A Poem From Silence Day 814 1 May 2020 [su_spacer size=”25″] No markets openNo new food. India’s lockdown is no jokePolice scoot byCanes ready to prod and poke. Foreigners can’t walk on the streetsSome folks look at me rude. Whatever they seeIt doesn’t matter to meI choose to be free. This hostel is my ashramRaama RaamaHare Raama. Inhale energyExhale… Read More
10 Reasons To Go Bald This Summer For those considering a full shave of their own, and to those questioning my mental stability or degree of boredom, here are ten intentional reasons to grab that razor and get depilated. [su_spacer size=”40″] [su_spacer size=”40″] To read about my real-time emotions and the immediate aftermath of shaving my head, see my related post Bald… Read More
Bald And Balder As the razor buzzed, I entered that zone of intense adrenaline that can only be accessed by departing my comfort zone. The recollection of these vulnerable moments are comparable to the memory of receiving my tattoo. [su_spacer size=”40″] [su_spacer size=”40″] For a while I had known that 2020 was the year to shave my head.… Read More
Flowing Flowing Flown [su_box title=”My Flow”] I. Cat-cow x3 II. Sun salutation x3 III. Sun salutation B x3 [su_accordion] [su_accordion][su_spoiler title=”IV. Warrior Vinyasa” open=”no” style=”default” icon=”plus” anchor=”” class=””] mountain forward fold lift halfway forward fold high plank low plank upward dog downward dog three-legged dog spider push up x5 high lunge warrior i warrior ii reverse warrior side… Read More
The Most Chinese Things About China: 16 Quirks And Hints From 18 Years Of Visits China. A country requiring travelers to have open-mindedness and resilience like no other. 22 provinces. Five autonomous regions. 56 ethnicities. 302 living languages. 255 national parks. As Lonely Planet puts it, “You’ll see things you’ve never seen before, eat things you’ve never heard of and drink things that could lift a rocket into orbit.” [su_spacer… Read More
COVID-19: Less Privileged and More Centered In The Universe Three days ago I was journaling in the common area of my hostel in Varanasi, India. I looked out the only window that was still allowed to be cracked open. It occurred to me that I could not even cross the street to buy a pack of chips for my gnawing hunger. India is currently… Read More
Seclusion In Kanas I wandered through the magnificence while keeping within the constraints of the tourist-friendly paths, taking breaks to luxuriate in my own solitude. I was secluded because I chose to—paused my life to, even—but I was also secluded because I was excluded. [su_spacer size=”40″] [su_spacer size=”40″] While I looked like any other Chinese on two legs… Read More
Blood Intestines, Living Deities, And Other Tibetan Impressions Blood Intestines, Living Buddha, And Other Tibetan Impressions Connecting The Dots In My Life Who knew that four years ago, as I fought my body to finish climbing Kilimanjaro, I had made a friend who had connections with a living deity? Tibetan living Buddha sometimes show their Chinese-city-friends around their home. Such an occasion… Read More
Backpack Qinghai On A Budget Destinations Ta’er Monastery 塔尔寺（Tā’ěr sì） [su_expand more_text=”More” less_text=”Less” height=”75″ link_color=”#2e9673″] Also known as Kumbum Monastery, this most recognized Tibetan landmark of Qinghai sits just 25 kilometers outside of the provincial capital city, Xining. Nearly 450 years old, the Ta’er Monastery is a maze of shrines, temples, and residential housing of student lamas, or monks, belonging… Read More