Pierre & Gilles

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I hold to no Religion or Creed,

Am neither Eastern nor Western,

Muslim or Infidel,

Zoroastrian, Christian, Jew or Gentile.

I come from neither Land nor Sea,

Am not related to those Above or Below,

Was not born Nearby or Far Away,

Do not live either in Paradise or on this Earth,

Claim descent not from Adam and Eve or the Angels above.

I transcend Body and Soul.

My home is beyond Place and Name.

It is with the Beloved, in a Space beyond Space.

I embrace All and am part of All.

By Jelaluddin Rumi

Absence

It is surprising that although I know that life can make quick, fast turns and make people disappear faster than it makes them appear - it still hits me hard when one is taken away.

Erased all of a sudden, abducted, cut out and all I can see are fading footprints in the snow. And I sit and watch the fooprints, trying to trace the person as good as I can, sketch every valley and canyon, every mountain in his face,trying to rebuild this person again using the pictures in my mind, trying to put weight on an invisible to make him heavy again - to make him visible the fading one so that he can keep on making footprints....at least for a while.

And he will walk again, not far, maybe a step or two until he vanishes again and I will start all over, retracing, resketching...And I´ll make him stay as long as I can until the pictures in my mind, one by one, become indistinct, before they too get erased.

One picture will stay with me and not fade. Too light to make you stay again but heavy enough to leave your footprint in my life.

Rest in peace Jerome.

Present Moment

30 600 000 results on google about the present moment - most of them preaching the same: its importance. Mine not included.

One should not give answers upfront, as they are not anwers. Each answer is being born by a specific, unique question asked by a single human being. Within the process that one mind undergoes in order to get his answer lies already his answer. At the end the word might be the same - but the road that leads to it is a different one.

To enjoy the present moment means to accept that the present will be past. It means that we have to accept that every moment is, just like us, alive and therefore subject to one of the certain rules of nature: Birth and Death.

Only by one present moment passing away, we make space for a new one.

Being in the present moment is choosing to sit in the most beautiful room of an apartment. The one room that has it all. Large windows, the best light and the perfect temperature...It is the one room that doesn´t have one great corner, but 4 great corners. It is the room where everything I love has space. The fireplace next to the bathtub , surrounded by books, the smell of flowers, the warmth of the sunlight.....

It is a choice we make. It is the choice of entering this room and knowing that you will have to leave, move into another room that is going to be totally different and unknown...

It is the choice of grabbing the hand of another, knowing that we can´t hold it forever, and letting it go...

Fists Over Guns

Because by using a gun you create more distance to your actions, by more distance less pain for Yourself.

Because by using your fist, you´re as close as you can get, exposing Yourself to your fear, taking responsibility for your action, Acknowledging that you´re causing pain the second you punch.

Causing pain is not a one way road.

Thanks to David.

Round Glasses

I was sitting on a bench in front of my favorite café. Thinking as usual. When my eyes crossed the eyes of an elder man with shoulder length, tousled, soft silverish hair...And for a second I was lost in his gaze. He had deep green eyes, the kind of green that reminds me of the color of the water surrounding Sardinia. His glance unified the wisdom, that comes with time and mistakes, and the glowing of a wildly life led by a free soul. His eyes were surrounded by perfectly round bright yellow plastic glasses. The person behind him turned around and looked at me too. It was his wife, she was wearing the same perfectly round glasses. And her hair was shoulder length, tousled and soft but not silverish. But in her gaze I didn´t get lost. In fact there was no gaze to get lost into. And while he was still smiling at me, they walked away and I thought that this must be marriage... If you´re fortunate, you end up looking like your husband and if you´re not blessed with a husband in NYC you´ll end up looking like your dog.

Oscar de la Renta

One Should Either Be A Work Of Art Or

Wear A Work Of Art.

The Great Wall

Buidling a wall is truly a craft. And just like with everything else: Some of us are gifted and some of us not. Some of us have the ability to learn fast, while some of us learn slow and some of us have no ability at all.

We build walls in order to protect ourselves, or at least, nourish the thought that a wall could possibly protect us from intruders and vampires, uninvited guests and monsters, nightmares and daydreams...As a matter of fact in many of our 21st century, oh-so-modern, first and second world countries, some people build walls to keep love away. As the highest highs walk hand in hand with the lowest lows. For fear is stronger than belief and courage.

The same fence that shuts others out, shuts you in.

William Taylor Copeland

Walls are not the answer. They were never the answer between countries and never the answer between people. And yet, when Monsieur Pierrot gave me his answer by telling me that all we would need is a door in the wall - all I could think of was that it was hard enough to build one but to build a door in it, retroactively, sounded to me more like a lifetime challenge than a quick answer to an urgent question - Renovation over new developement.

It might appear easier to have a wall or none at all. Life as we know is about trying to keep the balance and I started thinking about mind numbing questions causing severe confusion in my head: How long did it take me as a mini-me to find balance in order to walk properly on my feet? And how long did I crawl? How many times did I fell, over and over again, before finding a balance for life? And now that I walk succesfully on my feet - more or less to be honest depending on external and internal circumstances - since more than 25 years, how come I don´t even think about keeping the balance anymore?

Yes, we do have answers to the question: What is the perfect Wall? I guess the question is just not the right one.The right one would be:

Who´s in, who´s out?

Imago Dei

Two brave men choose to stand in a ring together, leaving their assigned corner to fight each other with nothing more than their fists. Clenching their fists that shelter their lifes - their past, present and future. Turning them into organic bullets, taking their lifes into their own hands, targeting the other - both with the same intention. Both with the same motivation and passion.

The rivals face is to the combatants life itself. To some even the image of God and therefore prohibited in the past - as disfiguring the face is to them insulting God...

These fighters choose to challenge life in an intimate close - combat, knowing too well that just as in life outside the ring, no fight is bloodless. But fear has no seat in the ring.

Boxing is not only about facing life or punching it in its face, it is mastering the way of life by keeping distance to it, studying it and studying oneself in order to be able to recognize and utilize the momentum - as every rival has its weakness. Leading it, is making the fight yours. Perfectionism is a knock out. Beating life gratification.

In memory of Rocky Marciano, Muhammed Ali and James J. Braddock.

Plain 2