Maybe I don't look like a traveller anymore?

"I have found out that there ain't no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them." ~Mark Twain 

There was once a time when if I had to go anywhere I'd either have to ask someone to carry me or, and this was the most common option, I'd travel. It's because of that time that I know how to get to various places in Trinidad using our public transportation system, and that I am somewhat known to the taxi drivers in my area. There are taxi drivers that have known me for over 15 years as I travelled with them to and from school and various other places. 


Today I had the opportunity to travel from my flyover to home (my car has been down... car drama... oy)... it's not very far and I was hoping that I'd get a taxi that I was familiar with... just because. I didn't though... got a taxi driven by an old man who looked as though he shouldn't be driving anymore. What I thought kinda funny? Driver and other passengers gave me a look... a 'why is this person travelling?' look... or maybe a 'how come this person is travelling?' look. I'm not sure which... It was as though they weren't sure how I'd come to be there and if I knew where I was going. 


It was very strange. 


Perhaps having a car has changed me in some way? Perhaps to the casual observer it seems as though I shouldn't be travelling? Perhaps I seemed to be too calm, cool and collected?


Ah well.


I think that each person should at some point try out their country's public transportation system. Figure out how to get from point A to point B and then just do it. I've found the experience to be entertaining and educational. There are times I've found it to be frustrating and tiring. As is the case for most things, I think that you can't really appreciate what others go through, the waiting, the hustling, the environment (people and places)... unless you experience it yourself. 


Maybe I don't look like a traveller anymore... perhaps I need to be out and going places without my car (or without being driven around by the cute guy or the cousins). 


Get out and go somewhere... walk, bike, taxi, maxi, bus, something...


:)


peace,
Ren

Interesting things: a list, a letter and a vid...

"Develop interest in life as you see it; in people, things, literature, music – the world is so rich, simply throbbing with rich treasures, beautiful souls and interesting people. Forget yourself." ~Henry Miller 

It's already the first of February! Time - there's a topic that needs blogging about. I've been... introspective, moody, thoughtful. In my head for a bit and not particularly willing to open up to the world at this time. This phase will pass as it always does... ups and downs and everything-in-between. Thought I'd share these instead... a list, a letter and a video... they're all very thought-provoking - I guess they fit my mood. 

I've started following Lists of Note and Letters of Note on Twitter... there are so many interesting things that people have written and one of those things is this list: 
"Rescue Etiquette", written by Mark Twain, for the benefit of young gentlemen rescuing people from boarding house fires. It makes me wonder how many people needed rescuing... how many boarding houses had fires... how he came up with the order of importance of persons to be rescued. If I were in a boarding house fire, according to Mark Twain, I'd be 3rd on my brother's list. If I were someone's mother I wouldn't be on their list - mothers aren't listed but mothers-in-law are (though they are way down on the list... even further down the list than furniture)! I feel the need to make my own list of persons that I'd save from a burning building. 


The letter I'd like to share comes from the Letters of Note site and was written by H.L. Mencken in response to Will Durant's question which essentially asked, "what is the meaning of life?". The full text of his response can be found here: "On the Meaning of Life". This is something I ask myself often... what's my purpose? What am I doing? What should I be doing?


*sigh*


The last thing to share tonight is this TEDx video by Shawn Anchor. My brother posted it on my FB wall - it's something I think that everyone should consider. 

What do you think?


peace,
Ren

Happy Father's Day!!!

"When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around.  But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much he had learned in seven years."  ~Mark Twain, "Old Times on the Mississippi" Atlantic Monthly, 1874

I think perhaps that there is no more appropriate quote on this day. My dad and I have lots of karma as my mum likes to say. We've had our share of disagreements and misunderstandings. As I get older though I realise that a lot of what he's been trying to tell me for so long and a lot of the stuff he does is... real. True. With age comes not only wisdom but appreciation. We'll continue to have our disagreements and such but at the heart of it I know that there is love and that he is really only doing/saying what he thinks is best for me. I love you daddy. Happy Father's Day to all fathers and father-figures. You provide half of the whole. 

peace,

Rtr

Timely thoughts.. or thoughts about time...

"I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead." ~Mark Twain 

Friday night. Day that should have been a holiday (workdays sandwiched between public holidays and weekends of no work should be a holiday!). Thoughts swirling as they are wont to do. Age. Time. Maturity. What are they really? 

Passing comments - I sound like mom and think like dad. Really?! Consideration. Contemplation. Realisation. Situations of feeling so... old. Situations of feeling so... young. A memory of a passage in a book where the author said she felt like she was all ages wrapped up in one.. 2, 12, 22... (What book was that again?) 

Sitting down to watch Friends and noticing I'm at the age they play in the show... remembering when I was not (When was that? oh.. right.. 10 years ago)... Identifying with the show so much more... I really am getting older... Family... Friends... Work... Relationships... What happens now? What's my purpose?

Time passes... Moments. Memories. 

"What do you want to be when you grow up?" How does one know when one has "grown up"? 

"One day you'll understand" Is it that day? I understand some now... some is fuzzy... some is so far off... one day I'll understand.

Amusement - a person I'm following has just tweeted: "Procrastination is the thief of time. - Edward Young" - How does this sit with me? (Is there something I'm forgetting? Procrastinating? I do it all the time...) 

