Inspiration

Articles to inspire authentic living on the topics of resilience, spirituality, and self-growth with touches of storytelling, depth, and humor.

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Alfonsina Betancourt Blog

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Of Finding Our Purpose and Calling on Magic

Of Finding Our Purpose and Calling on Magic

I always joke that I have a Librarian Complex. Not only because I obviously love books - the actual physical books, not just reading – but also because I love to organize and categorize everything: information, ideas, feelings, facial features, personality types…you name it! Maybe it was because my brain worked that way that from a very young age I started seeing my life as a series of puzzle pieces, each representing things I was either good at or that I loved to do. One piece, for example, was my passion to create constantly. Another one was my interest in building communities. I was the child always organizing groups, bringing people together through common interests. Later on, when I had a short stint doing theater, I discovered that I really loved creating experiences where people felt transported. As I started growing up and all these pieces started fitting into each other I realized they contain my purpose. What a great feeling to start discovering what we came to do in this world! I feel my “Purpose Puzzle” is still evolving and I can identify pieces that still haven’t fit there, but I know they eventually will.

The last couple of years have offered me the opportunity of immense growth, although sometimes they have come like axes that have as well left me terribly bruised. The beauty of it is that it has brought me closer to find my purpose, and I am grateful for that.

Back in December an opportunity came for me out of the blue.

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The place where all dreams come true

The place where all dreams come true

When I was fifteen I discovered that sometimes life showers us with gifts that might come in an unrecognizable wrapper.

I was a - maybe unusual - serious teenager. Great student, president of the Student Government, was already studying painting so I could become the artist I wanted to be. I was basically a good, responsible girl. I don’t mean it in an arrogant way because the truth is that I was so mature that I feel I never got to experience what I was suppose to live during the precious years of adolescence. That was actually my handicap.

Stargazing was one of my favorite pastimes those days. Every night I would stay for hours in the window with my binoculars learning the name of the constellations with the help of an Astronomy book my mom had bought. Soon after I started learning about the stories that originated the stars’ names. That is how my obsession with Greek Mythology started.

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Wishing upon a dandelion

Wishing upon a dandelion

It was a casual Spring afternoon. My son and I went for a walk around the neighborhood. He was wearing his Batman t-shirt because, what can I say? He likes super heroes.

Soon after, we started seeing many dandelions on the side of the road, a collection of yellow flowers growing everywhere. Occasionally he would grab some and placed them on a bag we were carrying for no other reason that to collect items. It didn’t take long for him to concentrate on grabbing dandelion seed heads, those delicate white globes of exposed seeds that had long been believed to contain the power of granting wishes.

My son, with his superhero shirt, started running holding a bunch of them in his hands, the passing breeze breaking each globe into tiny speckles of seeds that flew in the air. It looked magical, and my son’s laugh was the perfect soundtrack for the moment. Once he was left with only stems in his hands, we set to find more. Luckily for us, dandelions are stubborn weeds that grows everywhere.

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The wishing bone

The wishing bone

“Do you know what this is?” he asked me holding v-shaped bone in his hand.

I shook my head.

“This is a wishing bone,” he added as if he was holding a long sought-after treasure.

“What is that for?” I asked, my curiosity awakened.

He asked me to hold one side of it while he held the other.

“We are both going to pull this bone. The person that gets the bigger part will have a wish come true.”

I smiled, unsure if that was some kind of trick. He insisted I held one side.

“Now, you need to make a wish,” the butcher in the blood stained smock said.

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When the universe listens

When the universe listens

It never stops amazing me how when we are in tune with our souls the universe echos our desires and dreams.

Growing up, I was lucky to have learned to loose myself in prayer. In those moments I felt in total communion with God and I learned to listen. I never asked for much in particular, mostly because I realized soon enough that sometimes what we ask for is not in our best interest. So prayer was always a time to feel the love rather that a plethora of requests.


It was not until my late adolescence that I understood that what I called prayer was really a form of meditation, a practice I have kept until today. This days my practice has evolved to include more listening, more presence and more gratitude. However, I had just recently started asking the Universe for answers. I have found that when I ask for specific signs as answers to my questions, the Universe becomes incredible generous and presents clear messages as loud as thunder. The more specific my requests, the more clear the answer. No, I am not asking for lottery wins or material goods to satisfy the ego. I am asking for simple things that help me get awareness or enrich my life and the one of those that surround me.

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I wished upon a star....and I discovered magic

I wished upon a star....and I discovered magic

Looking at the stars: one of the favorite pastimes of my childhood. There was something always so incredible enchanting about it. That sense of us being so little among the universe, the fact that it always changed and at the same time remained eternal and universal. I could not even count the amount of hours I spent looking for a shooting star or a comet with the sole intention of making a wish, because it seemed that that rare appearance could only symbolize that something special was about to happen. Growing up we lived in a hill on the outskirts of a big city with the gorgeous view of The Avila, a mountain that at approximately 9 thousand feet high offered constant Kodak opportunities. But the best part of our location is that the altitude and the fact that it was far from commercial areas or highways offered a privilege point of view of the celestial map.

One day my mother brought home an astronomy book that I took possession of without even asking. I loved learning from the constellations, started recognizing the patterns. By learning the names of some of the stars I got intrigued by their mythological origins and that is how my love for Greek Mythology was born. Now that I think about it in retrospect, what drawn me into Mythology were the stories, the characters how it showed something universal about our human nature in a very magical setting.

Although long gone are the days when I though I needed to write a compilation of Greek mythology books and I don’t look at the stars with the same frequency, there is something still so incredibly moving when I look into the sky and see that stars in all of its glory. It is almost like a call to forget my mundane existence and blend with the universe.

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Coincidences

Coincidences

I love how the universe works and never leaves a thread loose....

While I have spent several hours in the studio lately trying to finish my latest painting, I have been going through several audiobooks. Today, half an hour before I had to put the brushes down I decided to start another one, “synchrodestiny” by Depak Chopra. I smiled when ten minutes into it I heard a quote that had appeared on the last chapter of the book I had just finished. Coincidence? Perhaps.

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The teacher who wanted me to fail

The teacher who wanted me to fail

The beauty of celebrating New Years Eve lies in the inevitable fact that we need to review our past and imagine what we want in our near future. We would probably benefit from reliving that practice in the following 364 days. However, since I forget to do it as often, I am going to seize the opportunity and put my cards on the table.

2018 was one of those years that take us from the hair and wipe the floor with us.

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