On this day, people tend to stop, even if just for one moment, and think what this day means to them. Many have animals and treat them with respect and love. Others may love/like animals but do not have one with them sharing their lifes. Others, have animals and just do not look at them. And others do not have animals at all.
Why are animals that important? What is the big deal with this day. Honestly??? Nothing and everything!
Nothing, for people that do not care who or what they share their lifes with. Since for many, animals are just meat or entertainment, and those will not think on this day as something to be of an importance or something to cheer about.
Everything, for people who will recognize what animals are in their lifes (not just as food) and for that they will celebrate, respecting and loving, wishing and dreaming, what they mean to them. 

On this day I would like to share a though, and idea, a meditation, a dream. 
What are animals? What are we? The same and one I would say. The opposite and living appart I would also say. 

In my life I always lived with animals, only for a brief periode of time (6 months of my life) I did not live with an animal around me. And for those 6 months I only have to say that they were a bliss and the worst days of all.
We take everything for granted in our lifes. And rarely we think that way, that nothing is fr granted, or if we do, easily we forget. And that is amazing in the human heads. How easily we forget things and live life without thinking on the impact we have in the world around us. 
Not with the animals, they do not take their lifes for granted. It is quite the opposite. Everyday they are grateful for what they have, even if it is a very bad condition (unfortunatly), they are patient and kind. They are love in the living form. Is it strange to think about them like this? Maybe so, maybe not..

So here it comes... For some minutes on this day, sit quietly where you can relaxe and not be disturbed. 
Think about an animal that you like (domestic or wild one) and then enter in his life. Try to see the world with his eyes, hear with his ears, touch with his body, talk with his mouth, and feel with his heart.  Try it for as long as you can.
After, you can write it down in a piece of paper. And put the paper somewhere, and you can read it whenever you want. 
It is a simple exercice. It can make you feel something different or not. Is an experience and everyone lives it in different ways and feels it differently too. 
It is curious to understand which animal you chose, and what you experienced by being him. It touches in the heart and soul. And it may also make you understand and know things about yourself that you did not know or did not give word or voice to before. 

In the end I would also like to say that the animal day is everyday of the year, and it is also our day. We are different and alike, we are one and the same. If you respect them you are respecting your own life and yourself. 

And so it be...
This photo was taken in Açores, by Mafalda Seguro in July 2010
What tomorrow will bring...
In the arms of an angel we seek
What we lost and loved
In the arms of an angel we dream
About clouds and light
In the arms of an angel we hope
That we will fix what is broken
In the arms of an angel we cry
and give voice to what we cannot say out loud

In the ilusion we believe in a world
In the reality the suffering is there and cannot be shut
I seek, I dream, I hope and I cry
for words not said
for feelings that are breaking my heart
for pieces shattered by pain
for something that may not be there anymore
for something that will always be the other half...

What we seek, dream, hope and cry for...
Is as real as the sunshine
There is nothing that can break it
but still... the pain is learning
the pain is a growing of souls and spirit
the pain is what is needed to understand
that a half is always part of a whole
and the whole is one... even if broken!
This photo was taken in Pico, in July 2010 by Mafalda Seguro

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There was a bee walking, desperately, on the sand. 
The sun was shining and the hearts were happy. When the eyes made contact with the bee, they weren't sure to what to do. The bee was sad and hurt, and she walked as if she wasn't sure where to go. The bee was runing away from the plants behind, that could offer her some protection, she was walking in the direction of the water, sea water... 

She gets up and grabs a shelf to help the bee, but it is to small, and the bee was scared already. And then she grabed a cap, and helped the bee to jump to the protection given to her. The bee understood, she walked to the cap, and she started right away to clean herself.
"Too much salt... The sand was not helping... My wings are stuck and very dry... I cannot fly... " 
"You can stay here as long as you want... Would you want me to put you on the top of a plant?"
"A few more minutes and yes..."
So the bee cleaned herself, and after a while she put the bee on the top of a plant, where the bee kept cleaning herself, happy for been given an opportunity. 
The bee stayed there for 20 minutes, cleaning her wings, refreshing her soul and trying to calm down from the evident death that she was going through. 
She started to fly, and made a turn around her saying thanks... And off she went... With the promisse of a renewed life...

