This Ordinary Life

Well, apologies for my absence... Going to India ended up being a very different experience to that that I was expecting. So much so that when I got back to the UK, I pretty much didn't stop doing stuff until now...

Whereas I though India was all about inflections and finding peace, it actually ended up being a place to charge my batteries, be awe struck by the interaction of Buddhism and the Ladakhi people and to realise that I need to get on with my life in a serious way. But let's look at each one briefly in isolation.

Charging my batteries - Now the last 12 months of my life have been a roller coaster. From self image issues to family concerns to other stuff, I have been through it all. I realised in Indi that it had been several years since the last time that I was on holiday for two full weeks. I had been so focused on travelling the way that other people wanted to, that I forgot what I love about travelling most, it's different from normal life. What I mean by that is that I live quite a priveldged life. I drink when I want to (sometime even expensive foreign beers, yum!), my flat is clean and modern (a little bit characterless at the moment) and I live in one of the most modern and cosmopolitan cities in the world. When I go on holiday, I want something different. During my India trip, I slept on dirt floors, didn't wash properly for a week while trekking, slept in a hotel room with a ceiling covered with mold, ate the oddest things and was among a people who could tell that I didn't belong there from a mile away. All of these things would probably have bothered me in London, but on holiday it was all part of the adventure. This different charged my batteries alongside the absolutely spectacular beauty of the place.

Awestruck by the interaction of Buddhism and the Ladakhi people - The Ladakhi people are a Buddhist mountain people that form part of the Tibetan culture. Under the rules of Buddhism (which is a life philosophy and not a religion), you are not to want more than you need and therefore you end up living in harmony with your surroundings. Well, the Ladakhi people discovered this balanced state about 500 years ago and haven't changed very much since. Most of their lives consist of planting, tending and harvesting crops like barley by hand together with herding livestock for six months of the year and then spending the other 6 months doing nothing but socialising, drinking chang (homemade barley beer) and surviving the winter. It blew me away to see this culture in statis.

That was until Westerners decided that they wanted to enjoy the beauty of the mountains and flocked there to go trekking. I now hear that up to 30,000 people trek the Markha Valley (the main valley for trekking) and have reeked havoc on the place. As most trekkers are accompanies by horses to carry all of the gear and food, I have dubbed the trail the "Marka Valley Trekking Superhighway of Manure". There is so much manure on the trail that you can't drink the water from the rivers, but if you ever get lost in the dark, all you have to do is follow the smell. Not only are we causing serious environmental degradation, we have also introduced some of our materialistic necessities. For instance, at one home I stayed at, they had no running water, a car battery charged by solar panels powering the lights, they slept in their clothes and washed their clothes in the same stream they drank from, but the had satellite TV! We in the West have a lot to answer for and I don't think the Ladakhi culture will ever be the same.

Realising that I need to get on with my life in a serious way - I am now 31 and have a list of things that I want to do in my life that is so long that I haven't even written it yet. This is directly linked to what I realised, I used to make lists of things to do, but then got so frustrated that I wasn't doing any of them that I stopped. I didn't do many of the things on my list for many reasons, most of them to do with my inane ability to procrastinate, but for whatever reason I am starting to write lists again. It is amazing what you achieve when you put your mind to it. Last weekend, I was invited to a friends wedding in Biscester, about 60 miles from London. What did I do, I cycled there. Why? Because I thought I could and I did. This philosphy is also creeping back into my professional life. I spent so much time waiting for other people to tell me what I should be doing that to a certain extent I lost the motivation and creativeness that makes me me. Since India, I seem to have this back and can already see the positive benefits.

So I went to India thinking that it would change my life. It didn't... because we are who we are and can't fundamentally change. We are prisoners of our own limitations. But what India did do is change my life perspective. This means that I now have a perspective that allows me to make the most of what I can do rather than be limited by what I can't. It might sound a bit strange but its working for me. I just hope next time I don't have to spend 8 days trekking only with a guide and a horseman who both choose not to speak to me and prefer to talk to each other and our evening hosts in Ladakhi creating a bizarre sensation of isolation in me, to maintain this perspective...