Linking up for Day Seven, the concluding day of the Festival of Words hosted by Write Tribe from July 10 to July 16, 2016)
Now that I’m almost at the fag end of the 7 Day Festival of Words thought I’d make an honest confession! I am so glad I pushed myself to do this challenge, considering what a shaky start it was!
Through the past seven days, I’ve been on a roller coaster ride of thoughts, feelings and emotions. Paralysed by a writer’s block, made worse by a sudden disappearing act by my home help for 3 days, while in the grips of a nasty bout of migraine and juggling the usual daily chores, I was dead certain that I was going to pull out of the FoW by the end of Monday.
Luckily, Jay was around (working from home that day) and it was such a blessing because I was totally grounded by noon. Suffice to say that it was nothing short of a nightmare. I took my first morsel of food at 10 in the night, after being violently sick through the day. If you suffer from migraine as badly as I do, your perspective on life changes and ‘good’ days and ‘bad’ days can almost refer to life and death. To cut a long story short, I had two choices, put up a fight or give up!
Being the quietly stubborn kind (my family knows exactly what this means!), I decided I would not give up so easily. At least not without putting up a proper fight. I literally ‘fought’ through it all and survived. The posts went live on time, there was food on the table for everyone and they came to a clean, tidy home, the supplies were ordered online and sanity was restored, with Arjyo’s exams getting underway and Jay working on a major presentation. I’m here with a grateful heart and a silent prayer thanking God for helping me through it all.
But, that’s not all. I must tell you about two thought-provoking writeups from this week that triggered my memories and made me grateful once again. The first was Parul’s post which took me back to those wonder-filled days of childhood and the simplicity with which we accepted things. Memories came pouring, both good and bad, but, strangely, I realised, that even though I missed childhood, I was happier as a grown-up because of the sense of control over my life that I feel today. Grateful that I’m in a place and amongst people who ensure that it stays that way!
The other was the news doing the rounds in social media about Sania Mirza’s fitting response to veteran journalist Rajdeep Sardesai on why motherhood was not in her agenda yet! Her response was perfect! Her words reminded so many of us what we have to face from people time and again. Her words remind us once again about how social conditioning creates stereotypes and how people wish to fit us into those stereotypes every now and then.
It reminded me all that I had to face from perfectly well-meaning folks at different stages of my life. When I was single, they’d ask why I wasn’t settling down. A few years after I got married, it started with those apparently harmless questions like, ‘when do we get the good news’ etc etc. I paid no heed and continued with whatever it was that I was doing. When I decided to go abroad for higher studies, they scoffed at me, because it meant I was going to defer motherhood another couple of years. After six years of being married, people started suggesting I go for IVF because there was no baby in sight! I was even suggested ‘motherhood’ as a treatment for my migraine, believe it or not!!! And all along, I was only keeping a word that I had given to myself. Jay and I wanted to study, to travel and enjoy a few years to ourselves. Apparently, there was everything wrong about that decision!
I’ve always believed that this lifetime is all we have, so never really had any time to leave the most important decisions of our lives to be taken by other people. We owe it to ourselves to live life on our own terms as we deem best. Again, grateful that I had the time and the opportunity to live my life on my own terms. Grateful to be in a place where we can choose what to do and how to do it.
Before I sign off, let me add FoW has been great! It has been wonderful to have had another chance to read and connect with so many blogger friends once again, including some good friends from the previous A-Z challenge; happy to have ‘met’ so many new bloggers this time and an absolute pleasure to have read so many wonderfully inspiring posts.
Here’s to more challenges, more learning and more experiences to share in the days to come. Happy weekend everyone! Until next time 🙂
My other posts for the Festival of Words:
Day 1: A Haiku – The Day is Ending
Day 2: A 100-word story – Acceptance
Day 3: A photo post – Worth a Thousand Words
Day 4: A 100-word story – The Awakening
Day 5: A collection of quotes – My Favourite Groucho Marx Quotes
Day 6: A photo post – Skywatch Friday#18
I can imagine what it is to have too much on the plate to deal with and dealing with health issue at the same time. Pushing boundaries makes us feel stronger and gives a contenting feeling that we are not a function of our limitations (temporary or permanent) but are above them. Many a times when I commit to some responsiblity and feel like giving up mid way or even before starting and my mind starts looking for excuses to give others, I tell myself I will not be able to meet my eye if I give up and this keeps me going. I cannot let myself go down in my own eyes in any circumstances.
