I graduated, but it didn’t feel like quite the accomplishment. Perhaps that’s from my own lack of personal emphasis. My husband even got mad at me when I told him we wouldn't be attending, but I had my reasons, none of which were because I didn't want to go. Except leading up to the event, I wondered if I had made the right choice. I’ve been struggling these past few weeks with the dreaded oscillation of hating my day job but liking being able to pay for things. Holiday season makes it ...
Musings
Stillness of Time
It’s been a rough—weird—week. I don’t know about you, but I’ve felt like I haven’t been able to just be still; to sit and let myself expel the pent up pressures, to release the tears that need to flow, to enjoy the quiet of the morning, to allow myself to just be. You would think I’d remember to do it on Shabbat, but even that has become a day of “work” due to specific obligations, sacrifices, required of me for now. So much of my life right now is dictated by Time, I am trapped between ...
A Retrospection
This coming Saturday, I will be graduating. Not from university. I diverted from that traditional path long ago. Rather, I will be graduating from the certificate program I have shared with you here, the written storytelling one at the Woodneath Story Center. Though I won't be in attendance (it's Shabbat), and though I still struggle with discussing my being a writer with others (even on this blog), I feel a sense of accomplishment that perhaps I need to give more attention to than I ...
WOMS: Everyone Has What It Takes
Please note: this post may contain affiliate links for products I recommend. If you make a purchase through these links, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. If I had been browsing through the shelves at a bookstore, I'm not sure I would have chosen William Kenower's Everyone Has What It Takes to purchase and take home, to curl up with later by the fire. For my usual readers, you know how I favour fiction. It's ...
The Terrible & the Beautiful
While we were away, attending my sister-in-law's wedding, there was one moment from that entire experience which resonated with me the most having now returned to my "normal" life. It was the night before the wedding. Another set of family members had arrived to find their awaiting accommodations in the cabin we all stayed at infested with ladybugs. In the chaos of trying to find them alternative accommodations, especially as the evening drew to a close with the final moments of preparation ...
New Year Reflections
We spend so much time reflecting in preparation for the High Holy Days, I often found myself reflecting throughout the celebrations. Rosh Hashanah came and went without a major glitch, which isn't difficult to do. Often the problem is making sure I get all the food cooked in time whilst making sure I’m still maintaining some sense of the looming New Year approaching in a few hours, that I might greet it with the reverence it deserves. It was on Yom Kippur, though, I noticed the greatest ...
Lovesick
They say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I think it’s desperation. Maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, or an unattractive perspective. After all, are we not enough on our own, a whole person without need of another to complete us? Why then is there this agonising desperation that comes along when someone you’re close to—whether spouse or friend—is missing? If we are complete, why feel the sting of loss? Why desire? Why need? Why love? These musings come to me after enduring ...
WOMS: The Rings of Power
Please note: this post may contain affiliate links for products I recommend. If you make a purchase through these links, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Now before you start rioting, I realise that The Rings of Power is not a book. However, I’m sure most of you are wondering what my thoughts are regarding the new mini-series since it is obviously a new take on the lore of Middle Earth, and I have ...
The Quest for Holiness
This past Sunday, we celebrated Rosh Chodesh Elul. For those of you who don’t know, this is the final month of the Jewish calendar, and Rosh Chodesh is our celebration of the beginning of a new month. Thus, when we reach the month of Elul, things get crazy. Basically, imagine that you started getting ready for New Year’s Day (the January one) on December 1 by celebrating its upcoming arrival with a huge party. Then throw in a bunch of religious observances through the rest of December ...
WOMS: Daevabad Trilogy
This is hands down one of the best fantasy trilogies I've read. Ever. Sorry Sarah J. Maas and Leigh Bardugo and to all the other super popular series that have defined the market for the past decade, but none of you hold a candle to S. A. Chakraborty's Daevabad trilogy. That's it that's the review. ~ Okay, no, it's not. I have a lot I want to say about this series, but to do so, I'll need to break my usual, unspoken rule and reveal a bunch of spoilers, so reader beware! Spoilers ...
