Family First

“Healing happens when individual hearts combine forces to beat as one at the centre of a family.”

After three years or so, “da Naidooz” are together as one family unit. For now, it feels good as we catch up. Ravel, my 22-year old who returned from Canada last week is still in self isolation in our AirBnB unit. So, technically, he is still not in in our midst yet but it feels good to know that he is near us and will join the coop in about 10 days or so. At the moment, it is noisy enough with Kim, my 18 year-old daughter whose university studies are on hold and Vidal, the soon to be 25-year old, who has returned from Sydney, as they bond together “netflixing” on the couch. My physical reserves are being taxed to the hilt with all the cooking I am doing at the moment but I don’t mind. Each of them has different culinary tastes (One mostly meat, one mostly veg and the other prefers salads) and well before being self-employed for the last 15 years, I am guilty of indulging them by cooking three different meals at a time to suit each taste.

We are a close family unit. I suppose it is inevitable when families migrate to a foreign country. In the early days you only have each other for company. You do everything together and endure long periods of self isolation as you get to learn about your new country and its people. We were pretty much on our own when we landed in New New Zealand in October, 1998: two parents who disembarked with a 3-year old and a one year-old on each parent’s hip and four large suitcases. For at least four months we only had each other’s company before we settled into our teaching jobs and daycare. It sort of feels the same now as we huddle together and social distance from the rest of the world as we each try collectively to “flatten the curve”.

I truly believe that one of the things that has made our family unit so strong is because of the resilience we had to endure as we grappled with the challenges of adapting to our new, adopted country. Two countries, in our case, as we left New Zealand in January 2005 to relocate to the Gold Coast, Australia. Moving from one geographical location to another brings with it a whole set of challenges as you try to navigate through a new culture, customs and conventions. But like they say, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger. I am forever grateful and feel awfully blessed to be part of an immigrant family as I truly believe that it gave my family the resilience that is needed to cope should life throw you a curveball. Like now. 

What we are experiencing right now by isolating ourselves inside our homes, is probably not what we would have chosen to do in normal circumstances. However, since we have no other choice, we should use the opportunity to build family resilience which is the ability to bounce back after a catastrophe much like the Corona virus. Rather than viewing this whole period of being confined into our own homes as a prison sentence, we should rather welcome this opportunity to turn adversity as a catalyst for the family’s growth. What this simply means is that we should enrich relationships within our family and nurture them to become more skilled at coping with future stresses in life that will inevitably come our way.

Family resilience doesn’t come with in-built traits that you are born with like your physical attributes, your intelligence(or lack thereof) or your personality. It is rather our interactions and support that we give each other that counts. Research done shows that people who go through hard times share a stronger bond with each other like soldiers in war, SES services working through natural disasters or families dealing with problems like divorce, poverty or heartache. There are huge possibilities in building resilience during the lock-down period with a helping hand here, a supportive word or two there or shared activities. We should use this wonderful window of opportunity to become stronger together. 

We have to practise that “the sum is greater than the whole”. These are not ordinary times so mum should not be slaving in the kitchen while the rest of the family fatten their gluteus maximi while binge-watching on Netflix, Stan or Apple TV. Everyone should do their fair share and if they haven’t been doing all along, maybe now is the perfect time to start sharing household chores. Since my sons left home, their constant regret is that they wished they learnt to cook from their mum. So, in our efforts of establishing an espirit de corps in our family, I am going to teach them to cook some simple, home-cooked meals. These cooking lessons will serve them well not only now as I take some reprieve from the kitchen but also when they make their own way out in the world , they will still have the luxury of tasting home-cooked meals. 

Communicating with each in normal circumstances is essential but becomes ever so important in times of adversity. In my own family, sometimes I wish I didn’t teach them since they were knee-high to talk about their hopes, fears, dreams and everyday thoughts. I remember envying my friends who shared with me that they barely talked or saw their kids when they became teenagers as each one self-isolated in their own room with their electronic devices. I created a rod for my own back by insisting that we have only one television in the home and all homework to be done in the living area and all electronic devices to be left out of their bedrooms by 9 pm. My family talks - all the time. As I prepared meals, all three of them   would seat themselves around the kitchen counter each one trying to present their happenings of the day. Sometimes, when my brains were a tad tired after work at the end of the day, I would suggest to my sons to please spare me the long version but they wouldn’t listen. (No mum, the short version is not the same). When other youngsters were interested in electronic games, we enjoyed playing board games. With just one television at home in the lounge room, we had to compromise as a family and watch shows together. Even now, my assistant puts calls through me at any time of the business day as I listen to them share their stories from other parts of the globe. So for us, now, it pretty much feels as normal as it is back to the good, old days. However, if your family does not communicate much, maybe now would be a good time to bring them together for short periods of time  to practise family time. You could watch a tv show together, play a popular board game, cook, garden, exercise or best of all do storytelling where each one can share stories about their lives, past or present. 

