It was disappointment that was most telling. It reminded me to be true to myself as I am now, not what I thought I was, or how I once was.

Seed pods and pandemic pods - one is as old as forever, inherent to nature. The other is a new convention, challenging to human nature.

She was afraid to fall in love again — with a country, its culture, its people.

Restless came to visit me, with her shadowy friends Worry, Fear, and Doubt. She’d come before and I had ignored her. This time, I couldn’t.