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About Us
Tragedies
Life has always been good to many of us. But, more often than not, life does get interrupted.
In my case there were two major tragedies:
- My younger brother committed suicide.
- Mom was killed by three intruders.
Celebrating Life
At my mom's wake, my uncle Alfonso acknowledge that it was indeed a tragedy and that we can either seek justice and revenge, in which case we would only end up intoxicating and poisoning ourselves for the rest of our lives, or embrace the concept of Radical Forgiveness, which basically entails accepting what has happened, forgive those who committed this violent act and let bygones by bygones to recover our sanity.
He then proceeded to share stories about his younger years where mom taught him the art of drinking tequila. So Alfonso pulled out a beautiful tequila bottle and toasted to Mom's amazing life.
Pearls come wrapped in the strangest of Boxes
My uncle teaches Semiology, the study of symbols and meaning. At Mom's wake not only did he emphasized Radical Forgiveness but he also clearly mentioned that "Pearls come wrapped in the strangest of boxes!"
At that time, the allegory seemed to make sense - sometimes it's not obvious why these things happen but it is difficult to be grateful and look forward to a pearl in a strange box when the tragedy is looking at you straight in the face and you are questioning everything.
Semiology
For the last 30 years my professional experience was about coding and decoding video for distribution over the Internet and was wondering if Semiology would help me understand myself in light of these losses.
What really caught my attention about Semiology was when my uncle stated: "Everything that you are, everything that you do, is coded in your brain! It is important that you understand these codes in order to live a more plentiful life." I signed up for courses at the Institute and College of Semiology of Daily Living.
I had a bunch of questions and answers but had not quite put them all together in such a way that it would make sense to me. All I knew at that moment is that I needed to learn about myself.
Oceans Seven
A couple of years later, a dear friend of mine from the swimming team had kept us abreast of another dear friend that was about to complete the Oceans Seven challenge, 7 marathon swims in extremely cold and unfriendly conditions.
When it was mentioned that the final marathon swim was going to be the Cook Strait in New Zealand, I felt a calling. I felt that I needed to be there and witness this amazing accomplishment by my friends. I contacted my dear friend and said that I would do anything they wanted me to do. Little did I know what I was getting into but I was ecstatic that I was there to withness them finishing the Oceans Seven challenge.
Jump Into Life
I had this urge to Bungee Jump from the highest bridge in New Zealand and, amazingly enough, I could hardly wait to jump. After the team made sure that everything was ready for my jump, I started walking to the little ledge from where I was to jump. As I am standing at the edge, my friend shouts: "LALO!!! JUMP INTO LIFE!!!"
It was at that precise moment that everything came into laser sharp focus and the greatest Pearl was revealed. Everything that had happened was meant to be for me to experience this Pearl. It couldn't have happened any other way. I felt deep gratitude for all the good and bad things that led up to this moment. So ... I Jumped Into Life.
Join me in your greatest adventure. Jump Into Life!!!