Zosuma's Weblog

A Voyage in Magical Realism

Esteban Garza — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 15:38:33 +0000

A Voyage in Magical Realism (a voyage in our world)

If our eyes are open, our minds naive, our love abundant, and have enough sense; we can see wonder and magic wherever we go…

The smell of a breeze, the touch of water, the intoxication of fermented nature, the taste of a spice, the sting of a bee, warmth of sugar in the tongue, the shape of a body, the cold of a beer, the green red brown and yellow of a leaf, the height of a tree, the smile of a child, the joy of a toy, the ecstasy of music, the motion of a cat, the friendship of a dog, the eyes of a woman, the handshake of a man, the HUG of a brother mother sister father son daughter niece nephew grandmother/father cousin aunt uncle friend foe lover stranger, the awe to fame, the empathy to poverty, the rage to injustice, the praxis of change, the solace of a chair, the rigidness of wood, the light of a candle and of an electric bulb, the shade of a hat, the optics of a ray, the softness of a pillow, bed, mat, sofa, blanket and sheet, the bubbles in a coke, the nutrients in a meal, the certainty of death, the flourishing of the body, the decaying of the mind, the hairs in our nose, the prickling of a beard, the accurateness of watches, the sense of time, the smile of a stranger in a neighboring table, the force of a sneeze, the blessing from a stranger after a sneeze, the sounds of a kitchen, the usefulness of a spoon, the potential of a knife, the transparency of glass, the ATOMS, MOLECULES, protons, electrons, neutrons, OUR MIND, the stars, planets, nebulae, solids, liquids, gases, plasma… the mysticism of backgammon, the logics of chess, the odds of poker, the science and joy of dominoes, a Spanish red wine, a Cuban cigar, the sublime feeling of a long awaited cigarette, the DIVERSITY OF HUMANITY, THE IMMENSITY OF THE UNIVERSE, the magic of life and the longing of man to understand it, the perception of color, the vibration in mater, the anatomy of an ear, the all-embracing eye, the addiction to technology, the necessity of social life, the nurturing of our ego, the prick of a thorn, the pain of a blister, THE ABILITY TO WALK RUN BEND STAND sit jump catch-things juggle, throw a ball in a basket, in a goal or over a net, THE CAPACITY TO HEAL, the courting and romance of a couple, the first kiss, HOPE, happiness, heartbreak and the will to live, the crunchiness of a cucumber, salt in a tomato, pepper, spice, cinnamon, honey, lemon, AVOCADOS, melons, strawberries, mangoes, bread, chesse, meat, chicken, fish, shrimp, going fishing, THE SEA, tigers and their unmatchable stripes, hunger, instinct, breastfeeding, morals, stupidity and structures, emancipation and creativity, the evolution of the species, the speed of light, the distance of the stars, the rites of religion, the reproduction of cells, the mutations of cancer and diseases, the achievement and limits of science, the pleasure of infatuation, the dangers of attachment, the existence of populism, the study of history, the ABILITY TO REMEMBER, the manipulation of memory, the ability to read, the EXISTENCE OF LANGUAGE!, the importance of communication, life as a couple, the joy of children, the joy of childhood, the salt in tears, a shoulder where to cry, the tuning of an orchestra, THE MAJESTIC SOUND OF COORDINATED INSTRUMENTS, the genius of Mozart and Garcia Marquez, breasts, sex, orgasms, the enchantment of intimacy, trust, hope in humanity, the belief in goodness, water when thirsty, heat when cold, food when hungry, love when alone, RAIN!, colors of flowers, snow, deserts, forests, jungles, snow-topped peaks, a “hello” “thank you” “you’re welcome”, kites, yoyo’s, butterflies, drums, guitars, pianos, carbonated drinks, paints, wooden pencils, blank paper, postcards, old love letters, festivities, yoga, saints, footprints, bones and articulations, muscles, skin, teeth, dentists, doctors, architects, engineers, musicians, refrigerators, ice, hair, curls dreadlocks, baldness, DNA, numbers, MATHEMATICS!, cotton, silk, wool, the ocean, sand, fish, crabs, seagulls, pigeons, life, gravity paper cranes, paper airplanes……..

There is Magic and Wonder in everything, every atom and thought… open your eyes and soul =)

Enunciados de Vida

Esteban Garza — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 18:48:45 +0000

En el Panteón de Saltillo, las tumbas dicen en clave Morse: “¡Libérate!”

Las hormigas en la tumba de Dalí, susurran: “despierta”

Una piedra en el centro de Saltillo, grita: “¡Lo Siento!”, pero nadie la escucha.

Un pez salta en el Pacífico, en sus escamas se reflejan los ojos de Dios.

Hace 3 días, un chilero se comió una lombriz más inteligente que Mozart y nadie penó por su alma.

La sonrisa de mi amada, le dio al mundo 3 días más de vida.

Un pez salta en el Pacífico, al sonido de su chapoteo te vienen imágenes de estrellas naciendo.

Una célula en mi cuerpo hace fiesta simplemente por ser feliz.

En el desierto de Cuatrociénegas, el último día de verano susurra con ternura: “Soy tuyo, víveme”.

