I attended an online writing retreat over the weekend. I was one of the few non-members who attended and also one of the younger attendees, even though I do not consider myself young anymore. One of the speakers actually read to us from the book(s), which was unusual for me - I f...
When I moved to London for my MBA at London Business School, I was exposed to swearing a lot more. Up until then, I had led a very sheltered life in which swear words never made their way, I guess. My friend used to swear a lot, and she switched to saying 'Fish' for a while befor...
My brother and his family are visiting India right now, and I am a little nostalgic because I am not with them. It is the peak of summer in India, which means time for mangoes and 'nongu', or ice apples. When my family was eating them in the village this time, one of our family f...
Imagine an elastic thread being pulled at both ends - when the first round of pulling happens, it's okay; after all, that is the purpose, right? The second round of pulling is still good, but with more rounds, there has to be a point where the thread snaps in two.
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As some of you may know, I took a new role \Read a bit about it in this blog(https://www.anumorris.com/2021/01/trickster-mind/)\. I changed my profession. And being the kind of person I am, I read a book called 'The First 90 Days' as I transitioned into my job. One of the exe...
'I was born into the Hebrew persuasion, but when I got older, I converted to narcissism' is a famous quote by Woody Allen.
He is more aware of the core belief than most of us, who harbour the belief that we are not in love with ourselves. The truth is we only love ourselves - t...
In the ten-day Vipassana(http://dhamma.org) retreat, Goenka Ji tells us a story about Kisa Gotami. Kisa Gotami was the wife of a wealthy man of Savatthi(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Savatthi). Her story is one of the more famous ones in Buddhism(https://en.wikipedia.or...
When you read a book, do you wonder about the blank spaces around the words? Do you wonder about the blank pages on which the letters appear?
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When you enter a room, do you think about the space in the room? When you use the furniture, do you think ...
Have you ever seen a new-born baby? For the first six months or so they have no idea of who they are, they are not aware of their legs and arms. One of my nieces used to pull her hair as a baby and start crying - unable to tear her hand and stop the pain.
Babies live in the NOW ...
Have you ever wondered why the CEO gets the corner office on the topmost floor? Have you ever wondered why everybody has to rise when Judge enters the room?
There is a distinct hierarchy everywhere - in hospitals, airports even in Restaurants: head chef and a sous chef, Pilot an...
There is a lot of news about the suicide of the Bollywood Actor - Sushant Singh Rajput. It has raised questions on the powerful few who own most of the industry - which movies make it, who is the hero etc. Soon after that, there was another post from a singer stating that it is t...
We are living in interesting times - something that is making history right now even as I write this blog.
India is in a 21-day lockdown, and some of the temples shut down a bit earlier. My parents told me that within a few days of the lockdown, wild animals started roaming in ...
I have talked about this topic in a few of my previous blogs. But every time I am in London, I am reminded of my global nomadic tribe despite living in Columbus. I cannot deny the almost visceral feeling that I am home while in London. Every fibre of my being relaxes knowing it h...
Check out this article first at this link(https://www.inc.com/magazine/20061001/column-guest.html)
The idea that it is life's job to keep moving the salt shaker off the center of the table and my job to keep putting it back at the center - is so to the point.
I knew about thi...
All of my paternal grandmothers have breathed their last in our ancestral village - the village where they were married into not the village where they were born. This topic was the talk of the town for quite a while. Even now somebody will say - it is very curious that all the d...
Have you ever had an experience where you had met a good friend(s) and left feeling more energized than when you entered the conversation? Have you ever watched a movie or read a book which inspires you to be creative and leaves your mind buzzing? Have you ever watched somebody s...
Have you your tried to clean something which has been covered with grime and dirt? One single swipe of the finger will not do it - neither will one single swipe of a cloth. It takes time. First, you might have to let it soak in some liquid for hours and then clean it layer by lay...
Do you remember something you wanted as a child? A toy, teddy bear, candy. And what about now? Do you still want it? Do you remember the first time your heart broke over love? Do you still feel the same angst? Do you remember the time when you fell as a child? Do you still have t...
I had written a post about Diversity and Inclusion(https://www.anumorris.com/?p=16339) a while ago. And I am still fascinated by the power of diversity.
I like to travel as some of you know - and I realized that for the last few trips we have always stayed at an Airbnb. I reme...
