Liz Esquirol

Wanted: Alive!

I was walking down the street in NYC the other day and the word ALIVE jumped out at me from a sign. I don’t recall the reference, as I was in my usual city rush, but the word alive bounced around in my head for the remainder of my journey.

Alive. What does it mean?

My immediate thought was the old Post Office notices of notorious criminals…or the movie magic of the Wild West, where bandits were routinely “Wanted: Dead or Alive.”

Wanted – Dead or Alive (Photo credit: twm1340)

Is alive the opposite of dead?

Being alive is a biological and scientific state…that of having life….of being born, of blooming. A tree is alive. An animal is alive. A person is alive.

But what does it mean – from a spiritual and emotional perspective – to be alive. Does it mean the ability to think? Does it mean the act of feeling? Or is it more creative and intangible than that?

When a person experiences great joy or excitement (or fear for that matter), you may sometimes hear them utter the common phrase, “I never felt so alive.” That their nerve endings were on fire…that they felt the blood rushing through their veins…that they felt full, complete. It’s that powerful source – that inner fireplace that burns hot when stoked by imagination or activity.

Being alive is a privilege to me. There is no greater reminder of what it is to be alive than when facing our own mortality, or the mortality of others. It’s then that we see the dividing line between what it is to be physically alive….and to be full-out living.

There are days when I’m just grateful for having gotten through the day – when I’m tired, or annoyed, or just plain old stressed out. And there are most days, when I want to be open to living – to experience all that there is in being alive.

I believe that this is a common human desire. That too many of us feel that our lives and our time is going at lightning speed. We want to catch up and slow down all at the same moment. We yearn to experience the pleasures that being alive offers.

It’s hard, I know. It’s not easy to feel so alive when we are compressed by the pressures of daily life. But as long as we are aware that living is not the opposite of dying….that being alive is the full expression of what it means to live…then we are destined to never be that Western outlaw.

Live it up. – BB

Buddha Balboa

V-Day

Author: Bagande (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

No matter how you present it, Valentine’s Day is a mixed box.

And not just of chocolates.

It’s a polarizing Hallmark holiday that causes pressure, excitement or sadness. It divides the have and have-nots…it’s like the proverbial daisy petal-pulling, “he loves me, he loves me not”….leaving some with nothing but a stem.

Although I am a big romantic at heart, I’m also understanding that romance and love isn’t a day on the calendar. It isn’t about getting in line with florist industry or the chocolatiers. It’s about caring. It’s about expressing love in small ways. It’s about loving someone even when they aren’t being so lovable.

I dislike the exclusionary factor that Valentine’s brings. That somehow those who don’t have a sweetheart or those that aren’t falling into bed in bliss are “missing out” or for lack of a better term, “lacking.” They aren’t.

Those who didn’t receive flowers or cards today are just as lovable as the rest of us. There are lots of folks out there just giving the gifts or making dinner reservations because they feel they “have to” and not out of a genuine expression of what they truly feel. I get that. Sometimes that’s just the way things are.

But no matter what side you fall on in this red mania, it doesn’t matter. Because Valentine’s Day isn’t about a day. It’s a reminder to me, and should be to us all, that what we truly want is pure and simple….we want to be loved.

My gift today, if you’ll allow me, is to tell you that you are loved. And wanted. And cherished. I believe you are good and kind and worthy. I believe that every person, not just some, deserve to be respected and nurtured. That cupid doesn’t have a darn thing on the human heart.

Buddha Balboa loves you. – BB

Buddha Balboa

A new year

The new year is in full swing – pressing its way through January – leaving the past year in a cloud of dusty memories.

It’s amazing how quickly time marches on, isn’t it? How each year we begin with the thought of starting anew….of getting refreshed…of pushing the “start” button.

We’ve created, through our calendars and measurement of time, an invisible renewal on January 1. A manufactured blissful absolution of our problems and issues. An escape from the old…a skip towards the new.

How cool is that? We need it. We need the feeling, the notion, that we can start over. That we can begin again. That the past is over. Just like the seasons which come and go, so to do our obstacles to happiness and fulfillment.

Although the ending of a year does produce a swipe of melancholy, it also swings in hope. Hope that this year will be better, that we can learn more, fear less. That our dreams are lined up, just waiting for us to find them.

New year, new you. – BB

Buddha Balboa

Get Your ‘But’ Outta Here

Have you noticed how the word ‘but’ can ruin just about anything?

I really liked your presentation BUT it went on a little long.

I loved the restaurant BUT it was a little too noisy for me.

I think she’s a really sweet person BUT maybe a little too nice.

But…but…but.

Isn’t it just like us to rip the positivity away by pulling the rug out from underneath the compliment? Why do we feel we need to do this? What causes us to qualify a nicety by taking it down a notch?

I think it’s because we like to complain. We are afraid of letting a wonderful thing just be wonderful.

Maybe because we are taught to analyze…to swirl our opinions around like wine in a glass…to see if it has legs. Maybe it’s because, at our core, we have a place of negativity that needs to be released.

It always makes me think of the old adage – if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all – spoken by mothers the globe over. It makes sense – biting our tongues, or rather stopping them mid-sentence, can be the best way to communicate. Saying something nice – and leaving the ‘but’ behind, is the only way to go.

In trying to explain something in-depth, a but can come in handy. “I wanted to tell you but I was afraid you would get mad” is a means to verbalize your fear. Or, “I love when you stop by but next time give me a head’s up” is a way to express your preferences or your needs. It all depends on how you say it, how you phrase it. Using your ‘but’ to diminish, will never rank high on the kindness scale.

Use your but wisely. – BB