Have you ever been in love? I mean real love. Not just the kind that we make movies about. The kind that transcends and envelopes and overwhelms all senses? The kind of love that pushes you to take risks, and makes you a better person simply by having experienced it?…
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About To Do Something Epic and Life-Changing, nbd
In less than two weeks, I’m going to do something I’ve always dreamed about but never really believed was possible (in fact, it wouldn’t be possible if not for the loving support and financial contributions of my friends and family): I’m going to Japan. An entire month in The Land of the…
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The Qreative Life Podcast | S2E15 | Tarik Trad
Support The Qreative Life podcast through my Patreon, or via Paypal or Venmo (@AmandaQ555). In this episode, Q talks to her friend Tarik Trad, founder of Focus Relief Photography for Charity. They discuss Tarik’s lifelong love of photography, a chance encounter that led him to Antarctica, and his passion for service that resulted…
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God is Change
It’s been said many times before, but bears repeating: discomfort is our friend. This sounds insane to people who are born and raised in the west, particularly in the hyper-capitalist, marketing-infused US of A, where a large part of the economy runs on our willingness to fork over hard-earned dollars…
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Blog – 6.12.24
A few weeks ago I read this article in TIME Magazine about why obesity is rare in Japan. The whole thing was interesting, and it’s definitely worth considering how the Japanese lifestyle choices differ from ours. But for me, this was the real money quote: Western cooking, he said, is…
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Blog – 6.5.24
This week I read Ted Gioia’s State of the Culture 2024 (published back in February) and it’s been on my mind a lot because, well, it’s all true. I shared the link on Facebook and one of my friends commented, “The problem with pieces like this is that they sound…
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Blog 6.4.24
Yesterday I met with one of my regular writing partners, and she dropped a comment that I hear regularly from other creatives – one that I struggle to relate to. It was something to the effect of, ‘I waited for the universe to tell me what to do’. Sometimes people…
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Blog 6.2.24
The last two weeks have been upside-down. I blame the end of the school year and graduation. Nothing’s wrong, it’s just my schedule has been a mess. Lots of things seem to have been canceled, rescheduled, and interrupted. I also had company from out of town, which was very nice…
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Blog 5.22.24
This evening I have the opportunity to lead our koan meditation group, and I spent some time yesterday selecting a koan for us to consider. After reading several, I decided upon Jizo’s “Not Knowing is Most Intimate” as translated in The Book of Equanimity by Gerry Shishin Wick: Attention! Master…
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Blog 5.20.24
Being ‘mid’ is supposed to be an insult, or so I’m told. This kind of hierarchical bullshit rating system has plagued me for my entire life. I remember when I was a teenager, the boys would refer to girls as numbers (between 1-10). Then the internet came along and we…