Living Your Passion

You know how sometimes what you need comes right when you need it. That’s kind of what happened to me.

After a couple of years of staying home with the kids I felt like I was was starting to unravel. Not sure of how I felt about this new me, but conflicted by my desires to be a stay at home mom. Then I met Andi.

Not only is Andi Keh ridiculously gorgeous on the outside, but she’s absolutely luminous on the inside. This magnetism is what first drew me in, when I met her as a young mom at the ‘Twinkle Two’s’ ballet class in Brooklyn.

Both of our daughters were attending the class. My son was 6 months old and Andi asked me if I knew how to adjust the Ergo she had her newborn son in. I remember being struck by her beauty, but my attention was quickly drawn away to a lovely quality she possessed.

In the months ahead, we bumped into each other around the neighborhood, and slowly a friendship developed. It helped that we both had similar aged daughters and sons, and that our philosophies on life often aligned. At some point, Andi decided to enroll in a Yoga Teachers certification program…I remember being totally in awe…

What?! That’s crazy-talk!! She was a stay at home mom just like me, she had 2 kids under 5 just like me. And here she was, not bemoaning her situation and feeling trapped, but thriving in it, and deciding to do something for herself in the midst of it all. What a revalation!

Andi was always nice to be around too. Positive and happy, relaxed and real. And here I was, irritated and guilty, resentful and confused. I wanted some of what she had.

Sometimes there are just those people who live in sunshine, but I also knew that Yoga was a major part of Andi’s life. It didn’t seem ridiculous that Yoga might be at least one of her answers. So I asked for a recommendation from her and started doing one of Elena Brower’s DVD’s at home.

It was in no small part due to Andi’s inspiration that I also decided to pursue something else for myself.  Enrolling in the Chef’s Training Program at the Natural Gourmet Institute.

After Andi finished her certification program, she started teaching a yoga class for kids and parents, so of course we were there! And those were some of the greatest mommy-daughter days ever.

Walking hand in hand with my little girl, down the quiet snow covered weekend streets of Manhattan, on our way to a morning of connecting in a yoga class together.

We always got some kind of healthy treat on the way back, and sat snuggled together as we rode the subway to dad and brother waiting back at home.

Now that I’m in California, Andi and I don’t get to set up playdates or share our latest news. And we don’t get to talk for brief moments after running into each other on our way to the next errand. But she is still part of my life, especially as I work to build my best me.

Its the peace and harmony that comes through my memories of her that I continue to be inspired by, and aspire to.

As if she weren’t fantastic enough, Andi is also an amazing artist, having previously studied textile and surface design at the Fashion Institute of Technology. And her connection to her inner voice as well as her art continues to guide her. She just finished work on her latest project, an oracle set of cards that she illustrated called the Moon Deck.

Creator and Yoga instructor Aarona Ganesan talks more about how the deck came into being on Wanderlust.com. The cards are printed using wind/solar power, recycled paper, and soy-based ink. They come in a keepsake wooden box, and right now they can be pre-ordered through their Indiegogo campaign.

They really are pretty cool. Meant to ‘provide an inspiring guide for women of all ages, to connect to our intuitive wisdom, awaken our creative spirit, and feel at home in our body’. Of course she would be involved in something I love!

It only continues to remind me how much we all are really capable of.  And how much more meaningful life can be if we put our efforts into what we are truly passionate about and inspired by.

Good stuff.

You can be inspired by Andi too on Instagram at @AndiKeh or @the_moondeck