The Choice to Settle

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Throughout my life I had a few existential crises, the first one being about 11- 12, an overwhelming realization on my back patio. A thought came over me; what’s the point of life? What will happen when my parents die? What am I supposed to do with my life? It was the first time in my life I questioned if my path was predestined, or was I the architect of my own future?

By 15, I experienced a profound emotional low or depression. I felt a disconnect from the superficiality around me, realizing that many social bonds were built on appearance rather than character. It felt like a loss of innocence. I realized that people were appreciated for what they looked like and for what you could gain from their “ friendship” .Fortunately, my final years of high school brought enduring friendships, yet that "shadow" occasionally returned, leading me to question my place in this reality.

Image Credit: "mother holding her belly" by Sie7e Fotos. Licensing available via 500px.

As the years went by and moments in the black hole made me think a lot and notice how many people around me settle for many things in life and this is why everyone looked happy and fulfilled with their life . Women have to settle for many things and fast, for example, getting married to have a family and get pregnant, society always reminds us that the clock is ticking. 

We are often told to "never settle," but is that advice realistic? Choosing to settle can be a conscious trade-off for stability, mental health, or simplicity. This post examines the fine line between finding true contentment and simply stopping the pursuit, offering a fresh perspective on what it means to choose "enough" over "everything."

Today, I still face the temptation to choose the "standard" life. While I still live in the same town, and follow a routine like everyone else, I try to do it my way, with a purpose. I strive to act with intention. I refuse to simply "drift" through existence ( better now that never). If you must go with the flow for a time, don't fear it, just use that time to find the stream that truly belongs to you. People like us, always find a way. 

What have you settled for in life? What remains non-negotiable for you?

I'm dead and I'm here ! Headstones: Why Cemeteries Are the Last Witnesses of Our Existence

The headstone/gravestone marks the place where a grave or tomb is placed. They are traditionally used by most religious people and they became part of the funerary tradition and business. The gravestone is the way a family honors the deceased by putting this eternal memorial on“the last place to rest”. This is a tradition that I think we should keep alive.

Just think about it, from here to a hundred years, future generations will probably find our destroyed coffins, our bodies… bones and wonder if we were male or female?, who we were?, when did we died? and more. Part of the objective of the gravestones is not only for ID purposes (so the family can visit the body without forgetting the place) but because the human being has a fear to be forgotten. For most of us, documentation and a gravestone will be the only proof for the next generation that we existed once upon a time.

Most of the world’s population won’t enjoy a massive popularity, not even in their hometown but we will have a family that will remember and have us present in every important milestone in their life but if we are truly lucky, there will be someone who will want to know more about us even after we are gone.

When people started to make headstone, they started out by making them from simple materials and simple designs with symbolisms. From pieces of stone to carved wood, we manage to level up this important cemetery piece. In the old, old days when body snatching was fashionable; families even built cages on top of the graves.

Headstones nowadays are made from different materials: Fieldstones, Granite, Marble and Slate.  In the beginning all tombs had a stone lid, if the coffin was completely made of stone or not, this stone lid was placed over the grave. Stones were used to mark where a body was buried; they were placed around the grave and just marked with a name or initials (that's sad).

One important element on a headstone is the identification of the deceased person, the day of birth and death, a prayer or specials words by the family, a photo and finally a place to put flowers. Most people decides to put a little fence or something to surround the grave this way other cemetery visitors won’t step on a person’s last resting place.

Having a gravestone was and still is a symbol of wealth, the bigger the better. Some people used to buy expensive material and used designs that become traditional but were very symbolic, like skulls, birds, angels, flowers, praying hands, crosses, etc. The headstone evolved into pieces of art. Big or small, the sculptures that some graves have are beautiful and incredible. If you take a walk on a graveyard you will see sculptures of angels, Saints, hands, books, beds, Greek columns and more.

Photos by: www.7fotos.blogspot.com

Sadly, there are more and more people going for cremation “Today, nearly all of the deceased receive some sort of burial or cremation even if it is paid for by the state. The cost of land and the current overcrowding in cemeteries, along with changes in perception, have made people consider cremation.  Cremations are less expensive than the cost of caskets and plots.” -247wallst . 

