India
Cracked Open In India
The meditation that sent me to the other side of the world with a stranger
India didn't break me - it cracked me open
Over the course of 3 months I was about to discover who I was while recovering from who I once was.
The lessons would lie within
The conversation I had with the homeless man eating a frozen bag of peas.
To the laughter I shared with a random couple in the chaos of the colorful street
To the lifestyle I witnessed in the desert of Jawai
To the simplicity of living in the south
It all started when
I was sitting in a guided meditation in Costa Rica when flashes of me dancing at an Indian wedding started coming to my mind. This was extremely random for me, I had never thought of India in my life.
It was never on the "bucket list" of dream places I wanted to go. I didn't know what god had planned for me and why two hours into one of the deepest meditations of my life, the only thing coming to my mind was the sound of Indian music and visuals of me backpacking through it.
Two days later, I was working a photoshoot when another photographer on the shoot and I started getting to know each other, he later on mentioned he would be heading to India in a week.
I jumped up not out of excitement but out of shock and without hesitation I said "I think I'm supposed to go with you"
He paused, didn't say anything.. grinned.. looked at me and said, well I'm going there for a wedding and need a date.
I out loud responded with.. oh fuck..
It was 2 dinner dates, and 8 days later and we were sharing a close seat together to the other side of the world.
Two strangers who knew nothing about each other except the answers to the questions ChatGPT prompted us with to "get to know each other quickly"
48 hours of travel later
Two strangers, two photographers, with one goal.. To see the world
Landed in India
We would be backpacking all through India together, not for a week but for three months.
I had no idea if this would be the best decision of my life or my worst mistake. I was asking myself, "did I seriously just book a one way ticket to the other side of the world with a stranger, simply because I think god told me to?"
"Am I psycho?"
But I trusted god's plan and what the purpose of this coincidence was.
We spent everyday in the streets of India, with no built-in itinerary, no structured plan, simply going for it.
Adjusting trains, flights, and hotels based on what we wanted to see, where we wanted to go and the opportunities that came up.
We arrived in the pink city of Jaipur
This is when things shifted for me.
A flame inside of me ignited. My soul was on fire and burning with passion.
I remember showing up to India passionate and full of energy - this giddy girl who just made a crazy decision, the world is my oyster kind of energy.
I had just spent the last year living in the jungle of Costa Rica learning the art of healing. How to close wounds and allow them to be scars.
To lean into the life I had dreamed was there waiting for me on the other side of healing. The path to becoming the woman of my dreams is on the other side of my darkness.
To no longer run through the dark tunnel avoiding but to step into the light of being healed and to take action.
India was the beginning of that
Opening up a door of a new life after removing everything that was keeping me attached to the old one.
The eye opening awareness of how unaware we all are.
That life
isn't about what you have, but what you do with what you have
It isn't about a plan
It's about a purpose
That the world isn't meant to be seen
It's meant to be felt
To love who you are because at the end of your life you're the only one who's left
That emotions are meant to be felt
And brought to the surface not tucked away
True peace is in understanding
Not avoiding
I wasn't drawn to India for adventure
I was called there to find my purpose.
Raw Moments of How This Story Came to Life
