By the Book: Lessons from an 86,000-word journey
At that moment, though, putting 70,000-plus words to paper seemed too daunting, too intimidating. What if I couldn't finish?
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Dheepa
Dec 15, 20222 min read
This One's for You -- Yes, You!
You have been part of my journey. You have helped me embrace the title I nervously claimed six years ago.
Dheepa
Sep 8, 20225 min read
Earth Love: Getting to the Other Side of Ecological Grief
I took a deep breath, spread my fingers wide, and placed my palm directly upon the glacier. At first, the chill was pure pleasure, sheer...
Dheepa
Jun 3, 20227 min read
Finding My Voice
Why, in the moments that authenticity and honesty were most called for, did my voice disappear?
Dheepa
Mar 23, 20225 min read
The Path of the Monarch
Sue stood at our door, holding an odd-looking plant with a green stem and a dangling pod. "It's for Raj," she said brightly, extending it...
Dheepa
Dec 31, 20212 min read
A Year-end Message
This morning, I was relieved to learn that my friends had marked themselves safe from Colorado's Marshall Fire. As the unthinkable slowly...
Dheepa
Jul 29, 20214 min read
Two Lifelines
"Want me to read your palm?" On a sofa in a gloomy college lounge, my study partner Nancy immediately stuck out a hand to be examined by...
Dheepa
Apr 15, 20214 min read
Kolam and Country: the art of welcome in modern America
For thousands of years, householders have knelt at entryways and drawn a template of creation — using flour to feed that same creation.
Dheepa
Feb 23, 20214 min read
Coming to Order: a Mother, a Daughter, and an Illness
I don't like what I'm hearing over Zoom, so I fiddle uncomfortably with my necklace, twisting it between my thumb and forefinger and...
Dheepa
Nov 17, 20204 min read
Braiding: a Caregiving Detour
I was always hesitant to wake her up. After all, she was a night owl — the kind that stayed awake long past midnight, every day. I'd look...
Dheepa
Oct 16, 20205 min read
I Love You to the Moon and Back
A baby macaque leaped onto a man's orange-robed shoulder and twittered to him animatedly. As I watched both monkey and monk, pink...
Dheepa
Aug 20, 20205 min read
Shout, Resist, Witness: the Power of Poetry
George Floyd's recent murder has sparked not only demonstrations, but also an explosion of poetry—written, spoken, shouted, screamed
Dheepa
Jul 9, 20203 min read
Breakage and Beauty: reconciling history and hope
Though our behavior has cracked these ideals profoundly, America doesn't have to shatter, nor does our love for her.
Dheepa
May 7, 20204 min read
Honor thy Mother(hood)
. . . an ancient knowingness — that the raising and launching of another human being is an awe-inspiriting act and responsibility.
Dheepa
Mar 19, 20204 min read
Embracing the Virus
While I'm terrified at the harm it is wreaking, it has also cleared away much of my internal noise and nonsense.
Dheepa
Feb 20, 20205 min read
Finding Clarity: a Tribute to Ghee
Did I need this traditional aspect of my culture to be re-packaged and re-gifted by the western world in order for me to accept it?
Dheepa
Dec 10, 20195 min read
Moment by Moment
Composed of gleaming pearls and diamonds, it sits in my line of sight whenever I write at my desk. Each jewel represents a failure.
Dheepa
Nov 12, 20192 min read
Taking Note
When my son was seven years old, he left me notes. They were scrawled on multi-colored Post-it notes that he sneaked out of my desk...
Dheepa
Sep 19, 20194 min read
By the Book: when the facts obscure the truth
Those facts about Europe would have been accurate, yet I would have missed the truth.
Dheepa
Aug 8, 20196 min read
The Winter of the Great-Grandmother
I have both a heritage and a legacy. And I myself am the thread unfurling in both directions, connecting both.
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