My mom had a rich and successful life. A high achieving student in Manila, she graduated from medical school with high marks. She moved to America in her 20s, worked as a doctor in several states, then settled down in the SF Bay Area. She traveled all over the world, from Hong Kong to Paris…
Category: The Spirit
Salman Rushdie on Terrorism
Salman Rushdie wrote this remarkable essay just days after 9/11 in 2001. I think of it often. Particularly this line: The fundamentalist believes that we believe in nothing. In his world-view, he has his absolute certainties, while we are sunk in sybaritic indulgences. To prove him wrong, we must first know that he is wrong….
My Hobbies Plotted against Depth of Relationships and Time Pursued
Rollerskating is an outlier, since I just started. But I feel like the depth of connections I’ve made in a short amount of time is pretty remarkable.
It’s Okay to Be Mediocre
On the way to work the phrase “embrace mediocrity” would not leave my brain. I sometimes get stuck wishing that I was better at <insert hobby or pursuit> and thinking I would enjoy it more if I could just do it with more expertise. Which is dumb and self-defeating thinking.
Lizzo on Being that Bad Bitch
This has become kind of a mantra of mine. Whoever told you that you ain’t that bad bitch, you need to tell that person to shut the &$%# up… even if that person is yourself. Lizzo
The Three Purposes of Community
Someone said that true communities served 3 basic needs: to welcome and appreciate you, to help when you are sick or in need, and to remember you when you are gone. It came to me today at Quaker Meeting that these are also things that drive us to seek a life partner. (“In sickness and…
Celebrating My Strengths: Five Things I’m Good At
There’s a lot of dark forces in the world that want you to feel powerless to change anything. And often they are in our own heads. I’m trying to lean more into the things I think that are my strengths — to acknowledge them, build on them, and share them where needed. This is not…
Unlocking Myself at the Skating Rink
I started roller-skating because I missed dancing. But it might be making me a better person. Because of the pandemic, all of my usual outlets for social dancing were suddenly closed to me. No lindy hopping on Thursdays at 9:20. No late night clubbing at New Parish. No dance classes, no street parties, no music…
Sipping Cocoa Solo at the Fairmont Hotel
So I had just come from seeing the really wonderful new Spider-man movie in downtown SF and was about to head home. But then I thought it would be a splendid end of the night to visit the massive gingerbread house at the Fairmont Hotel and enjoy a hot cocoa. I headed over to the…
Psalm for the Wild-Built (Becky Chambers)
I just finishing Psalm for the Wild-Built. Such a beautiful, sweet, hopeful, and funny bit of sci-fi from the amazing Becky Chambers. Another one of her books where basically nothing happens. And yet I couldn’t stop reading it, except when I had to put it own to laugh or think about stuff brought up by…