GABRIELA YARELIZ

Pure Religion

“Pure and undefiled religion speaks for itself. It transforms the characters of all who receive it, improving their usefulness and beautifying all with which it is brought in contact…. A man’s worth is not measured by the position of responsibility that he occupies but by the Christlike spirit that he reveals. When the Saviour abides in the heart the work bears the impress of the divine touch. Self does not appear. Christ is revealed as the One altogether lovely.”– Ellen G. White

To Start the Autumn Vibes

[Images reblogged from 500-days-of-autumn.tumblr.com and autumntiming.tumblr.com]

Compiled by: Gabriela Yareliz

Marisa De Los Santos’ books always make me feel warm and fuzzy, comfortable, and they cast a soft glow on your soul. A book of hers is definitely a pick-me-up for the autumn days.

It’s time to dig out my sweaters from the closet bags. (Ironing sweaters is tedious, but it must be done sometimes). It’s also a good time to watch H&M closely for two for one sweater sales.

I bought myself some ramekins (which I can’t pronounce), and I am excited to make more than kale-egg, gluten-free quiches in them. Pumpkins and squash anyone?

It will also be time to do more than juice with apples. Apples are special when they are in season.

One word: Red.

Spend more time outside to escape school and all other evils.

Shine your boots; or at least wipe them down.

Corduroy and flannel–I would trade suits for them any day in a heart beat.

Marion, la femme

“I’ve always felt an outcast; There is something strange about me. I don’t ever feel at ease in a group of people. I have to fight hard to overcome my fears.” – Marion Cotillard, The Guardian

The Gardens at St. Luke in the Fields, Hudson Street

By: Gabriela Yareliz

One of Manhattan’s loveliest places is tucked away at 487 Hudson St. I have spent many evenings at the Gardens at St. Luke; sometimes they are empty, sometimes they are full of children playing, while the mothers and nannies sit in a circle on the grass surrounded by strollers. The guardians occasionally remind the children to play nice, and then, they continue talking about play dates, cupcakes, school events and motherly topics. I like the place so much, I even stopped by the morning of my birthday. I was alone and serene that morning; only the birds and butterflies made sounds.

The Gardens are hidden away in the West Village; they are so close to the Hudson River that the gate entrance is on Hudson Street. The walk along Hudson Street in the West Village is one of my favorites.

This is how I discovered the Gardens: One day, I was marching up Hudson Street, and I saw a brick wall with a gate. I was on the opposite side of the street, but of course, curiosity got the best of me. I waited to cross, and I entered the gate. It was like walking into the Secret Garden. It was an early spring afternoon (if I dare call it that–it was still cold). I walked through the gate and took a deep breath. The Gardens were solitary. Nice wooden benches were clean and inviting under spring branches. New little green leaves filtered the golden evening light.

When you walk in, you can walk little footpaths in whichever direction you choose. Little paths take you to different Gardens and compartments. There are benches, flowers, hoses, birdbaths, and sometimes, a guitar player in a melodious corner or a reader who is mentally worlds away.

I am always looking for a quiet place to rest my mind. Despite the fact that I pray wherever I go, it’s always nice to find a place that invites you to be still, and above all, a place that displays nature in all of its splendor.

Ellen G. White once wrote, “In the things of nature, marred as they are by the blight of sin, much that is beautiful remains. One omnipotent in power, great in goodness, in mercy, and love, has created the earth, and even in its blighted state it inculcates truths in regard to the skillful Master Artist. In this book of nature opened to us—in the beautiful, scented flowers, with their varied and delicate coloring—God gives to us an unmistakable expression of His love.”

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows his handiwork.” Psalm 19:1

“I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes […] (now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)” e. e. cummings

These Gardens have been such a gift to me. In each flower, bird and tree can be found a spiritual lesson, wisdom and hope for what is to come. I cannot wait to see the Gardens as they change when autumn brings its glow and winter, its gray.

When I walk through the Gardens’ gate, I immediately smell dirt, flowers, leaves and life. Joy and peace fill me, while the drip-drip of the birdbath and water collector makes music to compliment its little bathers, the birds. When you walk through the Gardens, just as in life, you walk a path engulfed by magnificent beauty.

