My Brother’s Wedding Invitation Was a Rejection. So I Booked a One-Way Ticket and Chose Myself.

Buddha statues gleaming in candlelight, the air heavy with incense, the silence broken only by occasional chanting that seemed to vibrate in my chest. The monk, younger than I’d expected with kind eyes and an unexpected sense of humor, spoke about attachment as the root of all suffering.

“We cling to expectations,” he explained in his gentle voice. continue reading …