Ciudades

By Aymara Lorente   In memory of my brother  I believe human beings are unique long before they are born. Once they are in the open world, their personality starts to show immediately. Everything we do as babies reflects our true nature. But the environment and the people around us tend to modify and change our ways, precisely because we are different from everyone else. Therefore, to connect with others we adjust, and also try to make others adapt to us. Is the reality of living in a family, in a society. We are not isolated or alone. However, it takes a lot of molding to change what we bring to the universe. Genes do not mutate so easily or quickly, but behavior and attitude are more easily altered, mainly because, in some cases, a particular person doesn't have a good character foundation, strength, or will power to keep afloat what makes him or her a true original.  My brother, like everyone of us, was unique. Coming from the same mother and father, we were different, and I th

The view from here. Many years ago I discovered most things that happen to us in life are mostly determined by previous decisions, by our choices. Since the lockdown, life in the inside , with its much slower pace, has given us the opportunity to reevaluate everything concerning our lives, from the most simple aspects to the deepest ones. And, if you have been doing that, consciously or not, you have probably discovered some of the right or wrong choices that took you to the situation or stage you were in when this nightmare hit us. Some years ago, as I mentioned, I arrived to the conclusion that every minor decision we make takes us to a place, good, mediocre, or bad. Even now, during this crisis, we make choices since the moment we wake up. But I have been thinking, mostly, about the ones I have made over the years, specially the hardest ones. Sometimes we need to execute a giant leap, a drastic change, that looks crazy and really hard, but if life presents you a poss

The view from here.  (Things that were in my mind). November news. From this warm corner, behind the glass front wall, I can see the neighborhood and the world wake up to another autumn day. I see carefree people walking, just bellow the balcony, towards their day. Looking at them they don't seem capable of doing anything wrong, they just appear to be minding their own lives. I want to believe most humans are still like that. Unfortunately, when you watch the news, or a show on TV, you get the idea the world is full of haters and manipulators. You reach the conclusion people don't mind lying or destroying others' reputation. A regrettable example of that coldness, and even cruelty, is what I recently read in an article about a minor health problem the great french actress Catherine Deneuve had while filming a movie near Paris. In this piece some of her neighbors give details about what they call her excesses . It chocked me to see how those people talk about Deneu

With my hopes for the rebirth of our world, America, and New York City. The evening golden lights (An anniversary of promises and surrenders) Feathers were flying and falling slowly, like snowflakes on the calm evening waters of The Hudson the army of angels couldn’t wait to gather there landing, one more time, on the other side of the river They, and some humans, were witnessing the event the sun going West, reluctantly, towards the horizon wrapped in purple strokes, rays piercing the perplexed clouds everyone in silence and owe, watching gold melting cascading, covering the New York City skyline A moment when dreams can be touched and fairy tales seem more than real love is the only force that can draw this picture a man made landscape blessed by the heavens Aymara Lorente November 8, 2017

The View from Here. By Aymara Lorente On page 269 of  the novel Rules of Civility, (PENGUIN BOOKS), by American author Amor Towles, I found and marked a passage with these inspiring and comforting words:    At the times, the buildings along Fifth Avenue still looked like they had sprung from the ground overnight—disappearing into the clouds like beanstalks.    In 1936, the great Swiss architect Le Corbusier published a little book called When the Cathedrals Were White detailing his first trip to New York. In it, he describes the thrill of seeing the city for the first time. Like Walt Whitman he sings of humanity and tempo, but he also sings of skyscrapers and elevators and air-conditioning, of  polished steel and reflective glass. New York has such courage and enthusiasm, he writes, that everything can be begun again, sent back to the building yard and made into something still greater. . . .    In the fragile circumstances we find ourselves today, something like th

The world changed. By Aymara Lorente  When you look outside, if you only pay attention to the buildings, the trees, and the singing of the birds everything seems the same, untouched. But the whole world recently changed, from one minute to the next, when we heard, when we finally faced the truth of the Coronavirus. One morning we woke up to the new reality, to this nightmare. What caused it? I exactly don't know for sure; however, I am certain of what allowed its spread: the secrecy and totalitarian control of the communist government of China. They propagated this deadly virus. Before, most humans were invested only on the quest for happiness and content, which is different for everyone, or concentrated on our family, daily dreams, our work. I thought everything was under control, my health, and my plans for the immediate future. But now the ugly side of reality suddenly appeared, equalizing all of us. We have to act as everybody else, look for the same basic material thing