Adapted from the journal | April 5, 2020
I’m sitting with our bags in an empty row of seats at the Cochi International Airport, waiting for our 2 a.m. flight to Mumbai. I look up.
“I got you something.”
He smiles and hands me a small paper bag with — books. The first title is Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.
In this moment, I feel loved.
I think my favorite moments from our stay in India were the times staying still. One of them being as we both took our bags and headed back to the bookstore, browsing the titles together.
And lingering in the courtyard of the Amber Palace, people watching and photo framing.
And sitting on the beach, our first day in Aleppey. Clearing of everything but the brush of waves, sun, and ocean air.
“I think exploration is not what you need. I want you to rest.”
He helped me realize this, as we translated it in the arc of our travels and how we spent time, from the crowds of Old Delhi to the rickshaws of Jaipur to the calming backwaters of Aleppey.
But with this came the painful realization for myself: rediscovering my wonder would not come from a new place. Another default, knocked from the set. It makes you feel a bit like losing your self, even more.
But as a friend reminded me, and as the world continues to teach: maybe it’s just rebalancing. We release what we had, to make space anew.