In Creativity and Personal Mastery(https://theraoinstitute.com/) course, prof.Rao tells us a story. A baby is happily drinking his bottle of milk. Let's say you take it away. The baby's face gets all red, and he bawls his little lungs out. There is no mistaking that he is upset...
Let's say you are a kid in a small town. As a kid, you are fascinated by every nook and corner of the town - the towering candy stores, the super busy traffic, and the tall adults that you look up to. Whether you want it or not you are exposed to new experiences and people.
As a...
I recently attended a Non Violent Communication workshop, and they used a couple of metaphors which I loved. First one was a Giraffe - there were things about Giraffe that I discovered. 1. Giraffes have an 11-Kg or a 26-pound heart. 2. Giraffes have a 1.8m or 6 feet long neck. 3....
Have you ever woken up in the morning deciding to make someone's else life hell? If yes, then it is better that you don't get out of bed. Jokes aside, earnestly when have we wished to hurt another person. If you are like an average person then your thoughts will be focused more o...
I would like you to meet our Shiba Inu pup - Aki (which means Bright Prince in Japanese). He is two years old, and honestly, I don't know what life was like without him. All the secret to success mantras like positive thinking, the power of thought Aki knows them all instinctivel...
"It is easy to fight a war, but it's the day to day life that wears us out." Like all things that have something to teach us this quote stayed with me. The words might not be the same, but it does convey the message. It is easier to tackle a big crisis than with the minutiae of o...
A bunch of us were talking about our holiday plans for the year-end. The person sitting on my left was telling me about how he and his wife had gone to Brussels and spoke to this young girl who was traveling Europe with just a backpack. And I responded with, "I didn't like Brusse...
Last Saturday our two year old pup - Aki decided he wanted to experience freedom. He wiggled free from his collar and went for an hour jaunt around the neighborhood. My husband, Adam trudged behind, coaxing Aki to come back. Aki is a shiba inu and they are known for their stubbor...
Adam and I were walking to a coffee shop downtown. I saw this lanky young man with a head full of thick curls walking towards us. He was talking non-stop and was holding onto his pants. As he walked past us I realized that he was talking to himself and not on bluetooth as I had a...
I have a hard time listening to others. I am very good at listening... to myself - I am beginning to realize that I love the sound of my own voice. And recently with the change in my role as a people leader I find myself coming back to the listening more and more. Maybe, its beca...
In our recent trip to London I could not help but wonder on how different my mind and body react to being in London. The tall buildings - crowds of people around you - the buzz of the tubes, buses which you do not notice anymore. I automatically start to walk fast, whiz through t...
We recently visited Ashville, NC. And this is our second trip. First time we were passing by and spent a day here exploring the downtown and cool eating places. To be honest it was a)Dobra Tea House(http://www.dobratea.com/) b)Chai Pani(http://www.chaipaniasheville.com/) that...
I am reading this book called 'Ego is the enemy(http://egoistheenemy.com/).' One of the speakers at my work mentioned this book and like all things that are on your path call out to you - this book did too. I have been fascinated by ego and always wondered if I have a big ego o...
Let's take a scenario: You have a early morning meeting at work. And for some reason you slept late the previous night and woke up late. You forgot to make your lunch and it's your turn to take the puppy out for a morning walk.
I am sure all of us have experienced the following ...
The story goes - Abraham Lincoln's brother wrote him a letter stating that he wanted to move from his current location because he didn't like the people, didn't like the place. His brother moved places and after a few months the same story and the same letter to Lincoln. Lincoln ...
When I was in London I took up Bikram Yoga and took it up with a vengeance - I went almost daily for two years until one day I decided it was too much and stopped doing yoga for six months. And now I practice Ashtanga Yoga at a more moderate pace. It is all about the golden mean ...
In one of my previous blogs(https://www.anumorris.com/?p=15715) I had talked about the 10 Paramis or Virtues. Today I want to talk about one of them which is
6\. Khanti: Patience May I ever be patient. May I be able to bear and forbear the wrongs of others. May I ever be toler...
As some of you know I am a big time bookworm - fantasy being my favorite genre.I devour good books like there is no tomorrow. I recently read the Demon Cycle series by Peter V.Brett(http://www.petervbrett.com/). Reason I like fantasy books is because they all have a spiritual, ...
