Happy Holi, Happy Easter: What a weekend!

Time magazine reported that six major religious days co-incided this past Friday.

"Good Friday! Happy Purim, Happy Eid, Happy Holi, etc... In what is statistically, at least, a once-in-a-millennium combination, the following occured on the 21st: Good Friday

Purim, a Jewish festival celebrating the biblical book of Esther Narouz, the Persian New Year, which is observed with Islamic elaboration in Iran and all the "stan" countries, as well as by
Zoroastrians and Baha'is.

Eid Milad an Nabi, the Birth of the Prophet, which is celebrated by some but not all Sunni Muslims and, though officially beginning on Thursday, is often marked on Friday.

Small Holi, Hindu, an Indian festival of bonfires, to be followed on Saturday by Holi, a kind of Mardi Gras.

Magha Puja, a celebration of the Buddha's first group of followers, marked primarily in Thailand..." (Read more from Time)

I played Holi for the first time in decades. This time because my son wanted to. He and a few other children on our floor got together with some "safe colors" which they rubbed on each others' faces and clothes and hair and well...you get the picture. No colored water because it was sooooo windy and we didn't want the children catching a cold. DH was a sport although he claims to hate the festival. (Things can get out of hand because men will sometimes drink too much and we all know the kind of trouble that can cause.)

My mother got some natural color out of a beautiful red flower. That's how they originally played Holi in the olden days.

None of the other mommies on the floor wanted to join in - it's really a north Indian festival and Bangalore is in the south - so the kids had to be entertained by just me. I don't think they minded in the least. I put colorful moustaches on all their faces, followed by warrior motifs and everything else they thought up. :-)

Last December, my son gifted me my best ever Christmas. And now, I got to play Holi because he wanted to. Once again, thank you, Poppet.

Whatever made me think I could write again?

I spent some time last night poring over the profiles and comments of fellow members of the online writers' group that I'm a part of and that's left me...awestruck doesn't begin to describe it. People have written SO much. They ARE WRITING SO MUCH! All.the.time.

There's one woman who has a husband, two kids, two dogs and she's written two books in her spare time. Also ready to wrap up the third!! How does she even create spare time? I should adopt her as my Guru! Seriously.

And then there are folks who have scores of magazine articles to their credit and they say they are still 'trying to get somewhere.' Hmm... Others have been training people to write or collaborated on books with half-a-dozen others. The moderator churns out wonderful material for the front page at an amazing pace and it's all so readable.

Makes me feel quite inadequate. I know I shouldn't feel that way, because I am just finding my way back to the world of writing. And I certainly don't write for a living any more. (Sigh...it's like the ABBA folks said: Where are those happy days? They seem so hard to find.) But you know what, I just sneaked back and read some of my older blog posts and cringed. Physically cringed. What made me thing that was 'writing?' My apologies to those who were tortured by reading that stuff. *shudder*

I had half a mind to shut down this blog, actually delete it. But obviously I didn't. Simply becasue all those crappy sentences tell the story of the person that I had become. If they look messed up, its because I was messed up. I have no idea how I lived through those years. The posts chronicle the tale - nothing heroic - of my efforts to reclaim my life, to create a corner that is entirely my own. Behind the clumsy syntax, ill-chosen words and glaring grammatical errors was a woman who had decided to fight back. I don't claim to have found my way back. I'm still groping in the dark...but there seems to be a ray of light struggling to get through.

Of course, when I see the mom-of-two-kids-and-two-dogs, I still feel inadequate. But I know writing isn't about keeping up with the Joneses. And so, I take a deep breath and go back to writing some more. Because that's the only way I'll find my way out of this darkness.

ps: I'm still worried about the outcome of my son's eye exam on Monday, but I also realize there's little I can do to change anything. In the meantime, its Holi tomorrow - the festival of colors. And the kid wants to have a blast. So I've bought him a box of non-toxic, food-grade colors that he can play with. He's promised to wear glasses to avoid anything getting in his eyes.

Photo from Freerangestock.com