What a Strange Feeling…

I have to confess. The reason I’ve not been writing here on my blog is more than just not having/finding/making the time to… After staying so long without writing, I started thinking that I’ve kind of lost… my edge. I tried writing these last couple of months, but it just didn’t come out right. It didn’t sound at all like me.

But today someone inspired me to come back to it (thank you Yuli). But before I continue telling you about my journey ‘In the Last 5 Months (well, 7 now)’, I want to share an experience I had this year. Sorry in advance if the post is too long, please bear with me :)

You know, I’ve never been the mother type of woman; I’ve always been more of a big sister type of person. Never really dreamed of having kids, of holding my own baby in my arms (although I love holding other people’s babies hehehe) and having a little person calling me ‘mom’.

But something happened this summer…

I had the chance to work really closely with a group of youths from the YPG here in Houston. As I mentioned on my previous post, we were working on a Play I had written and now had to direct. We had to meet every week, once a week, sometimes more and so I had the chance to talk to them a lot, really get to know them. Their hurt, their disappointments, their dreams, their goals in life; and as I did, something deep inside me started to change… I started having a strange feeling, quite unknown to me.

In the beginning I thought it was just excitement to get the project completed, but after all these months I can say it was so much more than that.

Every time we met, I began to realize how much it mattered to me that they smiled, that they were happy. And if they didn’t smile, why didn’t they? Were they going through problems? How were they doing in school? Had they eaten? Did they have friends? A family who loved them? Did they know how talented they were? How beautiful? Did people tell them that? Did they know how important they were?

Why were these things so important to me all of a sudden? Why did it matter so much?

It mattered because while all the meetings and rehearsals were going on; while we struggled to get everything perfect; while we laughed and shared our experiences; while they made new friends and new memories, something inside of me changed, softened…

I started seeing people very differently since then. I guess I care more, much more in a more ‘personal’ way. It’s almost as if I became more aware of the people around me. I want to help them, add to their lives somehow, even if it’s just by complimenting them or recognizing how hard they work or by something as simple as just smiling at them.

Maybe this is something very simple to you, very familiar. Something you’ve done all your life. But maybe you are just like me 7 months ago, not selfish, but not so concerned about the small things, the details in a person’s life that matter so much to them. Maybe just like me, you were blind to all the little things that make the people around you, the people you love, who they are.

What about your little sister? Have you ever told her how good she is in certain things? Or asked your brother if he's eaten all day?

How about your mother? Have you ever told her how beautiful she is? Or your dad how much you appreciate all his hard work?

Have you stopped to think that maybe that person in your work place that always seem to be in a bad mood, is actually lonely and would just love to have someone to talk to, to listen to them?

Have you ever showed your friend how happy you are to have someone like her in your life? That she makes it better?

What I’m trying to say is, you don’t need to be a mother, or old enough, or experienced enough, have time enough or be ‘good’ enough to care about someone.

It’s in the little things that you start a change. It’s in the small things that you start making a difference.

It’s through these little details, the ones people usually don’t pay attention to, that you can really change someone’s life.

And you know what? By doing these ‘insignificant’ things that you start changing your life as well.

That group of people certainly did it for me. They changed something deep within me. They don’t know, but while they talked and worked and laughed and shared their lives and problems with me, I became what I never dreamed of:

I became a mom… well, sort of ;)

In the last 5 months - Somewhere in Time

Almost two years ago we had a small gathering of girls from some of our churches here in Houston and I remember being really excited about it. We were going to have the opportunity to talk to them, get to know them and help them in their spiritual walk.

But of course, until then I was just an attendee. My participation was limited to help prepare the room and be present on the day… until I was informed hours before, that I was going to hold the meeting. I was to be in front of everyone and do… what? I had no idea!

I was freaking out!!! I didn’t know what to do or say. I just wanted to run as fast as I could. But I did learn with that experience because it taught me about faith, about trust.

Little did I know that 2 years later I would have to hold an event for both girls and boys… And that I would LOVE it!!

Last June we had our yearly Godllywood Pledge Night (where we had the play I was talking about yesterday) and my friend Alynne and I had to be the presenters.

I was pretty nervous about the whole idea… What if I say something wrong? What If I have nothing to say? What if I forget? What if a trip and fall? (hahahaha) were some of my thoughts at the time.

But we had prepared so much for it. We had the play, we had the place ready, we had the guests; now was just a matter of taking a deep breath and going for it.

And that’s what we did.

We had a very pleasant and different evening. Once I held that microphone in my hands and started speaking, everything worked as they were supposed to. I was really happy that night! I was happy because I was able to present a 2-hour event. I was happy that the play I had written and directed was a complete success. I was happy that we had new women joining our Godllywood group here in Texas and I was most happy because our guests really understood what the event was all about. They finally understood what being part of Godllywood means (if you don’t, stay tuned here on my blog, because I’ll soon be writing about it).

It was definitely an unforgettable evening… wish you could have seen it ;)

Here's the SIT cast ready to perform

And them again after their awesome performance

Alynne and I enjoying ourselves

 Getting the testimony of one of our Godllywood members

 Some of our guests

For more pictures of this special night, visit my Facebook Page. 

To be continued tomorrow...

In the last 5 months - Who? Me?? But I can’t…

Everything started last year, when I had a big project in my hands. The project was called ILS – I love you… Seriously.

It was an event about love life where some of the YPG member had to perform a play. So far, so good… I love to watch performances, just like I love watching movies, but this time I was not only to watch it but also direct the play. I was supposed to get the script, choose the actors and train them to perform on the day… to hundreds of youths. Cutting a long story short, the performance and the whole event was a total success. I was so proud of all the actors and I was thrilled to have discovered a talent I didn’t know I had.

But the event was so good, that this year my husband decided that we needed a second one, like a continuation to the first play. When he told me we would have ‘I Love You Seriously 2’ I jumped with joy and at the opportunity to direct yet another play. The problem was, this time we didn’t have a script… meaning we didn’t have a story. We didn’t have a part 2, which meant someone would have to write it, but the question was, who?

That was when I was informed that the writer would be… me!

At the same time there was another event we were preparing for, our yearly Godllywood Pledge Night, where we would also have a drama performance by the YPG. Again, there was no script, no story and again I was informed that I’d have to write that one too.

Needless to say that I got a little desperate (well, a lot desperate), since all I have written in my whole life were essays in school and messages here on my blog. And if you like to read you know that a story has to have lots of different things, like the characters, their personality; it has to make sense, it has to have the funny parts, the serious parts and ultimately it has to tell a message. Now, that’s all well and good when you have the pages of a whole book to do that, but when you have to create that to be performed in 15 minutes, it’s a whole other story.

Now you can understand when I say that my first reaction was to think: ‘Me? But I can’t!’

So apart from everything else that was happening in my life back in March, I had to write two stories, completely different from each other, hold auditions, choose the actors, rehearse, train them and have everything ready for the day of the performance. One was to be in June and the other In July.

I got two YPG/Godllywood members to help me write the two scripts. That was when I showed you this picture:

Here we were writing a play called ‘Somewhere in Time’, best known among the actors as SIT.

And what were just ideas and words on a paper, became this:

It was one of the best experiences in my life. It was hard, right from the beginning, but it was also fun and very, very rewarding at the end.

To be continued tomorrow…