Food for Thought: Paulo Coelho

"Life has many ways of testing a person's will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once." 

~Paul Coelho

Food for Thought: Joss Whedon

Today I am stealing my food for thought quote from my good friend Allie Safran and her wonderful blog Beauty and the Feast. I fell in love with the quote after reading it and just had to share it with you all.

"Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping...waiting...and though unwanted...it will stir...open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us...guides us...passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love...the clarity of hatred...and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can hear. If we could live without passion maybe we'd know some kind of peace...but we would be hollow...empty rooms shuttered and dark. Without passion we'd be truly dead." 

~Joss Whedon 

Be Curious

"Blessed are the curious for they shall have adventures."

~Lovelle Drachman

Getting Started

I have been working diligently the last three weeks to pull together my work and research for this presentation. But as the deadline quickly approaches I realized that there are certain things on my checklist that I have been unintentionally/intentionally avoiding. 

Sushma and I are putting together a documentary and I need to write the voice over script for it, but for whatever reason I just really can't seem to bring myself to do it. I also had plans to write a children's story that could be printed and maybe even turned into a animated series. I wrote the outline for the story over a month ago, but I have yet to even try to sit down and write out the full thing.

 I think I am procrastinating these things and making excuses for myself because they are things I have never done before. I have never written a children's book, and I certainly have never written a voiceover script.

But with only a few days left at DSK before I go to Goa the time to get started on these things is now. 

I know if I don't finish them before Goa it is not that big of a deal, I can finish them later. But with projects like these its hard not to just find another later to get started...So that means I have to make a conscious effort to get started. 

I know getting started on a project is always the hardest part... but what I have forgotten is that once you get going everything else comes along a lot easier.

 So today I am going to make a conscious effort to get started with these two projects. Writing this out to the blog world is my accountability with myself. 

Food for Thought: Haida Indian Saying

"We do not inherit this land from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children."

Food for Thought: Albert Einstein

"A human is a part of this whole called by us the 'universe', a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts, and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical illusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desire and to a portion for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to force ourselves to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole in its beauty."

~Albert Einstein 

Meeting the Family in Nadiad

This past weekend Sushma took me to her home town of Nadiad so that I could meet her family. It was a wonderfully relaxing weekend filled with a lot of good food and down time chilling with the family. 

As per custom in India guests are always treated with the utmost care, and are constantly being feed. I actually think I gained three pounds this weekend from all the food they gave me. 

Pictured above and below is Sonu, Sushma's adorable son who is four years old. 

Above is a family photo of Sonu, Sanjiv, and Sushma on their bike. When they were showing me around the town I jumped on the bike behind Sushma. Definitely not one of the safest rides I have ever been on, but we weren't going very far and we never went very fast. 

Plus now I feel as though I can honestly say I have fully experienced every mode of transportation here in India. 

Above is Pani Puri...one of Sushma's favorite dishes. 

Nadubhai reading to his grandson. It was really cute how much Sonu loved his grandfather, they take a walk together every night after dinner. 

Sushma's inlaws Nadubhai and Shardaben whom Sonu and Sanjiv are currently living with. 

Sanjiv's family including his brother Asim. 

Pictured above is Sushma's family, two of her sisters, her parents, her brother in-law and her niece.

They all wanted a picture with me and the family. Sonu is an incredibly energetic little boy though and did not really want to sit still for the photo. 

This past weekend will probably be one of the first things that comes to my mind when I think back about the time I spent in India. It is amazing how much love this family had, and how readily they opened their home and their hearts to let me in. I am incredibly grateful to them all for their kindness and generosity and will cherish this weekend for the rest of my life. 

Anger acts as a Poison

Sometimes I can be a very emotional person, and as such I have always argued that emotions are good for us, that they remind us that we are alive, and that we can learn things from our emotions. 

And while I still think this is true, I have also come to learn that emotions can also hurt us.

 Life requires balance... And when we become overly emotional about the small things, when we take things to the extreme we are thrown off balance and we lose our sense of clarity. 

Emotions are positive when they connect us with the people around us, or when they help express our character and our light with the people we love. But some emotions like anger, jealously, grief, or guilt can be incredibly debilitating and make us those sight of that which is good within ourselves and the world around us. We can become so consumed by these emotions that we lose sight of the bigger picture. Anger one of the emotions that I find hurts us all the most. We become angry and frustrated over the smallest things....a miss communication, traffic, the weather, someone else's tone that we think is negative, a last minute assignment on our day off...the list could really go on forever. There are so many little things in life that make us frustrated and that spurn the ugly head of anger. 

