Travels in Vietnam

I can’t believe over a month has passed since I last posted on here. Time seems to have been an illusion the past couple of weeks— I traveled to Vietnam, my brother and sister visited, and Urban Light is busier than ever as our new staff and team took charge of some awesome projects and events. The rain has been consistent every day and I am amazed at the force it comes down at times. A foot of water in the streets is a common site these days. It’s raining right now and the sun is shining brightly over the mosque that sits on my soi— there’s a rainbow out there somewhere!

Vietnam was my first solo traveling experience and I was nervous about how it would all pan out. My nine-hour overnight bus ride to Bangkok to reach the airport (it’s much cheaper to fly out of Bangkok) could have been more comfortable, but I got lots of writing and reading in. Sleep was impossible; the uncomfortable seats weren’t entirely what was keeping me awake though. My twin brother, Darryl, had just arrived in Africa a week and a half prior and as a twin, the separation does get the best of me. We had our last hoorah in Thailand at the beginning of my journey and I was off on my first trip without accompaniment.

Continue reading

“Your Mind is All You Have” —- Living in the moment and free of worry

Check out this cool video from Sam Harris (author, neuroscientist, philosopher) explaining the need to “locate a feeling of fulfillment in the present.” Though the feelings of anxiousness creep up on me occasionally, mindfulness in daily activities takes me away from the what ifs of the future and past and allows me to enjoy the moment I’m in.

Mindfulness is easy to practice, and can even be done every time you eat, for example.

Turn off the radio, television, computer, tablet,  and other gadgets or distractions that may take you away from where you are at in this moment in time. Sit down at the table, and look at your meal, becoming aware of the colors and textures as the light reflects off the food and passes through your cornea to your pupils that have already adjusted to accommodate the intensity of light in the room. The light travels through your eyes’ lenses and on to the optic nerve where this mix of visible spectrum, which we have evolved to perceive, passes on to the visual cortex and is processed into what we understand as the image of food in front of us.

Continue reading