Random Musings. . .by Kui Gathua

  “ At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us ." ~Albert Schweitzer I have had the opportunity to celebrate with a couple of friends this past week for some milestones they achieved. Both of those journeys have been long and I had the pleasure of being part of it for the larger part. What struck me however was the fact that I was not just celebrating – I was being thanked for my support along the journey. Of course the first reaction is to say ‘don’t mention it, it was nothing’. But this was not one of those situations. I had to allow myself to acknowledge that I had consciously agreed to support, cheer lead and challenge my friends to their finish lines and their joy was as much their own as it was mine. How do you react to gratitude towards you? Have you done anything lately purely for another’s pleasure and they took the time to expres...

  “ You know in your heart when you’re doing the right thing and when you’re not. And you just have to do everything you can to stay the course. ” ~ Emily Giffin This week, one of my favourite podcasts was celebrating its 100 th episode. This month marked the launch of a friend’s podcast, and another was celebrating their one month on the air. The most common question for people celebrating milestones is ‘how did you stay the course?’ We all want to know the secret to their consistency and tenacity. But is there really a secret? When I started this blog in January of this year, I made a commitment to show up with a new article every Friday. It has been 10 months and 43 blog posts later and some days it’s been fun but others a struggle. But I gave my word and I value my word so show up I must. And that is one way to stay the course. That is one secret to tenacity – integrity. At the beginning of the year, I wanted to give my fasting practice a revamp and decided instead of ...

  “ Joy and sorrow are like milk and cookies. That’s how well they go together .” ~ Neil Gaiman [A woman asked The Prophet to speak about joy and sorrow. And he answered: Your joy is your sorrow unmasked. And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears. And how else can it be? The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven? And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives? When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy. When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight. Some of you say, “Joy is greater than sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.” But I say unto you, they are insepa...

" Sometimes it’s like: If something terrifies you, you should totally do it because it terrifies you. And then you’ll do it and you’ll realise what you’re capable of .” ~ Jonathan Saccone-Joly I have a number of hobbies that I enjoy, most of which I am good at the basics of but have never bothered to dig deeper to pro level. It’s been fine getting by with basic level expertise and it serves me well. . .until I shared one of my basic creations with a friend I’m currently enjoying hating! Where’s the problem? She sees a ‘potential’ I do not want to see or have been denying for a while or maybe she’s just calling BS on my lazy ass. And that’s where the problem arises – for me. Do I love myself enough to endure the pain of growth and hopefully celebrate the joy at the end of the season? Needless to say, she left me no choice so this coming weekend, I will have to do her bidding. In the meantime, I have already got down countless hours of research, learned a ton of new things and...

  “ People see what they want to see and what people want to see never has anything to do with the truth .”~Roberto Bolano I came across The Rudest Book Ever by Shwetabh Gangwar last week and read it through in one sitting. It is not a work of fiction and it has been ages since a non-fiction book so enthralled me as to keep me glued from start to finish. But it did and today I’m thinking about a chapter that caused me to sit up. In this chapter, the author talks about the fact that we all want to be perceived as special. And because we think we are special, we have a hard time taking rejection from others. However, rejections are a normal part of life and it’s not personal. Not everyone will like me, not everything out there was meant to be for me. Some people will not even give me a full glance and others will give me an outright ‘hell NO!’ And this is where my perception will be a game changer. Perception can either cause me untold suffering or help me to avoid pointles...