I am writing this post in English after being inspired by hearing Silvia, from Mama Latina Tips, speak at the Latina Panel at Blogher. I will attempt to make this a bilingual blog. After all, yo soy una Spanglish woman;)
When I am with a group of people, I love to talk alot. Yes I am a chatterbox! A few days before I went to Blogher, I wrote this post Escuchar En El Silencio. My blog is about finding deeper meaning in life. So after a whirlwind of activity, fun, laughter and smiles, attempting to explain my experience at Blogher, I find myself without words. Here is a great recap in pictures & video on the Latism.org website.
To be able to do so, I would like to share some thoughts about one of my favorite pastimes, observing my butterfly garden. A few days before Blogher, I found a zebra butterfly still sleeping around 9am, hanging upside down and blissfully peaceful on the edge of a vine. It was unusual because normally at that time, they are already flittering about in frenzied movement and when sleeping, they normally camouflage under more foliage for protection.
The process to become a butterfly is:
- butterfly lays the egg on the host vine
- caterpillar eats on the leaves of the vine
- caterpillar finds a hidden spot to become a chryssalis for protection for about a week
- chryssalis becomes a butterfly
- butterfly flitters about in a beautiful dance around the garden with many butterflies, finds a mate & the process starts over
The day after coming back from Blogher, I woke up to find a chryssalis in the same exact spot where that butterfly was sleeping before Blogher. I have had this butterfly garden for almost 3 years. I observe these creatures day in and day out. Normally, if I see 30 caterpillars, I might be lucky to find 1 chryssalis. Believe me, I look for them all the time and rarely find their hiding spots.
My yard is about 6300 sq. ft. which is the equivalent of 76,600 sq. inches. The chance for that chryssalis to be situated in that same exact spot is .00132 %. So why am I writing about butterflies to explain my experience of Blogher? Since I use symbols as a confirmation of what I want to write, here goes….
Blogher was more than an opportunity to connect in real life with many wonderful bloggers that I have connected on Twitter. It was the culmination of a two year process that started when my external work life crumbled in front of me, and simultaneously, had to have surgery on my ankle due to traumatic arthritis from a car accident 7 years ago.
I started a blog called Resurrect Your Hero (now inactive) as a catharsis in 2008. My tagline for that blog was Finding Inner Peace During Chaos. You can see a summary of my work timeline here.
After blogging for over a year, my heart was calling me to write in Spanish. I wanted to connect with my Colombian roots: cousins, aunts, uncles, 2nd cousins, 3rd cousins. My first cousins alone on my mother and father’s side of the family equals to almost 50!
In the process of creating Mi Caminar, I was getting myself situated in new work helping people set up their blogs and online content, mainly with my brother, Ricardo who is a dermatologist and hair transplant surgeon. And then I discovered Latism! I found the connection online with Latism almost as organic as meeting people in real life. I was hooked.
I was amazed at the community and vision that Latism has online, very much like the real life tweetups I attend in Miami. I honestly never expected to win the scholarship. I filled out the survey at the last minute thanks to a link Denisse of Ahorros Para Mama, sent me. So I was truly surprised to say the least!
What it did for me was open up a gusher of inspiration and love in my heart that was indescribable. I felt freedom, joy, excitement and newfound wonder of meeting such intelligent, creative and community minded women. I felt so happy to be a part of it that I was talking my brains out to everyone I met in New York about Latism. I felt at home with a beautiful sisterhood. In short, I was blissfully happy:)
I titled this post Feel, Blog, Connect after watching the movie, Eat Pray Love yesterday. My journey is about transforming a negative into a positive by being in touch with my feelings. I believe that by connecting with our feelings, we can discover our heart’s purpose. By blogging here at Mi Caminar, my vision is to share so many thoughts, lessons and inspirations I have encountered on my journey..and hopefully, it can become a place where others can share as well.
Thank you again Latism for honoring me with a beautiful gift and expanding my heart. I feel like the butterfly that emerged this morning out of its shell and is flying freely.
(The Spanish version will come later tonight..I have to run to celebrate a friend’s 50th Birthday!)