2009 Picture Flashback

Having a drink with Scary Spice in Las Vegas:

THE POWER OF THE WORD ( & our irresponsibility)

Pheeewww! what a day. A sad one. By now we are all aware of what happened in Tucson, Arizona, of the shooting, the deaths, the tragedy, and those fighting for their life, including Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. Its not something I can personally come to terms with in any level.  I am also resigned to the fact that I might never know,  I will never know what happened. Not for a conspiracy theory, but a much simpler fact, I will never be able to know what was in the shooters head, why or anything of the like.  To me it´s another senseless act of violence, one that like many others should not happen.
As everyone else I am also aware of the political background and how this tragedy IS being used for the benefit of some and the detriment of others.
I was very vocal on twitter about my indignation about what was on Sarah Palin´s website as pretty much a political hit list. It was taken down from her website but you can se a screenshot here .  I was vocal about my indignation.  Some people took it as me tainting a tragedy with political undertones.  Couldn´t be further from the truth.
Do I think Sarah Palin has anything to do with this shotting? NO. Do I think by her having a "political hit list" she encouraged violence? I don´t know. Do I think she is absolutely irresponsible with her words and sometimes actions? YES.
First of all let me assure you this has nothing to do with politics. To me the issue is people in the public eye, with a voice heard by millions, she is a politician, she could be an actress for all I care. My problem is that none of us understand, realize or respect the sanctity of the word. With our words we can create or destroy, you do it, I do it, everyday. I tell you "you look good today" or "you look like shit" and there´s a consequence to that. Our words are magic, we choose to use them as white or black magic.
So what really drives me crazy is that people in general, and specifically people that are public are so careless with their words and what effect they might have. No, Sarah Palin has no doing on this, but I personally think she is accountable for the message she is spewing. Personally I don´t  think is clever, funny, creative to have a political "hit list." Im semi sane. Did she (or any of her advisors) stop to think what a disturbed, mentally unhealthy person would make of that? They probably did after the fact, hence taking the post down.
My frustration is not political, is a frustration from the pit of my stomach that us, as "evolved" beings DO NOT take responsibility for our actions, let alone our WORDS and the implications of that.
So, yes, I am pissed when I look at this picture:

To me it says "I am not aware of the power I have over people. I am not aware that what I say might be misconstrued. I did not stop and think what the implications of the way I CHOOSE to use my words might have. I don´t care."
You have your opinions and beliefs and I respect them. I expect the same from you. And yes, I have thought and chosen my words as carefully as I can.
P.

HABIBI "darling, something is wrong with your head"

You are looking at a still from the film HABIBI by the talented director and dear friend Susan Youssef. What? You haven´t heard about it? Well, that is because the film is in the final stages of being completed.
    I am going to tell you about my love for Susan and for this "baby" of hers.  Before embarking on this labor of love, Susan had succesfully made five short films. I met Susan at the Sundance Film Festival while I was working there and she was screening her work.  I cannot tell you how we met, or any other detalis. To be honest I don´t remember them.  We kept in touch and in 2006 she was screening her short film "Marjoun and the Flying Headscarf"  I remember that we wanted to meet even if for a litte time to catch up.  I was running from screenings to press confereces, to some other non sense and I am sure she was equally busy, but we manage to arrange a time to meet. THAT, I remember quite well.  It was snowing in Park City, it was freezing cold, I run into the Frontier on Main venue and we found a place to sit and chat. To the day I remember that clearly, because I was running into the place to meet her and was supposed to run to be somewhere else after. The moment we sat to talk and she started telling me about HABIBI and I looked into those big beautiful eyes I just could not be rushed, I could not rush my conversation with her, nor did I want to. Passion is a powerful force, when paired with following one´s dreams, well, its simply unstopable.
I left her with the certainty that for as a daunting task it is to make a film IN Gaza, raise the money and actually seeing that through, Susan would do it.
    In todays day when independent filmmaking is such a common place, we sometimes forget what truly is to make a film independently. Susan´s work on HABIBI has been such an inspiring way for me to remember, not only what it takes to make an indie film, but how we CAN make our dreams come true, only if we are willing to sacrifice and work. A lot.
    Over the years since my conversation with Susan in Park City I have stayed in touch, I have cheered her on, I have asked, I have been in awe. She did raise the money to go and actually shoot the film in Gaza. Let that sink in for a minute. She raised the money and actually shot her film in Gaza.
I am lucky enough to have a good relationship and sometimes friendship with many talented filmmakers, people with a true passion for their craft. I usually don´t go out there, yelling from the rooftops how great they are.
    This is different. I have and continue to see Susan battling it out for this film to be completed, for her voice to be heard. Trust me, it needs to be heard.  The film is done for the most part. She just has the last stretch to be done.  I am going to let her tell you herself. Before I do that, I am going to ask you something simple: Do you have dreams? Did you ever run after them? Are you still dreaming? How woud you feel if someone helped you along the way?
    Keep those questions in your mind, then just click HABIBI and hear from Susan herself.

