There once was a girl...
The winter inside me just stayed and stayed. A congregation of small white hills on the curbside of the being.
The winter inside me just stayed and stayed. A congregation of small white hills on the curbside of the being.
Beautiful snow quickly turning into
frozen
rain and sleet, my own glacial record keeping of the things I lost: A
fairy dust pendant, a few books, my sense of permanence, the feeling of
home.
The cold just lasted. Now anxiety, now restlessness; an abysmal resignation or hyperventilating panic.
In
retrospect the universe was probably conspiring. In the moment it felt
like everything skittered right up against the edge. Things happened
slowly, then
all of a sudden.
It
felt like, how it feels when you almost hit the oncoming truck, but
swerve just before and drive away, your heart still beating hard.
Sometime,
if and when I picked my head above the sinking. I watched spring,
unfolding everywhere. Instagram, Facebook, even Twitter seemed less
cynical.
Then
just like that a feeling of having outgrown my own circumference; the
comfort zone of quiet and by-myself.
Uneven footing, this.
A flirtation with change. The idea of getting up and about out into the world – the un-cyber one. What-ifs showing up in my constant thoughts; the resolve to socialize and not be a recluse, if not my own… then for Nirvaan’s sake.
Uneven footing, this.
A flirtation with change. The idea of getting up and about out into the world – the un-cyber one. What-ifs showing up in my constant thoughts; the resolve to socialize and not be a recluse, if not my own… then for Nirvaan’s sake.
Tentative
steps - from work from home to regular office. Took
thought, took agonizing over daycare or babysitter details. Then as if
all
things converged and it just happened. I stepped out. And I fell in
love. And realized how much I missed the professional tempo.
Someone
once said, if you think you can’t… just pretend! Sooner it becomes
true! Pretend happiness and you are happy! Laws of intent and
attraction!
So, I began with the pretense of being the extrovert go-getter, antithesis of let-me-be-with-my-work.
Began… five years ago.
There once was a girl a scared wilting wallflower…
Began
with getting to know my neighbors of several years, whose names too
eluded me. Began by taking him out for a stroll. Began by reconnecting
with school
friends, because whatever happens after school and your adult self…
they know the essence of you! Took impulsive flights! And impulsive
phone calls.
And,
soon it was bloom time. I had a bit of spring in my corner. Or
something. Something like that. Sort of. Minus the hundred thousand
anxious moments.
Minus all the things beyond my control. Minus the agonizing first few
stages and moments. And misses and falls.
Now
of course, I forget it all. Forget the way it felt.
Tenuous. Scared. Just the baby and me.
And, me with zero idea of what the game was, let alone play. We hunched against the cold.
I forget, because today there is sun, sun, and sun; yes it does get hot sometimes.
Tenuous. Scared. Just the baby and me.
And, me with zero idea of what the game was, let alone play. We hunched against the cold.
I forget, because today there is sun, sun, and sun; yes it does get hot sometimes.
After
the first few falls, a shift happened. I stopped being gawky and
grew up and slipped into a more fluid state. I made new friends,
lost
some old ones. Spring cleaned the network graph. And slowly and simply
became the journey.
Now,
my love birds are chirping and flirting. And the air is warm enough
finally to sit in sundresses, grinning.
And, I close my eyes to see
the red
of the sun, red veins of life blood behind my eyelids.
Basking.
Copyright©Neerja Yadav