En cada fricción, el lápiz le hace el amor al papel.

Una gota de agua se alimenta de sus lágrimas.

La burbuja de un refresco carbonatado sube por que ve la luz al final del túnel.

Roberto Esteban Garza Fishburn

false paradigms

Esteban Garza — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 09:21:47 +0000

Under what paradigm are we judging our lives?? Do we base it on money, physical beauty, pride, vanity…? Or are we basing it on true and meaningful things like love, compassion, forgiveness, communion with life, our society and the world?

With this answered, why is it so hard to live under the transcendental paradigm when we know it is the right one?, why do we (I) still fall in the traps of our (my) own ego??

Our morals are shit!, they are not based on transcendental ethics, but are based on human ego, its sense of superiority and the emptiness that is born from these false ideals. The worst and sad part of the story is that we suffer and live in despair living in this paradigm and we don’t do anything about it.

I am finding that one of the hardest things of living under the transcendental paradigm is that people don’t judge you under the same criteria under which you live, which can make social interactions and specifically interpersonal relations seem like an impossibility because the other person doesn’t see the life through similar eyes.

Sanctity

Esteban Garza — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:06:21 +0000

Sanctity is in the living!,
sanctity depends on the intensity in which life is liven.Under this perspective the only sin is not to live life intensely

Markers of living life =)

Pasion
Love
Devotion
Awe
Inocence / Capacity of being amazed and surprised

Sintoms of Sin =(

Indifference, apathy
Conformism
Laziness

Sanctity is also in the relation, RELATE! bond, connect, share, listen, receive and give =D

so Go OUT!!, Live!!! and Relate!! =D

Love you =)

Profetas!

Esteban Garza — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 18:45:05 +0000

Todos somos profetas…
todos injerimos en la construcción del futuro,
todos tenemos el poder de la profecía, ¡pero más importante, el poder de ser los arquitectos de nuestras propias profecías!

¡Profetas!

¡cuiden el mundo que construyen!,
¡cuiden el mundo que visualizan y que quieren!,

No acepten o den por sentado que una sociedad es cruel, peligrosa, corrupta… no construyan esa realidad en su mente por que eso llevará a la construcción de esa realidad en el mundo físico.

¡No pierdan la esperanza ni la confianza en el prójimo!, el día en que veamos con sospecha y desconfianza a nuestro vecino es el día en que nuestra sociedad se ha derrumbado.

Los invito a ver dentro de cada persona su parte divina, no enajenen su propio espíritu de el de sus semejantes, el cual es de la misma naturaleza y de la misma fuente. Cuiden siempre de su mente, que no lo envenenen el miedo ni el odio, cultiven el amor y la compasión siempre, es la única forma de superar los obstáculos que se nos plantean en estos tiempos que nos ha tocado vivir.

namasté =)

quick write

Esteban Garza — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 01:33:54 +0000

i love

Sustainable Change

Esteban Garza — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:47:29 +0000

a bit of reflection and ambientation before i get back on track on my posts

love is growing!!!

big hug

Violencia

Esteban Garza — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 21:42:23 +0000

Piensen en la inseguridad en México, los atentados en Morelia y las demostraciones del 2 de Octubre.

Robert Kennedy 1968:

This is a time of shame and sorrow. It is not a day for politics. I have saved this one opportunity to speak briefly to you about this mindless menace of violence in America which again stains our land and every one of our lives.

It is not the concern of any one race. The victims of the violence are black and white, rich and poor, young and old, famous and unknown. They are, most important of all, human beings whom other human beings loved and needed. No one – no matter where he lives or what he does – can be certain who will suffer from some senseless act of bloodshed. And yet it goes on and on.

Why? What has violence ever accomplished? What has it ever created? No martyr’s cause has ever been stilled by his assassin’s bullet.

No wrongs have ever been righted by riots and civil disorders. A sniper is only a coward, not a hero; and an uncontrolled, uncontrollable mob is only the voice of madness, not the voice of the people.

Whenever any American’s life is taken by another American unnecessarily – whether it is done in the name of the law or in the defiance of law, by one man or a gang, in cold blood or in passion, in an attack of violence or in response to violence – whenever we tear at the fabric of life which another man has painfully and clumsily woven for himself and his children, the whole nation is degraded.

“Among free men,” said Abraham Lincoln, “there can be no successful appeal from the ballot to the bullet; and those who take such appeal are sure to lose their cause and pay the costs.”

Yet we seemingly tolerate a rising level of violence that ignores our common humanity and our claims to civilization alike. We calmly accept newspaper reports of civilian slaughter in far off lands. We glorify killing on movie and television screens and call it entertainment. We make it easy for men of all shades of sanity to acquire weapons and ammunition they desire.

Too often we honor swagger and bluster and the wielders of force; too often we excuse those who are willing to build their own lives on the shattered dreams of others. Some Americans who preach nonviolence abroad fail to practice it here at home. Some who accuse others of inciting riots have by their own conduct invited them.

Some looks for scapegoats, others look for conspiracies, but this much is clear; violence breeds violence, repression brings retaliation, and only a cleaning of our whole society can remove this sickness from our soul.

