Terima kasih teman-teman saya!

Dear fellow explorers,

Before the end of this year I wanted to thank all of you who have visited this, my first blog, and have taken the time to read it, enjoy it and and/or leave a comment (leave more comments, please!).

Thanks to all of you from Spain, UK, United States, Russia, Germany, Ghana, Bulgaria, Colombia, Singapore, and Australia who have visited these pages, have I forgotten someone? Let me know. Your presence is very much appreciated!


May the new months ahead cast their light upon those paths that lie deep within you, bringing new meaning, purpose and energy to your steps and a new spark to your eyes.

Be unashamedly happy. Namaste!

The message

Gandhi once said "My life is my message".

Dear fellow explorers, have you recovered from walking up and down the dunes of Fuerteventura? Did you get a chance to dive with your eyes into the blue blue Atlantic? Did you hear Lara Maria's laughter as it was being swayed by the breeze?

Last two weeks were very tough at work.I became ill before the end of the first week.I was thinking: "You will make it, two more days... you will make it, one more day...". I was surprised, when, in the midst of my struggle, someone seemed to whisper on my ear:
Have faith, have trust in yourself. You can overcome many obstacles. Just ask for help whenever you need it and those helping you can be your voice.

This was a message that instantly comforted me and gave me new strength. This is the truth.

It is already cold cold winter in Barcelona, the trees in Gandhi's Gardens are losing all their leaves and they huddle together to beat the freezing wind. Even if their branches are nude and shaky, they keep telling their stories. Gandhi's statue is gelid, warmed up only by the blanket of leaves laid at his feet and it's difficult to get him to talk these days. He seems distant. But the trees continue whispering, and Gandhi, with an almost unnoticeable grin, keeps listening. It's the turn of the Plane tree, or as it prefers to be called by its Spanish name, Plátano.

A Mother, an Island, the Desert

To my mother Sabas.

Gandhi once wrote: "Man can never be a woman's equal in the spirit of selfless service with which nature has endowed her".

Dear fellow explorers,

Pick up again your backpack and make sure you carry a double ration of water and provisions, even take a light towel to help you refresh and wash, as it's going to be warm and a long journey awaits us. Today we're going to listen to the story of Lara Maria. The trees in Gandhi's Gardens like Lara's skin because it shows a dark glowing tan that never goes away, be it winter or fall.It contains some eternal light, like that of the desert. So has the birch tree -who prefers to be called by its Spanish name, Abedul-  told the statue of Mahatma from its lowest branches. And I have asked Gandhi to retell Lara's story.

And so Gandhi grants my wish: "Lara now plays with her granddaughters in the kids' playground, right in front of me, across the path that I face. She's a happy woman in her late late fifties, happier than her wrinkles allow her to show, says Abedul, whose leaves can pick up from the air the invisible energy from human hearts: joy, anger or sorrow. Her face still contains the glow of the Sahara desert, yet the dunes she was born in are not those of Africa, but the little island of Fuerteventura. An extension of the desert in the middle of the deep blue Atlantic.

The bread of forgiveness

Gandhi once wrote "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."


Dear fellow explorers, how has the week treated you? Last time we met, I encouraged you to be as fertile as you can and have lots of children by means of your imagination. Have you attempted to conceive many children, many ideas? Have you become loving parents and, more importantly, has this brought a new colour to your day, a new flavour to your table, a new sparkle to your eye? Please bring more babies of your imagination into this world.

Today we are going to take a morning stroll in the gardens. Please take your children by the hand, let's walk up to Gandhi's statue and then tell them to play in the grass patch while we sit on the bench that's right under the pine tree. The Mediterranean pine tree, or Pino, as it prefers to be called, whispered a story to the statue last night. I've asked Gandhi to retell it.

"Lluis is a good man, so has whispered to me Pino from its lower needles. Everyday, very early, just at the wake of dawn, he crosses the gardens in search of one loaf of bread. He will eat half of it for breakfast and the other half for tea.

The babies of imagination

Gandhi once wrote "If we want to create a lasting peace we must begin with the children".


Dear fellow explorers,

Last time we met, I invited you to create a powerful image and to cultivate it in the garden of the mind. Now that you have been in it for a few days, what have you found? Is the garden of your mind wild and mossy like a forest, or  is it smooth and has impeccable mowed lawn like a palace's? Do you like being in it? What have you learned about yourself? I am interested in your stories, please leave one of them here and share it with the other explorers, your voice will be heard.

"These are troubled times", wrote a journalist, and every journalist seems to repeat this mantra again and again. So troubled that we cannot take our mind off the economy, the politics, the labour market, the bad things happening all around us. We cannot seem to disconnect from our daily disgrace dose. We seem to swallow this spiky pill every day as if it were the right thing to do, just because it is served in a shiny silver tray, just because it is designed to justify the state of things.

Believe me, you don't have to swallow that pill every day. You don't have to eat from that shiny silver multimedia  tray. You don't have to feel justified. There are inspiring actions, beautiful sights, good will and caring people all around us. Every day. Open your eyes.

Fellow explorers, get up, it is time for action!

Now that you have a garden, you must fill it with children.

The garden of the mind

Gandhi once wrote "The moment the slave resolves that he will no longer be a slave, his fetters fall. He frees himself and shows the way to others. Freedom and slavery are mental states."


Dear fellow explorers,


The last time we met I left you swimming in the ocean. I also went swimming in my own current. How did you find the experience? What type of marine life did you encounter? Did you follow the currents or swim against them? Please let me know by leaving your comment in these pages. I am very interested in hearing your experiences.


In any case, I hope you are dry now, because the visit to Gandhi's Gardens continues. Take a sip from the water bottle in your backpack if you need. Ready? Do you remember how I found the statue of Mahatma Gandhi for the first time? So unassuming, so simple yet occupying the right place for such a man. I need to tell you a little secret, and I apologise in advance in case it might alter the image that you had formed in your mind about Gandhi standing in his gardens. Can you picture this image now? Is there a fountain and flowers? Maybe little animals: ducks in a pond, squirrels...? Who is walking and playing in these gardens? Are you in them? Please close your eyes and hold this image for some seconds. 

Introducing Gandhi

Gandhi once said "You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty".


Dear fellow explorers,


I hope that you have gathered your provisions and placed them in your favourite backpack, together with your camera and a little notebook and pen. I want to ask you to ready your imagination and set your mind's feet in motion. We are setting off on our voyage. Hop! I want you to walk with me to a little part of Barcelona called Poble Nou.


Its name means "new town", and it was for me when I moved here about one and a half years ago.
It is close to the coast, so if you want you can take your shoes off and walk lazily on the sand whilst listening to the little waves crashing, or take pictures of the high brick chimneys which illustrate its industrial past, or even have a well-deserved cup of coffee in the Rambla del Poble Nou, the main artery of strollers here. Because its citizens do love to stroll, sit at a terrace and have coffee, although not necessarily always in that order, and so do I. However, today I want to take you to a public garden.

A beginning, a voyage

Dear fellow explorers,

To begin anything one must move, express and denote intention.
To commence a voyage, one must prepare the mind and flex the body, gather provisions, a map, water, a camera, a nimble imagination.
My first move, these words. My intention, to capture moments of beauty in the daily traffic of our lives.
My mind is improvising on the eternal path, my body is aching for action. Thank you for helping me prepare for this voyage, thank you for sharing it.
A voyage that begins and ends in Gandhi's Gardens.