Reaching Out to Live a Healthy, Creative, Expressive Life

On January 8th I was taping the psychological consultation section of my natural foods cooking show Qué Rico when all of a sudden...EARTHQUAKE!!!!!!! To say the least it scared the living daylights out of me. My father is the clinical psychologist of my show and right in the middle of telling him the story of the television viewer we were literally shook up. My Dad initially started swerariing in Spanish and then reapeatedly said "Calma" which means "Let's keep calm." He said it eight times and the earthquake stopped! The thing is he didn't sound very relaxed as he said it! I called the news program of my channel to tell them I had the best taping of the moment. They were so busy with the emergency that they didn't pay any attention to me. I called them three times but they didn't pick up the cassette which was right there in the channel.

 

As I understand, Costa Rica has not had a earthquake of this proportion for many many years. There were no damages in our studios or in my home but one area of Costa Rica suffered insurmountable damage and 20 deaths due to landslides that buried people alive. Apparently many people are missing and the families will not be able to recuperate the bodies of their loved ones. This has been very sad for the country. The news repeatedly puts on the victims, showing their anguish and desperation.

 

I waited a week and decided to post the moment of the earthquake on our channel at You Tube. That was two days ago. All of a sudden this video is internatinally famous. There has been, as of today, more than 60,000 views of the video. The video appeared on the Latin News Show PRIMER IMPACTO which airs in the United States and many Latin American countires. We were on the Channel 6 and Channel 7 Costa Rican news plus newspaper interviews here in Costa Rica. There are more than 400 comments posted about the video on You Tube.

 

People mostly laugh when they see the video and many say it was a much needed relief from so much tragedy. Some say they laugh and feel guilty because they know people have suffered terribly from this event. Actually thousands have been affected because they were obligated to leave their homes, animals, belongings etc. because the Costa Rican government declared the area as a risk zone.

 

I'm really shocked though at the enormous response to this video. My father's book WE'RE HAVING SEX RIGHT NOW! appears on the screen because precisely the material of the book is what we discuss on this section of the program. The book proposes real solutions to better our lives as individuals and in society. This book can make a real difference for everyone but people seem to be more interested in shocking and tragic circumstances than in their selves and their own self-understanding. And on and on we go...but where? Maybe this is an opportunity to call some attention to calming down and learning about waht really makes us tick.

 

Here's the link if you want to see what nature is capable of doing:

Tonight I'm inspired to reflect on how us human beings can develop meaningful relationships.

 

Recently I witnessed a disgusting TV show here in Costa Rica. Young girls were vulgarly dancing on a platform while an encrazed spokesman continually incited them to do more outlandish movements and to lift their already mini-skirts, and unbutton their low-cut jeans or blouses. The most vulgar, prostitute-like young girl would win a bottle of licor if she did so. All five "women" willfully participated with weird smiles on their faces. Frankly it was an awful thing to look at. These girls may have been around 18-25 years old. Some may already be mothers and I shudder to think they would be mothers of the future. You're probably thinking..."Boy this is nothing! Haven't you seen hard porn? If you think that's bad you ain't seen nothin' yet!"

 

So, with this in mind where do we stand in terms of relating to one another? Who are we going to relate to? Who will be our friends, wives and husbands? Who will be the friends, wives and husbands of our children?...the children of those girls I saw in the show ?...or maybe the children of the hard-porn stars?

 

What about those who are wrapped up in the rat race? "Hi! Bye! Oh, that's great! See you later! Have a nice day! Nice to meet you! You look great! Get out of my way asshole! Look where you're going! Next. The test is tomorrow. You have to qualify. etc. etc. etc.

 

As a daughter of a psychologist I have learned from my father that we are attracted to others who are similar to our mothers (both men and women are attracted to people that remind them of their earliest days ...see my dad's book We're Having Sex Right Now!). So, we are subconsciously destined to desire a certain kind of relationship or non-relationship with our fellow humans.

