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40 Years

Is how long Moses walked the desert and that’s how long it’s been in between Passover seder dinners for me. It’s quite remarkable to share this time frame with the famous prophet, Charlton Heston. The first seder I attended was when I was a kindergartener and my best friend invited me to join her family for Passover. Being the daughter of a devote Catholic, the food, rituals, the candles, the Hebrew all made a huge impact on me. So much so that many times I've told a story about that night and of how the door of the apartment was left wide open for a very expected and special guest, who never showed up.

I have often wondered why I was born American? Why was I the first in my family to be born in the U.S.? Why in Brooklyn, New York? At times I’ve felt that maybe it was because of the freedom (to be different?), or the capitalism (to shop... like a JAP?), or the languages I was meant to learn (English, Spanish... Yiddish?). Could it be that like Moses, I was meant to lead my people to the Promised Land aka the American Dream?

Both of my parents are from Colombia, South America. In first grade at P.S. 197 I wrote a current event story about an earthquake or something, the teacher corrected my paper and with a big red pen she marked ColUmbia. Oh boy, what a field day my father had with that - how dare she, how stupid is she and how was it that I allowed her to correct me on where I was from?

I AM from Brooklyn.

Was what I thought but said nothing and took what felt like a tongue lashing. Back in the day when I used to tawlk like this, I remember being so happy feeling so accepted and welcomed even though I was so different  i.e. a poor, Spanish speaking, shiksa. What great friends I remember having back then. I give my brother's friend, Robert Schnitz R.I.P., credit for my attraction to Jewish boys today and have often long for those kinds of special friendships I never seemed to make in Latin saturated Miami as odd as that may sound (she doesn't get along with her own kind?) 

Person: "So, where in Colombia are you from?"

Me: "Brooklyn"

Growing up with so many cultures at one time exposed me to so much, I heart New York for that, and even though I was definitely a minority I never felt the sting of discrimination. Except for this one time when two boys in my building teased me for being a grade behind for my age. My father came to my defense, his response to these mean boys was “because she speaks two languages, Spanish and English, and you don’t!”. I thought that was the worst comeback ever and wouldn’t see how brilliant an reply it really was until much later in life. (My parents relocated us to Colombia but came back a year later. Not knowing how to read in English I was placed in first grade instead of second but kids don't care). 

These days I take long walks on the beach, it gets so hot in Miami, that even a one hour walk on the sand can be so exhausting it might feel like you’ve walked for 40 years in the desert… hey, that must where the Mosesness comes from. Thanks to my roots and sunny FLA my skin has gotten so tanned I might just go back to being a minority again when the Hispanics take over this country. And thanks to my new Jewish friend in Miami this sader I drank Elijah's glass of wine....L'Chayim! 

The Beach

Near where I live there’s a strip of beach a mile and a half long located on a barrier island between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay and sandwiched between two of the most expensive residential beachfront property areas in Dade county, (I still say Dade, refuse to say Miami-Dade silly name and think it should really officially be named WADE ha!), to the north and south of this beach making the “barrier” part of the island a little bare in the shadows of the multi-million dollar skyhouses.

The sensation of awe and instant calm I feel each time I look to the horizon on a beach is difficult to describe enough but when you look past the sea grape trees and catch your first glimpse at the vast open, usually empty beach at Haulover Beach, there’s always a sigh of gratitude for Earth’s beauty and to live so close by. The deep impacting color contrast between the bland beige sand, a baby-boy blue celestial sky and the different hues of blues and greens of the ocean from deep (sapphire) to (mint) green...all reminders of our place in the universe. If you ever have the chance to examine the Atlantic Ocean around Miami Beach, Florida you can easily make a connection and most likely the inspirations for the color schemes used in the Art Deco Buildings of South Beach.

The Beach theme is often used in guided imagery to relax. And here it is, living and breathing at my foot step (I AM blessed) to not walk along this piece of land would be wasteful. Mediation and yoga sessions done on the beach take on a different level, can it be the effect of the salt sea air, the sound of the surf, all of the above? Why do people say “like a day at the beach”? Can we really be that affected by the beach? 

um, YES!

