Expect miracles.
Photo by: Gabriela Yareliz
By Gabriela Yareliz
God has been so good. I have been overwhelmed with blessings; so many beyond my comprehesion. God truly blesses us beyond our finite minds and understanding. What amazing love! I pray that today you may take a moment and see His blessings in your life.
Photo by: Gabriela Yareliz
By: Gabriela Yareliz
There are some who say they hate writing. Writing is a discipline. Writing can be messy, and you can end up with ink silhouetting what looks like a blue or black bruise on the side of your hand. Writing takes thought. Writing can take you to unexpected places. Writing is never perfect in the first attempt. Writing well requires work. Life is just like that.
We are all writers; while we live our lives, we write.
Each person has his or her story.
I believe there is a good God who providentially has plans for our lives, but when we make our choices in our free will, when we choose whether we want to live out that plan, we have a pen in our hands. Some things we choose have serious consequences, and they are permanent–this is when we write in pen. Then, there is God’s forgiveness and second chances; this is where a divine eraser and a little more paper shows up on the scene.
Todos somos escritores, mientras vivimos, escribimos.
We often make plans; outfit plans (we iron ahead of time), dinner plans (we make reservations), outings with friends (we separate that time on our calendar), and we have a vision for how we want things to go or even how we want them to look.
It’s important we have an idea of how we want our lives to look; what we want people to see; what we want for ourselves; what we want to give to others. We should have a vision of ourselves, knowing God has our maximum potential in mind.
The semester ended, but as someone wise once said: There are no endings, only new beginnings. New beginnings are lovely. The best new beginnings are the mature, committed, focused and exciting.
A new summer is in front of us. It’s a time to grow in knowledge, experience, and also in maturity and professionalism.
It’s a time to make a mark but to also grow into the adult envisioned.
It’s okay to leave room for providence to surprise us. After all, when a writer writes, sometimes things go into an unexpected direction and unravel by themselves. It’s lovely to allow life to unfold around us as we continue on our journey.
Have a vision, expect miracles, smile at the unexpected, and don’t forget to laugh.
As the summer begins, decide to actively write your story and fulfill your passion, your destiny.
Write with flair. Write in bold. Write big. Write uniquely. Write with vision. Write, continually improving. Write with purpose. Write making magic. Write taking risks. Write without fearing realities. Don’t let anyone write for you.
In journalism school, I often heard that no one likes to write, we just like it when it’s done. I think the happiest writers are the ones who feel satisfaction as they write and see the whole process as a joy. Live with vision, enjoying every step.
As Ernest Hemingway wrote: “You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”
Write the truest sentence with your life.
XXVI
Islas
Caminar por la arena
cuando apenas está hollada
es como descubrir el mundo
por primera vez: todo es
nuevo y puro y frágil
como la luz que nos cubre
y rendidos ante ella
no dejamos de ser
sino islas de un archipiélago:
cada una con su identidad
pero cada una perdida
en la vasta quietud
de la inmensidad
que nos es desconocida
Aislados por las olas
nuestro pequeño mundo
de arena y sal no es suficiente
carece del sabor y olor a vida
de las azules conversaciones
con extraños y del gesto imprevisto
del descubrimiento: apenas
una pequeña fortaleza
austera, sitiada por el tiempo
hasta caer
Viajar entre las islas resulta
así el don de vida;
volver la vista
tras hollar la playa,
la leve hoja escrita
de nuestro fugaz existir.
Luis Pablo Núñez, Luz, Light, Licht
¿Sera que nos da miedo quedar en el olvido? ¿Sera por esa razón que buscamos grandeza? Queremos ser como los personajes de la historia, en libros intelectuales y libros sagrados; sus historias grabadas para siempre– para bien ó para mal… -Gabriela Yareliz
Toda claridad viene del cielo, Es un don, no se halla entre las cosas.
Claudio Rodríguez
All clarity comes from heaven, it’s a gift and cannot be found among things.
Claudio Rodriguez
By: Gabriela Yareliz
Love is a lot of things. We can go down a list that resembles 1 Corinthians 13 or a wedding vow.
Love is powerful, sacrificial and one of the greatest, if not the greatest, force in the world. And while it’s all those things and more, it’s interesting to think of how it arrives.