Today I was suppose to get a ride to Navsarjan's office in the city. I had things I wanted to finish there, some people I was going to meet with, and the driver I hired to pick up my Mom and Aunt from the airport who are flying in tonight was going to grab me from the office so he wouldn't have to drive all the way out to DSK. Before I was scheduled to leave for the city Sushma and I went around to take some more footage of the pollution problem I am working on. When I got back I rushed to get everything ready to go. The driver ended up not having to leave as soon as we had thought, so I went back to my room to finish a few things. Well, the driver ended up leaving without me because the secretary who I had told to call me when it was time to go never called me. Needless to say I became incredibly frustrated. Sushma and I had reminded him four times to call me when it was time to go. When I asked him why he had not called me, he became defensive and fired back telling me it was not his responsibility and that he had to much work to do for the Director. This only made me more angry. I sat in the office venting to Sushma for a good twenty minutes. All the plans I had made that for the day had been ruined. I had rushed around all morning for no reason. And now the driver had to drive another hour and half just to come grab me. It was a huge inconvenience. 

But as I sat in my office getting more frustrated by the second I began to realize my anger was not helping anything. I was only hurting myself more by brooding over the inconvenience that had been caused me. In the long run I could reschedule the meetings I had, and finish the work later, and I still had a ride to meet my family. I was wasting my day getting mad over something that was incredibly trivial in the long run. My anger wasn't going to change what happened, and it certainly wasn't making me feel better. All my anger was doing was ruining my day. So I decided to let it go and think about the wonderful days I have scheduled ahead, and it worked. I salvaged my day and finished a wonderful book. 

"Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal  with the intent of throwing it at someone else: you are the one who gets burned."

-Buddha 

YOGA

I have been practicing yoga on and off for the last seven years. I first got into hot yoga my sophomore year of high school when my friend Sam (a fellow athlete) encouraged me to try it out with him, he said it was a great workout. He wasn't lying and as I left the world of competitive sports behind in high school, yoga slowly became my favorite and sometimes only form of exercise. 

My sophomore year of college Carey, my roommate, Big, one of my best friends and female role models, was a yoga instructor. Ever since taking her classes sophomore year, and watching her own practice deepen with time, I have been dying to become a yoga instructor myself. Unfortunately for me the teacher training is incredibly time consuming and expensive at Corepower where I usually practiced hot yoga in San Diego. 

Luckily for me the world works in mysterious ways and gives you what you need not what you want. Since coming here I have gotten back on the yoga kick, practicing daily again after having to take a hiatus most of this past year because of my busy schedule and lack of excess funds. Turns out everyone I work with wants to learn yoga, especially the kids. The last two days I have spent visiting the schools Navsarjan runs to teach the kids about pollution and yoga. 

Below are some photos of my beautiful students in the yoga classes I taught. 

The pose above is called Crow pose and it took me six years to learn how to do. 

Teaching these students about yoga, something I truly love, have spent a lot of time on, and think everyone can benefit from... is honestly a dream come true. Its quite comical actually, me the American teaching all these Indians about yoga... when India is the birth place of yoga.

But I strongly encourage anyone whose looking for a new form of exercise or a way to relax to take a yoga class. Yoga has been a godsend in my life, helping me stay fit and mentally sane during my most stressful moments. Yoga is more then just a form of exercise it is a way of life. It is about bringing your mind, body, and spirit into alignment so that you can live a balanced and rewarding life. 

I know yoga will be a part of my life from now on, and I honestly cannot wait to continue deepening my own practice and learning more about this wonderful ancient practice. 

NAMASTE

Why I Write

I realized that it may seem kind of weird that I write daily... especially since a lot of the blog posts I write do not seem relevant to the work I am doing here, or my experience here in particular. 

The truth is the reason I try to post daily is because it forces me to take stock of my life, my experiences, my work, the lessons I have learned, and what I have come to believe. 

While journaling is a great way to de-stress about the events of  your day, it does not hold the same reflective power. When you are writing something that can be read by the world you try to take a little extra time to make sure it is something that could bring value to their life... Whether that means it is informative, inspiration, comical, or just some good old fashion advice; you take the extra five minutes you would not normally to write something worth reading. That said, I know I often have typos and that my posts are not always that interesting to anyone else but me. But I have come to realize that is all quite alright with me, because at the end of the day I know that the impact my blog has in the blogging world will never be a very big one, but the impact blogging has on my life is tremendous. 

I blog for the same reason that thousands of others do...I blog to give voice to the thoughts I would otherwise never take the time to say and to reflect on the experiences in life that I would normally just let fade into the past as another distance memory. 

