It actually took a few cells of brain power to put this together. But during the baby years, we mothers need an outlet. Where once I gardened and gave beautiful flowers a chance to grow, I learned to make pretty pointless, silly videos.

Ah, the power of technology in our homes.

Note: This video was first posted in 2008.
For better or worse, we still have that pig thing.

In writing The Paradox to Paradise: A Woman’s Journey to a Place called Heaven on Earth, I crossed paths with snakes, scaled bridges, survived a mosh pit, and fell flat on my face. If you’d like to see a sample of what it’s like to take a nose dive for the sake of the story. It’ll only take about 30 seconds.

For a full story of what it’s like to venture to paradise and not only survive, but awkwardly thrive, go to The Paradox to Paradise: A Woman’s Journey to a Place called Heaven on Earth.

As a small budget, well let’s say perhaps all most no-budget, documentary film, The Coffee Dance is beginning it’s journey out into the world, despite the odds. For the past few weeks, I’ve been mailing copies to all those who requested it. So far, over 50 copies have been sent to all corners of the globe.

I stopped into a roaster who let me film some shots of the coffee spinning in the roaster. You’ll see shots of seeds in the beginning, raw being poured into the machine, and then later spinning in the hot roaster oven. Unfortunately, I couldn’t film the smell as it was heavenly. The roaster also happens to be a restaurant in Escazú, Costa Rica called Il Panino.

I approached the roaster, not knowing if he’d remember me at all. I stumbled through the story and he said he did remember. The film is in Spanish and English. I told him the Spanish was already subtitled, but it would be later this year for the subtitles in Spanish. He said he’d put the film on the big screen. I ordered an espresso and sat down. The place was pretty empty. Then, I heard the movie start to play. I didn’t think he mean now.

I finished my espresso and watched the film for awhile. Waiters occasionally looked up at the screen. I went to pay for my coffee, and he said it was on the house. I thanked him and as I walked out, heard the voices of the film. I turned to take one more look and realized The Coffee Dance now had a life of it’s own. Once an idea, now it had to go out in the world and live on. Thanks Il Panino, for being a part of it.

They say it’s time to break out of our shells. Cancer, it is said, is the time when all we may want to do is crawl up into a ball, get under the blankets, and read a good book. It can be a tough month if we don’t go crack open those fears and face them.

One of my greatest fears is exposing my fears. Since I have no time to read books, I can often be found at one of my most favorite, cozy places in the house - in front of the refrigerator with the door hanging open. I stare at the not-so-full shelves, hoping something will appear that wasn’t there four minutes ago when I just did the same thing. I’m afraid this is a sadly pathetic habit. But it’s comfortable. So, I’m going to break out of my shell and make more homemade cookies and bread and to-die-for-lasagna.

Hmmm…I wonder what’s in the fridge.

Ever blink and wonder where it all went? It doesn’t take living abroad or in a mansion or jetting on a plane to realize one day, we’re all wondering where it all went.

Kids get the best of us by giving us the best of times. Don’t blink, for soon it will pass you by.

I reached out and touched it. Didn’t want to. Had that squeamish reaction, and I squealed just like a child. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Funny thing is, those things we fear are never worse than we imagine in the first place.

The Coffee Dance, an original documentary filmed in Costa Rica has it’s first trailer ready for preview. The film has been submitted to film festivals internationally. A preview screening is underway in Costa Rica.

Here’s a synopsis of the film:

In the midst of chaotic lives and poverty, a group of women from La Carpio, Costa Rica rise to meet the challenge of helping others in need. Looking to move their lives to a new level of empowerment, the women decide to put on a play and give outreach to other women and children.

Breast cancer and other forms of cancer strike women in poverty, often more cases appear to women picking coffee. An intense and laborious job, most families are left without resources to prevent and detect illness. The La Carpio women, even while facing their own struggles to put food on the table and educate their own children, take a grand initiative and set out to educate some of the poorest Costa Ricans and immigrant workers doing the hard physical labor in the fields.

We follow the women for a year as they move from script to curtain call. The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation of Costa Rica sponsored the project along with theater director Steven Hawkins. We hear and see from the women, the directors, and others involved about the profound difference that planting seeds of positivity, hope, and empowerment can change one community with the hopes of effecting others. Follow these women into their lives and experience their feelings as they take on the challenge of changing their own lives as well as the lives of others.

We always chant to our children to say please and thank you. It rings true in every culture I’ve witnessed. In Costa Rica, please if por favor and thank you, oddly enough, is of course gracias.

I’m not sure we always follow our own rules. So, as a brush up course, I offer this small clip to show how effect please and thank you can actually be.

And after you’ve tried this method and it doesn’t work, at least you looked adorable while doing it. That ought to help the situation some.

Getting to the top is no easy task. But we not only have to try, but know we are making it. Climbing mountains is one thing, but who can get their kids to do homework without a struggle? Now that’s a victory!

In it’s first preview performance, The Coffee Dance premiered in an event to celebrate International Women’s Day at the Centro Costarricense de Producción Cinematográfica in San José, Costa Rica.

The screening was a special event because the women who’d allowed me into their lives for over a year were bused in to see it. It was a joy to see them laugh and cry as their own story showed on the big screen. In the film - a story that winds the story of coffee, human rights, and self-empowerment - the women sing a song, Las Casas de Carton. The song has become an emotional anthem to much of Latin America in the fight and struggle against so much poverty in its land.

After tasting a bit of coffee themselves, the women gathered for another round of the song. They’re a polished group of performers now, and their high energy sang out.

The Coffee Dance will start it’s own journey to more screenings and previews. I’ll keep you posted on times and locations.

A special thanks goes to the Centro Costarricense de Producción Cinematográfica for sponsoring the event. Also a special thanks to Gail Nystrom from the Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation for all her work not only with the women on a daily basis, but in her help in organizing this event and much of the background foundation for the film. Also a thanks goes to Steven Hawkins from Dramatic Problem Solving for his extra help in the film, and especially for this event with the Spanish translation.

Pictured: Laura Molina, me, Steven Hawkins, Gail Nystrom, Roberto García, and Vannia Alvarado.