16 promises to myself

Yesterday, I was scrolling through a messaging service, when I suddenly came upon a known face. A young mother and Air Force wife, whom I’d known from my time at another air base. Our stay at that base had overlapped by a few months. We’d often bump into each other during our evening walks. She with her new baby and me with my music. We’d exchange words and smiles. Talking about work, hobbies and life.

 Soon after we met, they moved to another base and we lost touch. What remained were memories of our chats.

So, when I stumbled upon her picture yesterday and read the RIPs below, I was shocked to discover that this vibrant young woman’s life had been cut short by cancer.

My head reeling and my heart heavy from this news, I stayed awake for a long time, thinking about her and the fickle nature of life. I thought about her little girl, her husband, her parents. I thought about what her dreams for her life had been.

I thought about the twists and turns of life, the dead-ends that can be slammed upon us at any moment, the shifting nature of our journey on Earth.

I also wondered about how often I took my time here for granted. Something that most of us do, as we let the days trickle away, confident that we’ve got at least another 30, if not more, years to fill with our dreams.

So, I made some promises to myself.

This is what I choose to remember and choose to do, every day that I wake up to a new morning:

·          Each day is a gift.

·         Each day deserves to be relished, like a glorious-but-melting ice-cream on a summer day.

·         Make learning a priority. Learn a new craft, a new hobby, a new skill.

·         Let go of mental clutter. Or at least, try to on a regular basis.

·         Stay away from drama – it just eats away precious time; time that could be used for better things.

·         Fill my day with what matters – family, laughter, knowledge, play, creativity, love, writing.

·         Write down my stories, my words, my journeys.

·         Avoid frittering away time on things that don’t matter.

·         Keep gossip & gossipy people, negativity & fluff at an arm's distance

·         Pick my battles wisely.

·         Spend time in nature, every single day.

·         Be grateful for what I have today.

·         Revel in this journey called motherhood – a journey filled with peaks and troughs, clouds and rainbows, smiles and tears, joys and challenges.

·         Surround myself with my haven – my son, husband and parents.

·         Nurture the person that’s me with exercise and nourishing food, alone-time and the arts, writing and work that talks to my soul.

·         Be less of a worrier (very challenging to practice, but I’m trying my best here!).

What will you promise yourself?

photo credit: sandeep banerjee

Sketchbook Story: When the moon is your balloon…

art by chandana banerjee

She takes the moon for a walk,

Dressed in a fuchsia frock

Holding the yellow orb on a string

Skipping along the sky with a spring.

She digs her toes in the clouds

Happy to be out and about

She sends flying kisses to the stars

Sprinkling their orangish silver glow from afar.

The evening sky is her field to play

With the moon on a string, so it won’t stray.

Good Morning Monday + Inspiration Challenge + What's your personality like?

Good Morning Monday & Hello New Week!

It’s a brand new month – another month from the 2014 bandwagon that’ll gallop by as we swirl in this summer’s scorching heat.

So, how are you planning to pack a punch this week? Where are you looking for inspiration? What have you got planned for the next seven days?

Well, I know, there’s work to do. And there’s work. All of this needs to be done. But while we’re at it, pounding at our laptops, running around our kids, checking up Facebook, prepping those meals – can we, in some way turn the everyday, the humdrum of our mundane into a work of beauty? Or maybe, just take what’s usual and normal for us and give it a happy twirl? Infuse some joy, some ‘life candy’, some sparkle into our days and hours?

For starters, how about dressing up for ourselves? Oh no – I don’t mean going to the zoo in killer stilettos and hot pants (though you’re welcome to do so). I’m talking about playing around with our personal style and letting how we dress & accessorize be a reflection of the people we are.

And, how about getting creative with what we have at hand? Here’s a dash of inspiration- Alisa Burke, one of my favorite artists turns something as mundane as embroidery hoops into this.

Or, if you want to live life more voraciously, try new things, tick off stuff from your bucket list, here’s a blog post you might want to read.

photo credit: karen walrond

So hey, since we’re talking about being brave, why not make peace with the people we really are! By being different. By blazing our own trail. By being a little less hard on ourselves. By not following others or copying others’ actions. The Beauty of Different by Karen Walrond is just the kind of book that you’d love to read while sipping a steaming cup of coffee and mulling about who you are, what you want to be. I finished this book just last week (unfortunately the last of the books that I read on my beloved Kindle – which has passed over because a baby boy in our house decided to plonk himself on it) and relished the stories and messages tucked in that book.

Be a firefly – lit up by your own personality.

Have an inspiring week! And let me know what you carved out of the days.

P.S. May’s list of writing prompts for you to download and start creating with.

photo credit: sandeep banerjee

Find your Style Friday: A dash of DIY Funky!

What do you do when a brand new T-shirt ends up being the victim of a laundry mishap? Do you throw it right out of the window? Or, do you turn it into a rag to dust around the house? Or…if you can muster up some time and a few pots of paint, turn it into a piece of bespoke clothing?

Well, I almost resorted to the first two options, but on a whim I chose the latter. I brought out my paints and brushes, sliced and carved a few potatoes, and used stray plastic packets around the house to print on this pink T-shirt. When I had printed and painted to my satisfaction, I turned the T into a canvas and doodled all over it with a permanent marker. And then, dotted it with fabric glitter.

All done and heat-pressed, I wore this funky T-shirt to our picnic and reveled in the happiness that comes from re-purposing something and creating art.

How are you adding a dash of funky to this Find your Style Friday?

photo credit: sandeep banerjee