My Life, A Cocktail

Yet another Christmas rolls around, the holiday spirit and festivities are in the air. Christmas has always been special for more reasons than one, and it has also become quite the time to reflect for me, personally. Keeping with our Christmas tradition, we were out to watch the lights and decorations people had put up on their houses. We were at the front of one such beautifully decked up house this evening, when I noticed a donation box outside, the money to go to a child help charity. I immediately asked hubby for some cash and he handed me a few bills. I stepped out into the cold and dropped the cash into the box, as I admired the 'Make a wish' sign lighted up on their windows. I walked back to our car and just as I opened the door, my eyes looked up at the sky, and saw a star shooting by! Make a wish! :-)

This Christmas, I can't help but count my blessings. To have some family around, to be able to laugh together, decorate some trees and unwrap a few gifts, it can't get merrier than that.  Red velvet cupcakes made it to the baking list! Here's a picture.

My unexplained love for certain things in life that have remained over the years... The Moon – The perfect sphere with the perfect imperfections. Orange, blue, red or simply white, against the dark backdrop of the sky. The Rainbow – Colors splashed across the sky on a rainy day. To watch from the car as you drive through the hills, while little drops fall off your window pane like mini fireworks. The Swing –The exhilaration of going up aiming for the sky, with the wind on your face. Stirring that deep philosophical mood of how the swing is such an apt representation of life. Fleeting moments, that take you from up to down, from down to up.

Yes, the year is almost coming to an end. Time for resolutions, eh? With that, I decide not to hold grudges. Against anyone, for anything. Because I realize today, that it is just not worth it. If someone wronged me, it’s their bad. Upsetting myself over it, only takes away moments from my life and my family’s that otherwise could have been precious. With that, I remind myself the joy of being a beginner, all over again. Because there is nothing more important in life than constant learning. Being able to acquire knowledge and experience is life’s most basic and yet most fulfilling opportunity that one shouldn’t let pass. Let’s not be overcome by laziness and gather up excuses, instead let’s carve out the time to learn, each day, every day. With that, I define my new definition of success. The ability to go to bed happy. Because my happiness and of those around me is the ultimate goal. To have survived yet another day, together and happy is all that anyone nee...

Just finished watching a beautiful Malayalam movie called “How old are you?”. Quite refreshing and inspiring. The movie is about a woman trapped in the lull of daily work and house keeping, so much so that she has forgotten that part of herself that once dreamt big dreams. Cultural hypocrisies pertaining to our male dominated society are well portrayed. A story of a woman that finds inspiration to craft a dream after her husband and daughter have lost faith in her totally and completely that they leave her and move abroad. Manju Warrior has done an excellent job. Her character feels so real that I cried with her. There is no way anyone cannot be inspired watching this movie. In the midst of our daily roles and responsibilities as a woman, it’s quite easy to forget to have a dream, let alone chase it. But this story reminds you quite so beautifully that you can’t live your life without a dream, that you have to leave a mark for the future generatio...

It often feels like I am living in a daze, living a dream. As I see her sleeping like a baby between the two of us, I feel like she's made our connection deeper, our bond stronger. She has made us beginners all over again in life, to learn and relearn with her. With her, we shall grow, we shall live. She's our future, who will carry our traits into a world we shall not know.