When first drew me to “But I Smile Anyway…” Ritu’s blog was a picture of a little Spiderman, sitting crosslegged, meditating.  He appears every week in “Spidey’s Serene Sunday” a feature of the blog. Each Sunday, Ritu and her muse, Spidey, put forth a quote then elaborate and comment on it. For example, Sunday, September 10th featured this quote:

“Don’t worry about failures.  Worry about the chances you miss if you don’t even try.” These “Musings and Memories, words and wisdom…of a working family woman,” the subtitle of her blog, are insightful, helpful and downright inspiring.

As are her poems. I ordered from Amazon a copy of Poetic Rituals, and enjoyed it immensely.  Many poems I have shared with others who welcomed their wit, humor, and wisdom.  Poems range from the humorous( a “label” for a chocolate cake, assuring the consumer that there are no calories in it, just cocoa, sugar, flour etc.  I attach this label when I take a shut-in a chocolate cake, and it always makes them smile.) to profound musings on love, real love. Family situations like the loss of a first baby tooth and the first day of school make every reader smile in a wistful way.

Ritu Bhathal is a wife, mother of two, teacher, and poet extraordinaire , specializing in the haiku in a weekly presentation. As a blogger, she has 5,789 followers, has received the Versatile Blogger award at one point, and was voted Best Overall Blogger of 2017. She is available on Twitter and posts marvelous pictures of her healthy (and sometimes not so healthy) eating adventures. There is only one thing I do not understand about Ritu and her blog.  She refers to her followers as “Peeps.” Must be a British thing. LOL