Posts

The Truth about Identity

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Identity. It's a loaded word when you think about what it entails; there are so many layers to it. Your personal identity includes the way you see yourself, and it's intertwined with your self-image . It is important to each of us because it affects the way we feel about ourselves and how we behave in challenging situations. I'm writing this post because I've been thinking about my identity a lot, especially in the context of my husband, Mat's, over the past few months. Mat requested I get him the  African Ancestry  genetic test for Christmas when I asked what he wanted a few months ago. He knows his parents moved here from Jamaica when they were young, but he doesn't know where his forefathers came from . I've thought about identity a lot ever since I met him because I was falling in love with someone who wasn't Indian. I was worried that marrying someone who wasn't Indian would make me lose my culture. Instead, I've noticed that i...

Living with Chronic Pain

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This post is about a highly sensitive topic for me. It's sensitive because I don't like to dwell on it for too long. It's as much a part of my life now as the air that I breathe. For a long time, I became very emotional anytime someone brought it up. It’s true what they say, when you're diagnosed with an illness that you will be battling for the rest of your life, you go through the five stages of grief. A part of me was left behind at that moment in time. When I was 25, I felt like I was going to live forever. I never contemplated my mortality until all of this began. I'd mourned the loss of my grandmother who became paralyzed after a fall, but this was different, I was mourning my innocence. Now, after having reached the stage of acceptance and also because my current medication, Tysabri, suits me exceptionally well, I can say with humility and gratitude, that I would not alter my diagnosis. I say this with certainty because the diagnosis set off a chain o...

Bearing Witness to 'Bloom'

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This post, my first post, is about a divine messenger of strength, authenticity, and peace. This messenger also happens to be my husband, father to our almost 2 yr — old, and musician known as Mateyo. I have been privy to witness not only the inception and creation of ‘Bloom,’ but also the blooming of Mat as an artist in his own right. One day, on our drive down to Virginia Beach, Mat told me to open the Notes app on my phone because we were going to write a song together. With no experience in songwriting, he played the beat and asked me how it made me feel. He asked me to elaborate or summarize what I said and provided me with guidance on how to make my thoughts fit with the beat. I'll never forget that ride down to the beach because we wrote 'Optix' together that day. To know Mateyo is to see the embodiment of all dreams coming together in the end if you work hard, practice patience, and trust the process.  Mat started playing drums at his church in New Rochelle, NY w...