                                       From me, a heartfelt THANK YOU!
                                                                                         P.



P.S. For more detailed information on the film, please visit the official site http://www.habibithefilm.com/

2011 is here, am I?

I haven´t blogged since last year.  I just didn´t have anything to say. The last 3 months of last year were the culmination of a year of rebirth, reflexion, being humbled and learning, learning, learning.
I have let myself open to being taught (even if sometimes its rough teaching) by life what I need to know.  So far, it works greatly.  Many times I founf myself under different situations that were not what I wanted, or the best of situations. I learned to look at those situations as learning opportunities. I changed "shit happens" to "lessons happen"  That changed my way of facing situations, instead of cursing up and down and asking Zeus (or the deity of the day) "what the ....?" I started thinking "what am I missing?" That made a whole lot of difference. I started recognizing a pattern where things happen because I need to experience them for my own personal growth. And yes, I am learning from it.
Just in case that concept wasn´t clear with me, the "get it now" moment happened on December 31st, 2010.  I had been thinking I need to be more in the HERE, wherever that is completely as opposed as being here but twitting, texting with friends and sometimes wondering or day dreaming of being somewhere else.

As December 31st came closer to an end I was on a fever of texts, tweets and not being present to the moment. So, since I already had a clue but was not acting upon it, life took it upon itself to show me how´s done. A few hours before midnight my phone just simply kicked the bucked. At first I was a bit upset. Then I chilled, looked at the situation and smiled. I was now going to BE present. And I did, I had a wonderful evening, I saw the stars, the fireworks, danced until 7ish in the morning. No tweets, no texts.
I realized that al my numbers and some texts I had saved were gone. But I also realized that my friends and family are always near. The text messages I had saved were gone, but the love and encouraging words are there, shall I choose to talk to them and be present to out time together.
Im glad the phone is gone, giving way to a new appreciation for NOW.
Are you HERE, NOW?
P.

Just in case...

Just in case you need a reminder as I often do, here´s a quick list:
- You are loved.
- No one, is, ever was or ever will be like you. Now, don´t try to be like someone else.
- Don´t take life too seriously, nobody gets out of it alive.
- Life IS a boomerang, be careful what you throw out there.
- Smile, hug and dance like your life depends on it. It just might.
- Take the time to taste your food, be thankful for it and share it with loved ones.
- Wine is good for the heart. (they say a glass a day, Im conducting my own research, will let you know)
That should carry me on this week.
Peace,
p.

A Zebra for an Angel

This is a tough one to write.  I will try my best to make sense.  I have a best friend who I love deeply, Jenn.  She in turns has a sister named Angel, whom she loves deeply.  In Jenn´s own words this is whats happening to her sister: " my sister, the appropriately named, Angel, has been battling an extremely rare
and incurable type of cancer, carcinoid cancer, which basically means that
tumors grow everywhere in her body, and no matter how many times they take them
out, they just keep growing back.  She was diagnosed 4 years ago in october, and
her positive attitude has allowed her to live long past when most patients
succumb to the disease.  She is 41 years old, and has 4 kids.  She has spent her
life educating children and helping to raise her younger siblings."
I always ask about Angel and I am always surprised that she keeps fighting and doing so with a positive attitude and a strong will.  Not once have I asked about Angel and heard of her complaining about the hand that life dealt her, about the pains Im sure she goes through, physical and emotional ones.  Pains i cannnot even imagine.  I always stand amazed at such fortitude.  She´s not one to dwell on self pity.  You can read all she does in this article.  I guess when you live life a certain way, you face adversity the same way you have lived life.  So it does not surprise me that Angel, who was teacher of the year (you can read another article about that here) is teaching us a lesson and asking us, to join in.
She started a campaign to raise awareness to this type of cancer (one doctor's rarely check
for) and to show support for those suffering from it.  She calls it zebra stripes, and would like pictures of people wearing black and white to create a mural at her doctor's office (she's also an avid artist), to show all of her fellow patients, they are not alone.
I for one, will be wearing black and white, taking a picture and sending it to her.  To show her, she is not alone, to show the other patients they are not alone.   I invite you to wear your black and white, or if not, to take a black and white picture, tweet it to me (@pabl0godoy)  or post it here.  Let´s make a giant zebra together, one for an Angel.
Thank you.
p.

