It's a beautiful thing

Christmas is coming and, for some of us, it’s a joyful time. We tend to become sensitive and more propense to give and receive, just lovely.

For others, like me, it can be a bit nostalgic because I remember my Mother and her devotion to making Christmas a magical time for me. I had so many beautiful memories of and with her.

Hope is a beautiful thing

If you are going through a rough time, remember that nothing lasts forever, but if you think or feel things are bad, turn your head to hope, because hope is a beautiful thing.

I have said this many times before: when my Mother died I didn’t know what to do. I was only eleven to have the discernment to figure out what to do with my life. However, what I did know was that the only option I had left with was to be happy to honor my mum’s memory.

And this is what I have been doing throughout my life. I believe being happy was the most paramount legacy she gave me, and I am very grateful to her for that.

I know she is in heaven looking down on me, making sure I am OK. I know she is still loving me, protecting me, guiding me. She is my beloved mum, I am her beloved son.

So, I have turned to hope because I know one day I will reunite with my beloved mummy, and I know she will embrace me in her arms forever.

So, yes, I have hope because hope is a beautiful thing! 

Marlon/Marlife

Instagram stories, not for me

This blog post is the result of having several chats about the subject with different people.

Even though I have a very strong social media presence, and through my blog #marlife I have an audience around the world, I have never used Instagram stories. 

I am a fervent user of my Instagram @marlife16 and I love it. I try to post content daily. However, Instagram Stories never appealed to me. These are some of the reasons why...

The content I create, whether funny or not, is imbued with passion, therefore to me it’s relevant and worth sharing. And the idea of having my content live for just 24 hours is not honoring the relevance of it.

When an idea comes to my mind and I work on it until is materialized, even if it’s just a picture, I prefer that material to be sempiternal and not ephemeral.  I highly treasure what I create.

The power of engagement 

To me, engagement is very important. Without too much effort, I like to see who is reacting to my content creation, how, when and from where, those reactions are occurring. 

Once an engagement is established, I respond to every single interaction, and sometimes a particular interaction can propel me with an idea to create more and more, it is like a snowball for content creation.

I love and enjoy paying attention to my audience and always try to find ways to nurture them.

The psychology behind it

As you can see, I take all this process very seriously and it is because I love it so much. My social media is the echo of my thoughts and feelings. Social media has helped me empower my voice.

A study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, in relation to pictures, states that taking pictures of a certain event can actually make the person remember the event more, thus making them happier if the event was an enjoyable one. To me, the same applies to videos.

Finally, all of the above is an extension of how I feel about myself. I feel relevant. I feel I matter and my presence in this world is powerful. And I would like it to be perpetual even one day when I will not be around.

Instagram stories makes me feel what I create is not relevant enough, therefore just worth living 24 hours, eh no no no

Marlon/Marlife

My Despacito

   

It was, undoubtedly, the song of the summer. It became part of the YouTube's 10 Most-Watched Music Videos...EVER. It became a phenomenon. Our 2017 summer anthem and - of course - I wanted to be part of fun.

Recently, one evening, I decided to record myself dancing to this very sexy song, but little did I know Sammy, our dog, was going to become my number one audience hehehe

There you go, this is My Despacito...


     
             

I hope you enjoy it...

Marlon/Marlife

Main ingredient: TLC

I am sick of saying 'My hubby is a great cook', but I don't know why because I am the one who is, all the time, talking about his culinary skills. He is the cook in our sanctuary and, yes, I have to admit it, I am spoiled ; ) But It is not because I am lazy, but because he just loves cooking so I just allow him enjoying one the things he loves the most (apart from me cough cough).

So as I am enjoying a week off work, I decided I was going to be the chief in command of our kitchen, and I insisted he needed to sit down on our kitchen table - to keep me company - for me to cook a nice dinner for him.

I took two beautiful steaks, marinated them with garlic, salt, soya sauce and coriander. Very tasty. Even though he was happy with my good intention, I could notice he was a bit apprehensive not because he doesn't trust me, but because he felt - I think - one of his favorites places in the house has been invaded. He felt he was dethroned from.... The Kitchen.

The TLC ingredient: Tenderness, Love and Care

In his very subtle desperation, he was going "Oh baby, are the steaks already on?". "Oh I think the grill should be higher" "I think this should be this way" "What kind of sauce is that" and bla bla bla so I said "Could you please shut up and concentrate on what you are doing on the laptop?"

When I finally served the dish - which you can see above - he had a couple of observations to make. Observations I didn't care, anyway, because I know he deep down was delighted by the dinner I cooked with the TLC ingredient: Tenderness, Love and Care.

Life is wonderdul, all we have to do is to value the little things.

Marlon/Marlife