It takes time and self-exploration to find what makes each of us tick. Some folks know early on what their passion is, as if they were born knowing, while others are late bloomers, discovering their passions later in life – sometimes by luck, and other times by overcoming the voice that says no, you can’t, and going for it. And…
Category: Totable Muse
Happiness: It’s an Inside Job
It seems that the majority of us are always trying to get somewhere, whether it is to a meeting on time, to run an errand, or to the next level of our career. But you don’t often hear people talking about needing to get inside, to where the quiet, the peace, the possibility of making sense, resides. I’ve been writing…
LOSS
The Beginning My cat, an irresistible, affectionate main coon, moved into my life 13 years back, when I lived on the Upper East Side in Manhattan. My not-yet husband asked me if he could bring Buddhi with him when he flew in to visit me from Los Angeles. “Sure,” I said. Buddhi adopted me from the get go, following me…
In Search of the Dream Job
Americans are free to pursue the career path of their dreams. And obviously, that means something different for everyone. For some, the ideal job revolves around work/life balance, while others desire to make a profound and positive impact on the world. The dream job is certainly not a one-size-fits-all pursuit, but whether your goal is to make millions or to…
Why I Teach
When I am not immersed in my corporate career, I teach college-level composition, literature, and creative writing courses, and have done so for the past 11 years. I take it seriously. Teaching is an opportunity for me to be innovative – one has to be to get twenty-five or so 18 to 22 year olds excited and invested at 8…
The Art of Lingering / or How to DNF– L2O 100K
June 7, 2014 Pre race I was scared. I usually feel nervous before a race, but it’s a different type of nervous: can I push through, what’s my plan for the night-time hours, what if I can’t get food down? For this race, I was obsessed with not getting lost, the water crossings, and the possibility of encountering wild animals:…
The Spell of El Capitan Canyon
The Spell of El Capitan Canyon Arriving at El Capitan Canyon at around 3:30 pm on Thursday, I felt a little out of sorts – 7 hours of travel, nonstop work emails and calls and then there I was, on the other coast, in a little-house-on-the-prairie setting complete with cabins and tents covering the grounds, ready for my run/yoga weekend.…
365 Ways to Change Your Life….
Listen. Walk on the opposite side of the street. Don’t let yourself be confined (remember: the box you live in is self-imposed). Make a new friend. Believe: in yourself, and in others, too. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Stop looking for the right person, and start being the right person. Don’t blame others. It is never…
Love Story – May/June 2006
A petite, Asian woman in a hospital gown draped with a starch white robe plays Love Story on the baby grand piano adjacent to the hospital’s automatic doors. A group of people—patients, their loved ones—recline in the sage green couches surrounding the baby grand; all eyes are on the pianist. She scrolls the keys as if she’s reading Braille, her…