Newsletter from Lisbon

End of one year, a new one arrives soon...

2011-12-30T11:34:00.000Z

Difficult year...
Challenges and obstacles...
One would say we are flexing our muscles for whatever is coming!
In the midst of economic and social upheaval a bit everywhere, one tries to find a guiding light.

I believe it was T.S.Eliot who wrote:

"Ever try, ever fail, no matter.
Try again, fail again, fail BETTER!"

I feel these words may function as a sort of guiding light.
We are bound to make mistakes...
Our infinite tiredness may leads us to stop trying sometimes,
but the GOODNESS in our Hearts will urge us to give our very best.

This is my wish and compromise for the incoming year.

Isabel

Lisbon 30th December 2011.

(Photo by Isabel)

Lisboa, the Eternal City experienced in the feminine

2010-01-25T23:53:00.004Z

Every time I walk through the City, it becomes apparent that it is ALIVE!

It has its own ways, moods and atmosphere...

All you have to do to discover them, is to walk through its streets, using all your senses...

There is such a JOY in the incredible LIGHT that bathes this City!

The streets stroll down its seven hills, with their colourful houses,

the trees and the pervasive sounds of LIFE all around...

In perpetual games of light and shadow, this Mysterious, Feminine Being reveals itself...

Its Beauty canot but be perceived by the one who looks and sees!

All the nuances of colour, light, warmth, perfumed wind and lively sounds wrap us in

their embrace... It is like a trip to an undetermined time - somewhere in the past,

and yet incredibly close to the heart-beat, happening now, right now!

A City shared by so many...

Not only the women and men, but all those from Past Memories and Future Dreams,

the Citizens of the City in the Becoming...

If only the stones of the city could speack, what stories would they tell!

With passion and luminous clarity would they tell us of their age old stories...

Isabel

(Text and photos by Isabel)

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!!

2010-01-02T21:36:00.002Z

Sending you all my very BEST SEASONAL GREETINGS for 2010!

Because these sincere wishes are self evident, instead of a long text, let me just share with you some beautifull picturs of Lisbon.

Isabel

2nd. January 2010, Lisboa

(Photos by Isabel)

RIP Ted Kennedy

2009-08-30T16:14:00.003+01:00

Dear Ted Kennedy,

Growing up an Aquarian in the Sixties made me very early aware of the wide world, even though I was growing up in the westernmost European country in Europe, Portugal.

From watching man's landing on the Moon, age seven (which meant a special authorization from Father to stay up all night, due to time difference in Portugal) to all that went on happening in our world, you and your Family became a PRESENCE in my life very early and never left it.

I see through any of your flaws - would you be a real HUMAN BEING if you did not have them? But GREATER are your undeniable QUALITIES and your SPIRIT OF SERVICE to MANKIND.
Listening to the episode of the refuzeniks I could only feel how GLOBAL a citizen you were. I miss you already. May your Soul go on to ever greater accomplishments.

Love,

Isabel

(This text was first left as a comment on http://www.aquariuspapers.com/ - the photo is mine and merely means to uplift our thoughts... taken from the sky...)

Greetings from the Atlantic!

2009-05-04T00:52:00.005+01:00

THIS POST IS DEDICATED TO ROBERT WILKINSON OF AQUARIUS PAPERS

http://www.aquariuspapers.com/

AND TO ADITYA, WHO ASKED ME TO ALSO SHOW SOME PICTURES OF PORTUGAL.

All of these pictures were taken by me in a fishermen's town called PENICHE, in the western Atlantic area around ninety quilometers north of Lisbon.

The Atlantic is deeply intertwined with our Soul of navigators and adventurers.

It also plays the role of Lullaby singer when we feel drained or in need of soothing...

Its sheer energy is a wonderful incentive to LIVE.

And there are many inspiring moments to treasure forever...

With best greetings to all, from sunny Portugal and the Peniche Atlantic Ocean!

Isabel

03 rd. May 2009.

(Photos by Isabel)

Lisbon's lovely Balconies...

2009-04-19T18:06:00.003+01:00

Walking through Lisbon one can find all sorts of colours and lively sights, from beautiful flowered balconies, to the typical "mercearias" which sell fruit and vegetables and whose shop windows are so refreshing to look at!

Everywhere, some explosion of colour catches your eye... in a source of permanent Joy.

Things may be as common as a restaurant decorating it's windows with simple transparent glass bottles with white flowers inside...

Or they can be more complex, as this example of a balcony with two different sorts of flowers falling in a "cascade" of colour, in a silent colourfull duet!

