Posted by Raul on August 31, 2010
While using the Netbook in the kitchen I caught a sudden movement of one of the plants spending time in a corner of the room.
The plant was just standing there when several leaves quickly moved like if being pushed by an invisible hand. No words came out of my mouth but they did form in my mind (what the f…!) then immediately I remembered those videos in YouTube about ghosts…you know, those where someone claims to forgot to turn off the camera and later, when checking the video, found that things moved in the room on their own, then go on to say “you decide” although the title of the video usually is something like “definite proof that ghost exist” (yes, from time to time I like to watch YouTube videos; you can learn something with the video and laugh with the comments)
I don’t believe in ghosts, even though I am one (Alien Ghost remember?) so trying to find an explanation I checked for air currents in the room…none; then I thought: plants grow and we don’t see any movement…being this plant one of those that hang from a basket maybe the leaves grow until they touch with each other, then start applying pressure and then at some point the leaves just “jump” to a new position when the growth has reached a certain point.
Or something like that.
My only experience with ghosts was several years ago back in my country. When my wife’s father died we were living in the US and couldn’t go to the funeral. About a year later we travel and stayed in my wife’s parent’s house
I used to spend lots of time at the living room doing drawings and usually got there up to 3 or 4 in the morning, when everyone was sleeping in the house.
A couple of times I was concentrated in the drawings when I heard steps in front of me and felt the presence of someone just standing there, watching me; I looked up and saw no one else in the room. The way of walking was the same of my wife’s father.
Later, talking with family members, the only other person feeling the presence of this ghost was his wife, the widow.
Why only the two of us? And especially why me one of them? I know he didn’t like me…after all in his eyes I stole his daughter
Disclaimer: I didn’t steal her, I was just passing by minding my own business when she grabbed me and forced me to marry her! (I hope she doesn’t read this) J
I suppose those “encounters” were nothing more that the contraction of the wooden floor with the temperature changes at night.
But those thoughts and memories got me thinking…how many stories and beliefs start with the jump into a conclusion without the search for a more logical explanation?
Do you believe in ghosts? Do you have a story to share with us in the comment section? Maybe after several different stories and approaches we can come to a different conclusion. Please share with us your memories.
Raul
Posted by Raul on August 19, 2010
The canoe is gliding over the fresh, cold waters of this magnificent morning; the quiet lake surrounded by beautiful trees while the sun shines by the side letting the natural colors bright with their maximum intensity.
I can hear the gentle noise of the water as I slowly paddle my way through the center of the lake. Some birds I cannot see let me have their morning songs that go in perfect synchronicity with the air, the smell of fresh grass and new flowers in the distance.
Some brownish leaves floating in the lake, waving with the gentle movements of the waters that hold them and let them be a different kind of shining spots to complement the beauty of the place.
My heart is complete with joy as I experience the beauty of nature and the simplicity of being. No complex thoughts, no worries about civilian life, just a human being in nature, as part of nature, being connected with the whole, the universe
My spirit finally free so I can be, instead of the struggles we self impose by our built society. Free to be, free to climb, free to experience the moment as it should always be. At this point I am one with nature and the universe!
Finding the connection of an intelligent and sensitive being, born out of a powerful specie among the many that conform life in this beautiful planet, among the many that conform the universe, with the universe itself.
Connections that present us with the truth of a master plan, a purpose, a reason to be here, to be born; nature and a human being, synchronized, being part of each other, connected, to make the whole.
A piece of wood floating in the waters; I didn’t see it, I hit it and the sudden movement of my body by the surprise makes my canoe move quickly and tip to one side, I loose balance and fall to the waters.
Cold waters that shock me and cut off my breathing, I can’t breath and my arms and legs instinctively stretch instead of moving to swim back to the canoe; water reach my mouth, nose, ears and eyes; grasping for air I swallow the cold, bitter water while I can’t see anything and a rumbling noise surrounds me.
I fight, I start moving my arms and legs, but no air that I need, so it’s drowning instead of breathing and the more I try the worst it becomes, so the pain in my chest, that feeling of exploding from inside, my lungs burn and I completely loose any control over my body.
Then the pain recedes and my body calms down, stops moving, I float just a couple of inches under the waters, and I can see.
My family, my little child playing and laughing, my spouse’s face smiling, the house, the mountains close to where I lived; the ocean with the sunset that was part of my life so long ago. The struggles and dreams for so many years.
Then nature around, life itself and the universe that I learned to be part of; another magnificent creature connected that I came to be, now being absorbed and destroyed; all the memories, all the experiences, all the knowledge accumulated, the thoughts, the questioning, all that became a part of this human being, all being quietly destroyed by Mother Nature while some little birds sing their morning songs and the sun gives the colors around a vibrant shine.
The feeling of being disposed of, discarded, reduced to just new soil or dust, the nothingness, while all nature’s creatures and nature itself remain silent in complicity of the murdering
I was, or I thought I was; connections or pretensions? Vision or happy, ignorant blindness? No cold, no perceptions other than a vague vision of the waters and just floating in the nothingness.