For there is another kind of violence, slower but just as deadly, destructive as the shot or the bomb in the night. This is the violence of institutions; indifference and inaction and slow decay. This is the violence that afflicts the poor, that poisons relations between men because their skin has different colors. This is a slow destruction of a child by hunger, and schools without books and homes without heat in the winter.

This is the breaking of a man’s spirit by denying him the chance to stand as a father and as a man among other men. And this too afflicts us all. I have not come here to propose a set of specific remedies nor is there a single set. For a broad and adequate outline we known what must be done. “When you teach a man to hate and fear his brother, when you teach that he is a lesser man because of his color or his beliefs or the policies he pursues, when you teach that those who differ from you threaten your freedom or your job or your family, then you also learn to confront others not as fellow citizens but as enemies – to be met not with cooperation but with conquest, to be subjugated and mastered.

We learn, at the last, to look at our bothers as aliens, men with whom we share a city, but not a community, men bound to us in common dwelling, but not in common effort. We learn to share only a common fear – only a common desire to retreat from each other – only a common impulse to meet disagreement with force. For all this there are no final answers.

Yet we know what we must do. It is to achieve true justice among our fellow citizens. The question is now what programs we should seek to enact. The question is whether we can find in our own midst and in our own hearts that leadership of human purpose that will recognize the terrible truths of our existence.

We must admit the vanity of our false distinctions among men and learn to find our own advancement in the search for the advancement of all. We must admit in ourselves that our own children’s future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled or enriched by hatred or revenge.

Our lives on this planet are too short and the work to be done too great to let this spirit flourish any longer in our land. Of course we cannot vanish it with a program, nor with a resolution.

But we can perhaps remember – even if only for a time – that those who live with us are our brothers, that they share with us the same short movement of life, that they seek – as we do – nothing but the chance to live out their lives in purpose and happiness, winning what satisfaction and fulfillment they can.

Surely this bond of common faith, this bond of common goal, can begin to teach us something. Surely we can learn, at least, to look at those around us as fellow men and surely we can begin to work a little harder to bind up the wounds among us and to become in our hearts brothers and countrymen once again.

Saints

Esteban Garza — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 17:24:05 +0000

There is no better place to find the divine in humanity than in the hospitals, nurses, patients, doctors, security guards, and almost any person who sees another in need will show their divine colors. It seems incredible how amidst pain and suffering so much love and compassion flows, and how people, even if they don’t want to, relate to one another, not only through empathy, but through some inter-human invisible web, through the unconscious knowledge of the necessity of the others life and well-being. I am because you are (ubuntu).

Even the doctors, who see a zillion patients (each of which his/her particular importance could seem insignificant or inconsequential), cannot resist nature and open their hearts to those to which they assist.

Thank these doctors, these nurses, security guards, fellow patients, and all the other saints that open their hearts, love, are compassionate, relate and act towards the life and well being of the oneness of all humans and of the universe.

Singing old man

Esteban Garza — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 02:10:47 +0000

After beginning to lose hope on humanity with the bombings in Morelia this last Mexican Independence Day, a singing old wondering walking man has put a smile back on my face, he was so joyous, alive, loving…

he was illuminating!!!, this man was looking for cardboard in the trash cans of the apartments in which I live in, and he was singing so beautifully and so happily while he did this, if some one would ask I’d say he was god, he was divine, he was living and acting celestially, in his song and in his smile, he had the divine human touch. An I-Thou relationship with the world, with life, with others, with himself, with the oneness of the universe. This man represents to me the concept of an incarnate god, this is the divine humanity, this is what I would imagine Jesus to have been like, this is what I think every human truly is, a living god, a divine person.

Let us emancipate ourselves from the things that limit our relating and that limit our potential of being living gods, lets establish the I-thou relationship with ourselves, with the world and the universe, let us open up our beings to the oneness of it all.

I love you people, aliens, gods, things, nothings, ideas, maters and empties!!

Chocolate

Esteban Garza — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 16:44:57 +0000

pocos placeres como el del chocolate!!

No dudo yo que un chocolate te pueda hacer levitar!! como el señor cura del pueblo de Macondo, doy un sorbo a mi brebaje y mi ser se sublima. Visualizo el amor, la compasión y la relación divina entre humanos como algo no solo posible, sino real!!!

Vengan a tomarse un chocolate caliente conmigo y vivan esta realidad.

¡Ánimo al cuadro!!

Aforism: life

Esteban Garza — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:07:16 +0000

Dont take life too seriously,

you’ll fail to cherish the gift of time.

Roberto Esteban Garza Fishburn

El astro y el nogal

Esteban Garza — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 03:48:32 +0000

MIRADOR

Armando Fuentes Aguirre
26 Ago. 08

-El nogal se clisó -dicen los viejos.

Eso quiere decir que se eclipsó.

Opinan ellos que de otro modo no se explica por qué el árbol dejó caer sus frutos mucho antes de que entraran en sazón.

Veía yo, pesaroso, caer las nueces verdes, y me preguntaba la causa de ese mal. El árbol tuvo todos los cuidados; riego no le faltó… Fue entonces cuando los ancianos del rancho me dijeron que el nogal se había clisado.

