El ambiente significa mucho – Our Environment Means A Lot
By now, many of you know that we are selling our home…. here are some photos….. and though these miss some of the great spaces - like for instance another breath-taking, show-stopping bathroom and the bedrooms and the outdoor space, these photos give you an idea of an ambiance that is dramatic and striking ….
I show you these here to make a point - and if we find a buyer along the way, well, all the better! Luis and I completely renovated our space to reflect who we are …. our love of rich color and wide open vistas, our love for archetectual detail and the unusual, our loathing of clutter, (well, except for Luis’ office…), our need for light …. and I could go on. We are incredibly comfortable in our home much in the way we feel in our favorite pair of jeans. It is so much who we are that the space is almost invisible to us while we are in it, however always upon our return from an outing, we are struck anew with how visually stunning and welcoming it is which provokes one or the other of us to say aloud…..”I love our house.” This is short for, “I feel it, it fits me, it reflects me, it’s an extension of who I am.”
Environment.
We are influenced by it and reflect it whether we like it or not. Our parents told us …. “Don’t hang out with the wrong crowd.” “Be a ‘leader’, not a ‘follower’.” “Marry ‘up’.” These all refer to the power of our environment, something our parents learned through experience. And they hoped that by passing their hard earned wisdom on to us that they would save us from some time and trouble along the way. They knew that despite our adolescent bravado, despite our post-graduate altruism, there is not one of us immune to the it’s wiles.
Influence.
“Yah, yah, tell me something I don’t know.” I hear you and I see you heading for the red ‘x’ at the top of your browser ….. but WAIT!!! This information, the stuff you already know … is usable ONLY if you are aware of it and recognize and respect it’s power over you. Are you sad, discouraged, negative, hopeful, feeling creative, energetic? Look around your. What in your environment is influencing you? If it’s good stuff, by all means grab on to it like it means your life. But if it’s it’s bad stuff, for goodness sake, run the other way! It is draining you of life. Does your environment reflect who you really are, who you want to become, where you’re going? Or is your environment working against you?
Are you wanting to learn Spanish but are speaking only with English speakers? Hmmmm. You know your environment will impact your goal. You know that you are swimming up stream and against the tide. And you know that it is only a matter of time before you tire and give up. If you are taking the time and spending the money to study Spanish, take the time to hang out with it. Education means nothing without application. Doctors that we go to…..’ practise’, so do the lawyers…., so do the architects…..so do athletes……yes, the horse has died, no need to continue the flogging.
Luis is sitting next to me. We had been speaking Spanish all morning and then suddenly he began speaking to me in English. I said; “Hey! What’s up with the English?” He said; “Geese, I don’t know.” …. and then he said; “Hey listen to this….” and he began to read something that interested him …. yes, you guessed it …. it was written in English. Our environment has influence. It is insidious and powerful and operates beyond our awareness. So be aware. If you want to learn how to speak and understand Spanish …. listen to your news in Spanish, read your literature or travel brochures in Spanish, shop at a market where Spanish is spoken, eat in restaurants where Spanish is spoken, make a friend or two or three, travel to Spanish speaking countries ….. oops, that horse is dead now too, sorry.
Here’s the short cut to the language chase. Get it out, put it on and get comfortable in it. Let it be a reflection of who you are. Let it be an extension of who you are. Have a happy Spanish day! Aquí estamos, Joan
