Paradise Bound
September 26, 2015 Leave a comment
No more excuses, it’s time to finally embark on that island getaway!
Packed and Ready to Go
No More a Dream
Moments of Clarity
August 3, 2014 Leave a comment
What I Did on My Summer Vacation: Yosemite National Park
I typically post an entry every month, but due to technical difficulties courtesy of my good ole domain name keeper Startlogic and July being rather jam-packed with summer activity, it couldn’t be helped that I had to skip a month.
I know no one wants summer to end, but I sense in no time, that of course it will. This transitional period between summer and autumn is my ultimate favorite, I told a friend on Facebook today. It’s as though the direction of the wind has changed. Like clockwork, I’m getting my second wind once again. It’s only appropriate that it should come after a very close friend had come to visit me in San Francisco. The last time she was here was apparently 14 years ago, so she was due and so was I. Quite frankly, I really hadn’t been myself the first half of the year. I felt rushed and hurried most of the time, perhaps even lost, simply winging it.
Blowing in the Wind: A friendship that’s stronger than ever.
Carmen has a way of centering me that no one else can. In that breath, that moment, the past just falls away, and I begin to understand how it’s about passing to the other side and seeing things as they are. This sounds oddly Buddhist, and we even had a long debate about whether Buddhism should be considered a religion (par for the course during our college days and thereafter). Whatever the case may be, her visit was not only heartfelt, but also soul-replenishing.
Our day trip to Yosemite National Park, in my opinion one of the most spiritual places on the planet, was a perfect tableau of our seven-day journey together. We weren’t always so cordial to one another 24-7, but it was all part of the odyssey. Happiness is discovered in our travels not the destination.
When I wrote this entry, I was at lunch before returning to work for a performance review. My mind was clear, in spite of the cacophony of sounds and car horns and the murmur of the lunchtime crowd in the city. The bamboo plant next to me was telling me so.
Lunchtime Rumination: Bamboo speaking and I’m listening.
The Power of Negative Thinking
June 29, 2014 2 Comments
I told myself once when I am properly ensconced in the right job that I would take steps to do more of the things I love. But I realize nothing was really stopping me (with the exception of my finances), and I just needed to be in the right frame of mind.
Journalist Oliver Burkeman brought this front and center in his book “The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can’t Stand Positive Thinking” (excerpts of which could also be found in http://time.com).
It also reminded me of the 1995 movie “French Kiss,” in which Meg Ryan’s character managed to overcome her fear of flying with the help of the incorrigible Kevin Kline, to finally confront her scoundrel fiance (Timothy Hutton) and his hottie on a beach in Cannes:
“Well… Charlie, I’m going through some sort of transitional thing. See, after you called, I decided to get on a plane to Paris and get you back.
But there was no way everything I’d been building toward would be destroyed because some pouty little–this is before I knew you personally–bitch, wanted to steal a husband.
I bought the ticket, got on the plane and somehow made it over the ocean. Then an extraordinary thing happened.
Everything went wrong.
So I was wandering the streets of Paris, penniless, without a hope in the world. And, let me tell you, you can do a lot of soul-searching in a time like that. I realized that I’ve spent most of my adult life trying to protect myself from exactly this situation.
And you can’t do it. There’s no home safe enough, no relationship secure enough. You’re setting yourself up for an even bigger fall and having an incredibly boring time in the process. Sorry, Charlie.”
Check the movie out for yourself:
Paris in December
December 29, 2013 2 Comments
Yes, it is sitting on a wooden wine box.
A year ago it was so difficult to allow myself to find joy around this time of year, but I look around and see it so much more clearly now. As another song goes, love is all around.
I removed from storage a framed collage of photos of my Paris trip long ago and set it prominently on my shelf as a reminder of happy days–they are here again. The pop songs never seem to end.
But I suppose what I’m trying to convey, at least to myself, is to keep things simple and light. I know it’s easier said than done. But when I push through a hardship, it’s important to focus on what is so good about being alive.
And then an interesting thing happened to me at the end of this year: I landed a new job. It was the Christmas gift I was waiting and hoping for. In another moment of reflection, I remember a friend telling me to be sure I am running toward something as opposed to running away from a situation. I’m happy to report it is the former. Right now it does feel like Paris In December.
Wanderlust Back
August 4, 2013 1 Comment
Tea and Sympathy: A stop at Chantal Guillon for macarons with my foodie younger cousins.My cousins from Sacramento came to visit recently for a weekend, and while snacking on the most delicate macarons in Chantal Guillon in Hayes Valley, our conversation turned toward our trips abroad and our divergent experiences. I had a more romantic interpretation of being in Paris than my sister, and my cousin went to Europe with a study-abroad program. Nonetheless, we agreed we would go again, and my other cousin has become more open to overseas travel.
It’s a test in patience to wait for one part of my life to catch up with another that is already established and for years dying to move forward. I’ve wondered when I would ever give myself permission to want to travel again, since I still had to consider getting back on my feet work-wise.
Now I feel certain this is the moment to return to my natural inclination to see more of the world. A job eventually becomes routine, and the past is forgiven. Other aspects of my life need more attention, especially the things that are most important to me. While perhaps more progress could still be made, the time for magical thinking and action can now take flight and soar.
Memorable Oltrarno square where I bumped into a Florentine Adonis during my last major trip in 2008.The Passeggiata
March 24, 2013 Leave a comment
Wow Factor: The Colosseum notwithstanding, tour guide Francesca Caruso gives her passionate take of the Eternal City. (photo by Rhodora Ayuyang)
It wasn’t a coincidence that the local PBS station was showing a marathon of Rick Steves travelogues in Italy, with the election of a new pontiff in the Vatican. So I was happy to see in his most recent program of Rome that he invited Francesca Caruso, a popular tour guide that I had the pleasure of meeting, to participate in its filming. While on his tour in 2008, she made such a fantastic impression on me that I singled her out as one of my “wow” moments: “She personalized so powerfully Roman history with her depth and knowledge of literature and architecture. I can only hope I could enjoy la dolce vita the way Francesca clearly has doing a job she obviously loves.”
Getting Back on Track: The road to happiness is through Rome, among other places in the world.
Francesca accompanied Rick on the passeggiata in the Eternal City, which is described as an early evening stroll from Piazza del Popolo to the Spanish Steps. While sounding rather innocent and leisurely, Rick’s book in 2008 says, “in Rome, it’s a cruder big-city version called the struscio (‘to rub’),” in which young Italians cruise the Via del Corso sometimes obnoxiously in motorscooters and dispense with rather bold remarks (“buono”/”buona” or “tasty”) to passersby.
Whatever the case may be, traveling, like writing, is one of my favorite outlets, not a surprise to those who really know me. Maintaining a balance in life is such a challenge that to have any opportunity to get back into my comfort zone is most welcome and, I would venture to say, mandatory.
Bookends 