Monday quote for an open soul

In our Monday quote, I have this pic of Lorenzo I took in Maderas early this year.Let's try to get away from our daily distractions and try to focus in what matters most to stay healthy in our bodies and spirit. Happy Monday and have a good start of the week!

Lorenzo posing for a session in Nicaragua

Monday quote, being a fully responsible woman!

This Monday I decided to use a very strong image for illustrate a very strong thought about being a responsible woman.
Some of us we are just trying to go through this life avoiding as much problems as we can. Is not bad, though! But as I always say, all the extremes are bad, and sometimes you just have to go to war.

I think as an occidental woman you have the freedom and all the opportunities to be who you want to be even if others don't like it. It is important to appreciate this fact, coz even though it is given to us by default, there's other women in the world that don't have this same privilege.

So I don't think we should'nt waste it with a lazy attitude. I think is our "duty" to enjoy our privileges, respect ourselves and don't let others do our thinking.

After all, like Audre Lord said: "When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak."

Have a good week you all beautiful women!

About the pic:
Dani, this strong 21 y.o "Swiss" in this picture, was one of many inspiring women I met in Maderas beach.
When I  met her, and her friends I instantly thought "wow, I wish I'd be this rad at my 20's" So full of energy, confidence and wisdom. She already traveled half of the world and started with her sisters a rad clothing line named "Hey Mr. Jellyfish". I'm a fan of these kids!!

Monday quote and how to simplify your life in 5 minutes

Good morning everyone,  this weekend we had great weather here in the Basque Country. Some of us we were out exploring nature, and it really reminded me how important is to be "observer" and aware of your life and what you do everyday.

I thought this picture and quote by Thoreau would be wonderful for starting our weeks.

Also while writing this post I was reading an article by Greg McKeown "How to simplify your life in 5 minutes". He gives some great little tips about priority, awareness and planning.
Give it a read if you can!
One phrase it caught my attention was "Live by design rather than by default". Simply awesome.

Would you recommend some other great readings to help simplify our lives? If so, why don't you give me a shout about it?

Thanks and have a great week!

Daniel in grateful peace. Sopelana, Basque Country

About the pic:
I took this pic in Sopelana in 2012. Me and my surfer friends living in Barcelona we attend every year a surf camp in Barrika named "Barrika Surfcamp".
We go there around easter, so it is really difficult to have nice weather. That year from a week of stay we had 2 days of great weather. One of those days we had a lay day, and waiting for the swell finally to come; so we decided to just go for a walk and relax in the meanwhile.

Monday quote: A Sea bound and Write it Forward project

How to explain the intense relationship one has with the ocean? I was born and raised in the desert in Mexico, and when I was a kid I only get to see the ocean once per year.

I began surfing 8 years ago, and I can say I'm totally addicted to the ocean now. It is really difficult to explain the feeling interacting with the ocean, the energy flowing between you and the mother nature; and how easy is to forget about the banalities of the world thanks to the ocean.

Admiring big waves is one of my favorite things on earth. Is like putting your finger direct in a light socket. You feel all it's energy going all over your body as a perfect transmitter. At the end we're all made of water as the ocean itself, aren't we?

Power of Mother Nature, Zaratuz-Basque Country 2013

About the pic:
I took this pic last winter in Zarautz, Basque Country during a big swell. I called it "Power of Mother Nature", and I participated with it in a great project called "Write it Forward". This project pretends to support literacy and highlight the importance of the written word in this "electronic times" through printed postcards and other actions.

Check out the project and the creative collective participating! Thanks Rachel for inviting me in! Such a blessing to participate in so inspirational projects.

Monday quote, and a natural connection..

Horses, horses.. those mysterious and beautiful animals. They say they reflect your dreams and hopes. Some other say, when we ride a horse we borrow freedom.We all know within ourselves Nature has a lot to teach us.

I took this pic of Phillip in Costa Rica this year. Be able to capture this moment was one of the best moments of this trip with friends. Can you feel the harmony between these two?? So great to see this natural connection just in front my eyes

Enjoy your Monday and have a great week!

Natural connection in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

Monday quote for a conscious living!

When you get to travel often, you begin to realize a lot of things. One thing I'm still learning, is how to simplify my life at the best.
It all begins with simplify the amount of belongings you carry with you everytime you travel, merely because you start to see you don't use most of them, and that is more comfortable to travel with few things. Then, when you have the minimum at your travels, you start to feel good about having so few things, so you can focus in more important matters.

Next step in realization is whenever going back of your travels. You start to realize that having less is actually more practical than having more. I was a keen consumer spending every month in stuff I wore once or not even that. The amount of debt I used to have just in clothing!

My life started to simplify when I started to ask my self consciously the purpose of "having stuff". I still have to do a lot of job to live the simple life I want to live, but I think that's a good thing I'm conscious about it and I know what I want. I still have a lot of work on the "shoes" department for example.

I share this thoughts to you, to encourage you to be conscious about your everyday living. It will give you more focus on what really matters to you and you will save great amounts of money you can use for travel!

About the pic:
This pics bring so many good memories to me. I took it in Maderas beach, Nicaragua.
I could say I was living very much a simple life. This big tree was buried at the beach near the site camp, and ended up here by some recent hurricane.
A bunch of guys living at the camp founded it and decided to move it in front of the camp to have it as a bench.

Since then, we passed great afternoons there enjoying the sunset, having great conversations and just being together enjoying our presence.

I'm writing this post sitting at a cool couch, a big TV screen in front of me, and a nice carpet under my feet, craving to be in that tree bench watching the sunset with friends again…

Simplicity makes it all at Maderas

Monday quote and how I fell in love with a tree

Roots are important. Roots are essential!, specially when you're traveling.

When you're getting impregnated with other cultures, habits and different ways to see life, is important to be able to go back to your inner roots to remember who you are.
If I learned something about traveling, was to have an open mind and heart, to really discover and enjoy the "unknown; but then in important to be enough intelligent to know what is a keeper and what 's not from the experience.

So, are you traveling a bit this easter? Enjoy your vacations, and remember to go out of your comfort zone! That's where all the fun begins :)

Just a little word about this pic.
I took this pic in Apollo Bay in Australia while exploring the Great Ocean Road. I can't tell you how impressed I was about all the nature there, specially about these Cypresses. Where I come from in Mexico is pretty dry, so apart from cactuses, I never get to see these kind of majestic trees.
I fell in love with them, and since then I fell in love with many more around the world!!

Cypresses, Apollo Bay, VIC, Australia