Cully Jazz Festival

Cully Jazz Festival

with Maya Youssef

April 2019

PRIMAVERA-RENACER

El impulso hacia arriba de las plantas al nacer

Arraigadas todavia a sus raices en la tierra...

De la tierra al cielo, de lo denso a lo etereo... 

Asi somos, todos y todo

Nos expandimos desde adentro para crecer y transformarnos...

 #primavera#renacimiento #poesiatransformadora

 #escribirmehacebien#sembrarmehacebien

 #misplantascrecen 

Concern for all, or not?

(Further information found on the links below. I should include other links later on. This is my own way of addressing my own concerns about Venezuela)

What a year 2017 has been so far! Not only for me here in UK but for dear people back in Venezuela. Amidst adventures touring with  amazing musicians for 5 days in Portugal and Spain in February, then, a two successful darbuka courses, and a chance to perform at Shetlands Folk Festival in April, my mind has been very much immersed in the crisis Venezuela is going through. Not a single day (unless I oblige myself to abstain, for my own peace of mind) has passed without me searching for news about what is happening there. Sometimes I do not even have to "look" for it... It appears on my Facebook feeds...

From my own perception, what surprises me a lot is that, apart from "The Americas" and Spain, the situation of Venezuela is not really of much interest for people in other parts of the world. This is certainly the case of most of my Facebook "friends". Only those close to me know about it and ask some questions about it. I am not expecting for every single person in this planet to know or be interested in what is happening there; however, the scale of corruption, violence, degradation of values, poverty and human rights violation is such that I do believe A LOT of people should, by now, know about this!!! This crisis extends to the Orinoco and Amazon's regions; to their care and subsistence. This extends to the well being of the indigenous people inhabiting those regions. This extends to the actual survival of democratic and liberal political and military values in the country. This extends to the survival of a people and their environment. SHOULD THIS BE OF NO CONCERN TO MOST PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD?

For this reason I keep posting news of Venezuela on my FB feeds. For this reason Venezuelans abroad create rallies now and then to communicate what's going on to their own people and to people outside the country. For this reason we are voting on a Plebiscite this coming 16th July AGAINST an "Asamblea Nacional Constituyente" (a means where by the constitution will be changed through the voting of new members for ANOTHER, separate, National Assembly, which then will approve of the changes mainly created by the President Nicolas Maduro). This call for a ANC has NOT been done constitutionally as there has to first be a referendum so people could vote in pro or against the call for a new assembly. "El Pueblo" is the one that has to decide first, NOT the President or the National Electoral Council. Maduro and his allies have "skipped" the first process (The referendum) for their own advantage. They know the people do NOT WANT THIS! So they are avoiding whatever they, the people, think of it. Not only they are killing, detaining and injuring people during the street protests (more than 100 days so far) but they do not allow them to do the referendum. They also have not acknowledge the authority of the already existing National Assembly (which has majority from the opposition since January 2015).

Unfortunately the Military in Venezuela have been supporting Maduro's government (and previous Chavez's one as well). They are in charge of 50% of pretty much all industries in Venezuela, including Oil, Mining and Food industries; they have ministerial positions and have been also backing drug trafficking in the country. No wonder they do not want to lose their power by going against the government which is providing them with a lot of money, benefits, etc.

We the people are struggling to get our voices heard and our news read. We the people NEED YOU!
We need your support. You can contribute in many ways! Here are some ways:

- Inform yourselves of the current crisis in Venezuela by reading about it at The Guardian, New York Times, The Washington Post, El Nacional, Tal Cual, El Pais, Le Monde, BBC, Prodavinci and many more. Let other people know of it.
- Participate in the rallies organised in your city. Get to talk to people there, hear what they have to say.
- Donate to the charities out there feeding children and the elderly and providing medicine to people who need it (There is a great lack of medicines in the country). Links: Barriguitas (Venezuela and US);  "Una Medicina Para Venezuela" (Madrid) ; Ayuda Humanitaria Para Venezuela (Miami), Healing Venezuela (London)

Thank you! x

All I know is that I do not know.

And another slap on the face. Ok, I deserve it, for being naive, careless...forgetful. I know my intention is not to be so, but I am. The thing is...I lost trust long time ago. Perhaps I never had it. In myself; in life; in others. Let alone having faith. The faith I thought I had before was about waiting for a miracle to happen... for someone to help or something to appear... If that is faith...then I feel it's wrong.

I have had these moments before. That is why I start saying "another slap..." That means, "another realisation". Why is it that we always forget of that realisation? Why does it last for so little time? Why can't we hold on to that for longer, and make those crucial steps for change stronger and stronger? Why can some do it and others can't? It seems that the fibre one is born with differs greatly from one human being to another. The thing is, I have had my help; my "miracles", my opportunities.... I did not use them wisely. I did not think properly and/or appreciated them enough to make something out of it. And now I feel lost. Lost in the vast sea of disappointment and lack of confidence. Lost in my illusions and distractions..and in a lack of energy. I hope, this is the beginning of something new. As finding myself in the void... I hope this helps me gain perspective of myself and my life again, it is up to me what I do with it. Carpe diem.

Amnesia: mine and yours... The World's AMNESIA!!! That is our most horrible and damaging virus we have...and have always had!!! There is nothing 'NEW' about Podemos, or SNP or Green Party.... We have had it before.... And we have had corporations doing whatever they want... and Israel massacring and pushing Palestinians away and the retaliation with Hamas and Hezbolah doing as bad... So, what is wrong with humanity that thinks 'ideologies' of this and that is WHAT WE NEED?? Marxism, Libertarianism, Capitalism, etc.... that way of thinking and seeing has nothing with REALITY! Even I have fallen for it! And I want to get out of it!... 

I believe in equality, in treating each other well (and working on my negative reactions towards those I think are 'wrong' in their views of my country's situation or other matters)...

Ideologies seems to be against reality for some reason... I see people forgetting that the same ideologies have been applied before without success.... So, it is not a matter of ideology then, right? Maybe it is a matter of human incapacity to put it in practice properly and/or keeping tract of thier pro and contras and modifying things on the go...and NOT staying static with the 'ideology'...may be that's what it is! That we think ideologies are 'STATIC'!! We as humans don't seem to like change...so... the remedy might be going with the flow and adjusting things as we go along.... and don't use the same discourse over and over again...

......

On Friday evening I was talking to my brother about death. I don't really care much of me dying, but of other people close to me dying. Next morning, I felt that actually, what really really matters is how i leave my life, rather than when will I die and how. Then i wrote this on my FB: "'How many roads must a man walk down / Before you call him a man ?".... striking lyrics, always, as ever... After three more hours , I received the shocking news that a dear person to me and my family, and dear to the Academia in Latin America, had died the night before (same night I was talking about death)... I am still recovering from it, like many others are. If there was someone we could call a MAN, in its WHOLE SENSE, as the lyrics imply, it was him, Carlos Pacheco. R.I.P


Carlos Pacheco. Siempre estarás en mi corazón. Eras un segundo padre para mi; un profe; un amigo... Gracias por todo lo que me diste, por lo que le diste a los demás. Por tu amor, por tu inteligencia, por tu sabiduría. Estas en paz, lo se. Eres un ejemplo de como se puede vivir plenamente y con alegría y pasión. Estas el los corazones de miles mas. Te amo a ti y a tu familia. Gracias por tu Ser. xxx

http://m.eluniversal.com/arte-y-entretenimiento/150328/fallecio-el-escritor-e-intelectual-carlos-pacheco