Expanded consciousness

I am a sucker for seductive ideas. After being in love with the flow idea, I'm now absolutely fascinated by the expanded consciousness idea:

If you have a golf-ball-sized consciousness, when you read a book, you’ll have a golf-ball-sized understanding; when you look out a window, a golf-ball-sized awareness; when you wake up in the morning, a golf-ball-sized wakefulness; and as you go about your day, a golf-ball-sized inner happiness. But if you can expand that consciousness, make it grow, then when you read that book, you’ll have more understanding; when you look out, more awareness; when you wake up, more wakefulness; and as you go about your day, more inner happiness.

 David Lynch              

So how can one make it grow? In his book  Catching the Big Fish: Meditation, Consciousness, and Creativity,  Lynch says that you expand your ball of consciousness from deep within through meditation (transcendental meditation in particular for him), and keep growing from there to the unbounded and infinite.

I have been meditating on and off for the past year and I can sense the possibility of this. But I doubt it's the only way. There were a few times in my life when I believe I have experienced a growth in my consciousness, usually related with a profound connection with nature (the view from the top of the mountain, special sunsets, star watching, ...) or learning new things,  but also on periods where I am the most melancholic and everything seems more clear and real to me, definitely  the moment I became a mother or (!) even after a few glasses of wine.

How do you expand your consciousness?

Leave a Comment Overread, simple pleasures

PLAY for life

All through 2017 I used the word PLAY to inspire my days and to get a little bit out of my comfort zone. Here are a few things I did this year, either shallow or deep and their different outcomes:

I posted pictures of my tights online
I opened an Instagram account under the username funwithtights and posted pictures of my tights different colours or details.
I'm really not sure why I did it. I wanted to do something completely off my thing and since fashion is something I have fun with without over thinking, it was kind of getting out of my comfort zone in an area that nothing important could go wrong.
It was fun for a little while! Soon it started to be boring, and when it became awkward, I stopped. (had I thought things better, I could have predicted that funwithtights can have lots of different approaches and interpretations I'm not comfortable at... )
I don't regret it though. And I learnt that I do like clothes and to express myself through clothes, but I don't enjoy thinking or talking about it for long periods of time.

I went to a ballet class
I've always wanted to learn ballet and I figured it that if I wouldn't do it in the year of play, when would I do it? So, I went to an adult ballet class. It was heavier than I anticipated, painfully challenging and amazingly wonderful, I felt better than I ever imagine I would feel, regardless of how inadequate I was.

I played like a kid
and found once again the lost pleasure of imaginary rules for walking the patterns on the street. Plus, I've learned that the more you play with kids at their imaginative, care-free level, the more "grown-up" their conversations are. I think it makes perfect sense looking back, but I didn't have this in mind, so it came as a really nice side-effect to me.

I've broadened my worldview
Having a free-pass to explore unusual areas changed me in a tangible way but mostly it increased my overall openness to everything, knocking down preconceptions. I used to see myself as an open-mind kind of person, now I check myself for unconscious biases all the time and there's plenty to find. I take comfort in the feeling of being on the right path, and it's a wonderful feeling.

2 comments simple pleasures

Three wishes (conversations with JP)

I love books. I love to read them, to think about them and to talk about them.
Including children books, with my favourite little person, of course!
The conversations roused by reading a book before bedtime are becoming a favourite part of my day and usually give me valuable insights about what's going on in his life and his brain. Most days, we're all about silliness and fun and new discoveries and dreams and super powers... but sometimes, we discuss deep matters, as being left by someone, or how to keep loved ones close after death. I never know where the conversation will go.
What I'm learning:

• it can go anywhere; 
• I don't always know the answer; 
• it is always fun to search for answers together.  

I absolutely love it.
Whilst he grows in age, awareness and reach, I feel uncertain about publishing these stories, as they are not just my stories anymore. At the same time, with the blog becoming smaller and smaller, there's a comforting sense of talking to a restrict number of friends. Friends who I'm sure like these little stories almost as much as I do. So, this one is especially for you:
By his words, the choice of desires,  if he happens to rub a lamp and a genie grants him three wishes:

• To eat lots of sweets and candies without my tummy hurting

• To sleep with my eyes open

• To have all the powers of all the superheroes

PS: In that exact order!