 I say sadly because XXI century people are opposite to the way The Victorians were during the 1800’s (Click to read more) ; people now hate death, they don’t want to talk about it, it’s scary and a morbid issue that shouldn’t be a topic of conversation…at all! So with that mindset, the sooner a body goes underground and if people don’t have to deal with a corpse THE BETTER! Cremation means that families won’t have to set a foot on a graveyard and that means that there will be one less proof of a person existing or worst; the neglect of cemeteries. Let’s face it, yes…we will have photos, facebook profiles and documents but none of them will truly express the love of a mourning family for the decease the way a headstone does. It will have a direct effect on people's way to see death; probably it will make people colder. Where our feelings will go if we cannot mourn in a place made for that?

Dusty Tombstone - { The last place to rest }

 Photos by: { 7 Fotos } - Photography (click and Like)

Graveyards are the least favorite place in the world for most people. ¿Why it shouldn't be? graveyards equals pains, sadness, loneliness, even fear. I believe that all of these feelings can be transformed into something more positive.

The first time I step into one, the only thing I felt was curiosity. ¿ Why this place was so scary? ¿Why grown-ups never wanted to talk about the people that were buried there? Death, unnameable.

Just take a few steps into the cemetery and you will see dozens of names and dates written over the tombstones. It's so unfair really; many years of history reduce to a name and a date. Some tombstones look like they are regularly visited but others have been abandoned. Who could abandon the place where a loved one was buried? Usually, Immediate family; wife, husband, mother, father, children, grandchildren and so on will be the ones who will take care of the loved one resting place but as time goes on these people also dies and the great grandchildren won't take the responsibility of taking care of the tombs.

I think the blame lies on "older" generation. Since there is a phobia to talk about death, deceased and cemeteries there is a high probability, if not a fact, that the new generation won't know that they still have relatives in a cemetery.

Graveyards are actually one of the best place to relax, put everything in perspective and meditate. The cemeteries I have visit were located in large green areas, surrounded by trees. There were lots of family mausoleums most of them looked abandoned but still looked stunning. The most impressive thing for me were the statues of angels, children and crosses of all kinds. The silent witnesses of time in this place.

Don't be afraid of cemeteries, My advice to you; take a day to visit your local cemetery. You will be surprised to find large generations of families and local famous characters. The tour will let you gain a new respect for the death and a new value for the life you still enjoy. Regardless of what everyone will say. It doesn't have to be a morbid and sad experience.

More Photos at: 7Fotos

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#InstaPhotography - Back to basics

#InstaPhotography : I haven't found an official description but I will try to explain it in my own words.

-Insta-Photography: "The practice of taking photographs with the application (app) called Instagram and then publishing them to this social network. " - { 7 Fotos }

I don't even remember when it was the first time I heard about Instagram but I have been a faithful user for about 2 years. I didn't know anyone who was using it so everything about this app was new to me.

At first I didn't like it. It felt like a straight up look inside my life, It was even scary, With time you realize you can find ways to control it and to filter yourself. This day, there are lots of people publishing every little thing they do and where they go. Nowadays I have been using it mostly for artistic reasons, I love photography, and you can't get any simpler than Instagram.

The photographers this days, are getting too complicated with this art. They get the most expensive equipment and expensive production, too much gets you distracted from the most important thing. Your Photo.

Instagram takes that weight from your shoulder. Sure, you can't use your cellphone as your work tool and no, the chances are that you won't get money from it but it brings you back to the most basic thing in photography; light and a good eye. Maybe you are a photographer and you are thinking "Everyone thinks they are a photographer now" but the reality is that not everyone can get a great photo, not everyone will feel the love for it. That will be noticed in the photo.

Most of the people that only take pics for the money take empty and artificial photos. Only time will tell when they get tired of it or who were made to be photographers.

For more of my photographs go HERE

#InstaPhotography

♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥

Saint Valentine's Day, commonly shortened to Valentine's Day, is an annual commemoration held on February 14 celebrating love and affection between intimate companions. The day is named after one or more early Christian martyrs, Saint Valentine, and was established by Pope Gelasius I in 496 AD. It is traditionally a day on which lovers express their love for each other by presenting flowers, offering confectionery, and sending greeting cards (known as "valentines").