I’ve decided to walk this beach several times a week for exercise and pleasure. So far I've found 3 pennies one on the shore, the other in the sand so I must be on the right path.

This 1.5 long beach has seventeen lifeguard stands all officially posted, numbered and colored from the south to north end of the beach and nearly 100 trash cans. The stands are all identical in structure, some have more notices, fly more flags and in more use than others but generally all the lifeguard stands look the same except they are painted different colors. No.1-6 are light blue, stands 7, 8, 9 are light green, stands 10, 11, 12 are light yellow and stands 13-17 are pink. If you go, make it a weekday and practically every part of the beach south of the pink stands is open and empty and waiting to be enjoyed. Pack a picnic, book, shade and sunscreen and be in the moment it will be a mini-vacation.

Between pink stands 13-16 is a clothing optional area and is always crowded. There are signs marking the area warning of possible encounter with “nude bathers”. Special beach people bathing in "nude"…ooooooo, it's true you lose your clothes when you bathe with "nude".

This special section of the beach is easy to spot by the sea of colorful umbrellas, shelters (you can get too much sun) and of course the nude bodies. Not everyone is completely naked there are various degrees of bare and ALL body types. A great place for people watching is available here- tattoos, piercings, and seriously WTF-was-that?! 

The ocean is de-lish! Water is clear and with a soft sandy bottom and then there's the sagging bottoms...butt (lol) also there's are lots of friendly, or not, kinds of people -a lot with zero tans lines…And now I know which beach the French tourists are hanging out on.

And what about the last pink lifeguard stand # 17? Bathing suits on and maybe 2 other people enjoying the beach…ah, I love Mia-mi!

Quick facts about walking on the beach:

-Use 20-50% more of your muscles

-Burns more calories than on hard surface

-Allows for “Earthing” or grounding

-Aids in neutralizing EMF ions 

The Committee

There exist a committee, which help guide our lives; be it on an everyday level or on reserve for when those monumental decision-making times arrive, we all have a Committee: people we turn to for guidance, help, opinion, advice, what have you. 
The Committee may be a party of one i.e. your partner, your mother boss, kid,..Or the Committee might involve several people, of various ages, with varying needs a logistical nightmare of sorts. From big decisions to life's minutia can be guided by the Committee.

There is also another Committee, although less visible but really the most powerful, it’s a spiritual Committee, this is THE COMMITTEE we all have one and it is "them" who know us best and really have our backs.

Call IT or be IT represented by The Light, the medallions around our necks, wrists, energy, the sticks on doorframes, the candles, and the potential name we might tend scream out in times of great agony or in ecstasy...IT has personal assistants of sorts which get assigned to be THE COMMITTEE for each one of us.


Of course this goes beyond belief in the one ever powerful ________ (<- insert personal belief here) eve the most powerful has peeps, an entourage, their own crew, team, family of helpers to be with us. God can’t be everywhere right? It is as if we have a spiritual group we can count on to always be with us and we don’t even know they are there. Geez, even Santa and Russell Simmons have helpers and assistants, right? Imagine hat would have become of even Oprah or Maria Antoinette be if it had not been for their helpful staffs?”

Long ago the interest in collecting decorative angels and cherubs came first then there were the books, and the courses and now a reading. there is so much more to learn and all we need to do is ask. (?) well, I needed to know:

Who’s on my personal team? (Wow we're fourteen deep on this team),

who’s my starting 5 (really have 7 of the Lebrons, Wades, and Kobes MVPs of the angel league),

who are my spiritual bodyguards? (amazing the depth of strength from the smallest)

who’s part of my personal Committee of angels?(dude, it's no wonder I love to travel-there’s a mini “United Nations representation” with me)

I very sweet soft spoken Colombian woman helped introduce me to my backers the real executive producer’s of this, my lifetime. She’s is well studied and experienced and hearing her very familiar Colombian accent and sayings brought a sense of trust and knowing from familiarity of my family and roots from there. Never having had been in this situation before I was curious to learn many things but had failed in preparing my questions for the session. Oh the pressure of what to ask? After asking about health everything other question can seem so shallow, and over-played so, I went for a simple question:

Please GUIDE me?