I could, for a brief moment, convince myself of being in harmony with the whole, of being a part of the whole, under a controlled situation where I got to have the power, the decisions, the faith, until the whole claimed its power back and showed me how insignificant this physical body can be.
A brief moment, just a second of an entire life, from the powerful being to the disposable element, like a brownish leave in autumn, like the piece of dead wood floating lifeless by the lake, just like a dead bug on the ground…so is the time…to say good bye…
Raul
Posted by Raul on August 16, 2010
When I was about 16 years old I was living in a different city than my parents and used to go visit them on weekends.
One Saturday morning, when arriving at my parent’s house, I found my father ready to go hunting with a shotgun, he invited me to go with him and I accepted because, at the side of spending some time together, I was curious about the firearm.
After walking for a couple of minutes my father asked me if I wanted to give a try to the gun and I accepted; how tempting to hold the gun, aim at something and pull the trigger to see and feel it in action!
With the gun in my hands I looked around to find a target and saw a small bird standing in a high, wooden pole, so I aimed to the little bird and pulled the trigger.
The small bird didn’t fly with the sound of the firearm, didn’t even start to flap its wings, it simply fell off to the ground without any movement, lifeless, dead.
While falling, even before it hit the ground, I was already feeling remorse for killing it. It was doing nothing, just standing there, being, alive, but because I didn’t think ahead of the consequences, I just aimed and shot, the little creature ceased to exist.
I felt really bad!
I remember giving the gun back to my father and telling him that I would never hold a firearm in my hands again. We walked back to his house in complete silence and had never talked about that situation.
I don’t know what my father’s feelings were at that moment and I don’t know if he knew what my feeling were, but I believe it wasn’t important then and is not today; nothing changed between us.
I don’t know if he remembers that moment but I do, and decide to write about it here in my blog.
More than 30 years have gone by and I kept my word, I’ve never held another gun in my hands and I still don’t like them.
Because of that moment I had the opportunity to think about people and guns and come to the conclusion that, not only guns are for destruction, but also how fragile life can be and how important is to protect it.
I was a 16 years old kid, curious about how a firearm would feel when fired and by making a stupid mistake I learned to respect life, anticipate consequences and stay away from guns.
Raul
Posted by Raul on July 29, 2010
It is surprising when we see love from the outside.
When in love, we see a different world, a different society, things seems to be in the right place; there are smiles and good intentions everywhere.
When in love, falling autumn leaves are poetry and spring flowers are good intentions popping up everywhere.
When in love, noise is music and polluting smoke a reason to laugh while holding hands and running away.
When in love, smile is the face we carry around as our introduction to the people we meet.
When in love, caught by rain is a moment of happiness and problems are jokes to laugh about.
But then…
When love is missing, solitude is the companion and tears are always ready to reflect the feelings inside.
When love is missing, walking through life is like walking in mud and every muscle in the body aches and every movement requires so much of the missing energy.
When love is missing, everything new is another task to complete that waste time and prevent forward movement.
When love is missing, we walk around in a lost society that goes smiling to its own destruction.
Not a physical form or a measurable element, yet so powerful that can make us laugh, wonder, imagine and extract everything good we have inside.
Love is like a drug that keeps us “high” and allows us to feel powerful, invincible, with a winner’s attitude all the time.
No wonder why we all wish to be in that drug… 
Raul
Posted by Raul on July 26, 2010
The thing is, I hate when people say “I’m sorry” because I think “why didn’t you anticipate the problem?” For me people who say sorry too easy is people who is used to not thinking of the consequences of their actions and just throw the “sorry” word to get “clean” and move on…easy life!
We can see how adults teach their children to go that way when, instead of teaching them to think before acting, just let them be anyway they want and later tell them to “say sorry”, so the child say sorry and keep going the same way without learning anything from the situation.
Then, when being an adult, the same situation occurs, only the wording can become more complex or have more variations: “Oh I’m terribly sorry” “I’m so sorry” and so on.
It is not just that in those situations it becomes annoying the continuous line of “mistakes and sorry sayings” but it is also how it affects in life. When we don’t learn to think before doing, in small things could be (could be) OK, but the bigger things are the ones to mostly worry about.
-Love relationships that go awry because each one acts without thinking, then the flood of “sorry” that leaves each one with the feeling of not being important for the other
-A 16 years old kid driving really fast without thinking ahead, then crash and burn, and even worst, taking someone else in the process.
-Should I mention drunk driving?
Learning to think ahead is not just about preventing problems but also is about considering those around in the equation so no longer it is all about “me” and “the situation around me” but it is also about learning to respect the others as equals; so teaching to anticipate consequences also teaches respect for the others.
“Not teaching is teaching selfishness”
Then, without learning to think ahead it’s easy to:
-Become selfish and egoist
-Not learning to give love and dedication
-Not being capable of receiving love
-Living confused about what’s really important in life
-Becoming a materialistic being (many times to compensate)
-Risking injury and life, own and others
-Becoming racist and segregationist
And the list can go on and on…
Teaching our children to think before doing or saying something not only is about good manners, have a more fulfilling life and helping them to develop better relationships in their future, but sometimes is also about making sure they will have a future at all.
Raul
