Happiness

Happiness...an exquisite pursue!

Happiness is transient and is dependent on our personal aspirations and values. Our pursuit for happiness never ends, as we might find ourselves switching from happiness to unhappiness from one moment to the next. Based on my personal experience, overall happiness could be stored into our good memories, by trapping every moment of bliss-however small that moment may be.

Happiness like love, must be nourished and protected. We are the sole owners of our happiness and only we can change the things that make us happy or unhappy. Our happiness should be based on our very own feelings: our ability to love, and aspirations: our ability to dream without dead ends. As an advocate for war survivors and a survivor myself, I have concluded that in this world, there is much more to laugh than to cry about. Every day we are alive is a reason to smile, every heart beat that takes us closer to the 3 billion heart beats in a lifetime, is a reason to feel blessed, and every hug, kind word and kiss we receive from our loved ones is a reason to feel lucky and endlessly happy. Our true happiness depends on us and lies inside our own human spirit. We only need to search inside our souls. If we can’t find it, we need to just look around, particularly at the less fortunate throughout the world, and realize that if they are capable of smiling, then so can we.

Overall, true happiness lies in the essence of a positive human spirit. To me there are two kinds of happiness: 1) the type provided by material gains and 2) the type provided by spiritual, emotional and overall self-actualization gains. Both are needed to some extent. Therefore, the key to happiness is simplicity. The simpler the life style and the goals we set for ourselves, the more likely we are to accomplish our goals, and as a result we’ll feel happier with ourselves and our surroundings. This is not to say that we should have a mediocre mentality in order to achieve happiness, in the contrary, we are free to dream and achieve anything we want, just as long as we keep reality alongside.

Inspiration

For inspiration: seek nature, for relaxation: seek nature, for meaning: seek nature, for challenge: save nature.

Growing up in the beautiful rain forest of Northern Nicaragua, some say I was fortunate, others don’t agree. After all, I did enjoy many things most people can only dream in a lifetime: freedom to ride a horse with open arms through whimsical rain and clouded forests, warm showers straight from the heavens, endless moonlights and adrenaline laden adventures. In my childhood I indulged in all delectable organic treats nature had to offer. I also witnessed live executions, human anatomy displays and above all—I got to see how a paradise shattered. This was the day my innocent childhood ended and my new life began.

A new life in which I have learned to smile a lot. An enjoyable adventure called LIFE!

Live every moment as if it were your last!

A Thanksgiving Poem

Thanks I give to all of you, for whom
Hope shines into a new light called the
Arts, and for whom the challenges of
New beginnings sprout into rivers of
Knowledge and currents of wisdom that
Support humanity into reaching higher
Goals of promoting a better world, full of
Inspirations to all who wish to transform the
Visions of unity and selflessness into oceans of top
Innovations that ensure a brighter world, where
No one goes through life without the discovery of
Greatness, and the everlasting gift of true friendship!

Dear friends,

First and foremost, I wish to thank you for the gift of your friendship and for supporting my dreams. As you know, I've spent several months attempting to wrap up my writing projects. And now I can finally see the light through the end of the tunnel. The world of an artist is in no doubt a beautiful one for our world is constantly transforming into new ideas, rich characters and out of this world tell tales. May your thanksgiving be filled with hugs, love and many thanks from you and to you!

Love to all,

Ileana

The Pursue of a Dream

A dream whether small or larger than life is the fuel that motivate us to wake up every morning and endure the unknown challenges of daily life. Without dreams we become zombies in our own worlds: unmotivated, unhappy, unproductive and non-receptive. However, it is not the lack of dreams that prevent us from achieving to our maximum potential, it is rather the denial of one's own dreams. Therefore, the moment we welcome our dreams and let them into our imagination and into our busy lives, only then we'll give ourselves a chance at something greater.

Frugality

What does it mean to be frugal? To some it is a word that comes to remind of difficult economic times as the dictionary meaning denotes a prudency to spend. But to me it simply takes me back to the "simple times" where life was simple and we didn't turn many "wants" into "needs!" When I think of frugality, I think of the Native American Indians and their simple-yet beautiful way of life: earth, fire and wind! Or the life of third world farmers where the very source of food takes on an entirely different meaning.

La Chureca Landfill

It's been a while since I first set foot on that landfill. One of the largest landfills in Nicaragua. The moment I entered, my world was transformed and awareness never left my side again. It was on that day that I witnessed true abandonment, despair and poverty inconceivable to many.A vivid canvas of humans, animals and trash became engraved into my heart where despite living under deplorable circumstances, the human spirit still remained. And if you ever doubt there is a hell, La Chureca could serve as a model: the stentch of putrefaction, hills of trash towering to the sky, burning trash and human consumed decomposed fodder.

It is now Christmas and I only wish for the despair of these people to end someday and for the world to become more frugal and conscious of the fragility of life. Value each day as if it was your last and keep the less fortunate in mind.

The road of life

There are times when you choose the road; other times when the road chooses you. But whatever road you choose, drive it well my friends! ©Ileana Gutierrez

My Memoir

In response to my work in progress, my memoir is in its final stages. It all began when after twenty-one years, I returned to my native country of Nicaragua, only to discover a new world, far from the one that had settled deep into my memories. A distant but palpable paradise, where as a child in that heaven, I enjoyed a world most people only dream of: endless days of riding horses through forests of warm rain…adventures on moonlit nights to the sound of distant jaguar cries. The forest was heaven and home, until one day that childhood ended. In in my new life I would witness one execution after another, pass corpses displayed in the streets, and watch as day-by-day, the paradise I had known and loved became shattered, first by the evils of war and currently by the plague of deforestation.

A Pedal Away

Great news my friends. My short story "A Pedal Away," has been published. After returning to my homeland Nicaragua twenty-one years after exile, I met a special boy. At that time the boy was one of the many homeless children that lived in one of the largest landfills, La Chureca. The day I entered the landfill of eternal despair, my life changed and I made a promise. "Tourists come and go, take my pictures and say they will tell the world about me, but I know they don't," the boy said while telling me his story. My throat knotted at the impotency of sitting next to him and not being able to relieve his hunger, fear and overall sense of abandonment. It was then that I made a promise. " I will write your story for the world to know," I said to the boy not knowing if I would be able to keep it--the publishing part that is. Now my story is out in Spain and I will soon receive my copy to share with all of you. A life well-lived is one where our hearts reach out to others without expecting a return.