Last week i got to spend some time in Mumbai with my friend/former roommate Stephanie. It was so good...for so many reasons.
it was good to be out of Kolkata.
it was good to not work for a few days (before i left i was putting pressure on myself for my time away to be purposeful, or reflective, or intentional, with lots of emotional processing space...but then i realized what i really needed was a vacation. i needed to NOT think about Sari Bari. NOT think about production. NOT think about all the transitions in my life and in our community.) it was good to sit on a beach and read a fun book.
it was good to be with Steph, who knows me so well, and loves me so deeply, and understands this crazy life i live - and is also outside of my everyday community. it gives her this unique voice and perspective that was so good for me to hear. plus she's tons of fun.
it was good to be back in Mumbai and to see my other friends there.
it was crazy to see how different Mumbai is from kolkata...and it has me thinking lots of different things about how i live here, and why i make the decisions i do...and what i can do to make better decisions, or what needs to change to make my life here more sustainable.
one of the things that i was shocked by was the church community that Steph is a part of. Through that church she has built beautiful friendships with young professional Indians. it was so good. after church we went to lunch, and then to coffee with a bunch of her friends. And as i sat around the table at the coffee shop having a great conversation (like i would with friends at a coffee shop in America - never wondering if they understood the word i just used, or if they "got" the cultural reference i just made) i became aware of a hole in my life here in Kolkata.
I would say that i have very deep relationships here. very deep. i am known. i am loved. i feel like i can be honest with the people who know me here. I never feel like i have to filter myself, or that i will be judged.
I would also say that my life is narrow. there just aren't very many folks that i hang out with outside of my immediate WMF community. (and for the past 6 months, with friends being out of town life has felt even more narrow). and there isn't a lot that i "do" outside of work.
so i have this re-awakened desire to find broader community. there are pockets of it, but just not enough. On Friday during our weekly staff devotions i prayed about this need - confessing how much i long for broader community, and also how it feels impossible to find. it's like i've identified this "problem" in my life and i don't know how to fix it...
One of the things i'm doing is re-opening the church box...figuring that's one place where i can find some folks to be in relationship with...on Sunday i visited a different church (and will continue trying to find a church to really call home) I'm trying to find a new way. but it's discouraging. On sunday i went to a chruch that i'd heard a lot of good things about...and the service really was great...but in other ways it was everything i feared it would be. it's on the other side of town. we got lost. it took an hour each way of travel...it's just discouraging.
so if you happen to be someone who prays, and you want to pray for me...please do. join me in praying that the Lord will meet this need in my life, that i will find a church to be a part of, and find some new friendships.
it was good to be out of Kolkata.
it was good to not work for a few days (before i left i was putting pressure on myself for my time away to be purposeful, or reflective, or intentional, with lots of emotional processing space...but then i realized what i really needed was a vacation. i needed to NOT think about Sari Bari. NOT think about production. NOT think about all the transitions in my life and in our community.) it was good to sit on a beach and read a fun book.
it was good to be with Steph, who knows me so well, and loves me so deeply, and understands this crazy life i live - and is also outside of my everyday community. it gives her this unique voice and perspective that was so good for me to hear. plus she's tons of fun.
it was good to be back in Mumbai and to see my other friends there.
it was crazy to see how different Mumbai is from kolkata...and it has me thinking lots of different things about how i live here, and why i make the decisions i do...and what i can do to make better decisions, or what needs to change to make my life here more sustainable.
one of the things that i was shocked by was the church community that Steph is a part of. Through that church she has built beautiful friendships with young professional Indians. it was so good. after church we went to lunch, and then to coffee with a bunch of her friends. And as i sat around the table at the coffee shop having a great conversation (like i would with friends at a coffee shop in America - never wondering if they understood the word i just used, or if they "got" the cultural reference i just made) i became aware of a hole in my life here in Kolkata.
I would say that i have very deep relationships here. very deep. i am known. i am loved. i feel like i can be honest with the people who know me here. I never feel like i have to filter myself, or that i will be judged.
I would also say that my life is narrow. there just aren't very many folks that i hang out with outside of my immediate WMF community. (and for the past 6 months, with friends being out of town life has felt even more narrow). and there isn't a lot that i "do" outside of work.
so i have this re-awakened desire to find broader community. there are pockets of it, but just not enough. On Friday during our weekly staff devotions i prayed about this need - confessing how much i long for broader community, and also how it feels impossible to find. it's like i've identified this "problem" in my life and i don't know how to fix it...
One of the things i'm doing is re-opening the church box...figuring that's one place where i can find some folks to be in relationship with...on Sunday i visited a different church (and will continue trying to find a church to really call home) I'm trying to find a new way. but it's discouraging. On sunday i went to a chruch that i'd heard a lot of good things about...and the service really was great...but in other ways it was everything i feared it would be. it's on the other side of town. we got lost. it took an hour each way of travel...it's just discouraging.
so if you happen to be someone who prays, and you want to pray for me...please do. join me in praying that the Lord will meet this need in my life, that i will find a church to be a part of, and find some new friendships.
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