This review touched my heart especially since my next book is a memoir exploring grief in the context of losing my first daughter. One of the questions I’m exploring in the memoir is, "Can joy and grief coexist?" Although Chai Chats is not about grief, it has some bits and pieces. Reading this review made me feel that what I’m writing about needs to be out in the world.
Past Week: I experienced the fruitfulness of a sprint. Just set a timer for fifteen minutes and write. Fifteen minutes sound like a blip in time for the massive amounts of work you might be planning to get done. However, it’s just enough to get you started and hopefully keep you going. This is especially useful if you have inner voices that prevent you from starting and stop you in your tracks. I wrote a blog post about a wrangle with my inner voices.
Looking forward: This week the holy month of Ramadan started. Muslims around the world fast from sunup to sundown for twenty nine to thirty days in this 9th month of the Islamic lunar calendar. When the new moon is sighted, it means the first day of Ramadan is the next day. A typical fasting day consists of waking up a bit before sunrise and having a nutritious meal coupled with water. Where I live, sunrise is around 5:01 AM and sunset is 7:33 PM, which means twelve hours without food and water. Since we are heading towards summer, the time between sunrise and sunset increases each day.
With the start of Ramadan, I become hyper aware of the moon cycle throughout the month and the sun’s position during the day. My body syncs with the natural cycles of the moon and the sun and I feel a synergy with these two powerful creations that are used to measure time. As I ease into fasting, I notice my rhythm changing. My physical needs are reoriented and I recognize the delicate balance between what is necessary and what is compulsive. Letting go of the unnecessary in the physical domain, I become rooted in developing my spiritual compass, which gives me a sense of renewed focus for the rest of the year. | 