Sometimes, it hits us like exhaustion after a four hour exam. One minute, you are rejoicing for the mental stamina that sustained you through the morning misery, and the next moment, you are crying on your comforter, smearing mascara on it while wondering if you have quarters to wash the makeup stained bedding. Flooding with the non-waterproof makeup is the energy drain of hours you spent studying for that instrument of torture. So it hits you, which can be traumatic, and then, you feel better.
Sometimes, love is like a garden you stumble upon, on accident. You didn’t know it was there, and then you take a glance. You are surprised; you are pleased; everything is blooming. It’s like your very own secret garden in your heart. It’s like a flower that you are waiting to see open. It’s slow, and you often notice after it’s already partially open, teasing the world with its inevitable beauty. You find it on accident, and then, you marvel.
Love can be a subtle enthrallment.
Speaking of subtle…there is a love campaign around NYC that has been quite subtle. Allow me to explain. You see, on my birthday, I went for a lovely walk. I was waiting to cross at a crosswalk (again–not jaywalking; I am so good, I know). I was at the cross of Mott and something else (just after crossing Houston). I looked down at my little Converse on the edge of the grimy sidewalk corner. My foot was close to a sticker. I stepped back and noticed it said, “Love is Telepathic.”
How cute, I thought. What is telepathic? I questioned, as I crossed the street. It’s about a silent communication. No words. No gesture. Perhaps, “something” perceived as nothing at all. It’s when something is clear as day, despite no word or explanation.
I didn’t know it then, but Mark Samsonovich is behind this message. The sticker made me think of all that we don’t communicate, yet know, somehow.
I walked south, closer to the Brooklyn Bridge. This time, on a post, at eye level, was the same sticker. I thought, My! The theme of the day. Love is telepathic.
Finally, walking up through SoHo, I was waiting to cross the street; when I looked up, I saw at a distance the side of a building which said, Love is Telepathic.
So apparently, looking down, at eyelevel and looking up–the message was: Love is Telepathic.
What does this mean? Perhaps, it’s a testament to all that has been left unspoken. Maybe, it’s an ode to the gardens blooming in us. Or maybe, it’s a confirmation of all that we deny, but already know.
The thing is, even when we are subtle, we know what’s going on. It’s telepathic, after all.
By: Gabriela Yareliz
April is done. The tension at school is palpable. Exams are looming in the forecast like heavy dark clouds. This month was filled with fun, laughter, some beautiful days and flowers. YouTube finally decided to do an ad campaign with its ever famous and now ubiquitous makeup artists; trees turned pink and their branches were heavy with flowers; we started wearing some color (despite the NYC uniform being black); tension mounted, tension faded; and it seems the month is sad to go because it has turned rainy and cold. The cold weather is perfect for study time. The uglier it is outside, the less I feel the magnetic pull of needing to go wander for hours outside.
Most of all, April was a month of dreams come true. (For more on that, skip to #13.) God is so good.
No matter how long you hold on to a dream, know that it can still come true.
And with that: Welcome May!
2] “Needless anxiety is a foolish thing, and it hinders us from standing in a true position before God. When the Holy Spirit comes into the soul, there will be no desire to complain and murmur because we do not have everything we want. Rather, we will thank God from a full heart for the blessings that we have…” Ellen G. White, Revival and Reformation Devotional, Taken from: “Shun Needless Worry”
3]
4]
Tanning guy: All right Mr. Geller! Right this way! So, how dark do you wanna be?! We have one, two or three.
Ross: Well… I like how you look, what are you?
Tanning guy: Puerto Rican
Ross: Two, I think a two.
5] About healthy living:
Gluten-Free Girl has recipes and ideas: http://glutenfreegirl.com/
About that caffeine: 7 Worrisome Facts about Caffeine
Quitting sugar–for life: http://iquitsugar.com
6] Chelsea Clinton is expecting! Congrats to her family and the Clintons, soon-to-be grandparents!
Loved this month’s cover of Fast Company:
7] When Love Arrives
8] A friend and mentor shared this poem with me.
It was lovely, so, here it is!
I Happened To Be Standing
by Mary Oliver
I don’t know where prayers go,
or what they do.
Do cats pray, while they sleep
half-asleep in the sun?
