Dear Prasant,

It is truly heart-warming, after a days’ work, to have the evening fold into your words :)

I suppose you might realize this in time, especially if you read some of my first ever published pieces starting with “Does Adulthood Suck?”, “On Love, Death and Change,” “The Danger of Internalized Homophobia,” to name but a few — all of these unapologetically autobiographical — that not only do I wear my heart on my sleeve, but nurture a degree of tenderness and compassion for my wrong turns, for my errant ways and mistakes.

They have taught me so much about life, about letting go, about the transient nature of things and people, that now, at the age of 45 and for the first time ever, I have achieved a degree of inner peace and spiritual creativity that depends on no external element.

True, I have led a sometimes rocky path to get here, but isn’t that what it is all about? We humans strive so hard for stability, for constance; and yet I have for some time known and accepted that the only constant in life is change!

My dear brother, if I may call you so, as I do all people on this planet (sisters, too!), but especially those I have warm connections with…it is people like you who give my words the ability to travel far and wide, and for that, I cannot thank you enough. You are truly a wondrous, gentle, deep spirit! :)

Must sign off and go to sleep now, Prasant, as I rise at dawn to write tomorrow’s story! May you have a peaceful and safe day or night wherever you are! :) (I’m in Lisbon, Portugal) Speak soon! :))))))