This video means a lot to me. The best way, for me, to explain some of the feelings associated with the video is by sharing a message I wrote the day we were coming home from our 4.5 month adventure:

Sitting on the plane right now coming home and the word I use to describe the feeling is surreal. It’s crazy to believe that we put so much effort into this trip, and that it has now come to a close. I think it was an amazing trip. We were able to visit 8 countries over 133 days; Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile and Argentina. The only country I feel we didn’t explore ‘top to bottom’ is Costa Rica. We wanted to see a lot, so we may have moved quicker than expected in some areas, but I still feel we got a great taste of South America. I don’t think we wanted to ‘check off any boxes,’ but I do feel we share a curiosity for what’s out there. We continually want to ‘learn’ more about different areas of the world. This was the first of hopefully many trips..

What a special experience it was to be able to do it with the girl I love. Yes, we had moments normal of any human being relationship that is experienced 24/7 for 130+ days straight, but it was a big accomplishment; successfully navigating a great portion of South America. It was not easy; we stayed in dorms, took multiple 24 hour buses, and really watched our budget. Kate, you were incredible at being understanding of our financial situation. I would say to anyone, ‘doing these trips on a budget is more worthwhile then the alternative.’ We became creative, did things our way, and worked to get where we wanted to go.

Some thoughts I take away from the journey:

–       Trust in God and things will work out. We were warned these weren’t the safest areas, yet did not witness any crime or ever really feel uncomfortable. I don’t want control, I give the keys to someone else. 

–       Believe in people; we believed in each other and we got it done!….and had an experience of a lifetime while doing it!

–       Don’t set limits; we made this pilgrimage happen quickly and went for it, why not?

–       The world is one country. Just because there are governed territories doesn’t mean this world has to be divided. I believe people are innately good. We met good people from every country we visited. 

–       In life, do whatever you want to do. I have a great friend who passed away recently that put me on this course. He taught me that the time is now…the famous quote, “The most dangerous risk of all – the risk of spending your life not doing what you want, on the bet you can buy yourself the freedom to do it later.” Owen’s death got me thinking about the concept of preparing for the future….with life as fragile as it is, the future is right now. My true belief at this point in time is, I have made it. I’m not looking for ‘more,’ don’t want ‘more.’ If anything I pray to stay meek and actually want ‘less.’ That which you own will end up owning you. The alternative, a different paradise, will come quick and I want to be thankful for every second.

As for the trip and some of the many destinations we touched…

–       Enjoy the nature and wildlife in Costa Rica, I (we) have yet to see anything like it.

–       Take a few days in the mountains of Santa Fe while traveling in Panama. We found incredible peace there.

–       If you are lucky enough to see how people dance in Cali, Colombia, you will be experiencing one of the cooler cultures in the world – the place where salsa was created.

–       The coast of Ecuador is a special place. God watched down on us that week, and we met many special people who we will hopefully remain connected with for a long time.

–       Peru’s Machu Piccu lived up to the hype. Wow, what a day we got up there in Aguas Calientes. We did the extended drive and walk out to Macchu Pichu, and I will remember seeing her for the rest of my life.

–       Bolivia? Kate was right. Bolivia was the most natural country we experienced. Never really found great WiFi. Lake Titicaca and Copacabana up at 15k feet! We have special memories spending a week chillin’ there. Bolivia gets double love because the salt flat tour could have been the best ‘tour’ of the trip. We got up close to 20k feel above sea level. More importantly, we made friends I think we will be connected with our entire life; La familia Boliviana.  

–       Chile; you were expensive, but I’ll always remember hitchhiking 30 hours straight in eight different trucks. We were determined!! Life works out…i ‘know’ this cause we got picked up once in the middle of the desert with cars going by every 15 minutes. For anyone who has been, that was south of Antofagasta in the Atacama Desert…. besides hitch hiking which we seemed to do a lot of, I think we’ll also cherish our time spent in Santiago, a city filled with culture. 