Does the opossum pray as it
crosses the street?
The sunflowers? The old black oak
growing older every year?
I know I can walk through the world,
along the shore or under the trees,
with my mind filled with things
of little importance, in full
self-attendance. A condition I can’t really
call being alive.
Is a prayer a gift, or a petition,
or does it matter?
The sunflowers blaze, maybe that’s their way.
Maybe the cats are sound asleep. Maybe not.
While I was thinking this I happened to be standing
just outside my door, with my notebook open,
which is the way I begin every morning.
Then a wren in the privet began to sing.
He was positively drenched in enthusiasm,
I don’t know why. And yet, why not.
I wouldn’t persuade you from whatever you believe
or whatever you don’t. That’s your business.
But I thought, of the wren’s singing, what could this be
if it isn’t a prayer?
So I just listened, my pen in the air.
“I Happened To Be Standing” by Mary Oliver from A Thousand Mornings. © The Penguin Press, 2012. Reprinted with permission. (buy now)
9] The games we play:
[From http://mindyproject.tumblr.com ]
10] Dolce & Gabbana is always spectacular.
I love the old world, romantic, feminine loveliness.
11] Monica Bellucci April Cover for Woman Madame Figaro
12]
John Oliver’s Last Week Tonight show premiere on HBO was fantastic, and I am sure it will only get better.
13] Save the best for last…
I saw Carla Bruni in concert, and I had the honor of meeting Nicolas Sarkozy. Thank you God for making dreams come true! God has a way of making things come together. When God moves, He goes all the way for us, not just halfway. Never forget that.
[Above: One of my favorite people in the political world: Nicolas Sarkozy; and his wife, of whom I have been a fan for many, many years.]
A thanks to both of them for coming to NYC. It was an incredible night, and an amazing birthday wish come true.
Her concert was fantastic. She was warm and absolutely lovely. I loved her performance of this song:
By: Gabriela Yareliz
I absolutely loved Calligrapher Nicolas Ouchenir’s interview with Garance Dore.
My favorite part of the interview was when Ouchenir said:
“We can’t do without the world of pens because writing things by hand brings out our imperfections. If you grow up without seeing your mistakes, you won’t know how to handle failure. All these mood boards, Tumblr pages etc. today don’t really belong to anyone in the end, there is no longer a sense of property. Whereas writing shows who you truly are. You need to know yourself in order to take a pen and put your feelings down on paper. There are difficult phases in every lifetime and I think it’s important to take the time to sit down and be alone sometimes.
I write 8 hours every day. With calligraphy, you are eternally unsatisfied.”
[As featured on http://www.garancedore.fr ]
To read the entire interview: Career/ Nicolas Ouchenir–Garance Dore
By: Gabriela Yareliz
People leave different things behind after they die. Some leave furniture and clothes; some leave heartache; some leave a life of service; some leave money; some leave anger. After a life of service and love, I think one of the greatest things a person can leave behind are words– words that inspire; words that are timeless; words that provoke thought and emotion. What always attracted me to Shakespeare was: how old the writing was, the poetry and most of all, the timeless examination of the human heart and human condition. He was bold and wisely explored some of life’s greatest questions, themes and contradictions: love, destiny, truth, friendship, family and power.
I got into Shakespeare in junior high school. The first play I read was A Midsummer Night’s Dream. I was enthralled. My teacher, Mrs. King, noticed and gave me a special assignment. I gave a presentation on allusions in the play. I liked the fact that it made my little 7th grade brain stretch; it made me think. I loved his humor and wit.
In high school, I fell in deeper love with William. When you are in a British program, there is an appropriate heavy emphasis on Shakespeare from year one. My amazing freshman year English teacher gave us a paper with Romeo and Juliet quotes for our wallet (so we could bust out a Mercutio line when necessary). We read the play about three times, watched the movie, and then, we saw the play, live. I still remember thinking they should not have made Mercutio better looking than Romeo. Then came Macbeth, The Tempest, Julius Caesar, The Winter’s Tale, Hamlet, Othello, The Taming of the Shrew, etc. I was the girl checking out from the library “As you like it.”
