Last week marked two years in this space. Two years. It is amazing to me. This blogging adventure started as a way to channnel my grief about my father. There are days when the sadness outweighs the goodness.The grief is always there. It doesn’t disappear. But because I write about my father and grief, I honor and keep him alive. And that reminds me of all the beauty in my own world, despite the lingering echo of sadness. It gives [...]
Inspiration
She grabbed my hand. Not now, is what I wanted to say, but instead, her fingers intertwined with mine without hesitation. I knew her questions would come next. My mind gravitated toward my to-do list, a mental blueprint of all the things I felt compelled to do. Drive to the store to get groceries. Pay the bills. Do the laundry. Write. Exercise. “Momma, can we color? Please. Please.” My five year old runs with her steel pail as crayons fell [...]
“One of the most beautiful qualities of true friendship is to understand and to be understood.” - Seneca Gratitude. That is what is streaming from my heart this week. I am overwhelmed by all of the incredibly thoughtful gestures by so many of my friends on my birthday. One of my closest friends wanted to take me back to my childhood. While she is enduring sleepless nights with her newborn, she decided to make my favorite Indian dish, pani-puri, a fried [...]
Sometimes a simple unexpected gesture uncovers a happy memory. On one Friday afternoon, I made the short walk to our mailbox. As I removed the contents, I caught a glimpse of bills, magazines, and an image of the Eiffel Tower. My fingers grabbed the picture and I looked at it as if it was a mistake. In my hands, I stared at this Parisian postcard. I turned it around and my eyes gazed toward the bottom. It was a postcard [...]
The hot room lacked furniture. Sitting down meant taking a colored yoga mat from the corner, placing it on the floor, and criss-crossing my legs. As soon as my legs hit the floor, I noticed the bare beige walls with chipped paint as the only decorative embellishment. The goal, in theory, was simple. We were required to meditate for thirty minutes. There were no indicators of time, other than the meditation leader’s cue to stop. The idea of doing nothing [...]
Sometimes you encounter words that bear repeating. This is one of those posts, where I repeat the words of another. This was Apple CEO Steve Job’s commencement address delivered on the Stanford campus in 2005. It deserves your attention. Read it. Are you connecting your dots? Are you living the life you intended? I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be [...]
The sky announced its arrival. Hues of light pink, blue, and white blended together forming a marble layer cake in the air. I captured this image two nights ago, minutes before thunder, lighting, and a torrential downpour hit the desert. A hard rain pelted the pavement and the trees bended as if they were doing yoga. This fast flurry of showers gave me pause. Because where we live, rain happens in flash. Just as you start humming to the beat [...]
“And while it takes courage to achieve greatness, it takes more courage to find fulfillment in being ordinary. For the joys that last have little relationship to achievement, to standing one step higher on the victory platform. What is the adventure in being ordinary? It is daring to love just for the pleasure of giving it away. It is venturing to give new life and to nurture it to maturity. It is working hard for [...]
Last night we went to dinner at a local restaurant. My husband decided to linger a little longer inside, while I took my daughter outside. As I sat down, a large patch of green grass stared at us, an uncommon site in the desert. My daughter asked, “Momma, look at the grass. Can I walk in it?” Even before I said yes, she slipped her flip-flops off and started running fast across the grass. I watched her run and a [...]
Beautiful Voice Please click on the link Beautiful Voice. I’ve watched this video a few times. At the end of every viewing, my face is filled with tears. It is worth the watch. It will make you think about the capacity of the human spirit and what it can do when it is tested or when the odds suggest that it will be difficult to make it through the next minute or hour of the same day. It [...]
