random
The Greatest Love Of All
It was the first time I had ever heard the song. It was my first year at university. It was late January, and I had been in Chicago all of three weeks, slowly coming to terms with the unreal winter temperatures. Barely 5 pm, it was already dark as I finished my last class [...]
25 Small But Amazing Things
If you are a cynic and live in a permanent state of complaining, this post is not for you. Or may be it is …. Silence of early, misty dawn Earthy smell of rain Tiny arms of a child wrapped around the neck Unexpected greeting from a complete stranger An old song triggering a happy [...]
Beautiful Ariis
It’s quiet. It’s the kind of quiet that seems to explode in the ears, that deafening silence I am unused to after the constant background din of air-conditioners and traffic in Dubai. It’s green. Green everywhere you look, with fields stretching out as far as eye can see, crowned on the horizon by the Alps, [...]
Do you live like you eat?
It occurred to me the other day that the way in which consume food could be a compelling metaphor for the way we live. There are those of us who fill up so much on the appetizer that we tend to leave most of the main course untouched. It’s a bit like when we get [...]
The need to be right
It was only recently that I came across the Harry Truman quote “”It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” I must admit that I had a little self-conscious, nervous giggle to myself, uncomfortable recognition creeping through my self-righteous, I’m a mom-and-therefore-know-everything role. It occurred to me [...]
Stay Close
Last weekend, instead of couple date night, we had family date night. It wasn’t planned. In fact, it was almost a knee-jerk reaction – and a lovely one at that – to our tight foursome having been apart for a whole seven days. We didn’t do anything special. We had dinner al fresco, complete with [...]
Caught in the act
I recently wrote about listening, really listening. In conquering that difficult skill myself, I was amazed at how much I was missing, how much I was really not “getting”, and especially about people I thought I knew well. With the know-it-all judgemental filter off, not only did I get to discover some wonderfully quirky aspects [...]
Football: team tango
I watched my son at a few of his football training sessions. I watched as the coach took them through the skills, of moving the ball smoothly down the field in a carefully timed sequences. I watched week after week as this group of kids went from a mob chasing a ball, blindly running to [...]
My Somalia
Colourful garments, flowing scarves and beautifully wrapped guntinos, the Somali women’s national dress. Children with blindingly brilliant smiles,playing hopscotch in the red sand. Seven-day wedding feasts, celebrating with music and dance, eating together from large platters. Huge mortars of corn, the women singing along to the beat of the pestles as they lift and crush [...]
Lessons from Beyonce
On the first day of the Abu Dhabi Formula 1, the super-talented Beyonce lit up Yas Island in front of thousands of deliriously sweaty fans. No more than 15 metres from the stage, I was standing in the throng, defending a few centimetres of space, and holding on to high expectations. She met them. Effortlessly, [...]