Facebook is what you make of it

I used to criticize Facebook. I even deleted my first account and wrote a post about how to succeed in leaving the social network for real.

When I came back I realized that little had changed. It was still about people posting their lives: The parties they went, the places they visited, and tones of pictures about how fabulous they looked. Interestingly, a lot of people was getting tired of this and stopped login in.

However, there was also another kind of people in Facebook that it wasn’t there before. Now there was people creating a debate around lots of topics: Politics, Public Health, Education, Spirituality, Consumerism, Economics, Social issues, Yoga, Music industry, Science, etc. Now there were Facebook Pages!

I must confess that I follow more FB Pages than people. Because, being honest, you don’t need FB to keep your friends or lover informed about your life (I still don’t get why couples express their feelings on FB!?!?!?) You can call, send a whatsApp or write an e-mail.

BUT… it’s true that FB is still good for sharing something: It’s good for sharing THE life (not YOUR life)! 

To share THE life means sharing something that someone might like or find useful.

It means sharing things that either inspired and/or taught you something, and that could inspire or teach something to others.

It means sharing quotes, art, knowledge, news, ideas, events, inspiration, tools, social causes, etc.

The world is made of thousands of things that may touch your soul/brain in some way and could touch someone else’s too.

Because anything life is made of it’s sharable!

“So what is wrong with sharing MY life, Daniela?” You may ask.

There’s nothing wrong with it. But I bet you have something more to give!

Sincerely,

Daniela

A humble present for a special lady

Last year, while being in Mexico, a girl from Chicago liked one of my posts about Puerto Vallarta.

We started talking about our lives and it turned out that her Mexican boyfriend had just been deported back to Mexico.

In spite of that sad event they still were together and were considering to live together in Mexico City.

She was a bit scared about the violence in Mexico, but I tried to calm her down and told her that once there it wasn’t as bad as it seemed in the news.

I admired her for her willingness to be with her boyfriend and fight for their love.

So when I went to Mexico City to visit a friend, I couldn’t stop thinking that her boyfriend was there too, in the same city, while she was still in Chicago. I felt sad that she couldn’t be there with him.

When I left Mexico City I crossed myself with this amazing view of the Popocatépetl, the city’s volcano, and the Iztaccihuatl:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Isn’t amazing?

There’s a beautiful legend about both mountains, here’s an extract:

Iztaccíhuatl’s father sent Popocatepetl to war in Oaxaca, promising him his daughter as his wife if he returned (which Iztaccíhuatl’s father presumed he would not). Iztaccíhuatl’s father told her that her lover had fallen in battle and she died of grief. When Popocatépetl returned, and discovered the death of his lover, he committed suicide by plunging a dagger through his heart. God covered them with snow and changed them into mountains. Iztac cíhuatl’s mountain was called “La Mujer Dormida, (the “Sleeping Woman”), because it bears a resemblance to a woman sleeping on her back. Popocatépetl became the volcano Popocatépetl, raining fire on Earth in blind rage at the loss of his beloved.

Wikipedia

During months I thought about writing this post to her and dedicating her these pictures, but certain doubts kept me from doing it.

However, I realized that those doubts don’t matter. If you ever feel like doing something nice for someone, even if a mean voice inside of you tells you that “it’s nothing”, you should do it anyway.

Here are some picture of the city as seen from the plane. Yes, the plane flies this low since the airport is literally in the middle of the city.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Mexico City is huge, and it has a lot of problems, of course, as any big city. However, it’s also a beautiful place with so much history and things to do. I’m pretty sure that if she ever gets to live there, she will be very happy.

Sincerely,

Daniela

How the f*** am I?

As you realized, I stop writing the moment I arrived to Barcelona

Creatives say that writers shouldn’t wait for the inspiration to come, that they should write every f****ing morning even if they don’t feel their muse is coming.

But I didn’t follow the advice.

I was working on my thesis, remember?

Well, here it is!!!

Dear reader: I want to thank you for all your words, feedback and inspiration during the time I wrote my thesis in Mexico!

Though I’m done with writing it, I still have to defend it, so I am still not a real PhD.

As I was saying, when I arrived to Barcelona the inspiration went away. Though I was having this beautiful romantic story (which I’m still in), something drained me. Work? People? The economic crisis? The social issues? (Too much sex? No, that wasn’t ) 

I think that what most affected me was the change of weather (sunny and hot in Puerto Vallarta, cold and rainy in Barcelona), and the feeling that I don’t find myself in this city. After 10 years living here I still don’t consider it my home. Isn’t that strange?

