There's nothing like the music of Enya to keep me calm and centered.
When I was in freshman year in college, I would play the album The Memory of Trees over and over again during the daily commute to and from school. That was about four months of listening to the songs almost everyday, and so I pretty much memorized the lyrics (the English ones, at least) and had their tunes ingrained in my subconscious.
I've graduated to other Enya albums since then, but my love affair with this kind of music continues.
In case you have a few minutes to spare, or toward the end of a frenetic day, take the time to view these videos and let the music and the images sink in.
Storms in Africa
My favorite Enya song of all time! If I could have it my way, I'd have this song playing during the recessional of my wedding ceremony.
Orinico Flow
Who doesn't know this, right? "Sail away, sail away, sail away..."
Caribbean Blue
I love the watercolor-ish, Waking Life-ish, super trippy (*wink*) approach to this video.
On My Way Home
Found at the end of the Memory of Trees album, this, indeed, was what I used to play on my way home from school over 10 years ago.
Watermark
A wonderful, wonderful song... Wasn't this associated with a De Beers commercial once? Whatever it was, it always makes me think of sparkling diamonds, or rain--depending on my mood, really. (I love the Claude Monet art on this one.)
Wild Child
I had a copy of A Day Without Rain shortly after graduating from college, and my work friends and I used to play this from our shared cubicle after the end of a really stressful day. For some reason, my friend Richard used to think this song really fit me.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Ease with Enya
MEET JOE BLACK
I watched this movie (again!) the other night and I still got goose bumps all over. This is one movie that gives you the ultimate lesson in life. It’s about a wealthy businessman, Bill Parrish (played by no less than ANTHONY HOPKINS) who received a visit from a mysterious stranger, Joe Black (BRAD PITT) who later revealed himself as DEATH. In exchange for extra time, Bill agreed to serve as Joe’s earthly guide but he was soon faced with an untimely dilemma when Joe unexpectedly fell in love with his beautiful daughter Susan (Claire Forlani).
What I love most about this film is the way DEATH himself (Joe Black) succumbed to the power of LUUUUUVVE. It’s quite endearing to see him let his guard down and just hopelessly fell victim to a more powerful phenomenon that is LOVE. And in the end, he did the ultimate act of selflessness by letting go of Susan even if his heart (even I am surprised to know that he’s got one!) bled to take her with him.
On the other hand, when Bill Parrish realized that his time here on earth is nearing its end, all he cared about was spending more time with his 2 daughters. Forget about the multi-million dollar company that he spent his entire life building….or the lavished parties that are attended by a bunch of suck-up executives who couldn’t give a rat’s ass about him. In the end, what mattered most to him was his family.
Well, that’s how it is with us in the real world, isn’t it? We oftentimes lose the plot and we are constantly on a mission to obtain something shallow---like getting that promotion…or paying the mortgage off…or purchasing that new BMW…getting another diamond jewelry….or buying the latest LOUIS VUITTON purse---whatever it is, we rarely endeavor to have a more grounded lifestyle.
But there you have it! This movie says it all. At the end of the day, money still can’t provide us with unadulterated bliss. But the beautiful memories that we share with our loved ones will take us beyond life and the universe. After all, isn’t that what were here in this world for?---TO TOUCH AS MANY LIVES AS WE POSSIBLY CAN… --
QUOTE OF THE DAY
We live like actors in a play who are given only one line at a time, going through the motions without understanding the full story. But when you get in touch with your soul, you see the whole script for the drama. You understand. You still participate in the story, but now you participate joyously, consciously, and fully. You can make choices based on knowledge and born out of freedom. Each moment takes on a deeper quality that comes from appreciation of what it means in the context of your life.~ Deepak Chopra in SynchroDestiny
Monday, May 12, 2008
Anger, Despair, and Hope in the Time of Rendition
One ordinary Friday night, I came face to face with the kind of anger and despair that I didn’t realize I had in me. It was the kind that made me cry for people I did not know, for faces I did not see, for a society I did not understand. It made me question the pillars of my existence—everything that I had based my life upon—and it made me see the pettiness of human life. What is the point of all this?, I cried out. Nothing could comfort me then; these thoughts still haunt me until now.
