New year, Better me

I am one of those people who rarely go out to celebrate New Year’s eve. Most of my life, I’ve fallen asleep even before the clock struck midnight. But after entering the somewhat grown up phase of life, I began to see it is for what it is – a reason to celebrate the start of something new. It is also a great way to assess what you did last year, look for growth opportunities, let go of the bad habits or cutback on them and have a rough draft of how you want the upcoming year to look like. The beginning of a new year gives you an opportunity to have something to look forward to for the rest of the year. Well, I may be late to the party, but here I am!

Ditching the new year clichés like ‘New year, new me’, I now look forward to ‘New year, better me’. This entails that with the start of a new year, I don’t need to change into a completely different version of myself. A lot of us don’t really want to turn into a whole different person. I would rather do things that would turn me into a better version of myself and even if you like where you are at right now, there’s always an opportunity to learn, to grow.

Previously, a new year meant creating multiple resolutions that I generally lost track of in the first two weeks itself. Most of the times, I didn’t even bother to get back to them fearing it was already too late to begin. As I had mentioned in one of my previous posts, this blog itself had lost track because I had failed to follow-through on my yearly resolutions to write more. However, a few years later, I realized that all I needed was a start. Even if it wasn’t on the first day of the year, what mattered was to write, to finish an article and post it. Once I got into the rhythm of it, the next step was consistency.

Even today, procrastination gets the better of me on a lot of days. But let me tell you a secret, sometimes, all that matters is showing up. Build little by little. Because at the end of the day, even a small step means you’re improving, going ahead rather than being stagnant. I still dream of posting at least one blog every day. Even though I haven’t gotten there, I have also realized it’s okay to take small breaks or even long ones. What matters is, not letting go of the things that you really want in life. Which is why, here I am again, hoping to write more this year!

Here’s to looking forward to a healthier (COVID-free), happier (inside-out) and flourishing year ahead!

Life change ahead

Here I am, already crunching my knuckles, ready to step back into the world of blogging! Have been meaning to do so since a month, but procrastination got the better of me. After a 4-month break, I feel ready to get back to writing and this post is more of a life update for all of my amazing readers.

Moving across continents is a major life change. Especially when you’re moving from your home-away-from-home (New York, USA) to your real home (Mumbai, India). At the start, I was really annoyed about not being able to write due to this big change. But the whole process of moving has been overwhelming and I decided it was a good thing to take a break before starting anything since I was finally back home for good. I realized how important it is to acknowledge and dedicate time for things that you hadn’t originally set in your schedule. This whole move was one such priority.

I must admit, nothing beats the joy of being home and seeing your family after a long gap (due to covid-related travel restrictions). And trust me, sometimes it’s really worth taking a break to adjust to your new life and just enjoy where you are. Do everything that you feel is necessary for a smooth process. Even if it means putting things on hold for a while. Speaking of which, now that I am all settled in, cannot wait to jump back on this writing journey!

Hope you all are doing great! I really missed this space!

World Environment Day

It took me a moment to realize this pretty structure was made from trash collected from Jacksonville beach itself. They had put up an entire display of art made from all sorts of ocean trash. Nature has its own way of saying what goes around, comes around. The trash we throw – the small empty bag of chips, use-and-throw glasses, plastic bags, our small actions today contribute to what our future would look like and if we want it to be pretty, we need to be mindful of our own actions. The need for change that we all talk about, starts with us. 🌿

Happy World Environment Day! 🌎 🪴

Jacksonville beach, Florida

Earth Day special

Happy Earth Day! 🌍

Every day, I feel blessed to have been born on this beautiful planet that helps us find beauty wherever we go. It also instills the need to protect this planet of ours in our own special ways. Instead of looking at it as a lost cause, what we can rather do is give it our best shot to save the planet. The big changes we talk about do start with us and our everyday lives.

Here are few ways you can help save the planet:

Decreasing use of plastic: Try to replace things made out of plastic with reusable materials. I’ve switched to using metal bottles instead of plastics at home and during travel. I would say I’m not even halfway there. But, taking one step at a time also does count.

Don’t litter: If you can’t help clean the trash that already exists, least you can do is not throw trash on the road or in the sea. Even a tiny chocolate wrapper needs to be thrown in the bin.

Plant more trees. 🌳❤️

PS: New York is brimming with such beautiful cherry blossoms right now, which make my evening walks more pleasant!

Her little book of dreams

When she was just a innocent little girl
She dreamt and wrote about things she would achieve in this world
She giggled and danced her way through adolescence
Always carrying her little book of dreams in her tiny hands

But the realities of the unjust world put her in a cage
Started tearing down her dreams page-by-page
People kept telling her how she should be holding a pan and a ladle
Or she was simply born to swing her baby’s cradle

She gathered all the tattered pieces of her broken dreams
And stuck them back together, a beautiful mosaic it seemed
She clutched the book even more closer to her heart
And stood up for all the girls whose dreams were torn apart

– Ashwini

Epilogue:

All over the world, a girl’s education is deemed optional for her growth. Because according to some, a woman’s place is in the kitchen and not in a classroom or a workplace. Historically, this has been happening since centuries. But with changing times, even the society needs to evolve.

