The day before I left Barcelona, I went to see Maria at her office near where I lived to say goodbye. On top of wishing me luck on my new adventure, she wanted to do one last tarot reading for me. In this reading, among the many things she said, the prevailing theme for her was that this next step would be a vacation for my mind and soul. Well, I've been here now for about 2 and a half months, and that is the perfect tagline to express my headspace right now.
Physically it is definitely not your stereotypical carefree vacation commemorated by a week of lounging on the beach getting fruity drinks brought to you. Physically it is more like walking uphill at altitude on broken streets dodging little yellow cars shooting out of every which way on every intersection, while trying not to think of choking on all the pollution as you try to make it to work for 7am. Not to mention the fact that it is not summer here, it is winter, which yes is still sunny and very-much snow free, but still has a 15-20 degree temperature change between afternoon and night. Which combined with the aforementioned pollution, has brought about a nasty cold that I have been battling for over 3 weeks now.
My mind however, feels like it is very much on vacation. I woke up this Friday morning of this Peruvian national holiday around 8 (yes that means I managed to sleep in 2,5 hours) with the sun pouring in through the window onto my pillow and a slight chill in the air. However under the 4,5 blankets it was nice and toasty warm, and I couldn't help but smile. My mind was perfectly at peace. Sure I had been fairly down for almost 3 days prior to this morning, due to some drama managing to permeate my wonderful little barrier, but those moments are inevitable. If anything, it just worked to make me appreciate this peace of mind even more. I opened my laptop to find Facebook open, and after having read the first 2 or 3 posts complaining about this, and upset about that, I promptly shut it and laid my head back down in the light.
My mind being so at peace has also clearly had wonderful effects for my soul. It feels at harmony with things. At peace with myself, my life, and my plans. Working together they have managed to shut out all the bullshit perpetuated by so many other people out there, and just focus on the light. As a result, I do feel a bit out of the loop with what's happening with almost everyone else, but I really couldn't be happier about it. If this is what out of the loop feels like, than I don't know if I ever want to be back in. Living in the now, and in my now, not anyone else's, has been absolutely wonderful. I still have all of my plans and thoughts about everything of course, but it has reached this beautiful balance.
I will have to extract myself a little bit of course, as even my friend's here are wondering if I've moved. If not in my mental space than the physical one imposed by my cold the last 3 weeks. This weekend though, tomorrow morning to be precise, we are catching a couple soles 2 hour bus to the coast with a few friends. Again, it's winter so it will be cold, but it will be fantastic to just be in a national park looking out at the ocean breathing in lungfuls of fresh air for a day or two. Not to mention, when we get back Sunday or Monday, a friend from Saskatoon happens to be here, in this part of the world in Arequipa for a few days. Also with Arequipa day and weekend long fiestas coming up mid-August, Jasmin coming and month long touring in September, and travelling up to the Ecuadorian coast end of September to be settled in there for my birthday in October, there will be a lot going on the next 2 months. Much to look forward too. :)
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