The Secret Garden

“I am sure there is Magic in everything, only we have not sense enough to get hold of it and make it do things for us.” Frances Hodgson Burnett

Image via Pinterest.

By: Gabriela Yareliz

When I was a teen, we regularly visited an office that offered certain services. The services were not for me, and I would sit in a waiting room for long periods of time. I remember the place had yellowish walls. It was clean, bright and had good snacks. I looked forward to going to this place even though I would just sit and wait.

The regular movie of choice on the corner television was The Secret Garden, one of my favorite books. I spent hours of my life watching this movie on repeat. Given the circumstances in my life, it was fitting. Definitely a comfort movie. No matter how many times I have watched this movie, it never gets old. It just doesn’t. There are so many lessons we can take from it about life.

I was fortunate, later in life, to share this book with my stepdaughter. Its emotional weight for me I think was somehow transmitted, and she understood.

The garden—

The things that lie dormant. The beauty waiting to burst forward. The healing that awaits us all.

What has been locked away for you? Sarah Ban Breathnach says, “We all have a ‘Secret Garden’ in the depths of our soul and the state of that garden depends upon the health and vitality of our inner life, not our outer one. When, through death, debt, divorce, or illness, we are abruptly pulled away from the life we expected to be living, planned for and dreamed about, and suddenly find ourselves in an alien landscape, it is staggering to all our senses: the five physical senses as well as the two spiritual senses-intuition and wonder. What’s so shocking is that this new reality has no timetable.”

Every day, we can take out some weeds, redirect a vine, plant a seed and place hope in the future in the hands of the present. And little by little, a space, a life, a world can be transformed.

From the film The Secret Garden.

Make Meaning

By: Gabriela Yareliz

How do we measure life? I was reflecting on this when Ranier Wylde’s words came to me. Wylde discusses Sisyphus. His piece is great, and it reminded me of how much Stoicism has impacted how I think of things in the world. When faced with a dilemma, I do often stop and think about what is within my control.

Sisyphus pushing the boulder up the mountain— Rainier Wylde describes Albert Camus’ perspective (emphasis added):

“This, Camus said, was life. 

[…] He says you have to imagine Sisyphus as happy. Not happy because he changed his mindset in order to like the boulder. It’s not like you can trick yourself into enjoying the suffering. He’s not adopting a stoic zen way of making peace with the world. He’s happy because the boulder is his. The mountain is his. The hours of his life he’s spending on this task are the only hours he’s got and nobody else is going to spend them for him! This is something only he can do. […] But more than that he refuses to let Sisyphus hand the hours over to despair instead of living them fully.”

Wylde writes, “Most days I get up, I push whatever the boulder is in front of me, because it’s there, and I must. I make. I make meaning.”

***

What boulder is in your hands? What is your mountain? What are you doing that only you can do? How do you make meaning?

Saoko

Times Square in chaos.

By: Gabriela Yareliz

NYC has felt the influx of people for the World Cup. I have seen large clusters of Brazilians, Algerians, French, and Colombian visitors.

I have been listening to Saoko on repeat. It’s all about change and transformation, after all.

Some of the moments collected in the week (culturally and personally):

The Tkachuks Take Florida

Excited for this!!

Brady Tkachuk (my fav Tkachuk bro) has been traded to Florida from Ottawa. The Florida Panthers welcome the red blooded American who was in Canada for too long.

Brady in beast mode.

The Tkachuk brothers chat about it here. I am excited for this. He is self described as heavier, faster and a more physical player. All the things that make him fascinating to watch.

The comments to the breaking news were iconic. My favorite is that the Florida Panthers now have the best of the U.S. and Canada Olympic rosters. Almost. Practically. Yes.

Some comments said we should just give the cup to Florida already. Ha. Call it, they said.

We’ll see how Paul Maurice works his magic.

Brady with the iconic Bill Zito.

Skims Cotton Campaign

Skims tapped Hailey Bieber for its cotton campaign, and it’s iconic. The way Skims campaigns are so on point. Always. It’s something to be studied.

And you know who trains Hailey Bieber for these campaigns? Kirsty Godso of Pyro.

Energy Fusion

I am almost done with The Core’s 21-day Challenge. When I started, I felt the ache and exhaustion in my bones. In my last week, I am feeling different. I feel like I have more energy than I have had in like two years. I am not kidding. And that is better than all the aesthetic marketing out there in the wellness world.