Let's say you have a poisonous tree in your backyard - it is infected by some insect which is causing it to be poisonous. The infection is in the roots of the tree. You keep cutting the tree down and telling yourself that the problem is solved. At a superficial level it does look...
Imagine that a friend of yours has sent you a gift via Fedex. The Fedex guy rings the bell and SCENE 1: You accept the packet and thank the guy. SCENE 2: You invite him in, wash his feet, garland him, offer him the best sweets - do whatever he wants so that he will bring you more...
As some of you know I have started learning swimming. I can swim now - except the breathing part. I still use a swimming snorkel but I am more comfortable in water and have more stamina. When I first started off I couldn't even take 2 strokes and I was swimming next to little kid...
Growing up in India words like Gurus/Meditation/Yoga are white noise because a) they are so common- it's like asking a fish what is water (we might not know what it really means but we know) b) there are a lot of charlatans and you are always wary when these words are mentioned.
...
For a while I was into these quotes thing and I had picked up this greeting card at the yoga studio - it called out to me at that time. _"I beg you, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms ...
I remember when I moved to Columbus from London - it was an identity crisis of sorts. The first step was to recognize that my identity was tied to working as a Project Manager in British Telecom and having a MBA degree from London Business School. I identified myself with these t...
This blog follows the last one(https://www.anumorris.com/?p=15938) where I talk about the different ways in which we can accept or not accept other's judgements/opinions.
In this blog I am going to talk about how to increase the "effort" factor in implementing the different wa...
This blog follows the last one(https://www.anumorris.com/?p=15932) where I talk about the choice we have in accepting or not accepting the judgements from others.
In this blog I am going to talk about how we can exercise that choice. I will start with the quote from Ramana Mah...
In the 10-day Vipassana(http://dhamma.org) courses Goenkaji tells us some stories during the discourses. The one below is similar to the one Goenkaji narrates during the course.
_There once lived a great warrior. Though quite old, he still was able to defeat any challenger. Hi...
I remember my hindi teacher at school telling us this story. It went something like this: _There is a bus that is going from A to B. On the way to B it runs into a oncoming truck and everybody on the bus dies. People come running to the accident to help any survivors and all they...
We have a mentoring event at office and one of my friends is on the panel. He asked me if I could speak at the event for a few minutes and give my testimonial from last year. I obviously said yes - I love being in the limelight even if I obsess about it before. !(/images/Mentor...
It's Sunday evening and you are thinking about all the things that you haven't done. You have a busy day ahead and want to get to bed early but at the same time you have not had a break. Anyways you go to bed with the unfinished business hanging over your head.
You wake up in th...
As some of you might know I run a small business on the side which is teaching Bollywood Dance. As a part of that I got contacted by Bollywood Musical Company Taj Express(http://www.tajexpressthemusical.com/bollywoodmusical/) asking if I wanted to partner with them.
It was on ...
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It was summertime and I remember very vividly that my dad who is usually very fit kept sleeping for an entire weekend - non-stop. He had just made a trip to Delhi or some other city for business and when he came back all he did was sleep. His...
When I first met Adam one of the my very emphatic statements to him was that I am not going to cook. Coming from India where it is assumed that girls will grow up and cook for their husbands and family, I assumed that Adam had similar notions. I was all set to make it straigh...
This blog is dedicated to all the priceless entities. !(/images/16-priceless.webp)
Vipassana meditation(http://dhamma.org/) retreats that I keep mentioning in my blogs are free - they are run on a pay it forward or donation basis. You pay with what you can and pay only i...
Raymond Fiest(http://www.crydee.com/), one of my favorite fantasy authors writes in his book, "The Magician"
> we are the architect of our own prison
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What does he mean by that? Let me tell you a story.
A rich couple are blessed with a baby boy aft...
I practice Ashtanga Yoga - Mysore style. I started it in London at Hamish's studio(http://astangayogalondon.com/ayl-teachers/hamish-hendry/) who is one of the most content people I have ever known. And I admire people who are content - truly content with what they have because ...
1. An Adult is trying to learn gymnastics and during the back flip practice which she was able to do so well last class - she falls down.
2. An adult is trying to learn swimming and is having trouble blowing bubbles into water. So she does the bare minimum she can and then lea...