–       And last, but not least, our favorite destination, Argentina. Pretty much going to list every stop because we really loved Argentina. We started in our favorite city of the trip, Mendoza. We may be young, but we did this one correctly. Wine tastings, bike riding around Maipu, private vineyard tours (Alta Vista!!!), Asado dinners, Parilla dinners, we could live there one day. We moved to my favorite location of the trip…. Like Machu Pichu, Patagonia lived up to the hype. We only got to seriously explore Bariloche and El Bolson for a little over a week, but we found places I feel we will be back to. The combination of the forest and the mountains is something I have yet to really see. It reminded me of Glacier in Montana. And finally after a week in BA, we took a bus to Puerto Iguazu to see Iguazu Falls. I’ve never seen anything quite like the location of the “Devil’s Throat.” It is awe-inspiring nature.

133 day vacation is over with. Excited to just relax a little bit. People may say; ‘will you do it again?’ I hope we answer, yes. I can see us renting an apartment in a beautiful area and doing ‘weekend trips.’ The extended travel is hard. We did two 30+ hour buses. 37 hours from Cuenca to Lima was awesome. 30 hours in the back of trucks down the coast of Chile was challenging. I think as we talked about a lot; we learned some about love, patience, and enjoying the moment. We’re blessed. 

Joshua A Parable for Today Summary, Notes, Discussion

One of the classic definitions of prayer tells us that prayer is raising mind and heart to God. In essence, that says it all. The problem is that often we raise our minds but not our hearts. Our prayer tends to be intellectual but not affective and we tend to think of prayer more as a way of gaining insight than as way of being touched in the heart.

But prayer is ultimately about love not insight. It is meant to establish friendship. Friendship, as we know, is not as much a question of having insight into each others’ lives as it is of mutually touching each other in affection and understanding. Friendship, as John of the Cross puts it, is a question of attaining “boldness with each other.” When we have touched each others’ lives deeply, we can be “bold” with each other. We can then ask each other for help, ask for each other’s presence without needing an excuse, share a feeling, share an insight, or even just share a joke. Good friendship inspires “boldness”.

The object of prayer is precisely to try to attain this kind of “boldness” with God, to try to reach a point where we are comfortable enough with God to ask for help, to share a feeling, to share an insight, or even to share a joke, just as we would with a trusted friend. But to reach this kind of trust we must first let God touch us in the heart, and not just in insight. This means that prayer is not so much a question of having beautiful thoughts about God as it is of feeling God’s affection for us. Sadly that is precisely what we generally miss in prayer, the experience of God’s affection.

Pope Francis’ 2014 Letter to New Cardinals

Thanks to our dear friend Bob Campbell for sending us the translation of Pope Francis’ letter to newly appointed Cardinals. One of the great things about having a close friend/family member who is a Deacon is that they constantly share Jesus’ message of love, humility, and compassion. Speaking of love, humility, and compassion, these virtues are prevalent in Pope Francis’ letter to the new Cardinals who were designated yesterday.

Pope Francis practicing humility.

Here below is the translation of the Pope’s letter. The bolded portion of the letter represents the message that resonated with me the most. This message is consistent with Pope Francis’ teachings since his installation as Pope.

It’s also consistent with his actions. Whereas popes of the past have been known to view themselves almost as kings, Pope Francis has done the opposite. Pope Francis rides the subway to the Vatican like the common man and participates in practices of humility like the one captured in the above photograph.

Enjoy this letter and leave a comment below 🙂

* * *

“Dear Brother,

On the day in which your designation is made public to be part of the College of Cardinals, I wish to express to you a cordial greeting together with the assurance of my closeness and my prayer. I hope that, as associate of the Church of Rome, clothed in the virtues and sentiments of the Lord Jesus (cf. Romans 13:14), you will be able to help me, with fraternal effectiveness, in my service to the universal Church.

