absorbing the silence

almost four months in and i am officially turning indian...

and it's not just because my feet are constantly dry, cracking and dirty... or that my face is the tannest part of my body... or that i have an indian accent and have mastered the ambiguous indian head-wobble... or even that my sweat smells like curry and my sense of timing has slowed to a standstill... or because my days now revolve around my yoga practice and my next meal... and if i do a bucket of laundry AND go to the market, it's a busy day...

it's because i can now sit for hours and just... well... just be. i can be quiet and still and observe the things going on around me and the things that are going on in my head. i can slow the chaos of my mind for just a few seconds and be completely content with the present moment. i can now watch the world and ponder life... believe it or not... in complete silence.

i know most of you are wondering who are you and what the hell have you done with my super-loud and sometimes obnoxious friend... and honestly, i wonder the same thing myself.

i have come to india to try to sort out my head... and i have come to realize that not only is that an impossible task, but that i am learning something far greater than figuring out what's actually going on in my head... i am learning how to listen to the world through my heart.


















bec and i realized that after 5 solid weeks, we finally fell silent. we found that we don't need to communicate verbally all the time anymore... we don't need to be babbling constantly and filling the air with noise. we joke about being telepathic now because we can just look at each other and know what the other is thinking... which usually ends in bouts of laughter and head-nodding.

we recently went to nagarhole national park and sat quietly for hours without even noticing how much time had gone by. we blended in with the indian men that seemed to be a part of the forest... silent and unmoving. a huge wave of peace and contentment washed over me and i finally realized that this is what it truly means to be indian.

i now feel a sense of peace and love radiating from everything around me... and i can only sense it when i allow myself to be silent... so i'm trying to quiet myself every now and again so i can absorb this bubble of internal peace... wow. i think that was the hippiest thing i have ever said.