Preeti Shenoy's Blog, page 5

Some interesting book recommedations and other fun stuff!

 

 Hello again!

It's sunday and it's time for   Sunday Stealing! I enjoy answering the questions in Sunday Stealing. If you want to play too, please click on the link.

Here goes:

1. How long have you lived in your current residence?
Have lived here since Jan 2021. This is our own place.

2. What changes have you made to it since you got there?
A lot of changes ! It took about three months in total to renovate this place, and make it exactly the way I want i to look. I'm truly grateful for this home.

3. What surprised you about living in your place or in your neighborhood?

The greenery in  my complex and the fact that it is right in the heart of Bangalore, barely a kilometer from the mall and all the city trappings. It's so green (those of you who follow me on Instagram would've seen how it feels like I'm living in a forest/ National park! A  lot of people ask me where I live. But for my own privacy  (and safety) I don't disclose my exact location. (How does it matter anyway? It's not like they are going to buy a house next door and move in!)

4. If someone were considering moving in next door, what would you warn them about? 

Cobras and  all kinds of snakes. There are plenty here. The guards have been trained to catch them without harming them, and they are handed over to the forest department.

5. If you have to move in the next 45 days, what are you definitely not taking with you?

My sad memories. Would like to leave them behind.

6. What are you currently reading? 

The Other Son by Nick Alexander.

 

7. What did you recently finish reading? 

The Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim

 

8. What do you think you’ll read next?
Rebel with a Paintbrush (Amrita sher-gil's biography) by anita vaccharajani

9. When did you take the road less traveled?
When I decided to become a full time writer.

10. Did you ever participate in a talent show?

Never. I can't have three people judging me and deciding how good I am. I believe in myself. I don't need their validation :)  *hair flick and exit*

11. When did you most recently strike out? 

I had to look up what 'strike out' meant!  (it means to start doing something new independently of other people)

I think it was when I got married at 23 and moved out of home ! (as till then, I lived with my parents)


12  Where do you go to find yourself?

My go-to is art. I also meditate and do my ashtanga yoga.

13. What do you have mixed feelings about?

About a friendship that fell apart recently. If you can't be completely honest with your friends, and if they want only sycophancy I don't think such a friendship is worth it.


14. What did you most recently add to your collection of something?

Kittens! A stray pregnant cat wandered into my home and gifted me three kittens. I don't have the heart to give them away, and so they have become mine now! You can see Leo and Kasper in this pic. In the pic at the beginning of this post, you can see Bella and Leo.
All three turned out to be girls. But since we had mistakenly thought two were boys, we let the original names stay :)
So we have a girl-kitten  called Kasper, a girl-kitten called Leo and we have Bella the beauty queen :)

15. When did something most recently stir you to tears?

A Korean show I watched. Name of the show:  It's okay not be okay.
It's a great show and I highly recommend it.

 

I hope you enjoyed my answers. If you want to share your current read, previous read and your next read, I'd love to know.
Please tell me in my comment box.

See you tomorrow folks!
💓 Preeti

_____________

ps: This is post 25 of my blog marathon. If you're enjoying it, please do leave me comments. Would love to hear from you.

Take care--a Simple Saturday post

 

Hi again!

Today, I was out with my mother. I'd taken her to a temple near my home, and also to a local Udupi restaurant which we frequent for filter coffee. A fan recognised me, and we clicked a pic together. This was the second time this week that it is happening.
I am always pleasantly surprised when this happens. It's happened a lot of times--and yet each time I am surprised.

 Many have told me that they are happy to see that I am 'exactly like I  am on social media' . I take that as a big compliment, because these days people project a certain image on social media, and when you meet them in real life, they are completely different.

I am happy and grateful that I am able to connect with people, and that all of you find value in what I have to say. 

Today, I want to tell you all something important and this is regarding your health. 

Yesterday, I was shocked to hear about Shane Warne's death; A couple of months back,  I was shocked to hear about Puneeth Rajkumar's death. One of my closest friends lost her brother too all of a sudden. he was just 52, and had recovered from covid.

Today she sent me this video, which I think is a  *must-watch*:

 

I think our health is the most important asset we have.
Do everything you can to safeguard your health. Eat a lot of salads, take adequate fibre and protein, cut out sugar.  Read this article by Havard Health which tells you why sugar is harmful.

