Thursday 27 March 2014

affirmations...

...or, the declaration of the truth of something.

We all live in denial about something... "No, my bum is not big, it's... perky!"... The brutal truth is that with about a 99,9% certainty, the bum (ok, my bum...) is rather big and ok, I'm 40, I still look good for my age (I hope...) and I take care of myself and blah blah blah, all good, but the bum is big and I'm in denial about it... Lucky for me there are worse things one can be in denial about and those exactly are the ones we should strive to accept.

I was just talking to my mother... when she repeated for the billionth time "no, I never get jealous, I just don't have this emotion", I told her "mum, you are the only person I know who believes you are not jealous"... If I know her at all, she will forget my words in about 7', nevertheless, I did tell her... Maybe, just maybe, she will not and I'm wrong and she will realise that having spent a lifetime believing something about herself that is entirely untrue is a waste of time to say the least! And then maybe, she will come to terms with that, get acquainted with herself a bit, take the first step to maybe... I don't know... stop being jealous... start being happy about other people, not be intimidated by them the way she has been all her life...

Hence, affirmations. Declare the truth, accept facts, face the music, smell the roses... Acknowledging one's fuck-ups is the first step to never repeat them, it is the first step to move forward! Knowing one's own flaws is the first step to correct them. Taking off the pink glasses allows us to see all the other beautiful colours in our life! And yes, some of the ugly ones too (teal should have never been allowed for anything other than gangrene...) but so be it! When you sell that condo by "de Nile", you also get to buy something with a great view to reality and no, reality is not grim, it's pretty if you know how to look and where to look! Just like looking at those Fendi coral heel sandals, you know, the white ones... No, wait, better than those!! ;)




Wednesday 26 March 2014

happy music

I will start with how disappointed I was that the Academy did not award the Oscar this year to Pharrel Williams for his wonderful "Happy", just to get it off my chest... I, for once, from the first time I heard it while watching "Despicable me II" (and already being deeply in love with the minions since the first film) I cannot stop dancing and smiling and clapping along every time I listen to it!

...but then again I have been called "exaggeratedly enthusiastic" about my views, or even accused of "ecstatically expressing my feelings" about some things in this blog... Well, in all honesty, I graciously accept the characterisation, I take it as a compliment and timidly say thanks because if I can still exaggerate the positive in my life, there's still hope for me ;) No, I'm not always happy, in fact my happy moments are rather limited and exactly for that I want the joy to last longer and occasionally, perhaps, I exaggerate in expressing it...

Now, about happy music... No, as you can imagine I'm not always in the mood for it and there have been times in my life that I could not listen to anything but Nick Cave... dark times... brrrr... glad they are over... Right now I'm at a point that I welcome every bit of upbeat-ness (forgive the term...) that comes my way, whenever and anyway it comes! And music is a very good way! I know that creators express what they feel, thank goodness, and this is not always pink with ribbons on it but I tell you, I appreciate more and more a happy, uplifting song that makes me wanna dance around in my living room like a mad woman! Give me a big band and a catchy tune, some heart warming lyrics and a good voice and I'm sold!

Is it better than shoes? You bet! And I... clap along ;)

Friday 21 March 2014

festibérico!

What?! Never heard of Festibérico?? Ok, clearly you don't live in Delft or The Hague or, if you do, you certainly do not socialize with the right people!

Festibérico is a biannual Portuguese and Spanish film festival organised with a lot of love for about 12 years now from dear friends of mine and it's the best opportunity for all of us living in this part of the world to enjoy films from the Iberian peninsula that otherwise we wouldn't even know about. Not only that, but we also very often have the chance to meet the creators of these films, talk to them, get to know what was in their minds when making the films!

But, ok, enough with the official presentation, Festibérico for me is about familiarity... It's about getting together with good friends, enjoying films that speak to our hearts and then afterwards having a drink and a chat about them! And it is about this feeling of how close to me is the culture and the life of the Iberians, how familiar it is to see a film about Portuguese immigrants, their lives having so much in common with mine, and how warming is this sense of sharing a view point and the love for wine and olive oil!
I will never forget some years ago when I saw a Portuguese documentary about disappearing train connections in the Portuguese country side and I could not stop crying... it was so much like looking at Greece, it was uncanny! And that's just one example, my list of beautiful experiences during the festival is long and will keep growing over the years I hope!

Films can take us to amazing journeys around the world, combine that with good company, a relaxed, cosy environment and long, pleasant conversations afterwards and you have Festibérico! And it is surely better than shoes!

Ps. Festibérico just started, see you there ;)