I wanted to say happy, but the recent turn of events in the past two weeks are short of tragic.
The past months speed along with me having barely time to catch my breath. It wasn’t the kind of windedness I used to have in my advertising career, now that I’ve learned to incorporate short breaks to rest in between, yet I still am reeling, finding myself in the wind down mode that one usually has in the last two weeks of the calendar year.
What kept me busy - aside from back-to-back travel (More on that soon)?
Well, I finished a novella. Can you believe it? I still cannot believe it either, even as I typed that sentence. Even if I told my friends about it. It was a short story that I wrote back in 2020 that took another turn. I shared my story with a writer I met on the road, who challenged me to revisit the ending. And so I did. I also gained a writing accountability buddy, who encouraged me to have a “regular practice.”
The original story was around 3,000 words. Each day, something in me stirred, I showed up, butt on seat in front of my laptop and wrote around 300-500 words per day. I kept writing and writing until viola! A little over 10,000 words. Clearly, a short story it ain’t. I kept calling it a long short story, but after consulting with other more experienced writers, the length officially made it out of that threshold.
I finished it on December 31st and somehow still am recovering from the emotional output of it all. It is the FIRST novella after all. Or whatever it is called, the longest single piece I’ve ever written in recent memory (No, I wasn’t required to write a thesis paper way back in university. Gasp!) At least in the literary sense.
There still is work to be done. I promised myself that I’d print it then edit it. But, as you can tell, I’ve not done it YET. We just are over the hill from the first winter storm of the year. It is cold, which I honestly enjoy, but so are my excuses.
2025 is my Katniss Everdeen year, the sharp shooting archer with eyes set on the target. Am I volunteering myself as tribute? Perhaps. In a way, I am shooting my shot, pulling back the bow and letting the arrow fly to a place I’ve never been. This includes pushing out more opportunities to offer astrological consultations (I realize this is a better more digestible word for it), including an intimate Vedic astrology learning group program. So hopefully, like Katniss Everdeen, I survive. I don’t plan to win, just take and clear every challenge one at a time.
According to the stars, the first half of the year will experience a lot of turbulence given the switching of the slower moving planets - Jupiter, Saturn, Rahu & Ketu - in the sky. These planets specifically as we do spend more time with them, at least one year up to two years and a half. So the changes will be significant versus Mercury, the Sun or Moon that breeze through in a snap. Listen to my upcoming livestream/podcast where I talk about this year’s transits. Of course, this will be in the general sense. If you want to know what 2025’s got in store for you personally, book your consultation here. I am raising my prices and rejigging my offerings, so if you want to book at the very, very low price that it is now, go book.
What I’m watching (Well, watched):
“Monkey Man” (2024) written, produced, directed and starring Dev Patel now on Amazon Prime
My husband urged me to watch this movie, animatedly repeating “Hanuman! Hanuman!” I was surprised at this recommendation as it was not exactly within his wheelhouse. En route back to DFW, I had the chance to catch it. I was pleasantly surprised his movie review delivered. Even if I am not a fan fan of extremely violent action movies (I am sorry I did not watch any of the “John Wick” movies.), there was so much layer to the revenge premise - that the personal is part of the collective. As part of my Vedic astrology practice, I’ve immersed myself in the Hindu stories, legend and lore that is its foundation of the belief system. I was amused that I had scant understanding of the underlying myth.
“Culinary Class Wars” (2024, Season 1) on Netflix
Though I gave up on reality food TV, especially competitions, I was curious on how Koreans would have their unique spin on this. I am pretty sure this is one in a million, but, this one came into purview - part algorithm, part milieu. I thought I’d give up after the first few episodes, but I sat at the edge of my seat until the very end. The competition’s premise is seasoned, recognized veteran chefs go head to head with up and coming, local cooks in the blip of fame in their respective communities. Note that I said, chefs versus cooks. There is a particular image conjured up by these words, aptly represented by the teams: White Spoons - the toque and coat wearing chefs from different corners of the world, versus the Black Spoons - the standard uniform of color of all background restaurant workers. I love that the Black Spoons included up and coming chefs, market stall owners, school cafeteria heads, butchers, viral food influencers/YouTubers, personal chefs and more. That cooking and serving food to people is not limited to white table cloth restaurants. These teams are pitted against each other to prove who has the best chops in cooking creative, consistent, business savvy food. While the business challenge was still within a petri dish environment, I appreciated it being included as this is a reality that all food purveyors face on a daily basis. If you enjoy food and food related shows, this is a good one.
