So from Delhi I went straight to Ahmedabad, Gujarat. There, I "checked-in" with Manav Sadhna the NGO I will volunteer for during this year in India (and the one I volunteered for last year during 5 weeks).
It was wonderful to reconnect with everyone, recognise the children and see how much they have grown, meet new joiners, settle down in the volunteer house, discover the new Moved By Love space next to Gandhiji's ashram, go for wednesday meditation... We are sharing the house with a couple of mice which are really partying whether we are here or not (les souris dansent...). We of course had the traditional Cadbury pizza at Manek Chowk in the old town. In short, everything is fine and as it should be :)
Tomorrow, I'm flying out to Chennai, to catch a train, to hop on a bus, to take a taxi to stay at Bodhizendo, a zen center in Tamil Nadu, most likely for two weeks. Some may ask why I need to travel all this way to sit in silence in a room - maybe I will have an answer after those two weeks, maybe there doesn't need to be an answer :) the drop in temperature will most likely help, in any case!
If I get a bit more organized, the next post might have some pictures...
Much love,
Caroline
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Letting Go - Embracing Life...
In transit at Delhi airport, I feel as if those two activities ways of being - letting go and embracing life - are the same, not contradictory or just complementary...
letting go of family and friends in Europe for a time, letting go of a comfortable and known environment, letting go of detailed planning for the future, embracing that I'm leaving, that I'm leaping into a new experience that seems so exciting, that will unfold day by day.
Back in June, I already took a leap into a different lifestyle, that would allow me to explore aspects of life and of myself that I found harder to reach when involved full time in a corporate job.
I volunteered for two months for the organisation Kids Company, being placed in a primary school in London. It was a wonderful and challenging experience: to be faced with imperfections of the system yet the profound humanity teachers and educators can bring to the classrom. Also to feel that I'm not sure what I'm doing there and suddenly a connection happens and I've brought a child back into a learning mode for a little while... But the best part was to see Basiledada or Sam (both supply teaching the class at different times) captivate the whole class, who held their breath when the wolf would huff and puff and blow the house down. Basiledada is 75 and his family comes from Gujarat - certainly a strong connection with where I'm headed now :)
I was also mentoring a young person through that same organisation, over the course of 6 months and that was very fun and rewarding.
If you are in London, I highly recommend checking out what KidsCo does: it's amazing and there are so many ways to contribute while having fun! :)
Without an income, I also started a nomadic life staying at different places in London, Paris, Bretagne, Bourgogne. A huge huge thank you to everyone who hosted me and my many bags for making this possible! When you carry all your bags from home to home regularly, you evaluation of how many handbags/ shoes/ clothes you need changes dramatically: I now feel much lighter with only 25 kg luggage for a one year journey! :)
Namaste India, here I come!
Much love to all
letting go of family and friends in Europe for a time, letting go of a comfortable and known environment, letting go of detailed planning for the future, embracing that I'm leaving, that I'm leaping into a new experience that seems so exciting, that will unfold day by day.
Back in June, I already took a leap into a different lifestyle, that would allow me to explore aspects of life and of myself that I found harder to reach when involved full time in a corporate job.
I volunteered for two months for the organisation Kids Company, being placed in a primary school in London. It was a wonderful and challenging experience: to be faced with imperfections of the system yet the profound humanity teachers and educators can bring to the classrom. Also to feel that I'm not sure what I'm doing there and suddenly a connection happens and I've brought a child back into a learning mode for a little while... But the best part was to see Basiledada or Sam (both supply teaching the class at different times) captivate the whole class, who held their breath when the wolf would huff and puff and blow the house down. Basiledada is 75 and his family comes from Gujarat - certainly a strong connection with where I'm headed now :)
I was also mentoring a young person through that same organisation, over the course of 6 months and that was very fun and rewarding.
If you are in London, I highly recommend checking out what KidsCo does: it's amazing and there are so many ways to contribute while having fun! :)
Without an income, I also started a nomadic life staying at different places in London, Paris, Bretagne, Bourgogne. A huge huge thank you to everyone who hosted me and my many bags for making this possible! When you carry all your bags from home to home regularly, you evaluation of how many handbags/ shoes/ clothes you need changes dramatically: I now feel much lighter with only 25 kg luggage for a one year journey! :)
Namaste India, here I come!
Much love to all
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