Not At Our Own Convenience

From Ellen G. White’s Testimonies for the Church, vol. 3

“Knowledge is not all that we need; we must follow the light. We are not left to choose for ourselves and to obey that which is agreeable to us and to disobey when it best suits our convenience. Obedience is better than sacrifice.” – {3T 116.1}

Published! Latina Magazine September 2014

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Pick up a copy of Latina Magazine, September 2014 issue with Adrienne Bailon on the cover because it’s official: I have been published! I am super excited to have this opportunity to share a bit of my walk and growth as a young Latina professional. It has been a year filled with so many surprises and blessings. It is so awesome to be published by a magazine I grew up reading; a magazine that inspired me and showed me that people who look like me can succeed!

Thank you, Latina Magazine!

#blessedbeyondbelief

There Are More Things

There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
– Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

Facing Yourself

[Awesome gifs in post from: Boy Meets World Gifs]

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Anyone remember Boy Meets World? In Girl Meets World, Cory and Topanga return as parents. Who didn’t love the hilarious Cory and smart Topanga? Topanga became a New York lawyer, and pretty soon, it seems like she will be facing her childhood self in an emotional time of reflection.

When I heard about this, I thought about what many of us students and young professionals face day to day. The pressure, the money chase, the responsibilities, the numbers–

Many changes are looming in the future for many of us. We are all consumed with applications, expectations, and thoughts of jobs, money and loan payments. When I saw this “Topanga Moment of Reflection”, I thought that it’s time for all of us to reflect and make sure that we are taking steps toward becoming the person we want to be; the person God wants us to be.

School is difficult, and to top that, we are often exposed to the ugliest side of mankind; its violence, its greed; its malice; its deceit; its competition. With so much evil and tragedy, sometimes you really do feel your soul dies a little.

This post is probably really random and terribly written, but my invitation is for each of us, regardless of age, to think of that child we were– the essence of who we are. Sometimes, that person gets lost, suppressed, thrown away–

It’s not about being a child again; it’s about not losing an essential part of yourself. It’s about living a life that you’re proud of; a life that the child-version of yourself would be proud of–and if you are not living that life, as Fitzgerald says, I hope you have the courage and strength to start again.

The child inside of us should never die.

As Topanga once said, “Jedidiah and Chloe say, every time you are not true to yourself, the Earth weeps.” It’s a weird way to put it, but you get the idea.

Don’t lose yourself.

Don’t let them change your or even rearrange you.

To Live Longer, Walk Slowly

“Days of slow walking are very long; they make you live longer, because you have allowed every hour, every minute, every second to breathe, to deepen, instead of filling them up by straining the joints. Hurrying means doing several things at once, and quickly: this; then that; and then something else. When you hurry, time is filled to bursting, like a badly-arranged drawer in which you have stuffed different things without any attempt at order.” A Philosophy of Walking by Frederic Gros, pg. 37

Autumn Fever

Soundtrack for this post: Ben Rector–Yes, let’s bring this back.

By: Gabriela Yareliz

Last year, I really fell in love with autumn. Spring is fabulous; there is always something wonderful about getting some warmth and relief from a brutal winter (looking at you, winter of 2014), but autumn was beautiful. Maybe, I am turning into an autumn girl, or maybe that is how disappointing this weird summer weather has been. In autumn, I love the clothes we get to wear (no need for iron-rubber leggings quite yet), and that back-to-school, crisp, new-beginning feeling. I like the darker makeup, the neater hair, the color palette, and how the leaves look so beautiful while dying. Fall, I have fallen for you. I feel you coming autumn…

“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

What the excitement is all about:

1] The general feeling: I don’t live in a cozy cabin, but I love how at the Whole Foods entrance, only in this season, the smell of pumpkin and cinnamon spice embraces you.

2] The makeup: Okay, so maybe we don’t walk around with lipstick this dark, but still– you get to be a bit more daring, edgy and dark in your color palette.