When this time in history passes on, as it will, statistics about international death rates, government restrictions, the actual constitution of the Corona virus or by how many points the economy tumbled, will be faded memories. What will remain etched in every individual’s minds is how people made them feel. At the end of this lock down period, however long it stretches to, everyone, especially our children,  will remember this experience as a positive or negative one. With our family members, we often take them for granted - sometimes we allow our masks that we put on for the outside to fall when I side our homes as we show our nasty side by becoming impatient, frustrated and short-tempered with the ones that are most near and dear to us. While this inappropriate and unpleasant side of us can probably be excused when we are leading a hurried and hectic schedule, there is enough time now to exercise patience, respect and good manners in the close confines of our homes. When this whole pandemic episode is over, let our families remember that the time of the virus was the best time of their lives as they reconnected and strengthened blood ties. 

Without any warning, man has been brought down to his knees. Nature has finally flipped her lid that was holding back her seething and festering anger.  We are being stripped of our sense of normality: jobs, lifestyle, schedules, routines and peace of mind. However, everything can be taken away but if are left with one structure that remains standing and held together by love that is called family, we will overcome this plague of the virus. So, admittedly, this vile ‘thing’ has indeed changed our lives as we know it but the love we have for family will keep us together forever. 

Have a fabulous week and remember, folks, to put family first in these trying times. 

Lessons to be Learnt from Mother Nature

Mother Nature may be forgiving this year, or next year, but eventually she’s going to come around and whack you. You’ve got to be prepared.               Geraldo Rivera

Well, what do you know. A social media post I read recently summed the present crisis we are going through with the Covid-19 virus so well: it spoke about Mother Nature sending us to our room to think about what we have done to Earth. The social distancing and self isolation that are being thrust upon us is her way of getting us to look into ourselves and reflect on our hurried and hectic lives on the Rat Race Highway. 

Our dear mother has tried many a time to scold us through hurricanes, cyclones, tsunamis, typhoons, droughts, floods, heatwaves, bushfires, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and melting ice but like disobedient children, we never heeded her warnings. Now, with the deadly Corona virus comes the thwack on the head, the smack on the cheek, the slap on the wrist or the kick in the butt. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned so maybe it is about time  we stop what we are doing and listened. 

As a pantheist,  I owe more to Nature than the scriptures. Nature is all embracing: We live in it, and it lives in us. We can touch it, feel it, smell it, hear it, taste it, know it and experience it. Therefore, for me personally, it is much easier to be in the moment, observe Nature and learn from it as it embodies all the lessons that we need to revisit. Lessons in life that the Corona virus, an offshoot of nature, is teaching us right now. 

As a parent, Mother Nature dishes out parenting advice that far surpasses any of Doctor Spock or Doctor Phil. It would do us well to slow down and walk with this parenting expert to learn some important life hacks about bringing up children. In her quiet, unassuming way she gently teaches us what matters in the grand scheme of things - you just got to slow down, watch and listen. 

I run three after-school tutoring centres and sometimes I have to arrange make-ups for missed lessons. A simple task, right? You would never believe how packed the kids’ lives are: amidst the dance, horse-riding, drama lessons, sports activities, acting, art, music and play dates, there isn’t another spare hour in the week to fit a make-up lesson. The  kids are exhausted, they have hissy fits and sometimes they need to be cajoled into participating into various activities. Right now, the Corona virus is saying: Mums, slow down. Throw away the hectic schedules and take time to interact with your kids. Set aside some bonding time to do the food prep together, engage in reading activities and discussions afterwards, watch how the sun sets on a balmy evening, observe the spectacular colours of the lorikeet as it sucks the nectar from the bottlebrush tree, play in the rain or start a vegetable patch. Give them the space to simply be. They will still blossom and thrive naturally without all the so-called enriching activities.  