I love the blogging world. It has given us all a place to speak our mind and to share our passions. I find that the blogging world is full of inspirational, passionate, romantic, sometimes crazy, and yet totally wonderful people. Perusing people's blogs (especially my friends) is honestly one of my favorite pastimes...It allows me to learn from the revelations of others, reflect on all that I myself have to be grateful for, opens me open to information I honestly do not know how I ever lived without sometimes, and gives me energy to go and find something beautiful in each day.

If my blog can do even a fraction of that for anyone else then I am truly grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this wonderful inspiring online community. Even if the only person inspired by Cultivating Compassion is me, then that is OK to. Because being given a space like this and taking the time every day to write brings me joy and helps me grow as a person. 

To sum it up simply above all else, I write for myself and my happiness. 

And I encourage anyone who is having a hard time or even a good time to take up a journal or a blog and write, because voicing your emotions is the only way you will ever truly learn from them and learn to appreciate them. 

Music is medicine for the SOUL

There are many things that I have grown to love in my life time. I love what I study, my family, my friends, traveling, inspiration quotes and people, and music. I LOVE music, especially live music. There are three things I am always willing to spend my money on without question: my education, traveling, and music. 

I LOVE going to live shows! While festivals are my favorite, I love every type of concert whether it is an intimate coffee venue with less than fifty people, or a huge sell out concert with 75,000 screaming fans. I love them all. 

There is just something about being a part of the whole experience... the music seeps into your soul and takes over your body as you let the musicians determine the rhythm of your heart and feet. 

It has the ability to make you feel human again, to give life to an emotion you have felt or are feeling but never knew how to express. Being out in the audience with all the other adoring fans, makes you feel as though you are a part of something bigger... that you are not alone.

 All of the people around you know exactly what you are feeling because they feel it to. 

 (Tiesto at club Privilege in Las Vegas...I snuck backstage so I could get as close as possible.)

I worship the arts...I myself was not fortunate enough to be given the gift of music, but I have become an avid supporter going to shows whenever I possible can. I think in a world that can seem so big, in which we can feel so distraught and alone... It is important to remind ourselves from time to time that we are not alone and that feeling something is not only human but good for the soul. We can do this by going to a good show and getting lost in music. Music is medicine for the soul. 

 Until the day I die, I will love music and praise those talented enough to pluck at my heart strings and refresh my spirit for the days that follow their show. 

While all art may express that which makes us human. To me... music gives voice to the secrets of the heart and the will of the body on a wave length that everyone can appreciate and fall in line with... and because of that I will always and forever love music. 

Nurture vs. Nature

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the Nurture vs. Nature argument. It has long been debated that our personalities are either a result of our own nature (meaning we are born with a predisposed personality) or as a result of the nurture we receive from our family and the environment we live in as we are growing up. Most people believe that it is some combination of the two that really determines what type of person we become. While nature may predetermine some personality traits like whether we are an introvert or an extrovert; the nurture we receive will encourage some personality traits and discourage others. The nurture portion of our rearing is what makes siblings have similar value systems despite having different personalities. 

India is an incredibly patriarchal society. Women here are often considered second class citizens, especially in the more rural parts of the country. Even if parents can afford to send their children to school, they are usually unwilling to spend that money on their daughters' education. Sons are the sought after child, the ones given the place of honor. Such gender discrimination is not new to me, but it is something that has never really pertained to me. My parents raised me to be a strong independent woman. They always told me I could do anything I wanted to, as long as I was willing to work for it. 

As I watch these girls accept their fate and their role within their families and Indian society, I can't help but wonder how different my life and my personality would be if I had been born here instead of in Bothell, WA. 

Would I still be a strong independent woman? Or would I be like a majority of the girls here who gladly accepts their role as house wife and baby maker?

 I would like to think that I would be different... that I would fight for my right to an education and try to act as a leader to other women in the area to do the same... But honestly there is no way of knowing. If nurture is half of what makes our personalities, then would my inherent nature as an adventuresome strong woman have been overridden by a society that normally oppresses such women. 

 Luckily for me, I have come to realize that the Nurture vs. Nature argument is irrelevant for me. Because I was born into a society and a family who encouraged me to be a strong woman and to dream big. I will never have to worry about being forced into a role I do not want to play. I have the freedom and the power to determine my own future...my own life...And I couldn't be more grateful for that freedom which is denied to so many others, especially to other women. 

Today I am grateful for my freedom, my family, my childhood, and for the opportunity to be myself, a strong independent womn with big hopes and dreams. 

