Next on my list of Things I love about Living in India is
Spontaneity
The Spontaneous way we live our life here takes some getting used to as westerner. You may be saying (like I did) "I love being spontaneous!"in fact I've always considered myself spontaneous but Indians take it a different realm.
Everything about life here is spontaneous, no one plans anything. I mean lots of things are mentioned, for instance Hubby is talking about our daughters upcoming birthday, days after she will undergo Mundan which is an Indian ritual for the first hair cut, it involves having her entire head shaved. My son had his done before he turned one. *you can read more about my experience in this older post but the point is hubby is discussing us travelling to Haridwar to make this happen.
Now I have learned and am able to accept that this may or may not happen, there are no plans set and I shouldn't start packing. I won't be able to get him to confirm a date or even what will or will not happen, and if and when it does it will be a fast and furious decision that occurs, you guessed it by now...in the moment.
When our daughter was two months old my visa was about to expire, my mother was here visiting from Canada and suggested we look into flights to travel back with her the following week. We began checking fares to get on her flight when hubby came home out of the blue and suggested we all head to Nepal instead to obtain new visa's. We left the following morning on a whirlwind two week adventure, my mother even changed her ticket to come along with us on this spur of the moment adventure.
I love that life is lived in the moment and not just for big events or adventures but for daily life, it helps to cultivate presence. For instance nobody calls before showing up for a visit. I've been just putting the kids down for an afternoon nap when someone knocks on my door, As a good Indian housewife it is my duty to invite them in and make chai, even when they say no which they will because it is customary to reject the first offer of chai (or anything) but it is also customary to insist and provide something to drink and or eat depending on the time of day and the person who is visiting. Mind you although I love spontaneity and living in the now I also like to have a bit of control over my world and I have answered the door blocking the guest informing them the kids are sleeping. That being said very few people are showing up to just visit me, because we live in a joint family they are really just saying hi and have others they can sit with but still it's not very Indian housewifey of me but I can only conform to a certain point and everyone has come to accept this about me, they figure it's because I'm a foreigner and love me anyway. For me it's a balance of accepting what is but also maintaining a bit of a routine for my sanity and the kids kids, plus let's be honest their afternoon naps are my only "alone time"!
Food is rarely planned. I have Mommy friends back in Canada who not only plan their weeks menu but often get most of the cooking done in one day! Here there is no eating leftovers, it has to do with the energy of the food itself, plus personally I never know what I'm going to have a hankering for and it is super exciting, because of our lack of imported food, if a new veggie shows up in market! One must keep their options open.
Living in the moment requires a zest for spontaneity which comes with an element of trust. We must understand that if what has been offered in front of us feels right, it is, and if it doesn't feel right, no problem choose to do something else. When we live in a spontaneous way we allow ourselves to be free because we are not constantly trying to control what is going on around us or what our days look like.
It's nice to wake up and set intentions and plan my day as best I can but then let go and see what transpires, which for me is still the hardest task. Surrendering expectation takes practice and I've learned expectations can lead to disappointment. While I'm not diminishing emotion, it is okay to feel disappointed when something doesn't pan out and I honor it for a moment but then I let it go, I don't let it rob me of the the present moment. India has taught me when we are not living in the present moment we miss out on the magic of life that is unfolding before us...
Still more to come in this "What I love about Living in India" series, stay tuned...
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Spontaneity
The Spontaneous way we live our life here takes some getting used to as westerner. You may be saying (like I did) "I love being spontaneous!"in fact I've always considered myself spontaneous but Indians take it a different realm.
Everything about life here is spontaneous, no one plans anything. I mean lots of things are mentioned, for instance Hubby is talking about our daughters upcoming birthday, days after she will undergo Mundan which is an Indian ritual for the first hair cut, it involves having her entire head shaved. My son had his done before he turned one. *you can read more about my experience in this older post but the point is hubby is discussing us travelling to Haridwar to make this happen.Now I have learned and am able to accept that this may or may not happen, there are no plans set and I shouldn't start packing. I won't be able to get him to confirm a date or even what will or will not happen, and if and when it does it will be a fast and furious decision that occurs, you guessed it by now...in the moment.
When our daughter was two months old my visa was about to expire, my mother was here visiting from Canada and suggested we look into flights to travel back with her the following week. We began checking fares to get on her flight when hubby came home out of the blue and suggested we all head to Nepal instead to obtain new visa's. We left the following morning on a whirlwind two week adventure, my mother even changed her ticket to come along with us on this spur of the moment adventure.I love that life is lived in the moment and not just for big events or adventures but for daily life, it helps to cultivate presence. For instance nobody calls before showing up for a visit. I've been just putting the kids down for an afternoon nap when someone knocks on my door, As a good Indian housewife it is my duty to invite them in and make chai, even when they say no which they will because it is customary to reject the first offer of chai (or anything) but it is also customary to insist and provide something to drink and or eat depending on the time of day and the person who is visiting. Mind you although I love spontaneity and living in the now I also like to have a bit of control over my world and I have answered the door blocking the guest informing them the kids are sleeping. That being said very few people are showing up to just visit me, because we live in a joint family they are really just saying hi and have others they can sit with but still it's not very Indian housewifey of me but I can only conform to a certain point and everyone has come to accept this about me, they figure it's because I'm a foreigner and love me anyway. For me it's a balance of accepting what is but also maintaining a bit of a routine for my sanity and the kids kids, plus let's be honest their afternoon naps are my only "alone time"!
Food is rarely planned. I have Mommy friends back in Canada who not only plan their weeks menu but often get most of the cooking done in one day! Here there is no eating leftovers, it has to do with the energy of the food itself, plus personally I never know what I'm going to have a hankering for and it is super exciting, because of our lack of imported food, if a new veggie shows up in market! One must keep their options open.
Living in the moment requires a zest for spontaneity which comes with an element of trust. We must understand that if what has been offered in front of us feels right, it is, and if it doesn't feel right, no problem choose to do something else. When we live in a spontaneous way we allow ourselves to be free because we are not constantly trying to control what is going on around us or what our days look like.
It's nice to wake up and set intentions and plan my day as best I can but then let go and see what transpires, which for me is still the hardest task. Surrendering expectation takes practice and I've learned expectations can lead to disappointment. While I'm not diminishing emotion, it is okay to feel disappointed when something doesn't pan out and I honor it for a moment but then I let it go, I don't let it rob me of the the present moment. India has taught me when we are not living in the present moment we miss out on the magic of life that is unfolding before us...
Still more to come in this "What I love about Living in India" series, stay tuned...
2 comments:
Beautiful post as always <3
I've struggled with this a lot, I always want to know when, where, how etc. slowly getting there. You've adapted so well!
This moment is a gift, that's why it's called the present (or something like that hehe)
Lots of love xxx
lol, you are so cute Lauren, oxo
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