The Zahir

I picked up my first Paolo Coehlo book at the airport in Paris on my way home from Israel last month. My daughter had bought two of his books to take on our trip to Israel and loved them.

The Zahir, Paolo explains, means "'visible' present; incapable of going unnotice.' it can refer to an object or a person, and that object or person gradually takes over our every thought until we are unable to think of anything else. this could be considered a state of holiness or a state of madness."

This also means that the focus on 'something that gradually takes over our every thought' can cause us a lot of grief and suffering. For some people it may be income, others it may be the elusive romantic relationship of their dreams, fear for the safety of loved ones, looking for inner peace or may be avoiding all the people in their lives that are difficult.

For me my zahir can be my weight loss goal. You may want to notice where you are so focussed on an outcome or a wish that it is negatively impacting your quality of life.

Spring in Paris

On May 6th, I left Toronto with my two kids aged 19 and 23 to Israel. Im turning 50 this year and thought that I should celebrate this year and return to the country I was born in and haven't been back to for over 29 years. As an added bonus, I decided to add a stop over in Paris France to reconnect to the city I grew up in when I was betweenthe ages of 8-12.

On the way to Israel, we had a stop over in Paris of just over 5 hours. Wanting to take advantage of this opportunity, I decided to jump on the train for the 45 minute ride into Paris. When we found out that the cost was 49 Euros return ($75), my children questioned whether it was really worth it. I said, sure - we only live once and that's what money is for.

It was 12 am Toronto time. We jumped on the train and stopped at the Arc de Triomphe. We walked around and decided to walk over to the Eiffel Tower where we came across an open air market. My kids each bought a crepe made fresh and continued on to the Eiffel Tower. They were smiling from ear to ear. They were besides themselves with joy about being in Francing, tasting delicacies and taking advantage of every moment. We were exhausted by the time we had to hop on the train to return home (3:00 am) but that wasn't going to stop us from the satisifaction and inner joy of eating a crepe at the Eiffel Tower.

I am so glad I decided to take advantage of this stopover, teach my kids to enjoy each moment and experience the glow and satisfaction of the moment.