Has anyone recently told you how brave you are? Probably not. The writing life doesn’t come off as requiring courage. In a normal day’s work, the worst danger you’re likely to face is a paper cut. But if you’re a writer – if you’re taking ideas out of your head and turning them into words … Continued
Be happy! Be brave! Be you! In the Galapagos Like sun rises every morning so and I am rising every morning with new thoughts to travel, to travel far away, to travel somewhere where I can be brave, where I can be myself, where I can be free to fly like … Continued
Serenity and Strength through Quiet Contemplation China On the tail end of a solemn, exhaustive and grief-filled trip to witness my grandfather’s passing, Dad and I made a stop in Hangzhou, a city in Zhejian Province, a quaint and naturally scenic spot southwest of Shanghai. We thought that a quiet diversion would cox our battered … Continued
To keep your balance you must keep moving…USA We’d been riding for hours, and for the last few miles had been cycling into a brutal headwind. As I narrowed my eyes, dropped down yet another gear and tried to ignore the protests of my legs I saw the approach to the bridge loom into view. … Continued
On the 8th of June back in 2012, I walked to The End of the Earth and found my bravery along the way. The end of the earth (also called Finnisterre) sits on the end of Cape Finnisterre, a rocky peninsula just beyond the town of Fisterra in the North West corner of Spain. In … Continued
I walk out of the shady, pine-scented woods, and stop, mid-stride, frozen in fear and wonder. I can feel the panic rising up my throat, threatening to choke me. Below me, in all its miniature widescreen glory stretches the Yosemite Valley. Less than twenty-four hours earlier I had stood in that valley, craning my … Continued
It has been two weeks since I came back home. I was nineteen when I decided to leave for Shanghai to pursue my undergraduate education. I was ecstatic of the idea of being alone in a foreign country, or rather, to be able to leave the grey monochrome metropolis I was supposed to regard as … Continued
Usually the metro is far from an inspiring place. It’s to be passed through, as quickly as possible, on the way to somewhere else. It can often be hot, shaky, cramped, and/or uncomfortable. Optimistically, we can describe metro systems as useful; At worst, they are inefficient and perhaps even dangerous. Despite these utilitarian-at-best connotations, the … Continued
My City’s Muse in Nigeria Every year I go for an annual pilgrimage in this lovely town. Lazily calm and quietly peaceful. But every year I learn something new. I take something or maybe more than one thing along with me on my sojourn on this earth. Although I may say the events that unfold … Continued
The Bleached-Sea in Tanzania They hadn’t told us much about the place, just that it was a safe haven. I suppose that made things worse, because it moved my expectations even further away from the truth. I have always been a “rainer-complainer”. Grotty weather irritates me. Despite the lack of rain, I had already spent … Continued