#manifestyourlife — BLOG

Peru: Finding Connection & Community in the Andean Village of Huilloc

“Now is the time to know that all that you do is sacred… now is the time for you to deeply compute the impossibility that there is anything but grace” – Hafiz

Huilloc is specifically outstanding for its charming textiles with genuine designs. It sits at 11,480 feet above sea level and is part of the network of weaving communities in the region of Cusco. From their ancestors, the people of Huilloc inherited a rich tradition of textiles that they still carry on. They continue to weave a range of textiles following the knowledge, techniques and usages of their ancestors. The women have preserved this unique and ancestral tradition of weaving by hand colorful designs. On their looms, they make some of the most beautiful and exquisite weavings in Peru. In the textiles, they depict images of the world in which they live including the flora and fauna of the place. They weave into the cloth images of cougars, condors and the huallata (wall-ya’h-tah) birds that are typical of the place. The bird is so important that people perform a dance in their honor that is much celebrated in Cusco in its different festivities. The dance, like the bird, is called huallata. In contrast, men dedicate themselves to helping Mother Earth produce.

Part of what we wanted from our Peruvian adventure was to have authentic, immersive experiences with the indigenous people. Opportunities to meet people who have lived there for 100’s of years, to ask questions about their lifestyle, their culture and their beliefs, have conversations and experience unique moments and travel to places beyond the typical tourist attractions & monuments.

This is not uncommon for me. I’ve done this my whole life. If you’ve read some of my other posts, you’ve spent a night with me on the streets of Kuala Lumpur interviewing people and taking photographs. Or spent the day with me as I drove around with a devout Muslim taxi driver in Kuala Lumpur showing me the sights while having conversations about life, politics and our beliefs in God. You’ve visited a fishing village in the middle of Tonle Lake in Cambodia to see an elementary school and what real-life refugee living is like. I have hundreds of these experiences written down in my journal, big & small.

Peru would be no different. It’s how we ended up in the small village of Huilloc. A small community of Peruvians who speak Quechua, 12,000’ up the Andean mountains at the end of a narrow, dead-end dirt road. They decided to open up their homes and their hearts to people around the world, like us, who are willing to come and learn more about their culture and their way of life. My goal is to share my adventure with them in hopes that other people will look for their own connections with different people around the world too…

England, Ireland & Scotland: My Two-Week Tour Adventure with emetrex

Since I’ve been travel writing over the last couple of weeks, I thought I would commemorate the 20th anniversary of my band’s tour through the British Isles, by sharing some stories from my tour journal.

Exactly 20 years ago today, as I write this post, I was with emetrex on a two-week tour (2/19 – 3/3) through England, Ireland & Scotland promoting our first full-length release, Metacomet.

We had signed a record deal in June 2000 with Seriously Groovy Records, an independent London-based label. After promoting an EP, entitled “Birds Your Brothers” back in July, our pre-release single, “King of Animals” got reviewed in NME and Melody Maker twice in October:

“…like laconic Yank lo-fi that just sort of burrows its way into your skull, like demon possessed and badly bloodrusted farm machinery. And then sits there throbbing” – Steve Wells, NME

“Gloriously loose-grooved indie rock…fantastic.” – Melody Maker’s ‘This Issue’s Soundtrack’ section

“a fuzzed-up, clunkily melodic Pavement relive their Sonic Youth.” – Melody Maker’s ‘This Issue’s Soundtrack’ section.

Peru: Retracing the Steps of the Incas To The Cloud City of Machu Picchu

“It’s an irritating reality that many places and events defy description. Angkor Wat and Machu Picchu, for instance, seem to demand silence, like a love affair you can never talk about. For a while after, you fumble for words, trying vainly to assemble a private narrative, an explanation, a comfortable way to frame where you’ve been and what’s happened. In the end, you’re just happy you were there – with your eyes open – and lived to see it.” - Anthony Bourdain

To say I was excited & filled with anticipation on the day we waited in that bus line to take the final leg of our long journey to arrive at the entrance of Machu Picchu would be an understatement. My excitement was palpable. My excitement was sheer joy. JOY. WONDER.

…I felt like a 10-year-old boy walking through the crowds, wanting to push my way through the crowd in excitement, the way you feel on Christmas morning as child when you tear the wrapping paper off the gifts Santa has brought.

Around the first few corners, up tight staircases, to finally catch my first few glimpse of the world-famous site was magical… and it took my breath away. I just kept taking pictures, in a sea of people… at first, really, really bad pictures… and almost missing the moment, witnessing it through my camera lens and not right in front of me. I had to stop. Breathe. Focus. And be present in the moment.

The Power of Vulnerability & The Day the Writing Started

The day I started writing, I was 28 years old. I was living in South Deerfield, Massachusetts with my girlfriend in a beautiful, three-story yellow house her mom deeded her & her sister and brothers, after she passed away. I was working at Friendly’s Ice Cream as a merchandising manager in the marketing department and was being mentored by the Vice President of Marketing, who was a Dartmouth trained ivy-leaguer, who like my energy and positive outlook on life.

I played bass in an original alternative-rock band called Hallucinating Arkansas. And I spent my Christmas holidays in the Swiss Alps. I was living what many would consider a blessed life, especially as an adopted child and first-generation college graduate, who had grown up in the working-class, mill town of Taunton, Massachusetts.

