Me - Time Sundays!

I love me-time Sundays!  The past few hectic weekends had me craving for some “me-time” and finally here it was....and it felt great! I hoped to catch up with my soul buddies but not before I check on my parents. And just then I wondered – Did my parents ever get any individual me-time? They probably enjoyed some when they’d chase us off to our grandparents but there is something therapeutic about individual me-time, something I am certain they never got to experience at least not as much as new parents do these days.

Few years ago, when life was not as busy and when there was no face book, I had a lot of such me-time Sundays. I would sip my piping hot cuppa chai on a squeaky swing chair looking across a creek. I’d hear the birds sing their song or envy the bunnies aimlessly hop around; my cardio class made us hop like bunnies one time and I sprained my ankle after 2 hops! Occasionally two ducks would wade in the creek and cast a glance at me (so I think). In silence, we all chatted – soul to soul. It meant a lot!

After almost 5 years, I am enjoying me-time Sunday again. I walked by the same swing, it looks unused. It greeted me with the familiar ‘squeak’ and I smile. The creek seems to have lost a lot of water, perhaps it cried a wee long time for some attention. When creeks cry, they lose water. The birds were still singing their song...I can’t remember if it’s the same song. I look out for the bunnies; I wanted to tell them I can do 10 hops now (after so many years) but they are perhaps hibernating.  The two ducks are now wading with 3 little ducklings. Sweet life! I missed out on a lot!

Our desire to accomplish and to be successful has overtaken our life so much that we forget to smell the roses, feel the cool breeze and smile for no reason. Not too long ago, the bunnies, the birds, their song, the creek, the ducks and the swing were all part of my me-time. As I pursued different interests, I cut them out of my life. Yet today, despite everything they still gave me their time and let me walk away with the one thing they still had intact – the peace within.  

Overcoming fear

As human beings, we take a lot of things for granted especially life.  Life is unpredictable and you never know when it’s time to cross the finish line. We live as if we were to live forever; we work long hours for a life we never seem to enjoy.  We talk about being blessed yet never bring out the blessed feeling in our daily actions. We dream, make goals but spend time in useless talk and activities.  Two precious souls  lost their battle with Leukemia last month and one of them was just 33.  Their death influenced me in a much bigger way than their life ever did and almost gripped my life with fear. It was the fear of losing life before time, before I could accomplish all my dreams – especially the ones that lacked any effort so far. 

I spent days and nights in fear, I could barely sleep and one fine morning I was so scared that I had to skip work! Living in fear is a curse, the one that comes with stagnation. Fear comes when action stops and so it can easily paralyze someone. One of the key steps in overcoming fear is in recognizing that fear is not an enemy; it’s just an emotion that we need to get over. Understanding the cause of fear, letting go of our inhibitions are integral to overcoming fear.

Few years ago, I wanted to learn how to bike but I was terrified. I could balance a whole lemon on my finger better than I could balance myself on the bike. Embarrassed at my struggle, I wanted to quit but I sucked at that too! After sweating it out a few sunny afternoons, it became clear that I was not really scared of biking; I was scared of falling down and getting hurt. Excess dose of Vitamin -D rocks!So thanks to my friends with kids, I learnt how to bike on a kid bike and then gradually transitioned to an adult road bike. I wore knee and elbow pads (only few days) – the ones soccer players wear so I could minimize any bruises. It was my way of addressing my fear of getting hurt. 

That was seven years ago! Every experience transforms us in some way, so when I am gripped with fear this time, a friend promptly reminds me of the learning to bike experience.  Although my fears this time are beyond anyone’s control, the cause was perhaps a stagnant or monotonous life, one that lacks action/effort.

As Yoda says- Fear is the path to the dark side! I am sure no one wants to be on the dark side - I surely don't ! 

Healthy breakfast – 30 day challenge!

I hope everyone is looking forward to an exciting Labor Day weekend...I know I am! Since September is the National breakfast month, I am going to challenge myself to have (healthy) breakfast every single day(this month).  For most people, breakfast is an essential meal, for me I am just fine skipping it. I totally enjoy good food but I am not a morning person. So cooking breakfast or making something first thing every morning is just not my cuppa of tea...And yes I skip tea too!

Challenges get me going and for those who know me, just pretending to be a morning person is a tough challenge in itself and adding ‘healthy breakfast’ to it...challenging enough I think!

Today is the first day of the challenge and I made myself a strawberry, kiwi smoothie. YUMM is the word! Turns out smoothies come with an easy logic (fruits + nuts + yogurt) – one of the many things I learnt from friends and family.  

Trying out new things adds an interesting twist to life; it makes it lot more fun. Next few days, I plan to try out different combinations of fruits and add a mix of other ingredients like oats, tofu, greens etc. I have tried smoothies with Oats in the past but it became so thick that...Ah well! Times change and so do skills, so I am sure this time it will be just fine.

