I Am Exhausted

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tired

I’ve been trying to find the right words to describe how I feel tonight after a long day. I am exhausted. I am so tired I could cry but I am too tired to cry. I woke up way too early. Nothing went as planned in the morning. However, I received a call for a private painting party I am anxiously looking forward to, and I had the help of my kids to load the part of the stuff. I must mention that we are moving in case you did not read the previous post. God sent a rescue angel to give me a ride back to my car (since I had to pick up the truck and leave my car behind) just in time so I could make it to the presentation I was providing today.

media tipsThe presentation on Online Media Tips for Artists went pretty well. I was speaking to a good group of ladies (surprise!) who were very happy with the talk we had. It was a great time. We also enjoyed great conversations after the presentation. It is great to get to know people and hear their stories. I really appreciate the invitation of Project Storefronts New Haven.

I came back home after the event to find that God sent me another angel to help me do more loading.  We are still a long way from done but we did a lot. I seriously need to rest because another long day awaits and we have to get it done. I would write more but I am honestly too tired to think.

Race Against Time

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This weekend is for me a race against time. It is one of those weekends where everything decided to fall together. If you are reading this in the morning EST,  as you read this I’ll be probably loading, or at least trying to load a truck with our stuff because we are moving tomorrow. It is going to be a great workout. If you are reading this a little later in the afternoon, I’ll probably be speaking about Online Media Tips for Artists at The Gallery at Elemar in an event organized by Project Storefronts in New Haven, CT. Right after 5:00pm I’ll be back at loading until who knows what time. If you are reading at night that’s what I’ll probably be doing.

Saturday is the official day of the moving and it just happened to be the same day of my son’s championship game. There will be more loading in the morning followed by the game and then more loading. Hopefully, we can leave before it gets dark so we can start the wonderful task of unloading the truck into the new place. I bet the process will continue through Sunday as well. There is still so much to do and the more I think about it the more tired I become. It is difficult to focus on each of these things. I just hope we get enough help to get it done soon.

I’ll prepare myself to give you a description of the experience at the gallery with the presentation if I get any time to write today. I am also thinking about writing a little about a very curious experience I had this week at an art exhibit and a comment I received in a previous post in relationship to modern art. That I guess is going to be fun. I am not a fan of modern art so before I write about it I have to prepare myself to be objective and unbiased. Also, I want to write about a very pleasant social experience I had this week which is totally unrelated to the aforementioned subject but I believe it is worthy to be shared. For now I’m back to the task at hand.

Connecting With People

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Listening to people talk about being shy and how it is difficult to establish a conversation with someone sounds very alien to me. I mean no disrespect, I honestly enjoy connecting with people so much it feels almost inconceivable not to use any opportunity to do so. At the same time, I am constantly surprised when some individuals appreciate to be acknowledged when most people interact with them as if they were invisible. It is always an honor when people contact me through calls, messages, or in person who remember me from somewhere or because someone told them about me. It is good to know that approaching people and giving them the value as human they deserve is rewarded and highly regarded.

I believe it comes down to differences in personalities in most cases, but sometimes we do not take a moment to acknowledge the people around us, or simply certain social behaviors have been forgotten. Yes, people is different but some things are common sense and an understanding of what is socially acceptable behavior. Eye contact, for example, is almost a myth in our society nowadays. A “good morning”, a simple “hello”, or a casual “how are you?” is not going to kill you. On the other hand, replying to these salutations is also a simple sign of education, manners, and respect, and again, it is not going to kill you either.

Online relationships are not so different from face-to-face relationships. Similarly is with networking and business relationships. It is important to maintain a good attitude towards others. People can fake being ‘nice’ when it comes to business but there is a better way. To avoid the need impulse or need to be fake and find yourself with a falling mask it is important to be yourself. I am not saying that everyone should be the light of the party or the talkative person, but we all can show manners. Manners can take you a long way.

The Reality in Myth

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Thessalonike of Macedon was a princess. According to myth, a mermaid will surface to encounter sailors on their way to Macedon asking, “Is Alexander the king alive?” To this question there was only one appropriate answer that will allow the sailors to continue their way, “He lives and reigns and conquers the world.” Any other answer will enrage the mermaid and transform her into the monster Gorgon which drowned the ships and the sailors. The myth says that the mermaid is no other than Thessalonike, sister of Alexander the great who in her attempt to kill herself threw herself into the sea but instead of drowning, she was transformed into a mermaid.

ThessalonikeThere is a very interesting show in the History channel where fascinating stories, history, science, and archaeology are presented together trying to the reality in myth. All cultures their stories where myth and reality are intertwined in ways hard to separate them. Interestingly, it is possible to see where some stories are very similar in different cultures. Stories like the creation, the flood, giants on earth, forgotten kings, lost civilizations, and fantastic adventures can be found in more than one culture.

One of my favorite stories of greek mythology is the story of king Minos and the minotaur. It is one of the most bizarre stories ever told in ancient Greece. The Greeks tried to depict their disgust to the practices of the Minoans that the story is nothing but a description of a barbarian nation. After all, for them either you were greek or barbarian. Same with the Romans, it was either Roman or barbarian. Many people think like that still today. People constantly judge others because they don’t believe the same, or practice the same, or share their lineage, language, or nationality. People still today create myths to degrade others mixing some reality with it to try to make it believable. Maybe on the other side others are doing the same with them.

About the Simple Things

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You may know by now that yesterday was my 40th birthday. If you didn’t know, you now can join the other 10,000 people I told about it. It was a great quiet day. I guess that is the advantage of having a birthday on a Monday. I didn’t have  big party or crowds. I spent the morning getting ready to renew my driver’s license. That involved shaving my face and head, and getting a nice outfit. After getting my license I just went on to make phone calls and draw a little before going to my daughter’s basketball game. The night continued having dinner with my family at a restaurant. Back home we just watched a show and a basketball game with some writing and drawing in between.

Since I told so many people online about my birthday including yesterday’s post and another post a few days ago, I enjoyed the birthday wishes and comments online. I also enjoyed making some people smile and laugh with the pictures of my Superman onesie my family gave me as gift. I had fun today and it was my kind of day. I am all about the simple things. As long as my family is with me that makes it a special day. There is nothing else I would ask for.

Now I can move on to live this new phase of my life. The next two weeks are going to be very busy. Between moving, classes, presentations, parties, and writing time needs to be used wisely. We all have 24 hours a day. The wisdom is to use time wisely and make sure to have a clear sense of priorities. I mentioned before in different occasions that the relationships with the people around are more important than getting things done. One thing can be taken care of without neglecting the other. Often, the simple things in life are the most important things in life.