I hope you all enjoy it as much as me!

Isabel

Lisbon, 19th. April 2009.

(Photos by Isabel).

Welcoming the Spring with NEW EYES...

2009-03-29T17:52:00.006+01:00

WALKING THROUGH LISBON IS LIKE MEDITATING...

Lisbon is a mysterious town, secretive and beautiful, feminine in its atmosphere… and as such, a bit illusive…

But to go through its streets simply observing and perceiving all the life that is flowing through it at every moment, is a unique experience…

Be it along its narrow streets that go up and down it seven hills, or from one of several spots from which one can perceive the breathtaking panorama, or even from its old Castle - from which a magnificent view can be enjoyed - this a City one learns to know and love by opening up our eyes, ears, but mainly our HEARTS.

That is why I leave these pictures, to share this lightness of being that Lisbon exhales, this happiness in movement and sound… This magnificent place to be born or live in, or simply to visit!

Isabel

Lisbon, 29th. March 2009

(Photos by Isabel)

Poetry in the streets of Lisbon...

2009-01-18T16:55:00.004Z

Beautiful Lisbon! Where the Light is unique in its nuances, shadows and lace...

Sacred City built upon Seven original Hills... The Legend says that it inherits its name from Ulisses, who in his travels would have founded Lisbon...

A city with almost "palpable" JOY...

A certain lightness in the air, an invitation to walk and reflect...

In its many winding roads, light, colour, shape and people all combining to bring you to an introspective mood, a longing for the Happiness of simple things and good friends...

The first announcement of impending night...

How would it be possible not to LOVE this City?

Isabel

(photos by Isabel).

Back in the New Year...

2009-01-02T19:54:00.003Z

It's been a loooong silence... But Lisbon is still shining, bright in this Christmas Season...

I remember, as I was a child, how this Season was lived in the homes of all those who shared the Spirit of Christmas... Long ago, in this country it was mostly the "creche" that was traditional... but then, through the years, the Christmas Tree also became a "must" in most homes.

In the last few years, Lisbon has started to have a huge Tree in a central place - so, I am showing this year's at the top of Edward VIIth Park...

But there is a special atmosphere in this city, even when it is not Christmas... On those other times and moods, I will speack next time!

Happy New Year to all!

Isabel

From the womb of the night...

2006-01-15T23:28:00.000Z

From the womb of the night
cometh the light
with promises of new beginnings.
And the memory of stars
sheds a mysterious glow
into small, everyday things.

Everything is full of Magic
when the Breath becomes the Power
of the Love that binds us all.
And the Magic is the Beauty,
the simplicity of Nature,
sights and sounds and smells
and Love.

And the Magic becomes stronger
the simpler our life becomes,
for an empty hand can give
so much more than all the riches
if it's filled with Loving Light,
if it travels with new Wings.

Through clean waters
and fresh breeze
do we refresh these
our bodies,
Garments of Light and of Sound.

And by pronnouncing the Words
create new Worlds of Becoming
re-creating our World.

Anticipating the future
we live in the Present Moment
just being whole and transparent,
so that the Magic in Nature
can fill our hearts with the Love
that shows the Wisdom inside...

So that the Magic won't hide
the Glory of LOVE BECOMING
the Splendour
of Loving LIGHT.

Isabel

(Photo by Isabel of the Magic Mist of a Foggy Morning at the Country side...)

Within us, serenity...

2006-01-15T23:11:00.000Z

Within each one of us there is a silent space which can fully regenerate us. We should have enought time to allow it to manifest. Within each of us there is everything that there is all over the Cosmos. Only when there is serenity can we access a totaly "other" dimension.

When we breath deeply, we sit calmly and let all the vivifying ingredients that roam the atmosphere penetrate our whole Being. We will see that it is not only the mind that winds down, but also all our body, all our cells purifying themselves and getting thus to function better and more harmoniously.

Why not make sure that every day we keep this quality time for ourselves? If we try this daily, at least for 10 to 15 minutes, we will soon discover that our body and our whole Being will function a lot better.

José António

(Photo by Isabel at São Pedro de Muel beach, Portugal)

Be...

2006-01-15T22:58:00.000Z

Be empty:

Like a wind
that passes freely
without grabbing anything.

Be free:

For freedom is the silence
where you can cease to be
so small,
so tired,
so scared of being ONE
with Life itself.

Be:
As one awakening
to a fresh new day
just BE;

As one observing
without previous thought
just SEE;

As one who LOVES
without a selfish centre
just shed the LIGHT
that gives you Life and Wings.

