Everyone needs or has a place where they can recharge their life energies, their soul - or so i read in several feel-good articles (which for some weird reason are directed only towards female readers). And many of these articles will have a few suggestions for seeking souls like me about where you could find this place. I always romanticized that for me the special place would be at a friend's dinning table (desperately borrowed from one of the lists i guess) but never did find that table. I pretty much had dismissed the idea that such a place can exist until....
...work took me back to this eco-farm in the outskirts of Bangalore managed by a trust. We'd taken children there for an overnight stay as part of the summer camp. And despite the energy and alertness required when out with a group of kids (and a sleepless night) as i left the place the next day, i felt totally energized. I naturally thought that it was this place that has the magic for me. It is packed with lovely memories of times that i have spent with friends. It's quiet and peaceful, air and water cleaner than what i get back in my city home and i feel blessed with the generosity of my friend who manages this place.
And then it struck me - it was not the place, but the sheer act of driving on relatively empty roads, away from my routine and then the quiet journey back (i returned ahead of the kids - so that explains the silence!). That's when it struck me, my special 'soul-place' is not a solid still place, but it is the movement. I get this same sense of peace in crowded buses and trains (so long as i get a window seat to myself). Whether i am doing the driving or not, I love the road - stretching ahead, winding. I love things going past as the vehicle moves - in some sense so transient and yet so stable! It amazes me to see how much land is available outside of our over-crowded cities. I feel overwhelmed by the the richness of colours, textures, smells and sounds around. Sometimes i am completely absorbed in my thinking and sometimes I step back and watch how i think. And in the fast moving, i am able to connect with a deep stillness inside of me.
Finally, it feels good to discover that my soul-place lies just outside the doorstep, waiting for me no matter where i am!
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After a lot of dillydallying- a blog of my own ! a space for my experiences of the universe's magical ways - seen through the lens of a woman, a teacher, a mother. I am amazed at what some apparently simple moments of life throw up for me to explore & to learn. This space is some kind of a record of how I make meaning of such simple moments. A rather cautious entry to the world of blogging - an experiment to see what it would feel to give such a concrete shape and permanent form to my musing!
2 comments:
life has been fairly hectic over the last 8 weeks or so..no time for quiet, doing-nothing time..looking forward to being in my 'soul-place' soon!
r
lovely thought! I have recently taken to commuting by public transport and feel the same even though it is within the city. I coudn't have put it better! Can't wait for road trips with the family come summer :)
-vani
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