Ask the Priestess

I was sitting here, getting frustrated at an interface that won't allow me to do what I want to do, and I looked at my poor, spotted, week-old bananas. They were fading fast. Oh, dear! I looked back at my screen, back at the bananas, back, back... So I did the only logical thing! I sent off an email message to the people in charge of the interface, switched off the computer, then turned to the worktop: out came the eggs, the flour, the sugar, the butter..., and the bananas. I rolled up my sleeves, tied on my apron, and set to making banana bread. What else? I like making things with my hands. I don't use electric mixers (though I love them), so I can really feel the weight of the dough at my wrist, the rasp of the spoon handle in my palm. There is an intimacy to it, knowing exactly what is going into the bowl; what is coming out of the baking tin; what is on the plate of those I love, whom I will serve the food. There is an intimacy to the taste as well, unique each time: m...

I realise that, in the later entries, I have been dealing mostly with things that worry me. I've also realised these 'darker' entries are a by-product of an intent not to be too peppy all the time, not in public, least of all in writing. I suppose, to some extent, I still suffer from 'literary (artistic) prejudice'. That's when someone is immediately considered a 'better' author just because s/he deals with very serious matters (drugs, crime, depression, and similar). This person is then deemed to have a 'deeper understanding of society' by the mere fact that s/he chooses to dwell on the less auspicious sides or events. As a consequence, there are cases like that of Jane Austen, who was slighted for presenting the seemingly frivolous and partial existence of genteel society. Or the way some films are sneered at for being just 'feel good romps', automatically making them unable to carry a worthy message on life.  This 'artistic pre...

There really are few things that truly upset me, but even those all have a common denominator: selfishness. I honestly, wholeheartedly feel repulsed by anything related to selfishness. I realise there is a certain amount of self-awareness and self-love that every being requires for self-preservation. What really gets me is the overwhelming near-sighted attitude prevalent in our world. It's everywhere, and it's killing us all. Talk about responsibility: 'I gain' is parent to 'we lose'. It is this relationship that explains the oft-mentioned, but not less shocking, fact that about 1% of people 'own' more assets than the lower 80% of the population together. The amazing thing is that, in our selfish-led existence, we aim to perpetuate this divide, so long the 'I gain' manages (or has the illusion of possibility) to enter that 1%. Now, don't get me wrong, I think the kind of life enjoyed by that small group is great! I just can't find i...

There is this, to my mind at least, beautiful expression in English: 'stay true'. It means to be faithful to one's belief, to one's group of people, to oneself. Although still connected to the concept of truthfulness, it is more an issue of self-honesty than of not telling lies to others. The opposite of 'staying true' is not 'fibbing', 'lying' or 'deceiving'. Rather, it is 'losing yourself.' Horribly revealing is the fact that, in most cases, people have a hard time staying true to themselves. It is not often a situation that arises out of conscious deviousness (which, contrarily, would actually be staying true to the individual's dishonest character), it is more a matter of forgetfulness. We forget who we truly are. How does such a thing happen? How can we forget who we are, forget ourselves? I guess it is an offshoot of the mixture between curiosity and desire: once we discover something we want, we become so embroi...

In recent days I have been going through quite a few emotions, whose effect on my body I have been observing with interest. It is nothing new, being aware of how our feelings create our physical make-up; it is the obviousness of it that has taken my breath away, as it were (pun thoroughly intended). Honestly, things like Joy bringing on tears, butterflies in our stomachs at the first kiss, or sweaty palms from nerves, are not novelties. But these are all seemingly transitory states, often disregarded for their very fleetingness. Few of us realise that there is a plethora of other feelings that affect us, from both the 'good' and the 'bad' realm. That is damning unawareness. However, the truly harmful ignorance lies in the fact that we disregard their cumulative power, downplaying it where we should respect it. If I were to recap my most extreme/clearly observable reactions from the fortnight, the bottom would go to illness from the anxiety involved in a family visit...

I have recently had the chance to revisit a little tip on living life fully, meaningfully, Joyfully: choose reality. I know it might seem a bit of an odd concept, but it is a powerful one. Too often, we spend time, we waste precious energy in worrying about the future, in rehashing the past. The truth is, neither past nor future are reality; only the present has any value as a real concept of time. So, focus!! Focus on reality, focus on the now. Carpe Diem is not only about reciting poetry, of squeezing the juice of youth till the last drop (still, please do, squeeze also all the flavour of childhood, of adulthood, of golden-year-hood). Carpe Diem means 'seize the day', seize to-day!! Seize the moment, the minute, the second. Breathe it in, twirl it around in your mouth until it dissolves, until you swallow it, until it is gone. Take an example (direct from my recent experience): you are in a car, on your way to a day at the beach, and you hit slow traffic. For some reason ...

Years ago, I was visiting with my sister. I was living far from her, since I was attending university at the time. We were chatting, and I have no recollection what I said but she sort of froze, looked at me and said, 'You've made a joke!' I looked at her pleasantly shocked face and replied, 'I often do.' Sometimes, we don't fully understand other people, even those closest to us. It had taken over twenty years for my jokes to translate beyond myself, for my sister to "get it". I write this because I want to remind us all that lack of communication is never one-sided. When there is a loss of meaning, it is more than a result of bad hearing, a limited vocabulary or an uncertain context. Words are often considered an unreliable medium, due to their plasticity. Why then do we become so frustrated when the idea does not get across? We forget the world is more outside our heads than within them. That our words, once they leave us, do no more reflect wha...