I was watching Rendition, the 2007 film about an Egyptian immigrant to the United States who is abducted by the CIA for being suspected of having links to an Islamic terrorist group. Reese Witherspoon, one of my favorite actresses, plays Isabella El-Ibrahimi, the distraught and very pregnant wife of Egyptian Anwar El-Ibrahimi (Omar Metwally), who seems to have disappeared from his flight home without a trace. Jake Gyllenhaal plays Douglas Freeman, a CIA analyst whose job it is to “secure information” about Anwar’s suspected terrorist links and their activities—no matter what it takes. Meryl Streep plays the cold, calculating, and unfeeling CIA boss, Corinne Whitman, who ensures that nothing about Anwar’s whereabouts or the CIA’s underground activities leak out to the public.
I shall not go into plot details here; I admit that there were times when I was too caught up in my own reflections to pay full attention to how the story unfolded. Nonetheless, I was riveted and engaged for most of the movie—to the point where everything seemed very real and close to home. And then the tears started falling.
At first, the tears were for all those men and women who have sacrificed their loved ones to the bitterness of war—to battles with neither principled death nor honorable victory, to horrors and pains without justification or absolution. Then I started wailing like I never had before, because I realized that no matter what we do, the killing will never stop. Rich and powerful countries will always find a way to wield power and force over those of us at the bottom of the food chain. Children will continue to die because of hunger and malnutrition and treatable diseases—causes that could be addressed with political will. Religious and societies and cultures will continue to exclude each other and try to justify acts that are ultimately uncalled for. All this while tiny circles of wealth go around the world in their yachts, eating the freshest, most exotic food and sipping the best wine. All this while teenaged brats prance around in their hot cars, flashing extensions of Daddy’s card and racking up luxury purchases that would already be enough to send an impoverished child (who did not choose to be born that way) to University. All this while coke fiends fill the party scene and crowd the already-overpopulated country with their meaningless, pitiful existence.
What is the meaning of all this?? I asked myself. You think your life is important—you think what you’re doing and the people you’re meeting are important—but what are you doing to stop the madness? What are you doing to feed or clothe one more person, to send one more child to school, to make sure that people don’t die meaningless deaths? What is your life really all about??
Silence.
I realized that what I’m doing now—whatever that is—still isn’t enough.
It was the most depressing thought in the world, at 3 A.M.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE by Maya Angelou
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE...
A WOMAN SHOULD HAVE..
Friday, May 9, 2008
Quote of the Day
When we renounce our dreams we find peace and enjoy a brief period of tranquility, but the dead dreams begin to rot inside us and infect the whole atmosphere in which we live. What we hoped to avoid in the Good Fight—disappointment and defeat—become the sole legacy of our cowardice.
~ Paulo Coelho, The Pilgrimage
Saturday, May 3, 2008
RECLAIMING AN OLD (BUT TRUE) LOVE
There are some things that we mustn’t ever do—like hold on to something that isn’t working out anymore, pine for an old flame that will never be rekindled, or stay stuck in the past when there are so many wonderful things to look forward to in the present and the future. But there are those times when love is just too strong to ever deny—and when the opportunity presents itself for true love to bloom once more.
Last night, in a place where sunlight filters in through the windows and lights up the courtyards during the day and where night unveils a buzz of activity that is both exhilarating and soothing, I reconnected with an old flame. It was something I had been hiding from these past few months; I flirted with the idea around a year ago, but I chickened out and tried to deny my real feelings. But every encounter would light up a memory so vivid I could almost see, touch, taste, smell, hear, and feel it again. Every reminder of that old life would tug at me so strongly that there was no way I could deny it anymore. It was yet another string of coincidences, another episode of “Seeing Signs” that Mr. Coelho would definitely acknowledge as real. It was in my mind, in my soul, in my blood. And last night, I came home.
Por eso, este año, empezaré a una aventura magnífica que seguramente encende otra vez a las emociones que ha sido guardado celosamente en la profundidad de mi alma. Esta aventura no será de amor erótica—será una viaje encantada sobre los caminos de la cultura española, así como las palabras, los sonidos, los imagenes, y las sensaciones que yo perdía—y después discubrí otra vez. No hay punto en escapar de este camino. Estoy enamorada, estoy apasionada… y nadie, especialmente no yo mismo, puede separarnos para siempre.
After all, it is emblazoned on my skin, for as long as I live, and for the whole world to see, las palabras eternas del gran escritor Federico Garcia Lorca: «Lo que mas me importa… es vivir…»
