The finish line is in sight

As Z and I were taking the paternoster (weird non-stop elevator-esque contraption on campus) to the 8th floor to submit our final essay today, I kept thinking of the 6 times I had done that before over the past year. I can't believe how much work has gone by so quickly - and we survived it without any computers crashing or work getting lost! Now all that's left is our dissertation, which is still longer than all our essays combined and worth more. But atleast we have nearly 3 months to finish it.

So, what have I been upto other than schoolwork and traveling? Well...two weeks ago I joined a gym in town, I figured it would be a good way to take breaks from my dissertation this summer and keep in shape. A lot of our friends are going back to their homes now because most programs finish at the end of May. So it's going to get really quiet in Leicester. It should make it easier to focus on our dissertations, that's for sure. Z's birthday was two days ago, but since everyone is writing exams and studying right now we couldn't really celebrate. Her and one of our friends are going to have a birthday party after exams on the 29th - so it'll be a nice way to celebrate lots of things!

What I've really been engrossed in over the last 2 weeks is a book (what I see more as a guide really) my mom sent for me with Darin called A New Earth. It's written by a spiritual teacher, Eckhart Tolle, and I suppose it would fall under the "Self-Development" genre, but I have to say it's really beyond labels and classifications. If you're a fan of Oprah, you probably already know what I'm talking about because she featured A New Earth and Eckhart on a 10 week workshop where every Monday night they discussed a chapter from the book and took questions from people across the world. I'm a little behind from all the traveling I did, so I've been reading the book and watching the workshops online at my own pace.

I'm only halfway through so I can't really give a full explanation of what the book is about - but the intention is for it to be a tool towards reaching greater awareness to your life's purpose. Eckhart draws on a lot of religious, spiritual, and philosophical teachings of the past to show how we can become more in tune with the divine consciousness within all of us, ultimately helping us to live a much more fulfilling and enlightening life. What he does explain very early on in the book is that not everyone is ready for this 'shift in consciousness' to take place inside themselves, so for those people the teachings will be of no use to them at this point in their lives. But for others, there is a deep connection that you will feel towards the messages, especially when you try to put them into practice.

Most of the content I find parallels the teachings of Vedanta - which are the philosophical teachings within Hinduism. He does draw on Buddhist and Hindu vocabulary to explain much of what he writes about - but also interprets many of the verses from the Bible through an 'Eastern' lens to help Christians reconcile their faith with the text in A New Earth.

Some of the focal points in the book (which unfortunately I won't do justice to at all) discuss the distinction between the Ego and the true Self. The Ego tries to attach itself to labels - constantly finding its identity through objects or experiences. This is MY blog, MY story, MY life. Looking at the world through the Ego blinds us to our true identity - because we associate ourselves with all these fleeting things. I am a student, I am a doctor, I am beautiful - these are all concepts we think explain who we are. But WHO are we really? That which is nameless, formless - as the Vedic formula would call it - That Thou Art. Eckhart asks this very simple question which helps to explain what the true self is: Am I breathing? If you leave your thoughts and mind for a moment and direct your attention to the effortless function of your breathing - you will feel that there is an aliveness in the body that does not rely on identifications with form. Or if you close your eyes and take the focus to your hands - how do you know they exist if the eyes do not see them? Do you feel the slight tingling? The awareness inside?

Anyways, there is so much more I could say about this book - I have definitely felt a shift within myself ever since I started reading it. I know most of it is lessons that I've come across before...but he explains them in a very contemporary fashion. The workshops are even more helpful because he answers questions that arise from reading the book and gives more examples. I'm not here to try and convince anyone to read this book or push a certain ideology on you. It's such a beautiful, life-changing book, for those who are open to receiving its message. If you are looking for more peace and stillness in your mind, then maybe this is a path to help you achieve that. I think as I read more I will discuss my thoughts in the weeks to come - and I know several of you are reading or have read A New Earth already, so feel free to post comments and share your thoughts and experiences too!

Happy Mommy's Day!

