COLOR ME RED AGAIN!

  There are times when I take a path that leads to failure and with failure comes shame. You know what I mean, face flushed and sometimes, the ears are a deep red.

I have listened to them all, but by God's will, I try not to focus on my faults. Well, maybe a little pity party and then I try to move on and think about how I would have done it in another way. Learning from my mistakes is an important part of evolving towards a better self. But people can be cruel, the people around us are the ones who criticize the most. The usual comments ... Why are you doing this? ... You never finish anything ... I would never do that ... Oh! And the one I listen to most: money wasted, and time poorly spent. Why?

Negativity cultivates failure, sometimes people forget that a flower grows with water and nutrients, but humans need much more even as adults. We grow with water and nutrients, but humans from the moment of their birth need a lot of love and understanding, and no negativity, since it atrophies the mind, the very soul of a growing child. Does it stop there, of course not?

Preparing them for school and the outside world is a difficult task. Unfortunately, we cannot protect them against everything. Bullies come in all sizes, from the child Bully to the teenage Bully to the cruel adult Bully who uses his words to launch a guillotine hit.

The intimidation and laughter of people is everywhere in our society, from Trump on Twitter to possibly you. We need a cultural movement to reverse this damaging trend that is inflicted every minute of the day around the world.

COLOR ME RED AGAIN!

Marie M. Rivera aka Maguida

First Published 7/2/2019

Hay momentos en que tomó un camino que conduce al fracaso y con el fracaso llega la vergüenza. Ya sabes a qué me refiero, cara enrojecida y, a veces, las orejas son de un rojo intenso.

Los he escuchado a todos, pero por la voluntad de Dios, trato de no enfocarme en mis fallas. Bueno, tal vez una pequeña fiesta de lástima y luego trato de seguir adelante y pensar en cómo lo habría hecho de otra manera. Aprender de mis errores es una parte importante de evolucionar hacia un mejor yo. Pero las personas pueden ser crueles, las personas que te rodean son las que más critican. Los comentarios habituales ... ¿Por qué haces esto? ... Nunca terminas nada ... Nunca haría eso ... ¡Oh! Y a la que más escucho: dinero desperdiciado y tiempo mal gastado. ¿Por qué?

La negatividad cultiva el fracaso, a veces las personas olvidamos que una flor crece con agua y nutrientes, pero los humanos necesitan mucho más incluso como adultos. Crecemos con agua y nutrientes, pero los humanos desde el momento de su nacimiento necesitan mucho amor y comprensión, y nada de negatividad, ya que atrofian la mente, el alma misma de un niño en crecimiento. ¿Se detiene ahí, por supuesto que no?

Prepararlos para la escuela y el mundo exterior es una tarea difícil. Desafortunadamente, no podemos protegerlos contra todo. Los acosadores vienen en todos los tamaños, desde el acosador de niños hasta el acosador de adolescentes hasta el acosador de adultos cruel que usa su voz para lanzar un golpe de guillotina.

La intimidación y la risa de las personas está en todas partes de nuestra sociedad, desde Trump en Twitter hasta posiblemente usted. Necesitamos un movimiento cultural para revertir esta tendencia dañina que se inflige cada minuto del día en todo el mundo.

¡Coloréame de rojo otra vez!

Marie M. Rivera aka Maguida

First Published 7/2/2019

Life is always throwing me curve balls and sometimes it feels more like stones. 

I have had a website under my name MaguidaRivera for many years which I purchased as a .com when I started my website with VistaPrint.

Unfortunately, I have been having technical problems for a long time and no matter how many times they bump up the problem to the next text level, it never got resolved. 

To my surprise last year, I found out that VistaPrint would not release the domain name which I imagine is a tactic to imprison a website client.  Yet Bluehost and other host companies have a clear transaction, you pay the domain name separately and when you leave, you can transfer it to another web host company. 

This crazy situation got to the point that I chose to move on and lost my .com domain name.  So that is why now I just maintain one website:  ArtReviewPR.com.

Remember, there are always option and with this in mind I have sidestepping the pitfalls and hope you will continue to follow me on this website.

