Can loneliness lead to solitude?

Hello there, 

I  have lived in a metropolitan city of India for 26 years before I moved to UK and then later on to the USA. Everyday in my life back in India used to be very busy. 

I have a big family back there. My school, work, family and friends, hobbies, social life etc. always kept me busy round the clock. The city and people around me had a big influence in making me an independent  and bold girl  at a very young age. Never did I have a calm, lone time spent that I can recall of. Only time I would be all by myself most of the days were when I was dead tired and sleeping in the night. I was someone who thought I could never be alone all by myself as I never had to in the buzz of  a busy city .

But over the years after moving out from my comfort zone, culture, family and friends I realized ‘SOLITUDE' was different from ‘Loneliness’. In the past I never really experienced loneliness to begin with let alone be on a  journey in the path of solitude. At least in my case, to get away from loneliness I started exploring a whole new world where I spent hours doing something I love , all by myself.

And now I am at a stage where I enjoy cooking couple of hours with music being played out loud or indulge in a cup of tea sitting in my balcony with thoughts and memories flowing in or meditate in a dark space with a blank mind or paint something or go running outdoors alone or simply stroll around a new city or a place . I don’t know if this is solitude. But what I do know is it isn’t loneliness and I am enjoying every bit of it.

In the above picture, I am onlooking a frozen lake at a resort I stayed over this winter. Though I wasn’t alone when this was snapped,  I can relate how I feel about being alone and content with this picture. Hence sharing with you all with a question in mind ' Can loneliness lead to solitude if worked on it positively ?' 

Have a great weekend !

-Bash

The Queen in me!

Have you watched the movie Queen? The movie in which Kangana Ranaut played the role of a young woman from a small city who goes on a lone trip to Europe to get over the trauma when her ex-fiance calling off their wedding. Well if you haven't, go read the remaining plot on Wikipedia, :-D 

Anyways my point is travel really has the power to heal and transform. I was born in South India and I have toured 3 other states apart from mine, thanks to my parents. I was going through an emotional trauma when my parents were refusing to accept my then boy friend (now husband) into our family like any other orthodox middle class Indian parents.Cant blame them, honestly. It went on for about a year and a half and nothing was changing except my father was becoming more stubborn and so was I, after all same blood huh ?!. It is then I got the opportunity of traveling to London for work. Omg, that was the best thing that has ever happened to me (only next to my husband, cheesy). 

My "first ever" visit outside India and I was filled with mixed emotions like anxiety and excitement. I got to stay with a Srilankan (by birth) family who rented out one of their bedrooms in their beautiful house. Loved everything about the house starting from the rectangular sash windows, subtle hues on the wall papers and that apple tree on the backyard. They welcomed me like their own family and made me feel at home. I had to cook for myself on regular basis which I was not used to, started making simple dishes and found comfort in having them with wine. It was July I believe so the weather was just perfect. The first weekday morning I reached my office with a colleague of mine. My desk at workplace was overlooking River Thames and the O2 arena located on the other side of the river. I met some really interesting people at work, to quote a few - one female who wore a nearly perfect make up daily, a female who dressed like a bombshell, an old man who kept staring at everyone and asked me out once. 

I had to get on tubes to reach my office, which was pretty bad during peak morning hours. People literally pushed fellow passengers just like the scene back home and some even tried to open the automatically closing doors so that they can squeeze in, hahaha. Otherwise it was fun being on the tubes with the map in my hands. I started exploring the city on my own, with some input from my landlord and the tube map. No, I dint use google maps at all. I never felt lost or scared in the hustle, rather I felt confident and super good. I did visit places like Tower Bridge, House of Parliament, London eye, etc but my favorite was Oxford street which was adorned beautifully around Christmas. It was a white Christmas, my first ever snow which was mesmerizing to watch. The city obviously had umpteen number of food and fashion choices which most of the times intrigued me.

I must say my daily rides, my cooking stories, my lovely landlords, my colleagues, random people I met, the city as it is played its role in transforming me into a confident woman and gave me all the strength to face the challenges life has for me. So here's to the queen in me, Cheers !

Love, Bri

Friday Fun!

Hello there!

Friday is fun day! The day most of us look forward to. So keeping it short and simple today and sharing my wedding anniversary shopping haul with you all. 

I am so eager to try on all my new clothes( tags are the proofs), sometimes even wear them for the entire day. I have a lot of friends who reserve new clothes for occasions. I am too hyper when it comes to new clothes and cannot help  but wear them as soon as they arrive :) 

Bought the distressed jeans and the white canvas shoes from  American Eagle  for about $100. The top, dress and the faux leather pants from HnM. All of them together for only $45.Its a steal for 3 clothes.   Happy with the fit  and the quality. Cannot wait for many more Fridays to wear them all one after another :)

-Bash