Today is Shakespeare’s 450th birthday. I wanted to post, even though it almost seems cliché or silly, but Shakespeare means a lot to me. His plays and sonnets make my heart expand and soar. I think his philosophy really shaped my own in some respects, and so, today is my Shakespeare appreciation day. His hope, his illusion, his passion, still whisper something into the depth of my heart; sometimes acting like Cinderella’s fairy godmother’s wand, conjuring belief and emotion out of mere shattered pumpkins.
It’s masterful when someone can arrange words to express what seem to be the unspeakable emotions of the heart. It’s also masterful when someone can arrange words to express the most ordinary thoughts into poetry.
Even more, it’s masterful that his words and imagination from the 1500s can move the heart or humor of a young woman, as myself, in 2014.
William’s writing shows, that even after you are gone, you can remain.
“I don’t know how your story ended, but if what you felt then was true love, then it’s never too late. If it was true then, why wouldn’t it be true now? You only need the courage to follow your heart.
I don’t know what a love like Juliet’s feels like; a love to leave loved ones for, a love to cross oceans for, but I’d like to believe, if ever I were to feel it, that I’d have the courage to seize it. And Claire if you didn’t, I hope one day that you will.
All my love,
Juliet”
From “Letter’s To Juliet”
THIS POST HAS A SOUNDTRACK. (I know it can be annoying to press play, and then scroll back up to stop the song when it’s time for the next one, but indulge me).
1] Do me a favor and click play on this, so it plays while you read:
By: Gabriela Yareliz
Welcome to New York City in the spring. The weather has been fluctuating in strange ways. Sometimes, we have a 45-degree gray day; other times, we are prancing through a 67-degree sunlit masterpiece. Regardless, it’s spring, and it’s here trying to complete its metamorphosis into a hot sticky summer.
The Hudson is filled with runners, lovers on picnic and tanners who read (so intellectual, I know). On Easter Sabbath, a few of us went to the Hudson walk to relax in the sunshine. It was a lovely afternoon.
As you continue to walk uptown, you notice the shop-lined avenues such as Fifth, Park and Madison are sprinkled with trees that are flowering. Walking uptown is never boring. The shops now have their doors open, and you barely need to walk because you can be swept along by a mob of tourists eating ice cream and their little children swinging American Girl bags that crinkle as they get smashed against your pedestrian legs. There is usually some classic music spilling onto the avenues. By classic, I don’t mean Mozart, I mean an old Michael Jackson song or something.
I was walking with a friend up to Central Park to see the blooming trees. We were walking in the 50s blocks, when a shop with its doors wide open had this playing:
2] Second song of the soundtrack (play after Uptown Girl):
While walking, everyone sharing the sidewalk started grooving. Yes, we all know this song. Why walk, when you can dance up Fifth Avenue? Some tourists beside us started moving Michael Jackson style, twirling and all. It was fantastic.
When we arrived at Central Park, we glanced around and didn’t see the trees immediately. Turns out, you need to enter the park around 70th street. Then, our eyes fell on the Pilgrim Man. The Pilgrim Father (not my father, but somebody’s father) was standing majestically immersed in flowering trees. It was getting dark. Picnic romantics started picking up their bright pink and yellow blankets and leaving. We decided to sit under the trees. The temperature started dropping, and an ant tried to hitchhike on me. We then got up and left, walking toward the boathouse. Apparently, there was a party there. Men in suits crowded the patio area. There were so many people, they looked like sardines in a fire-hazardous situation. We weren’t invited to that party.
When it comes to New York, you don’t need to be invited to a party. The party is wherever a musician sets up and people gather. One of my favorite party-starters is the “Piano Man” at Washington Square Park.
3] This is the next song:
The sunny day I saw him last, he was very enthusiastic. More talkative than usual. At the end of his own performance he yelled, “That was amazing!” It was. It really was. He had a full audience. All of us on the surrounding benches had our eyes glued on him.
Central Park and the avenues are not the only blooming areas of New York.
If you walk around the village, window boxes are now heavy with not pumpkins or winter plants, but tulips and daffodils. Sometimes, you can’t help but look up and wonder what would happen if a loaded window box or A/C unit fell on you. But returning to happy thoughts: The Piano Man is not the only one who shares music.
