GLORIA ROUBAL'S DAILY HAND GENERATED TYPE PHRASE #262

Have I blogged about this before? I'm having a moment of déjà vu. 

I do tend to be drawn to stories about the bizarre, the unexplained, the eerie... David Lynch has been one of my favorite movie directors since Blue Velvet came out in 1986. Talk about a fascinating mind! I think I own the DVDs of all of his movies as well as TV series Twin Peaks. Some of his work is so strange and difficult to figure out, I have watched it multiple times just to try to understand it! This is true of Mulholland Drive... and I am closer to figuring it out, but haven't quite gotten there yet. Sometime this year I'll watch it yet again! 

My favorite David Lynch movie is, without a doubt, Wild at Heart. The story, the acting, the creepiness, the casting, the soundtrack/score... It's really a very tender love story, but there are so many bizarre and disturbing parts of the movie that are captivating. It does not try to trick you... there aren't the crazy "puzzles" like there are in Mulholland Drive and Lost Highway, for example. And then there are the Wizard of Oz references throughout (Wild at Heart), and that is probably my all-time favorite movie, if I had to pick one favorite. Laura Dern, Nic Cage, Willem Dafoe, Isabella Rosselini, and other amazing actors help make Wild at Heart an amazing movie. It's another one that I have watched multiple times (but not because it's hard to figure out; just because I love it that much) and will watch again. In fact, it's the only movie ever that I watched for the first time, and then watched again with my husband who got home right when I had finished the first viewing. 

Have you seen it?

GLORIA ROUBAL'S DAILY HAND GENERATED TYPE PHRASE #261

I have decided to try to learn Spanish.

Okay, that seemed random...but there is a connection here.

There are fantastic free apps for learning languages these days, so my method is spending 10–15 minutes a day (most days) on either Mango Languages (which, by the way, is totally free with your Champaign Public Library card, and if you live elsewhere, please check with your local library!) or Duolingo (which is free). To supplement, I attempt to read children's books. It's difficult! I'm not learning it very quickly at all, but it is fun, and I will plug away at it. Hopefully in a year or so, I'll have made some progress.

One of the books I am in the middle of trying to read is Pan y Mermelada Para Francisca. It's a tough book for beginning Spanish students like me. When I was a kid, I absolutely loved Bread and Jam for Frances! The story is adorable, and the illustrations are even more adorable! Wish me luck in finishing the book. Gracias.

Adios!



PS: Here is the cover of the book.

GLORIA ROUBAL'S DAILY HAND GENERATED TYPE PHRASE #260

Why was I thinking about the word FOOLS today? Well, I was. And I decided that finding a great quote having something to do with fools would be my task this evening. This is actually the last line of a Churchill quote. The entire quote goes like this:

"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes." Love it. So true.

I haven't the mental energy to expound upon this tonight. Please talk amongst yourselves. And leave me a comment if you so choose. :)

That is all.

Peace.

GLORIA ROUBAL'S DAILY HAND GENERATED TYPE PHRASE #259

"Let's Dance" is definitely among my favorites of David Bowie's songs. I have really good associations and memories around it, and it always puts me in a good mood.

On another note, I have always loved Bowie's eyes being two different colors. Caused by a schoolyard fight, the left eye's pupil was permanently enlarged, giving the illusion that the irises were two different colors. Extremely visually cool, nonetheless. Unique.

"Let's sway... under the moonlight... the serious moonlight." What a great line.

Go listen to some Bowie. You deserve it.

GLORIA ROUBAL'S DAILY HAND GENERATED TYPE PHRASE #258

Music is powerful. Listening to music, writing music, creating music, performing music... it is all healing on some level. It's even magical at times. What would I do without it? I hope I never have to find out.

GLORIA ROUBAL'S DAILY HAND GENERATED TYPE PHRASE #257

I love so many female singers. I love so many rock/pop/alternative bands from different eras. One band that was not on my radar when they were popular was an English pop band called The Sundays. The band put out three records from the late 80s into the 90s, and I have all of them. It wasn't until the late 90s when my friend and fellow singer/songwriter/guitarist Robynn Ragland introduced me to The Sundays via their first record, "Reading, Writing and Arithmetic," and I was hooked. What a unique sound! The combination of Harriet Wheeler's vocals with just one guitar track (at least much of the time on the first record), bass, and drums (David Gavurin, Paul Brindley, and Patrick Hannan) was magical.

While they did have a few hits, my favorite songs tend to be the little known ones (as is often the case).

Have a listen to a couple or all of the following! Hope you enjoy!

JOY

ANOTHER FLAVOUR

SHE

I WON

A CERTAIN SOMEONE

YOUR EYES

GLORIA ROUBAL'S DAILY HAND GENERATED TYPE PHRASE #256

Fear is underneath so much of human suffering—for that matter, the suffering of any living sentient being. Humans are the only beings on this planet (that we know of) who can be aware of their own awareness further develop mindfulness awareness so that they can learn not to fear fear! I guess I would restate my first sentence like this: Fearing fear is underneath so much of human suffering. We fear so many things. Anxiety of a form of fear. Many of the things we fear are things that are inevitable. Many things we fear are the same things millions of others fear. The feeling of fear is universally shared, regardless of the source of the fear. Fear will always be there! But it's just a feeling! It's not who we are. It's not the "final feeling." It comes and goes, just like all of the other guests that visit our "guest house." The way to begin to cease fearing fear is to simply welcome—bow to—fear when it arises. Try to drop the story line in our thinking and just focus on the raw emotional experience of fear. How does it feel? Become curious. Pay attention to the physiological responses that are happening in our bodies. What is our breathing like? How does our stomach feel? What's happening in the body? Breathe it in. Forgive the fear for being there. Forgive yourself for having fear. Be compassionate and gentle with yourself as you place your fearful mind in the loving, cradling arms of compassion.

The phrase I chose for my design today doesn't exactly say what I'm trying to express. "No fear" conveys the idea that we can actually get rid of fear, but we can't. It's part of being human. There are definitely things that scare us to which we can learn to respond differently. We can, to some extent, realize that we need not fear things over which we have no control, such as death. Every single living being has to die. Every one of us! We can learn to overcome fears of such things as flying in planes, particular animals or insects, and other things like that. Some people can even overcome the fear of public speaking! Public speaking, by the way, ranks very high on people's lists of their top fears (various studies have shown this). Anyway, fear is such a huge topic. I believe that allowing fear to just be when it does arise will help us far more than pushing it away. Maybe my phrase should have said, "No fear of fear."

On another note, a singer/songwriter I love named Abra Moore has a song entitled "No Fear." So there's that.

Check it out: LINK TO ABRA MOORE'S "NO FEAR