Today is the last entry from my 50 Stories in 50 Weeks project. One year ago, I turned fifty and ended a fifteen year career in advertising. I’d left so I could focus on my writing, and this little project was a first step. Then a global pandemic hit, everything shut down, and these weekly…
I always wanted to leave. For as long as I can remember, I dreamed about living somewhere else. Home wasn’t an awful place to be. Inside were parents and siblings and toys and blankets and radios and televisions and food. I was not lacking for material things but I never felt satisfied. I wanted adventure,…
Once upon a time, there was a girl who dreamed of moving to California. She would write in her diary at ten years old that she was going to live in Malibu, like Barbie. When she was a teenager, she would write about how she was going to live in Hollywood and make movies. And…
I’d dreamt of visiting Paris for as long as I could remember. My grandparents were Canadian and while their French was nothing like the language I would come to know and love, I was smitten with even the idea of it. Growing up, I watched An American in Paris, Funny Face and Casablanca with my…
It’s not alopecia (but good for you, Ricki Lake!) I’m not having a breakdown (remember Britney’s bald moment?) I’m not ill (fingers crossed, though cancer may get us all eventually.) And I’m not trying to make a political or power statement. What I am is a 49 year old woman working in the advertising industry…
Hari Om! I arrived in Rishikesh Monday afternoon and promptly took a five hour nap. This jet lag has been worse than usual. I’m both tired and excited so pushing myself to stay awake and then crashing, hard. I got my first full night’s sleep in a week and then like clockwork, woke up with…
I arrived in Delhi late Thursday night and after grabbing some water, cash and a SIM card, went to get a taxi. Outside the airport, there were 100 men for every woman. And the women weren’t alone. This whole ‘there are lots of single women traveling alone in India’ thing I read about must be…
In a few hours, I’ll be boarding a flight bound for Delhi to spend the next 40 days in India. If you asked me in the last 25 years why I wanted to go, I’d give my shpiel about having a best friend who is Indian since I was 16 or having practiced yoga since…
Last week, I saw Elizabeth Gilbert speak about her new book, Big Magic. At one point, someone from the audience asked a question I’ve been asking myself for years. What if you just aren’t the type of person who is going to be obsessive and committed and dedicated to one thing, your whole life? Does…
Failing better. 