Memories R Us?

Aug 2, 2010

Got back about three days ago.

There has been a break of about eight weeks. But I have about 20 or more stories to put up.

Some of them have been ready since April and I have not had the time to upload.

Things happened in March and April that made me think and question many things. I went silent for a while. It was personal and affected my family. I did not know how much of that I wanted to share. But I have something written on it. And will put it up soon. Along with my first experiences of Sweden, which although not as regularly as I would like, I have actually documented pretty well.

I will put them up, all -- one by one.

Spoke with Liz today. (Aug 2)

Liz.

For obvious reasons I won’t write the full name here. She is the resident director of the last building I stayed at in the US.

I try to call her once a year but this time there was a lapse of three years, if I remember correctly.

She said that two days ago she was listening to an old tape (answering machine) and recognized my voice on the tape. Must be from 2003 or something. Then a stray junk mail showed up with my name on it.

And so, as Liz stated, it was meant to happen that we connect today.

Made me think of all those terms, synchronicity and meaningful coincidences!!

I connected with Liz from the very first time I met her. She has a lovely personality and we spent quite a few hours discussing life, America and September 11--sometimes in her office, sometime in my apartment and sometimes in the parking lot.

There was also V, at the building who did all the maintenance jobs in the building.

These were two people were a big part of my time in State College, (the second time around). They saw me a few times a week, knew when I was traveling, helped me with odd jobs and always greeted me with a smile.

This is my life. I live in these simple experiences, in the memories that are mostly mine, or one or two other people, I share them with. Often I have felt sad about the fact that with all the travel I pack, my memories are mine. After the first few years of traveling and acknowledging that I do not have a base, I stopped buying souvenirs.

Where would I keep them? So my way to keeping track of places and experiences is usually my journals, or small pieces of things I can use, postcards for my walls, earrings as art, or bookmarks as reminders. My memories remain secure in my journals, in my heart and in the smiles that I exchanged with many. Smiles that light up my soul, no matter what part of the world I am in!!

But ofcourse the most effort requiring, time consuming and yet the most rewarding way of making sense of this gypsy life style is to keep in touch with those who made it to the core of my heart and experience. In that connection, I get a sense of continuation in my life. Ofcourse, I have realized that most of the people will just become a faint memory, sometimes because of time, lack of access to new technology, and sometimes just because our connection did not go beyond the land and the circumstances that connected us. With time, those that have made that connection simply emerge as glittering pearls bouncing on the ocean of our life experience, reminding us of our own depths and the grandiosity --width and depth--of our own souls….and we simply bow….in gratitude!!

For now, just this, and a picture of end of summer flowers from Sverge, hanging in a private garden a few meters away from the Lake Alster!!