The walk of remembrance
My practice for letting go and moving on
It could be any street.
Not just any, though—a lively one.
Where vehicles zoom past, and the air shifts with every passing shop.
Every time I feel like I’m losing something,
Every time a phase ends, and it feels like too much to bear,
I find myself walking down a street like this.
Slowly, step by step,
Looking without really seeing,
Focusing on nothing in particular, except how quickly the frame changes.
The people in it, the play of light,
Even how the street morphs as I move further away.
And then, I remember...
How many streets like this I have walked before.
The main road in Vientiane, Laos that oddly felt like home.
The mall street in Darjeeling, lit with Christmas cheer.
The quiet paths around my first apartment, where I untangled my thoughts.
How many people have walked beside me, even for a brief moment.
How often it was just me, alone with my steps.
How sometimes the walk felt gentle and healing,
And other times, like a punishment.
Yet, here I am.
On a new street.
With new scents, new faces, new stories.
All the happiness and heaviness of the past now buried in yesterday.
The unforgettable moments, almost forgotten.
And the once-unbearable pain, now just a memory.
I have lived through it all.
So how can today’s pain feel like too much?
How can today’s failure seem final?
How can today’s struggles appear so insurmountable?
Someday, perhaps next month,
I’ll walk another road.
And this, too, will be just another street.
Hippocrates said, “Walking is a man's best medicine.” And I’m starting to agree.
This reminds me, I need to go on walks more often.
Do you have any practice like this? Or does walking help you too?
Little Joys
“Joy is always around if only we pause to acknowledge it.”
With life's burdens and big ambitions, it's easy to overlook our everyday joys. let’s take a moment to acknowledge the small joys from the last week. Here are mine -
Watched a Kathak dancer do his practice.
Danced at a restaurant.
Found a cute new cafe that had beautiful interiors.
Started using my planner for the year regularly.
What's Up With Piqued Pilgrim?
Looking back at December through my Diary of the Creator (which is also the first blog of the month), I had two important lessons - (i) Taking too much pressure kills my creativity (ii) I need to prioritise my creation over everything else.
So, this year, I’m hoping to approach my whole journey with a PLAY mindset which I spoke about in the previous newsletter.
So, the first post on Instagram was not fully on the niche but something very close to my heart - A thank you note to my short hairstyle. That said, this month there are a lot of interesting stories about learning Kalari lined up.
Thanks for reading! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
🥺🥺🥺