Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Climbing the steps of confidence

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The depression moment is something that at one time or another hits anybody. I challenge anybody in the world to come forward and affirm that he or she ignore what sadness or emptiness are. This however is nothing more than a stump common in many voyages. Comparable to a flat tire, it will only slow you down until you decide to do something about it.
Of course, like so many punctures that naturally occur on the road, the speed that we are hurling our vehicle (also known as life… sweet and precious life…) will determine how deep the damage will be when the car finally comes to a stop.
Consequently, a few curse words occur, and then a feeling of fear follows. This agitated state may last from one to a billion seconds before allowing for any decision to be made.
The fear is produced by the unknown, the inability to predict what is the chain of events that will lead us back to the continuous flow of affaires. Our lovely and unique affaires, whatever those may be. Typically, those with a goal in mind, find it easier to activate their motivation hence granting themselves with a resolution to the problem
The moment where we allow ourselves to make a decision, we are a step close her to a solution. Not all the obvious solutions are the adequate ones, but the simplest route might often be the correct one to take.
If there is a depression in the tire, you either repair it or as it most frequently happens, you replace your tire. The purpose being, to have air back on the wheel, that would provide with harmonious balance to carry on with the journey onwards in time.
Our depressions are nothing more than pieces in ourselves in need of repair, greater or smaller depending on the speed that they occur in our lives. Being prepared for a depression or being suddenly assaulted by one are two opposite elements from the same curve. Nonetheless, the solution lies in facing the world with optimism, with the striking confidence that makes a hero in every second.
Climbing the stairs of confidence is not as difficult as it may seem, if only we are ready to admit that something has to be done about it.
Today, I went up a step. I am sure that I will find a shop to get the piece I need to replace in my engine (heart), so that I can make my car (life) move once more towards I ought to be.

Monday, October 31, 2005

Halloween

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A day for witches and sorcerers , ghosts and goblins, skeletons and monsters, all creatures alike are free to roam the Earth on this cursed night, among the humans that so crafty try to imitate them.
This has been my first full incursion in the traditional Halloween, as celebrated in the North America.
For those who have missed the occasion, I must say that it is quite funny, to enter a bar, and be greeted by a cave-woman, who welcomes anyone who respects the dress code – one Halloween costume. I assumed the identity of a underworld creature that waited patiently for this time of the year to mingle with any Earthlings.
For my surprise in a room filled with extraordinary characters, there was already a representative of the underworld, fortunately he was representing the working force, whereas I was a true representative from the cult sect of the darkness overlords on the East End of Hell.
Still, this was a day of truce among all creatures, as such you could witches talking with mermaids, and clowns dancing with bumble bees or even demons and angels greeting each other.
The music was superbly chosen by the devil, even though the 4 Kiss band members that would go utterly mad every time one of their songs was heard from the loud speakers.
The health department was left to the care of a most unique female nurse, and Dr. Phantomas, whose grayish head was quite distinct. Talking about heads, it was interesting to see the Wolfman, with an amazing set of hair covering is face, even though this nice wolf did not bite no one. Neither did the vampires for that matter.
All and all it was a most endearing party where evil and good set their differences aside and had one blast of a evening.
Thanks to the wonderful make up works of M, I managed to get a prize. Not bad for a debutant.
To finish the strange night, I must quote the words of my dear friend Jack Skellington.
“… and I just can’t wait to next Halloween, cause I’ve got some new ideas that will really make them scream, and by god I am ready to give them all my might…”

cocasman@zmail.pt

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

Thanksgiving

These weary eyes regard the monitor screen with the anxiety of words not yet spoken or written. Still, as a good alien friend would have said it, all works are mere statements of plagiarism among men. As proof of this, I present you the dictionary, and see if all words are not there, ready to convey the ideas that all of you share but only some of you speak of.

