Another World Is Probable

This weekend I had a small taste of what other people have been experiencing for the past year with this pandemic. Serenity, a cat I love and the closest I’ve come to a pet since I moved out of my parents’ house, died. Under normal circumstances, I would have been able to say goodbye to her in person but because of the pandemic, I said goodbye over Facetime. I keep thinking about an article I read in the Atlantic nearly a month ago detailing Bhutan’s experience during this pandemic. It has me wondering, what would life be like in the U.S. if we followed Bhutan’s example? Would I have been able to say goodbye to Serenity in person? More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I'm an empath as well as a highly sensitive person. (If you want to determine if you're one too, you can take a self-assessment test.) It’s challenging because it takes so much freaking effort for me to just live in the world. Things that other people don’t give a second thought – like going to a sports game back when we could do that safely – I have to weigh the pros and cons. Most of the time, I think of sensitivity and empathy as gifts I’d like to return, but the reality is that doesn’t serve me. What's the solution here? More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I keep thinking about the notion that my higher power wants me to be happy, joyous, and free. Due to the trauma in my background, it’s a heck of a lot easier to think God wants me to be sad, miserable, and suffering. But is that really true? More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Looking through my Facebook memories, it seems February is frequently a month that I walk along the razor’s edge of fear and faith. At any moment it’s easy for me to slip onto one side or another. It seems only fitting because February starts with the letter “F” after all. While watching TV this weekend, I heard a line that resonated with me: “Faith is worthless if left untested.” How true. More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

On Saturday, I remarked to some friends of mine that I’ve spent nearly a year querying literary agents for my novel and no one wants to represent me. One of my friends chimed in, “yet. No one wants to represent you yet.” That word snagged my attention because there’s so much hope and faith wrapped up in three letters. “Yet” implies not now, but in the future. More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

If I’m being honest, I’m not doing that great. I woke up this morning with a swollen eyelid – not eyelids plural, just the one – I haven’t slept well for the better part of two weeks, I’m so tired my ears are ringing, and I’m pretty sure I’ll bite someone’s head off if they look at me funny. What's helping me is remembering the secret to meditation. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

When I was younger, anything felt possible. The future felt open, magical, and mysterious. However, then I became a bit of a cynic and the future has felt closed, prosaic, and straightforward. Now I'm coming back around and realizing with help, anything can happen. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I’m resharing this post from September 2019 because once again, I find myself in a hallway, metaphorically speaking.  A close friend of mine used an analogy the other day that’s stuck with me. She said her higher power has closed a door in her life and hasn’t opened another one yet. That means for now she’s stuck in a hallway, waiting for another door to open. Yesssssss. That’s so my life right now. I’m in limbo, in a hallway, waiting for something new, for a door to open, but it hasn’t yet and it’s uncomfortable. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I came across an article the other day I found incredibly inspiring considering what we’ve all lived/are living through. In Australia, for the first time in decades, Christmas bell flowers are blooming in high numbers because of the bushfires that raged through the area in late 2019, early 2020. I love this story because so often when it comes to devastation and destruction, in my mind, everything is terrible forever. This story reminds me that’s not true. Certain plants only grow because of fire. And furthermore, something beautiful can come from something tragic. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

As we enter this new year, I notice I feel pressure to be hopeful and optimistic. Because vaccines are here! And a new president is on his way! And 2020 is officially done! All of that is true, and yet neither the past nor reality change just because we flipped the calendar. We still carry with us everything that came before and much remains unknown. I’m reminded here of the quote by Rilke about living our way into answers. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Right now I’m reminded exactly 13 years ago I was in Europe for a New Year’s retreat. I haven’t thought about that trip in years. I think it’s coming up now not only because of the date, but also due to my emotional landscape. I’m in a liminal space where I’ve left something behind, but I’m not yet fully in the something new, which if you think about it encapsulates this year. This is the last week of 2020, which we’re all ready to put behind us, but we’re not yet in 2021. How does this relate to my trip to Europe in 2007? Keep listening. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

The monotony of life has been getting to me lately. I know for the most part what each day will bring: work, a walk, and a Zoom call. If variety is the spice of life, my life is pretty bland at the moment. There’s a pinch of variety in terms of decorating my apartment for the holidays, and FaceTiming with my family for Hanukkah, but otherwise it’s pretty monotonous over here. The question becomes what can I do now, in this present moment, to bring variety? More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

We each have a light within us that is longing to burn ever brighter, to radiate within ourselves and those around us. In this holiday season, may you also remember the light being that you are. May you remember you are more than the sum of your parts, and may you also endeavor to shine a light on all parts of yourself. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

As California enters its second lockdown, I keep thinking about freedom. What does it mean to be free? Some people would say it’s doing whatever you want, whenever you want. But is that really true? As you can likely guess based on the title of this post, I don't think it is.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

All week I’ve been thinking about the starfish story. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, keep listening. I've been thinking about that story and what it means for my life, for the writing I do. How making a difference doesn't have to be something grandiose in order to be meaningful.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I had a conversation with a friend this weekend and was reminded that believing in materialism is a choice. We in the West take it for granted that materialism is the most scientific, rational way of being and that conversely, spirituality is unscientific and irrational. But is that really true? More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

Instead of feeling sad about the pandemic, now I'm PISSED. And at the same time I'm also grateful for things that have happened as a result. Life is complicated. Or in other words, nuanced. More in this week's post.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

There are people in the U.S. who only identify with people who look like them, act like them, think like them. And for those who don’t, they’re demonized and denigrated. They are not a part of the “in” group. No one, myself included, is immune from groupism and it takes commitment to keep expanding the boundary of your identity. However, whenever I think about the world I want to live in, it always hinges on universalism and cooperation. It always hinges on seeing myself in others. So how do we do that? For the first time I've recorded an audio meditation that I hope will help you to expand the radius of your love.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

I’m freaked out by the upcoming election and I know I’m not the only one. Democrats are worried Republicans will win. Republicans are worried Democrats will win. We are all watching this election closely. I don’t have any advice about that but what I can say is regardless of what happens, I feel soothed thinking about something I learned recently. It's called the 3.5% rule. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support

This week I’ve seethed with envy multiple times. That’s nothing new and if you’ve been listening this blog for a while you know I semi-regularly feel envy, especially regarding my career. When I see someone who has what I want, I don’t view it as a sign that I, too, can achieve what they achieved. I know I’m supposed to, but what can I say? I’m a flawed human being. As I’ve wrestled with the feeling of envy this week, a story kept coming to mind that I shared with numerous friends about traveling to Italy. More in this week's post. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/another-world-is-probable/support