Making My Own Normal #GratitudeCircle

It seems like half the year just whizzed by, no? Here we are, already at the end of July, and before we know it, in India, at least, the festival season will begin.

But better to be busy than feel time dragging, I think! Do you agree?

After my son started college, I eagerly look forward to the first week of May, when summer vacation begins, and we’ll have him home for over two months. Of course, I am grateful he chose to take up a summer internship here–we can never tell where it will be. For now, I am happy we got this summer with him.

I resolved to spend as little time online as possible and yes, created my own normal, which naturally meant less blogging, less social media (not that I am there all that much, but still, I love Instagram), more cooking (yay!), and lots of time with my son and nieces–laughing, having a good time.

The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become.

As usual, we had our regular pilgrimages to the doctor. My son managed to contract a strep throat that became a full-blown fever and it was heart-breaking to see him spend the last two weeks of his vacation looking rather listless and coughing his time away, even as he worked hard to complete his summer internship project reports. While I felt miserable that he fell sick, I was grateful he was home and I could look after him.

True we have no control over what happens, but yes, we do have control over how we respond. I chose gratitude. I am especially grateful for my sister and her family.

One night, when we were miserable about Vidur coughing so much, and got worked up because the shop that sold a particular cough syrup was closed, she went out and managed to get it elsewhere and came home to give it. Love. And…I know we’re going to generate some floods together after my son leaves. Yeah, mommy-hearts. All it takes to trigger it is a memory, or something in the general routine. Heck, I miss the kids when I make coffee and tea–what can I say? Grateful for technology that keeps us connected.

♥

I am glad that we got to enjoy another trip to our favorite bookstore and even managed to get home just as the rains started.

Oh! The rains! Only the last couple of days have been dry, and I took advantage of the fact to scrape up the poop from my balcony.

There were days when we got our blood pressure up thanks to pigeons managing to sneak into our balcony. Mysterious how they managed to squeeze themselves in, but couldn’t figure out how to get out. We heard the flapping of wings and saw the pigeon panicking, flying all over the place and getting stuck on the net. Even when we opened one side, the bird refused to fly out. We ended up unhooking almost the whole net before the bird flew out, all the while fielding and preventing its friends from coming over. Oh, squirrels manage to get in, but they are smart enough to get out, too. We’ve been considering removing the net…but that’s a cumbersome job. Also, more important things to do now, so letting it be.

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Good things happened with my niece getting her hostel accommodation at the college she had enrolled in and that’s a huge relief. We were freaking out over the cost of paying guest arrangements and well, I admit I prayed real hard–since there were very limited seats for the hostel allocation. All’s well that ends well and she’s slowly settling down. The weather there is awfully hot, but she’s being a champ, doing all the things she has to and adjusting to the new environment.

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I must give huge thanks to online shopping and home delivery, be it groceries or other things we need. My friendly neighborhood shops are so kind. At the end of the day, it is all about relationships, and I am lucky to have built some strong ones over the years. So grateful.

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In the middle of all this, I managed to juggle two things I love: work and lots of cooking. And spend time with my son, bingeing on TV. I did not get around to blogging as much as I’d like to have, but didn’t stress over it. Come August, it will be back to the routine and my kitchen will certainly miss my boy. There’ll be plenty of time to catch up, eh?

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And yes, the work front is good.

Which leads me to income tax return filing. After going crazy trying to figure out stuff, I wisely decided to hand over the whole thing to my chartered accountant. Big sigh of relief! I don’t know why I struggle with it–my returns are pretty clear cut and easy to file. I think it is the resistance. Funny thing is, I have a good head for numbers. Maybe I’ll try to understand it better. Hmm. Grateful for professional help, however!

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When we were out running last minute errands last week for my son, I got a new screen guard for my phone. Oh, a minor thing, but it is a huge difference to me. The super-scratched previous screen guard made it tough to read stuff on the screen, you know? And I would find it tough to navigate the touch screen as my finger would not move because of the rough surface. Now it seems like a brand new phone! Yay!

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So now my son has returned to college. I am bracing myself for the sense of emptiness that always sets in after he leaves. I mean, the house–and our heart–feels empty. Of course I know we are all in a good place, but you know–I am a Mom after all. The last two and a half months were glorious regardless of the ups and downs. I am grateful for:

• The eternally full kitchen sink
• Loads of laundry to do (and my husband who considers it his domain)
• Being able to cook
• My son’s constant appreciation and love
• The warm hugs
• Board games
• TV and movie time
• Walks on the terrace in the evenings
• Family and friends

And books.

One of the best non-fiction books I’ve read in recent times is “Consolations – The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words” by David Whyte. The book explores 52 words through short essays. Whyte’s writing is expressive and visual. I love the book. I have read essays by David Whyte before, but got the entire book only recently.

Today, I want to share a tiny excerpt from his essay on Gratitude:

“Gratitude is the understanding that many millions of things come together and live together and mesh together and breathe together in order for us to take even one more breath of air, that the underlying gift of life and incarnation as a living, participating human being is a privilege; that we are miraculously, part of something, rather than nothing. Even if that something is temporarily pain or despair, we inhabit a living world, with real faces, real voices, laughter, the color blue, the green of the fields, the freshness of a cold wind, or the tawny hue of a winter landscape.”

How has your July been?

P.S.: My apologies for not getting around to visiting everyone. This time around, I will catch up sooner. Love to you all.

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