Decoding The Year: Turning the goal setting process inside out

“I’m breaking up with resolution setting,” I fumed. “It’s only February and I’ve fallen behind on everything!”

This was me, some years ago, ranting and railing to the husband. And as I got ever more angry with my lack of stick-with-it-ness, he quietly said: “Are you sure you’re approaching this whole goal setting thing the right way?”

That made me stop in my tracks and think – my resolutions were a list of things I “should” do:

  • Lose 10 kgs
  • Exercise everyday
  • Be more organized: Clean the living room and prepare for office at night
  • Organize the <insert latest pain point in the house>
  • Weekend getaways every month

You get the drift, right?Continue reading→

Tarot forecast for 2017 + a giveaway!

Yearly Tarot Reading 2017

Can you believe we are in the last month of 2016 already? How this year has flown! We’ve had our ups and downs; wins and losses; lessons, heartbreak and learning. And we are fast approaching a brand new year!

While it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and frenzy of the festive season, I like to slow down and savor December – to reflect on the past year and dream about the new year. For me, that includes a lot of journaling and planning {and I’m going to have something exciting for you on that front next week!} and, of course, the Tarot!

I’ve been doing this particular Tarot reading for myself and some friends since a couple of years – around the New Year and also on my birthday! The year ahead reading offers a beautiful, in-depth, layered look at any yearly cycle.

This year, I thought I’d do a general Tarot forecast for 2017 for my lovely peeps {yes, you!}. So let’s dive into it, shall we? Continue reading→

With love, from Instagram!

Hello there!

I thought it would be fun to pop in today with some Instagram love! I love sharing snippets from my art, life, books, and more on there. It’s visual, instant, and so much fun!

Like the time when I got my hands on the gorgeous Kuan Yin oracle deck – the artwork is scrumptious and the messages are deep and beautiful – I just had to share immediately!

Continue reading→

#KashmirDiaries: Srinagar in a day

When you drive down from the airport into Srinagar, one of the first things that strikes you is the army presence. After all, the state is regularly in the news for skirmishes between the army and militants. Kashmiris are quick to assure you “yeh yahaan nahin hota” (this doesn’t happen here). Indeed, skirmishes are often closer to the border or in areas that don’t get much {or any} tourist inflows.

Mughal garden Shalimar Bagh Sringar in a day

The main pavilion at Shalimar Bagh

Then you notice the houses and how they are constructed. Almost all the buildings have gently sloping roofs, and a lot of them – even the big houses – have tin roofs. Most houses are built on a base of stones, with liberal use of wood and tin – to better insulate them during Kashmir’s cold winters.Continue reading→

#MicroBlogMondays: Dealing with overwhelm

Have you ever felt like you’ve bitten off more than you can chew?

Work commitments. To-do lists. Hobby projects. Managing the house. Looking after a sick cat. Planning and preparing for exciting projects. And completely underestimating how long all of the different pieces might take.

to-do-overwhelm

And even when you set supposedly realistic goals for the day, you are unable to finish them. So what gives?Continue reading→

#KashmirDiaries: Romancing the Dal

When you think of Srinagar, you think of the Dal Lake.

And I think of Shashi Kapoor romancing Sharmila Tagore in Kashmir ki Kali. {Yes, yes, complete cliché, but it is what it is.} So it should be no surprise that a shikara ride was right up there on my have-to-do list. I was so eager to experience the romance of the shikara that I dragged the husband to the Dal almost as soon as we had checked in to our hotel.

Dal lake srinagar kashmir sunset shikara ride mughal garden gate

Sailing into the sunset

I had heard that the Dal Lake is dotted with shikaras selling everything from trinkets to chips and Coke, and that they start hounding you almost the minute you get into a boat. That was not what I wanted at all, and I was prepared to tell the boatman that in no uncertain terms. But when we reached the lake, I didn’t see any other shikaras floating around – how lucky was that?Continue reading→

#MondayMusings: Thoughts on the far-reaching social impact of the Trump Presidency

As a general rule, I don’t write about politics on the blog. No matter what my views may be and what arguments and debates I may have in real life or online, I keep all of that away from this space.

But the recent election results in the US have shaken me to the core. And though they have no direct bearing on me, there is no denying the wide-spread social impact of a Trump presidency.

I also think that the time is now ripe to have multiple conversations about righting wrongs – about inclusion and diversity, about the fact of a changing global order, changing race and cultural dynamics, and a shift in the old patriarchal systems and beliefs. And I believe this is a conversation that we need to have globally.
Continue reading→

On my art table: Soulful surrender

On my art table soulful surrender art journal spread art journal artist art journaling india

There’s a current of magic that flows through our life.

I’m not talking about the Harry Potter kind of magic. I’m talking about the magic that shows up in our life – through synchronicity. Which is simply being in the right place at the right time, meeting the right people at the right time, hearing a message or a piece of music at the right time.

It’s not necessarily earth shattering magic.

Continue reading→

#KashmirDiaries: The journey begins!

I’ve always wanted to visit Kashmir.

A typical Kashmiri house with sloping roofs

A typical Kashmiri house with its sloping roof

Growing up, I heard stories about Kahsmir’s legendary beauty from my mother and maasi, who had been there as children. I saw it pictured on the silver screen, as Bollywood stars played out their romances in shikaras on the Dal Lake and in the meadows and valleys of Kashmir.

Then militancy struck the valley in the 1990s and continued seemingly without end, and I wondered if I would ever be able to visit Kashmir. But after over a decade of strife, things have normalized somewhat and tourism has opened up once again. Though incidents do happen in the valley occasionally, they have never, to my knowledge, targeted tourists.Continue reading→

#MicroBlogMondays: Send my baby some love

Meet my boys – Loki {on the left} and Simba {on the right}. They’re almost five years old, which means they’ve been with us for over four and a half years. But it feels like we’ve had them forever.

Simba is our little ball of sunshine. He becomes Mr. Lapcat every time I try to work on the laptop {ok, most times} and literally demands his cuddle time. If we are doing anything when he wants his cuddles, he will push it out of our hands and firmly insert himselfoin our lap, demanding to be the center of attention.

Continue reading→