Women have the strength and power to run a household as well as a workplace. What they need is support and encouragement. Mostly importantly, we need to remember, when you educate a girl, you are educating a child. Let’s work on that! 👸🏻

The circle of life

Looking back at this picture, it reminds me of “The circle (more of a circus) of life” and how our lives are constantly changing. According to science, humans are built to be dynamic. The very fact that the cells in our body keep changing over the years, explains that we too, are built to change, to evolve. This world, this Universe is constantly changing, moving and our tiny lives along with it are in motion as well.

And I believe that this is one of the best things happening to us. To have the opportunity to experience new things. To grow and outgrow from stagnant and monotonous lives. To let go of the things that bring us down and embrace the ones that lift us up.

Also, we humans have been gifted with this amazing ability to adapt to change. Our lives changed completely since March of last year, with the onset of an unforeseen pandemic. We were stuck and yet, we were evolving, trying to adapt to a new way of life. Even after a series of lockdowns and the uncertainty of when it would all end, so far, we’ve made it through.

It remains to see how the world will look like after the whole thing ends (we all still need to wear masks!). But well, while you are on the rider’s seat of this “thrilling” wheel of life, might as well enjoy the ride! Do more things that genuinely make you happy, use this extra time for things you’ve been putting off because of lack of time and take a moment to appreciate how far you’ve come! 💖

P.S: This picture was taken at Miami in Dec, 2020. How I miss the warm weather while sitting here in snowy New York. Would love to read in the comments how you guys have adapted to this new lifestyle. 🙂

The perfect fall leaf.

I stood at the beach, close enough that I could look down and see the empty shells in the crystal clear water yet far enough that my shoes didn’t get wet. I stood there a few feet away from everyone else with my back turned against the world, just staring deep into the abyss, breathing in the crisp fall air and watching the colorful reflection of the maple trees in the still water. The sun and the sky, the trees and their fallen leaves, the beach and the broken shells, it was all there right in front of me.

This was my last fall foliage trip since just in a few days, it was going to be past-peak for the autumn in Vermont. Throughout our entire journey, I was trying to find a maple tree with the perfect red leaves to capture. I was looking for a red maple leaf without any holes or dirt marks. However, the moment I set my eyes on the crystal clear water, I saw this one rogue red maple leaf right in front of me. It was nowhere close to what I was originally hoping to capture.

However, its worn, tattered texture stood out amidst all the pebbles. And while I stood there pondering over, it just struck me! Doesn’t this leaf symbolize what fall is all about? It teaches you about change. Just like how the lush green leaves change into different colors and shades, in our life too, we go through numerous changes, wanted and unwanted, both. But what we can do is adapt to the change. It felt like the leaf was conveying nature’s message to me that everything doesn’t have to to be perfect all the time, even your life. Sometimes, all you gotta do is take what you’ve got right now and still manage to find the beauty in what lies in front of you. Because in a week, all the perfect and the not-so-perfect leaves, they all were gonna fall from the trees and wither away.

So, here it is – my version of the perfect fall leaf. 🍁

Picture perfect.

I sometimes see people freaking out when things aren’t going according to their “plan”. And I used to be one such person too. I had this mental image of how my future would look like, monthly goals, yearly goals. And while we are busy working towards this mental image, life generally hits you with its own plans and may decide to take you down different roads. But, don’t just judge yet if these changes are good or bad for you. Sometimes, the roads less traveled might lead you to a destination that you were meant to arrive at. A place that’s meant for YOU.

And no, I don’t say that having a plan is a bad idea. But you need to stop obsessing when life doesn’t happen according to your plans. If one thing isn’t working out right now, there’s definitely something else that will or some other way. You need to accept these uncalled changes and face them with all you’ve got, maybe even try to find happiness along the way. Because you’ve already lost what you had imagined and now you’re also throwing away that could actually be something better for you. Sometimes we’re so fixated on what we want, instead of what we need, that we are not ready to accept the changes happening around us. If we learn to embrace these changes, we can surely learn how to adapt to different situations.

So the next time, paint that perfect-picture in your mind. But also don’t be afraid if you end up adding some random strokes and blurry outlines. Maybe, life does have bigger plans or you. Who knows, when you sway away from the original path, you might end up on the path that was really meant for you. Even if it’s a rugged road you were set on, life will bring you so many beautiful things to get through till you reach the final destination, that you would need a bigger canvas to paint the whole picture.