 

As far as I can see, the only hope for developing meaningful relationships with others would be to One: Know what the hell a human being is all about and therefore be able to understand ourselves. Then slowly and calmly...maybe at first on an intellectual level and eventually on a feeling level, have the capacity to relate to one another (we always have feelings--the kind that trigger off; I'm refering to working through that part and then going from there) . For that we need calmness, quiet, decent conditions (you can't do this on a noisy-busy-dangerous city street), time, desire and continuous self-study. If this was possible do you think we'd have so many constant threats to our lives? Would we be so willing to contaminate ourselves with pollution, awful food, awful activities, and awful TV shows? Would we want to take drugs, vandalize, abandon our kids, kill ourselves and each other?

 

Do you take the time to realate to yourself? I think that's the answer. The more we are able to relate to ourselves...the more we can relate to one another.

 

 

 

 

Since the end of last year I have been involved in many interesting projects that need my intense concentration. To my satisfaction, things are coming along. I do plan to write again for my blog in the near future...but as the saying goes...First things first. I do check in once in a while to see if anyone has visited. Thanks to those who drop by to say hello. I hope by next month to have a little more time.

It's been quite a while since I've written here on my blog. This has been due to one main reason: I DIDN'T WANT TO. It just became kind of last on my list of priorities. Since I returned from my trip to Miami I have had an increase in work responsibilities and the need to think things through and develop new projects. All this requires dedication, discipline and channeling my energy to where I want it to count...so writing on my blog became less important and less rewarding than the other things I'm working on.

 

I decided to start this blog in the first place for various reasons. One was to try out my writing in English. All my activities, friends, and business associates are Spanish speaking. English is my mother tongue, although I do dream and sometimes even have a hard time speaking "pure" English (it comes out like Spanglish), so I figured I'd look for a space to enjoy communicating in my mother tongue. On that score I have enjoyed the experience. I was also curious and looking forward to developing new contacts and making new friends. On that score...I would say I feel so-so. I have found that as long as things are kept on a superficial level...everything is fine. As soon as one tries to get to know the other person a little more or if I offer a different point of view, I sense a withdrawl from the others or an interest to just keep it up as long as it doesn't mean anything.

 

In my case the relationships that I have most enjoyed in my lifetime and that have had the most meaning for me are those where I was able to work on a mutual project with the other people...something that we could develop together, share ideas on, make it go, join forces for a productive end. In a way I think that's how life used to be in general before we all got so overwhelmed with tecnology, cars, television, the need to "make money" in order to survive (at least we think we have to), and then of course "how much money do we have to make" to have the life-style we want (without considering what kind of people we are), etc. etc.  Before this gobbledygook of modern life took over societies around the world in the form of globalization, people depended on one another for survival, education and entertainment. Not so now-a-days. Human life is no longer valued as it was before. There is a feeling in the air that no one is indispensable (divorce, robots instead of people, internet instead of face to face conversation, TV watching instead of living life...

 

 I have found that the main purpose of blogs is for one's own enjoyment. I will confess that I get a kick out of my own writing and have also enjoyed the writing of others. In terms of people that have visited me here I have enjoyed interchange with them, even when we don't agree. 

 

Recently I started to develop my website and anounce it on my television show. I'm getting a lot of feedback and many many visits from my TV viewers. My father writes articles on psychology and I write about good eating and post my recipes as well.

 

So that's what I was thinking about today in terms of this blog. Let's see what's next...  

Boy, things have changed a bit. I have been evacuated from my hotel that I was really beginning to enjoy and have been "safely" placed in another hotel that is not quite to my liking. All this because of a supposed hurricane that is about to blow Miami away, at least a little bit. But...so far it hasn't been worth one shot for my show. Who wants to see a couple of palm trees blowing "peacefully" in the wind? So far there is no sign of anything strange; we have been totally uprooted and I had two filming appointments cancelled because of the hurricane threat. I'm going to have to wait this one out for another day even if nothing happens. I'll probably go to the gym and look around to see if I can bump into anything interesting to tape for the mean time. No one wants to make appointments until they see if there will actually be a hurricane and if there will actually be any damage.

 

This is the most boring hurricane I have ever seen. Oh well, hope there's a change in the weather in more ways than one!