Yo no sé de misterios celestiales. ¿Qué astro lejano hirió la entraña de esta noble criatura vegetal que cada año nos regala su sabroso don? Miro el árbol, y pienso que todas las cosas del universo están ligadas entre sí. En el cielo infinito un astro que no miramos se oscurece, y en la tierra el nogal de mi huerto no da fruto.

Quién sabe… Quizá el próximo año mi nogal volverá a florecer y a dar su fruto, y en el cielo infinito un astro que no miramos se alegrará y dará más luz.

¡Hasta mañana!…

Ubuntu- building

Esteban Garza — Wed, 07 May 2008 21:02:10 +0000

My mom an angel!!

she sent me a link* about a project in Boston where efforts are being to interconnect students and schools around the area, which is being built under the concept of Ubuntu, which i have talked about before in this blog and which could resume my whole belief and aspirations in one word.

I liked the definition of Ubuntu given in this page;

“ubuntu”—an African philosophy that offers insight into our relationships with others and how we might live in ways that support ourselves, our neighbors and our communities. Ubuntu means that “a person is a person through other persons,” which allows us to understand that we are all interconnected, and therefore interdependent.

This is the type of building blocks by which we should be constructing our society, leaving individualisms behind and really finding the humanness in our daily existence. Coming to think of it, i think that is why i love and miss Mexico so much, i am sick of the individual existence and stress that is the common denominator in US American society, lets live in community and construct our reality under the paradigm of interconnectedness!!

*http://www.wheelock.edu/ubuntu/

With our thoughts we create the world

Esteban Garza — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:53:43 +0000

I found this little thought of the Buddha Dhammapda in one of the articles of Armando Fuentes Aguirre “Caton”, and I find it to be truly illustrating and insightful for the purposes of this blog enjoy

“Somos lo que pensamos.

Todo cuanto somos proviene de nuestros pensamientos.

Con nuestros pensamientos hacemos el mundo.

Habla y actúa con una mente impura y tendrás problemas, como la rueda que va detrás del buey que tira del carro.

Somos lo que pensamos.

Todo cuantos somos proviene de nuestros pensamientos.

Con nuestros pensamientos hacemos el mundo.

Habla y actúa con una mente pura y la felicidad te acompañará como tu sombra, constantemente.”

History and eternity

Esteban Garza — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 06:30:58 +0000

Today my understanding of social constructivism has been enlightened by a revelation (according to Niebuhr’s concept of revelation).

I had heard the expression “history is alive” yet i had not deepened its significance. And yes HISTORY IS ALIVE!! haha, its alive in our memory, culture, ideals, ideas, ideologies, institutions, paradigms… and these throughout perception of the world create, recreate and procreate the realities we live in. With this perception it is easier to see how history is NOW! not in the past, history does not exist in the past, only in the present, this eternal present in which our eternally transcendent beings and interconnections flow in space.

we are eternal, for as long as we exist we are eternal… in our minds, in our particular reality in which each of us believes we can be eternal, for even if we are not, when we do not exist anymore then you’ll never find out that you are not eternal, so in your reality here, and now and for eternity you are eternal if you wish to believe that.

believe what you wish believe in that which will make you happy, believe in that that will deepen your existence and experience in your own particular reality

in my case i believe in the flow of everlasting omniscient limitless love in existence =)

To you – *by Walt Whitman

Esteban Garza — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:54:45 +0000

this is a poem by Walt Whitman, one of my favorite poets, a naturist, humanist, transcendentalist yet also a realist. this poem just brings a lot to my mind, i was thinking of just putting excerpts, but better i’ll post the whole thing and let you enjoy it completely

To You.

¹ WHOEVER you are, I fear you are walking the walks of
dreams,

I fear these supposed realities are to melt from under
your feet and hands;

Even now, your features, joys, speech, house, trade,
manners, troubles, follies, costume, crimes, dissi-
pate away from you,

Your true Soul and Body appear before me,

They stand forth out of affairs—out of commerce, shops,
law, science, work, farms, clothes, the house,
medicine, print, buying, selling, eating, drinking,
suffering, dying.

² Whoever you are, now I place my hand upon you, that
you be my poem;

I whisper with my lips close to your ear,

I have loved many women and men, but I love none
better than you.

³ O I have been dilatory and dumb;

I should have made my way straight to you long ago;

I should have blabb’d nothing but you, I should have
chanted nothing but you.

⁴ I will leave all, and come and make the hymns of you;

None have understood you, but I understand you;

None have done justice to you—you have not done
justice to yourself;

None but have found you imperfect—I only find no
imperfection in you;

None but would subordinate you—I only am he who
will never consent to subordinate you;

I only am he who places over you no master, owner,
better, God, beyond what waits intrinsically in
yourself.

⁵ Painters have painted their swarming groups, and the
centre figure of all;

From the head of the centre figure spreading a nimbus
of gold-color’d light;

But I paint myriads of heads, but paint no head with-
out its nimbus of gold-color’d light;

From my hand, from the brain of every man and woman
it streams, effulgently flowing forever.