Have a good one, 

Maguida

7/1/2019

Marie M Rivera aka Maguida

The tradition in Puerto Rico to celebrate promises to Los Reyes was born in the countryside. The Promise was initiated by the peasants who lived in the hills and is based on a deep Christian faith. Like when you go to church, and prayer help you ask the Lord for the recovery of a patient.

On January 6, the feast of the Epiphany is celebrated, and many families celebrate paying tribute in the form of a Promise, recognizing the Magi's who traveled from afar to see the newborn king, baby Jesus to honor him and present him with valuable gifts.

The celebration of "La Promesa de Los Santos Reyes" ("The Promise of The Three Kings") in Puerto Rico is by a person or family seeking in prayer the recovery of a sick person or to improve their living conditions or to help when there was not enough food to feed the whole family. Once granted they were blessed with the completion of their petition, they hold a celebration as promised with prayers and aguinaldo's (carol's) honoring the saint and Baby Jesus.

These carols are sung in a particular style not like a carol you hear in church. During the celebration which usually starts with the chanting of the rosary followed by the aguinaldo's (carol's). Then in the middle of the scheduled carol's, the host serves food and drink to the visitors and afterwards they continue with the songs of praise. Way back and I do mean, way back, the Promesa started on January 5th and ended way into the morning hours of January 6th.

This beautiful tradition that reflects Puerto Rican folklore is also a special time for the kids. Vienen Los Reyes, has the same anticipation as when they are waiting for Santa Clause to arrive. When my mother, Picola was a little girl she would put a box under her bed with straw or grass, this way the camels would stop on their journey to eat the straw and Los Reyes would leave her a gift. So sweet and no matter how poor the family was there was always something from Los Reyes. This tradition of the children receiving gifts on the Epiphany stems from the original gifts bestowed on Baby Jesus by the Three Magi Kings. Parents still keep the tradition so even in a pandemic they want to make sure their children receive a gift on the Feast of the Three Kings. And the best part is that there is no school and work on this holiday. 

Sadly, for hundreds of years the Catholic Church considered this a pagan tradition practiced by the people in the countryside and the Church did not support it publicly.

This video La Promesa is about a promise that Irizarry family began around the late 1800's. First started by José Luis Irizarry grandmother, then the promise was passed to his daughter and then Patria Irizarry, sister of Jose Luis. Patria continued the tradition for 27 years. When Patria got sick, José Luis came to the rescue and has continued the family Promise to the Kings for the past 27 years but 2020 is different.

Promise in the video was held on January 5, 2015 consisted of a string of nine aguinaldo's (carol's) thanking The Holy Three Kings and praising the Virgin Mary. They also had a chest where people deposit their requests to Los Santos Reyes and the next morning, they would burn the papers with the wishes so they would go to the heavens. 

The Promise of Los Santos Reyes 

Marie M. Rivera aka Maguida

First Published: January 9, 2015 

Updated January 2020

Personal Note

My life has always been filled with a crossroads of events that sometimes open a bright door full of energy and knowledge that allows me to grow. In my search for the investigation of the Taíno Culture in Puerto Rico for my second book in the series The Adventures of Rellie and Tory, the Baby Dinosaur, I discovered an exciting rainbow, an opening in my heritage that was never mentioned to me when I was a child.

This curiosity about the Taino culture began in 2010, when I met the humble painter Santiago López, a Puerto Rican who has made a collection of beautiful paintings of Taino that includes a version of the first battle against the Spaniards. We talked about the research he had compiled that I found fascinating.

Now I find myself, like Santiago and Rafy Cuna doing research for my book and my website ArtReviewPR.com, in search of the truth as told by the Taíno Indians. Its heritage and culture are transmitted from one generation to another.

The University of Puerto Rico conducted an investigation on this subject a few years ago that included DNA tests. One of the places was a village in the mountains, and the results showed that all the members of that town were descendants of Taino. He also concluded that "... 65% of the population of Puerto Rico has Taino blood in their DNA ...".  Mind Boggling!