Initially it might seem difficult, but soon your tongue will get used to the 'real' taste of things. I am happy to say that since  1st January , this year, I've cut out sugar completely from my diet. I really like the taste of coffee now (I drink it black, and I drink pure freshly ground coffee with no chicory). 

Once you get used to it, you will  be so surprised at the change you see in yourself. Also get regualr exercise in.Your fitness levels will increase, you will feel more energetic and life will become magically better.

Tell me in comments if you are taking care of your fitness and health. If you aren't, tell me why and  what you plan to change about it.

Take care!

See you again tomorrow.
Love
Preeti

_______

ps: This is Post 24 . I will be doing 30 posts ; Hit subscribe if you want my posts in your inbox.

Five Fun Friday Questions

 

Hello there!

This is the 23rd Post of my blog marathon and I thought I'd do a five friday fun questions which I got from here

These are mostly conversation starters for some light hearted fun; You could probably use them at a party to spark off an interesting conversation rather than asking the person the usual ones-- 'what do you do for a living' and 'what are your interests?'

Here goes:

1. What would you name your boat if you had one?
 

I am not sure what I'll name the boat. I'd probably name the boat   'My Queen of Swords'. 

2. What’s the closest thing to real magic?

The fact that one can manifest things by thinking about them and taking small actions, and then believing that they will indeed come true. If you want to know more about manifesting, I recommend the following books apart from my own book The Magic Mindset:

Creative visualisation: Shakti Gawain
Ask and it is given: Esther and Jerry Hicks
Trust your vibes: Sonia Choquette
The Secret: Rhonda Bryne

3. Who is the messiest person you know?

I have never lived in a hostel as a student, and no one in my family is really messy. So I guess I truly don't know any truly messy people.

4. What will finally break the internet?

'I am Mr Mc Adams and I haven't said a word' 😂😂😂😂
(If you haven't yet seen it do watch it here)

5. What’s the most useless talent you have?

Standing on my head! (I can do the head stand and while it is useful for me, it's kind of useless for others!)

If you want to answer these questions, I'd love to read your answers. Please answer on your blogs and link here or you can use my comment box.

 See you again tomorrow. I have just 6 more posts left for the blog marathon to end.
So if you want me to write about anything in particular do tell me in my comment box and I will write about it.

Till tomorrow, take care and keep smiling

💖💖 Preeti

_______________________

Photo by Aaron Gonzalez on Unsplash

On Writing Engaging stories with Preeti Shenoy, organised by Blogchatter

Hello all!
I am a part of the Blogchatters Writers Festival.

We're doing a free session on 'Writing Engaging Stories'. This is a closed event which means it will not be live streamed on social media.  It would be conducted on zoom. Hence a registration is necessary.

So all you aspiring writers who wish to register, please do so.

 CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

 I also teach a creative writing course on Skillshare. You get video lessons which you can do at your own pace.

Here's the link to my Skillshare course:  

Preeti Shenoy's Skillshare course

 

If you know any aspiring writers who might benefit from this, do tell them about the zoom session on March 7th which is FREE of cost.

This is all for today.

A new post tomorrow as always.
Love
Preeti.

ps: This is my 22nd post of the blog marathon! I can't believe in 8 days this marathon will come to an end! 

 

 

It wasn't always like this (a visual poem)

 

 Hello !

For today's post, I created a visual poem.(click on the link in case you wish to know what a visual poem is)

If you are reading this post on your computer and are  unable to read it, you  can click on the image and it will open up  as a larger image. You could read it then.

 

 

I find visual poetry very interesting--because it combines my love for art, and the written word. I enjoyed creating this one, and I hope you were able to read it , and also that it made you feel something when you read it!

Let me know your thoughts in my comment box.

New post tomorrow!
Till then, take care

Love
Preeti

Focus on the beauty around you!

Happy March!

Very often, we get so caught up in our work, or the negative happenings all around us, that we forget to focus on the little things in our daily lives. 

