Solstice to Solstice - a journey of many transitions

It's been almost exactly a year since I posted a blog.  I'm tempted to wonder where that year went.... but as I pause and reflect, the answers are enough to fill many posts.  It has been a year of inward journey.  After 2 years of exploring the world .... Guatemala, India, Nepal ... I have spent the last one exploring my inner world, growing myself, building fertile soil for my next journey.

There is something powerful about the solstice to mark times of transition.  I left for Guatemala on Winter Solstice, 2009.  I returned to British Columbia exactly six months later, on Summer Solstice.   It is two summer solstices later, and I am again called to reflect on the transitions and what is unfolding before me.

This past year has been one of profound paradox for me.  Developing myself as a professional consultant while simultaneously developing myself as a somatically based yoga teacher.  Playing dressup in  'professional' heels and navigating corporate politics through the week; donning yoga pants, with my raw-vegan potluck contribution to the world of deep emotional connection on the weekends.  And through the process finding my voice of authenticity in both.  Finding the place where I can bring heart and connection into the corporate world, and where I can bring my professional skills into the powerful realm of yoga and connection.

As I move forward this year, I know that my work life will continue to shift into greater alignment - and with each step forward, I am able to see the incredible value of each step I've taken, perhaps most especially the difficult ones.  I am grateful for all the places where I have bumped against the questions of balance, alignment, integrity, and purpose.  Those questions have enabled me to be more present in those moments, and to grow from them.... and to make choices with ever greater clarity.

This week I got to play with another level of balance, as I brought my 'professional' skills into a community I care deeply about, and helped them move forward through an important piece of work - that for them is all about connection.  I see what is possible when I bring all of me together in service work, and I am excited about what is possible.

I don't know yet exactly what this year will look like, but I know it will be yet another layer of balance - of the inner and the outer.  Of bringing my voice to the work that I do, and sharing it.  You can count on more to come.

Arriving in India

I arrived in Delhi, India about 36 hours ago, after a mostly-uneventful journey of over 24 hours.  I have already learned a few important lessons.  The first is that while Guatemala may not care if you have a ticket back out of the country, India does - they won't even let you on the plane without a return ticket.  So after much creative footwork by the sales agent, I have one, subject to change with a small fee (having picked an arbitrary date in April).   The second is that they are really quite strict about those weight limits - and the real reason one needs to arrive 3 hours ahead at the airport is because it will take that long to re-pack one's suitcases and move stuff around until they are sufficiently satisfied to let you on the plane.  Suffice it to say, I used the entire 'extra' time that I had, (having arrived uncharacteristically early) and I got on the plane at the last minute, a little harried with no coffee. I should point out, for those laughing at this image, that I had managed quite proudly to jam everything into 2 large suitcases - and only one was so far over-weight that they wouldn't accept it (even with a fee).  I still maintain that this is directly related to how heavy the suitcase is empty. The other bag was well within weight limits. So there. 

Once on the plane, I learned another important lesson.  If you are on a plane that is less than half full, and you have the misfortune to be traveling economy class, don't wait to move.  Grab that stretch of three seats IMMEDIATELY and hoard it, because it you will need it to sleep.  Don't contemplate the possibility - just do it.  I did not.  I also did not sleep.  13 hours later, I arrived, very tired in Hong Kong, where I stretched out on the waiting benches and snored for 2 hours. (PS: truly, I don't usually snore - but I swear I must have I was SO dry from the airplane air.)  Fortunately, on the Hong Kong  - Delhi leg of the trip I was so wiped I passed out there too for a couple of hours.  The upside to my difficulty sleeping in transit has been that upon arrival I have been able to switch my clock around quickly and sleep through the night, despite a 13 hour time difference. Sheer exhaustion is a powerful sleep aid.

I arrived in Delhi around 2 am, and navigated my way through customs and luggage retrieval, and then out to where a nice man had a sign with my name on it.  What a strange feeling.  He took over hauling my luggage and we pushed our way through the crowds, in and out of elevators and down and around parking lots, finally arriving at a little Toyota Corolla.  (rather than the Innova mini-van I was promised).  I mention this only because with 2 big suitcases, a carry-on and my laptop, the Corolla couldn't fit it all in the trunk.  This meant that I had to sit in the front seat for the drive to the hotel.  It provided a great view, but was a little unnerving, as the seat-belt was non-functional. I was very relieved to be doing it at 3am, when the traffic was light.  I don't think I could have handled that in full traffic.

Which brings me to my next lesson: Indian driving.  I still haven't figured out what purpose the lines on the road serve.  Unlike back home, drivers here feel no need to stay within them, but rather appear to take great pride in driving directly between two lanes.  It's bizarre.  And the horn is a VERY important part of driving.  What's remarkable to me is that it all seems to work. Really.  The  rule of the road here seems to be: honk and go.  Others will work around you . . . and they do. I found myself trying very hard not to laugh out loud today as my new colleague drove me around, drifting from lane to lane, across lanes . .. whatever worked.  There were some points where the lanes just disappeared altogether.  Truly confounding. I expect I have more to learn on this one.  It might even get it's own post at some point.  We'll see.  For now I'm simply grateful that I won't be doing any of the driving while I'm here.  I just don't think I'm that brave.

In the mean time, I'm settling in at my guest house.  I'm not positive yet, but I think I will likely stay here as my primary 'nest' for the duration.  As in Guatemala, it is taking some adjustment to adapt to the different standards of cleanliness and conductivity. (Electrical sparks? What problem?) But it's coming.  And the family here is lovely: warm, welcoming, helpful and eager to have me.  Apparently this is a hobby for them rather than a profession - which has both pros and cons.    The house is large and lovely, my room is simple, and faces an absolutely beautiful temple.  The noise here is constant, but that seems to be par-for-the-course in Delhi.  It's interesting for me to recognize how often I am seeing comparisons to my experiences in Guatemala.  I am so grateful for my time there- truly I think this journey would be much more difficult without that base. 

Now it's time for an afternoon nap.  Despite sleeping through the night, I still feel pretty whupped. They (whoever 'they' is) say that recovering from jet-lag takes a day for every time-line crossed.  I've got a few days to go yet.