As of 365 days ago we were all drifting far above the Asian continent, very much separate but somehow connected by gossamer threads of what destiny had in store for us… Connected by the simple fact that we threw our unharnessed faith in the Carpe Diem boat bound for India. I remember seeing the lights of Delhi waver into sight, a pit in my stomach of rumbling excitement and question- a brimming cesspool cauldron of emotion and anticipation that spilled everywhere in my head once the aircraft wheels hit foreign soil.
And so it began- walking into the Delhi night- pungent air and the unabashed use of horn and shout. Bumping down the road with Becca on my right, Ben in front, my eyes glued to the window- I remember thinking:Ā This is going to be a wild ride.Ā
And so it was. A wild ride of meeting a world anew. A wildly beautiful ride of spending time with us as a group while seeing and feeling a country that seeped into our souls. From street meandering with Luke, to laughter and smiles over breakfast with our group in full, to experience after experience, I found myself smiling and contented in my sleeping bag as I drifted to sleep each night. Between that first exploration of the Lotus Temple in Delhi, to that last supper atop the roof in the city where it all began, there sits a bucket of memories, feelings, and experiences which embody beauty, trial, tribulation, growth, laughter, connection, and imagery of both outlandish sweetness and sorrow. The elastic ebb and flow of our trip, our group, and our connections, are feelings stored in that personal box of treasures hidden and protected in the tissue and bones of our bodies.
With the horizon of a new year stretching ahead- the possibilities and excitements of young life are grand and enticing. As I find myself looking forward, I pause to reflect on the visage of a year past that has both given and changed me so much. I hope that the crazy ball of light and connection, that was rolling around in India in different forms for all of us, has fragmented its way into your lives to make them richer and fuller away from our Indian home.
In some ways I’m at a loss for words to adequately describe how I feel at the bottom of all this. But you all know this feeling, this moment, that bubbled up in lieu of the significant date today. A love attack: Where I want so badly to see all the faces in front of me and know everything about them and share a part of their feelings and energy. I miss y’all (Thank you Maddi). I love y’all. 365 days ago I hadn’t ever seen your faces. 365 days ago I didn’t imagine 3 months could have meant so much.
Tomorrow we wake up in separate beds, separate realities, separate worlds. Very much separate but somehow connected by the gossamer threads that destiny, luck, for sakes christ, Ganesh? had in store for us. We wake up connected by the simple fact that we threw our unharnessed faith in the Carpe Diem boat bound for India. Tomorrow we wake up connected by gossamer threads of conversations, belly laughs, stargazing, yoga on the rooftops, dancing on bridges, piling in rickshaws, singing on trainrides, and seeing one another every sunrise for 3 months. My body sighs, my mind clears, I am a happy boy tomorrow as I was 365 days ago. The same happy boy with a different bodily perspective.
Sending love and connection- may the gossamers keep us close, Noah