The Shazzamity

Charlie Chaplin, best known mime actor, wrote a beautiful self love poem on his 70th birthday (April 16, 1959). It is exceptional because there are not many poems written about loving one’s self and in my opinion, contains much wisdom. Here’s how Chaplin’s self love poem goes….

* * *

As I began to love myself I found that anguish and emotional suffering

are only warning signs that I was living against my own truth.

Today, I know, this is “AUTHENTICITY”.

*

As I began to love myself I understood how much it can offend somebody

As I try to force my desires on this person, even though I knew the time

was not right and the person was not ready for it, and even though this

person was me. Today I call it “RESPECT”.

*

As I began to love myself I stopped craving for a different life,

and I could see that everything that surrounded me was inviting me to grow.

Today I call it “MATURITY”.

*

As I began to love myself I understood that at any circumstance,

I am in the right place at the right time, and everything happens

at the exactly right moment. So I could be calm.

Today I call it “SELF-CONFIDENCE”.

*

As I began to love myself I quit stealing my own time,

and I stopped designing huge projects for the future.

Today, I only do what brings me joy and happiness, things I love to do

and that make my heart cheer, and I do them in my own way and in

my own rhythm. Today I call it “SIMPLICITY”.

*

As I began to love myself I freed myself of anything that is no good for

my health – food, people, things, situations, and everything the drew

me down and away from myself. At first I called this attitude

a healthy egoism. Today I know it is “LOVE OF ONESELF”.

 *

As I began to love myself I quit trying to always be right, and ever since

I was wrong less of the time. Today I discovered that is “MODESTY”.

*

As I began to love myself I refused to go on living in the past and worry

about the future. Now, I only live for the moment, where EVERYTHING

is happening. Today I live each day, day by day, and I call it “FULFILLMENT”.

*

As I began to love myself I recognized that my mind can disturb me

and it can make me sick. But As I connected it to my heart, my

mind became a valuable ally. Today I call this connection “WISDOM OF THE HEART”.

*

We no longer need to fear arguments, confrontations or any kind of problems

with ourselves or others. Even stars collide, and out of their crashing

new worlds are born.Today I know THAT IS “LIFE”!

* * *

- Sir Charles Spencer “Charlie” Chaplin, KBE

(16 April 1889 – 25 December 1977)

 Da Cores - Lata

“E vem do verde aquele dom
Que a vida traz sem te cobrar
E com azul tem branco mar

Laranja doce vem do céu
Com cor de rosa e lilás
Pássaro preto voa triste
Se esse canto se acabar…”

A while back, I came across a song that was featured on a Putumayo Bossa Nova CD. I immediately became fascinated with this song as it featured an infectious groove with a complex Brazilian rhythm interspersed with a laid-back almost haunting melody. The song featured lyrics in Portuguese. That being Gi.’s native language, I asked her to translate the lyrics for me. Of course, she provided a very distinct  translation as was Gi’s custom to anything that was Brazilian.

After Gi’s death, I found myself thinking of that song and reflecting on the meaning of those lyrics. As I began to do my research, I found out in passing that Gi was very found of a certain image that she wanted as a tattoo. What struck me even more was the image itself pertained the the very topic of the song she had translated for me a while back: COLORS.

And so NOW looking back on that song, I was overcome with emotion because in fact the song speaks of colors that permeate this earth of ours, providing hues of light and darkness. In many ways representing an array of colors much like when white light is dispersed by a prism into the colors of the optical spectrum.

When I thought of Gi., I remembered her translation and I likened the song to those colors, the colors that her aura reflected. As we know Gi. struggled with a lot in her life but to me her aura was very much like that of a color spectrum, providing hues of LIGHT and DARKNESS but always representing an array of COLORS.

And so I will share with you MY translation of those lyrics, a sort of embellished translation as I have tried to tap into the gist  of the song but steered away from translating it word for word.

Here’s but a short segment of my translation:

                                                   ******

The Colors Of Gianny’s Aura

“It reflects the color green.

A gift that life can bring as a source of healing.

It features white light… bright with hues of deep blue.

It is made of coral, that which is of the sea.

It is made of fire engine red, the colors of a childhood toy.

That which can open doors to dream. 

With hints of yellow that can be seen

Through the windows of the soul.

The colors of her aura…

Always blinding you with LIGHT but always always leaving you with a smile.”

                                                    ******

And so that is how I choose to remember our dear friend Gianny.

A source of light wherever she went, permeating colors into the very fabric of our lives.

We love you Gi.

RIP Gianny Gomez.

ओम्

Da Cores - Lata

To listen to song, click here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbG3_y9W64c

Lyrics can be found here:

http://www.lyricstime.com/da-lata-cores-lyrics.html

“He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” Psalm 91:4

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Happy holidays and seasons greetings!!!

Shazzam! xx

Live from New York it’s the tree at Rock Center!

Wajajajaja!!!!!

From our centerfold to yours. Happy Vanity Fair Day errr we mean Christmas! - The Kardashians

Shazzam: A word used to express pride in the successful completion of something magical. Can also be used to celebrate general achievement & completion of tasks. When split in to two syllables, SHA and ZZAM, it denotes something that is undeniably funny, an expression used when something unusual or unbelievable occurs. A word of empowerment. The incantation used by the comic-strip hero Captain Marvel as it was the source of his power. Shazzam bitches!

Thank you Lord for blessing me with the gift of gab and for the ability to express myself so eloquently through writing. I’m eternally grateful for all those people who taught me the power in words! Shazzam!

“He offers
A handshake
Crooked
Five fingers
They form a pattern
Yet to be matched

On the surface simplicity
But the darkest pit in me
It’s pagan poetry…”

About the video, Nick Knight the director explained “I wanted to strip her down. She’s actually quite raw, womanly and sexy. There’s a different side to her that doesn’t come across normally in her videos. That’s what I asked her to do and that’s what she did.” When asked if Björk was the one who plays the sexual acts as well, he explained “I gave her [Björk] a Sony Mini DV camera and asked her to shoot her own private scenes […] She asked me to make a film about her love life, so I merely gave it back to her and said ‘Film your love life’.”

Alexander McQueen Sketch of Bjork’s Dress