Good Ol' Einstein and Churchill

I read somewhere that inspiration is like showers, it should be repeated often if you really want it to work. I myself am a huge believer in looking to influential people from the past and present for inspiration. I love find quotes from famous people that embody what I believe to be true. So without further adieu I give you two quotes I really love by Albert Einstein and Winston Churchill.

"We need an essentially new way of thinking if mankind is to survive. Men must radically change their attitudes toward each other and their views of the future. Force must no longer be an instrument of politics... Today, we do not have much time left; it is up to our generation to succeed in thinking differently. If we fail, the days of civilized humanity are numbered." 

-Albert Einstein

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

 -Winston Churchill

We need to change the paradigm we live in...We must no longer think only of ourselves, but of ourselves as part of something bigger...like a puzzle piece that has its specific part to play to make the bigger picture complete. Only when we learn to work together will we be able to truly make peace within ourselves and the world at large...So take Churchill's advice and try to make a life and not just a living. 

There's Something About Flowers...

My love for flowers started at some point when I was a child, I can't remember when it started exactly, but my love for them has only grown the older I got. It might have all started when I used to help my Mom plant her flower pots for Mother's Day or when my sister became a florist. A job which I would later take, and grow to love. There is just something about their color, their aroma, their soft texture...that just makes a person smile and instantly feel less stressed.  

Today was an especially stressful day and I found myself missing the flower I normally pick up on my way to the office. 

For the better part of this last week I have been preparing a Concept note for the European Union 2012 Call for Proposals. It was only yesterday that I realized the deadline for the concept note was today and not the 22nd like we had thought. So I spent the better part of the morning trying to convince my coworkers that we had to send in the concept note without the director's approval. I had Martin the founder (and technically the director's boss) look at and edit the concept note and finally got his permission to send it in. Sending in a concept note without Manjula's permission is usually never done, but I did not want this wonderful organization to miss out on the opportunity to get some much needed extra funding for its programs. 

 After dealing with a deadline, language barriers, one Man's a vow of silence (Martin is currently taking a vow of silence for a month to finish some projects), and some ill at ease employees; my nerves were pretty worked up. I decided to walk back to my room to get some air and pick one of the plumerias that grow outside of my room. As I put the flowers soft petals to my nose and breathed in deep I instantly felt better. There is just something about flowers that instantly can make you feel better. 

So if you ever wonder what you should get a friend whose been stressed out at work, working really hard, just finished a project, or just because you love them...think about getting them a nice bouquet of flowers...ones that smell good are especially calming.  

10 Rules for Being Human

I found this gem of knowledge back when I was still in high school, and I have gone back to it often to remind myself about what life is really all about. But in keeping with the belief that whenever we find something inspiring, real, or true we should share it with the one's we love...I thought I would share it with you all today.  I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me. 

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it's yours to keep for the duration of your life on Earth. 
2. You will be presented with lessons. You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called, "life."
3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of experimentation, a series of trials, errors and occasional victories. The failed experiments are as much as a part of the process as the experiments that work.
4. Lessons are repeated until learned. Lessons will be repeated to you in various forms until you have learned them. When you have learned them, you can go on to the next lesson. 
5. Learning does not end. There is no part of life that does not contain less. If you are alive, there are still more lessons to be learned. 
6. "There" is no better than "here". When your "there" has become "here" you sill simply obtain another "there" that will look better to you than your present "here".
7. Others are only mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about another person unless it reflects something you love or hate about yourself. 
8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. 
9. Your answers lie inside of you. All you need to do is look, listen, and trust. 
10. You will forget all this at birth. 

By Dr. Cherie Carter-Scott

A New Day!

It is amazing how much can change in a day. The last couple days I was honestly starting to feel a little bored and lonely. Sushma had gone home to visit her family, and I finished the last book I brought with me...leaving with me with a lot of free time to think.
I let my mind wander through past memories and future plans, thinking about everything but the present. I knew that at moments my time here would be challenging, but the most challenging part is honestly the time alone. I am a really social person, and being away from everyone I love can be hard after a while. But yesterday I found this quote by Budda, "Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

This struck me for some reason, and I began to think about what this present moment means for me...It means a chance to learn how to be alone, an opportunity to notice the small things in life (like the plumerias outside of my room which I stop to pick up and smell as I walk to my office), to do yoga daily and focus on my physical health, and most importantly to learn about a different culture.

The only thing we can really control in our life is our attitude...Every day might not be beautiful, but we can definitely find something beautiful in every day. So today, I changed my attitude and went to work with a flower in my hand and a new sense of determination in my heart. And today turned out to be a great day. I had a wonderfully successful meeting with the director of the non-profit "Friends of the Environment", and the training we are collaborating on is now set to happen within the next month. I went to the store and bought four new books. Then I got invited to a friends house for a delicious home cooked meal tomorrow.