Little gestures.

This is a good start*:

*thanks to Karyn Murphy for the beautiful picture.
Every single day I see miracles all around me.  Every single day I wake up ready to be surprised by life and what it drops at my feet. Every single day I am more grateful than the day before.
I keep understanding what I have taken as one of my personal mantras in life: "Whatever we do to others, we do to ourselves first."  The more I live, the more that it becomes clear that we are all one, that there´s no ´you´and ´me´ there´s US.  I was raised to treat others with kindness and sometimes I did, sometimes not so much.
As time goes by I have learned that it is the only way to go.  I know that I will never know what you are going through, where you come from or how you are doing, but, I do know that being kind to you is not a sacrifice and by doing so I am just being kind to myself.
It´s amazing to me how little gestures can make such a difference in my life as well as the lives of others.  Unbeknownst to you, that smile, that pat on my shoulder, that simple ´thank you´has gotten me through the day many times.  For the past couple weeks I have been thinking about this a lot.  In my life it always seems that a series of events highlight a particular principle.  This past two weeks I have been experiencing a lot of the consequences of little gestures, either done by me or done by others to me.
I have the most amazing family and friends, the ones that always seem to know when to call, text, email, or send a smoke signal, for no other reason than to make me smile.  As I have been away from many I have learned that time and distance have no effect on relationships based on love and respect.  Love is the strongest bond, the fastest conductor, the most beautiful messanger.  Love is also so simple that it becomes complicated.  To me, and in my experience, love is just that one call, that one text, that one hug, the beautiful silence and the crazy nights, all in one.
I also find that in my life, the language of love is like love, simple.  I believe love communicates in little gestures that seemingly without a reason touches us and lifts us up.
I was listening to Argentine singer Patricia Sosa talk about her foundation.  She has a foundation to help a native tribe in Argentina, the Tobas.  She was telling the story of how she got involved in that work.  Talk about little gestures.  In 2008 that particular tribe in the Argentine Chaco was going through a hard time, two children had died of hunger, a teenage had tried to commit suicide, the situation was desperate.  So the shaman of the tribe gathered them together to do a ´fire ceremony´to ask for help.  So there they are, arund the fire, asking for help.  In that remote area where they are, while doing the ceremony a car passed by and they heard a song by Patricia about LOVE.  They took that as a sign and the next day they went to the closest town to find out who the singer was.  Once they found out who she was they also found out she was singing in a month in another city not far, not close.  So they got tickets for one of the tribe members (Norma) to travel to where she was going to sing.  She left a red envelope in the ticket office for Patricia letting her know the situation of the tribe and how they needed her help.  Twenty days went by until Patricia opens the red envelope and reads the story.  In the letter they left a phone number.   Patricia calls the number right away to find out it was the number of the closest town´s church.  She talks to the priest who tells her that Norma was right there next to him in church.  Patricia speaks with Norma who tells her that she was in church waiting for her call.  To which Patricia said." but it´s been 20 days, what if I never called?" She said that then Norma laughed and said to her."neah, this is all in God´s hands."  Thats how her foundation got started and keeps helping the Tobas in all she can.  You can check her foundation here
That to me sums up what I am tryig to say.  Little gestures, little kind efforts, those are the words of love.  Let´s all speak that language, we don´t need anything other than a good disposition to change, our life and that of others.
One little gesture a day, one smile, one hug, one note...please do join me in passing this on.
P.