When a Little Wish Comes True

How a 2 1/2 hour plane delay fulfilled an item on my bucket list

Welcome to Belonging and the Human Experience! I write about belonging, loneliness, culture, migration, faith, race, and community. I’m so happy you’re here! You’re receiving this email because you signed up when you received a free resource or some other way. (Please make sure you move these to your primary inbox if you’re viewing via email.)

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Dear friends,

On Friday night, I was scheduled to be on a plane from Milwaukee to Atlanta at 6:00 pm, but earlier that afternoon, I received a notification the flight would be delayed. At least I have some notice, I thought, but that also meant I’d be arriving Atlanta at almost 11:30 pm, and then I’d still have another hour of driving from there. I was tired. I was annoyed. I had arranged a ride to pick me up—would they still be able to pick me up if it was edging closer to midnight? What if my flight got canceled? There was no good option to fly out on Saturday—all options involved at least one connection and 8 hours or more of travel times with layovers and stops and flights. The driver assured me they’d be there at 11:30 pm.

And then I saw the news about the solar storm and how I’d be missing the Northern Lights show in WI, and of all nights for me to travel south, this one had to be it! I mean-the KP indexes were between 7 and 9!! I am nerding out on this stuff. That means the chances of seeing the Northern Lights was SKY HIGH. :) I was so bummed. When I boarded the plane for my flight, I asked one of the flight crew if they thought we’d be able to see the Northern Lights from the plane. She didn’t seem to know what I was talking about and was skeptical just sort of said, “take your seat quickly and we aren’t sure but you can just look out the window” kind of thing. She was very young and well, I felt like I was being dismissed.

After I sat down, I asked a different flight attendant, and she said she’d get back to me, and she took me seriously, and she did return, a few minutes later. She told me that the staff didn’t know if it would be visible, but there were some empty seats on the plane and I could try looking out on both sides of the plane for it when it was safe to do so. I told her thank you. Another passenger who sat in my row looked at me and said, “Oh that would be amazing if you could see it!” And I said, yes, it would be. And then I told her the news about it.

I stared out the window as we took off from the city lights, lost in my own thoughts, munching on my little snack of cashews and almonds. After about 20-30 minutes, the flight attendant came to me and said, “Are you the one asking about the lights?” I said I was. She said I should go look out on the other side of the plane. She said it looked just like a cloud to her, but that she was told it out there. I got up quickly and found the first free seat I could find. And then they announced on the plane that the Northern Lights were visible!

I found an empty seat at the end of the plane and looked out. I could only see wispy looking clouds. I took photos which revealed just the faintest color. But the folks next to me were getting astounding photos. And because I was the one who alerted the plane to the Northern Lights, they shared their photos with me. One of the flight attendants who was taking pictures in a row next to me even shared the photos of the lights he took from the cockpit! (Ok, now I was being taken seriously!) I shared with them how I’ve been wanting to see the Aurora Borealis and have been looking out for it for a while now.

My wish to the see the Northern Lights didn’t start that day. It’s been a long-term wish of mine, and I’ve had an app on my phone the past couple of years which tracks the Northern Lights. I’ve been out looking for them a few times, late at night, driving north, away from city lights, with no success. It’s been on my bucket list for a while! My seat mate (a stranger who happened to sit in my row) looked at me and said it was a gift that I’d given to the plane—and made it a special plane ride for all these folks. I was hoping others would be interested, too—and some were. Those who were interested looked out their windows. And someone else remarked—others got to see something that maybe they didn’t realize they would have even wanted to see! We all received a gift that night.

Seeing these from the plane, on a night when I was heading south, and an event I thought I was going to miss (or even if was going to be visible from my location), was such a surprise. It was spectacular. And, then as I stayed up way too late that night, though I was so tired but I was excited, I saw photos coming in on social media from all over the United States and Europe and Australia. Areas that would not normally see the Lights got to see them. And the colors were absolutely stunning—the pinks, purples, reds, and blues. I’m sure you want to see pictures—here they are!

Aren’t they beautiful?! I just couldn’t believe it was actually happening. I couldn’t see all these colors with my naked eye. It was barely visible. These colors were only visible from the camera. BUT WOW. I felt like a little dream of mine had come true!! And the photos that have been coming in from all over the world have been stunning.