I always cite Friday, November 22, 1996 as the first day I started keeping track of my days.

It was a cloudy, overcast day, in the high 30’s, low 40’s. I was sitting in a room on the first floor that we had converted into an office/study. It was in the front of the house, with a door to my left that led into the living room and a door in the front, that led into a hallway, to a staircase that went upstairs to the right and the front door to the left. If I turned around, I could see Mt. Sugarloaf out of the long window.

My Quixotic Adventures to Have a Conversation with God

Talking about God can be a very complicated and sensitive discussion to have with others. Even talking with myself, I’ve made it complicated over the years. At times, I even had trouble calling God, God.

Depending on my perspective at the time, when someone asked, “Do you believe in God? I might have said, “Well, I believe in a Universal Spirit, or Great Spirit, or Cosmic Consciousness, or Conscious Universe, or Divine Presence,” or whatever other “spiritual” name I came up with. As long as it wasn’t God. Somehow, I felt that if I said the word God, it would sound too religious or too traditional or somehow in my mind, it even conjured up something less progressive than I wanted to be…

These days I beyond all that. When someone asks, I simply say, “yes, I believe in God.” If they choose to ask me a follow up question, that’s when the conversation gets interesting…

David McGlynnFebruary 4, 2021#dailypractice, #journaling, #manifestyourlife, #conversationswithgod, #donquixoteComment

Understanding the Attractions & Connections of Our Lives

“Put yourself in the best possible situation or position in every moment to be living authentically & achieving your potential as human being.”

Every day we attract people, ideas & situations to us. These experiences become the moments of our lives. And every day, these moments come & go.

But how often do we stop to wonder why? Why these moments, with these people?

I wonder all the time. Why did this person enter into my life right at this moment? Are they supposed to teach me something? Show me something? Motivate me? Help me accomplish a goal? Remind me of something? Warn me? Distract me?

Is this meant to be a fleeting moment or last a lifetime? Why do some people come into my life, leave and then resurface, seemingly randomly, years later?

Or why am I in this situation? What am I supposed to get out of it?

Why do I have the ideas I have, when I have them? Where do the ideas come from? Why am I drawn to the things I am drawn to? Why does one thing catch my attention, more than another?

David McGlynnJanuary 31, 2021#dailypractice, #journaling, #benefitsofjournaling, #manifestyourlife, #words&journalComment

Collect Call from the Universe, Will You Accept?

“The starting point of discovering who you are, your gifts, your talents, your dreams, is being comfortable with yourself. Spend time alone. Write in a journal.” - Robin Sharma

I had planned to write about something else today, but sometimes the universe has other ideas. And since I do my best to be as aware and as open as possible to signs & messages from the universe, I decided to take notice and share that message & my reaction to it. And that message is:

JOURNALING GIVES YOU THE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE AUTHENTICALLY

One of my daily practices is to spend time reading through a variety of daily reflections books that offer me inspiration, philosophy and mediation reflections and ideas on simple, thoughtful living.

David McGlynnJanuary 27, 2021#journaling, #benefitsofjournaling, #manifestyourlife, #dailypracticeComment

West Side Story Inspires Punk Rock Adventure (PART II)

CONTINUED…

Two of my good friends were forming an all original, post-punk band, and were looking for a bass player. I had always wanted to play in an original band. Dreamed about it. A chance to write my own songs. Play live in front of a crowd of people. I just thought it would be the coolest thing…

The problem? I had no experience doing it, didn’t own an instrument, didn’t particularly like crowds & at the time… definitely wasn’t punk rock. Add to that, my four horsemen showed up in force (fears & doubts double time) and I wondered, “can I even do this? This isn’t my scene, will I even fit in? Despite all of that, I persuaded them that I could do it, and that is how I became the original bass player of Blair’s Carriage.

David McGlynnJanuary 24, 2021#journaling, #benefitsofjournaling, #dailypractice, #blairscarriage, #punkrockadventure, #manifestyourlifeComment

West Side Story Inspires Punk Rock Adventure (PART I)

At the end of my last post, Everyone Is A Creative, I asked you to take 5 minutes and write down your passions, unique talents, and things you love to do, in an effort to get you started on your own creative adventure.

I hope you did and that and now have your very own, personal creative list in hand.

Many years ago, I sat down and answered that question for myself. Out of curiosity, I went back and looked up what I had actually written in my journal over 22 years ago… Here are 8 things from that list:

Everyone Is A Creative

As I mentioned in my post, Understanding Who We Are… And Doing What We Love, finding ways to express creativity in my everyday life has become one of my north stars.

When I really think about, “why is it so important to me?” and “how is my life better?” as a result of all of this focus on my creativity? Here’s my list of benefits:

The Astronaut, the Archaeologist, the Punk Rocker + the Marketer

What do you want to do with your life?

It’s a question we’ve been asked hundreds of times, by our parents, grandparents, friends, teachers, high school guidance counselors, college advisors and bosses.

The real questions is, “What answer have you given?”

The safe one? The right one? The one they expect to hear? Or the honest one? The one you feel in your heart?

David McGlynnJanuary 12, 2021#dailypractice, #journaling, #selfdiscoveryblogposts, #astronaut, #manifestyourlifeComment