One snowflake and a Tim Hortons at a time!

2024, you were a good teacher!

‘Grateful for having lived this year!’ is something I would have loved to write if it wasn’t for this year. Because I loved this year.

2024 was all about reinventing myself, knowing my inner me, acknowledging my fears, learning to listen to my own instincts and making sense of God’s plans.

This year was nowhere close to what I had pictured myself to be in. But, when does life really happen your way, after all?

Ask me, how my life has changed? And I will come back to you with a laundry list of things I never did or appreciated before Jan’24.

• Had never seen death from as close as a few seconds. Yes, I almost took the last train (of life). A Magic Story soon!

  
  

• Had never liked the cold

  
  

• Had never liked cooking. Given a chance, I would still give it a miss!

  
  

• Had never stayed away from family and friends

  
  

• Had never driven a left wheel

  
  

• Had never felt more gratitude

  
  

• Had never practised acceptance of my own being, as a whole. Never owned my weaknesses!

  
  

• Never acknowledged my love for Bollywood music!

  
  

• Had never felt more proud of myself as a mother.
  

The list goes on…and why not.

When I came to Canada last year, I brought its first snowstorm of the year with me. Now imagine someone who would always hibernate in winters while in Delhi, and had always preferred to sleep over tasks that involved going out on the cold days in the city, was expected to fully function in the snow, like it was any other damn day and continue to operate like a native. Walking on the icy sidewalks was a skill I had to learn beside a hundred other things.  

It was six of one, half a dozen of the other for me. For instance, the towered snowbanks all around made me anxious and excited at the same time. Anxious, because I dreaded the cold it brought, and excited because I love the colour white, I love the silence, the stillness the winters bring.

When you move to a new country, you have your dos and don’ts clearly listed out in the back of your minds. But when you enter the battlefield, tables turn, and you lose sight of the dos and don’ts and brave what’s thrown on you. You succeed in some and fail in a few more than that.

Anyway, the idea was not to rant about my challenges but highlight what I learnt in the year that went by.

• When you face the whiplash by your own mind that takes pride in being a great critic, “See, I told you, there was never a better place than your comfort zone, but you wouldn’t listen”,  you know how to silence your ear worm. I did, although it was as difficult as to sail the sea in an eggshell because honestly, early on, I did feel a void that was otherwise filled by my family.

  
  

• It is always the small pleasures of life you should hold close to your heart. My first summers here came literally brought me alive. I never knew that the first sprout of the season in my backyard would send me dancing in joy, quite literally!

  
  

• Being around your people in a new country, even if they are not in close vicinity gives you courage. Thank God for letting me be around them!

  
  

• Quick daily check-ins are better-off than long calls. Gosh! You got to R.I.P the long conversations because clearly, time zone difference would kill the opportunities to connect with your family if you don’t make time for those quick calls.

  
  

• Real friendships are those that survive your absence. While you already know who your real friends are, this period would prove for you if ‘out of sight, out of mind’ is really right. ‘True Friendship survives no matter how little you talk or meet’ is a glorified non-sense. Once-in-a-blue moon conversation with someone may be a feel-good back-to-memory lane chat, but don’t count on them for your thick and thin days.

  
  

• You absolutely need time for yourself for your growth. Prioritising others over yourself never worked and never will. Being a people pleaser doesn’t essentially mean you’re doing things right. It just means you’re surrounded by people who judge you for not needing anyone to make you feel good about yourself. Yes, read it again!

  
  

• You got to trust yourself because it is you who needs you the most.

  
  

• You got to accept who you are, because changing yourself is freaking hard!

  
  

• There will always be low moments that pull you down. You will always find yourself in a situation where you know if you don’t get a hold of yourself, you will let your younger self down. A Chin-up is all you need!

  
  

• When someone says, “I learnt to master the art of staying in solitude”, you got to respect them. Because they have literally walked that tightrope between being lonely and alone.

LOVE and LIGHT!