Once again, to borrow an example from my tutoring centres, we have students of all aptitudes and abilities as our business promises that we offer learning support so that your child can “catch up, keep up or get ahead”. Yet, most parents have a single-minded mindset that their kids must achieve all A-grades or be top in class. Children are like flowers - they are unique and come in all different shapes, colours and fragrances. Treat them like Mother Nature would. Be patient. Do not hurry their development. Nourish them with warm smiles, kind words and tight hugs and watch them grow. In their own time, they will unfurl their colourful petals to kiss the warm sun and bloom as big, bold and breathtakingly beautiful as they can be. 

In the recent catastrophic event of the worst bushfires that Australia suffered, thousands of people were displaced, too many animals perished and countless acres of forest land were scarred. Yet, amidst this adversity, there were these heart-warming images showing the resilience of nature: green shoots bursting through burnt bark and the life cycle started again. Nature was back in business. Be like Mother Nature:strong and resilient. Use the Corona virus pandemic to explain to our kids that sometimes the best laid plans in life goes awry but even though there are great losses, much inconvenience and a shift of our priorities, this too would pass. Instead of making as if they are burdens because of the school closures, we should seize this wonderful window of opportunity to teach them to weather the storm by readjusting their sails. For deep roots to take hold and grow strong, the wild winds have to batter the tree mercilessly. Only in hardship, can we become tougher and more likely to meet other challenges that will inevitably threaten us later in life. 

Our Australian prime minister has just announced that as a society we are possibly looking at a lock-down that could stretch as long as six months. Can you imagine contending with a house full of kids for that length of time? I think the Corona virus is going to kill more relationships than patients  and send many parents to meltdowns if not mental institutions. During this time, maybe it would be timely to teach kids about the joys of nature like in the good old days. We spent a lot of time outdoors, we ran around, played hide-and-seek, climbed trees, swam in rivers and lakes, made  up our own games (more-so dictated by finance rather than ingenuity) and never had the time to get bored. And even if we did get bored, we never complained to our parents; we dealt with boredom as it was just another state of being like happiness, sadness or hunger. Pampering our self-entitled kids with more stuff must stop - this is a timely opportunity to let them feel how the have-nots live. 

For far too long, we have been racing along at break-neck speed. This virus scare is a reminder from Mother Nature to take stock of ourselves; do an inventory of what matters most. You would have to agree it’s our health, family, human relationships and peace of mind that should take precedence and not mod-cons, consumer goods, egos or self-interests. As unpleasant as life is right now, may our children learn the simple, old fashioned values in life. Like nature intended. 

To conclude I borrow the immortal words of Albert Einstein who said: Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better. Now, it is up to us to emerge from our rooms and acknowledge whether we have learnt our lessons in self-correcting the equilibrium of nature or not. Like any parent, Mother Nature is caring and forgiving but sometimes even unconditional love has its limits. 

That which doesn't kill us, makes us stronger

“A great disaster is a symbol to us to remember all the big things of life and forget the small things, of which we have thought too much.” Jawaharlal Nehru

At this time, the C-word is everywhere: dominating all headlines, leading television newscasts, in conversations both intra-personal or digital so the corona virus or the Covid-19 naturally makes up my motivational piece this week. As much as I avoid negative topics, I am forced to face the current one which is inflicting so much fear, panic and hysteria globally. 

As I write, the current world-wide statistics are: there are 168958 recorded cases and 6492 deaths but looking on the bright side, 76585 people have recovered and with more constraints put in place, we hope that that will help to “flatten the curve”.

The good ol’ fellow, Winston Churchill, reminds us that in challenging times we need to look outside the proverbial compass for solutions when he said in the aftermath of the Second World War: “Never let a good crisis go to waste”. The reality of the situation is that whilst we feared another World War to bring us to our knees, we are facing head-on the devastation of “microbes instant of missiles” as Bill Gates prophesied in 2015. 

Inasmuch the landscape has been clouded by this novel corona virus, there are a lot of good things to come out of it too. Around the world, the balconies of Assisi and Sicily are filled with song and dance as the Italians cope with their country’s lockdown, for the first time the once polluted air of Wuhan in China has cleared up to reveal blue skies, South Africa has latched on to another topic of complaint besides “load shedding” and closer to home in Australia toilet paper has assumed a new level of importance in the form of memes and a timely distraction from the recent droughts, floods and bushfires that have saturated the psyche of our country. 

