On Reading

Reading well written books is like having conversations with accomplished people. People you don’t have the good fortune of meeting every day. Brilliant minds. Diverse thoughts. An Oxford professor, a mid-western homemaker, a neurosurgeon from Stanford- each accomplished in their chosen fields. Each with the dedication to finish what they started i.e. writing a book. That trait alone is worthy of emulation. 

Couple's game

A relationship takes a lot more than just roses on Valentine's Day or an expensive gift on an anniversary. You have to acknowledge each other's presence even when you are stuck in routines. Here are a few ways you can have fun together. Feel free to add your favorite things to do as a couple.

1. Go to a Bed and Breakfast for a weekend.
2. Hike on a trail together.
3. Discover a new town together. Have lunch there.
4. Light candles. Cuddle and talk to each other.
5. Have a date by a fireplace.
6. Cook each other’s favorite food then have dinner together.
7. Take walks together.
8. Hold hands more often.
9. Dance with each other.
10. Give each other foot massages.
11. Have pillow fights.
12. Never leave home without kissing one another.
13. Be aware of positive feelings for each other.
14. Make out in a theater.
15. Write love letters and poems.
16. Unplug phones for an evening.
17. Share your dreams and fears with each other.
18. Love without conditions.
19. Face each other and look into each other’s eyes without saying anything for five minutes.
20. Hug.

Ad lucem

Exfoliate your identity.
It is not set in stone.
You can wear it or tear it out into a crumpled mess
Along with other identities that didn’t quite fit you.

Your body, gender, set of beliefs and disbeliefs,
Your most characteristic dogma-
Nothing is truly you.

You die a different person
Than who you were born as.
From helpless to capable.
From darkness to eternal light.

A fish tank

(Dedicated to all those who are looking for a fresh start)

We are all living in our self-constructed echo chambers.
Where our opinions reinforce our prejudices.
Step back for a moment.
Look at the vivarium.
On a sunny day, the edges glisten.

Break free from this fish tank reality
Of skewed perceptions and semi natural existence.
Free yourself from all pre-existing notions.
Things that define you-
Adjectives earned and awarded.

Let the universe come to you.
Wash you to a different shore of unbound reality. Sans glass boundaries.
Give up the false anchors that tie you down.
Swim in the ocean
Not in a glass tank.

Absence and presence

I am too old

For 

This game of

Absence and presence.

Nights of intense passion

Followed by

Emptiness that gnaws at me.

I will settle for someone

Who loves me a little less.

If he promises to stay

By my side 

When I am scared of the world.

Advice to self

Every day I say to myself:

Be brave.

Be fearless. 

Even if you can’t be strong all the time.