You’re right. Thats what I felt as well, when I fought through and went ahead with the challenge. These may be small victories in comparison but, important nonetheless to make us feel that we did the right thing. Actually, there are so many times when we fight these little battles (as mothers) in our everyday life, but I feel that only when we blog about it we give it a certain recognition and an acceptability.
Well done and well said! I’m so glad we connected through this challenge 🙂
So glad to connect with you Hema! Thanks for the appreciation 🙂
At the end of the day what matters most is a contented heart….Troubles we all face, but not each one of us is stubborn enough to defeat them…..
True, Sunaina. It is very important to know which direction we are headed for, and staying happy with our little victories.
Each of us had our own troubles to engage with during the week but the fight through the time was worth it. It was my first blogging marathon, and being for only one week long it gave me a comfortable taste of a blogging challenge without much ado. Parul’s post was inspiring indeed. The same old marriage and kids conversations from the society irks me a great deal too.
Anyhow, glad to have been a part of WriteTribe. Lots of love to the community and grateful to have participated in this challenge. 🙂
Absolutely, Darshana!I am sure everyone had a challenge of their own kind through the week and yet, we made it through those 7 days…posting/visiting blogs/commenting! Phew…what a pace it was. By the time it got over, I was happy to have a short break before I got back into my writing groove. WT is a great place to connect with so many blogger friends…been over a year for me now but it’s been good to have those prompts and challenges coming in every once in a while. Let stay in touch from now on 🙂
You are one determined lady, Esha! Hats off on pulling it off, despite your travails! I agree with what you say about societal pressures to conform to accepted norms of what should happen when! Honestly, it is not anyone’s business except the couple in question! Sania’s defiance in public was refreshing and infact the need of the hour. Glad to reconnect with you through FOW. We need to push ourselves beyond set limits at times, I guess!
Thanks Kala! Hehe…you got me there, didn’t you! So glad to reconnect through the FoW! I’ve loved your posts, every single one of them, Kala! Lets stay in touch through Write Tribe in future as well 🙂 As for Sania, you’re right. She took a very bold stand, that too in public but thats what was needed. I admire her for working extremely hard to make her way to the top after marriage all the pressures that came with it.
Thank you for the mention. It means so much. Whenever a post strikes a chord with a reader, I have this feeling that my efforts are not going in vain. Thank you soc much. Hugs!
Coming over to FoW – This was my first attempt and I am yet to write my Day 7 post. It was hard cos I had not planned anything. But I enjoyed writing on time and reading a day later. I am glad I took it up.
On Sania’s response, there is so much I can talk that it’s better I remain quiet. My day 6 was that and I know you had a chance to visit. Read this post when you get time. And I am still at the same point in life.
http://happinessandfood.com/please-dont-ask-me/
It was a pleasure Parul and I could not have not mentioned because your post actually got me thinking of so many things! I love to read all your posts because there’s always something that I can relate to in them on a very personal level! As for the posts for the FoW, well, mine was also pretty much on the spot decisions every morning and through the day except the Skywatch Friday post which I had planned in advance. I am glad so many of us are on the same page with that response from Sania. We’ll face it head on, as we always do. More power to us 🙂
Wow you are strong and yes stubborn too. If I have headache I would bury myself in the bed. I am yet to watch Sania Mirza’s reply. There are so many things to be grateful about in our lives and if we concentrate on that we would be so much happier.
Hehe…Raj, that I am, both I mean! 😀 Do watch Sania’s reply. Gratitude makes us forget the wrongs that happened in our lives, because we focus on the positives and that changes our perspective, isn’t it?