The Cardinalate does not signify a promotion, or an honour, or a decoration. It is simply a service that calls for enlarging one’s vision and widening one’s heart. And, although it seems a paradox, this ability to look far ahead and to love more universally with greater intensity can only be acquired by following the same way of the Lord: the way of abasement and humility, taking the form of a servant (cf. Philippians 2;5-8). Therefore, I ask you, please, to receive this designation with a simple and humble heart.

And, although you must do so with joy and gladness, do it in such a way that this sentiment is far from any expression of worldliness, from any celebration that is foreign to the evangelical spirit of austerity, sobriety and poverty.

Farewell, then, until next February 20, in which we will begin two days of reflection on the family. I remain at your disposition and, please, I ask you to pray and to have others pray for me.”

May Jesus bless you and the Holy Virgin protect you.
Fraternally,
FRANCIS.”

* * *

What are your thoughts on Pope Francis’ letter?

Here are twenty powerful secrets that will help you form meaningful relationships with people:

1. When two people meet, the prize always goes to the one with the most self-insight. He will be calmer, more confident, more at ease with the other.
2. Never permit the behavior of other people to tell you how you feel.
3. Pay little attention to what people say or do. Instead, try to see their innermost motive for speaking and acting.
4. Any friendship requiring the submission of your original nature and dignity to another person is all wrong.
5. Mystically speaking, there is no difference between you and another person. This is why we cannot hurt another without hurting ourselves, nor help another without helping ourselves.
6. When we are free of all unnecessary desires toward other people, we can never be deceived or hurt.
7. You take a giant step toward psychological maturity when you refuse to angrily defend yourself against unjust slander. For one thing, resistance disturbs your own peace of mind.
8. You understand others to the exact degree that you really understand yourself. Work for more self-knowledge.
9. Do not be afraid to fully experience everything that happens to you in your human relations, especially the pains and disappointments. Do this and everything becomes clear at last.
10. The individual who really knows what it means to love has no anxiety when his love is unseen or rejected.
11. If you painfully lose a valuable friend, do not rush out at once for a replacement. Such action prevents you from examining your heartache and breaking free of it.
12. Do not be afraid to be a nobody in a social world. This is a deeper and richer truth than appears on the surface.
13. Every unpleasant experience with another person is an opportunity to see people as they are, not as we mistakenly idealize them. The more unpleasant the other person is, the more he can teach you.
14. You can be so wonderfully free from a sense of injury and injustice that you are surprised when you hear others complain of them.
15. We cannot recognize a virtue in another person that we do not possess in ourselves. It takes a truly loving and patient person to recognize those virtues in another.
16. Do not mistake desire for love. Desire leaves home in a frantic search for one gratification after another. Love is at home with itself.
17. There are parts of you that want the loving life and parts that do not. Place yourself on the side of the positive forces: do all you can to aid and encourage them.
18. You must stop living timidly from fixed fears of what others will think of you and of what you will think of yourself.
19. Do not contrive to be a loving person: work to be a real person. Being real is being loving.
20. The greatest love you could ever offer to another is to so transform you inner life that others are attracted to your genuine example of goodness.             
    

Source: “Twenty Special Secrets,” from Mystic Path to Cosmic Power, by Vernon Howard

Online Source: The Bounded Spirit

Pedro Reyes Turns Guns Into Functioning Musical Instruments

Violence has been running rampant in Northern Mexico throughout the last six years.

Artist Pedro Reyes is doing his best to reverse this trend by sculpting confiscated weapons into functioning musical instruments.

Image Courtesy of Lisson Gallery, click to see more on Pedro Reyes’ Art and Philosophy.

Why  Turn Guns Into Instruments?

In an email to the Associated Press, Pedro said, “The music expelled the demons [the guns] held, as well as being a requiem for lives lost.”

At Lucid Practice, we believe in using creativity to counteract violence. We believe in changing negative societal norms — we’re featuring Pedro today because his project is a testament to these virtues.

