This week, as a general update, I was doing a mental exercise of mood regulation to the neutral. This week has been heavy on the heart and I didn’t know how to hold all the heaviness together. The exercise is one of the important Buddhist teachings - to not get attached to thoughts and feelings because they are transient.
As part of the exercise, I would take deep breaths not only when I felt low or anxious but also when I felt jumpy or excited for no reason. This push towards the center from both the extremes helped me because I wasn’t working on limiting only a single feeling but was putting in the work at both ends. Somehow, that made it better. We try to blunt one feeling too much but the feeling at the other end of the spectrum is transient too. Happiness passes. and so does sadness.
Let’s get into a quick review of the week.
I tried a new cafe to work out of - Muru Muru and Varsha joined. It turned out to be good idea for a change of place a couple of times in the work week.
Avinash’s team released their labour of love out to the public after 4.5 years of development effort and I’ve seen him working exceptionally hard all these years, putting in almost 6.5 days a week on the game. Absolutely had to take him to a little celebration and we went to Dali and Gala for a post dinner drink.
On the art front, I was able to show up to the morning practise for five out of seven days this week and I am happy about that. In the previous weekly notes, that’s the centering I was talking about.
At work, things are intense because we are gearing up for a production run. It means we are pinging artists, getting on calls, curating, dreaming and pushing things through the entire day. I am proud of this photoshoot that we did with one of our tattoos. The pansies drawn by Stuti look just so beautiful sprinkled over skin. They are also one of my favourite tattoos on our website.
5. Our collaboration with Doodlage - one of the best sustainable brands in India also went live this week. Check it here.
6. As one of the highlights of this week, I hosted a collage party at home where over coffee and copious amounts of macarons, six of us sat down to cut and snip paper and make something out of it. The laughter was raucous at times and the intensity and topics of discussion easily touched in the hundreds. I had been thinking of doing this for so long with more than the usual friends that gather around. It was as fun as I imagined it to be. Paras graciously brewed excellent coffee and Sathya didi was the source of unlimited sandwiches that made this event a sugar-fest but no one was complaining.
From left to right: Ankita, Kriti, me, Aahika, Puja, Noopur and Joylita
7. To wrap up this weekly note, I want to acknowledge that I have been reading the biography of Einstein by Walter Isaacson for months now not being able to let go of the last leg of the book. Now its just 100 pages left and if I don’t finish reading that this week, I will not touch it again. There are too many fascinating books sitting on the shelf and I cannot be haunted by those last 100 unread pages. Whoever is reading this, please wish me strength.