“Golf is the closest game to the game we call life. You get bad breaks from good shots; you get good breaks from bad shots -- but you have to play the ball where it lies.” - Bobby Jones. Some of my best friends are golfers. I’ve never quite understood the appeal—why isn’t mini golf enough? I can manage that just fine. Yet the metaphor of golf as life feels right. Whether we enjoy the game or not, we are all playing. We live with what we have, where we are, and what shows up

Be unapologetically you! “Do not seek for things to happen the way you want them to; rather, wish that what happens happen the way it happens: then you will be happy." - Epictetus I have never considered myself a stoic. And yet, in a heartfelt conversation with a dear friend today, she gently reflected back to me the way I move through life’s challenges. Her words lingered. Being a researcher at heart, I turned to good old Google and found this description: A stoic person r

“Remain calm, serene, always in command of yourself. You will then find out how easy it is to get along.” Paramahansa Yogananda Today was a banner day—not only here in India, but in the landscape of my entire spiritual journey. When I first picked up Autobiography of a Yogi over thirty years ago, I read it with three companions: awe, skepticism, and hope. I questioned the miracles. I wondered about the sages. I asked if the astonishing stories he told—stories that defy t

“We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” – Anaïs Nin Tonight, as I sat in deep conversation with my dear friend Nivritti, this quote echoed through my heart like a temple bell. It landed with such force and clarity that I felt my entire inner landscape shift. Here we are—two women watching the same streets, the same people, the same colorful symphony of India—and yet perceiving it through completely different lenses. I look at India as a guest in a sacred l

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come without leaving happier.” —Mother Teresa Today my heart was touched in the most tender way. As I continue my journey here in India, I find myself observing the beautiful ways love expresses itself in daily life. One soul who embodies this so naturally is my dear friend and host, Pracheta. I have watched as neighbors and friends appear at her door simply to say hello, yet they leave transformed—lighter, brighter, smiling f

“Let me not pray to be sheltered from dangers, but to be fearless in facing them.” Rabindranath Tagore Today was a good day—because I chose it to be so. Here in India, the dawn greeted me earlier than I expected, wrapped in a kind of gentle freshness that whispered, “Begin again.” I sat quietly and listened. India speaks in a language of sound—unfamiliar, enchanting, ancient. My ears strain at first to name what they’re hearing, yet somehow the rhythm feels strangely famil

Outside the gudwara “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. Kahlil Gibran It was a sacred day for my beloved host family—a celebration of sweet Vanya’s sixteenth birthday. In this culture, family is not simply a bond; it is a living temple of love, honor, and devotion. As the clock struck midnight, we gathered around her with joyful voices and warm hearts, singing into the new year of her life. But the re

Pray for peace “Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” —Will Rogers As I woke this morning to the first day of the final month of the year, a wave of emotion washed over me. How can it be that a year so rich, so miraculous, so full of Divine surprises is nearing its close? I have lived many firsts, fulfilled long-held dreams, and witnessed miracles that still take my breath away. And yet, woven into the beauty of this year has been the turbulence felt around the wo

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” ― Ernest Hemingway As I sit here in India, in a land that vibrates with ancient wisdom and whispers from sages long gone, Hemingway’s words sink deeper into my heart than they ever have before. What if our greatest calling is not to outshine another human being, but to outshine the version of ourselves we were yesterday? What if true nobility is quiet, humble

“If we could simply live in the light of our bodies being temples of the Holy Spirit, our daily life would be transformed.” ― Elizabeth George Growing up in the American “Bible Belt,” I was surrounded by churches of every size and style. Yet I never truly understood what a temple was—not in the sacred, energetic sense—until much later in life. Now here I am, in India, a land said to have anywhere from 650,000 to over 2 million temples, each one a heartbeat of devotion. Toda