“The Doctor From India” a documentary about Ayurveda living legend Vasant Lad, with interview of Dr. Deepak Chopra, who was greatly impacted by the man.
I started my Ayurveda journey in the interest of better health. One of the books my Tito recommended is that of Vasant Lad’s - “Ayurveda: The Science of Self-Healing”. I flipped the pages to find remedies to ailments such as headaches, gas and bloating, and the lot, or just learning more about my body and how to treat it better. And surprisingly, everything I learned and applied worked well. I went down the rabbit hole of research and stumbled upon this documentary about his journey from Pune in Maharashtra, India to his 30+ year legacy in shaping Ayurveda in the United States. It was a great reminder on how we, humans, were created intelligently. It is about time we listen to our bodies more and reconnect with it and Nature for better health.
What I’m reading (Again, read):
“Building Material: The Memoir of a Park Avenue Doorman” by Stephen Bruno
I somehow lean towards the memoir genre as I do enjoy reading about real experiences of real people (not that fiction is not based on people’s real experiences.) And especially those of people who we almost always end up overlooking, at times, even over stepping. Stephen Bruno wrote about what led him to becoming a door man, who literally opens doors for some of the richest, most powerful in America. The irony is not lost as these people can open doors for so many, yet cannot open their own building’s doors themselves.
“The Life Impossible” by Matt Haig
I love Matt Haig’s work. His stories are about ordinary people in fantastical situations. His use of language simple, yet profundity not lost. His new novel is another masterpiece of fighting against drowning in the rote rot by being drawn into strange circumstances from the past to be thrust into the magic of the unknown and inexplicable on the infamous sunny island getaway, EDM party central for Northwest European of Ibiza. Es Vedra, one of the uninhabited islets, is also a character in the story. It filled me with much hope, knowing that against all limited odds, the impossible can be possible.
“The Extinction of Experience: Being Human in a Disembodied World” by Christen Rosen.
In this world that we are literally, unhealthily glued to screens across everything in our lives, I do feel disembodied. Unlike in the densely populated cities, where one bumps into bodies (or even this is inescapable in those environments), suburban life makes one cooped up. I’ll say more for me…by choice too. This book was a great reminder to me, elder millenial, on this nagging longing for something human. And that there is a reason why that feeling exists. It was not wrong.
“The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic on Mental Illness” by Jonathan Haidt
I don’t have kids. Nor plan to have any, but my personal experience with smart phone addiction prompted me to borrow this title from the public library. I read his other book “The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas are Setting Up A Generation for Failure” and this is pretty much a continuation of the premise with a focus on the addictive technologies created to keep us glued to our screens. I even would recommend reading this in companion to Johann Hari’s “Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention - and How To Think Deeply Again.”
“Ordinary Mysticism: Life As Sacred Ground” by Mirabai Starr
I grew up Catholic, and I can’t say that I religiously (pun intended) kept up with the rigorous practice of it all. I question my relationship to my religion and faith, which I believe are separate things. And meeting people from different religious backgrounds, I am able to open up myself more. This was honestly a great read to end 2024. It was a reminder that everything is sacred, not just confined to the rituals and practices. If you are more inclined towards that view, this book is a soothing balm to the wound of religious guilt.
P.S. I am able to read more thanks to audio books from the public library. I know they are not ideal as I do miss a lot of quotable quotes, that I am not able to write down for future reference.