This burst of new-found energy came from a decision to pivot from Pilates-centered workouts. They are great for period days, but I am sort of over it on the reg. I am transitioning into a season of heavy weights and HIIT. Next up is the Pyro summer workouts getting added in. High energy and impact. Going for combustion. (So much sweat guys). Can’t stop, won’t stop.

Maia Henry and Haley Wheeler are launching IT GIRL, next week. Can’t wait to see what that announcement will be.

The Best is Yet to Come

Sometimes, in many aspects of life, we look back and wonder if the best is behind us. It sounds cliché, but we fall into this in subtle and obvious ways.

It can feel nostalgic, sweet, and sometimes, sad. We can take an Eras Tour in our memories. If there is anything I know, it’s that I want this moment and the future to be the best era ever. It will be. It can be. It’s all about what you decide to make it.

Sweating to make it the fullest, most fantastic (and fittest) era of them all. No regress. Only progress.

“Lluvia de estrellas; yo me transformo.” Rosalía

A Notch

By: Gabriela Yareliz

I am quoting Gab Waller quoting someone else— she saw: ‘Due to personal reasons, it’s time to turn things up a fuckin notch’.

If you reflect on your life right now and see all the layers to your current situation— what needs to be taken up a notch?

Tomorrow, we dive head first into summer (officially). What will this new season be focused on? What will it make space for?

I was looking at before and after pictures of my coach. The woman joined a CrossFit team a few years ago and looks 20 years younger than she looked 20 years ago. It was a reminder that one decision can change your life. Your entire life.

Sometimes, that’s what it takes— a decision to take it up a notch.

This Week’s Favorites 06.19.26

By: Gabriela Yareliz

The week is coming to an end. Nothing like a Friday. I continued my The Core 21-day challenge, and I am getting ready to go on a solid morning walk before the sun starts roasting us. I am excited to start Sarah Dessen’s new book!

Spent some time starting to deep clean closets. I found my DVDs of season three of The Wire. I laughed remembering when I thought I would be a public defender in Baltimore. I was interviewing there, and a clinical professor at my law school told me to watch The Wire. I wandered over to an old video store in the Village that no longer exists and got season three for like seven bucks. A gem. Didn’t throw it out.

And to finish my Baltimore story— they ghosted me after my interview. It truly was not meant to be. Ha. There is a Baltimore blog here from that time.

This blog is truly the scrapbook of my brain over time. I want to thank all of you who come back here and read the musings. Hopefully, you get inspired or at least walk away with a chuckle.

My hockey posts have been on fire this week. Hockey is still on the mind. Below are some of my favorites and a fun and insightful interview with winning coach Rod Brind’Amour.

The cinder block thing was so iconic. Such a great storyline.

“I need people to know that health is not nuanced. It is extremely simple and should be treated as such.” Dr. Jenna Lagana

“I can never remember things I didn’t understand in the first place.” Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club

“The holiest of all holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart, The secret anniversaries of the heart…” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

This adorable Staud bag:

Izzy Utterson

“Teach your daughters financial independence so that they seek a life partner, not a provider. And teach your sons domestic independence so that they seek a beloved partner, not a housekeeper.” Nawal El Saadawi

Permanent Retrograde, Kelly Oxford’s piece: Emily Ratajkowski Found Herself But Where Did She Look? (One of my favorite parts: “And she did leave. That’s true and it’s brave and I’m not taking it from her. But notice how she proves to herself that leaving was right. Not by being content on her own. By being wanted again, faster and hotter than before. That isn’t freedom from the gaze. It’s a promotion inside it. She used to be the wife being looked at. Now she’s the villain being looked at. New costume, same job, and the job is being looked at.”)

Rainier Wylde
The GLWGuide
Via James McCrae

Song of the week:

Familiar Faces

By: Gabriela Yareliz

There are days when I think I see Anthony Bourdain in NYC. There are a lot of men who look like him. Today, I felt like I saw him on 7th while some other man explained to a World Cup tourist that such and such building is the “tallest skyscraper.” It’s not, and I don’t know what kind of bootleg tour they were taking people on. Scams abound in high tourist seasons.

One day, I saw a man who looked like Jeffrey Epstein if he joined witness protection. There are people with “familiar faces”. Is it a blessing or a curse? I guess it depends on who you look like.