01Feb 2018 by aryask@gmail.com

Friends are fuel

gratitude, mindfulness, patience, self-awareness
Recently, I’ve found myself in a bind with my work-life situation in China. Without going into details, I’ll say that it’s been tough, like dragging my soul around. Difficult to wake up in the winter mornings. Then as I'm keeping afloat during the day, my heart would reignite into joy and drown the despair. It’s been a series of ups and downs and I've set hope aside for now. Hope and expectation have fueled the roller coaster. Some say there are greater forces at play and some say it's just a part of growing up. Whatever it is, I've kept a steady habit of stepping back and just being grateful. My friends have been enormously helpful with their pleasant words and gestures. Without friends, my NowHere project would just be…
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01May 2017 by aryask@gmail.com

Meeting rage with vitality

empathy, mindfulness, patience
Henry is in his alpha state of vitality and has been crushing it all morning. He's feeling good and focused. He gets into his car and slowly backs out of the driveway. He can’t see the incoming cars so he goes extra slow. A white van passes. He brakes, and slowly begins again. A second car comes and gives Henry a fury honk, quite lengthy and pointless really. Henry gently brakes and turns to look at the driver and it was a dumb cunt. Just as rage swells up, Henry’s alpha is still near and offers a vision of empathy. With a slight turn of awareness, he steps outside of himself and sees through the eyes of the girl thinking, “Maybe she thinks I was trying to get in her way. What’s in her way?…
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