I try to do this often. I look at the sunrise, I notice the ants on the flowers, I notice the colour of the sarees which the labourers working in the fields wear, I notice the play of light on the leaves of the trees, I observe the praying mantis, trying to reach another leaf, I watch the gait of walk of various people as I go for my morning walk, I notice if their T-shirts have any phrases --in short, I observe details. 

Whenever I observe anything  that strikes me as remarkably spectacular, I try and capture a picture.

 

This is a picture  I clicked from my balcony. I love it when nature gifts me a magnificent sunrise.

And here's another picture that I clicked from the car.  (This is in Bangalore)

 

When you go about  your daily business, do try  and pause. Focus on the surroundings. Tune out the noise. And you will find beauty all around you. When you  notice these little  things, you will find your world becoming richer. 

Many people tell me that they started noticing these things after they saw me posting stories on my Instagram (please follow for daily stories and posts!) and for that I am glad.

I thought I'd sign off today with a beautiful message I received from a reader. It was very overwhelming to know the impact that my words had on her life.  I've shared it with her permission. (she said it would make her day if I shared it)

See you again tomorrow with a new post!

 

 Preeti

5 quotes full of wisdom from books that I've read.

 

 

 Hi again!

How has today been for you?

For me, it was a good day, as I finally got my Mac back from the I care centre! The last 7 posts have been from my phone. I can't believe this is the 19th day of my blog marathon. Time has flown by so fast. We're already at the end of February and it feels like just the other day, we were welcoming the new year!

For today's post, I thought I would do a collection of quotes from the various books I have read over the years. These are lines from books that appealed to me.  Some are observations, some are full of wisdom.

If you wish to see the review of these books do check out my Instagram Highlights where I have reviewed over a 150 books!

"As Annie Dillard put it, how you spend your days is how you spend your life. If you spend your days merely consuming random experiences, you will begin to feel like a scattered consumer."

---from "The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life" by David Brooks

 

 "She wondered if this world would ever give credit to a housewife. No matter how hard they work, it is presumed that a woman’s duty is to look after an entirely new family and bear children for a man she has known for just a few years (or not at all). The woman’s dreams, her ambitions, her choices are laid to rest as soon as she gets into wedlock. One fine day she needs ‘permission’ from her husband and her extra family to do the things she’s dreamed of doing for so many years. It’s a ‘laxman rekha’ that housewives need to adhere to suddenly. And no one can help them."

---from "SCANDALOUS HOUSEWIVES by Madhuri Banerjee

 

" If success were gold, lying in rivers, love was a diamond, buried in hundreds of feet beneath the surface of the earth and unrecognisable in its natural form."

--from "Firefly Lane" by Kristin Hannah

 "Presumption and conclusion are two railway stations that are miles apart. Yet there are times when we get down at one while mistaking it for the other. The blunder dawns upon us only after the train has left."

 

--from "Chai Chai" by Bishwanath Ghosh

 

" We all get dealt cards. Some of us get better cards than others. And while it’s easy to get hung up on our cards, and feel we got screwed over, the real game lies in the choices we make with those cards, the risks we decide to take, and the consequences we choose to live with. People who consistently make the best choices in the situations they’re given are the ones who eventually come out ahead in poker, just as in life. And it’s not necessarily the people with the best cards."

--from "The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life ( by Mark Manson)

 

 I hope you found value in these quotes as much as I did.
See you again tomorrow! 

       

  💖 Preeti

______________

 Photo by Olga Tutunaru on Unsplash

 

What comes to your mind when you hear these words?

Hello again!

It's Sunday already!  I thought I would do a Sunday Stealing again. (click on it to know more)

When I headed over to Sunday Stealing I was pleasantly surprised to find a set of words which encouraged you to think/write down whatever comes to mind when you hear that word. 

In psychology there's a term for this--Free association.

Free association — a tool used in psychoanalysis — aims to deepen your self-understanding by looking at whatever thoughts, words, or images come freely to your mind. During a free association session, your therapist may ask you to share anything that is on your mind, such as memories, words, images, or daydreams.

But we aren't doing any therapy here. We're playing this just for fun. (If you want to play too, you are most welcome! You can do it on your blog and link back to Sunday Stealing. Or if you don't have a blog, feel free to use my comment box)

So here are the words that were  given (and my responses as well, I've written without thinking too much. Just wrote whatever comes to my mind as soon as I see the word):

Casino:  Las Vegas,  The movie Hangover  (I watched ALL the ones in the series and laughed my head off)

Bone:  The book 'Lovely Bones' by  Alice Seebold. The book still haunts me.