Nationally, the government’s call for clampdowns on air travel, banning of large scale public gatherings, cancellations of concerts and sports fixtures and minimising visits to public places, there is an opportunity to reconnect to family. Rather than looking at the downside of “social distancing”, embrace the precious time to interact with family. For far too long, the hustle and bustle of work and school life have hardly left us with any time to converse, to learn more about each other or to spend time harmoniously creating treasured moments through games, hobbies, crafts or cooking. Maybe there will be such an overload of time that we may indeed get tired of our devices and spend more time with family like in the good old days when life was so simple. Most importantly, there is nothing like a nasty virus to reinforce practices of good hygiene in the home. 

Within our community the so-called enemy virus has set in motion changes that we hope will continue long after this dreaded disease has died down. Concerned citizens in Facebook groups are offering help to the elderly to assist them with their shopping, generous people are sharing their consumables even though they don’t have too many rolls, bottles or tubes themselves, people in the know like health professionals, technology experts and education professionals are putting out important information for families to cope with this new plague and religious organisations like temples, churches and mosques are stretching out their hands to help those that are most vulnerable to the virus. The most wonderful thing though is getting to know our neighbours in a more open and sincere way when hitherto we just nodded or waved in greeting. 

In our industrialised society, factories are closing down and decreasing the rate of carbon emissions, the roads are getting quieter and the air cleaner with travel kept to a bare minimum, new practices are being implemented at workplaces where the idea of working from home is proving to be more convenient, restaurants and takeaways may be losing business but the joys of good, wholesome home cooking has been resurrected, the economy is slowing down and will inevitably push some businesses to bankruptcy but with this a whole new window of opportunity is opened up with enterprising entrepreneurship and creative cottage industries. 

As individuals, this uninvited disruption to our daily lives has been so good to stop, listen and take time to self-reflect. It allows us to focus on the moment instead of racing ahead and paying attention to regular scheduling, work goals, must-meet deadlines and burning ambitions. By no means am I trivialising future aspirations but sometimes we seem to be so focussed with our eye on the summit that we fail to enjoy the joys the mountain roads avail us like the breath-taking vistas, the beautiful wild flowers or the clean, fresh mountain air. 

As unwelcome as the virus is, it reminds one that even in death, there can be the rebirth of love: to love your family by starting new conversations that will improve connections, respect and gratitude to your parents, long lost or ignored relatives and siblings who are often taken for granted, to love your community by offering help and much-needed support, to love your friends by looking out for them and using the time to nurture authentic relationships, to acknowledge the mighty presence of god and the enormous power of nature but above all to love yourself. 

Take time to open the windows of your soul to pamper, preen and pimp yourself in mind, body and soul so you emerge from this whole debilitating catastrophe with renewed vigour and vitality. 

Didn’t German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche eloquently stated: “That which does not kill us, makes us stronger”? I know full well that Kelly Clarkson’s lyric was inspired when her boyfriend at the time ditched her for another girl but with the new terminology like “social distancing”, “self isolation” and “flattening the curve”, this song could very well be the theme song for the corona virus so let’s end this post on a happy note and sing along if you know the tune:

You think you got the best of me

Think you had the last laugh

Bet you think that everything good is gone

Think you left me broken down

Think that I'd come running back

Baby you don't know me, 

'cause you're dead wrong

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller

Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

What doesn't kill you makes a fighter

Footsteps even lighter

Doesn't mean I'm over 'cause you're gone

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, stronger

Just me, myself and I

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Stand a little taller

Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone

So while our guest, the corona virus, is here, no handshakes, high fives or fist pumps, do it in the age-old tradition of the Indians: bringing the open palms together and saying Namasthe (meaning “I bow to you”). 

Namasthe, Folks!

“Just one slap?”

I am not a fan of Bollywood movies so when Ayesha Shahzad, who helps me manage my Kip centres, suggested that I accompany her to the movies last Saturday night with the invitation of “I think you will enjoy this movie because it is thought provoking”, I conceded rather glibly. I am glad I went to Australia Fair Event Cinemas to see the Hindi movie, “Thappad” (The Slap) which fortunately came with sub-titles as my knowledge of the Hindi language only goes as far as “Namasthe”. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie that was so anti-Bollywood style: no song and dance, no focus on hero-heroine relationship, no star-studded cast and no exotic locations. Thought provoking, it was indeed.