4 comments simple pleasures

Superpowers

I've recently found out I have a superpower. Of course, I may be exaggerating a bit for dramatic purpose, but it surely feels like a real superpower to me. Something I would never dream in my wildest dreams I would be able to do. Something I've never tried or even intended to do. Something that I feel strangely proud and amused that I can do.

What's my superpower?

I have all the lyrics of every song I've ever heard in my head.
I didn't listen to that music for twenty years? No problem! Put it on and words will come off of my mind.
I didn´t even like that song? Doesn't seems to be an issue,  if I've heard it once, I'll know what it says.


Of course, this is not the superpower I'd wish I had. For starters, what good can I do with it? No clue whatsoever. And what's going on that I will forget what I have for breakfast this morning, but know some random song I've heard many, many breakfasts before? Again, no clue whatsoever.

If you have any idea of a useful way for this exquisite talent (forgive me for such pretentious manners, I am enjoying this as much as I can), please let me know.

I am curious, what's your superpower (or superpowers)?

9 comments simple pleasures

random thoughts and a poem

I have been absent from the blog, but I surely haven´t been absent from life. Warm, bumpy, hard and fulfilled life.
I have been spending the daytime enduring high temperatures at the office, the evenings taking care of my garden and preparing delicious salads from our goods. At the early night, when I finally can breed the fresh air that comes from the mountains, it's time for walking or just laying around the garden.
My son is enjoying time alone with his grandmothers, at turns, he is beyond happy and it truly makes me happy as well, despite feeling his absence very strongly (the right term in here would be the Portuguese word: saudade).
His absence made me notice how much a child changes the dynamic between a couple, as we realise all our talks are about practical things, it seems as we had lost the ability of a meaningful conversation, without even noticing it. So, after a few days of enjoying the silence (we are both very quiet, opposed to our small creation of a tornado of stories and questions and opinions...) we slowly began to talk (truly talk), and it feels nice.

I hope you had a nice July, and if you're in the mood for it, here is a little poem for you *!

* Inspired by this Portuguese moment.
** You may have to set the volume high (I guess I was shy and afraid of hurting your hears...)

6 comments simple memories, simple pleasures

Six pictures for an (almost) wordless story of June

( freshly picked roses from our garden for my mother )

( a short family trip to Alvão )

( harvesting )

( little happy garden helper )

( my new best friend for productivity and on-line awareness )

( savouring fresh goods )

I hope June was nice to you too!

2 comments simple memories, simple pleasures

May memories

On the morning the First day of May, I was awakened in bed with a question: Is today Sunday? Yes, It is! Finally - I have a song for you! (his educator taught the class a beautiful song about growing seeds/ human beings and instructed them to sing it on Sunday - mother's day in Portugal- to their mothers. A lovely surprise and the sweetest awakening for March to unfold).

Since ever that everybody would tell him he was the son of the rain. But this smart boy, made of cheerfulness and at the age of more or less, did not need to be told who his mother was.
He knew her better than the matters he knew really well.

José Luís Peixoto, A Mãe Que Chovia 
( The Mother That Rained, roughly translated by me) 

When your favourite author writes his first children's book while you are pregnant, naturally, you can't wait to read it with your child... so this book has been sitting in my son's library since he was born, quietly waiting for him to show interest in it. May of 2016 it was, and it was as special as I imagined it to be.


We enjoyed a few days off in May, so we extended our walks a little bit...

to the sea (always so restoring no matter the threaten of the rain...)

to a place where I worked for five years... (the fact that I worked in a real boat seems to be astonishing to my son, I'm not sure if he has a hard time accepting I had a previous life before him or that life was so different... )

We returned home to find new life...

No lessons learnt in May, just life and good memories.

6 comments simple memories, simple pleasures

The unique work of nature...

