Minimalist

I have been vagabonding for the last seven months. Been checking out places, taking courses and visiting ashrams. I travel with a backpack which is a day pack. It is small but is quite sufficient for me. I carry a laptop, camera, a few clothes, toiletries, a pair of slippers, a few books and a yoga mat.

Actually this is all I possess right now. I do have some more books, a sleeping bag and a suitcase  which I will pick up later from storage. The most expensive thing I have in my life right now is a laptop.

The laptop itself causes a lot of anxiety for me. I get nervous leaving my bag anywhere. I am constantly thinking if someone will break in to the hotel room and steal my laptop. I am quite attached to it and it would be a nightmare to lose it and the data in it. I know if it comes to losing my laptop I will have to make peace with that and be yogic about it.

Traveling this light is quite useful, especially in India. I can take my bag with me right inside the toilet and not worry about leaving it outside. If you have traveled in India, you would know what I mean. And, I could walk long distances and not have to agree with the huge sum that the auto drivers ask for even a short distance. It gives me so much flexibility.

It took a long time to downsize to the things I have right now. Before I left San Francisco, I had to sell or donate everything I had accumulated over the last decade. It feels real good to be so light and I don’t want to add anything more. I can’t remember myself being this light ever. Often times I have felt that this bag I carry is quite heavy to walk long distances in the super hot tropical sun in India. I read in a travel book that even a feather is heavy if you have to carry it for a long time.

I get tempted with books and I did end up buying a few books at Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram. I did not want to buy any of these books, but I would go to the book shop every day and ended up reading most of the books. I liked a lot of books and bought a few of them as I am fascinated with Sri Krishnamacharya. I did make a conscious decision to see if I would be rereading these books. And, I am reading all the books that I purchased.

Nowadays, when I see anything I like, I immediately visualize how it would be after a few months. I end up seeing  the entire life cycle of the object in my brain in a few milliseconds. I can see how it is going to weigh me down. I think this is the vision of clarity, vidya in yogic terms : )

I can see how much time it would take me to clean up all over again. I think it is simpler not to buy much than to spend all that time to lose all the unwanted things. This thinking has helped me not buy  those lovely clothes that I saw at Fabindia ( fabulous shop in India that sells beautiful cotton clothes). when I return to reality and civilization, I only hope I keep this lesson learnt about being light and buying just those things that I really really really need.

I guess this is why I took to backpacking so well. Why possess more than you can carry? Sounds nice while traveling and being enlightened, but I know I will need few more things to be a civilized woman. For now, I am so enjoying being a minimalist.

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