A montage of domestic bliss plays out in the lead couple’s affluent home with the daily morning ritual of Amrita, the wife, getting up to make the lemon grass and ginger chai for her husband, Vikram, and then dutifully bundling him off to work as he drives his Mercedes to his corporate job. In spite of being a highly educated woman and a talented classical dancer, Amrita chooses to be a domestic goddess selflessly serving her husband who incidentally starts off the movie as being quite an affable chap. He is loving towards his wife, caring to his diabetic mother and respectable to his in-laws. However, halfway through the movie, a pivotal moment occurs with Amrita on the receiving end of a thunderous slap from her incensed husband because she dared tried to quell the quarrel he was engaged in with a colleague at the party held at their home to celebrate his promotion. Since the rest of the movie revolves around this highly charged and humiliating moment, director Anhubav Sinha, takes pain to choreograph this significant scene with all his cinematic prowess. As the camera pans to the shocked faces of the 40-odd party guests, the sound is turned off and a close-up of Amrita’s equally incredulous countenance does not bode well for what is to follow.

“Thappad” is the silent slap that society needed, and a timely reminder for International Women’s Day, that it is not okay to stay quiet about domestic violence even if it was “ just one slap”. It is in the aftermath of this cataclysmic slap that Amrita questions the sacrifice she has made to suppress her own aspirations for her go-getter husband’s ambitions of landing the London promotion post. She questions the wrongness of what transpired despite being told by her mother, mother-in-law and even the high powered divorce lawyer to forget about it and just get on with life - “it was just one slap, right?”

The lead female, Amrita’s life is juxtaposed with sub-plots of other women which adds to the complexity of the storyline. Although these women occupy different spheres of society the thread that stitches the tapestry of the self-sacrificing female’s lot in a patriarchal society is easily recognisable: the servant who is repeatedly beaten by her brutish husband, the corporate lawyer’s submission to her drunk husband who reminds her that she is only successful because of his family name, Vikram’s mother who is separated from her husband and even though Amrita’s parents seem to be happily married, we are reminded her mother had to forsake her dreams of being a singer to play the part of a dutiful wife.


This multi-levelled movie plot does not centre around just on “the slap” but is based on the sacrifices of a woman. It is based on issues like domestic violence, marital rape, and even small dreams which a woman sacrifices for her marriage.  By no means is this a feminist movie as the film doesn’t try to make men look bad. Vikram is a loving and responsible husband throughout but he pays the price for not understanding and appreciating his one thoughtless move when his hand veered the wrong way. He puts it down to the stress of his high-powered job and stubbornly asks why can’t his wife understand and forgive him since he has invested so much of time and effort into his career. This infuriates Amrita even more as she retorts “what about the time and effort I invested in this marriage?”

I especially loved the portrayal of Amrita’s soft-hearted father (Kumud Mishra) who reminded me so much of my father who doted on his daughters. He seems to be the only only one except for Amrita’s soon-to-be-sister-in-law who supports her as she files for divorce. The beautiful love that he shows his daughter while expertly masking the anger he feels towards her mistreatment and the poignant scene when he escorts her to court for the divorce hearing nearly (but not quite) brought tears to my eyes. By the way, Ayesha, was a blubbering mess at least for the better part in this tearjerker of a movie.

With the volatile subject of domestic violence, this movie could have easily escalated to passionate, over-dramatisation but it is restrained with its subtle nuances thanks to the superb acting of Taapsee Pannu who plays the wronged wife, Amrita or Ammu as she is affectionately called, as she suffers her quiet hurt stoically. Equally brilliant, is Pavail Gulati, who fits in so naturally in his role of ambitious husband, Vikram. It is a film worth watching for the whole family: for husbands to realise the folly of their chauvinistic and misogynistic ways, for wives to unshackle themselves from their submissive roles as overlooked spouse that have been passed on through each successive generation, for sons to accord due respect to the woman he marries and for daughters to realise her self worth so that she too can stand up and walk away even though it could be a casual “thappad”.