I know some of you have been anxiously waiting to hear about Darin’s visit and our travels within the UK. As soon as I got back though, I had some very demanding deadlines to meet with my dissertation. Seeing as how it’s Mother’s Day today in North America (they don’t have that in the UK), and I have nothing to give my mom, I figured a blog entry would be the next best thing. So Happy Mother’s Day to all you mom’s out there and ‘motherly figures’. Your function as mothers is so important to society (and still not given enough credit in my opinion). I think living away from home makes you appreciate everything your parents do for you even more – and not just in a superficial sense like providing food and shelter, but also (and arguably more so) in a nurturing sense. Of course my mom always seems to figure out a way to nurture long distance, so thanks mommy for still being there *kisses*.

OK so onto my adventures from a month ago – wow I can’t believe it’s been a whole month since Darin came to visit! We really didn’t waste any time in Leicester and left for Edinburgh (Scotland) the following day. Out of all the places we visited, Edinburgh was probably my second-favourite. I remember even the shuttle ride from the airport to the city centre was so scenic. The homes are beautifully landscaped with a variety of trees and flowers in the front yard, really well maintained even though the homes themselves have that antique feeling to them. The city itself is unique as it’s built around a fortress-like castle on top of an extinct volcano. There are several ‘volcanic vents’ around the city that cooled and were eroded to create these enormous mountains. Which is why I say the city is so unique, because it combines these rock formations with ancient buildings and monuments, resulting in an ideal balance of natural and socio-political history.

On top of that, Darin and I absolutely loved our apartment-style hotel room. It’s too bad that after two days, you’ve pretty much covered all of Edinburgh, because we could’ve stayed in that hotel for a whole week!

So what did we do in those two days? A lot of climbing up extinct volcanic rocks – which was exhausting but very rewarding to take in the view of the city from the top. The main commodities that Scotland is well-known for are their Scotch, Haggis, Neeps & Tatties and Tartan and Argyle. Even though I don’t drink scotch, I could tell you all about how it’s made and where it comes from as we went on a scotch-whiskey tour – I think that was probably Darin’s favourite part of the trip. I did try some vegetarian Haggis (which is usually served with Neeps and Tatties aka Turnips and Potatoes). Tartan, which in North America is called Plaid is the traditional pattern used in textiles for everything from curtains to kilts. Apparently, every ‘clan’ in Scotland has its own specific Tartan pattern. Darin and I couldn’t find a Maharajh-Tartan unfortunately! Argyle is the other popular textile pattern, which is most common on golf attire. Oddly enough, Darin and I both packed argyle socks and accidentally wore them on the same day!

After our two days in Edinburgh, we thought it would be a good idea to spend a night in Glasgow – the largest city in Scotland and apparently its economic centre. Honestly, if you ever go to Scotland, don’t waste your time visiting Glasgow. There was absolutely nothing to see. In hindsight, Darin and I should’ve used that day to visit the Scottish countryside – but we really thought Glasgow had more to offer. The only thing we ended up doing was visiting a museum known as the Burrell Collection. Basically, Mr. Burrell was a very wealthy man who collected all kinds of ancient artefacts from around the world. When he died, the property was converted into a public park with a museum displaying his collection. The most impressive piece on display was Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ – one of a handful of original bronze casts. We must’ve been inspired by all the art and history around us, and decided to get creative with our pictures too…

The following day we took the 45 minute train back to Edinburgh and flew out to Dublin (Ireland). A lot of people are confused by the whole U.K. and Republic of Ireland situation so I’ll do my best to explain it here. Ireland was divided into two separate countries: Northern Ireland (where the city of Belfast is) and the Republic of Ireland (where Dublin is, and what we refer to simply as Ireland proper). The U.K. stands for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which we also call Britain or the U.K.. Anyone who is born in Scotland, England, Wales or Northern Ireland is considered British, along with whatever their particular nationality may be. For example, you’re English if you’re born in England (and apparently you have to be at least the third generation born in England to refer to yourself as English) but you also fall under the larger umbrella of British. In the U.K. everything runs on the pound – Scotland has their own Scottish pound but it’s the same value as the British pound. The Republic of Ireland is a part of the European Union and runs on the Euro. The UK in some ways is part of the EU as well, except they choose not to implement the Euro obviously because of the strength of the pound. So I hope that made sense and clarifies the situation...it’s taken me an entire 8 months to learn this!

