The Constant

I was talking to one of my very close friends after a long time today. We were talking about a project we are going to do together. Then we started to talk about our work lives in general. I realised a lot of things after that. 

Work lives, whether academics, your own venture or employment - has a certain commonality to it - that of reaching a saturation point. There comes a point when you want to run away from everything and probably live on an island, alone. Is this good? Is this healthy? Is this avoidable? I don't know. I am learning too and most importantly, trying to gauge situations like these. People say, do a job from which you never get tired, something that isn't like a job at all. This means do what you are passionate about, that one thing, that one dream, that everything because of which your heart beats every second! My friend and I are both very lucky to have discovered that one thing early on in life. But still we feel exhausted sometimes and reach that kind of a saturation point.

****

As I look back to the past one year during which I claim to have learnt a lot many things, there is one aspect which I am trying hard to practice - of constancy in work, relationships and life, in general. For a start, I decided to take a day off per week no matter what happens around me. For second, I bought a planner and blocked dates for travel throughout the year so that I have to plan everything else around that. "Time nahin hai" "Busy hun". Don't want to use these ever! 

Now you might find escape in something else and not travel. The whole idea is to be able to maintain that constancy in passion for your work, in love for your relationships and above all, in yourself! We are not machines, we are humans. We have a heart that demands rest, love and peace. Give it! There is nothing like the 'age' to put your everything in work and rest later.

Start now. Start right away. I have started to workout regularly (for the constancy of my body) and travel regularly (for the constancy of my soul). It is showing some positive results. And this isn't very hard. You don't have to plan everything in advance. Don't plan for anything but your soul. It needs constancy.

Stop. Stare. Smile. Don't run. 

To the constant that I wish to see in my life forever!

Until next time,

Try to practice constancy!

:-)

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Redemancy and Beyond

I remember the first time I came to London eight months ago. Papa came to drop me. Everything seemed new and scary because I had never been outside India before this.

It is strange that in a few months time, this place has become more familiar and home than any other place I have been to in the past 24 years ( and I have lived in atleast 10 different places...so I have a decent number of places to compare this with); the lanes, the streets, the walks, the people, the views, the everything.

And this is not because it is a new country but because of the people, the mentors, the experiences, the encounters, my favorite bookshop, the home I found in SOAS and all the learning this city has accorded me with and the beautiful ways in which it has transformed me. I learnt how learning has no boundaries and that one can never fully know or learn. Life is a continuous struggle between knowing and not knowing enough. I also learnt what it is to be...just be. I learnt that time is just a measure that we pretend to run after. Life is about living in the pauses without any rush whatsoever.

Now that I have a few months left here, I know it will take a very big heart when it is time to leave. And I don't know how to deal with that or the life that awaits after this which is going to be a drastic change from this one (How in the world am I supposed to not visit my favorite bookshop almost every day and read random book titles and get amazed at the wealth of knowledge that resides there, every single time!!).

All I know is that I have 'written this one well' and this one will go down the memory lane as the most epic, crazy and well lived chapter of my life. ☺

A gratitude won't be enough this time. I owe it to what I have learnt here and I will do justice to that no matter where I am next.

Until next time,

Keep seeing through the soul!

:-)

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