A Super 8 film

Wow, what a journey, it's been intense!

I'm not talking about the trip itself. The one where I spent 36 hours on planes, crossed 4 immigration borders, exchanged currency 6 times, and all that.

I'm referring to the mental and mind-blowing journey of returning to where I was once happy and a different person.

Seeing those who were once starting a new life without knowing what they would do with it, now with their lives fully established.

I've already told you a bit about my return to Bali after 3 years in my previous posts.

In conclusion, everything remains the same.

Except for myself, of course.

The Balinese people are as wonderful as ever.

Sometimes there's too much noise, too much business, and too much Botox for my taste.

Always balanced out by the enjoyable life there, the wild nature, and the magic that permeates the air.

Now it's your turn, my beloved San Diego.

Your story is different, your story lasts for years, your story is the beginning of a radical transformation thanks to the people who planted a different meaning of life in me.

What is Maria doing with a baby in one hand and a dog in the other?

Whose house is this with a huge garden?

I could swear that just a moment ago we were doing laundry in the shared laundry room of our semi-furnished apartment, always lacking quarters (25-cent coins).

I feel like I've come back home, and yet, it feels like I'm watching one of those old Super 8 films right in front of me.

As if time had stood still, I'm witnessing what has happened in these years.

In a 90-minute movie.

My mind is blown.

Yesterday, within this movie, I floated to my happy place in San Diego (well, one of them).

It's a very special hermitage.

In it, the guru Yogananda wrote his famous book "Autobiography of a Yogi."

This hermitage is of Hindu style and is surrounded by lush gardens and serenity. It's pure spirituality.

The ocean views from there are almost dizzying.

I drove 30 minutes north, singing at the top of my lungs in the car because some things never change, and if there's one thing California has, no matter where you go, no matter what happens, great music is guaranteed.

So you turn on the radio and it's not Enrique Iglesias playing, no, it's at least Foo Fighters...

Now, that's magic...

(with all due respect to Enrique's fans.

Between you and me, I also dance those things at the bar, obviously)

I arrived with a very clear intention, to give thanks for everything life has given me in these years.

Which, in summary, is everything.

All right.

I parked, excited, even nervous, and well...

...since life is not always a carnival, or maybe it is,

the place was closed.

Did I get angry? Did I get frustrated with life and kick the world?

Well, no.

I went to the nearby beach full of vans and surfers, which is my kind of scene. I leaned over the cliff and, as promised, gave thanks.

I vomited out the gratitude that I had been holding onto for 4 years.

I almost spat it out.

Oh, how much infinite love I had within me!

And there, within my catatonic state of a Super 8 film, I wrote this almost unconsciously:

Thank you because you made me understand that I wasn't flawed or wrong.

You connected me with nature.

You opened the path to experiences and job opportunities I would have never believed possible.

You gave a new meaning to the word generosity in the form of people.

You made me fall in love a thousand times, and you continue to do so.

You make me burst with gratitude.

To see everything I've achieved and everything I will achieve thanks to what you taught me.

You made me unstoppable.

Your ocean cleansed my pain. It taught me to believe in myself.

And no matter how much time passes, you always wait for me. You ask for nothing.

And you're always there, untouched as if time doesn't pass through your sunsets.

Nothing would have been the same without you.

You made me believe back that it is possible to achieve what you want. I wonder if I'm worthy.

You have a spirit that brings me closer to magic. I make it mine, and with it, I can achieve anything.

You are infinite possibilities.

I wish I could stop the journey here, sit and watch you without moving anymore.

But that's not what you taught me. The journey doesn't end here; a new one begins.

You've told me so.

I follow you.

With my eyes closed,

wherever you lead me.

And that has been my declaration and gratitude letter to San Diego, to everything I experienced, and to all the people who are part of this story.

I feel like the luckiest person on the planet.

And here comes something I can be a bit insistent about, but I believe in it blindly:

the importance of our environment.

It has been proven that our social environment influences our way of being, enjoying life, our habits, and achieving what we set out to do, among other things.

Sometimes we say, well, nothing will change by going here or there, or by continuing to hang out with that friend who only sees the negative side of things.

Oh, boy, it does change.

THE ENVIRONMENT is key.

Good news, we get to choose our environment!

All right, back to talking about "sunny San Diego," which, by the way, welcomed me with rain...

By coming back, I remembered how people in this city help each other, smile at each other, give what they have, and allow themselves to receive.

There was a woman, when I first arrived in San Diego 7 years ago, who realized that we were absolutely lost while looking for accommodation. We went to the fanciest area without knowing it.

"All right, you guys are looking for a comfortable place but can't afford it here," she knew.

She called a couple of contacts and got the most beautiful studio for us that we could afford when we were already desperate and about to accept a shitty apartment downtown, just because she decided to help us.

One day, we went to LA to watch the Oscars' red carpet.

I had never seen such an amount of limos together.

We heard a familiar accent. Yep, a couple of Spaniards.

"Oh, so you're on vacation?" they asked.

"No, we all live in San Diego."

"Oh, we live there too. So you guys like it? We are so lonely, we regret coming here, and now we need to stay at least for 2 years."

"Oh no, grab my phone number, we always have lots of fun."

Friends for life since then. They are still in San Diego. They chose to buy a house and raise their kids there. We helped them to settle into a whole new culture and learn to love it.

I had forgotten this.

Now, I arrive in the city after 4 years and visiting all these tropical countries, It's raining so I am freezing.

Also, the prices have doubled, and I am now traveling and starting a business, so my budget is tight.

Within 5 minutes, I already have winter clothes to wear, a bed, and a borrowed car, without spending a penny. If I wanted, I could even have a surfboard, a wetsuit, a bike... everything they had was mine right away.

From friends, I hadn't seen in almost 4 years.

In this city, people are kind, and that's the circle that has been created within my group of friends. We are all family. We all help each other from the very first minute.

They helped me when I arrived. I helped others when they arrived. And now those same people are helping me again.

This generates a mindset of openness, wealth, and abundance, and when you align your mindset with that, your entire life revolves around it.

Possibilities become infinite, and it's in your hands to reach them.

It's nice to say that rain shouldn't prevent you from seeing the sun, but you know what? In the day-to-day life we lead, it does.

It's easier to live where it rains less or learn to love rainy plans.

It's easier to materialize dreams when you surround yourself with those who are already doing it.

It's easier to love when those around you have healthy relationships and fulfilling lives.

It's easier when your environment pushes you towards success, rather than the opposite.

On the contrary, when your environment complains about the rain. When you give what you have to people who only take and never give back when all you can hear is that things are hard and there are no jobs for anyone...

Can you imagine what your life becomes?

Hint: More of the same. Scarcity.

We are the sum of the five people we spend the most time with. Choose them wisely.

Choose your books, your movies, your loves, your friends, and your home.

And you will love your life.

Do things that make you proud, leave beautiful things in the world, and the world will bring you beautiful things.

The small details do matter. Even when nobody is watching.

ENVIRONMENT

Well, at this moment, my body craves a salsa-dancing environment.

So, thanks to what I've experienced in sunny San Diego, I continue on my path, more confident than ever that it's the right one, heading towards the mariachis, life on the beach, and fewer rules to continue this adventure from Mexico, güey!

On my next post, I will go for a quick flashback to Honduras and we'll dance under the rain.

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