Dasha’s guide to mindful travel

First, you do not have plans.

Second, you travel by train somewhere not very far.

Third, you invest most of your energy in food.

Then you move only (and this is crucial) when you want to.

You eat some more.

Ambiguous Loss

My favourite essay (and one I consider to be among the best ever written) is  Joseph Brodsky’s In a Room and a Half. Brodsky describes how – after he was expelled from Russia – he and his parents were denied permission to visit each other for twelve years in a row, and even after they died, he wasn’t allowed into the country to be at their funerals. The essay is a collection of memories, pieces, fragments Brodsky remembered and wondered about his parents’ life, a reflection on the nagging, impenetrable pain caused by losing people to whom he was never able to say goodbye. Psychologists call this kind of loss ‘ambiguous loss’.

Ode to Ageing

It takes a lifetime to learn how to live. While figuring out what we can blame on our genetics, and the power of learning, hopefully, with each year we learn how to cope better. With our feelings, with the different ways of expressing our emotions, prioritisation, compassion, accepting randomness, and coming to terms with responsibility.

The Joy of Never Stopping Reading Children’s Books: Part 1

When I was little, I loved books with illustrations, books about creatures that were not like humans, books filled with wisdom – though never nagging – that sounded good and comforting, as if someone was pouring hot chocolate into my mug. Those were children’s books.