Sharing

One day, I came home with my beloved and quickly changed into my fuzzy slippers. The man laughed so hard I thought he might break. I didn't know quite how to react. Apparently, he got a huge kick out of my silly behavior while in private. So, the next time he was over I presented him with his own pair of ridiculous fuzzy slippers to delight in. You see, sharing is everything to me. I love to be comfortable, relax and enjoy the simple things in life. Having someone to be silly with in fuzzy slippers is immensely pleasurable to me.


Laughter is one of the most wonderful experiences to share. To laugh at one's self, a movie, jokes or any shared experience is huge. It is fun! Fun is an extremely important ingredient to living a healthy and happy existence. According to Buddhism, levity can save you from the vicious cycle of confusion. It is a lot like the seven deadly sins in Judeo-Christian tradition. Only instead of strict rules of conduct, a good sense of humor can be your salvation.

“Perspective is in the Eye of the Beholder.” Omar Lopez Chahoud

I’ve only seen the world from my own eyes, so it is difficult to discuss perspective in a detached or observant way. My perspective has been mostly positive and optimistic throughout my life. I seldom think the worse of people or their motives; however, I can be somewhat guarded. Perhaps I am merely careful.

Somehow, I always feel things will work out. I don’t sit around waiting for things to happen, but I visualize what I want a lot. Even if many people think its bunk, I subscribe to the teachings of The Secret and the power of positive thinking. It doesn’t necessarily mean everyone is going to be rich, but I believe you end up having the life you think you should have. Like the quote from Henry Ford, “If you think you can or you think you can’t; either way you are right.”

In recent conversations with a new friend, we’ve discussed different perspectives on a shared conversation. I totally understood something different to what was being said to me. It was clarified to me that I was participating in my own paradigm and not receiving the information accurately. It may very well be true and quite intellectual. However, I believe I just understand what I want to understand when anyone speaks to me.

Then there are lies…well, as much as I detest liars, I confess to being the biggest liar in my own life. I lie to myself all the time and only believe what I want to believe. No one has placed a mask or veil over any truth more so than I. I hear the truth in front of me and choose to believe another interpretation. It is sick, I know. I am guilty.

And yet, I rather be me than anyone else I know. I love my own delusions and live happily within them. I want to see the world through my rose colored glasses and never see that the Emperor has no clothes. Let me be, I like it like that!!

Letting Go...

On Saturday, I was part of a burning bowl ritual. It entails writing things to let go of down on a piece of paper and setting it on flames. The ritual is both symbolic and satisfying because it is tangible and physical. We all understand the finality of fire. The list of things to let go of can be as follows:

Perceptions of inadequacy
Anger or resentment towards others
Fears
Feelings of lack or financial limitations
General negativity or depression


In the book The Artist's Way, there are exercises like this requiring automatic writing that I always guided my class to tear to shreds after purging the mental garbage expressed. It may be more practical than setting anything on fire. My point is that a list or an essay should be written about all the things you wish to release from your mind, life or consciousness. Then dispose of it in a visually and physically satisfying way. Afterwards, walk away from it completely and continue your life free and clear of it. Another exercise with the same effect is from Amanda Gore. Imagine having a sack of potatoes filled with one potato for each resentment and unfortunate thing that has ever occurred in your life. Carry the sack around for as long as you can bear it while the potatoes rot and weigh on you. See how people react to your carrying such a load on your back and how unattractive your issues really are. (www.amandagore.com) As much as this seems like a recipe, the special ingredient is your commitment to make it real.

Balancing the Teacher and Student Within...

We are all both teachers and students throughout our lives. Sometimes we teach a lesson, sometimes we learn, most times we do a little of each. I am a veteran of sales and business, yet I always learn from my colleagues. I especially love learning from younger people. Their ideas are fresh and new with an enthusiasm that many older people might lack. I enjoy new ideas immensely and it refreshes my own approach towards what I do.

Recently, I was told I was being humble as I listened to a young speaker. Well, I was busy learning. How many times does it take to practice a new tune on a piano? Why should I believe I know everything? Are there ever enough times you can hear the truth or a new perspective on something that you do daily? Who is to say I have all the answers?

Yes, I have been a teacher for many. The best thing I can offer my students is my love of learning. I want to learn something-new everyday until I breathe my last breath. The most exciting part of my day is when I am surprised at a new discovery. I love the unexpected, because it has a new twist in my life's outcome.

