The word ahimsa in its simplest terms means nonviolence in Sanskrit. When I was going through yoga teacher training in 2012, I fell in love with the description of ahimsa in Patanjali’s sutras, or threads of teaching. Patanjali is one of the granddaddies of yoga and he wrote many of the basics of yoga at least 1,700 years ago.
Many times, yogis are asked to have a mantra – something to repeat during times of indecision, relaxation, or meditation. It’s a word or phrase that resonates with you and is meant to be calming and helpful. Ahimsa is that word for me. When I read the explanation the first time, I was hooked. Here’s a piece of the definition I liked most:
While waiting to fall asleep when I was a kid, I dreamed up my future – what color house I’d have, whether or not there’d be a picket fence, how many children would be invading the front lawn, and what my husband’s profession would be. If you’ve read even one of my blog posts, you know that my life has not even remotely ended up this way.
Now I dream of more tangible things – items I can actually work toward – trips, volunteering, and living abroad again. I can’t make someone love me or make a perfect match magically appear, but I can practice Spanish for the dream trip to Ecuador I’d like to take. I can email organizations and ask them for raffle donations for charities for which I’m on the board. I can research the cheapest flight to Fort Lauderdale and NYC so I can meet my HK friends. There’s a lot I can do, but procuring a mate just doesn’t happen to be one of them.
When I left HK, I had a job offer in Seattle, but I turned it down because I thought that me moving to Chicago meant settling down time and I was ready for that. I’d be closer to my family where I eventually wanted to end up, but now that I’m here and dating hasn’t exactly been successful, I wonder if I made the right choice. Is it time to move on again? Maybe it’s giving up after only 2.5 years, but the quality of men out there is really slim-pickings.
But then again, should the measure of my life be based against the guys that I date or the fun that I’m having and the life that I’m leading? I look back at my photos from Hong Kong and I look really, truly happy – the best I’ve ever looked.
I’ve been on a free online dating site hiatus for over 6 weeks and it’s been gloriously freeing. The whole not wasting my time swiping left and right, reading dumb messages, and rolling my eyes at the lack of ingenuity is fantasmo. The only thing is…I haven’t been on a date in 6 weeks. I am officially the most single (the singlest?) I’ve ever been.
I’ve been stuck behind a computer screen for so long, that I’m a real life Bambi on ice.
With four comp days to kill and vacation always on the brain, I decided to take a budget trip, so I went to Kayak.com/Explore and the cheapest flight was to New Orleans. NOLA was on my bucket list, so I was sold! My nonprofit paycheck and my desire to go to South America in December, made the budget for this trip even tighter than normal. I was also going by myself, so there was no one to share a hotel bill or taxi fare with. Here are a few hints if you’re ever looking to go to NOLA on a budget and by yourself:
Spirit Airlines is awesome and annoying all at the same time. The flights are super cheap because their bare bones flights get you exactly that – a flight. Pay to print your ticket, pay for baggage, pay for water on the flight. So for $97, I flew to NOLA for 4 days with a personal item (has to be less than 16x14x12). I stuffed all I could into my duffle and that was it!
The ultimate accommodations in budget travel are hostels. At $26 a night, my hostel served my purposes perfectly. Check out my first experience in a hostel here.
As I’ve done in Barcelona and many other European cities, I love to take free tours when I get to new cities. I took three free tours when I was in NOLA – at the French Market and with Free Tours by Foot in the Garden District and a ghost tour. The tours are free since the guides work on tips. I also took a tour of St. Louis Cemetery – which isn’t open to the general public – through a tour I found on Groupon (I also saw a pub crawl Groupon on there, which would’ve been super fun if I’d been there on the weekend).
Lafayette Cemetery on the Garden District free tour
Love is a drug. There’s a great high when you find it, and this huge withdrawal when it goes away. Even if it’s one night, one week, or several years, the high is intoxicating. The kind of feeling that makes you roll down your windows and crank the music up loud because every song that comes on the radio is amazing. That feeling can just as easily be withdrawn. He hasn’t texted since we met…withdrawal. We stopped talking after our second date…withdrawal. You’d think we’d become desensitized to that high in order to protect ourselves from the withdrawal, yet we keep on coming back for more. Over and over again we take the hit of love, even though withdrawal looms around the corner.
Despite the references above, I have never taken drugs of any sort, but I read an article today about the affects of sugar addiction and the parallels were remarkably similar to the highs and lows of drug use…and love. It feels outstanding when you take that first bite of the cupcake and the first flirtation. And downright awful when you take sugar out of your diet and love out of your heart.
I’ve noticed this same up and down feeling this year with the guys I’ve dated. I’ll meet a guy and think, “Oh, he’s so wonderful. He’s different than any other guy I’ve ever met. How much would I love being a firefighter’s wife?!” The birds are singing and the best music ever is blaring with the windows down. Then it ends abruptly. Withdrawal.
New City Life Adventure 