As my first and only blog, I have very excited and nervous to write this initial post. As an avid traveler, yoga enthusiast and lover of all enlightening things, I would like this blog to be a window into unconventional ways of travel and experiencing the world.
There is beauty in the most unlikely places in this world, and I want to share the movie of it that has been collected and edited through my lens, and the lenses of those closest to me.
After taking some time off from school to tend to my health I had the opportunity to travel and volunteer in other parts of the world, opening my experience and knowledge of what suffering is and how I will be connected to it. I grew up traveling (my mother is a travel agent), however it wasn’t until I was older that I began incorporating volunteer work, cultural immersion, personal connection and adventure in those travels.
After falling in love with the practice of yoga and studying Buddhism extensively, both at school and in India, I have attempted to approach my travels and hearing other stories as valuable lessons on humanity, beauty along with physical, mental and spiritual “awakeness” and “mindfulness” (sati).
I also am a 23 year old recent graduate who has a strong attachment to all things aesthetically pleasing and anything sensually and emotionally stimulating. I want to incorporate anything that appeals to my senses and the consumer side of me in this blog as well, but in a way that is socially responsible.
I am calling this blog Wandering Lotus for a myriad of reasons, but I will highlight one for now. The Lotus flower continues to serve as a guide for living one’s life with self-acceptance, hope and beauty. You may have noticed the presence of the Lotus motif in a yoga studio or two, but the spiritual connection and contemplation of this flower is much deeper. As Buddhism is a way of living (not necessarily a religion unless you are studying Pureland Buddhism), the Lotus is an embodiment of that way of life. The Lotus can grow out of the dirtiest, muddiest, more cluttered of muddy soils. The Lotus does not pretend to grow out of perfect soil; it accepts the flaws of its origins and characteristics and opens itself up to becoming spotless and beautiful, silently sitting among the mud, embracing the sun, water, clouds….whatever comes.
For more information about the symbol of the Lotus in Buddhism click here!
Note: the header of the blog- the picture- is a photo I took last March (2008) while travelling with some friends in Namibia. It is the sunrise we saw while sitting on Dune 45 in the Namib Desert! My camera is a Canon POwershot S5IS…its kind of in between a point and shoot and an SLR and was a gift from my brother before heading abroad to South Africa for a semester at the University of Cape Town. Great camera!
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