Before arriving to this place, I was lying on my borrowed bed, surrounded by hundreds of little colourful eyes in a dual colour bedroom, thinking about the Christian God, and the possibility of being blessed with some sort of explanation, a view of things to come. Perhaps a type of faith that would make realize that indeed I have some sort of fate to accomplish, other than waiting for the next ship to carry me to a pleasant shore.
The times of hurrahs have passed, no more glitter left to show. The theatre screen has long forgotten the shadows of the projection that once spelled my name. The memories of those who might have thought of me as a success, have been quickly replaced by some other allure, something more recent has surely tracked down their interest. No wonder a bill to pay, a new scandal shown on TV or a blood-full newspaper, good for those who like to stare at the accidents on the highway on a cold day, where death left some scars in some families life. These are the memories that we keep, these days, for the voyeur in us speaks loudly than the humanitarian. To see is so much more simple than to help, unless help means, hey get my picture, I am on my current minute of fame.
But enough about this, psycho negativity, that only serve to divert the attention for the moment at hand, my next move.
If A was around, we would certainly take the opportunity to check-mate. It is not easy to show my face to the family and friends that expect higher achievements from me. The grim reality has brought me to this stop-motion style of life, where my animators left the room in search for any plausible sequences that would enrich my character. I am no longer an interesting character, as I stay on pause. It is only the fur that daily grows in me that reminds me there’s a world out there that revolves around a clock and that there is something else worth doing.
The time that I spent within B’s workshop and is fine crew of oompa-loompas that I was a part of, still echoes in my days, making me wonder if there is my place in the motion picture industry where I would be adequate to play a part, or if all my previous work was all but a mere madman’s gift in exchange for some sort of miracle that would help his vision come forth. This good man as many visions and they do come to life, I grant him the true magic of moving people to his cause. Myself, I hold no power over the common mortal. I assumed that I could not motivate even the most common cephalopod to hug a fellow sea creature, using only 2 of its many tentacles. I think I lost half the world with this last remark, as I try to illustrate that I could no more be a leader than I could make the dreams of any mortal come true.
In good defence of positive achievements, I am on my way to becoming a level 8 warrior of the French language, just a few more months and the daily routine of exercises and interactive games within the work group will allow me to surpass my current level.
Will I wake up from this dream someday? Will I be able to smile to the fact that I am not a normal part of society? Will I have realize that this small token of freedom is sponsored by a commitment with a prison of the soul?
I ask of you. Where do you find your motivation to go on fighting for what you believe in? How sure are you of the things you believe? Do you even believe that you are real? Will any existentialist call my hot-line now (1-ANYONEXIST) and prove me that I exist for some sort of reason other than being a lamb for the self-proclaimed social accepted human slaughter?
Where did all my beliefs went this evening?
Today was thanksgiving day. I am thankful that my family, for the most part is ok , somewhere in this world. I am thankful that my friends are enjoying their lives in the way that they see fit. How I envy their enchantment of living for a purpose like a lemming? I am thankful that I do not starve, and I do not endure cold, except on some rather windy mornings, while pedaling my away through Ave. Victoria to reach the French school! I am thankful, that I can hug M everyday and feel alive with this love! I am thankful for the fact that I still think I know what love is! I am thankful that being alive is not over yet, there is so much I have to recover yet, and ahead there are so many possibilities left to explore!I am thankful for …

cocasman@zmail.pt

Friday, September 09, 2005

These times

Introduction - ode to pretentious writing

At times, I wonder why do I write?
Is it to satisfy a plain vanity in me and call for some sort of attention? Perhaps I do it to share a bit of what goes on the maze-brain of Mr. Sousa with all those who care about it.
This time, I write just because the air is good enough to. If you prefer, you can assume I just want to be a bit pretentious, and if this offends you, you might skip these lines.

This morning, I woke up with a calling. Apparently a group of twenty something letters from the alphabet, asked for my undivided attention into the creative process of a blog entry. And so, I play my part...

Act I - What have I been up to?

For the past few months, I have been a helping hand in the wondrous world of wild and strange productions of a certain megalomaniac director/producer/writer/actor/cook/painter and heaven knows what else... even though, I doubt that he would share this information with any sort of divinity that might be lying around with a curiosity twitch.
The experience itself, has been quite hectic and at times, also rewarding as life it self ... Through all this time I had the chance to meet over 100 people from different backgrounds. All of us, worked as a team, trying to find a way of making the visions, that are constantly being created by the imperious leader, become real.
From mindless drone, to hectic screamer and collaborator, I have been given the chance to dream for a while. This is to say, I disconnected myself from the ordinary world and was hoisted to a roller coaster in film making.

Act II - What have I learned?

Although I always gather a strange feeling of nothingness in my life, I have to yield to the fact, that the strange events that I have been exposed for all this time, allowed me to see the world with an improved set of eyes, those of a dreamer. I have discovered that with will, determination and stamina, you can make your dreams come to be.
Alas, this can only come from within, and it is constantly renewed by the desire of improving the quality of the work I want to finish.
In technical terms, I have created a new mind dictionary to express myself about different processes of film making, which are too numerous to account here.
The most meaningful fact I choose to keep as a souvenir, is that we are all but humans, striving to do our best, while holding an invisible shell of pride around us trying to convince others of our greatness, when in fact we are constantly reminding ourselves that we are capable of anything.
This is universally true to anyone within the hierarchy of life, from the third assistant to the Director himself.
We all need to create a sort of illusion that we are in control of everything, at a specific moment in time.

Act III - What does the future hold?

Time to think. Time to envision next projects. Time to build a new shell of belief, that will ultimately assist me in taking any dreams from my brain to a wide screen or a small stage in my room. Whatever will be will be and nothing can be taken for granted! Not as long as the wind blows and changes the fates of great and small.