Anyway. In the time between I finished writing the thesis and the day I would have to defend it (next 3rd of May, by the way), I’ve done lots of things. Unfortunately, I enrolled myself in more things that I’m capable of doing

My main idea now is to build my business!

And I’m f**** scared!!!

Sincerely,

Daniela

Be nice, but say “fuck you” once in a while

Being honest, I don’t consider myself the nicest person in the world if by that people think that I should do them as many favours as they need to. I won’t.

I don’t like when people, specially women, offer themselves to help everyone, and put themselves last. This is a behaviour that we learned from our mothers and I think it should STOP.

However, I think that most people consider this kind of behaviour as being ”nice”. So, if this is the popular definition of “nice”, than I’m the opposite.

But I do stand for another kind of NICE. A NICE where people flush their pride down the toilet and instead of you working FOR them, they want you working WITH them.

• I stand for real, productive, honest, creative team work. 
• I stand for giving my opinion respectfully.  
• I stand for giving my apologize if I did something that hurt someone even if it wasn’t my intention. I would respect his/her feelings and then I’ll explain myself what I meant with what I did or said.
• I stand for explaining myself as transparently as possible to the ones I care, even if it means being vulnerable.
• I stand for being a HUMAN, not a perfectly nice version of the woman others would like.

Though I don’t fake being nice, I don’t always express my feelings or thoughts when someone is disrespectful to me, but this is not good for my soul. 

When this used to happen, I got two types of advice:

1. Don’t say anything! If you do, you’ll lose the friendship.
2. Talk about it! If the friendship is real, you’ll work it out together.

After loosing some friends following both, I have another advice: SPEAK YOUR TRUTH, AND MOVE ON!

Or, in the not-nice version: SAY “FUCK YOU” AND KEEP ON WALKING!

Sincerely incorrect,

Daniela

We are unique, and yet…

…we treat ourselves and each other as if we were disposable.

Thanks to marketing and the spread of certain cliche, a diamond, a hand-made furniture, a gemstone or a limited-version cellphone or car are considered valuable because there will be no other like them, thus they are special.

However, what about humans? What about life? There’s no other ‘thing’ in the Universe as unique as each living creature. Their genetic configuration is unrepeatable. It’s impossible to make an identical clone of anyone because the environment, the circumstances, and the experiences that make US who we are will not happen again in history.

WE ARE A FREAKING BIO-MIRACLE!

And yet, why do we treat ourselves and each other as crap?

Why do we let others mistreat us?

Why are the standards of the respect that we deserve as Unique Human Beings so low?

Why do we accept lousy relationships, jobs, ‘friends’, lives?

Why don’t we respect all living creatures above all else?

Why don’t we respect ourselves?

Why?

I’ve realized that until we, as Human Beings, are convinced that our uniqueness makes us so damn special, we won’t value ourselves and each other more than we value things.

Deep within ourselves we know that we don’t need things, that we need each other! We know that we need a real brotherhood, and to feel that we connect with others! We need to know that we are not alone!

Until we don’t realize this, we’ll keep appreciating things above life, and that includes our own.

Are we willing to mistreat ourselves this much? Really?

Not me, not anymore, and neither should you.

So if you are reading this today, please, respect yourself and others. If you feel disrespected, maybe you are right, or maybe you are wrong, it doesn’t matter. What matters is that NOW you feel that you don’t deserve it, so you have to leave, you have to let it go. Maybe someday you’ll know if you were right or wrong. Either way, you’ll learn your lesson.

What is important is that you stop wasting your precious time feeling that you deserve better than what you are getting, and instead, start living that great respect you deserve just because there’s no one else like you.

With all my respect and admiration for your uniqueness,

Daniela

Always, always, always…

…look within you.

With love,

D.

“We are our own devil”

Love, like sex, might be a sin,

but we all know how much we like

being sinners.

Paradise Circus – Massive Attack

For The One that’s not forever

Let’s add some spice to Valentine’s Day…

…and every day!

Undisclosed Desires – Muse

¡Deshazte del ego!

En ausencia del ego innumerables preguntas carecen de sentido.

Perdido el ego se pierde el miedo a lo incierto.

Aún ignoras qué vendrá,

pero despiertas al AHORA del que se construye el mañana.

Antes de buscar respuestas, deshazte del ego.

Entonces no habrá ya preguntas que contestar.

 

D.

Getting in the zone of Flow

After almost one month absent from my blog, my first guest post  

Getting in the zone of Flow – A guest post by Daniela Martinez.