DISQUS

Shalini · 8 months ago

Hi Maya,Too good. I am really inspired by your article and the fact that you are managing your kids and pets all by yourself. Here I am with my two boys, at my mom's place, and tons of people to help me, and still I crib a lot when Venky is travelling and Pranshu misses him :-(.

maya · 8 months ago

Hi Shalini!!


So nice to see your blog!! Nice to hear that Pranshu is doing so well with the baby. They turn out to be amazing helpers :)



Hope you are doing well. Liked Venky's post - and seems like we have a GG to balance your BB afterall ;)



I tried to comment on your blog but I cannot seem to just sign in without an openid username :(

Avani-Mehta · 8 months ago

Maya, sometimes it feels as if you mirror my thoughts and feelings. I can't think of anything to add to what keeps your fire burning. One thing I have noticed - whenever there is a storm within rather than calm, it's just me trying to get my attention. When I give myself some self-love, calm sets in.

ankur kakkar · 8 months ago

as always, your illustrations elucidate your viewpoint so eloquently that one feels like " I SHOULD START DRAWING ON MY BLOG AS WELL " !!

Davina · 8 months ago

Hi Maya. I enjoyed your journal entry, especially your mention of how the calm came from inside of you, rather than in relation to your outer world. I don't have a calm fire inside of me. It's usually raging wildly while I keep a calm exterior.

Barbara Swafford · 8 months ago

Hi Maya,I like this post, your drawings and how you described your calm.  I think it's the same as when I say I feel "content:", It's that same calm feeling when I know everything in my world will work out for the best. Although it's not something I feel all of the time, I have noticed with age it happens more often.  Happy Easter to you and yours.   

Tricia · 8 months ago

Beautiful, Maya. I believe what keeps my fire burning calmly is the same as what keeps yours tended. When my fire is disturbed, it's most always by something I did, some reaction I'm having and an inability to calm myself. I'll start to self sabotage, and then I need help from the people around me.

J.D. Meier · 8 months ago

I think the ability to manage and change state is powerful.I think one way is to "remember the feeling" but I think another important technique for peaceful calm is to have the right inner dialogue.  I find thoughts trigger emotions ... so if you want to change how you feel, change the questions (and questions change the focus).

Maya · 8 months ago

Hi Avani,Yes, it is often me asking for my own attention - which was a lot easier to give before I had kids ... :) Bu then, having kids has made me somewhat selfish - in a good way. I seem to understand that I shoudl take care of myself if I want to care for them :) Hi Ankur - I will wait for your doodles ;)Hi Davina, is that the unrest of passion that is inside of you or true unrest ?? I am almost jealous of the flow you exhibit on the outside with your writing ;)

Maya · 8 months ago

Barbara, Hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend! It is good to know the calm gets easier with age... I have not felt that way looking at my parents really - I always thought that age brought new insecurities that make life a lot harder for us ...Hi Tricia!Wow - you recognize self-sabotage so well. It took me a while to realize when I get in the cycle of self-sabotage. It is so important to have external strength and support at those times ...you are right ...I am not one to use outside help very often but I wonder what I'd do without my husband :) Hi JD,So true - that right inner dialogue is the key to going upwards or downwards on that spiral, isn't it? Probably explains why  I shut myself off from th eworld in times of serious self doubt ....

Vered - MomGrind · 8 months ago

I don 't think I have that. I sensed that you do - I could tell even before I read this post. My husband is my rock in many senses, which means I often feel lost an ungrounded when he's away.

Marelisa · 8 months ago

Hi Maya: Just recently I read that Harry Truman had a calm space in his mind that he would retreat to when the world was going crazy all around him.  It's interesting how we can create a safe haven inside our minds regarldess of what might be going on around us. 

Manasi · 8 months ago

Hey Maya,

I believe what keeps my calm fire burning is as simple as the joy of doing the right things, supporting the right cause and taking the right decisions at any given moment, seeing a smile on someone's face and then smiling away myself, I am calm when I am in the nature all by myself. A good awareness to what I generally am feeling at a particular moment is what gives me a signal whether I am nurturing the right thoughts or not. Good feelings come from thinking good and healthy thoughts and you are unruffled and undisturbed and are at peace with yourself. When I am feeling bad then definitely there are some unhealthy and bad thoughts disturbing me. So many a time, when I am depressed I try and exercise my mind to digress telling myself that I am unhappy right now coz I am not thinking right. So I tend to talk it out with myself coz at the end of the day the inner fire of calm kindled by me alone is more stronger and more powerful than the calm generall provided and kept alive by some external sources.
Manasi

Stacey / Create a Balance · 8 months ago

Do I have a fire of calm inside of me? At my core, I do have a fire of calm. Well, I'm not sure if it is a fire, but there is definitely a shining light of calmness. And then, when I'm not paying attention, my ego and the drama will swoop in to cause waves of chaos.