Darin’s old highschool friend Shane who now lives in Portsmouth (that’s in the south of England) joined us in Dublin. In terms of scenery, there isn’t that much to visit in Dublin. We did take one of those 24 hour hop on-hop off tour bus that stopped at the famous sites and provided a lot of interesting historical facts about the city. We visited Trinity College which is the main university there and of course the Guiness Factory, probably the most famous attraction in Dublin. Did you know that the Guiness Book of World Records is actually linked to the Guiness family? It all started in the bars, where men would be drinking Guiness and having debates about what European game bird was the fastest. A Guiness employee saw that there was a need for a manual that had the answers to these questions in bars to settle these disagreements (which by the way was the Golden Plover). From there it obviously grew to include a variety of ‘trivia’ questions.

In comparison to Edinburgh, I would say Dublin is more of an urban, student-city. Very lively at night, and the European influence has taken effect, especially in terms of style. I think it was a fun place to spend the weekend – oh and it’s the only city in Europe with a Tim Hortons!

After Dublin we parted ways with Shane – but not for long because he invited us to visit him in Portsmouth for a couple of nights, and then we planned to spend a night in London and drop Darin at the airport the following day. So we came back to Leicester for two nights, convinced Z to join us in Portsmouth, rented a car, re-packed our bags, and drove for 3 hours south. Thank God Darin was there to drive though, because not only were we dealing with driving on the opposite side of the road – but we also went around and through dozens of roundabouts, and junctions. Luckily we didn’t get lost (ok maybe a couple little confusions here and there), but we made it to Portsmouth in relatively good timing and it was definitely worth the drive. Out of all the cities we visited, Portsmouth was my favourite.

The city used to be a naval port during war-time, as its coast lies along the Portsea, which joins with the English Channel. Now, the marina is a gorgeous stretch of pebbled beach, where people can be found swimming, surfing and parasailing during the summer months. The best thing about Portsmouth is how close the city centre is to the beach. The city is quite condense, and most attractions are walking distance (although it was handy having a car to get to the outskirts where the best fish & chips place was). I think we were all so giddy just to be by the ocean and take in some sun and salty ocean breeze. Darin predicts that Portsmouth is going to be the next big city in England – Brighton is already known as ‘London by the Sea’ but who knows, maybe it will increase in popularity as Brighton reaches a tipping point. Shane was also a very hospitable host – took us out at night to a really fun party with his work colleagues. We weren’t ready to leave Portsmouth though, it would’ve been so nice to explore some of the neighbouring cities like Winchester and Salisbury…maybe Z and I will be able to visit again over the summer – we were shocked that England even had such beautiful beaches and scenery!

From Portsmouth, we took a 2 hour train into London, and spent the afternoon window-shopping and wandering the streets. Shane joined us after work and we sampled some Bangladeshi-style Indian food for dinner and did some more sight-seeing by night. I think Darin wasn’t expecting the sights in London to be as spectacular as they were – he was really impressed by Big Ben, the Eye and Tower Bridge. The following day we parted ways: I took the train back to Leicester, and Shane dropped Darin off at the airport. Overall, I think (hopefully) Darin had a fun trip. He wanted to explore the U.K. (and Ireland) and I think in the two weeks we had, we made the most of them and saw 6 cities – if you include Leicester. I’m so happy he came to visit me – it’s always a good time when Darin’s around, and we definitely shared a lot of laughs and have some funny stories as memories: like when he drove around a roundabout 5 times until we figured out which exit to take, or the many struggles we faced while climbing up (and down!) Arthur’s Seat and Scott Monument, and of course all the hilarious pictures and video clips we took.

This was by far, the best Easter Break I’ve ever had (and the only one that lasted an entire month!). With Mel’s visit and then Darin’s, we covered a lot ground and I was so fortunate to have shared the experience with them. I’m going to end off here because I do need to get back to my work, but I hope that these past few entries have inspired you to travel more, or if that’s not a possibility, maybe you’ve expanded your understanding of these places just by visiting my blog. After I submit my essay next Monday I’ll have a lot more time to post entries. Until next week!