Following your Heart.

Symbolically, the brain is our connection to the outside world and the heart is what connects us to our inner world. The outside world or Real life as we use to call it, is a HUGE part of what we are. The practical part of life includes: having an income so you can pay the bills, behaving properly in public so we can fit in society, saying things that are politically correct and many other things...
But then there is that other part of us that nobody can see and this part is made out of our dreams and all those things that we wish we could do. I remember the first time that I seriously followed my heart. It was 1992 and I was unhappy with the job that I was doing. I had a salary and the place was close from my home so it looked like the perfect thing to do but I just wanted to be an Artist and work on my art and I wasn't doing enough to make it happen. One day I said: NO MORE! I prefer to die of starvation doing what I love to do than surviving one day at a time doing something that I am not passionate about. AND I DID IT! I My predictions were right, I was near starvation at some point because I had no money, that was a hard time. But one day an ex-teacher who was working on the decoration of some hotel got in touch with me because he needed my help. He wanted me to paint 800 ceramic plates with acrylic paint, and each one should have a different design. Yay!!! I said yes immediately and a few days latter a truck parked in front of my tiny place with the 800 ceramic plates. When I saw them all I almost had a heart attack but at the same time I was so excited, I loved the challenge!
The truck driver helped me place all the plates in my house and then he left. I only had a little space left to walk from the front door to the kitchen and my bedroom, the whole floor was covered by ceramic plates.

When the driver left I couldn't stop jumping, I was just sooo happy! And I inmmediately started painting my first plate. It took me about a month to finish the whole job. I worked day and night and I slept very little. More than a young girl I was looking like a crazy vampire with dark circles around my eyes but I couldn't care less, I was happy. I remember when the same truck driver came back to pick up the plates. How wonderful when he left and then I came back to my empty space. Days later I was given my golden check!!!! I saved that money as if it was gold and it helped me eat for a while. I thought that I was in a dream!

I look back in time and I realize that taking that first step toward following my dreams was the beginning of the rest of my life. After that all the right things started happening to me. I still had my up and downs and I had to take new important steps in the next years, like moving to a new province etc. but I was fine. Today I realize that one of the best things that I learned from those hard times in my life was that when things get really hard you always have the option to make them better, all it takes is BELIEVING IN YOURSELF and that means doing what your heart wants you to do.

All the material things are fragile, they can burn, or get lost...but what really always stays with you is whatever you build from your heart, whatever you do by yourself and with your very energy and effort. In the end that will stay alive even after you die. My modest dream is to leave a little legacy to my children in the things that I create with my hands. I don't want my children to be perfect but HAPPY, happiness has a lot to do with imperfection and Diego is teaching me a lot about that. I want them to follow their hearts and find that little paradise that we all carry in our dreams.

And now my friend I have to leave but I am so glad that I can talk with you about these things :)
Thank you always for listening.

Elsita :)