As flat palms and extended fingers are pressed into an assortment of mats and as shins are carefully balanced on triceps, I remain crumpled at angles—tiny grid marks forming on my forehead as the smell of 5-year-old rubber wafts up my nose, trying to steal my attention. I am learning, ever so slowly, to listen... Continue Reading →
The Infinite Potentiality of Small Adjustments
This weekend, I attended a yoga class for the first time in several months. Over the course of those 90 minutes, I felt as if I came back to myself. After thirteen months of feeling weak, incapable, and out-of-touch with my heart, I slowly sank back into myself with each stretch. The experienced teacher led... Continue Reading →
The Importance Of Patience In Facing Chronic Illness
How do you to live life to the fullest when your health limits everything you do? How do you cope with waiting for some relief when, in reality, there's no reprieve in sight? There are no easy answers to these questions. The mounting unknowns become overwhelming as symptoms worsen in spite of rest, medication, and... Continue Reading →
Braving The Treacherous Forest of Disappointment
I just received a call from my infectious disease doctor. "Your numbers haven't budged. You have a lumbar puncture scheduled this week, right?" My latest lab results just came in and despite four months of heavy-duty medication, excessive amounts of sleep, and supplemental eastern medicine treatment, the infection plaguing my body is not responding to... Continue Reading →
Intimate Strangers
Last night, we went for a drive. As we approached the midpoint between Here and Middle-of-Nowhere, he turned to me and asked, “Do you ever think about how, just ten months ago, this same situation would have made you painfully uncomfortable?” “No,” I replied, “I hadn’t thought about that.” He continued, “Isn’t it strange how... Continue Reading →
Web Miscellany: Compilation #1
Happy Friday, friends! I hope that the summer is treating you kindly and that the sun has rekindled the relationship with your inner child. I read, watch, and take in far more than I can capture in my blog posts. Besides, why elaborate on what someone else has painted so eloquently? So, here's the first... Continue Reading →
Poetry, Tenderness, and True Love
As a child, I was obsessed with poetry--to this day, poetry still drills deep into my heart. My cherished 20-year-old Shel Silverstein books are falling apart at the seams, stained with years of chocolate finger prints and gleeful tears. In elementary school, I would finish my homework and search for animal poems on the internet... Continue Reading →