Follow your Bliss

When I was younger I believed that my fate had limits. I believed that after discovering I was undocumented, and because of that my brain, mind and spirit were in trouble... my dreams of going to a great prestigious art college rapidly went out the window. In reality my circumstances were giving me other options that would brighten the way that I was living. There is no doubt within myself that where I am today is where I feel the most alive. "Follow your bliss" my friend Andy said. It is likely that "the bliss" gets blurry sometimes and it is hard to feel it. But I work at a farm now. And it is 7 years this August that I have been doing this work; being a part of farming and landscaping businesses. Wild South Florida farm life! How to describe this feeling? The one that connects me to nature and food? ... Dynamic. Vibrant. Arduous. That is my life in happiness, extremely rare to write on paper for me, but today I will let you inside. You can decide, if it is up to us and our own individual journeys to experience a joyous life.

How can I explain to you, when you are in your twenties and have just, just received a work permit that allows you get a job and get a driver's license; the world feels like a marvelous place. Up until that moment, I had been volunteering with organizations that focused on environmental issues because I could not study art anymore. But I had studied art most of my life, about a decade of practice! Often times, I remember that the classrooms lacked windows ... Regardless of windows I was making things and enjoying the process. I learned to use markers, tape, crayons, colored pencils, pens, hot glue guns, yarn, construction paper, paint, pencil, ink; SCISSORS. Collages and vision boards were great tools to help me see the things that I wanted in my life. Thanks to the cutting, pasting and framing of these pictures I could create my ideal reality. I remember when I saw my cousin using a pair of scissors that had funny shapes when she cut. Little hearts instead of a straight cut. That was awesome.

But more about this connection to nature right, what is nature? I think we all cut things in and out of our lives and that is a part of our human nature. Whether we choose to do so often or not. Making the cut at the appropriate time is what I am an advocate for, in this, choosing for self growth. Back in 2012 I had no choice but to leave school because of my immigration status. Therefore I sought out to help, I volunteered with those environmental organizations and I fell in love with nature. I found out that I adored learning more and more about the world around me; the ocean, the trees, the animals, the food, and the water. The elements were quick to engulf me.

Boom! Imagination, creativity, and all the blooming friends of my life came out of nowhere. I became involved in a community garden, inspired by the joy that erupted within my heart. No more walls around me, only the elements of the Earth. I got to say... the amount of chopping that I have done in the last 7 years has been 1. so much 2.the most rewarding, fulfilling and exhilarating times of my life and 3. a little dangerous. I took a farm apprentice position not long after my volunteering began and my life was hyped for environmental awareness. I took that position because it immersed me further into plants, got me closer to my food source and closer to being healthier. I met my future co-worker there as well. It was at his farm that I harvested my first banana bunch. I cut the plant down first with a machete and then with sheers, every little hand I cut with sheers, to discovered that the banana has a lot of sap. I stained my clothes and I stained my hands. The sheers were left sticky and they were very hard to clean. But I did it. And I harvested dozens more banana bunches after. I also used sheers to propagate over 1,000 plants in that farm. Haha, looking back now, I remember that I begged my manager to buy me the "giant" pair of scissors (which I now refer to as gardening scissors), just because I was desperate to trim some plants using them.

Now I manage my own farm, and my belief of a defined, confined and only one destiny or "fate" has changed. I believe now that if I follow my bliss, the external guidance I receive from the Universe will accentuate and favor my choices. I can only thank my heart for knowing what it likes, like that feeling in the garden of when I harvest the food I will later eat! Bliss. I can also hope to show grace when I forget the practices that bring me joy and patience when I fall off track. I am human. And in the end of it all, creation is what I am. Just wait till I make a baby! After every decision I make to cut, glue, paste, erase, whatever it is... I create the reality I love most for myself and I believe that is the key to my health. It takes guts to take the leap of faith and go from comfort or boredom to "Holy smokes this is amazing!"

But it is worth it.