On The Edge? ...

Since it's Monday and you've probably got a packed week too, I thought it was appropriate to share. I say, "Bring It On!"

How Many Shoes??? ...

I shot this picture last week with my cell phone. These are NOT my shoes. These aren't anyone's shoes. They are part of an abandoned estate that my mother in law is having to sort through. The woman that moved away had to abandon all of this, let's just say it's a "riches to rags" story.

This woman left thousands ... yes, thousands of mostly new items in the house and in the front and back yard as well. In the back yard were hundreds of wet soggy boxes (it's been raining on them for months) containing family albums, brand new linens, fur coats, vintage camera's and so much more. At first, I was saddened by all this but then I moved on to gratitude. Truly, I'm grateful that I'm not bound by what I own, or what used to own me. I'm so glad that I already did my own massive purge when we moved from OC to SD about 18 mo ago. This was a surreal reminder to me of what could happen when you look to "things" to make you happy. Seriously, most of this stuff didn't even have the price tags removed yet. I think it was just the shopping high that led to this sad ending.

I suppose if you have a bunch of stuff and you're not really attached to it and can easily give it away or use it for good, than it's OK to keep some stuff around. But if you have way more than you need, and then you let it go to waste and don't help anyone with it, then that is tragic. That's probably one of the biggest teachings of Christ that makes so much sense ... He tells one guy "Great, you want to follow me. Sure, just go sell everything you own, give the money away to the poor and follow me", the man went away sadly because he was a man of great wealth. The reality is there's a bit of this guy in all of us.

So, in my quest to digest all the "stuff" that I saw being trashed, dumped and given away. I found myself thinking about another person that had a bunch of shoes, actually way more shoes. Her name was Imelda Marcos. Remember her? In case you don't, Imelda Marcos is the widow of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos who was ousted in 1986 and the family exiled to Hawaii. Outside the Philippines she is often remembered for symbols of the corrupt extravagance of her husband's dictatorship and political reign, such as having over 3000 pairs of shoes.

The story of Imelda's shoes has something to teach. She could never wear them all. And when she had to abandon her palace, these 3,000 were tossed and it was discovered that the money that bought them had been stolen from the poor people of the Philippines - what an injustice. But really, Isn't this one of the great mysteries of life? Why do we always want more? ... more money, more power, more of everything.

I don't have the answers but I do know that I should be asking myself this question everyday. I need to remind myself to be grateful and use what I already have. We already have all we need to be happy, we just need to chose to believe it.

Oh, and as usual I have a few things that I came across while researching all this. Here's my favorite Imelda Quotes. She definitely was drinking her own Kool-Aid.

"Filipinos want beauty. I have to look beautiful so that the poor Filipinos will have a star to look at from their slums."

"I hate ugliness. You know I'm allergic to ugliness."

"I did not have three thousand pairs of shoes, I had one thousand and sixty."

And the grand finale, here’s a video for the Santigold track "Please Don’t." It contains some actual news and archival footage of Imelda. Most of the lyrics on this one are from her interviews and quotations. Imelda believed that she could help Philippine interests by charming world leaders into seeing things her way. She called it “Handbag diplomacy”. I guess it's how she rationalized that she needed all those shoes. Enjoy ...

ps. If you are viewing this via Facebook, you'll have to visit my blog to see the video

Lost Things ...

Happy Saturday everyone! I just stumbled across this amazing little video and I just had to share it with you.

It's a brilliant short stop-motion film, written & directed by Angela Kohler and starring the gorgeous and talented Alison Sudol from A Fine Frenzy.

I really LOVE stop motion and envy people that have the kind of creativity and patience to make something this beautiful. Hope you enjoy it!

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ps. If you are reading this on Facebook, you'll have to go here to watch it

Happy Birthday to my friend Sharon ...

Hi Sharon! I hope you are having a fabulous day. I figure I could have just emailed you OR post a birthday greeting for you here. But since I'm pretty sure you've probably read every post I've ever done, and for sure you've commented the most, I decided to go public with my message =)

And for all those times that I wondered if anyone out there was reading my random thoughts, I thank you for commenting and especially for telling me what your really think, I love that about you and I consider myself fortunate to know you.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU, MI AMIGA!!!

ps. Couldn't resist posting this cute picture of you and your little one, that was such a fun day in Barrio Logan, que no?

Oh, and of course I'll end with a little video ... Enjoy!