While this movie doesn’t fall into cliched traps like the bad husband, the mean mother-in-law, the wronged wife taking her husband to the cleaners with the divorce settlement, it still manages to so effectively and seamlessly question male entitlement. I think it is about time that more Bollywood movie-makers ditch the escapist formula and instead work on more stimulating, social dramas like this that not only celebrates the dignity and importance of women but also act as catalysts for their improved status.

Why Autumn is my favourite season

"Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all." —Stanley Horowitz

Yesterday, autumn arrived quietly. I like autumn - it is undoubtedly my favourite season. In Australia, autumn not only brings respite from the heat and humidity of summer but it slows down the pace as we transition to the new season. While summer is synonymous with a hive of activity and cacophony, autumn enters silently and spreads her soothing arms to imbue a sense of calmness and peace before the chill of winter sets in.

I like the quiet and clear days when the sun hangs low and makes the trees glow. And as summer’s light dims and the leaves begin to fall, I like autumn’s reminder that a meaningful life isn’t only about transition, but also about productivity, completion and letting go.

One of my fondest memories I cherish is our time spent in New Zealand where we resided in the beautiful, picturesque suburb of Cambridge in the North Island. Most of the residents there were of English descent so had a penchant for growing deciduous trees that changed its colours during autumn. I used to love pushing Kim on her stroller through the tree-lined streets of the neighbourhood to drink in the beauty of Nature’s spectacular, colour palette. As the season progressed and the air got crisper, I would notice the subtle changes in the foliage of the field maples , silver birches and the English oak and elm trees.

In this season of unparalleled colour, the vibrant green of summer soon gives way to the earthly and rich tones of autumn: amber, russet, carmine, carnelian, auburn, crimson, scarlet, sepia and feuille morte. Oh, what a rhapsody of colours as the liquid gold of the late afternoon sun enhances the picture perfect autumnal vistas with its Midas touch.

Tis the season of inner calm and a kindly stoicism etched in memories of joy. Another flashback that warms the cockles of my heart is of the rapturous delight I had when I raked in the leaves shed by our avocado trees in our backyard of my childhood home. As I inhaled the strong earthly and homely aromas, I couldn’t wait to jump on the mountain of withered leaves as it crackled deliciously. The huge frog leap on the mound of rustling leaves at the end was more than ample pay as fruits for my “labour”.

Summer trees are laden with fruit that hang like bejewelled adornments and accessorised with colourful flowers while spring sprouts green shoots of new life everywhere. Autumn, not to be outdone, reacts regally by transforming her foliage into colours of burnished copper, rust, bronze, brass and gold. It is a second chance to bloom, for the green to glow with new hues as pretty as any petal. And as the inevitable happens when autumn must shed this coat of many colours too, she is still breathtakingly beautiful as she stands stark naked in her glory before nature where every limb and ligament of her branches are open for scrutiny. She sashays her final farewell as her leaves of caramel, chocolate and mocha tumble in wistful abandon before the landscape is claimed by a wintry embrace.

The cycle of nature which dictates the forceful letting go of what was new and green only months ago, would be a time of such sadness and mourning if it were not for the parade of the riot of earth-centred hues, shades, tints, tinctures and tones in this carnival of colours. Instead it is a gateway to rebirth, to renewal, to redesign and to rejuvenation.

As the leaves change colour and fall to the ground, we can take some lessons from this season on letting go. By shedding their old leaves, the trees allows for new growth in spring-
what a wonderful metaphor for allowing yourself to let the past go. The past sadness, trauma, anger, bitterness, hatred, unreconciled relationships, old clutter, whatever it is, there’s power in allowing it to go. After all, it’s nature’s way to welcome in the new into your life which will rejuvenate, recalibrate and re-energise you for another year. Just let go of objects, relationships and feelings without any regrets.

Autumn, the season of harvesting nature’s bounty, is also a timely reminder to give thanks: to nature for the riches it gives to sustain us, gratitude for the accomplishments and achievements in the work we have done and the gift of the universe in blessing us with family, good health and happy moments.

So as you seek cosiness and snug spaces with the dropping temperatures and cast away the summer salads to make way for hearty, comfort food, I hope that you like autumn as much as I do when things slow down to make time for inner reflection and spiritual growth.

Stay safe and stay warm as you have another fabulous week, Folks.