A life is a life... So easily taken by human hands... Who are we to do it without second thoughts?
The Invitation by Oriah

It doesn’t interest me
what you do for a living.
I want to know
what you ache for
and if you dare to dream
of meeting your heart’s longing.

It doesn’t interest me
how old you are.
I want to know
if you will risk
looking like a fool
for love
for your dream
for the adventure of being alive.

It doesn’t interest me
what planets are
squaring your moon...
I want to know
if you have touched
the centre of your own sorrow
if you have been opened
by life’s betrayals
or have become shrivelled and closed
from fear of further pain.

I want to know
if you can sit with pain
mine or your own
without moving to hide it
or fade it
or fix it.

I want to know
if you can be with joy
mine or your own
if you can dance with wildness
and let the ecstasy fill you
to the tips of your fingers and toes
without cautioning us
to be careful
to be realistic
to remember the limitations
of being human.

It doesn’t interest me
if the story you are telling me
is true.
I want to know if you can
disappoint another
to be true to yourself.
If you can bear
the accusation of betrayal
and not betray your own soul.
If you can be faithless
and therefore trustworthy.

I want to know if you can see Beauty
even when it is not pretty
every day.
And if you can source your own life
from its presence.
I want to know
if you can live with failure
yours and mine
and still stand at the edge of the lake
and shout to the silver of the full moon,
“Yes.”

It doesn’t interest me
to know where you live
or how much money you have.
I want to know if you can get up
after the night of grief and despair
weary and bruised to the bone
and do what needs to be done
to feed the children.

It doesn’t interest me
who you know
or how you came to be here.
I want to know if you will stand
in the centre of the fire
with me
and not shrink back.

It doesn’t interest me
where or what or with whom
you have studied.
I want to know
what sustains you
from the inside
when all else falls away.

I want to know
if you can be alone
with yourself
and if you truly like
the company you keep
in the empty moments.

By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming,
from the book The Invitation
published by HarperONE, San Francisco,
1999 All rights reserved
You are lost in your world
Everything you believe in and lived by are gone
You are alone and on your own
An emptiness fill places on the soul
where there should be love, joy and hope
They are gone... lost in the deep
There is something you can feel
A pain so strong that makes you disconnected
from yourself and others
There is nothing inside, nothing to feel
Nothing to hope or to love
Everything is gone...

The hand starts moving...
Your body wants to follow it
but your mind says no... it is good to just stand still
Your arm moves on the opposit way
and in a heart beat is pulling the rest of you
Your legs are moving, faster and faster
Your run... and run... and run...
At the top of the street you look back 
It does not make sense to go back
Is good to feel the wind... to move your body... 
To breath fresh air... 
You look ahead of you... there is something...
You run again to reach it...
In a moment ideas, visions and projects are shaped...
A dream is born...
The silence is strong
With waves of understanding
With glimpses of what can be
The certainty is vague
Fear and desperation walk together
Hope and joy side by side
The darkness swalows clues
Life changing clues
Openess is blindful by uncontrolled emotions
Clarity is hidden behind minds

