Author Archives: Djanka Gajdel

Perfecting the Art of Tuning Out

I discovered I suffer from ‘Selective Hearing.’ I booked a hearing appointment with an audiologist sometime back, and the doctor asked why I was there. I shared that my husband stated that I might be hearing impaired. We went through the entire test, and when I came out with perfect hearing, the doctor indicated that […]

Find Your Joy

Through my Life’s journey, I’ve come to a profound realization: Life isn’t something that happens to us; it’s something that happens for us.  There’s a deep contrast between our perceived reality and accountability. When encountering challenging individuals or situations, we can learn to see this as a possibility to confront and overcome our inner darkness […]

“CAPTCHA Chronicles” – The Trial and Tribulations of Proving You’re Human

I’m fed up with CAPTCHA and having to verify I am a human being. It feels like I’m in an episode of the Twilight Zone. Having to repeatedly demonstrate that I’m not a robot to some entity that stands for “Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart” is exhausting. As an […]

Unleashing Resilience: The Power of Middle-Aged Women’s Tantrums in a Shifting World

I was thinking the other day how much I’d like to be a toddler and behave like our granddaughter. I don’t mean being a kid again; I mean having the freedom to indulge in a tantrum freely and feeling entirely resolved in those actions, exclusively when I’m pissed. Recently, our youngest experienced a meltdown at […]

I’ve Become A Grinchette

It’s not that I despise Christmas, but I do the consumerism around it. The season’s essence is magical, but it’s somehow become a production. I was raised to celebrate Christmas as the feast of St. Nicholas—an authentic dude with a real history. Santa Claus wasn’t part of my narrative. There was a lot of church […]

The Golden Bachelor and the Platinum Bachelorettes

ABC / Ricky Middlesworth

Reality TV is not me, but I have been groovin’ on The Golden Bachelor. It’s not the leading man who has me enamoured; it’s the powerhouse of women and their clandestine connections that steal the spotlight. The manes of platinum and grey hair have sparkled throughout the program. Sure, I get it. It’s all scripted, […]

Kindness 101

Each morning, I wake up and engage in a daily practice of meditation and breathing exercises. I quiet and balance my energies, only to get into my car and immediately cross paths with a colossal asshole who shows up out of nowhere and blows all that morning effort to shit. I know it’s a test, […]