We all go through phases when life gets tough and looking for bright spots or silver linings feels harder than usual. If I am feeling particularly lost and exhausted, and nothing seems to help, I abandon all efforts to make massive changes in my life and instead pour my attention into the tiniest of activities that make me happy. Moon gazing, watching reruns of FRIENDS on TV, hot coffee and cake for breakfast, reading in my garden, rearranging my room or just cuddling with my puppy! You don’t always have to take a trip, make an expensive purchase or initiate…
Aloha friends and I hope you have all had a wonderful start to 2021! I wasn’t up to the pressure of publishing a new year’s post in January, so I decided to debut the first 2021 post on the blog on the day of the Chinese Lunar Year instead! I have written about lunar year celebrations on the blog before as well. I like exploring and learning about different regions and cultures, and Chinese traditions and stories have always fascinated me. Last year, I had the chance to be in Singapore around this time, and I was blown away by…
Hello there! I am making a short diversion from my lockdown series today to wish everyone a happy first day of fall! That’s right. Fall (or Autumn as it’s called in some parts of the world) is finally here, and I am looking forward to cooler weather and shorter days ahead. I love the in-between seasons of spring and autumn and fall is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. There’s a change in the air, the weather is just about right, and who can forget the festivals around the corner with all their lovely traditions and food! …
Read my post title again. Sounds too generic? But in reality, I actually put a lot of thought into this. Read on to know how. Last week the world celebrated the Chinese New Year, and the coming week is when everyone will be busy with Valentine’s Day preparations (you can love it or hate it, but you can’t ignore it!). Given that I am just getting back to my writing routine, I missed the bus on writing a New Year’s post, and am delayed getting my annual Valentine’s post out (check out previous V-Day posts below). So I decided to…
Hello beautiful people, are you ready for spring? I know I am! Today is the Spring Equinox, which marks the beginning of spring across the world. Today is one of the only two days in the year when the day and night are equal in length and perfectly in balance! Coincidentally, today is also the International Day of Happiness and the start of the Persian New Year. Which in my mind is kind of perfect, because how can one feel anything but happy on a balmy spring day in March? I am always on the lookout for special rituals that one can create to…