High heels and short skirts. Flip flops and baggy jeans. Boots. 

Hair - up, down, braids, plait, ribbons - bows - clips, shag... no no no ... layers darling. 

Chubby fingers that turn to piano fingers. Curly hair to no hair to baby soft all new hair. Electrician-plumber-carpenter-auto mechanic-jack-of-all-trades. Teacher. TeacherS... plural... with an 'S'.

Wonder where this post is going? Points on a spiral. Déjà vu? Been here before ... am here now... will be here again. Time is a funny thing. Linear? Maybe not. Step outside the box and look in. 

For now, rest. 

Rtr

Kripalu...

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." ~Mark Twain 

Today is May 4th... I've been feeling out-of-sorts all day with part of myself remembering the past, part of myself trying to stay focused on the present and part of myself wandering off into the future. What's important about May 4th you ask? 

I started on an adventure. In actuality the complete adventuring process started months before with planning and filling out of forms and talking to people (family, friends, work). The date that I realised I was adventuring though was - May 4th 2009. On that day I became a volunteer at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. 

I know that there were a lot of people (family, friends, work.. lol) wondering what the xyz I was doing. I admit... I myself was wondering the same thing... On May 4th 2009 however, I found myself in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts after having taken a flight to NYC and then a bus to Lenox, Massachusetts. These trips did not happen consecutively so there was some time to wonder what I was getting myself into. 

There aren't many people I know that would take a period of no-pay leave to go off to another country and be a volunteer for four months at a Yoga Center. That's what I did... and why did I do it? For me. Cuz I was feeling lost and claustrophobic and wondering if there was nothing more to life than the ordinary. There are many stories about how persons get to Kripalu... or go on any kind of spiritual quest really. In my case it was a longing to experience .. something .. that you know is out there but just haven't had yet. I'd known about the place for .. years. And I knew that I'd get there eventually though I didn't think it would have been as a volunteer. Towards the end of 2008 however I found myself wanting to scream. It felt like I'd been giving and giving of myself with nothing being renewed... and it was then I knew I had to do something or I'd turn into a crazy loon (ok.. maybe a crazy b*tch).  And so, I applied... and I was interviewed... and I was accepted. I don't think I ever told all you who supported me and helped convince me and said of course that's what I should do thanks... so. Thanks. Much love and blessings to you.

The Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health is a nonprofit educational organization dedicated to promoting the art and science of yoga to produce thriving and health in individuals and society. Their volunteer program seeks to cultivate the practice of work as an avenue of self-discovery. It isn't all sunshine and bliss. The volunteers make up a major part of the workforce of the Center - you'll find volunteers working in just about every aspect of the daily running of the Center. It's hard work but at the same time... it's work approached from a different angle. There's a lot of talk about self-inquiry and development. Energy awareness and how is this sitting with you now? Stretch, Breathe, Flow, Release. 

Each person's experience is unique and rightly so as each individual is unique and travelling on their own path. A year from when I began I'm still processing the experience. BRFWA - breathe, relax, feel, watch and allow... How am I feeling in this moment? Thankful... for the experience. Happy... that I went through with it and didn't allow doubts of what am I doing.. where am I going.. why am I here.. to cloud my focus. Grateful... for the community that I was a part of... the friends I made... the people I interacted with. Grown up-Mature in a way that I can't explain. Wistful... cuz it was a whole world apart from the regular world and in some ways is an example of how I'd like the world to be. Calm... what will be will be... que será será.

And so to close this post I leave you with a lil bit ah memories that aren't in any particular order. If you were there... I know you can picture it... If you weren't and you want to see pics - I've got them.. but really... I advise a visit... it doesn't have to be a four-month-as-a-volunteer visit but Kripalu... it's a place you'd want to check out. 

Bus ride. Spilled coffee. Traveller on the Appalachian trail. Lenox. Shuttle rides. Volunteer badges. Hill House. Work schedule. Program choices. Yoga. Breakfast, lunch and dinner oh my! Raw granola. Avocados. Volunteer table. Dance. Blindfold dance. Taking-over-the-Tavern dance. YogaDance. Off-the-Mat. Smudging. Creating. Writing. Om. Walks to Hill House... to Shadowbrook... to Lenox. Baby blue bicycle. Shut down week. Tanglewood. Jacob's Pillow. Coffee. Workroom. True Blood. Elevator convos. Late night convos. Talk talk talk. Feel. Break down. BRFWA. Movie night. Writing workshop. Kombucha. Shiva Rea. Dinabandhu. Birthdays. Cards. Birthday cards. Parties. Kundalini Yoga - I never got there .. oy. Full Moon Fire Ceremony. Monks and nuns. Music. Stretch. Move. Magic Show. YTT. Strawberries. Laughter. Cuddle puddles.

Thanks Universe for guiding me where I need to go. Look out Kripalu - I'll be visiting in two weeks or so. 

love,

Rtr

Edited to add some perspective: I'm linking to posts from two of my fellow volunteers about their experiences at Kripalu. I remember when I was researching it how excited I was to find the blog of someone who had been volunteering there as well... so... if you like this post... check out these as well:

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  Ready to talk about Mastodons and Elephants. (inspired by weekly share)
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  Spend a year living at a yoga center

peace,

Rtr