Month: September 2021

Room to grow

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Today I´m sharing with you this poem by Khalil Gibran, which I remember hearing years ago at my friend Araceli´s wedding, and which has kept resonating more and more with me since then:

You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when the white wings of death scatter your days.
Ay, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.

Love one another, but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other’s cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of your be alone,
Even as the strings of the lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.

Give your hearts, but not into each other’s keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other’s shadow.

How beautiful, especially that last line... Let´s give ourselves some room to keep growing with life, flourishing from that seed within us, without casting shadows over each other.

Starting over

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They say each day is an opportunity to start over… And yes, that´s true, but it´s also true that there are certain times of the year when it´s easier to get that feeling of a clean slate. For example, when a new season starts: the days change in length, the weather also changes, and we take the opportunity not only to renew our wardrobe but also to adapt our habits to whatever is appropriate at that time of the year.

And one of the changes in season that most impact us is the beginning of a new school year, which in both Ireland and Spain (where I live and where I come from, respectively) takes place in the month of September.

"Back to school" written on a black backboard

It´s a moment where I usually feel very energized, ready to start new projects, create new routines, and get settled again after a change of scenery during the summer.

And this year is no exception: on the contrary, I´m even more excited, as this year brings big changes in my personal and professional life (if there´s even a way to separate one from the other), and for once I feel like accepting the challenge of embracing uncertainty, of walking towards it instead of avoiding it… To be honest, I´m not too sure how it will all turn out or where I will end up, but I do know that it´s going to be a very interesting path, full of challenges and learning, and I can´t wait to get started :-)

Friendships

/ binarybea / 1 Comment

Cuando estaba en la universidad, mi amiga Merche tenía en su cuarto un póster que a mí me gustaba mucho. El dibujo era una caricatura muy colorida de un grupo de animales todos juntos, creo recordar que había una jirafa, un elefante… Y la frase, que estaba en inglés, decía: “Friendship comes in all shapes and sizes” (hay amistades de todos los colores y tamaños).

As we go through life we meet a variety of people, we make friendships, we share periods of time with some people or other. And although we usually thend to look for persons with whom we have things in common, when we make friends who are somehow different (and there are a thousand ways to be different), that friendship ends up being even more enriching: it helps us to grow, widen our world and see other perspectives.

Some friendships are lost as time goes by, others stay, and others change and evolve along the years. And it's completely natural: neither you nor them are the same you were a year ago, or ten, or twenty, and sometimes each person's path goes in a different direction. But that doesn't diminish at all the fondness and the time you once shared.

And then thankfully, without apparent reason, there are certain friendships that are not affected by time. It doesn't matter how long ago we saw each other for the last time, or if we have lost contact for months, or even years... When we get to meet again, we get back that same old closeness, that same old joy and fondness.

I am incredibly lucky to have found a good few of those friends for which time doesn't matter. And this week I've been able to get together with a few of them. Thanks a million guys (and girls), you know who you are ;-)

Original by Dani&She

Back home

/ binarybea / 1 Comment

Esta semana os escribo desde Cáceres, mi ciudad natal. Estoy de vuelta “en casa” unos días, disfrutando de mi familia, de mis amigos y de los últimos días del verano. Y después del añito y medio que llevamos, lo estoy disfrutando de verdad, a fondo, sin dar nada por sentado 🙂

I'm feeling a bit odd, like I'm at home but also away from home at the same time, as if things had changed while somehow staying the same... I'm a bit like this every time I come, but now even more so, with everything that's been happening during this time.

Searching for quotes related to this topic, I bumped into this one, I hope you like it:

Returning home is the most difficult part of long-distance hiking; you have grown outside the puzzle and your piece no longer fits.

Cindy Ross