... that transformed an artificial pound in a perfect wonder: 

Shortly after our move from the city into this house, we find a special place really close to us,  which quickly became an extension of our backyard, where we would go every evening with our dogs.

There are no signs leading you there and back when we first found it looked like an abandoned, nonetheless beautiful, place. I soon found out it was actually an artificial pond made by the Mines to pump water to the furnace. In the mid-twentieth century, the mining industry in this Valley gave employment to over a thousand people, in a very poor region. With the failure of the Mines came unemployment, emigration and the progressive destruction of the mining complex.

But this artificial pond, which began as an environmental dissonance, gained life and all the surrounding site has become a true biodiversity treasure, attracting a variety of species that can be observed there.

Recently, the place was integrated with the biodiversity program of Vila Real, and a Centre for Biodiversity was installed here, making it the  starting point for the discovery of plants, butterflies, amphibians, birds and dragonflies in the area.

4 comments simple pleasures

Um Reino Maravilhoso :: A wonderful kingdom

I’ll tell you about a wonderful Kingdom. Although many people may say the contrary, there always were and always will be great kingdoms in this world. What we need to see them are eyes that have not lost their original innocence in the face of reality, for then the heart does not hesitate.

Miguel Torga, Um Reino Maravilhoso

I live, proudly, in a wonderful kingdom. Would you like to come in for one and a half minute? Be my guest!

7 comments simple pleasures

A long journey for retrieving reading time

Books have always been a significant part of my life. Being an only child, I've spent a huge chunk of my childhood with my head over a book, a habit I managed to carry into adulthood until... I became a mother. Suddenly, there was no time, or if there was, I couldn't locate it... in no time, I was out of the habit and reading became a luxury, a memory of an old self...

If when he was newborn I knew that it was just the way it had to be, as soon as he was steadily sleeping (or falling asleep, to be more accurate) in his own bed, I began aiming for some love (=time) with my books.The plan was simple: get my little jawbreaker to sleep and then read a bit before bed.

Easy, right? Well, not that simple, because his sleeping routine, although quite simple (teeth, pajamas, story, lights off, sleep) was MY sleeping routine as well: By the time he was asleep, so was I... At the end of the day, with everything prepared for the next morning (so that I could dive into a book), sitting in the dark, the silence being broken only by the occasional tender whisper: Shh... my eyelids would succumb shortly... I could only drag myself to bed, or, as it happened so many times, being grabbed by Pedro to our own bed, half-asleep.

I tried leaving his room just after the story, but that would frequently lead to a situation where he would be wandering back and forth between bedrooms, stretching his own bedtime way too far. And instead of a quiet, loving time before sleep, there was a duel of strength at a time my strength was at its worst. Not for me - so back to his room until he was deep asleep it was.

And one day, I simply took one book with me, went through his sleeping routine, only instead of turning off the light after the story, instead of trying to stay awake, instead of trying to leave as soon as possible, I just Kissed him goodnight and opened my book, quietly.
And it's been working out great! Some Days he is more excited, so I hand him one of his own books, which he pretends to read quietly (like his mommy is doing) until he closes his eyes.

I know. It was so simple and obvious, and it took me so long to get here... and I'm writing a post about something so ordinary... But it's exactly why I am sharing this story, I believe life is a trial/error experience, and it takes a great dose of failure and passing by the obvious until we get it right at some point sometimes. And the answer is usually simpler than what we imagined it, wouldn't you say so?

4 comments simple journey | thoughts, simple pleasures

The art of flow

Flow is my chosen word for 2015.
As I am working to define what flows means to me, I've come across a few interesting points of view.

Here is Jason Silva, the flow hacker:

I hope you enjoy it too.

Leave a Comment simple pleasures

Simple places: Badoca Safari Park

Whenever we are in Alentejo, we make it a point to spend one day at the Badoca Safari Park. Since being a family of three, it's even more special and richer each year.  For someone that  has conflicting feelings about zoos like I do, having never visited one or intend to in the future, Badoca Safari Park is like a soft breeze of unguilty pleasure. For a three-and-a-half-year-old boy a visit to Badoca is (I'm quoting) a very spectacular day (with emphasis on the very and a big smile on the face).

