Childlike in Nature

I remember being at a Darshan in Kerala, India listening to Amma speak about being childlike in nature. She said one should not be childish, but childlike. We should always smile, love life, have enthusiasm about learning, being gentle and vulnerable. I have heard or read from other great teachers who spoke of this childlike nature, but what that truly meant never sunk in. It wasnt until this morning during my daily meditation that it hit me. I thought back to yesterday, my first day teaching the kids of the Favelas (projects). I remembered how great I felt when I walked into the room and the kids ran to hug me. They were all so loving. They had this zest to learn and to show me what they already knew. While counting they would jump ahead. They asked so many questions. When I had to erase the board they would jump to volunteer to do it. These kids were so helpful and thoughtful. They gave of themselves without any expectations. I thought to myself, if this can make me feel so good, imagine if I was this way with others. What would the world be like if we could openly give of ourselves without any expectations in return? What if, we could be enthusiastic in our quest to learn about ourselves, to learn about God, to learn about other cultures? What would it be like if we could love all and trust in life? These are children who live on the streets, have parents in jail, and/or dont know when they will have there next meal, but yet they are sharing a piece of cake with me and just so giving and loving. This is the way I could be. It doesnt take much. Like Nike says Just Do It. So from now I strive to be childlike in nature. Not worrying about how others should be, just focusing on how I should be and naturally sharing this love I have found. I have received far more from these kids than I could ever give them. The gift of learning how to love, share, give openly, trust, vulnerability, laugh at yourself because in the end nothing is that serious, and the zest for wisdom. Thank you!

Beauty

So I woke up this morning, wanting to sleep in. I thought to myself “I don't have anywhere to be, I don't have to go to work, why do I need to wake up” But nonetheless I did. I got up made breakfast, took a shower, than headed out the house. I live about 35 minutes from the center of town and usually walk there instead of taking taxi or bus. Why not walk, I am never in a rush. So as I walked today, I got to think a lot. A lot about life and beauty. I decided to shave my head bald while I was in India. It was one of the most freeing things I have ever done. In India, I got a lot of comments from day one. People would rub on my head and say how beautiful it was. In Argentina, I had my head licked so many times and even had a woman from Brazil tell me how courageous and beautiful I was. She said that no woman in Brazil would ever shave there head. She admired my courageousness. Now in Peru, I am called “Mamacita Linda” all the time. So why as women do we put so much money into our hair and makeup? I have even had people ask me what do I use on my skin and say that my skin is glowing. I tell them that I do not have a skin care regimen. I use whatever cheap soap I can buy at the time. Before traveling I had a separate soap that I used for my face, but now I use the same soap for everything. Now, I that I don't spend money on hair care or facial products, I get the most compliments. So do we really need to spend all this money for beauty? Or is it about being happy and stress-free? There were days in Argentina that I felt down, because the woman there are gorgeous and have the best clothes and shoes. All of my beautiful clothes and shoes were back home and I didn't have the money to go buy a new wardrobe nor would that make sense since I am backpacking and can't carry a lot of things. I wanted to go out and buy makeup and at least one pair of sexy boots. But I didn't and I am glad, because I was able to learn that beauty is within. It has nothing to do with how much money we spend on clothes, makeup, facial products, or hair products. As women it is vital to love yourself as you are and not buy into marketing companies trying to sell all these products just to make money. Love our natural beauty.