And then... Silence...
It breaks all walls, and fears
It gives a possibility of change
And one more step further...
"Look to the trees!"
"What is in the trees? They are naked... With no leaves..."
"Look closer! They are growing... There is greens, and whites, and reds, and..."
"I can't do this now, we have to keep walking, to the highest point."
"What is the point of going, if you are not seeing? Is almost the same as if you were doing nothing... Sometimes you are boring..."
"I am exercicing... It is hard to climb..."
"Is not that high... And if you don't see the beauty around you... Why does it matter if you are in shape or not?"
"What happens if I don't see it? The others are in the top already..."
"So? I just wanted to see the colours..."
"Whatever..."
In the top they see a big lake. In the lake there is a boat sailing...
"Look the boat!"
"Look the wind... and the magic around you..."
"Yes, but the people inside the boat must be having a good time, in complete solitude and relaxing..."
"So you can do it also... You are in the top, and now you are dreaming how it would be if you were down? You don't ever have a rest do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Let's just put a leg up for example..." and the leg goes up.
"What is the point? Everyone is looking at us... Stop with that..."
"Yes! They are looking at us, but they are smilling, they are looking to a woman putting a leg up just for fun, and they are happy about it..." 
And she looks... and realizes that is true...
"Let's go to the swing... I miss it... Remember when we swing some years back?"
"I do remember... I was very happy in that time..."
"Why aren't you now?"
"I am happy now, but we grew up, and things are not so simple anymore..."
"Yes they are... Come with me... let's swing... and swing... up and down... push... close your eyes and feel the wind... and the sounds... and yourself..."
And she does it... She is smiling in the beggining, and then she is laughing... With her eyes closed she trusts and enjoys the moment! When she opens her eyes, everyone is laughing with her... 
"Life can be simple if you close your eyes and let go, when you open them again you can see the world around you differently... but the difference is in you only and in the way you want to look at it! And then it is contagious..."
Is it a dream? Is it real?
Can I sleep and never wake up from it?
Lights from everywhere
Love brights and warms hearts
Happyness is an adiction
Respect never fades
And then... you walk from the shadow...
Dressed in white with a flower crown
Beautiful and powerful
Compassionate and blissful
The wind blows slowly
and the smell in the air fills all the senses
You... in your bare feet
Without knowing the effect around you
While you walk, lights and new lifes reborn...
Healing and creation are given while you breath...
A procession follows you...
Can we hope for more?
I do not want to wake up from my sleep
The eternal sleep in my Mother's Earth arms...
What would you do if nothing that we know disappears? 

First thought is that is nonsense, nothing will disappear, we still have forests in Africa, or in America, or even a little piece of land with two trees in our backyard. So we are done... We still have much... We still have all of it and the better part is, we are the ones to control it. If we want we cut trees, or burn a forest, or kill animals for their tooth, fur or ivory, destroy an entire fauna and flora to build cities or just a nuclear station... We can do so... We can destroy so much...
But then... nothing that we take can be restored... not exactly like this, but if we take millions of acres, of course that it is very difficult to restore it, especially when this process takes hundreds of years, and of course it is more importante to scream with our neighbour or kill others than plant a tree, respect the ones with whom we share this planet or give another possibility to a new life.

I am hurt... I also hurt... and for that I am hurt... we all live in a hippocratic world, where our well being and materialism is above all the rest... with no second thoughts about who and what we hurt on the way...

But now she is taking back what it was taken from her... 
And the simple answer from her was: "I do not destroy... I just create..." Many will not accept it... She is in her own right... How can you... How can we... destroy what was never ours? Now the consequences are shown...
We are just receiving what we sowed...
"Yes? Are you looking for something?"
The boy kept standing and looking very concentrated to the trees.
He got close to one of them and touched it... Looked up and could see and feel the sun light playing with the branches. His father went near him and ask him again. "Are you looking for something?"
His son looked back at him with a big smile on his face and said. "They are back... "
Please forgive me...
For the long years of solitude
For being blind to your suffering
For doing nothing when I could
For being afraid most of my life
For hoping that others would bring me answers
For looking everywhere except to you
For not hearing you ask for help
For listening and not reply
For enjoy and take, and give nothing in return
For loving you all these years...
and only now accept that I am the one who belongs to you!!!
The cold and darkness are behind us, the days are longer by the day. After three months of snow and hibernation, comes the light and colours, the sun and smells... It is time to wake up and get out of the house, enjoy and be part of the changes around.

It is a great occasion to plant some seeds and tender them during the next weeks until they grow. Open the window and let the air, light and smell fill the air around, let it in in the house and in your heart.

 

 Many blessings on this Spring Equinox/ Alban Eilir
Are you ready for me?
Are you ready at all? 
It is time now... It is exposure time...
Take off the masks... 
Are you ready to accept yourself? 
Live... and be... what you have born to do!
Sleep well my child
Welcome to my arms...
My roots will hold you
and waters will guide you,
while the earth will return you home.

Sleep well my child
Welcome to my arms...
Rest you shall find
after a long battle fought
where you won your return
to your mother's arms.

