I have always believed that birthdays are not just another calendar year or notch on your life dateline. There is much more to it than blowing out candles on a special cake and drinking bubbly, both of which I love to do! I recently celebrated another birthday about two weeks ago with much gratitude! This …
Birthdays, More Than Candles, Cake and Champagne Read More »
The Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere will soon be here! After a few days of sunshine, the sky clouded over again with that unique Parisian steely grayness, that the impressionists painted so well, and my heart is filled with much gratitude for my blessings. The winter solstice is the day before our sun starts …
The Winter Solstice and Christmas. My Christian Perspective Read More »
Walking the labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral is a really wonderful mystical experience for those open to connecting to their soul path. I made it my sole purpose of going there to walk and spend the night to take in their famous light festival. I wanted to share my rather strange, unsettling and spiritual experience. …
Year 2020 has been a source of severe stress, uncertainty, sadness, and grief for those we lost. Yet, being grateful for what you Do have is a very powerful source of peace and wellbeing? It is so powerful that not only can it can boost your mood up a few notches, but even help …
By the time I arrived at Rue du Bac last Friday, blue and white balloons were bobbling in the air and there was already a crowd of people milling around the Le M de Marie carriage parked in front of Chapel of the Miraculous Medal. Spontaneous singing of Avé Maria filled the air in between …
Tomorrow is July 22, the feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, where many will gather in the Basilica of Saint Maximin la Sainte Baume and near her grotto in La Sainte Baume in southern France, to honor Mary Magdalene, as they have for ages. For me, July 22 has been a special day for a long …
Saint Mary Magdalene and La Sainte Baume; A Very Mysterious Place Indeed Read More »
Finally, I was Abbey bound! The bus driver, an obvious aficionado of blues and impromptu drummer took delight in pumping up the volume while beating the side of his chair to the rhythm of the music. A rather strange musical accompaniment cruising towards Saint Jacut de la Mer Abbey. The territory of Saint Jacut de …
Abbey Saint Jacut de la Mer, My Mini Retreat , Part Two Read More »
After the strict confinement in Paris finally was relaxed to some degree, I found myself craving to flee to the sea. Oceans for me offer the most healing and revitalizing energy available from mother earth! I first thought of Biarritz in the southern part of coastal France near the Basque country and the border of …
My Mini Abbey Retreat By The Sea Near Saint Malo, Part One Read More »
Anything I might have written about Paris these past weeks would have been grievously frivolous and trivial, given the immense racial violence exploding once again in America and the aftershocks in European countries. Perpetual racism, racial disparity, white privilege, and white supremacy remain scourges that are firmly rooted in white-dominated cultures. Being silent about the …
My very first time to arrive in Paris was the beginning of autumn many years ago, when I was a young and naive student. Though it was only September the 5th, I well remember the day. As soon as I stepped off the Air France plane, I was ill-prepared for the shock of the very …
My longings to return to Rocamadour took on a rather sudden mysterious calling again about 7 days ago. Out of the blue, I decided to go back to Rocamadour for another procession of Notre Dame de Rocamadour, this time to celebrate her nativity on September the 8th, which is a major feast day for Catholics …
If you have ever entered Notre Dame, perhaps you came away with something very personal to you. Notre Dame has always been more than a magnificent cathedral to me. Like many other suffering souls, I would bring my broken heart for the solace and comfort I found there attending Vespers and Mass. Yet, in the …
My Spiritual and Transpersonal Reflections On Notre Dame Read More »