...  "una piedra en el destino, me enseño que mi destino, era rodar y rodar. Luego me dijo un arriero, que no hay que llegar primero, pero hay que saber llegar"...

I found the relationship that he sets up between 'el destino' y 'la suerte' very interesting. Destiny, in my perspective, has to do with the idea of having a pre-determined "path", essentially being acknowledged from birth, and so when he talks about 'la suerte' as if it came before destiny, it seems quite contradictory.. "yo sentía que mi vida se perdía en un abismo, profundo y negro como mí suerte"...

 What fascinates me most is not "el destino" alone, but the paradox that exists when "la suerte" is introduced as part of the larger picture. Maybe this simply speaks to the idea that life is never a straight path [despite our pre-determined destiny], but rather full of contradictions and pain, alongside love, light and prosperity, which are different for each individual. As for Jimenez, he might have understood his own life and well, the "direction" of it as this kind of circular path, or loop...."morir como he vivido, que ese don que era su canto y su gloria y su castigo, tenia que darlo hasta el final....Not only did he accept his fate, but perhaps more significantly, embraced it, y con mucho valor..."pero sigo siendo El rey"...

I really appreciated this reading because it touched upon many songs that I had heard growing up, but I never truly understood. I remember when I was younger, I would see my dad singing these songs and he would make these dramatic face expressions that I found to be very funny...to me this was actually a bit strange even. I was used to seeing celebrities appearing in music videos on t.v., where the point is basically too look either beautiful, seductive or who knows what, while singing your song......but it is not about the emotion...but maybe a lack of? Maybe if I would have been raised in Mexico, it would have been "normal" to experience this? This also brought me to another point...the story behind these expressive gestures. My parents are very reserved when it comes to their personal lives and my dad in particular, I know, had a very rough upbringing for many reasons and I feel like I've been getting to know his story in little spurts...one way in which it happens is through conversation, most of the time, when sitting at the dinner table (which is a very valuable, and even sacred space), and the other way is through music....songs...lyrics.....the way he expresses himself through a song....it's powerful...and though I don't know I can ever fully understand it, I can very well appreciate it and try to embrace it as far as my inspiration will allow me to...