pero son preguntas en que puedo meditar y tal vez algún día las repuestas me lleguen....¿quién sabe?

El Universo es misterioso

y bello

y lleno de preguntas sin respuestas

and I love it here...and I am part of it, and YOU are part of it

and we all need each other.

If I'm so full of water, why do I feel dry unless I'm in the shower or swimming?

Soy Lorena.
2/19/07

"Is there such a thing as an Open Mind?"

"¿Existe tal cosa, una mente abierta?" The question posed by Deepak Chopra in his book Life After Death, or Jamás Moriremos.

We may think we are "open-minded" but we are trapped by our beliefs, our egos and our experience of our existence on this earth. Chopra gives seven steps to opening our mind. (The following is a direct quote from the book).

1. Know that you are going to identify with your worldview at every stage of personal growth. Debes saber que vas a identificarte con tu visión del mundo en cada etapa de crecimiento personal.
2. Accept that these identifications are temporary. You will never be truly yourself until you reach unity. Acepta que esa identificación es temporal. Nunca serás verdaderamente tú hasta que alcances la unidad.
3. Be willing to change your identity every day. Take a flexible attitude. Don't defend an "I" that you know is just temporary. Debes estar dispuesto a modificar tu identidad cada día. Adopta una actitud flexible. No defiendas un "yo" que sabes que es temporal.
4. Allow your ability to quietly observe without judgment to replace the ingrained ideas you reach for automatically. Permite que tu capacidad para observar en silencio sin juzgar, reemplace las ideas enraizadas a las que acudes automáticamente.
5. When you have an impulse to struggle, use that as an immediate signal to let go. Open a space for a new answer to unfold on its own. Cuando tengas el impulso de luchar por algo, utilízalo como señal inmediata para desprenderte de ello. Abre un espacio para que una nueva respuesta se desarrolle por sí misma.
6. When you can't let go, forgive yourself and move on. Cuando no puedas desprenderte de algo, perdónate a ti mismo y sigue adelante.
7. Use every opportunity to tell yourself that all viewpoints are valid, every experience valuable, every insight a moment of freedom. Aprovecha cada oportunidad para recordar que todos los puntos de vista son válidos, todas la experiencias valiosas y todos los descubrimientos un momento de libertad.

(End of quote)

Whew!! He's deep...I'm wondering how many times I must read these seven steps in order to fully understand them and then put them into practice.

I'm thinking now about what happened yesterday. I had a disappointment in my job and then after dinner I had to attend a rehearsal where I am assistant director and also acting in the play. I didn't want to take my sadness to the rehearsal, so when I got there, somehow I went to a place of silliness and used an energy of having fun instead of expressing the sadness I had come home with. I'm sure to those around me I looked happy, but I think in a way I transformed the sad energy into something light-hearted. Does that fit in with step number five....letting go and allowing a "new answer" to unfold? No sé, pero después no sentí la tristeza como antes y la dejé ir o desprendí de ella.

El crecimiento toma su tiempo, como un roble. It doesn't happen overnight. I must accept my growth as it comes...little by little, step by step.

Life is good.

La Vida es buena.

That's what I think anyway, for what it's worth....in this moment.

Soy Lorena.
2/16/07

"Abre la puerta..."

"Abre la puerta y entra a la majestuosidad del bosque, descubre entre sus sonidos, colores y formas, la belleza oculta que pocos tienen la fortuna de apreciar."
(Writing on a stone marker at Reserva Ecológica Huitepec)

I say "abre la puerta a todas las experiencias." The photo is inside a temple at Yaxchilan. It is not empty as it may appear but rich and full of a timeless history. Search and you will find the richness there is in seeming emptiness. Busca, es la única manera de encontrarte a ti misma.

Ahora cuando me siento en el silencio encuentro la riqueza que tengo dentro de mí. Sí, soy rica porque vivo en esta planeta que es el hogar de muchos mundos, muchas culturas y muchos lenguajes. Cada lugar nuevo que conozco, cada experiencia singular que tengo, cada conexión humana profunda que me llega me desarrolla el espiritu...and I become a better person, more compassionate, more sensitive and more open. I take one more step on the path to enlightenment, and I know it's a tiny step nonetheless but I'm not worried. I will get there...sooner or later, afterall, I have all of eternity to make it. ;-)

Me despierto temprano todas las mañanas y me asomo a la ventana para ver la Luna. La veo cada mañana hacerse más pequeña poco a poco, pero la acompaña una estrella brillante y todavía da bastante luz aunque su Sol está lejos y mudo, ella sigue brillando y su luz es bella porque tiene esperanza que pronto regrese el Sol para entonces darle lo que necesita para crecer de nuevo y otra vez estar llena en el cielo. La Luna tiene mucha fe y su fe la sostiene.

Buenas noches, querida Luna.

Buenos días, querido y extrañado Sol.

Soy Lorena.
2/11/07