07/ 23/ 2013
It was spring of my senior year of college. Graduation was steadily approaching and I still hadn’t made “a plan,” which the Type-A me found very difficult to accept. A good friend of mine and I decided to take a break from the endless plotting of our futures and went to a free screening of Nancy Meyers’s epic film — at least in my opinion — The Holiday.
I was 21 and didn’t know it at the time, but the main characters — Iris (Kate Winslet) and Amanda (Cameron Diaz) — would teach me a lot. The older I get, the more relatable each becomes, and at times, I’ve felt like both characters: running from vulnerability, completely out of touch, insecure and lost.
07/ 07/ 2013
It was unbelievably early. The train ride to Brooklyn was a struggle and I couldn’t seem to keep my eyes open. I’d felt a bit run down that week; it’d been a hard month actually, the kind wherein everything seemed even more taxing than normal.
I got off the subway at thee Atlantic Pacific station and exited towards the
Barclay’s Center. The arena is surprisingly beautiful on the outside, and the way it’s designed, the staircase from the subway lets you out right in front. It’s something I sort of love about the morning. After riding underground, it’s like you’re emerging into light and I find it very satisfying.
As I made my journey up the stairs, that relished sense of satisfaction was disturbed. Instead, I filtered into a crowd of hundreds and hundreds of family, friends and future high school graduates. It was an insane amount of people and I knew making my way through them would be challenging. But I bucked up, spat out a vulgar word and sought the most efficient pathway towards my office.
06/ 09/ 2013
In her TED talk, introvert expert Susan Cain discussed the difficulties of being introverted in an extroverted world. While attending summer camp as a child, Cain recalls being typed as “mellow.” Obviously, no little girl wants to bear this title, and so she stopped reading books at camp so thee other children wouldn’t think she was antisocial.
This story got me thinking about my own journey as an introvert. If I’m honest, I’ve spent much of my adult life apologizing for being an internal thinker. I — like Cain — have gone to the loud crowded places to appease others instead of socializing in a way that was more complimentary to me. I’ve felt guilty for wanting to stay in on my night off to read or watch television and I resent the fact that I have trouble sharing openly with other people.
05/ 19/ 2013
My friend Jordan has often spoken about the wonderful benefits of Bikram yoga. After doing some research, I wasn’t sure I could handle it; the idea of practicing yoga for 1 1/2 hours in a 105*F heated room sounded pretty terrible. However, Jordan’s passion for Bikram became quite convincing, and I decided to commit to 1 month of classes.
What I like about Bikram is that it’s quite militant. I love walking into the studio knowing exactly what to expect—a sauna like room wherein I’ll execute the same series of 26 poses for a standardized amount of time, twice on each side. The instructor clearly explains how to correctly perform each pose, giving encouragement only when deserved. They’re direct, to the point and give just the right amount of instruction (in my humble opinion, Bikram yoga is the perfect companion for any zen seeking control freak).
