Tuesday, November 01, 2011

Final Post for Dia De Bloglandia 2011

The art of remembering...



Every Sunday, throughout the month of October, a group of us has joined together in the art of remembering-all leading up to the Dia de Los Muertos in November-aka All Souls Day. Our hosts, Rebecca and Stephanie lead us graciously on this journey. Won't you join us? Joining can be as simple as visiting all the links posted on their blogs of those who participate. Share with us the beauty of remembering.

As Rebecca had written (I've taken an excerpt from her poem):

"treasure all those
who have graced our lives with their own courage and verve.
to reaffirm the promise to live life fully,
straight from our hearts, boldly, with great unending passion,
one full day at a time."

And, this is the final post from me in this series for this year: the altar reveal...


(image from Rebecca at Recuerdo Mi Corazon)


It truly has been an incredible journey for me doing these series of posts leading up to All Soul's Day. Also celebrated as Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos. It has become the art of remembering. Not relieving the grief, but the simply act of remembering things that were tucked away in my mind, covered in 'cobwebs'. This process and sharing of memories has had a positive affect on me that I had not anticipated. It is hard for me to describe what I mean by 'positive affect' because it's not that I avoided remembering my loved ones that have gone on. It's not that I had been walking under a black cloud on the anniversary of their departing. It's more like a shift in perspective, or a gain in a new perspective. I do hope I am making sense here...

If you missed all the previous posts I had made in regards to this series, simply type in, "Dia de Bloglandia" in the search box at the top left of this blog. It should pull up all of the posts for this series. Remember to visit Rebecca and Stephanie's links to see the final posts of all the participants.

In the meantime, instead of a series of photos of my altar, I strung them together into a movie format. I hope you enjoy it!
Let me know what you think by leaving me a comment. Thanks!

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very touching tribute to your loved ones, Paula. Mahalo for sharing!

Unknown said...

Paula,
Your video is just beautiful...it's a lovely way to share, but pointing out each detail.

thank you so much for being part of dia de bloglandia!

Reader Wil said...

What a great idea to commemorate those who passed away. My father died on 2nd November and my husband on 9th November.We have no special rites to commemorate to remember them.I made a scrapbook of my husband's life.Thanks Paula for this treasure!

www.lalloronastudio.blogspot.com said...

I liked your tribute movie although the wording would get in the way of the pictures, but I enjoyed it very much. Very nice.
Adriana

Fran aka Redondowriter said...

Your video tribute is absolutely wonderful, Paula. I so want to learn how to do this. I also learned something I didn't know and I have to try it out. You said to click the dia de bloglandia badge in the left and all our posts would be shared. I've got to go try that out.

gma said...

I love that you made a video of your ofrenda. It is beautiful. The personal things that you included are so meaningful.Thank you for sharing this.

Dawn Elliott said...

What a lovely way to present your tribute to loved ones...it was a joy to watch - thank you.

rebecca said...

dear sweet paula,
this is glorious! thank you for taking me in with your "living" offrenda! i am so touched that you have so deeply embraced our art of remembering. truly there is peace and renewal in inviting the love our ancestors to come alive in us by sharing treasured stories and memories.
you are a shining offering of just that!

Roz Cawley said...

Paula, your video tribute is just wonderful - I join with Fran in saying 'I want to do that!.
I'm so interested that you feel that participation in this project has helped a 'change in perspective' in such a positive way for you. I have certainly also found it a very therapeutic act.
Thank you for sharing your tribute with us all.
Warm wishes from England x

lyle baxter said...

Paula, I enjoyed your video, but the words made it hard to see the pics well! maybe there is a way to lower them on the pics! by next year you will certainly come across more treasures from your loved ones ! I keep fimding things in the strangest places! then you'll have to do a new video! thanks

GlorV1 said...

Hi Paula. Your video is just awesome. Excellent way of showing your loved ones.Very nice tribute. I enjoyed it much. I did a video on El Dia a few years back and really liked it. I might do that again next year. You did a great job. Thanks for sharing.

Queenie Believe said...

Your video is amazing and alter wonderful what a tribute to your loved ones! The image of your beloved friend and then her brushes was a hanky moment for me. Thank you for sharing your memories with us.
Have a great day.
Always, Queenie

Ascender Rises Above ! said...

Your video tribute is absolutely beautiful; and I liked seeing it as a video as well. It really gives the viewer a sense of being in the room. Jacque

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