Positively Present · 8 months ago

Maya, I love your website. It's beautifully done and very inspiring!

<abbr></abbr><abbr>Positively Presents last blog post..don't settle for anything less than butterflies</abbr>

maya · 8 months ago

Hi Vered,


Yes , I feel mostly calm - but again - not always :) Isn't it amazing how people becomes such a part of us? It scares me soemtimes...



Hi Mare - I have to learn to find that space quicker - it takes too long sometimes :)



Hi Manasi - yes, bad thoughts kill me too - but the power of positive language is immense, isn't it? I used to be like you - nature used to calm me - but now,  it has been forever since I heard the quiet of nature ....with  the kids way too much goes on in life and I long to reconnect with nature once again!

maya · 8 months ago

Hi Stacey -


Haha - shining light of calm  is a great way to put it.

maya · 8 months ago

PositivelyPresent
Thank you so much! I appreciate you leaving me a note and saying that :)

Still Life in South America · 6 months ago

Hi Maya,

Your words always fill me with peace.

Like others have stated, your post reflect my feelings of late. I am a gentle person, and I am aware when the calming fire dims. It is as Tricia states when I have the, "inability to calm myself." I blow up scary scenarios in my mind and my heart is overwhelmed with dread.

There is no better feeling than the calm fire you speak of. Thanks for your thoughts.

<abbr></abbr><abbr>Still Life in South Americas last blog post..Peru’s Sacred Valley</abbr>

kathryn1951 · 4 months ago

i appreciate running across your comments, but i find that after many years of being a mom and a wife i am now by myself with my pets. i find that having worked for over 35 years my savings are gone, my home and a few others due to two divorces are gone, too. i worked hard to do the right thing yet i find i wonder what for? always concerned about money with so-called abundance all around, always robbing peter to pay paul no matter how much i work. what would you do should you find yourself with your children gone and not much communication? what about no husband? no home? no assets in material sense? i find that i make corn bread or take a walk, or drink a few beers (careful about that), listen to music on the internet (no tv and no radio except a portable radio with poor reception), fortunately free wi fi (no home now, but a small travel trailer i managed to keep all these years). then i look around and see more clothes than i can wear, plenty of blankets and a couple of beautiful quilts, but at times very little food, yet i manage, use mayonaisse for oil in a home made batter bread, plenty of "emergency tuna" and a few noodles. i have water, feet that still walk easily, eyes that see the birds and the bay that is near, even if it means walking to it, since no vehicle due to no money for insurance, must make the payment. getting ripped off by creditors, yet i am honest, and say i do what i can. hearing of high paid movie stars and sports people; i do not listen too often and i do not watch movies. look up old celebrities and see how much trouble they are in! even with all their money. i think of patients i have had who suffered for no reason, greedy doctors. yet from time to time kind souls who seem to truly care, or a patient who actually feels better about my being there. nasty coworkers for no good reason. my jealousy of many yet my ability to realize it and get through it. family who turn a deaf ear to my problems when i finally express them and ask for help; no good reason, i have not abused them either emotionally or financially, ever. so, i wonder what is wrong with me or is it them? yet, slowly i can release that, very slowly, just to say, it is them, they are fearful for many reasons, some are selfish, most are fearful, and even though i do not matter much to them and never have, and so they lost the love i could have given, afraid to say such a thing, but it is true. i am kind, not perfect by any means at all, but considerate and caring and often very compassionate to see their side of their fears, so that is greater than their lack of caring for me, does this make sense?

so, these are my journal comments for today. i, too, have some type of inner strength, inner quiet fire that keeps me going, not sure why; even the pets are not enough of a reason, but i find that i can enjoy just the simple things and so despite my tossing and turning in my sleep with worry far too often, i get up, afraid, but shake myself out of it, and try again for another day.