So I can say, I’m so thankful for that two and a half hour plane delay which resulted in me fulfilling an item on my bucket list!! It would not have been possible if my plane had left on time at 6pm. It would have been daylight. What a lesson, too, in how an unexpected delay or change of plans can turn into a unexpected blessing. :)

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A Dream Becoming

The journey from one place to another—across continents, across countries, across cultures—leaves traces of the places on our skin. We aren’t the same.

I was born in India, raised in Alabama, and live in the Midwest. I can’t separate any of these parts—they are part of me.

I am still a work in process, in many ways, and a dream becoming.

Whatever you are and are meant to be—it is still in process. We are each on a journey, on our way to belonging.

I was talking with a friend this past week about how we have changed from who and where we once were—and it is a good thing. We are learning boundaries. We are learning who we are. We are becoming who we are. The dreams of what we once thought or believed—we can see it could even happen—or we can see a new dream emerging in its place.

Writing a book was part of my dream. But there is more, much more, that happened internally to get to that point. I needed to heal. I needed to reclaim my identity and celebrate it.

What is the dream that you are becoming? I’d love to know.

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Birthday Week and Mothers Day

Last week was my birthday (but actually, this year, I’m calling it a birthday month :), and to celebrate in a little way, I signed up for an online watercolor class. It’s another thing that’s been on my wish list for a while—pulling out my paints, that is. And when I saw the price of the class was just $10, well, that clinched the deal. I had a lot of fun and it felt good making it happen!

Also as part of birthday week, I traveled to pick up my parents (the reason for the aformentioned airplane trip). For the second year in a row, I was with my mother on Mothers Day, and that hasn’t happened in years and years. Last year, we were all together for my son’s graduation. This year, I was traveling to pick her up. In the airport, Southwest had little goodie bags for moms, and flowers, which was nice. It was still a long day of travel and I was worn out from the past few days. When I got home, my kids had picked up some delicious Greek and Mediterranean food home so we all enjoyed a good dinner together. My three goofballs make me laugh and I appreciate and love them so much. And right now, at this present moment, I have all three of them together for a just a short time. And there’s a lot of laughing. boy do I miss that. Seeing the three of them together is a joy. Enjoy them while you can, friends! It goes by fast.

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Around and About…Author Events and Podcasts

Last week, I had the opportunity of having an author conversation with a good friend and author, Jill Ng, at a local visual arts gallery, Oholiab’s Offering. (Incidentally, I gave away a copy of Jill’s book, Never Too Broken, to a randomly selected newsletter subscriber, last fall!) The backdrop displays consisted of photographs of internationals by local talented photographer, with corresponding poetry by a local poet. It was the perfect setting! It was great to have friends present and a really meaningful conversation. Fun fact: Jill and I actually first met in that art gallery a number of years ago when another friend of ours started a little writing group. Now three of us have books—who would have thought?! We didn’t know it that the time. What a blessing that little group has been. We also had samosas, cake, treats, etc., to munch on. Thank you to all who came!!

Podcasts

Recently I enjoyed a conversation with DJ Chuang on his podcast Erasing Shame. DJ is an advocate for mental health and wellness for the Asian American community. For this episode, “the pain and shame of loneliness,” on his podcast resource page, DJ provides a great list of resources for help with domestic violence. Listen or watch here.

Also not too long ago, Kate Boyd asked me to be a guest on her Untidy Faith podcast for a segment called, “Fighting Ethnic Loneliness Together.” Kate has an excellent book titled Untidy Faith for those wrestling with deconstruction. Deconstruction itself can be a lonely place to be. Listen here.

Also, my agent posted a little mention in her social media that my book received another mention in Publishers Weekly! They reviewed it in December, which was an honor, but then it was mentioned again recently! So awesome! Here’s a fun little video she made:

You can catch up on previous book-related events, articles, and podcasts here and here. More coming!

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Dear friends, if something unexpected happens, a flight delay, a missed bus, a canceled appointment…imagine the possibilities of what little dream or blessing might now be possible with the change of plans. You never know what light or joy might be lurking around the corner.

Make it a lovely one!

Peace,

Beyond Ethnic Loneliness is available now, wherever books are sold! And right now, the Kindle is on sale for $8.99!! This would be a great gift in honor of AANPHI and APIDA Heritage Month!!
If you’ve read the book and loved it would you take a minute to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads? Thank you!!

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