Meira wanders .... again!

Meira is free spirited and does not like restrictions. She likes to wander and breathe free.

However, the Covid-19 pandemic ofcourse proved stronger and all "wanderlusters" like me were more than happy to stay within the safety of our own nests, sanitizing many aspects of our lives for the better part of the last 2 years. 

The beginning of 2021 saw the battle between science and the virus and vaccinations thankfully started winning, slowly but surely. By mid year, it seemed relatively safe to step out of your home, even your neighborhood. Steadily, we gathered courage and as always, a few armed with the vaccine, started venturing around ..... further and further away from the safety of their homes, still taking necessary precautions. 

Much had changed since early 2019 - a "new normal" was taking shape in every nuance of our lives. Travel, especially international travel - the backbone of the new world since probably the 70's - also started to adjust, it just had to! 

The summer of 2021 saw the wanderers first step out .... and gradually their numbers increased....

I personally think this hiatus did us a lot of good - even for those who hated it - it forced us to look inward and look at what's immediately around. Whilst Mother Nature breathed easy, we humans had a lot of time to introspect, to recalibrate - our lives, our relationships, our communities, our socio-economic networks, our faith, beliefs and perspectives. 

A lot had changed outside of me, around me and within me! 

By the end of summer, I was ready - ready to risk it - ready to step onto that tarmac again! I was excited and a tad nervous with the unfamiliarity of new ways. But the wanderlust had risen and there was no stopping anymore ..... 

Earlier this month, I traveled to Turkey - a mystical land caught between 2 continents and flavored by centuries of history. I spent a week there and I realized how much I had missed my wandering - and how glad I was to be able to explore again, despite all the precautions and inconveniences (like keeping the mask on all through the flight...eeek!!!) 

Apart from being deeply interested in the history of Istanbul with its many contradictions, I had one more reason to go to Turkey - something I had on my bucket list - to watch the sunrise from a hot air balloon in Cappadocia! I must have seen an image of this in my 20s and added it to my rather long list back then. 

And I did it ..... 

The beauty of the experience left me speechless - waking up in the wee hours, watching hundreds of colorful balloons being inflated in the cold and dark night as we waited to jump in was exhilarating, to say the least. And then we were up and away while the landscape below was still wrapped in dawn. Slowly, as if on cue, the sky began to light up and prepared to welcome the new day as we kept floating around. It all felt magical! Finally, as the sun peeped out from behind the mountain, the rest of the world ceased to exist for me and I watched in complete wonder. The world seemed beautiful, again - it always was, it always will be, pandemic or not, strife or not. 

And as we completed what looked like a crazy landing on top of a trawler, the incredulous joy of having ticked yet another item off my bucket list made me look upwards and say a quick prayer of thankfulness. 

That 20 something had dreamt of this - and this 50 something was blessed enough to experience it. 

When that image had stuck, I had no idea how and when I would ever be able to make it to a place I could not even spell right back then - but I dreamt of it, as I often thought about other things on what later became a bucket list. I always was a dreamer .... and I didn't ever worry too much about what I would be able to do or not. I just dreamt on and felt good about believing that I would tick every one of them... one day.... 

And over the last 3 decades, Life has blessed me ..... 

Dreams have always been a part of my life - it could be inspirational, it could even be escapism at times, but I have always dreamed of the good and the beautiful and each time, it has lifted my mood. Imagine then, my joy at being able to reach for them, one by one ..... as the years went by. Life, naturally, has not always been upbeat and I have fallen many a times, but each time the possibility of living a dream has lifted my spirits and kept me going, building a resilience within me and strengthening my faith. 

As they say, if you don't dream, you won't ever have a dream come true! 

I wish we all held on to our dreams in our adulthood - not necessarily with hard expectations but with a soft faith that the world will conspire to make it happen, somewhere, somehow. 

As Lennon immortalized : 

" You may say I am a dreamer.... but I am not the only one. I hope someday you will find us and the world will live as one." 

And Meira dreams on....