“Please can we talk today” The message launched a flare of hope in my heart that had me leaping out of bed and brushing my teeth. As I caught up on the day’s news while I waited for her to respond, a cold chill wrapped itself around me. My Twitter timeline told the story. Our…
The euphoria of the new year, the promise of a fresh start has faded. Omicron has done its rounds. Masks are second nature when we step out (if we do). We are pros at swabbing our noses and testing at home. In the year three since the plague, the ‘before’ part feels nebulous, out of…
The New Year started with a wave of positive COVID cases around me, in my neighborhood, in my family and possibly in my home. As we rode out the cough, cold and the seemingly common cold like symptoms, I was beginning to feel like maybe, just maybe, this new Omicron could be the vaccine the…
This year has been a hard year, not necessarily because of the fear and anxiety that epitomized 2020 but because there was a dawning realization that CoVID is here to stay and we will be living with it for a long time. January started with the insurrection of the Capitol by a mob that believed…
Last night, after a dinner made by my husband, we drove through our neighborhood gawking at the holiday light displays. Some were classy, some gaudy, some muted and other blingy. As we cruised around slowly, I got to see twinkling lit up trees through the window, families gathered around the dinner table, TVs with some…
What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness. John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley: In Search of America Today the Sun ingresses into Capricorn. We move from the warmth and abundance of Sagittarius to the dark and restraint of Capricorn ruled by Saturn. The winter solstice marks the…
Read more Winter Solstice: In With The New, Out With The Old
This weekend, I sat in a theater for the first time in forever, my mask fogging up my glasses with my twin middle schoolers watching a documentary. Try Harder! follows five high schoolers as they navigate the junior and senior year of high school. This is not just any high school but one that is…
This past week, I was part of two separate women only gatherings. One, a dinner at a friend’s home where we hugged warmly on arrival and sat around in her family room catching up on family, kids and life. The mood was quiet, comfortable and intimate. We ate at the dining table trading compliments, holding…
In the year since I officially started studying and practicing #astrology I am often asked: Why Astrology?Why #Hellenistic astrology?Why now?Why do you believe in something that is not a science?Have you seen it work? I met @astrovibeswithneha in a class I take and we connected instinctively. We start most mornings chatting about the transits for…
Anupama Dalmia of Beyond The Box interviewed me on my journey to becoming a published author.
I have a question about safe haven laws. You can terminate parental rights by relinquishing a child after giving birth. The cases emphasized the burden of parenting. But women don’t have to parent if they don’t want to! Why don’t safe haven laws take care of that? https://www.businessinsider.com/amy-coney-barrett-asks-safe-haven-laws-solutions-unwanted-motherhood-2021-12 Amy Coney Barrett is a mother by…
Read more Amy Coney Barrett – Emblematic Of All That Is Wrong With Adoption
The end of November brings with it a sense of finality about the year. It is around then that I start taking stock of the year that has been and the year ahead. It is not quite the celebratory feeling that accompanies new year’s eve. This is sober, reflective and, has a gravitas to it.…
Early this morning I joined Savie Karnel for a conversation on childhood friendships, nostalgia, books and, why we write. I had a lovely time with an articulate group of children. Anupama Dalmia of Beyond the Box did a fantastic job of moderating the session. The recording can be found on Beyond The Box FB page.…
A chance conversation with my daughters’ mother yesterday had me thinking long and hard about the past eleven years that have defined my life, my identity and, influenced my creative work. With so much focus on adoption this month surrounding NAAM (National Adoption Awareness Month), I have been a curious onlooker. Early in my life…
I waffled a long time before typing in the title. I kept typing parent, erasing, and keying in mother. Eventually, mother won out because this is just my experience and it is tied to being a mother than a parent. What’s the difference you ask? I define the difference in terms of the load I…
I stood in my tie-dye pants, this nasty woman votes tee shirt, a vampire red cape around my neck, and a black witch hat on my head by my front window in the fading light. My face was lit by the glow of my smartphone as I glanced through my feed. It was still a…
“Mom! mom!!” Her excitement is contagious as she bounds down the stairs, her smile stretching from ear to ear, her eyes wide as saucers. I have my AirPods on as I listen to a masterclass on retrograde planets. I pause the lesson and slow my pace to take in what is happening. “The tooth fairy…
I pulled a card from my Smith Waite tarot deck when my youngest walked in, grumpy. “The tooth fairy did not come…” she complained. I cursed myself mentally for forgetting that her tooth had fallen out and she had written a note attaching a gift for the said fairy. I held her as she grumbled…
Often as I am on trains, I am fascinated by other trains passing by and the relative motion of the two trains as experienced by me. There is usually a moment in time when one train passes another, where I feel suspended, unsure of which direction I am traveling in. This week in celestial weather,…
Each new moon, the moon is literally reborn as it crosses the heart of the Sun and emerges as a baby moon, growing into fullness. The cycle repeats endlessly over time giving rise to the notion of New Moons as seeds that are planted that culminate at the Full Moon. Just like the moon, each…
Early this morning, I showered and got ready in record time for a couple of my friends to come pick me up. We were headed to a fundraising event by the newly launched Empower PAC to support our local candidates. One friend was delivering a speech, another was running for office. I was excited for…
Lakshmi Iyer 