Penguins having fun...

It is just amazing how a whole lot of people believe that animals are incapable of doing things just because they are having fun. Whenever I look at how my little Kanga-roo steals the Chinese Rat's toy, jumps up onto a sofa, out of reach, and slowly chews away on it, right on the edge, in full sight, I know that she is not only having fun, but also being profoundly mischievous.

Animals are so much more than what we can imagine or understand. We cannot realize their full being because we have fought hard to dissociate from them, and single the human race out as something very special.

But what about these penguins using an iceberg as a slide? What are they doing it for, if not simple fun and joy? Penguins are anyway hilarious, but this will make you smile for sure!

The split between mind and heart...

My last blog entry, on intuition, caused more reactions than any previous one. And while we seem to be very much divided about what intuition is and how intuition and reason connect, it is indeed an ancient topic that all generations have tried to disentangle.

The splits between what we think and what we feel are too many to be comprehensively discussed. There are several examples that come readily to my mind. But today I want to focus on one: the scars of bullying.

I was severely bullied when I was a teen. Product of a completely dysfunctional family, loneliness, a chronic depression and the impossible-to-tame kernel of rebellion, I was a punkish girl--an emo in the 80's--with one single friend. Her life was much less complicated, but due to boredom or whatever reason, she played along with me. Soon we were despised by all girls at school, classified as lesbians, shouted at by boys, some of who chose to assault me on the street.

I overcame that episode of my life with certain degree of grace, ending high school with lots of friends. However, I did not overcome the scars of bullying. And I did not notice this backlog until recently.

I am afraid that there are people who will always be bullies. They enjoy making fun of others and they make a sport out of hacking away on those that are weaker than they are. Such behavior triggers two distinct reactions in me. If targeted at others, it makes me rage against the bully. It gives me a purpose, namely, to stop others from feeling the way I did. If targeted at me, I withdraw. Then, I become insecure and vulnerable and therefore aggressive. In the end, I probably break.

I cannot tell you how much I hate acknowledging that I am still not over my own experience as an object of bullying. It still hurts. It still makes me cringe. The rational understanding does not help the negative emotion to subside. And it is not gone, in the same way in which bullies are not automatically gone, even when they become adults.

Bullying needs to be treated, and if your kids are on one or another side of this paradox, please deal with it. If your kid is a bully, s/he needs your love, support and encouragement to grow into a respectful human being. If your kid is being bullied, please don't just wait for her to muster the strength and speak up. The best way of dealing with an emotional scar is not to let it happen in the first place.

Intuition

Such a small word. And yet, it means so much, in so many layers of life.

There are people who act and react according to reasons, logical thinking and analytical processes. They have a rational explanation for the choices they make. They probably even have notes that detail the trail of their rational choices. They are the "rat-choicers" (sic) of life.

I know that I can think rationally. I know that I have important analytic capacity. Nevertheless, I also know that all the relevant decisions of my life have been based on intuition. And, even more, that up to 3/4 of my daily decisions stem from intuition.

So, what is intuition? How can we define it? And how can we strengthen it? (Of course, I am biased, and I believe that intuition has to be strengthened, if anything). Where does it come from? Is it our unconscious sending signals and telling us what to do, despite reason and rationality? Is it the result of millenniums of development of the human brain? Or is it the product of many different lives, lived by us across times?

Intuition has determined my life. Has it determined yours?

The heat is on...

..and it is everywhere!!! Oh. My. Dog.

Mexico City is unbearable! It is hot. Hot. Hot. And Happyland, being the last floor of the building, is just crazy!

And then, there are people who say that global warming is a scam. F.... Republicans! They are so stupid! And selfish. And ignorant.

This is nothing but a small rant.... In reality, it is an attempt to get back to the blog, where I have been absent for too long.

A different Africa

Maputo is my entry point to lusophone Africa. Up to this moment, I had only been to Northern Africa and to English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. But the feeling in Mozambique is very different.

The urban planning and design immediately strikes familiar chords in my heart. This actually looks and feels like the world that I am most acquainted with. The streets have side walks and are green with exuberant trees. The common architecture looks strangely familiar. Food is simple, very natural, extremely tasty.

Below the surface, the feeling of the spirit and culture resembles all I have lived and thrived in. The respectful dress code, so common among Latins. The tradition of good, real lunches--as opposed to sandwiches or salads. And the ease of long, pleasant and cherished conversations in small coffee shops.

I have only had a first glimpse of Maputo. But this is a place to come back to.

High as the sky...

Looking from Clifton toward Camps Bay. Feeling the sun on my skin. Hearing the waves break, endlessly, distant, but so close. Lion's Head is right behind us.

I can feel the lawn under my hands. It feels green, fresh. It smells like the sea. Like emotions.

I bury my feet in the sand. The waves keep breaking, endlessly, so close, but distant. If I were to focus on them, capture their energy--I could feed on their blue, fly into the sun.

There is no reason to run, no reason to escape. This velvety feeling--the taste of serenity dripping off my soul.

My spiritual homeland.

Getting ready to hit the road...

...one more time.

My three days in NY were far too short to actually breathe in the city. But the six hours I spent walking around, buying food at the Deli, and hanging out in cool places were quite substantial. It was cold the first day, but then spring the next one--a sudden change that is as much part of NY as a good bagel with Lox cream cheese.

I took the red-eye flight out of NY at midnight on thursday, arriving here before the sun went up on friday. While those flights are a killer, this one actually allowed me to crawl into bed with the raccoon, the Chinese Rat and Kanga-roo, and wake up four hours later, as if I spent the whole night there. That restores the balance in my own private universe.

But, I will be off on monday again. Gone for another two weeks to Africa. My spiritual homeland. But, without the creatures that inhabit Happyland.