The guns that Reyes used came from the Mexican Army who had confiscated the weapons from Ciudad Juárez, a violent city just south of Texas (see map below) with a population of over one million people. It is believed that Ciudad Juárez reached a murder rate of 300 per month at the peak of recent violence.

An Act of Protest?

With drug cartels and frequent violence, protests in Juarez’ surrounding cities has been common. However, Reyes’ work transcends protests as he says, “[My work] is not just a protest, but a proposal…. This project has a pacifist intent.”

Image Courtesy of Lisson Gallery, click to see more on Pedro Reyes’ Art and Philosophy.

How We Can Learn from Pedro Reyes

At Lucid Practice, we admire Reyes for his ability to use creativity, music, and love to combat suffering and bring the concept of peace to a devastated region. Instead of merely defining a problem, Reyes is using art to express a completely contrarian perspective to what the region has become accustomed to. As Reyes says, “This exercise of transformation we see with the guns, is what we would like to see in society.”

Mr. Reyes is correct, everywhere we see hate, let’s turn it into love.

What are your thoughts about turning weapons into instruments?

Final Scene of It’s a Wonderful Life and Why it Matters at Christmas

If you’ve ever seen this film, there’s no doubt that this final scene is moving. If you’ve never seen this film, I encourage you to do so.

Why I Disliked It’s a Wonderful Life in My Youth

Growing up, my family watched It’s a Wonderful Life every year at Christmas time. I remember dreading having to watch the movie mostly because I could not understand it in my youth. For a ten year old kid, the movie was unappealing because it was:

• In black and white
• The characters sounded funny (1930’s American English)
• It was “boring”

What It’s a Wonderful Life Means to Me

Over the years, I’ve grown to love It’s a Wonderful Life. Today, it is my favorite movie and I’ll even go as far as saying that it has literally changed my life.

I enjoy the film more and more each time I watch it. After watching it last night, I felt compelled to share my experience on Lucid Practice.

What is It’s a Wonderful Life About?

As a boy, the protagonist, George Bailey had always wanted to travel the world, build buildings, and shape the direction of the rising USA. However, after high school he ended up staying in the, “crummy old town” he grew up in because of circumstances outside of his control.

Midway through the movie, mistakes and hardships have compounded and George is in a bad place. He contemplates suicide at which point he asks God for a sign.

God grants George the magical gift of seeing the world as if he had never been born. One of the film’s many strengths is in its ability to depict the horror of the condition of George’s hometown, his family, and his friends without his presence in their life.

After the powerful scenes that ensue, George’s guardian angel says, “Strange, isn’t it? Each man’s life touches so many other lives, and when he isn’t around he leaves an awful hole to fill, doesn’t he? … You see, George, you really had a wonderful life. Don’t you see what a mistake it would be to throw it away?”

What We Can Learn from It’s a Wonderful Life

The poignant message of It’s a Wonderful Life is this: Be a good person and make a positive impact (even if your efforts seem to go unnoticed) on the world. This is the way Brian and I intend to live and that’s the reason Lucid Practice was Founded.

The scene above is the climax of the film when George realizes that the adversities in his life are minuscule when compared to the gift of life itself. The struggles and suffering that each of us have and go through can be looked at in the same light.

This is one of the ways I have looked at life and it’s been an incredible instrument, arming me with positive energy in the face of adversity and negativity.

The scene above and this outlook on life can be directly related to this eloquent quote:

“There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.” ~Albert Einstein

What if we all looked at life this way? And not just throughout the Christmas season, but all the time….

Here are six traits that are emphasized throughout It’s a Wonderful Life:

• love
• family
• community
• friendship
• honesty
• faith

It’s a Wonderful Life and Christmas

The above traits are also qualities of Jesus. To me, the definition of Christianity and Catholicism is simply, “being Christlike.”

So this holiday season and beyond, be Christlike (even if you’re not technically Christian). Remember how sacred the gift of life is and do your best to make a positive dent on the universe.

Merry Christmas to all of the Lucid Practice Community!

Love, Paz