Feb2024

Absolutely shocked, though not at all surprised that I have not done a blog entry in 2024. Even in 2023, towards the end, the posts were limited to 1 per month. Last year, I skipped entire February - this year, January. 

On Groundhog Day, I write my first post of 2024. Since Sep 2023, there has been lesser need to write. Writing for me was discovering something about me but now I get that fix else where. I would lie if I said I do not miss writing but there is so much to write that I'd rather not. 

January 2024 was happening - we were in Seattle for a week. And then remaining 3 weeks went adjusting to school, routine, activities and homework. Oh btw, that Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early sprint this time. February is upon us. Every month something to look forward to! I like to live in immediate small futures - not too far ahead and not too close. I know February and March somewhat, though not completely. 

Freedom

Create space or rather free up your headspace for creativity. Everything else is just a waste of time! Freedom is above all. 

Bundle of Contradictions

I am a bundle of contradictions. I am made up of parallel streams, these emotions and tracks that overlap and create a haze. I am all that and yet I can observe this from a distance. When I am not pulled into these contradicted states, I find all of this funny. I stay in good mood and I ensure everyone around me is in a good mood. This is a state I strive to be in. How can I always be here?

#walkingmeditation

Exercising in gym bores me to death but walking does not. I can walk for hours especially when I am alone. All I need is my phone and headphones. I took to serious walking in 2020 during pandemic days when the best places to visit were open parks and grounds - away from crowd and people. I got better at it as I started doing trails and soon it turned into the only form of exercise that I'd want to do anytime. So much so that when I do not have anything to do, my mind always checks if I'd should go for a walk. When I came across this article that Maria posted on Twitter, I was happy to see that it articulates exactly why I like it! 

See - Walking as Creative Fuel: A Splendid 1913 Celebration of How Solitary Walks Enliven “The Country of the Mind”

Some favorites from this article:

"Of course the best sort of walk is the one on which it doesn’t matter twopence whether you get anywhere at all at any time or not; and the second best is the one on which the hard facts of routes, times, or trains give you nothing to worry about."

-- Wendell Berry

"For company too often means compromise, discretion, the choice of the sweetly reasonable."

"Not a fiftieth part of all your happy imaginings will you ever, later, recapture, note down, reduce to dull inadequate words; but meantime the mind has stretched itself and had its holiday."

"But all these are only the by-products, the casual gains, of walking alone. The high converse, the high adventures, will be in the country of the mind."

-- Kenneth Grahame

“I walk everywhere in the city. Any city. You see everything you need to see for a lifetime. Every emotion. Every condition. Every fashion. Every glory.”

--Maira Kalman

New Year, New Post!

Past two months have been this crazy or what! No updates here since Nov... :)

I recovered from the Holiday mood just this past weekend probably. Was able to get into the normal rhythm of things. First hike of the year was long pending. Hoping to be more regular there. 

I love walking aimless in cities, towns and in nature. It's my personal meditation. All I need is a light backpack with essentials, my phone, extra batteries and good walking shoes. I love it! 

My happy place :D

             

Happy Days!

Today was a happy day. See what you did on such days, try to do more of them!

Faith

I am happy! The various ways in which universe reiterates and confirms is absolutely fantastic. I mean all we ever have to do is take that leap of faith. 

40s

I turned 40 this year. I had once proclaimed when I was 32-33 that I am looking forward to my forties, I think I am going to have so much fun. And this statement is holding true alright, just not in the way I expected. 

Sometimes the plan that universe has for us is better because it is what we need; not what we want. 

Joy

I stayed up last night because I just wanted to rush and do all the things in the world! Why have I been so cooped up in my life..I need to get out and be. 

Oh the joy! There are no coincidences and the fact that you attract what you need is so true. I am happy to be in this space. I don't want to stop now. 

Note to Self

 Do more of what makes you happy!

#explore #explorations #hiking #earlymornings #nature #newplaces #travel

Did you know?

 

Within me..

This entire phase where I cannot lean on anyone has been created for the growth of me! Oh what joy.. for once I know that I have everything that I need within me. This discovery makes me so happy. It was always in me, that what I was looking for, outside of me.

My choices of people, situation arose from the fact that I did not know myself better. Hah! I was looking for everything that was always within me :-)

Happiness

Happiness lies in the eyes which is the window to the soul. The peace, relief and calmness shows the state of a being and it can always be found in the eyes. 

Deepawali 2020

The lights are up, the diyas are out, my Diwali corner is complete! I feel bright and happy. Its a pretty day, cloudy but pretty! 

:-)

 I am happy today. 

Me

I am loving the quarantine. I don’t say it out loud because everyone seems to be hating it so much. I don’t mind it because it has automatically canceled all social events for me. I can live my life with my bare essentials and that includes people. I have only realized how liberating it is to stop doing things - things that would be frowned upon in social norms. These small pressures are not needed actually for any of us. But we have made them necessary for us so that we can be recognized as the functioning adults of this world. I don’t want to be the normal functioning adult. Let everyone else do that. I am happy being me - whatever that is 🤷‍♀️👩🏻 

Ring

Universe conspires to get your greatest wish fulfilled. There was no way I could have found my thumb ring, given where it was. Yet I found it, magically after a 5-6 days of losing it! I am happy :)

"We dance round in a ring and suppose,

But the Secret sits in the middle and knows."
-Robert Frost 

Is she the one?

Arthur Dent : Just wait a sodding minute! You want a question that goes with the answer for 42? Well, how about what's six times seven? Or how many Vogons does it take to change a lightbulb?Here's one! How many roads must a man walk down?

Lunkwill : Hey, that's not bad!

Arthur Dent : Fine. Fine, take it. Because my head is filled with questions and I can assure you no answer to any one of them has ever brought me one iota of happiness. Except for one. The one. The only question I've ever wanted an answer to - is she the one? The answer bloody well isn't forty-two, it's yes. Undoubtedly, unequivocally, unabashedly yes. And for one week, one week in my sad little blip of an existence, it made me happy.

Trillian : That's a good answer...

Lunkwill : Rubbish, we don't want to be happy, we want to be famous!

Fook : Yeah! What is all this "is she the one" tripe?

Lunkwill : Take his brain!

Choice

What we choose over and over again, chooses us.

If we decide to choose money over anything else, every time - we will eventually get rich but we may lose other things that we decided to ignore.

If we decide to choose true love over anything else, every time - we will eventually find true love at the cost of a lot of things.

If we decide to choose worldly (external) success over anything else, every time - we will eventually find all the worldly (external) success bestowed on us, at the cost of internal success.

If we decide to choose knowledge over anything else, every time - we will eventually find all the knowledge there is but we will pay the price of that knowledge.

If we decide to choose God over anything else, every time - we will eventually find God though the world may declare us mad.

The point is that making that choice makes us so happy that we DO NOT CARE. Others CANNOT judge anyone who pursues pure happiness since we all are looking for that heightened state of HAPPINESS / PURE BLISS.

But all of this is driven by TRUE and absolutely PURE DESIRE to achieve that end goal and making SACRIFICES that it takes in being true to our goal.

Do we know what we want so that we can choose it every time?

The meaning of Service

I think 3.5 days in, it dawned on me the real meaning of service. To serve.

When nothing can make one happy from within, service can.

Collect those smiles and build your bank balance.

Service with right intent.

Service with no expectation.

Serve who come to you.

Serve who need you.