The best relationship in business as well as one's personal life is where there is give and take. Roles change according to what strengths each person brings to the table. It is regenerative in nature because it is always evolving. Like in dancing, each dancer takes the lead at a different point in time. Or in an orchestration, each instrument has a solo or prominent role for a while so we can enjoy the splendid sound it gives.

Find someone in your life you can teach something special to. Choose a strength or talent you possess and share it freely. Then, find someone who has a talent or skill you wish to learn and be that person's student. The ideal outcome is if both activities can be with the same person. Either way, experiment with being both a teacher and student in the next week.

The Winner Takes It All

I didn't understand this song until I saw Meryl Streep's version of it on Mamma Mia:



It isn't clear to me why it never clicked for me. I guess I didn't know how it felt to lose at love yet.

Who am I today?

Today, I am a dreamer, a writer and a lover of life. My identity isn’t really attached too much, I just enjoy being, thinking and living the moment. The stronger aspects of my life involve my values, my friends and family. There aren’t many materials things that really define me except living on South Beach. I can’t say I’m much attached too much, but I do love my little condo and my dragon collection. Other than that, well, I adore the wonderful people in my life and living as I please.

Who am I? Good question. I am Ana-Maria Figueredo, born in Brooklyn, raised in Queens and a product of Catholic schools in New Jersey. Gee, that’s scary!! I have a BA in English Literature and MS in Educational Technology. I’m a daughter, aunt, ex-wife, ex-girlfriend, mentor, teacher, student, and hard working woman. Sometimes I’m just a woman, sometimes I’m just a spirit and sometimes I’m nothing at all but pure being.

Today, I’m a woman who has become increasingly:
• compassionate with others
• intolerant of stupidity or vulgarity
• a bit isolated
• a firm believer in goodness and purity of spirit
• a hopefully-not-hopeless-romantic
• someone who never gives up or in
• I laugh or cry easily
• I embrace with all my being
• all animals and children are precious to me
• I enjoy opera, blues/jazz or any form of great musical talent
• I’ve seen most of the United States
• I’ve shared special moments with people of all walks of life
• Each day I feel we aren’t getting the right answers because we aren’t asking the right questions.
• I think the right questions are the key to reality.

However, that isn’t the answer is it?

Who am I today?
A woman writing a blog and expressing her thoughts about her identity.

Who am I today?
Spirit

Who am I today?
Being

Who am I today so you can understand me?
Label me as you wish. Essence is can not be defined, it is perceived.

Who am I today?
Whoever you think I am.

Intentions

If I had a dollar for every intention I’ve ever had, I’d have a lot of dollars!! There are so many things I intend to begin, do and finish…the list is endless!! For example, I sometimes pile things I would like to read. Then after the pile gets too high and I’m frustrated, I throw the whole pile away. Sometimes I think it is a commitment problem, sometimes I think I’m lazy…mostly I’ve come to believe I just don’t do everything I intend to do and need to revisit what intentions are really about. It is definitely time for a reality check.

The lovely thing about being part of Tuesday Topic is that the intention to blog has a new element of pressure to it. I have to think about how disappointed Jen Goode would be if I didn’t blog or how some of the other bloggers of the group would feel if I didn’t fulfill this commitment. I vowed to do this over milkshakes in the middle of the night at a Las Vegas conference. These are the pinnacle moments that define our lives and character. If you can’t keep a promise you’ve made after way too many cocktails over chocolate shakes, then your intentions are definitely in question. Or so I believe…

One of my peeves about intentions is when they are used as an excuse for promises not kept. When you ask a person why they haven’t fulfilled a promise and the answer is, “it was my intention…” It has dirty, rotten liar written all over it!! Intending to do something isn’t the same as doing it!! If you are going to do something just do it, intentions don’t cut it.

On that same note…I love intentions. When someone tells me about an intention, I get excited. Intending to do something is a promise of hope and vision. “My intended” is a loaded phrase as well promising the future of possibilities with a special someone. I prefer the notion even to fiancé. It is loaded with subconscious programming as to what the future might hold.

What are my intentions? Well, to express my innermost thoughts about how I view life and the subtle nature of the greenness of the pea. To study the nature of grass and other things that grows effortlessly creating the havoc of traffic and grocery store lines. These are all thoughts of a madwoman I know, but I never intended to be anything but what I am. Judge me as you wish, I bother no one by existing in my little slice of heaven on South Beach. I never intended to be anything more than what I am.