I have been walking and swimming along this life, traveling countries and working hard, to achieve peace and happiness among people, spreading smiles and respectful behaviors. The road is very long, but for some time now I have been thinking about the power of music to unite people, in the universal language of lyrics and meaningful stories, as well as good cinema that spreads messages of hope, of learnings, of meeting cultures and different ways of living, and living together in peace, despite diversity. For my second year in Africa, i am learning mostly about forgetfulness & forgiveness.
Yes, exactly. How to easily forget and how to easily forgive as well. In Africa sometimes it is slightly more difficult to get things done, to go around places, to have reliable transportation systems, to enjoy a full range of bookstores, public libraries and safe open parks and freely walking around the street, by yourself.
For this, your body gets stronger and your mind deals with many different people, genuinely willing to help you, but also willing to ask you for anything without filters sometimes. The mind is firstly amazed at their behaviors, and then, slowly slowly, you adapt to the environment and you start understanding dynamics, the background, the culture and the history of these countries, that reflect in the daily behavior of the local population. By getting to know the history, you plunge into an interesting experience of learning and sharing, African people want to listen and learn from you, and you want to learn from them. You come to realize that everybody wants to be happy, with the less amount of troubles as possible.
Tapping into peace of mind through the spreading of positive messages, inspiring stories of hard work, resilience and love, I think this is the way we should go about it. The world is complex, politics is a board of chess, strategic and sometimes cruel, and economic interests reign all over the globe. With this consciousness in mind, we must think about the silver linings ( being able to live every day for instance and see the sun rise upon our heads) and rise up together, appreciating talents of people, and learning to unleash our positive talents as well, what we are good at for instance, listening to people and sharing, and working hard to achieve our goals, our deep dreams and desires. without harming anyone, traveling to see something new, eating healthy, listening to a lot of music, reading, relaxing by ourselves and getting some good sports & exercises.
Forgetting about the daily logistics troubles, grumpy people around you who can easily put your happy mood down, but focusing rather on the beauty of what surrounds us, nature for instance, and a good body workout at the gym or a relaxing swim, never taking anything for granted. Giving a smile to a stranger, or having a nice fun chat with a friend.
Forgiving about some verbal misunderstanding, or some missed appointments, or distance that dilutes and sometimes distorts feelings and actions, although they are the same but you cannot keep repeating or stressing the same concepts ( sometimes you just need to see the people face-to-face or call them on the phone to hear their voices and feel their presence around you).
Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans, as John Lennon sings in the song “Beautiful Boy”, “ I guess we'll both just have to be patient”. While we wait and we spread positive vibes by instilling in ourselves and in other people the strength to move on, in good and bad times, we need to take each other’s hands and move on together, and, reminding my Brazilian life, give Hugs as a way to feel the person/people around you, loved and listened. Bliss is built over time and experiences, but if we create good moments and, as a consequence, good memories that stay in our mind, our perception of Life, this temporary state of awareness of Planet Earth, will be bright, shining as the Light that enters our windows every day.
Life is how we perceive it, based on our attitudes and about how we face situations. My humble advise is to Smile, and Surround yourself with people that do not complain, but who gently, calmly, and with a lot of inner strength, they face situations and they solve problems.
Bliss Formula: Respect, Appreciate, Love more, Hugs, Smile. by Gaia
My Bliss Formula is to Respect, Appreciate, Love more than your Heart can, Hug more, Smile more!
With this life reflection, some songs for you, spreading blissful messages:
Don’t give hate a chance- Jamiroquai
Lady ( hear me tonight)- Modjo
God gave me everything- Mick Jagger & Lenny Kravitz
Wonderwall- Oasis
Summertime- DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince