rolling with la joie de vivre
“…sometimes in spelunking the psyche your little headlamp goes dim. Anyway I was trembling. After all here was a new place, therefore a new life, and hence an occasion for some quaking at the prospect of your freedom to do right away, if you want to, and can make up your mind, a wide variety of things in this world.“
Benjamin Kunkel, Indecision
The moment I opened my eyes from meditation on an Aix-en-Provence windowsill Tuesday morning [feel free to unfollow me now…], I saw a huge dinosaur-esque lizard dart right across my feet along the red roof tile. It shocked me and made me smile, and I laughed as I learned that the lizard signifies an ability to go with the flow and amalgamate in the wild. Such has been my life in 2018 thus far…
I type this on my phone from the passenger seat of a car en route from Aix to Paris, lavender fields to my left and right, digesting half an avocado and organic cheese and pistachios, wishing I had some vegetables [and chocolate] but grateful to have food at all, totally unsure of what tomorrow brings but excited for what the future holds.
For someone with particular lifestyle habits [that seem perfectly normal to me, but understandably rigorous to others], I have had to drastically check myself this past January onward as I moved from place to place. You all know I love me some Ayurveda, and as such I have had to learn how to infuse it to my surroundings based on where I ended up [i.e. what can stay on the tiny plane vs what needs to be thrown off to lighten the load].
Case in point: I am writing to you with love from France, fresh out of co-hosting The Provence Experience, happily uprooted yet continually met with circumstances that leave me no choice but to adapt to my surroundings as best as possible.
Since the beginning of the year, I have slept in different rooms, cooked in many kitchens, hauled bags of food staples to and from said kitchens, figured out how to lock and unlock various doors and mailboxes, unrolled my yoga mat in unique spaces [or just straight up rolled around on the floor] routed new routes to and from work, familiarized myself with neighborhoods and neighbors, and have rearranged boxes and suitcases enough times to illicit a full on toddler tantrum [which I fully admit to having the day I left for Paris].
It has – needless to say – been painful in every sense of the word, but has also taught me to be grateful for whatever is in front of me, for the incredible ways that my friends and the Universe has held me in this interesting transitional time.
Alongside managing moves and emotions, my beloved Ayurvedic regimens have had to loosen up quite a bit to maintain a decent amount of sanity, but I have also learned how to maintain the important practices wherever I go as best I can.
In an ideal scenario I would have a kitchen with my favorite pantry staples wherever I am in order to make fresh meals every day and fresh travel snacks, but this is not currently the case. As I mentioned in my last newsletter — the most pertinent piece of advice I received next to sustaining various important regimens unique to my issues was not to rush.
Being in Provence and France in general has reminded me of the significance of adopting a general joie de vivre, whether one lives in France or Asia or NYC. There is such relief in sitting still for a while, enjoying tea or wine or fresh bread and conversation without agenda or time constraints.
I also obviously understand the importance of a schedule and goals and working hard, but damnit if it doesn’t feel good to surrender a little bit to the moment just as it is.
And so I have had to learn [and am still learning] to eat the bread and cheese without judgement, to drink the wine and stay up later than usual, to use my Ayurvedic spices on my meals and not to beat myself up if I forget, to be OK with weird car or plane snacks even if it is half an avocado with nuts and seeds.
Although they can also be considered general travel tips, below are a few practices that have helped me settle even though I am not at all settled in my own personal living space:
- Stick to your guns. You know what’s best for you — don’t let anyone make you feel bad about your choices or preferences. If people are staying up late and you want to hit the hay, don’t be afraid to make an Irish exit. If you tend to go to bed early but are enjoying your evening, don’t feel bad about losing track of your bedtime. Feel it out and do you.
- Prepare yourself with nourishing food. Currently and typically in my suitcase I have tea, ghee, oats, dried fruit, nuts and my pre-toasted Ayurvedic spices I made in NYC. I keep things like this on hand to make overnight oats [or warm oats by letting everything sit in boiled water for a few minutes]. I love keeping beet chips or einkorn crackers on hand, too. Whatever works for you — do your best to have some solid options within an arm’s reach.
- Locate the nearest market and cafe or restaurant that vibes with your personality. Even if you never set foot in there, you’ll know they are around and they help to set the tone for your personal lifestyle; this has helped me to a bit more at home even when I was moving around a lot.
- Allow for some lenience. Life does not always cooperate or offer the perfect circumstances for ideal living scenarios, and we must remain as calm as possible if we want to enjoy ourselves. I have had to really work on this during The Provence Experience — we had an amazing chef who cooked a lot of things with ingredients I typically avoid, even though they were clean and prepared with so much love. I spoke with him beforehand about sensitivities [see “stick to your guns” above] and also cut myself some serious slack by simply enjoying having someone cook excellent food for me and our guests. Sometimes you have a kitchen to work from, sometimes you have a place to eat from, sometimes you find yourself shamelessly dipping your fingers into a bag of muesli on a long car ride. Everything goes, as long as you are taking care of yourself as best you can.
- Maintain what feels really good. No matter where I am or how I feel, I meditate every morning. I know my trigger foods and avoid them when I can, and also carry my Ayurvedic digestive spices with me for the moments when that is not always possible. Last week I stayed up late when it felt fun and snuck out to go to bed early when I knew I needed rest. I practiced yoga and moved my body every morning, whether it was for an hour or 20 minutes — if I didn’t get great sleep I would do my best to lay down for a minute during the day, if anything just to rest my eyes. Experiment and keep it sustainable for you.
- Remain open hearted. The more we stay receptive to possibilities, the more likely they are to arrive without stressing about them, even if it is not exactly the way we think it would have worked out.
I understand I am incredibly fortunate to have a job that allows me to travel the world, and am also proud of myself for working hard to create that opportunity. Anything is possible as long as we can go with the flow as often as we can, and act from a place of love for life versus fear of things not working out.
What does flowing mean to you, and how can you adapt to your surroundings wherever you might be today?
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Photo by Grant Henry Media.
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