What I’ve been up to lately (retiring the 'shoulds' & going back to school)

photo credit: Morgan Sessions/Unsplash

So, I’ve been gone again. Yes, yes, I hear you (the voice in my head). I should be more regular as a blogger. I should work on reaching out to more people in the virtual world. I should plan my posts in advance. I should freelance more. I should do more.

The shoulds that march through our head like a ticker tape. The shoulds that tie us up in knots and weigh us down with our own expectations. The shoulds that are better left behind ‘coz aren’t we already doing whatever we can in our current phase of life!

After lots of thinking and soul searching, I’ve decided to let the shoulds be. For now.

I am doing all I can in this phase as a mom-with-a-turbo-toddler + Air Force wife (yes, let’s not forget that ‘coz this changes the entire definition of one’s job). Besides my primary job of being the sole caregiver 6 days a week, I’ve been trying to slot in some studies on the side.

A degree in yoga. A stint at a culinary school. A workshop in personal styling.

While each of these are as different and diverse as can be, they give my gray cells a good workout. I love the varied skills I’m picking up, some of these are things that I’ve been wanting to learn for a long time.

The yoga’s not only getting me back into shape lovingly, it’s making me stay grounded and calm (well, most of the time).

It’s at the online culinary school that I’m learning to hone my knife skills as well as my other kitchen skills, one simple instructional video at a time. My aim is to be more self-sufficient in the kitchen and more efficient at prepping/cooking (yeah, impressing others with my food has never been the idea!).

And the style workshop? I’ve been fascinated with discovering our own personal style since I gave birth and didn’t know how to create my own style in this new avatar (read: chubbier). I’ve realized since then that style is a lot about embracing the body we have and wearing what we have with flair. I’ve also been totally besotted with saris and styling the sari to give it a place of honor in the urban Indian arena. I’m just taking this interest a step further by learning from a professional stylist in Portugal, Lena Penteado. I’m also hoping that with this skill, I’ll be able to help my health coaching clients better.

So whenever I get a spare moment between mothering, I pop into one of these online schools or roll out my yoga mat for some learning.

I’m not sure how much time that’ll leave me with for blogging (I’m hoping to get some writing done on weekends when my husband’s home). But I’ll pop in every now and then to write and chat and say hello. I’m still going to write about saris, green living and about my life. But I may not be able to commit to a timetable.

For now, for this season of life, I’ll embrace this saying, “Do what you can, when you can.”

#lifeasmom #backtoschool