Namaste

This week, after much hot yoga, much meditation, and quite a few gigantic meals to neutralize all calories burned in said hot yoga, I have been thinking about how much I really need. While gearing up for this trip, almost every girl I encounter has something along the lines of “you’re going to live out of a backpack!? For a year?!” The answer, of course, is yes. Hence the term, “backpacking”. Will it be freeing? Of course. Is it terrifying right now? Hell yes. 

I have a pile of clothes of my floor that I wash, throw back on the floor, and wear in rotation. These items of clothing would not even come close to fitting into any backpack. I simply have too much. I sleep too much, eat too much, work too little, and save nothing. It is the blessing and the curse of my American generation that we have a world of opportunity and a gigantic sense of entitlement for that opportunity. We research nothing in depth- if we read it on the internet- it must be true. Everyone with a blog (myself included) or a Facebook page feels they have all the answers to the political, economical, and social problems of the world. The truth is- we know nothing (Jon Snow) <–I hope someone just got that reference. 

We know nothing. And yet we do nothing to change ourselves. Adventure and experience truly are the best way to learn. Through a lot of yoga and a lot of open mindedness, I have started to look into healing my chakras, balancing energy, etc. I get laughed at. And I think it’s sad. Because my friends- my generation- is so stressed and constantly on highs and lows- whether it’s with their diets, their workload, their relationships. It seems everyone I know is constantly complaining about being tired, being miserable, being depressed. But they choose not to open their minds. After I stopped eating like crap, I felt a million times better physically. Add yoga on to that and I am amazed at what my body can do. I choose to be happy- and in my relationships I live by these three words: don’t. engage. crazy. When my family, my friends, the random person in the same aisle as me at CVS start acting a bit off kilter- making irrational decisions, getting angry at me when I try to help, making excuses, I just ignore it. I go off on my own, collect my thoughts- read for an hour, hit up a yoga class, just don’t engage them in their craziness- and it seriously works. I am so much calmer. I have found all I really need is a good hug once in a while, the love of my family and a handful of good friends, a creative outlet, and an open mind to really enjoy my life. Truly enjoy it. Not eat a whole pizza then hate myself for it while I watch the Kardashians. That is not how we were meant to live.