Good morning, good afternoon and good evening readers,

Faysal once said that to him, the human life is essentially just a collection of experiences. I’d never really thought of it in that way before, but I think it’s a pretty beautiful way of seeing each exchange. So, today’s blog post is a wee summary of some lovely experiences I have had in the last week.

Experience 1
I volunteered for a not-for-profit organisation which provides education on a variety of topics to the local community. I’m not sure why, perhaps it was within my comfort zone, but I didn’t feel at all anxious about going. I mean I’m not going to question it, but it was interesting. I waltzed in, made conversations with people, shook someone’s hand when it wasn’t socially required, didn’t cringe at my faux pa and then felt comfortable loitering around the classes to see how things worked. One of the classes was centred around Tantra and exploring sexuality, but its content was more about creating deep human connections. The teacher gave the class an exercise to participate in where they sat opposite one another, kept eye contact and did some breathing exercises. Hmm.. reminded me of another experience I have had. Afterwards the room was literally electric with love. That sounds proper cheesy I know, but dat’s the troof. There was so much love in the room and strangers were able to connect with each other in ways that words can hinder. I just sat at the back of the class and soaked it all in. What a privilege it was to be in that room at that time with those emotions blanketing everyone. It filled my heart right up to the brim.

Experience 2
I’ve been frequenting my favourite café and using it as a more interesting location to apply for jobs. I think really I should ask them if they have any jobs going, I’ll certainly be spending a lot more of my time there. Anyway, I’m sat on the larger table which is often used by several strangers at a time. It’s lovely sharing tables with strangers because you get the occasional eye contact or “oh sorry, could.. just sugar.. sugar.. yeah.. thanks”. But on this day, my experience was to be much more. Two other women were perched at the table with me doing pretty much the exact same thing as me. Chilling the fuck out, eating some fucking lunch and reading something fucking interesting.

The first lady speaks “This place must be in lonely planet. There are a lot of tourists.”
I reciprocate, “Possibly, it is a really lovely café and affordable.”
The second lady isn’t quite engaging yet but then something magical happens.
The conversation continues in short bursts and then engine starts raring. We have a long discussion about the most beautiful places in Australia, the most beautiful places in the UK, the second lady tells us she is a Morris Dancer (her family have been dancing for decades), the first lady tell us she wants to explore her European heritage and I ask as many questions as I can about both. The conversation came from absolutely nowhere, out of the blue. Out of the Green Refectory. In turn the two women left to carry on with their days and the second lady turns to me and says, “Thank you for the extremely enjoyable conversation”, and she walks off through the sunlit door. I think we all needed that human exchange.

Experience 3
Status: Hungover
Date/ Time: AM after Faysal’s birthday
Activity: Balloon playing in the flat
Summary: Faysal and I start playing the classic balloon game, don’t let the balloon touch the ground. This quickly involves into a variation of balloon foot/hand/head/face ball. The passes are quick, the atmosphere is tense, both sides want to take the medal home. Faysal wins. The game is now over. Final transformation and F instigates an interpretive balloon dance. We take it in turns to showcase our performances. Moves include popped balloon and the swan.
Closing line: Absolute belly laughing whilst playing silly games.

Not all of my days have been filled with these heart-warming experiences. But now I am starting to think that perhaps they have been, and I’ve gotten too caught up in the initial loneliness of when you move to a new country. These unexpected segments give me hope that there will be plenty more to come and when they do, I will cherish every second. If we all stopped rushing around, maybe less experiences would slip through our palms.

In experiential kindness,
C x