Sleep well my child 
Welcome to my arms...
Memories you bring
remembrance you left behind
and beloved one's love marks
forever attached.

Sleep well my child
Welcome to my arms... and here, peace you will find!

In memorial... of a beloved one...
Elephants or ivory?

I just signed an urgent petition calling on nations to protect elephants from poachers. There's a risk they will weaken the global ban on the lethal ivory trade -- it's being discussed at a UN convention this weekend!

The petition will be delivered directly to the convention, so I thought you might be interested in standing up for the elephants too -- just click here:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Thanks!

(Read more below)

------

Dear friends,

This weekend (Mar 13), 2 African governments will try to pry open the worldwide ban on ivory trading -- a decision that could wipe out whole elephant populations and bring these magnificent animals closer to extinction.

Tanzania and Zambia are lobbying the UN for special exemptions from the ban, but this would send a clear signal to the ivory crime syndicates that international protection is weakening and it's open-season on elephants. Another group of African states have countered by calling to extend the trade ban for 20 years.

Our best chance to save the continent's remaining elephants is to support African conservationists. We only have 5 days left and the UN Endangered Species body only meets every 3 years. Click below to sign our urgent petition to protect elephants, and forward this email widely so we can deliver hundreds of thousands of signatures to the UN meeting in Doha:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Over 20 years ago, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) passed a worldwide ban on ivory trading. Poaching fell, and ivory prices slumped. But poor enforcement coupled with 'experimental one-off sales', like the one Tanzania and Zambia are seeking, drove poaching up and turned illegal trade into a lucrative business -- poachers can launder their illegal ivory with the legal stockpiles.

Now, despite the worldwide ban, each year over 30,000 elephants are gunned down and their tusks hacked off by poachers with axes and chainsaws. If Tanzania and Zambia are successful in exploiting the loophole, this awful trade could get much worse.

We have a one off chance this week to extend the worldwide ban and repress poaching and trade prices before we lose even more elephant populations -- sign the petition now and forward this message to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

Across the world's cultures and throughout our history elephants have been revered in religions and have captured our imagination -- Babar, Dumbo, Ganesh, Airavata, Erawan. But today these beautiful and highly intelligent creatures are being annihilated.

As long as there is demand for ivory, elephants are at risk from poaching and smuggling -- but this week we have a chance to protect them and crush the ivory criminals' profits -- sign the petition now:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/no_more_bloody_ivory/98.php?CLICK_TF_TRACK

With hope,

Paul, Alice, Iain, Raluca, Graziela, Ricken, Luis, Paula Benjamin, David, Ben and the rest of the Avaaz team

More information:

Partners at Bloody Ivory and Born Free:
http://www.bloodyivory.org/
http://www.bornfree.org.uk/

The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species: http://www.cites.org

-------------------------------
"My whole world is a bubble… I live inside a bubble… What I breathe is knowledge... My actions are in dreams... My aspiration is imagination... My body... is broken... has no activity, desires or motivation... 

I live in a bubble... and life passes by me... all other people’s lives pass through me running and I just watch... my lips are sealed and my mind is dormant... Only in my dreams I react, is my waking world, my reality and my safe harbour... a place where there are no boundaries, hunger, thirst... instead there are behaviours, feelings, thoughts, actions and growing... this is how I live inside the bubble...

I live in a bubble... How should I wake up from this? How should I get free from the bubble? Every time I try it, another bubble is formed around me... another world is created... What is real or illusion I cannot know... If I am awake or dreaming is impossible to discern... 

I live in a bubble... and there is no way to run from it... it chases me, and if not I hunt it, until I am inside again... 

I live in a bubble... where dreams and reality are one... where I have several personalities, facets, bodies and only one spirit... My destination is one and one only...

I live in a bubble... outside there is a world of anger and fear... I am scared to come out and I am scared to be like them... all of them...

I live in a bubble... and here the only thing I can find is me... and all other people’s wishes, hopes... and hearts... 

I live in a bubble... colours splash in front of me... outside is dark and cold... inside the colours make my world warmer and bright...

I live in a bubble... and the bubble lives in me... and in this world the only reality is hope and love!"

In dedication to a loved one...
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