BJöRJ

Welcome to Buenos Aires, Björk!

The manifesto for visual culture from Rencontres d’Arles.

via Swiss Miss

Easter travel ideas

As usual, at this time of the year, I like to recommend Easter travel ideas so that you give yourself the time to relax that you deserve. Let's open this door together to explore this little paradise. Los Cauquenes Lodge in Ushuaia, Argentina (also known as the end of the world)  is beautiful and the natural landscapes are breathtaking. If you love a mix of adventure and relaxation, start saving today. It's not easy on the pocket, but you will enjoy.











































































above, the view from my suite.
below, the end of the world train

below that, chasing waterfalls















































Patagonian Fjords, amazing!!

















































More fun after long, adventurous days. Nice bar at Kaupé, one of my favorite restaurants in Ushuaia.

Photos 1,3,4, 5 courtesy Los Cauquenes

The Tao

We recently found a copy of the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tsu. Have you read it? if you haven't, we recommend it. The book was a gift from Michelle's father. In the dedication, he noted that, as a boy, he had the chance to be in a lecture by a famous physicist at the university. He was 16 then. Her father asked the physicist what book would he recommend if he could only choose one. To which the physicist replied: the Tao.

It is, in our opinion a difficult book to understand, at first. Perhaps, a good idea is to read it a couple of times. We value the teachings of the Tao because of how different they are to Western values. We were taught, for example, that when we feel that change is necessary, it can be achieved through effort and perseverance. Contrary to this thought and more aligned with the theory of Acceptance, the Tao, says that we should accept what is in front of us without wanting the situation to be other than it is.

We should study the natural order of things and work with it rather than against it, for to try and change what is, only sets up resistance. It teaches us that nature provides everything without requiring payment or thanks. The idea behind the Tao is to let yourself flow as freely as possible.

Whatever you're trying to accomplish, it will happen more naturally if you stop looking for results and value the "trip", walk that path.

If your mind is calm you will come to "understand" which means "to stand under". Te - which may be translated as "virtue" or "strength" lies always in Tao, or "natural law" in other words: Simply be.

To Westerners who may disagree, or are not willing to accept a different perspective, this may just be a "Chineese tale*"!

But, a good one to think about.



*Chineese tale is the translation for "Cuento Chino" an Argentinian Film with Buenos Aires- born actor, Ricardo Darín

Acceptance

How many times do we expect from another person to be something that they’re not? How often are we dissatisfied because of things that we have not been able to get or achieve? How often does life pass us by, while we are upset because we’d like for things to be different?

It’s not about losing hope or settling for less than our dreams. Comfort and gratitude are good states unless they prevent you from reaching your full potential. It’s about acceptance. It’s about understanding that we don’t have control over everything; we can’t live our lives trying to change things or people into what we want them to be. Accepting is understanding that for now, this is the way things are. At least for now. At this moment in time.

Sometimes, the best you can do is do everything that you can and then simply wait. To accept does not mean that you have to change your plans (although you may want to) it means that you have to  contemplate them, evaluate them all while embracing the current state of things. 

To accept is to live in accordance with your own being. It’s about having the courage of living your own life, and not subordinating yourself to someone else’s plans. Often, the fear of being “excluded” can lead to adapting our wishes, expectations or decisions to those expectations from who we want a (false) acceptance.

To accept is a commitment to ourselves; to be honest about the way WE feel and think.

The theory of acceptance invites us to live our lives now, without travelling to the past or the future, so that we don’t lose focus. To accept is to be in touch with reality, with the present time, with what is happening here and now.

It’s liberating to think that once we stop being a fighting force and let things flow more naturally with what we have, we will breathe and feel a certain clarity and joy, not leave everything to the whims of uncertain times. After the rain, the sun always shines. If it’s raining today, try walking in the rain.

I leave you with a gift, below these lines: 

“Go to the Limits of Your Longing”

“God speaks to each of us as he makes us,

then walks with us silently out of the night.

 

These are the words we dimly hear:

 

You, sent out beyond your recall,

go to the limits of your longing.

Embody me.

 

Flare up like a flame

and make big shadows I can move in.

 

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.

Just keep going. No feeling is final.

Don’t let yourself lose me.

 

Nearby is the country they call life.

You will know it by its seriousness.

 

Give me your hand.”

RILKE

Sources:

Extract from an article I read yesterday.
LNR
This article is written by Jose Antonio García Higuera, a psychologist from Spain.
Translation: Michelle Cameron
Photo courtesy: Vogue UK

Poem: RILKE

have a nice weekend!

Punta del Este, Uruguay.