About this Blog

Since starting this blog last year I find that the purpose of doing this has changed, so I wanted just to take a minute to both re-organize my motivation for writing as well as make a bit clearer to the reader what to expect from this collection of posts.

Background

After graduating in 2011 and spending months in Washington DC searching for a job in the peacbuiIding field, I had the idea to rather go work the field to get the necessary ‘experience’ with which to build an awesome resume that would get me the awesome job I was pursing. Apparently 2 or 3 unpaid internships does not count as enough experience; age and life experience does not count for anything anymore and I also found the jobs were going to my 20 something classmates not the mid forties folk like me. Well young people can work longer hours without complaint, are more techno savvy and can be molded into the the NGO, company or government wants much easier than an older person with well formed attitudes. So rather than keep trying to fit into the mould I dusted off my backpack and took off in Dec 2011. I was determined to find out more about on the ground peacebuilding and volunteer in social work organization. I was even open to the possibility of starting a small organization in collaboration with local people, if there was a genuine need and if a situation could be improved.

Being Honest

Looking back on 2012 it was a year where I pushed and pushed to fulfill this goal. I was very fortunate to have master’s thesis published  ( http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Overcoming-Violence-Working-Kashmir/dp/3847344978/ref=sr_1_sc_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1356857599&sr=1-1-spell&keywords=women%27s+agency%3B+overcoming+cviolence+by+working+for+peace+in+Kashmir)    and also had the opportunity to work on and narrate an award winning documentary (http://youtu.be/eY20VzEpTSo). However, overall I did not make the contacts in the NGO world that I would have liked and being in Kashmir, which is a very broken and divided society and as a lone foreign female tourist was very difficult. I also felt that while my motivation was good I was not staying true to the Buddhist principles, I was not impressed with the functioning’s of the NGO world and was very disillusioned about the education system in the USA. Getting masters had not made me a better person; in fact I had witnessed how letters after ones name only serve to inflate the ego. I have also become disgusted at how materialism is effecting the world; i.e. encouraging individualism which in turn is causing the rapid break down of social fabric and respectful human interaction. So by October 2012 I was re-thinking my direction, again re-thinking my purpose in life.

Luckily I have been very fortunate in that the rent for property funds this journey. I live simply, stay in cheap accommodation, have no desire to go party or indulge in buying expensive clothes so being here has all worked out so far. Anyway thankfully the rent kept coming in on time and since I had no job and was in no rush to join the rat race in Washington DC, I decided to stay on in India. The focus has changed though and I am going back to what feel right for me; the study and practice of the Dharma and learning yoga, (well I will have to get a job at some point and peacebuilding was not cutting it, no matter how expensive the degree was and how hard I tried to get ‘experience’).

The funny thing is that the study and practice of the Dharma (Buddha’s teachings) is about being at peace; being responsible at the personal level for ones action’s and thoughts and for what one projects into the world. It was the study of Buddhism that made me want to get into peacebuilding in the first place and it has been the NGO peacebuilding world that has made me return to the Dharma and the practical, personal aspect of enacting peace.

Today

           This year is about going more inward, working on not pushing, working on de-stressing, working on being more aware of possibilities as well as limitations; also not working; being a human being not a human doing. Being honest with who and what I am, not projecting and pushing for an idea of what I think I am, what I thing I want or what I think I should do or be. Living in the way of the Buddha’s teachings, because only with being kinder to myself can I then in turn be of some help to others. Or as my dad said before I left Scotland this time; “If you’re pleasing yourself, then at least your pleasing one person”

In the Now
Therefore the  blog will be a combination of travel journal complete with information on places to stay and stuff to do; a look at society, culture, class and religion by introducing local people and their stories; information on yoga, meditation, spiritual and religious teachings with a focus on Buddhism; information on organization I learn about or volunteer at, and lastly my thoughts and reflections on this whole experience. Each post will have labels according to 1) place, 2) teachings, 3) volunteering and 4) reflections. Writing this is also a great excuse for me to play with attempts to write. I have never written a journal of any of my travels or experiences because I never felt I was good enough, had anything to say or that anyone would listen. Thank the Gods that middle age gets rid of all those fears about what others may think and loosens the tongue up to say what you think. However I also have to thank my mum, Rae for encouraging me to write, thanks also to Lesley Foster who has given me advice on writing from the heart without fear. Check out her writting workshop with Ink and Inquiry in Charlottesville at  

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ink-Inquiry/548507128496570 

Thanks also to Katherine McNamara for her encouragement  and advice to write on line. Her editing company, Artist Proof Editions is at http://www.facebook.com/ArtistsProofEditions

I also hope to figure out how I can post your comments for all to see so as to open up conversation and really would like to get some feedback from you.

Also I have added a like it on Face book at the bottom of this page  so if you do please like it and lets see how many reader we can muster. Thank you to all