Modern Valentine's Day symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten valentines have given way to mass-produced greeting cards (wikipedia.org)

Valentine greetings have been popular since the Middle Ages, a time when prospective lovers said or sang their romantic verses. Written valentines began to appear after 1400. Paper valentines originated in the 1500s, being exchanged in Europe and being given in place of valentine gifts and oral or musical valentine greetings. They were particularly popular in England. The first written valentine (formerly known as "poetical or amorous addresses") is traditionally attributed to the imprisoned Charles, Duke of Orleans, in 1415. While confined in the Tower of London after the Battle of Agincourt, the young Duke reportedly passed his time by writing romantic verses for his wife in France. Approximately sixty of the Duke's poems remain and can be seen among the royal papers in the British Museum. They are credited with being the first modern day valentines.

30 Years without John Lennon

It was 30 years ago today that John Lennon ☮ was killed ✝, but his ♫ music and lyrics ♪ lives on forever ♥ ... that's his legacy !!!

Can anyone belive this? I can’t…..he was killed before I was born but the music of The Beatles and John’s music and lyrics are something that can’t be erase or copied. Whenever days like this arrive….when we mourn a love one or a musician we admire, I always wonder (and i ask you) how his career would have been. How his life would be? What else John could have done, writte or sing?

Maybe he already gave his all on this earth, maybe he was just ready to be more. What else can we say about john, he was a possitive person and his messages were allways full of peace and love...he truly was a hippie, a man ahead of his time.

"You may say that I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one"

The Soundtrack of My Life: Scorpions

Scorpions is a band I started to like because of one particular song: "Wind of Change." This song marked a specific moment in my life. Every time I feel melancholic, I listen to it, and every time I hear it, I yearn for a perfect past. Ironically, while the song celebrates the end of a dark era and the arrival of change, it makes me want to return to the past—as if that change had never happened. 

"Wind of Change" is a 1990 power ballad written by Klaus Meine, vocalist of the German rock band Scorpions. It appeared on their 1990 album Crazy World, but did not become a worldwide hit single until 1991, when it topped the charts in Germany and across Europe, and hit #4 in the United States and #2 in the United Kingdom. (Wikipedia)

The song brings back memories from as far back as I can remember, spanning the late '80s to the early '90s. When it comes to classic tracks, this is definitely in the soundtrack of my life. No, I am not a superfan, but I respect them and their career, and seeing them was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Yet, while standing in line at the Estadio Hernando Siles in La Paz, I hadn't yet realized that in just a few hours, I was going to hear all the songs that reminded me of different chapters of my life. 

The Wait

We arrived about four hours before the concert, and the lines were already endless. Luckily, my brother and I were right around the middle of the queue. It was a good place to be, because over the next few hours, the line behind us grew and grew and grew.

As it started to get dark, the people around us began drinking and singing songs from the group we were all eager to hear live for the very first time—in our city, in our country.

Inside Estadio Hernando Siles

At last! The doors opened around 8:00 PM, and our boredom and fatigue instantly turned into a mix of nervousness and excitement. I had never been inside the Hernando Siles before; I am no fan of football (at least not national football), and I had never attended a concert of this magnitude for an international group like Scorpions. After taking in the sight of the stadium and watching the massive crowd continually pouring into the venue, the show finally started.

First, a Queen tribute band took the stage. I must say they were great in every way, but Scorpions was the only band I was truly waiting for, so I didn't pay too much attention to the opening act.

Then, the lights went off. At last! The entire stadium erupted, screaming with excitement. The stadium lights, the glow from nearby buildings, and the night sky created the perfect setting for an unforgettable evening of classic rock.

When it came time for "Wind of Change," honestly, I almost started crying. I was right there in La Paz, at the concert, listening to a band I never imagined I’d get to see—and hearing a song I never thought I'd get to hear live! I sang, I listened, I took pictures... I recorded that moment in time on my phone and in my mind, because it was the only thing I could do. Thanks, Scorpions.

The set list: 

1.      Sting in the Tail

2.      Make It Real

3.      Bad Boys Running Wild

4.      The Zoo

5.      Coast to Coast

6.      Loving You Sunday Morning

7.      The Best Is Yet to Come

8.      (With Extended Chorus)

9.      Send Me an Angel

10.   Holiday

11.   Wind of Change

12.   Tease Me Please Me

13.   Dynamite

14.   Kottak Attack

15.   Blackout

16.   Six String Sting

17.   Big City Nights

Encore:

18.   No One Like You

19.   Rock You Like a Hurricane

20.   Still Loving You