And with these Wings
become the Bird
that flies the World
with just one vision,
unified:

A centre of all Space,
a moment of all Time,
a Self without a centre
and, in the Heart of all
a point of FULL AWARENESS,
a HOME without a home.
A Heart that is all places,
all times and every dream,
a Wing made just of Light
that shadows everything...

Just BE...

Isabel

(Photo by Isabel of Seaguls flying together at Nazaré beach, Portugal)

A moment of reflection...

2006-01-15T22:46:00.000Z

"Sometimes, the most important thing we do in a whole day, lies in the pause between two breaths". Etty Hillesum

In the midst of all the confusion of a day (work, traffic, not enough time for lunch, problems with the kids, the TV "crap" we more or less have to endure) how refreshing it is to have a break! To make silence. Real, utter silence. To breath in and out fully and slowly, even if just for a few minutes at a time...

Any place is a good place for this pause. In the bus, cooking dinner, before going to bed, etc.. For as long as we can STOP the external noise and lissen to what there is inside us, in the depth of our BEING.

José António

(Photo by Isabel)

Life is a Pilgrimage...

2006-01-15T22:32:00.000Z

Life is a Pilgrimage
in between mirrors
(illusions of self
portrayed everywhere,
in a giant, amazing puzzle).

Walking and looking,
touching and tasting,
smelling and listening,
confronted with life and living,
the quest for Happiness
remains.

Like a spider
weaving it's web tirelessly,
fate awaits at every step
with new awakening.
Each challenge a new mirror,
each "self" only a mask
hiding the Real.

Each tear or smile
just moments of a Game
Divine
where "Self" is all the actors.
And where does that leave "self"?

Empty shell by the shore,
washed away by the sea,
"self" slips off, into the womb
of Eternity.
Whence it came, it will go...
But who will ever know
who is the "Self" inside me?

Isabel

(Photo by Isabel of wondrous skies over Lisbon)

Reality is more than our eyes can see...

2006-01-15T22:13:00.000Z

Until we understand that REALITY is not merely what our eyes can see, even if using a microscope or a telescope, we will always miss a part of ourselves, our Soul and Spirit, which are as REAL as anything that exists.

The "matter" of which their are made is so subtle that cannot be seen by physical eyes. Scientists may even call it "black matter", since their scientific tools are unable to "see" what it is... Maybe in future science will come ever closer to metaphysics and discover new aspects of Reality.

José António

(Photo by Isabel - Apocaliptic skies at Cabo da Roca, the Westernmost cape of Europe!).

Ray of Light...

2006-01-15T02:14:00.000Z

Ray of light,
A seagul cuts the sky
In it's upward flight...
Its cry is alive and fresh.

The seagull's eyes
See the world in a different shape:
Light and blue waters
Heights of rock casting a shadow...

The seagull flies
Unconcerned by any worries,
Any ties...

Freedom made flesh,
A piece of light across the blue,
The seagul flies.

Isabel

(Photo of a seagull flying over the Atlantic seashore in Portugal)

A moment of full awareness...

2006-01-15T02:04:00.000Z

Krishnamurti says that thought is memory, and that the experience kept by memory is as dead as a leaf from last Automn.

We can only overcome this state of affairs when we give our FULL ATTENTION to the PRESENT. Without comments. Only the fullest attention.

There, in the moment of silence that suddenly dawns, maybe we can discover something NEW.

José António

(Photo by José António of a marvellous sunset at Nazaré...)

Things I like...

2006-01-15T01:49:00.000Z

The fresh morning air
the smell of cut grass
the sight of young children
the sound of their laugh...
The smell of the rain
in the moist earth and leaves,
the sight of your smile,
which moves and intrigues...
The eyes of our dog,
the ways of our cats...
The steps of our children
running sweeftly upstairs.
The sound of their play
the smell of their skin...
The laughter, the rows,
all their sweet little things.
The mornings of peace
during week-end oasis,
when the chimming of bells
from the school church awake us.
The look that you give me,
so early in the morning
when the sun is not up yet
and the moon is in hidding..
A thousand little things,
but life is made of these...

As I go, I will take
the memories of this:
our common, lovely place,
our shared, loving peace.

Isabel

(Photo by Isabel of the Home Fire...)

Time to show up!

2006-01-15T00:51:00.000Z

Dear Friends,

This is a good way to stay in touch, share thoughts and poems, show pictures and stay together.
Please leave your comments if you feel like it!

Isabel and José António

(Photo of burning skies over Lisbon by Isabel)