Changing the saddles

11 boxes packed, a sunset view from the Terrace of the Palace of Culture and Science (I do regret I did not go there more often! Don't make the same mistake, do visit often if you can! ) and a good bye afternoon with the 'Warsaw' horses. This is how my four-and-half-year adventure with this city came to an end. (as for now).

Before I arrived here I would never have expected I would EVER live in the city that evokes such polarized feelings and it is not really famous for its beauty ( 'blame' the history not the city! I understood it perfectly after visiting the Warsaw Uprising Museum. Do visit if you can!). A huge change after warm and socially open Spain I managed to get used to, I must admit. I was never a fan of this location. Once I even decided to reject a lucrative job offer and to stay abroad with no job at all in order to avoid coming here. Well, life can be very tricky sometimes as you might already know.

Someone told me once that 'the people we meet are either our friends or our teachers'. I think the same about places. Warsaw is a great teacher of mine and after all this time I must say I learnt to like it, in its particular way, and to make friends with her (allow me to call it 'her'). But the time for a change and the new had come and here it is happening. I must say that in spite of all the feelings that follow leaving the comfort zone this change seems very natural. Life is wise and more and more times I come to see that we can trust and relax back. Like when galloping. The more relaxed you are the more joy you have with it. And for me galloping is a synonym for life interactions and an exemplary case of living in a 'flow', that is to say in a harmony and an alignment with the world, if you know what I mean (?).

Wrocław brings a pleasant change. How less dense it is! How slower people walk and they stop to let you cross the street! A really nice experience, for a change (sorry Warsaw).

So, ladies and gentlemen, the saddle has been changed. Shall we gallop?

You CAN much more than you THINK you can

OK this time really briefly. Sometimes , I have moments of much more 'inner' than 'outer productivity' and this is one of them, but I think it is a good story to share just at the advent of the next new year.

'I can much more than I THINK I can', I understood very profoundly after my first day of volunteering at the local Hippotherapy Centre in Warsaw.

I had been helping with some individual and group kids hippo-therapy sessions. This included helping with the horses that were participating in the activities but also some interactions with the students themselves. Absolutely amazing children that I consider myself lucky to have met. Children that were in some way or the other not fully able.

And I was astonished with their deeply ingrained exuding positive energy I received. Surprisingly, not very common for so called 'fully able world'.

That was an eyes opening experience, after which I promised to myself: 'no more complaints, and no more fake excuses, which are often only my untrue and limiting THOUGHTS. I do have all I need to get where I want to, and this is so much already!'.

Nobody else will get to work on my passions and 'special gifts', if I won't.
And each time I am more convinced that all it takes is a conscious decision, consistency... and practice (it is enough to follow a biography of any master in a given discipline).

After this realisation a series of equine art paintings and illustrations simply flowed out from under my hand. I am so grateful for that.

A good start for the next new bunch of (hopefully) 365 days ahead.
Let's make a good use of them and every single one as if they were unrepeatable miracles (which they actually are). After all we really can much more than we THINK we can.

Do share if you 'think' the same.

to LOVE what IS

LOVE what IS
Including YOURSELF

----

Take these Thoughts with You on Your Journey Through Life

Don't ever forget that you are unique.

Be your best self

and not an imitation of someone else.

Find your strengths

and use them in a positive way.

Don't listen to those

who ridicule the choices you make.

Travel the road that you have chosen

and don't look back with regret.

You have to take chances 

to make your dreams happen.

Remember that there is plenty of time

to travel another road - 

              and still another - 

in your journey through life.

Take the time to find the route

that is right for you.

You will learn something valuable 

from every trip you take.

so don't be afraid to make mistakes.

Tell yourself that your are okay

just the way you are.

Make friends who respect your true self.

Take the time to be alone too,

so you can know just how terrific

your own company can be.

Remember that being alone 

doesn't always mean being lonely;

it can be beautiful experience

of finding your creativity,

your heartfelt feelings,

and the calm and quite peaace

              deep inside you.

Please don't ever forget that you are 

special and very much loved.

                                                - Jacqueline Schiff

Who are you designed to be?

'We are all specifically designed 

to do something and to be something

and the only way that we can remember that is through love

so I had to constantly ask myself

'Do I love this?'

'Do I really love what I am doing?'

'Is this love?'

because if not

then why am I here anyway?

It's giving me no memory of myself.'

                                          - Melody Eshani

Melody Eshani is a LA based jewellery and shoe designer, who quitted her law career breaking with her culture and family tradition to follow her authentic heart desires. Now collaborates and designs for the most recognizable names in the word show business.

A wallet-photo-rule

When I miss horses I paint them.
It is a simple wallet-photo-rule (even though I was told once it is not an elegant habit to have one!?)
We tend to have a photo of a loved one somewhere around.

It is a period of my life when due to some life turbulence I have no place where I can regularly ride, or ride at all.
An easily accessible (from Warsaw) place where you can ride WITH a horse not only ON a horse, if you feel the difference?
This 'WITH' is extremely important for me and you will not believe how difficult it is to find one!
I keep looking and in the meantime a recent piece of my art. You can find more here.

I hope you like it!

Grace | Ink on Paper | 21 x 29.5 cm | 2014