Treasure Maps

Creating a treasure map is one of my favourite things to do around this time of year. It’s an enjoyable, fun way of coming up with a wish list for the year ahead. The beauty of it is, because it employs right brain, unconscious processes through imagery, the usual kinds of limited thinking associated with setting goals is easily by-passed.

At the beginning of December I’ll start collecting old magazines, brochures and leaflets that come through the door. So that by the time the holidays start there is a good pile. I tend to do it in two stages. The first afternoon I just go through and cut out any images which appeal to me, it’s not necessary to know why I’m drawn to them, just that I am. It helps to set the scene too, by creating a relaxing environment, through lighting some candles, making sure the room is really cosy and having some nice snacks to nibble on. The next day I’ll take the pile of cut out images and sift them, some may be discarded and with those that remain I’ll start to arrange them onto a piece of coloured card. Once all the positions feel right I’ll stick them down with glue. I might look at it for a day or two and then it will go in the wardrobe out of sight before the new year begins, until I happen to be doing some spring cleaning or sorting, when it might be looked over again.

The unconscious mind processes information in the form of images, symbols, metaphors and analogies. Sometimes it’s only when the year comes to a close that I have been able to work out what a particular image represented to me, as a goal - hence the name treasure, since treasure is always hidden, however the map does always lead to it. For the several years I’ve been creating a treasure map for yearly goals, somehow I’ve always achieved everything on it – this year in particular I feel I’ve just whizzed through in terms of my being, doing and having goals. So I’m looking forward to what the next year will bring.

Time for Reflection

As the year draws to a close I’ve been reflecting upon the experiences which have been most significant for me. My two trips to India certainly stand out. It was a real test of personal strength to travel alone as a woman knowing that I was going to be entirely responsible for my personal safety and well being. There wouldn’t be the reassurance of emergency services such as police and ambulance as we have here, I’d be completely alone, save for the few days spent with some relatives.

Both trips were exhilarating. I let myself be guided by my intuition, if a situation or person didn’t feel right I didn’t hang around to find out why. Just because an individual or family were friendly and warm it didn’t mean they had my trust, that’s something earned over time. It was emotionally taxing though to be constantly aware of potential dangers to safety, not smiling as much as I do normally was really hard, a friend of mine had told me to leave my smile at the departure lounge at Heathrow and pick it up on the way back – ‘it means different things out there’ she said. Being firm but polite was not too difficult as it’s part of my business personality and staying reserved and quiet was easy since I was travelling alone and there was no one to talk to anyway – the funny outcome of that was most of the locals thought I couldn’t speak the language, some went to great pains to speak to me in English while others would talk about me not knowing I could understand every word that was being said!

‘It’s a land of extremes’ as a friend once said, true to a great extent, a place where chaos and tranquillity dwell as neighbours.

Here are some shots from my last day there.

Two Garments

I received some sad news recently of a relative who has been diagnosed with a serious illness. As I thought about it today I was reminded of a particular Sikh teaching; that hardship and pain, joy and happiness are the two sets of clothes worn alternately by every human being as they travel on life’s journey.

I like this metaphor, to me at a deeper level it’s indicating that events distressing or happy are external, and we always have the power to choose our response in any situation no matter how difficult. A physical disease could be seen as the start of a healthier way of living. As for ailments labelled as life threatening, no person in the human race has a guarantee that they will wake up to another tomorrow. Crossing the street as a pedestrian, driving a car, getting on a train or aeroplane are just some of the countless potentially life endangering things we individuals do everyday.

For me it’s about not taking anything for granted and living life to the full, not just dreaming dreams but living them, now.

Serenity

For a while now I’ve cultivated a habit of getting up early and starting meditation and prayer at 5am. The thing that’s most profound at this time of day is the quietness, there’s simply no sound at all for up to 30 minutes sometimes until a car goes past somewhere in the distance. And it’s not just the silence that is so captivating to me but the stillness too - there’s no movement in the environment either, no cars or planes or people. It’s just like life is suspended. The experience of this silence and stillness sets me up for the whole day; it’s the foundation upon which the rest of the day stands. I was reflecting recently that I could give up anything else in life but not this serenity, it has untold value for me.