⁶ O I could sing such grandeurs and glories about you!

You have not known what you are—you have slumber’d
upon yourself all your life;

Your eye-lids have been the same as closed most of the
time;

What you have done returns already in mockeries;

Your thrift, knowledge, prayers, if they do not return
in mockeries, what is their return?)

⁷ The mockeries are not you;

Underneath them, and within them, I see you lurk;

I pursue you where none else has pursued you;

Silence, the desk, the flippant expression, the night, the
accustom’d routine, if these conceal you from
others, or from yourself, they do not conceal you
from me;

The shaved face, the unsteady eye, the impure com-
plexion, if these balk others, they do not balk
me,

The pert apparel, the deform’d attitude, drunkenness,
greed, premature death, all these I part aside.

⁸ There is no endowment in man or woman that is not
tallied in you;

There is no virtue, no beauty, in man or woman, but as
good is in you;

No pluck, no endurance in others, but as good is in
you;

No pleasure waiting for others, but an equal pleasure
waits for you.

⁹ As for me, I give nothing to any one, except I give
the like carefully to you;

I sing the songs of the glory of none, not God, sooner
than I sing the songs of the glory of you.

¹⁰ Whoever you are! claim your own at any hazard!

These shows of the east and west are tame, compared
to you;

These immense meadows—these interminable rivers—
you are immense and interminable as they;

These furies, elements, storms, motions of Nature,
throes of apparent dissolution—you are he or
she who is master or mistress over them,

Master or mistress in your own right over Nature, ele-
ments, pain, passion, dissolution.

¹¹ The hopples fall from your ankles—you find an un-
failing sufficiency;

Old or young, male or female, rude, low, rejected by
the rest, whatever you are promulges itself;

Through birth, life, death, burial, the means are pro-
vided, nothing is scanted;

Through angers, losses, ambition, ignorance, ennui,
what you are picks its way.

*you can find this poem and many others at: http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1871/poems/196

Simple pleasures

Esteban Garza — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 11:44:38 +0000

There is this song i love sung by Bobby McFerrin, in it this brilliant artist describes his simple pleasures¹.

It happens to be that in this semester abroad I’ve had the opportunity of experiencing, I came to realize that all my past illusions and hopes of grandeur are really not the kind of life I want to live. I long for family, the country side, fishing trips with my cousins, movie nights with my anywho, nintendo marathons with my best friends..
In this new awareness i can now balance things and have a clearer perspective of what future I want and wht actions will take me too it.

Simple pleasures….

a smile
rain
wind on my face while riding a pickup truck in my ranch or in the highway
a GOOD HUG!
watching my dad cook
watching my mom get inspired and excited with her plans and the worlds she’s discovering
listening to my music in my shower and singing my lungs off
having a coffee with my cousin and talking about girls and boys according to each ones interest
having some beers with my simple minded friends
sunset in my ranch
a good mexican barbecue with real aguacates, tortillas, salsa and pico de gallo!!
a good cane sugar, chilled, glass bottle mexican coke at any time of day
knowing that the most traffic i’ll have will not exceed 20 minutes
my nieces and nephew’s growing up, with their smiles, cries, first steps, first words, hugs, kisses, imitating me do the sounds of a hawk/vulture/sparrow
talking about philosophy with my uncle even though he’s normally too drunk to make any sense of
sunday morning walks in downtown, having some gorditas and a yogurt with strawberries and honey milkshake
cleaning my room, going through all my “junk” full of memories and more junk
the way my cousins and I wanted to be old enough to be in the table of the adults in the family reunions, not knowing that even if we did grow up, the table was going to be full with the same adults as before and we would have to continue sitting in the table of the “kids” jaja
looking for stones for my shower floor
the political and philosophical talks with one of my cousins that will always end up in the same thing
looking forward for family events such as weddings, baptisms, sweet 15teens…
hunting trips
fishing trips
chess games with my little cousins that will eventually be too good for me to be competent, but enjoying to the fullest when i do win them while i can
chess games with my uncles that do the same thing i do with my little cousins
the smell of my uncles and dad smoking their cuban cigars and listening to my abuelita telling them to turn them off
the smile of Salome in the weekend mornings when i go down to get some breakfast
a good book
a good couch with good light with the same good book
the same good couch with my laptop and good internet
cold lemonade
coffee with flan
salt
my aunt’s spaghetti and how she gives me the first taste because she knows i loove it soo much
scratching a mosquito bite just enough so that it stops for an instant
being able to shower whenever you feel like it, even if it means its every 2, 3 or 4 days
the beginning of a trip, excited of leaving
the end of a trip, excited of coming back…

I can say that i live a wonderful, lovely, dandy, sweet life, i am truly blessed… with this blessing comes responsibility, But i am sure that i will be able to find the simple pleasures in the simple life of service and love that i am convinced to live.

