I’m lounging on a chaise on my balcony, the flame of my vanilla sugar candle flickering in the wind, a hint of divine amongst the glass panes and concrete floors. The sun gently touches my face, as I’ve positioned myself to be half-in, half-out of its comforting rays. My mug of earl grey tea beside me is getting cold, but I don’t mind these last drops where the flavours speak for themselves without the heat, and I’m amazed at how his little “steeped with love” teabag is a mix of leaves from India, Rwanda, and China. Earlier while cutting slices of cheese for my breakfast, one fell out as a heart, and it’s the last thing left on my plate, as I don’t have the heart to eat it yet, the grapes and chocolate loaf long gone.
A flock of geese organizes itself, traversing across the water while the usual sailboat close to the harbour is still, suspended, lips sealed on where it might’ve travelled when I wasn’t looking.
On my walk I saw a woman with a flowing black dress and a guitar at the edge of the rocks with the reassuring water as her backdrop, a drone flying overhead to capture it all.
The other day I chatted with the Humber Bay local artist, Damian. He collects pieces of driftwood and brings to life the most vibrant animal creations – there’s a horse, unicorn, lion, giraffes, eagle, and the latest addition is a monkey hanging from a tree! We talked about how artists channel beauty and release it in another form. If you hold onto all that beauty, you’ll burst!
“I get a lot of compliments,” he said. “It keeps me motivated.” I can relate to that; although when I’m feeling my best I want to hide in case I don’t live up to them.
This month was the 10-year anniversary of my blog! I honestly can’t believe I’ve been writing so long; time flies when you’re having multiple breakdowns!
There is such importance in expressing yourself and speaking your truth. Gosia always spoke about expressing her truth. Why is the truth both the easiest and hardest thing to express?
These days a lot of people are expressing themselves so well, but there is a lot of anger, and externally it seems like everything is just getting worse. I find it hard to celebrate life when there is so much suffering. Am I putting my intelligence to good use? Some part of me is always thinking, I know so many smart people, now how do we stop wars and solve world hunger? I feel like the woman at the beauty pageant who answers that question about her vision for her future in the most cliche way: “I want world peace.” Sadhguru says that there will never be world peace if there isn’t peace within. This does make sense, so when I despair, I return to my meditation seat.
I’ve had a bug the last couple days, that sore-throat thing that’s going around, but it’s been nice just sleeping and having lots of lemon tea. And catching up on the news and Netflix.
I can’t believe all the comedians who have signed up for the comedy festival in Saudi Arabia. These are big names who are already rich, and are selling their souls for more money. I love how Nimesh Patel first said yes, and then he pulled out. But like a true Guju (Gujaratis have a knack for being ‘cost-effective’), he said he’s going to make up for the lost revenue by booking 40 extra shows. He looks like a kid whose favourite toy just got stolen and wasn’t invited to the party. Atsuko Okatsuka (one of my favourites!) also said no, and she published the list of conditions they’d sent her. No jokes about the crown prince, the kingdom, or about religion. And yet so many “I hate cancel culture” comedians agreed to these conditions, because apparently they’re ok with being censored, as long as they still have the right to make jokes about trans people. The best statement has been from David Cross, who also calls out Saudi Arabia’s deplorable treatment of women.
I started a new comedy class – it’s a pro class, and a small class with only 5 of us. Our group chat name is “4 brown people and a white guy.” One of the guys mentioned that when he started comedy almost 20 years ago, there were very few south asians in comedy. And now we’re unstoppable! The whole “are women funny?” is a shocking question too – especially when you see all the guys that try to be funny and fail. Ok let me rephrase that as, just like in STEM, comedy was typically male-dominated, and women didn’t feel confident enough to join the club. There’s a funny video by a Toronto comic Rasha where she asks people to name their favourite female comedian and most people can’t think of one! Luckily whenever I ask my mom who her favourite comedian is, she says, “You!”
Speaking of passions – my friend Anita, a multi-passionate person, shares her soulful success journey in this great video. She says that it’s never too late to pivot!
She’s offering this awesome upcoming coaching program (I think today is the last day to sign up). I wish I could take part, but as usual I have too many things on the go!
She's Come Undone 