I will rest for now, knowing that most of you grow weary of my writings and might be pressed to read another email, go to a bathroom, call a friend, argue with a colleague, scream at someone passing by, enjoy a sunset, make love with a beautiful partner… or just be wondering at the enormous potential that the next 5 minutes might bring, if only we learn how to listen what we really want to say.


Epilogue
This second is over, what will you do with the next one?


cocasman@zmail.pt

Sunday, March 13, 2005

What to make of it..

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The green mile is on my mind. Tears roll down.
Is it possible that somewhere around the bend there are God’s miracles walking around dressed as people? I do not know what to make of Mr. John Coffey’s character but I tend to agree that people are able of using love to hurt.
How confusing is that to me? Shouldn’t love be used to heal, to help the ones we care to overcome the barriers of their own suffering. How can we be so evil as to pervert such a good gift as love is and convert it into something putrid as hatred…
It is quite simple. I think it all goes back to the ability of turning things around. If in a conscientious fashion we are able to turn a bad moment into a good moment by applying reason into it, then I guess that a good moment can be easily turned into a bad moment by using emotion.
If only reality was only a figure of our imagination and all these bad things that occur repeatedly in our lives mere echoes of hidden shadows of our dreams, then the world would be safe to be as it should be without our intelligent interference or our emotional interference to make it so shallow and empty as every second that we are in it passes by.
Yet, in our behalf I can say this, our presence here is as necessary as the colours in the world, the sounds of the universe, the life in the day. We can be better than worse, if only we would commit ourselves to letting our emotions being used for expression of good rather than the suffocation of bad.
I look at myself in any given mirror and I feel ashamed for the person that I have become.
I read the time that others dedicated to me in the shape of words and I feel proud of me.
In many moments of my life, I wished that I was a John Coffey, with the ability to touch people and let my love be a healing strength to them. I guess that in my heart I can indulge myself with wishful thinking, while in my daily life I resign myself to my common self.
Nevertheless, I prefer to dream of better moments in time, where the spirit of such a miracle can exist in each and every one of us, where the power of a moment of inspiration can be enough to provide man with the ability to achieve greatness or more important, in one split second each of us has the choice to reach for the person next to us, a stranger, a friend, a lover, a parent, another, and just let the wave of love spin the person into his or her track of love.
In me and in you, lies some sort of love that will make mends in the hearts of true friends (old ones and those that are yet to be).

cocasman@zmail.pt

Wednesday, March 09, 2005

I’ve got the World on a String…

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What would you do, if you were given the chance to construct your own world?
What wonders would you dare to create and what horrors would you keep away from your newest reality?

A new age as come for me, a time of awakening, where I realize that this gift was always there, waiting in the sun's zenith, waiting to be used.
My world, my life... they are what I make of it, no matter what lies further ahead or what passed just a few seconds or eons ago. I am living with what I choose. Granted, that my choices are not always the most smart, still, I do get a stroke of luck every now and then, when the moon is just right, winking at me with a grin.
Last December, I was taken by surprise by a chain of events. I had a need. A need to be busy, to have myself committed to some work. A work that needed me.
I found a man, who led me to his group of builders. I believe that they are in the business of constructing dreams. They do not know it yet, because they do it in their own pace and do it for themselves. Others like me are caught in the tide of creation and are swept away towards the whirlpool of the moment.
I was taken to their creative lair, just there, in the border of twilight, where my phone tells me that two countries exist at the same time. A phone is unable to lie on it's own and so he conveys by the roaming symbol flashing on and off the existence of another place.
Still the creation of dreams happens anywhere, as long as somebody is there to create them.
It is good to follow dreams every now and then, and it is good to have people who support me in my quest for them.
I have M.
M is my dream within a dream, a selfless being whose objectives lie in the satisfaction of others. I am the other whose satisfaction she sees fit.
It is good to have the leverage of destiny forcing our desires, forging them in a reality.
10 years ago I ambitioned working in the film industry. However my wish was quite disputed by the lack of proof of my judgment. And so, my insecurity guide me in my choices, these led to my actions that now in this time complete the cycle of wanting (without believing. I am now faced with the option of succeeding in what I once believed but had no will to fulfill.
So today I begin the cycle of wanting and belief, and so I can sing:
I've got the world in a string, and I can move it with a touch of my ring.
Translation to the feeble minds that are too occupied with their everyday worries.

I am working on my life toward my wishes. I meet psychics, arrogant directors, wonderers of some sort, ordinary people, dreamers, common mirror reflexions, I even meet you.
Alas, I meet myself and I realize, that I can tap into my shoulder and lend a piece of advice. With it, I dare to go there, where the dreams lie and wait. Where the pencil is placed convientely to write this story; or where the brush awaits to paint the colorful scenary of my days, or to gather friends (old and new) in the most unusual places.

I've got the world in a string, my world, my dream, my string.


cocasman@zmail.pt