There are just so many options out there that I hope when I get really tired of smoothies, some other idea with magically show up. As they say, where there is will..there is a way. So I pray that I keep up with this challenge and have my most essential meal through this month and maybe longer! Will try to post some of the recipes..wish me luck and keep checking on me! Ciao - Happy Labor Day then...

Carpentry - My Abandoned Hobby!

Inspired by my roof building effort with Habitat for Humanity, I decided to do my own carpentry project – An Altar Table. An unusual project for any chica from India, my family initially got worried but then encouraged it as my new found hobby and interest.

Ready to kick start, I walked into Lowe’s (hardware store) with a rough design in mind, a small list of things to buy and an aura of overconfidence and excitement. Every rookie should start their carpentry journey at Lowe’s mainly because they just know what people like me need..Few minutes into Lowe's and I now had an updated shopping list!

Elated, I couldn't help reminisce the roof building week.  It took me half a day to hammer a nail in and another half to hammer it in ‘straight’.  I could barely feel my arms, only other time I had hit anything with any force was a cockroach! Being able to use a hammer without injuring myself or anyone around was a proud moment for me.  Climbing shaky planks amidst silent prayers, alternate uses of duct tape, using the saw were some of the other memories of that week.

Ready, Set, Go - I arranged the wood against the wall to get a visual perspective of the design (very helpful for rookies) and then circled the spots for the nails. Sanding and staining are best done outdoors, so my garage became my workshop area. I got to see few different neighbors in six months – certainly my carpentry had nothing to do with it!

Assembling time- Assisting with the roof vs. building a table alone have different learning curves. Bummer!  I realized I had more to learn before I could complete my project but my day job demanded more time on weekends as well.  So this project had to wait...so much for the enthusiasm!

A year later now, I still see the pieces of wood in my garage with the evident traces of an abandoned project!  I really wish I had gone that extra mile to learn this skill properly. Next month, a professional carpenter will complete my unfinished work. Failing at something isn't easy to deal with, so one day I hope to bring back this form/mode of art into my life! I might as well, I already have the tools! 

Declutter - Mind, Home and Life!

I am no Van Gogh (yet) but was so busy with my consulting gig that organizing my place just wasn't a priority! It is rightly said; clutter is nothing but postponed decisions!  

To me, Clutter is like the creepy virus that sneaks in each time you touch or just glance in an area and before you know it, you lose control over it. 

Decluttering process always starts in the mind - something I learnt through this experience. As easy as it seemed, I was overwhelmed due to lack of planning. I had pulled out things from my bedroom, closet, storage, kitchen and living area at the same time! Few hours later, I had created a bigger mess and accomplished nothing! (Expected? #cluelessaboutdecluttering)

When it comes to making changes in life friends turn out to be our biggest blessing! So with the help of my bestie, we managed to get the mojo back and started focusing on one area at a time. A week later, we had a clutter free living area and storage area; And the joy of walking into an organized room – beyond words! As it always happens, I had to blog about it and so jotted down some of my learnings, hope you will find them useful too. 

• Start small: because too much can get overwhelming. Take up one section/area at a time and do not budge until you have it done. If you have pending items for giveaway or trash, then it is NOT DONE!
• Be prepared to let go (Most challenging): I have a tendency to keep simple things like gifts for the just-in-case situations; it was time to change some old habits. Similarly some clothes were waiting for me to slim down (ya right!); it was time for them to go.
• Get Organized: There are many creative options out there, I went to the container store and was surprised to see their ideas for organizing absolutely everything and anything under the sun! Amazing!
• Maintain it: Clutter can sneak its way back in if we are not careful. Now as I watch TV, I try to  sort out mail, organize jewelry. It’s easy to keep at it when we multi-task.

My place was not as bad as I am making it sound but it sure needed some de-cluttering effort. Clarity in thoughts and needs and a good friend to question my decisions made the process a little easier. Given our priorities and lifestyle, clutter happens but claiming our home and life back from it doesn't have to be such a daunting or overwhelming task. All it needs is continuous transformation of the mind first and then home and life follows with it. Got it? 

Oh My, Time Flies !!

Time Flies! I knew its been a while I came by here to share my passion and activities but did not realize its been three years. WOW. Thank you to the friends who followed up to check on updates and especially Aparna who never gave up trying to convince me to get back in here. So here I am trying to think the one thing that I may have done in the past three years and that deserves to take this space tonight - tough decision !

In the past couple years, I have done some interesting activities like carpentry work (literally), assisted with roof building,  travelled for a plein air workshop, been doing radio shows and managed non profit or attempted to keep it afloat ofcourse despite everything managed to keep some artwork going. Currently I am doing a decluttering project in my apartment totally inspired by Feng Shui with a sincere hope that it will bring some much needed good luck my way. I hope some good luck finds its way into my life :-)

I will try to get them in here one by one and see how best I can share them all. Stay tuned - atleast some of them is coming this way in a week's time :-)