Till Our Next Meeting

2014 was an enlightening oxymoron of sorts.  It was of miracles and magic, the everyday kind that can take you by surprise, the kind you could miss if you were too busy thinking, planning or just being stuck in your head. A sweet old lady, bound in a hospital bed for weeks, and her husband climbing in every single day just before breakfast is served and slipping out just after visiting hours finish. Her family was told she was dying, unresponsive to treatment. They take shifts so she is never alone and without a prominently prompting incident, she makes a complete turnaround and heals herself. A miracle, just like that. Or one day you wake up, and without changing out of your pyjamas, step out to greet the powdery white snow falling from the heavens. Eyes blink twice, thrice, in disbelief. Tongue sticking out, I taste it and think “Oh it doesn’t taste like much, just water,” and then proceed to frolicking and dancing because it’s just. magical. And then those sporadic moments - whi...

Magic happens..when you..just be. Despite the risk of sounding like a lazy yogi, I’ll say it, my favorite pose is the Shavasana or the corpse pose where you lie down, tilt both palms to face the sky, relax all the muscles, release every tension in your body, open your heart and let the energy of the universe course through your entire being. It teaches us to truly lie in tranquility and accept. And these things are more difficult than we think. Acceptance doesn’t come easy when we live in a world that teaches us to ask why, when more of the exploration has been outward, to space and beyond, rather than inward, and especially when it necessitates letting go. After all, it’s always easier and simpler to hold on to what’s familiar and comfortable. But fear not, as when we do, it allows for more space to grow, more space for the universe to fill.  Running around Albert park is an activity I’ve gotten so accustomed to - I know all the turns, all the risky parts where a black swan can ju...

Like the sun’s rays in a sky filled with clouds, sometimes kindness just resonates and shines through. Amazingly ___. You could never string those two words together and combine them with my name to come up with a correct description of me. I never really had a very pronounced and astounding quality. But I always liked to think that for a multitude of predisposing factors as well as nature’s workings, I came out to have a good heart. Hence, I can say I am kind. I think. *wink* Working in a very multicultural environment has recently posed a challenge: how to overcome language barrier to still demonstrate care. I cannot overemphasize my love for words. I used to read the dictionary growing up. And talking, I always thought was the best and most effective way to communicate. (Sometimes, I’d even google translate my phrases to be able to talk to a patient) But I found that to be tedious especially when the patient starts rambling about with the notion that I can speak her language. In the...

It was sometime during my first week at my new post, the hospital. It was sometime after I began to feel a sense of fulfilment in what I was doing. It was sometime after I finished a morning shift, in between heading back to the apartment and pausing to reflect after I had gone to the place “where prices are down and staying down.” Unlike most Melbourne days, there weren’t much clouds in the sky. The horizon was so clear that one could actually see the stark difference of colours in the sky as the sun was taking a bow. (DAMN MY KEYBOARD IS MAKING ME TYPE IN BRITISH ENGLISH) Buckets of orange, red, yellow and blue splattered amid the towering buildings. People were, in a quick but still relaxed pace, crossing the street and heading into the old Flinders station. Trams keot passing by while the Yarra river stood still as always. And I sat still too. I was on the steps of the bustling Fed square, taking it all in.  Then this calm and simultaneously joyous feeling swept through me - MY...