Badoca Safari Park's values are all about species conservation, the concern for animal welfare, environmental education and joy as familial aggregation pole. That's what they claim, and that's exactly what it feels like to be there in our experience.

I was going to start this sentence with the word surprisingly but now that I think about it, it is with some admiration but not really surprise, that my son was equally excited with the farm animals as he was with the wild animals. You see, we're lucky to frequently see sheep, goats, cows and donkeys on regular bases where we live. I would found it normal for him to be excited with the zebras, the giraffes, the gorillas, but not so much with the animals he is more familiar with, yet, he greeted each species with the same joy and enthusiasm (I guess this post could actually be called Simple life lessons for a three-year-old...).

4 comments simple pleasures

Life's simple pleasures | Children books

I have a new pleasure: children books. Actually, I'm so in love with some of them that I thought on sharing them here with you. One of my current love crash is:

A rule is to break - A child's guide to anarchy, by John & Jana.

Simple illustrations and simple messages to delight our eyes and nourish our souls. Here's a few snippets for you:

What do you think? I can't help smiling as I look at this again!

Leave a Comment simple pleasures

Weekend visitors

Meet our weekend visitors (wondrous village life...)

I think they were a little unsure, 

but we surely delight in them passing by :)

2 comments simple pleasures

Love for...words

“Penso: talvez o céu seja um mar grande de água doce e talvez a gente não ande debaixo do céu mas em cima dele; talvez a gente veja as coisas ao contrário e a terra seja como um céu e quando a gente morre, quando a gente morre, talvez a gente caia e se afunde no céu.” 

“I think: perhaps the sky is a huge sea of fresh water and we, instead of walking under it, walk on top of it; perhaps we see everything upside down and the earth is a kind of sky, so that when we die, when we die, we fall and sink into the sky.” 

José Luís Peixoto

Nenhum Olhar | The Implacable Order of Things  

Leave a Comment simple pleasures

Love for... autumn

I love autumn, for itself.

Not because it's "a second spring when every leaf is a flower" (Albert Camus); nor because it's "the year's last, loveliest smile" (John H. Bryant, brother of William Cullen Bryant).

Autumn is space for diversity... 

Leaves falling isn't a sad thing. It's a magical thing, part of a beautiful circle that happens every year. And the trees that were once all green, mature into their own colour and into their own personality.

How can we not love this?

Leave a Comment simple pleasures

Small mornings...

Waking up... staying in bed a few more moments (quietness, laziness....).

Going downstairs half sleeping to find a prepared breakfast on the table (thank you so much P, a quick kiss just to let you Know I appreciate you every morning).

Breakfast in silence, a ritual that strengthens our complicity.

Smell of coffee, I begin to awake...

Quick shower and pamper me and then go wake and dress my sweet boy...  angel sleeping face, even more beautiful when his eyes open, "Mamã". Full heart, I smile.

I breathe, the day starts to show its temper, the clock starts pressuring and we must go out soon. 

Leave a Comment simple pleasures

Simple happy moments - Lazy days

I think it's the weather, we're all feeling a little lazy these days... we seem to be a little slower than usual, new season is asking for more cuddling time... Oh, sweet sweet autumn days...I was looking forward for you and you didn't disappoint me...

Love love love this lazy yellow and slightly fat lazy cat

I swear I wanted to get up and do some work, but he just wouldn't let me ....

I didn't thought on publishing personal photos here on the blog, but the truth is my initial thoughts are changing very quickly... I don't think I'll start publishing these photos on a regular bases, but I do want this moments "enclosed in a capsule" here. It's part of what we are and it reflects our way of living...

Leave a Comment simple pleasures

I'm in love with the flow idea

What do you mean by flow?

Csikszentmihalyi

: Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost.

(full interview here)

Leave a Comment simple pleasures

On my way to work

There is parking right in front of the building where I work, but I usually park my car a few metres away… just for the pleasure of this very small walk.

I’m very lucky to work here, this is such a beautiful space!

Leave a Comment simple pleasures