P.S. there is another song of this style that i’ll add as a link to youtube called Waters of March, which also talks about the simple pleasures

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3oNSFQVzNM&feature=related

-¹Simple Pleasures, Bobby McFerrin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hilnMqyDpQA

Comment if you wish on some of you’re own simple pleasures, hope to share them with you someday

My Creed

Esteban Garza — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 02:10:18 +0000

I have come to the point of questioning all that I have written before, again reason tries to play its game and wants for my beliefs and convictions to be positive, scientific, visible, empirically provable… But I am happy to announce that reason has proven itself to have weakened since I last used it. I can proudly say to the world but most importantly to myself, that I believe in what I want to believe, I am a happy man, I like my paradigm, I like to believe in Love!!! even if its hard, and I like to believe in the interconnectivity between beings, it makes me happy, it makes me want to Act in favor of the wellbeing of all beings.

Again, what is truth?, what is reality?, its in each person’s mind!! so believe in that which makes you happy, believe in that which enables you to build the world in which You want to live in. If you want suggestions, haha, I can suggest for you to Live and Believe in Love, and in this Continuum of Life that encircles every person, animal, bacteria, virus, plant, alien, wookies, euoks, and any other beings in this wonderful wonderful beautiful enchanting sublime divine dimension of space and time

Love you Everyone, each and every One personally I love you, thank you for your existence, your life, your love…

William James

Esteban Garza — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 18:42:27 +0000

I was delighted to stumble upon a quote of William James, a US American philosopher and pioneering psychologist of the late nineteenth century. After finding that one quote I came to find even more which caught my interest and set my imagination on fire I’ll share with you some of the ones I picked:

Belief creates the actual fact.

Human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes of mind.

Our faith is faith in someone else’s faith, and in the greatest matters this is most the case.

The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes.

The greatest enemy of any one of our truths may be the rest of our truths.

The world we see that seems so insane is the result of a belief system that is not working. To perceive the world differently, we must be willing to change our belief system, let the past slip away, expand our sense of now, and dissolve the fear in our minds.

These then are my last words to you. Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.

Truth is what works.

Truth lives, in fact, for the most part on a credit system. Our thoughts and beliefs pass, so long as nothing challenges them, just as bank-notes pass so long as nobody refuses them.

Why should we think upon things that are lovely? Because thinking determines life. It is a common habit to blame life upon the environment. Environment modifies life but does not govern life. The soul is stronger than its surroundings.

Just things to think about, what is our conception of truth, what are our mental attitudes that shape our reality, and how can we apply all this in genuinely changing our lives

Hope you have a great Easter and take the opportunity to be reborn into positive thinking and in common-union with others

Paint my soul red

Esteban Garza — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 06:56:12 +0000

Reading the columns of an Armando Fuentes Aguirre (Catón), intellectual of my home town, I came to find a nice little writing about interconnection between beings, which I would like to share with you.

”Hay en la Laguna de Sánchez, sierra por medio del Potrero, un ancho foso por donde desagua el vaso de ese lago. Dicen las gentes de por allá que una vez alguien echó tintura grana en aquel pozo. “Meses después las aguas de los ríos que desembocan en el Golfo aparecieron rojas”.

No sé si sea cierta esa conseja. Lo que sí sé es que si alguien pintara de rojo el alma de un solo hombre, después de cierto tiempo habría un esfumado viso rojo en las almas de todos los demás. Eso es decir con otras palabras lo mismo que en su famoso poema dijo Donne: ningún hombre es una isla. Todos los hombres están unidos por un vínculo común que hermana a todos los hombres de todos los tiempos y todos los continentes. A fin de cuentas todos los hombres son un solo hombre. Andamos revueltos y -sin saberlo- juntos. (…)”

Armando Fuentes Aguirre (Catón). El Norte, MÉXICO MÁGICO, 27 Feb. 08

So paint my soul red, and you will find that with time, that color shall paint your souls as well

Hope you have a wonderful week and Connect with the continuum of Love!!

obstacles, interference, resistance

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:57:31 +0000

obstacles, interference, resistance
Current mood: hopeful
Category: Religion and Philosophy

Good day =)

I’ve had some wonderful spare time during this class-free week to be able to think, meet, and connect. I think these three undertakings are the definite high points of my spring break.

As a fruit of these opportunities i began to wonder which are the obstacles towards real human connection, what is it that limits our involvement, our engagement and our linkage between people.
Today I will only mention some of these obstacles and hope we can all reflect and try to deconstruct these mental walls that divide and alienate.

Pride
Fear
Nationalism
Religion
Social Status

I came to realize that some of these obstacles can also have a positive side to them, they can really get to UNITE people, the problem comes when these united people reject and separate from those whose nationality, religion, social status.. is different than theirs.

I invite you to think through and point out which mental walls you have constructed in your own head and those you share with your society, and try to bring them down!!

“if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
-Ronald Reagan 1987

I hope we can all construct bridges instead of walls =) lets overcome our human vanities and transcendent thoughts, and search for our humble caring human truly transcendental capabilities

hope you have a beautiful beautiful humanly connecting day

Thanks to Dolores, Zulu, Francesca, Fillipo, and Michael for letting me build bridges and get to connect with them this last week

Connect

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:57:26 +0000

Connect

I’m back Haha, after many many months of low intellectual activity, my coming to Georgetown and the opportunity of seeing in retrospective my behavior in these last months has enabled me cultivate the fruits of my existence.

