this is my road to my redemption

This year has been a year of reckoning.  Everything I tried to ignore about my health has punched me in the face and I was forced to confront them one at a time. More recently, I had to undergo a gynecological procedure that required me to go under for about an hour.  In the days - actually, weeks - before it happened, I had been obsessively listening to the Hospital Playlist soundtrack.  As I went under, I was thinking about how there’s a curtain draped between my face and the site of the procedure and how it’s similar to what I see in the drama’s surgical scenes.  The next thing I knew, I was roused from a pleasant dream of what I would presume was all about Hospital Playlist, and I grinned at the OR like an idiot with the joy of coming back to the world bursting inside of me. They said Hospital Playlist is a drama that heals.  Its profound impact on so many people is undeniable, whether because of its influence on organ donation drives, its spotlight on the m...

I had a grand time last week imagining myself going to another country for short to medium term.  But soon enough, I got hung up on how exactly I will travel - which bag(s) will I bring?  What tech?  How many pieces of clothing?  Books, tumblers, non-essential stuff that will mitigate boredom and homesickness? Earlier I read another inspiring article about traveling without a bag, and it was fun trying to visualize traveling unencumbered until I started bringing along extra stuff.    All these thought just highlighted how not ready I was to really embrace minimalism.  The challenge was stimulating, especially when I think about onebag travel, but the reality is that I was still very much into mindless consumption.  I bought three bags during this quarantine period, and I am still contemplating another purchase (which I have finally - hopefully - dissuaded myself from doing).   I just hope I get a lot of use for them in the future.  And m...

As of today, I have been sheltering at home for almost 6 months now.  It has been awesome staying with family during a scary and stressful time, and I am fortunate to be given every possible support to be working at home. It still wasn’t easy.  I am very much aware of my good fortune and privilege, but it doesn’t come without its own challenges.  The stress that comes with a demanding load feels much more weighted by the uncertainty hovering over everyone.  I’m trying to find that right balance in coping mechanisms, between striving for a more prayerful life, engaging in mindfulness practice, and taking sanity breaks.  It’s really hard to make strategic pauses when I feel like always chasing after milestones, but I have to keep trying. It has been touch an go, and a constant work in progress, but there really is nowhere to go but forward. 

I've been back to living in my favorite city for almost three years now, and it just occurred to me that I've never made full use of my balcony. So now I'm here, sitting right outside my door, tilting my chair back to ease the pressure on my bum, feeling the longed-for chill of a January evening.  At this time of the night the roads are no longer chaotic, and the city is almost at peace. It is a rare moment of respite out of a very trying time.  It's moments like these that lend me that extra dose of strength that I needed. Thank God for small miracles.

A few years ago a cult comedy became one of the core shows of the NBC's Thursday comedy block (RIP).   Parks and Recreation was a slow starter, but I'd like to believe had become widely regarded as one of the most optimistic and entertaining half-hour sitcoms in the last decade. Leslie and Ben's story through the seven (plus change) seasons was just one of the reasons this show was so well loved.  They started as adversaries but ended up taking over Pawnee - and eventually, the whole country - together, as colleagues, best friends, and partners in life.  Leslie became one of the fictional characters I looked up to, while Ben became my yardstick for the ideal life partner. The above fan video (fans really make the best videos!) is only a small slice of everything Leslie and Ben went through from the beginning of their friendship up until they got married.  And if you're as much a fan of the show as I am, you'd know many more exciting things happened ...

http://instagram.com/p/__9axkzHWT/ 2015 was the year I shared my passion for good food with my friends. Some of them were friends from years ago, while some I met only recently.  I'm so happy that I seem to be expanding my social circle through food.  I just hope my waistline won't follow too closely. May 2016 bring more foodie adventures and expanding horizons.