In the coming months, the tribe of its history is heard in video interviews that this culture suffered and how they survived. During my research, I will also try to have my DNA tested, why? Well, there is a good chance that I could demonstrate Taino ancestry in my DNA, because my mother was born and raised in Jayuya, a town in the central mountain range of Puerto Rico, where the Taino culture still exists.

Until the next meeting!

Discovering Our Taíno Heritage

Marie M. Rivera aka Maguida

First Published 3/13/2014

As I was shopping yesterday in the store a woman maneuvered around my cart and to my surprise, I noticed that the stroller she was pushing had a dog. Give me a break people! A dog instead of a baby, really.

The little white long-haired dog was as cute as a button and got hyper as she knew the attention was about her. After paying the woman a sincere complement on how cute the little dog was, I couldn't hold back a smile as I thought that complements of this nature were usually reserved for human babies. Oh! And I might add sometimes the babies aren't so cute but for the sake of the parents a nice compliment always follows. You know the expression, there is no such thing as an ugly baby.

Curiosity killed the cat they say but the answers I got really didn't bring him back. Yes, the stroller was designed for dogs, that way the dog can enjoy going out too. The reality is that shopping is a people thing vs. romping in the park or the yard which is a dog thing. And too much information as she whispered why the dog was wearing a pamper.

As I bid them goodbye, I saw NorDan looking up at me with a funny ha-ha smile. When you're under three years and still wearing pampers it must have been a little confusing seeing a puppy in pampers and in a stroller. NorDan was probably thinking "What! Now I've seen everything." My sentiments precisely.

Don't beat me up. I understand the void a pet fills in people’s lives. Empty nest syndrome, now who do you pamper or companionship that is missing when you don't have a partner. A pet will give you unconditional love and ask for very little in return. No need to wine and dine and hope you get nukie nukie tonight. No need to remember anniversaries or birthdays and God forbid you forget the flowers or candy. No, you won't get into an argument about spending too much on this or that. None of the annoying parts of a human relationship apply with a pet. Nope, just a loyal friend. OK, I understand that part but what I really don't get is when pets are elevated to a status usually reserved for people.

A couple of years ago, my ex-sister-in-law refused to join us at my daughter’s house for a Christmas Day celebration unless I also brought her large pet bird along in the car. I quickly said no and so she refused to join in the festivities. Sadly, enough she also denied her 94-year-old Mom the joy of sharing in the festivities and spending time with her granddaughter. This is clearly a case of elevating a pet to human status and actually depriving another human, her Mom of companionship. 

Putting pets before people is not healthy and elevating them to human status is walking a thin line which could lead to losing touch with reality.

Love your pet, it is your friend but don't take it to an extreme. Have a healthy relationship with your pet and it may allow for some healthy human relationships to enter in your life.

Fulfilling The Void

Marie M. Rivera aka Maguida

Published 7/26/2009

The USA FLIP (yumpu.com) 

OPIOID EPIDEMIC does not discriminate on race, creed, or economic status.  You may already know someone that died from drugs, a son or daughter, a brother or sister, a mom or dad, an uncle or aunt, a friend or neighbor, it's all around us and we need to make a difference.

Read the booklet there is a need to flip addiction out of the Criminal Justice System and into the Primary Care System. 

The picture shows my handsome and loving grandson Ben, not in my wildest dreams would I have thought drugs in the future would take him from us.  

 The USA FLIP (yumpu.com) 

June 13th, 2022 @ 11:50am 

“Take a minute, now to reflect and savor this moment in time, it will never come again. Close your eyes and listen or just transport yourself to that special place only you know.”  Maguida Rivera

This I have done many times in my life, enjoying a happening or just an internal peaceful moment.  But now it is a rude awakening, and the morning brings me to a stubborn fork in the road and leads me into a darken labyrinth. 

Preaching always, that in life there are at least two choices, yet now, I must acknowledge that there may be two choices but they both lead to the lava streets of the Labyrinthian Tunnel, conceivably warped in time. 

When I return, who will I be and for that matter, where will I be? A different person after the Labyrinthian tunnel but the big question will be can I still see the Magical Looking Glass of Life.                    

Maguida Rivera

June 13th, 2022 @ 11:50am