Any day, I would choose the ordinary life, give me an extra dose of it actually. This life of coming back to the balcony and looking at the verdant backyard. The life of watching in awe how babies can teach you so much about what practice really is. This life of going back to the same worn-out mat and same old asanas. A life of absolute boredom and a life of putting the same, yet somehow new toy in the mouth. Yes, yes, give me this ordinary life where I come back to my foreign language books and sigh non, je comprends rien! Let me sit with this life of procrastination, practice and letting go.
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| Monsoon Mediation |
I accept this life, this so completely ordinary life that I come back to every morning. That teaches me that there is so much beyond the mind that demands, the mind that beckons and the mind that pushes and shoves. This ordinary day of embracing baby and husband, this oh so very ordinary day of afternoon naps and quiet times, of colors and acrylics and work and some more work.
This extra-ordinary day today is so much like yesterday and yet so different from yesterday. What does it bring today? What does it make you feel? What does it demand from you and what possibilities does it hold? You know and yet you don't.
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| Titled:Monsoon Mediation in Acrylics |
Yes, I choose the extra-ordinary life. A life where the sun comes out everyday, the birds chirp, the weather changes and the flowers bloom-the same old and yet not at all.
P.S: As the universe would have it Karen Miller says something similar, so MUCH more articulately than I do in this post: "Settle". Enjoy!
You know WHAT? Yesterday, I was thinking exactly the same thing - "that if you look in on me at 7am in the morning invariably you will find me doing the same yoga for 40 minutes" !!! But yet it's awesome and it makes my day :-) Your acrylic painting is awesome baby. You are becoming better and better in your painting as in your writing. After all both are about expressing yourself na. Today while doing yoga, I counted 40 different postures/stretches/exercises that I repeat in the same order daily and also found that most time I am thinking of the next step while doing any step. Then I realised that the last step among all the next steps is death and the present step is life so why dwelve on death instead of life? Then I managed to focus on the present pose till I finished the yoga and it was better than usual. The ordinary everyday becomes extraordinary when you are totally focussed on it as against thinking of the next thing all the time :-) I know you mean this in your post too !
ReplyDeleteHi Appisa, I already told you, I LOVE your comment. Thanks so much for complimenting my art :-) Now,, every time i do yoga i think about what you say here...about the next pose being death and the current one life! :-)
DeleteThanks, Aarathi for this wonderful reminder of the uniqueness of the ordinary. It is only when one perceives the divine in the mundane that the true beauty of life is revealed to the seeker. And from there on, there is no looking back. In this lies the secret of true contentment and devotion.
ReplyDeleteShubho, you are kind. Thanks for your comment. One of my "fears" is that I will look back, look forward and forget the present moment...thats why I write I suppose, so i can remember and stay present. :-)
DeleteLove that Aarathi. I think you express it very well.. By the way I keep meaning to ask you if English is your mother tongue? What language books are you sitting down with and sighing?
ReplyDeleteIt's this ordinary life that we sometimes forget to enjoy and treasure and yet we miss it when for some reason it disappears, in illness or life dramas or uncomfortable moments of travel.
My new life still feels extraordinary to me and I am trying every day to make it more and more familiar and ordinary so I can just live it rather than have to carve everything out anew.
I love your paintings - they are really beautiful.
Kate x
Hi Lovely Kate, Thanks! You are so write about missing ordinary life when we relocate or change something about our lives. I am about to go visit my folks in the coming weeks and I am already uncomfortable by the fact that I am going to move, change and be removed from what has been routine for a few months. And then I remember, that moving gives me an opportunity to learn more about myself, to stay more aware and tune into my calm self and so here's to new things!
DeleteYour journey to spain and the two years has been really something. Learning a new language and soaking it up after so many years of living what was familiar to us? I really love what you are doing and tirelessly read your blog :-)
Its funny you ask me if english is my mother tongue. I will say yes and no. I think in english a lot but I also switch over and think in Tamil, which is my "mother tongue" and sometimes I think in telugu, which is the language spoken here in the city I live. Maybe thats why I had trouble expressing myself for the longest time! :-) Right now I am re-learning french. :-)
so many years of living in what was so familiar?* (sorry about the typo)
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