Meeting these people, talking, discussing, flowing!!, has reminded me about the importance and our human blind spot towards life networks, energy flow, LOVE. With all the differences one can have with other people, even if your supposed “core belief” is radically different between you two, you can always connect, always engage, always share, give, receive, knit, and flow!

don’t forget about your powerpoints, outlets, inputs, outputs, ports… remember that you can always CONNECT!!!! and the universe wants you to

en todo amar y servir

esteban

Morals

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:57:22 +0000

Morals
Current mood: accomplished

In my process of thought, leaving religious morality behind, I found myself searching on what to base my judgemts on what is right and wrong.

At first I began thinking, what was it that I could not explain, that made me believe in god?…………… Life. So I set Life as the base on which to judge, all that which goes against life and well being of those alive is wrong. But then I found that for life there has to be necesarilly death, I realized the importance of death and that it is part of the cycle of life.
Then I thought, is there really in the the eyes of the universe, trully a right and a wrong?? Did right and wrong exist when humans didnt exist? Is morality a human construction?
My conclusion is not new for many of you, but for a mexican who grew up in a conservative catholic society, I think i’m awesome jeje.
So I do not think there is a universal right and wrong, and that morality is socialy constructed and it changes with the times.
I believe in compassion and love, i believe in service and in the oneness of the universe and of life.
You can ask, how do I mix these sometimes contrary beliefs?, what does this all mean? I still dont fit in all the puzzle, but you’ll read about my findings in the future =)

Have a nice day, and LOVE!! (verb)

esteban

Ya no hay locos (Leon Felipe)

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:57:16 +0000

Ya no hay locos (León Felipe)

PERO YA NO HAY LOCOS

Ya no hay locos, amigos, ya no hay locos. Se murió aquel manchego, aquel estrafalario fantasma del desierto y … ni en España hay locos. Todo el mundo está cuerdo, terrible, monstruosamente cuerdo.
Oíd … esto,
historiadores … filósofos … loqueros …
Franco … el sapo iscariote y ladrón en la silla del juez repartiendo castigos y premios,
en nombre de Cristo, con la efigie de Cristo prendida del pecho,
y el hombre aquí, de pie, firme, erguido, sereno,
con el pulso normal, con la lengua en silencio,
los ojos en sus cuencas y en su lugar los huesos …
El sapo iscariote y ladrón repartiendo castigos y premios …
y yo, callado, aquí, callado, impasible, cuerdo …
¡cuerdo!, sin que se me quiebre el mecanismo del cerebro.
¿Cuándo se pierde el juicio? (yo pregunto, loqueros).
¿Cuándo enloquece el hombre? ¿Cuándo, cuándo es cuando se enuncian los conceptos
absurdos y blasfemos
y se hacen unos gestos sin sentido, monstruosos y obscenos?
¿Cuándo es cuando se dice por ejemplo:
No es verdad. Dios no ha puesto
al hombre aquí, en la Tierra, bajo la luz y la ley del universo;
el hombre es un insecto
que vive en las partes pestilentes y rojas del mono y del camello?
¿Cuándo si no es ahora (yo pregunto, loqueros),
cuándo es cuando se paran los ojos y se quedan abiertos, inmensamente abiertos,
sin que puedan cerrarlos ni la llama ni el viento?
¿Cuándo es cuando se cambian las funciones del alma y los resortes del cuerpo
y en vez de llanto no hay más que risa y baba en nuestro gesto?
Si no es ahora, ahora que la justicia vale menos, infinitamente menos
que el orín de los perros;
si no es ahora, ahora que la justicia tiene menos, infinitamente menos
categoría que el estiércol;
si no es ahora … ¿cuándo se pierde el juicio?
Respondedme loqueros,
¿cuándo se quiebra y salta roto en mil pedazos el mecanismo del cerebro?
Ya no hay locos, amigos, ya no hay locos. Se murió aquel manchego,
aquel estrafalario fantasma del desierto
y … ¡Ni en España hay locos! ¡Todo el mundo está cuerdo,
terrible, monstruosamente cuerdo! …
¡Qué bien marcha el reloj! ¡Qué bien marcha el cerebro!
Este reloj …, este cerebro, tic-tac, tic-tac, tic-tac, es un reloj perfecto …,
perfecto, ¡perfecto!

León Felipe

Love thy selves

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:57:11 +0000

Monday, March 05, 2007

LOVE THY SELVES
Current mood: rejuvenated

I find that one of the biggest limits i have had in loving is that people do not love themselves!! I think it takes many mistakes in life to be able to really learn to love yourself.

In loving your soul you are capable of receiving all the love that surrounds you. It sounds like a cliché but it is not until now that i fully understand this very wise advice.

So i was asked tonight “how do you know when you have to put a limit to you’re feelings?” pretty easy realy, it all comes down to love and life again. When my feelings begin to afect my loving of my life, that is when i have to put the limit. And people think that putting that limit is hard, but it really isnt, you just have to have very clear that you are the person you most love.

