07/24/2024
My mom died two years ago today on Seminole Blvd…
Ever since, I’ve been trying to extract the lessons after a tragedy. Here's what (I think) I've learned (so far):
1. Facing your own mortality and the mortality of your loved ones can be create positive change to the way you live. The day my mom died, hours before, she was floating in the water talking about how, "You have to live every day like it was your last," happy, content, without a care in the world, surrounded by her family. I like to think she'd just 'figured it out', aced the test that is life, and got called back to Source promptly to be rewarded in bliss for her exemplary work (much at the expense of her family left behind, but, I guess we still have a lot of work left to do here.)
2. Keeping the reality of death close allows you to keep what’s really important and what’s not important in their appropriate perspectives. After my mom passed suddenly, all the little things that seemed to matter, didn't - and all the things that had been previously hard to talk about, flowed freely because the weight of their truth needed to be expressed.
3. The best way to honor your loved ones life is to create a life worth living yourself and to inspire others to do the same. I spent years wondering what my 'purpose' was, my 'why'... two years ago today, I got the kick in the butt to start putting my dreams into action. I chose to take the risk and follow my dreams of being an artist professionally, full time, and haven't looked back. Now, I try and integrate these truths into my work in hopes that others will resonate with these lessons in life from death.
My mom, Delia Manjarrez, loved whenever I painted flowers. I've been focusing on creating these glowing spirit flower paintings in her honor, an idea I had brain-hatched before she passed (which after a lifetime of my painting skulls, she was thrilled about), and am now pursuing full steam. As a muralist and painter, I'd love to get these works in the hands of those who would appreciate them and their message, and would be thrilled to keep pursuing this work on walls in our community to keep my mom's essense alive for years to come through works of art that will inspire others to live in their fullest potential.