Painting: Gustav Klimt, Van Gogh, Rene Magritte, MOMA, New York  and  The National Galllery London (I have been here and I loved the experience)

Shocked: By the current Ukrainian situation and also by the Afghanistan situation

Quieter: It's always quieter when the hour is the darkest

Feed:  Feed the cats! Feed the birds!

Song: Ah Doobe--Ah Doobe.. (as I watched Gehrayiyaan today)

Glass: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones

Boat: A coracle, and two fishermen I saw at the lake who I sktetched in my journal.

Junk: Junk journalling--something  I learnt to do

Sheet: Crisp, Clean, Cotton sheets are the ones I prefer.

Knit: Something I do not have the patience for

Gift: The biggest gift you can give anyone is your time

Small: Small minds talk about other people, Great minds discuss ideas.

Title: 15 titles--all bestsellers, I am so grateful for them! :)

I hope you enjoyed my answers. If you are playing, I'd love to read your list too.

See you again tomorrow!
Love
Preeti

_________________

ps: I am doing a blog marathon (new post every day for 30 days. Today is day 18. While I am doing a blog marathon,  Sourabh and Pratima are doing a comment marathon! A special shoutout to them for commenting on every post of mine. Thank you for that! I like to read comments, else it feels like I am talking to a wall!)

Six things to do if the current 🇺🇦 Ukrainian situation overwhelms you

 It is natural to feel helpless about situations which we never expected, over which we have no control and yet which affect is deeply . For example : The 🇺🇦 Ukraine attacks which are going on right now.

The more we listen to the news 📰 the worse it seems. Media shows us images of helpless Indian students stranded, crying, appealing for help. (The government had issued advisories long back to return home). We see images of destruction, families fleeing and the president bravely staying on , saying they will not surrender.

There are debates all over on social media by whether India 🇮🇳 did the right thing by abstaining from voting 🗳 and taking a neutral position. 

It’s easy to get swept 🧹 up by sentiments.

It’s hard to think 🤔 objectively.

If you are feeling worried, stressed or anxious about the current situation in the world 🌎 you could do the following things:

1. Switch off from social media for a while. Walk outside . Go to a park if you can . Absorb sunshine ☀️. It’s known to be a good anti- depressant.

2. Send out a prayer 🙏🏽 for the safety of those fleeing . Send out 🙏🏽 prayers for cessation of war and attacks.

3. Focus on all the things that are currently going right in your life. Be aware of everything you have — a home 🏡, a few loved ones, health , and 💰enough  money for food. Those are indeed great blessings.

4.Read a good book. (Ironically the fiction 📕 that I am reading right now mentions the Ukraine 🇺🇦- Russia crisis in passing !)

5. Call up a good friend and talk about happy things. Perhaps you can plan a holiday even if you can’t immediately 🧳 travel!

6. Do something that brings you joy 🤩.. perhaps you can listen 🎧 to 🎶. Maybe you can watch a good TV show.Maybe you can try a new recipe! 

Remember, a lot of things are out of our control. Our stressing about them won’t change outcomes. Whatever has to happen will happen. Time has a way of taking care of things.

I sincerely hope the India students stranded there return safely. My heart ❤️ goes out to all the people losing loved ones in this awful destruction taking place.

Prayers for peace ✌🏼 

❤️ Preeti.

—————————————

Ps: Come back for a new post tomorrow. This is post 17 of the blog Marathon (30 posts in 30 days)

How misfortunes help us

 Misfortunes are hard to bear. We get caught up in the cycle of “why me”. Most of us are unable to see the situation from an external perspective as we are in too much pain to be detached from it.

But it is important to observe it from a distance. We have infinite capacity for change.No matter how hard and painful it seems right now, a year from now you will be surprised  at how you have managed to cope with it. 
Whatever you were worrying about will seem trivial then. So hang in there. It’s all going to be okay.—————————————————-Ps: Am doing a blog marathon (30 days , 30 new posts ) and today is day 16.