A New Year and a New Beginning (for some of us)

In a few days, we'll be celebrating the start of 2010. I know many people who will be thrilled to ring in the New Year. It always makes me emotional. This New Year's Eve will be great because we will be performing at a local restaurant (Piccolo Mondo in Huntington). It will also be "interesting" because it will the 2nd full moon in the month which last happened in 2007. I'm looking forward to playing this holiday night and sharing the joy of music with others. It will be fun, no matter what! Do I have any resolutions? Hell, no. I hate raising the bar too high when it comes to that. I do sense that 2010 will be a year of major "changes" for me. No, not any sex operations or anything like that. Maybe a move from my current home. Maybe meeting a new person that is going to change my life somehow. I sense a change. Whatever it is, it's going to be good. I know it and believe it...

Wishing you the best in life! Enjoy...enjoy...enjoy.

It's Christmas Time

Well, we're only a few days away from Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. In our family, we like to celebrate both days. But the majority of the festivities (fiesta) takes place on Christmas Eve. It's so much fun for us! Latinos like to live and celebrate with passion. There's nothing boring about our get-together's. We have our traditional food and drink, like coqui (Spanish drink spiced up with rum)for the adults as well as pasteles (a Spanish meat pie that takes hours to prepare!) and arroz con gandules (yellow rice and black eyed peas--the food not the band). As we get older, we are much more appreciative of the time we have together. This is definitely one of my favorite holidays because we are happy and we know it!

I hope your holidays are joyous and that you are surrounded by many precious moments of joy and unconditional love.

Feliz Navidad!

State of Affairs

I'm feeling disappointed and disallusioned about the state of "affairs" with the world. What happened to morals? To doing the right thing even if it hurts? To saying no when you're presented with temptation. Yes, I'm talking about Tiger Woods. But in a way, I'm also talking about lay people in general who like to "play." Woods is just a rich public figure who got caught. On a personal level, I know people (who know people) who cheat and lie and don't do the right thing with their primary relationships because it's easier (and more fun for them!) to have a "side dish." And simply because they can do it. Until they get caught. Then maybe they learn and maybe they don't. Perhaps they lose a wonderful relationship as a result or they learn to cherish the primary relationship. Maybe it doesn't matter because sometimes people who are being cheated on know it but turn their head the other way because they have a lot to lose (as Woods wife does). Sometimes the other partner feels so much love for the cheater and hopes that he/she will change at some point. Who knows? Am I taking it too personally? Yes. Because I'm tired of hearing "bad news" about relationships. Show me devotion and undying love. Yes, I want to live in a fantasy world when it comes to love. But, I'm finding, the reality is very different.

It's Complicated

I think one of the hardest lessons we learn as adults is that love isn't perfect. It's rarely a straight line of emotions. Love is never simple. It truly is complicated. What starts out as love often gets convoluted into something else. But people sometimes hang on to a relationship that might not be right for them because they settle and accept that part of needs are being met by their partner. That's what I tried to do in my marriage but I couldn't settle for long. I got divorced because I wanted to find my soulmate. I didn't just want a "so-so" life partnership. But since then, I discovered that the grim reality may be that there's no such thing as a soulmate. Maybe you have to be your own soulmate and not worry so much about finding that in some one else. In my world, I have found that there are a lot of damaged souls out there. It's hard to accept the fact that you may never find the right person to love and love you back the way you need and want to be loved (because everyone's desires and needs are different) but by the same token, you realize that an imperfect love might be the love to teach you all that you really needed to know...