Today I was having a chatt with an friend of old, and she was reminding me about lots of mistakes I did a few years ago. I realized that those mistakes have made me grow so so much, it is thanks to those mistakes that I have really learned to love myself. So come on people!! livee!! and make those mistakes! grow with them!, ans suck out of them all the wisdom they can offer, but most importantly learn to love yourselves, for you do not fully live till you have that unconditional love.

Jaja i just got part of the wisdom of the christian saying “God loves you” jaja of course!! I LOVE MYSELF!!!!!!

Concepts – Ubuntu

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:57:05 +0000

Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Concepts, ubuntu
Current mood: accomplished

Living acording to love and life.

So, after having a great reading of Habermas and of Foucoult i am deeply excited at the moment with “concepts” and “language”. Also considering myself a social constructivist these ideas have touched me so so dearly.

I love so much concepts because of the tremendous power they have in structuring our lives, for example the concept of sovereignty, we structure our whole international system around this created concept and it is even hard for us to think of the international system without this concept.

I have grown humongously these last months with such concepts as “paradigm”, “imminence” and “irreverence” and “postmodernism”, because they have structured my life, i have put ideas into this box called a concept and act accordingly with the concepts I like.

But more important than all of this for me is the ability of creating ideas and concepts that can structure our lives in the future. And I think we are in the ripe time to do this, we are at a time of change (I think), where differently than the discovery of imminence in the enlightment and the use of reason. Now with the critical theorists from the Frankfort school of thought and postmodernism, we can see the limitations of the use of reason and have to find new ways to achieve enlightenment. New ways of thought, new concepts with which to structure our lives.

So in my life, as Henry David Thoreau did, I want to discover life, be enlightened by it, and structure my life acordingly. BUT how am I going to do that???, am I going to go to the woods to live??? maybe a while but i do not think that is the way I am going to get answers for social life. How nice wold it be for me to just live as an anchorite and meditate and experiment life, but (not only wold I miss sex) i believe humans are ment to grow in society together. I still dont know the finality of growing but i think it has something to do with Love and life.

So what concept do I think will structure us in a loving and lifely manner in the future?? its is a very nice one, it constructs so so nicely and could have tremendous power. Ubuntu. Its an african word, meanig a sense of interdependence between beings. I am for you are, I am because you are. And people have even used it in these new software structures of open sourcing, for example there is a Ubuntu Linux operating system and so on. So yes, I think that in this postmodern world, the individual reasoning that used to be is now going to be an intersubjective reasoning between society. Jaja I think I just got one of the points of todays masters class

so how about we put this ubuntu concept to test??

love you all, and discover you’re lives!!

esteban garza

Love and Life

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:57:00 +0000

Thursday, February 22, 2007

Love and Life
Current mood: rejuvenated

there is nothing else for me to base my judgement than in love and life. in loosing my transcendental structure (God-religion) i have been in search of somewhere to put my feet on, and i have not found nothing better, more rewarding, more elevating than Love and Life.

So, my actions, my thoughts should always be focused on that, please remind me!!!!!, because it is easy to forget when you get involved in social life.

It just happened a while ago, I really really fancy this girl, but very defensively she is still pondering if to pursue the relationship or not (wise or stupid only time will tell) soo, i began to tire from waiting and just giving without recieving as much as i wold like. i was in a pretty bad shape till something reminded me that my life is for love, so if it will have to take time, and money, and giving myself without certainty, I will DO iT!!. fuck reason, its outdated. Today EMOTION! whichever it is, fills me with life, and that is always good.

remind me what I am here for!!! LOVE AND LIFE!

I am god

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:56:56 +0000

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I am God

Belief, belief is sooo strong, belief is the tool you can use to construct, or deconstruct you’re reality. Solid, strong, powerfull belief. Belief can save, belief can do miracles, can change worlds, change realities.

I am God, I can do miracles, I can save, I can construct my own reality, I can live my dreams. I just have to believe. I have to free myself from myself, liberate myself from the barriers in my mind. Believe!!

cheers, and Believe!

Paradigm’s

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:56:44 +0000

Friday, February 16, 2007

Paradigmas
Current mood: contemplative

Estos últimos días he atravezado un cambio de paradigma muy importante en mi vida. He dejado atrás un enfoque teocéntrico en el que estructuraba mi vida con base en una moral heredada y a través de lo trascendente (Dios).

Hoy estoy descubriendo y experimentando mi inminencia, dejando atrás estructuras limitantes que me encarcelaban en la ambigua dualidad del bien y del mal. Hoy descubro la relatividad, y la falsedad de los absolutos. La realidad es individual y limitada por nuestras propias barreras mentales.

En este proceso, intentando librarme de la esclavitud de la diplomacia y de laprudencia. Intento experimentarme irreverente, algo para mi extremadamente dificil. Ahí les contaré más delante como voy en este aprendizaje.

Welcome

Esteban Garza — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 02:22:51 +0000

Welcome to my new blog space!

I hope you can accompany me in my search of answers and the cause of making this a more inclusive, interconnected, loving world.

This blog is a continuation of my first blog which can be found at: www.myspace.com/recoveco I shall relocate my previous postings to this blog in order to keep the continuity of the dialogue.

Love and connect!!