4] Next song:
I was walking through the Village, and I was debating whether I wanted to peruse some things in a British boutique. Mind you, I can’t afford anything in there; I am curious by nature. At that moment, while waiting to cross the street (I was not jaywalking in this instance, gasp–rare, I know), a guy in a delivery van, with this song playing: “I just wanna show you off” looked at me. He winked and turned up the music. This is Village flirting. No words, just a song that says “You catch me starin’, I can’t help it–“
I broke the eye contact. I crossed the street smiling (and probably shaking my head). ‘WOW!’ was all I was thinking. Thank you, man.
5] Shopping Song:
After entering that one boutique and disappointing the employees by not buying any expensive frivolous accessories, I continued to walk down, deeper into the Village. As I passed boutiques, I noticed the mannequins. Some mannequins have arms down to the hands, others do not. This is going to sound weird, but some mannequins have very realistic breasts. Those are usually in Ralph Lauren and high end shops, and they do not wear bras. Is it more “vogue” or is it some kind of status for mannequins to not wear bras and look like runway models? Must be. You don’t see those in Forever21. Yes, people, there is a mannequin hierarchy.
6] Lastly:
The parks are filled with people. We are like little critters coming out of our boroughs after a nasty, nasty, nasty–(did I say nasty enough?) winter. We are out, about, eating ice cream in weather that could still be considered chilly–but the fountains are on. That means something.
I discovered a new church in the Village. It’s dedicated to the “Lady of Pompeii” (whoever she may be; I am sure she did something great that merits having something named after her). The ceilings are gorgeous. I made sure to say a prayer of gratitude (to God, not the unknown Lady of Pompeii). Gratitude for my family’s wellbeing, the weather, for health, for school, for friends and for joy.
Spring explorations have begun. This is only the beginning. Enjoy the sunshine on your skin, breathe the air outside, wink at the delivery guy (and if you are the delivery guy, wink back), go into a boutique and admire yourself in a dress you refuse to pay $600 for. Stop to admire the flowers, and always remember, there is so much more than ourselves out there. Life is beautiful. Listen and soak in the stories all around you; in people, on the walls, in nature.
Find your joy; find your peace; and know, God has placed you where you are at this time. All is renewed and made perfect in His time, which means there should be no place you’d rather be.
By: Gabriela Yareliz
I have had this on my mind recently: What is life really about, if not being a reflection of God’s love, character and image? Life is a battlefield (no, not a Pat Benatar reference). As we grow in our characters with God’s power and help, we must fight our own natures and lay aside that which is not constructive or Godly. It’s something I am working on. I read this devotional, and it was so on point. I had to share.
I like boxing. It turns out, God wants us to be boxers in life. Life is about endurance, strength, discipline and perseverance. Life is a fight. The fight of faith.
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:12.
There are continuous battles to fight, and we are not safe a moment unless we place ourselves under the guardianship of One who gave His own precious life to make it possible for everyone who will believe in Him as the Son of God, while meeting the strain of Satan’s varied science, to escape the corruptions that are in the world through lust. He is fully able, in response to our faith, to unite our human with His divine nature. We are, while trusting in and partaking of the divine nature and strengthening our own efforts, proclaiming Christ’s mission on earth to be peace on earth and good will toward men. We are bound to speak of the dangers of the warfare with invisible foes, and to keep the armor on, for we war not merely against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers and spiritual wickedness in high places…. Therefore we need to keep under the constant guardianship of holy angels.
To follow Christ is not freedom from conflict. It is not child’s play. It is not spiritual idleness. All the enjoyment in Christ’s service means sacred obligations in meeting oft stern conflicts. To follow Christ means stern battles, active labor, warfare against the world, the flesh, and the devil. Our enjoyment is the victories gained for Christ in earnest, hard, warfare…. We are enlisted for labor, “not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life” (John 6:27)….
Every soul must count the cost. Not one will succeed but by strenuous effort. We must spiritually exercise all our powers and crucify the flesh with its affections and lusts. Crucifixion means much more than many suppose….
It is a constant watchfulness to be faithful unto death, to fight the good fight of faith until the warfare is ended and as overcomers we shall receive the crown of life.
I can see my Redeemer, in whom I have fresh encouragement to trust as a never-failing Source of strength.”
Taken from Revival and Reformation Devotional, by Ellen G. White.
GABRIELA YARELIZ 