Please SHOW me?

ask and you shall receive, yes?

Weekend happening and mishaps from Miss Happening

Try counting how many people you can count on if you really needed it. So many of us share the words “I’m there, if you need me” and how many times have we needed something to be done for us and have turned to no one for help? We can all be so independent at times, to a fault. A very talented and well-known photographer friend recently invited me to an event at his art space. Calling to double check I remembered how to get there, I was joyfully informed that the party was the next day but I was more than welcome to come over anyway, and so I did after changing into street clothes.

Just a block or so away from the central area of the new fashionably artist area of Miami is a very non descript commercial building on a corner sheltering the most amazing work/live space I’ve seen in a while. You enter into a highbrow uber white beautiful gallery tastefully filled with amazing work of photography and mixed media. As you move about you find yourself in a comfy living section decorated by experts who are genius at making the space look effortlessly elegant and casual- some people pay a lot of money to get their space to look and feel like this- some people. But on this night the place was in pre-art show chaos and with the help of another friend and a bottle of wine we got to work. Oh there was a team of volunteers ready to take over at the event but few were there to get the venues ready for the next day because he "didn't like to ask for help with the computer stuff..."

I AM happy to help, plus its part of the karma yoga we learned in yoga teacher training. We should strive to do things for others without any recognition for our actions. I also so happy to help him I feel deeply in debit to this friend for just a year ago when I was not aware I was an artist nor was I in a “good place” he acted with such generosity, kindness and an unselfishness I was amazed and grateful (still). He was one of the people who encouraged, recognized and helped me display my work and ideas and was one of those key people who guided me through my first art show.

Never forget those who have helped when you needed it most, those favors are be repaid again and again…

Mac girl hat on and we are rocking through all the much-needed printing for the next day. Lesson learned: too much logo doesn’t work for gallery

In flip-flops and jeans I’m being taught/directed by this great artist “whoa thank you GOD and he’s asking me >my< opinion?” “What!?" "Oh yeah this vibration thing is working.” Being an equal opportunity helper I go on to answer a midnight call for some much needed supplies at a near by rave so I left the art world and stepped in a world of rainbow colored bras and glowing neon fingers, flames, and technophiles.

Where I had the idea of what I would like to learn to do next.

At the gallery event I was asked assist with the very important job of organizing the Chinese Auction (a.k.a. raffle) “be a greeter” so I smiled, a lot. 

Principle 2 of Dale Carnegies’ Part 2 of How To Make People Like you: Smile. 

That simple action we must think about to bring about which is so priceless a tool/gift. I smiled and greeted and it got me winning a participation invitation to an upcoming future art show. “What?! SHUTUP!” I was floating in happiness, I floated over to the bar for a tiny taste of Merlot, floating oh so gracefully past the amazingly catered spread of select goodies (even Buggles) I was tempted and so, I oh, so, lightly reached for a cookie on the table and kept floating back to my greeting and smiling post when suddenly out of no where came a body: not floating or graceful, but smack in the middle of the graceful floating motion action I had going across the gallery.

The following is best to be envisioned happening in SLOW MOTION: 

I come to a sudden stop, luckily avoiding a for certain crash encounter and everything came to a halt except for the red wine in the glass. This small amount of red wine manages to escapes the glass in a Titanic size wave out, into the air and onto my dress and straight down to the floor where it demonstrates its power to humiliate and upstage any master piece on the wall by multiplying and expanding in size into a H U G E bright red color puddle taking over the uber white floors. “Oh Lordy, Lord, Lord swallow me into the ground now puh-lez!” As it was as if my prayers were heard because right at that moment the Earth broke apart, naw just kidding, but time stood still. I was able to  grabbed a handful of napkins and just as if I was in a Bounty commercial all the wine was wiped clean in one wipe and no one had seen! 

Oh, except for one set of eyes which met my horrified face, these eyes had seen it all, these eyes were as shocked wide as my own at what had just happened. "Oh the horror!" But these eyes, they just smiled, thankfully they belong to the one other late night helper from the night before…phew! Helping others helps us with our own lessons.

TO DO LIST:

Hook up with famous DJ to design and control side stage light shows/ex. for tour.