So lesson for today: a positive outlook is everything.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity, an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty"~Winston Churchill

Today I re-found the wonderful opportunity I have been given here and it only took a change in outlook. 

My Love for Books

As a child I used to love to read, I would eat through books, staying up way past my bed time just to finish a good book. In grade school we used to get these book catalogs once a month, and I can still remember running home to my Mom to ask for pretty much everything in the catalog...and then the excitement that came when I finally had my new books. I used to sit on the floor in my room and alphabetize the books on my bookshelf, lovingly giving each one of them a place of honor. I know kind of weird, but I really did love reading. I loved the places these books took me, and the friends that they gave me. I never felt alone when I had a good book to turn to. 

But the further along I got in school the more and more reading became an obligation, an assignment, a task that I would rush through just so that I could move onto the next one. 

Especially this past year after reading literally hundreds of pages a week, I often felt too burnt out to read for pleasure. 

But I am happy to report that I have re-found my love for literature. Since being here I have finished four books. Whenever I start to feel lonely or bored I turn to a book, and instantly I feel comforted. As I  breeze through the pages I am transported to another person's life, another time, another place, and I feel at home. Like a good friend, reading has welcomed me back like no time has past. 

My only wish is that I would have brought more books to read.

A Workaholic!

I have become a bit of a workaholic since getting here...well actually I was a bit of one back home too, but I have taken it to a whole new level recently. 

I have always been one of those people who would rather be busy then bored, and normally that means I commit myself to way to many clubs, organizations, projects, or whatever I can really...taking on more then is ALMOST manageable just so I am never bored. 

After three weeks I think I have finally gotten into the swing of things with my research and my work with Navsarjan, and it feels great. The fact is I came here to work, to learn, to get some experience in the field, and to help make a difference, and that is exactly what I am doing. I work six days a week like everyone else at Navsarjan and have Sundays off, usually. (Today I went with the lawyer to take more photos to document the pollution  case we are currently working on.)

 It feels good to be excited about the work you are doing, to feel as though you have a purpose, and like you are making a difference in the world. 

I just keep coming up with more programs, workshops, surveys, and research items I want to work on...it is kind of crazy...but a good crazy a passionate kind of crazy. 

This type of work is what I am truly passionate about. 

And I think to myself "how lucky am I to have discovered it at such a young age?!" 

This passion is going to take me many places in life, and I can't wait. 

A Simple Reminder

Found this quote on Pinterest and it was to good not to share:

"Life's too short 

to be anything but happy. 

Kiss slowly, love deeply, 

forgive quickly, take chances, 

give everything, and leave 

with no regrets.

Forget the past with the 

exception 

of what you have

 learned from it, 

and remember

everything happens for a reason."

Yep...that about sums it up, I'd say.  

Giving People Hope

Today I went back to one of the villages that has a problem with polluted water. I went with a video camera this time to interview people. Some of the questions I asked were more for my personal research, but most of the questions were concerning the polluted water and the petition I am helping Navsarjan draft. 

It was crazy how responsive people were from the village. They even invited me back later during day to meet with the Panchayat (village level government). It was crazy how much the people did know about. Most of them did not even know what pollution was. They knew the water was bad and which corporations were making it bad, but they did know how or what that means for them and the environment. Only 10 percent of the village is literate and only 5 percent can afford safe drinking water. 

 The water has been causing them health problems for the last 50-60 years. Most of them have skin rashes from bathing in it, and 90 percent of the people have developed kidney stones. One guy we met had a stone that was 18mm long. 

But as we explained to them about their rights and told them about past petitions that we had won successfully, we began to build up hope in these people.

They became animate about getting rid of the pollution and began asking us what we were going to do to help them. We told them that we are filing a petition, but now the pressure is on us. They do not know enough about the laws or even how to write to fill out a petition or application themselves. 

I am going to do all that I can to make sure that this petition has every possible piece of evidence so that the court cannot refuse it, but the truth is once I have finished gathering evidence the final decision is up to them...And in a country that cares more about increasing GDP then about saving the environment...And that is know for its immense amount of corruption...I am nervous that I may not be able to do enough. Even if the companies are forced to discontinue their work they will probably not be forced to clean up the mess they helped make. 

Giving people hope is good but also dangerous, because if you can't deliver then you may just risk the chance of loosing all the trust they have with you. 

But I have become a believer in positivity, and I am going to say hope is a good thing. It is the thing that makes us strive for something more, something better. 

So though I may be a little nervous about how much I hope I may have given these people, I believe in myself, and we should always end things with hope.