Soul trips
Megha Bajaj urges all of us to indulge in more me-time to enable spiritual metamorphosis
Every year, I take a couple of soul-o-trips. As the spelling suggests, they end up being extremely soul-fulfilling. Man is a social animal. But man is also given the ability to be alone, to close his eyes, introspect, and connect with the Divine. It is in a balance between being with people and being alone that we find that perfect harmony in life.
With advancing technology, our time with ourselves has taken a real beating. Be honest. What is the first thing you do in the morning? For 9 out of 10 people, the answer is bound to be, “Check WhatsApp or social media.” I was no exception. And yet, these days, I am training my system to believe in who I am, and that gratitude and a little appointment with God are more important than everything outside of me. So, very consciously, the first hour after I wake up, I ensure I don’t touch my mobile. (You should try it; easy as it seems, it isn’t. And yet, when you master it, what a difference it makes!) I felt that even after taking some time out with myself in city life, it wasn’t enough. I wanted to get within myself. Know what is crying. What is in bliss. What needs correction. And what needs celebration. While I am in Mumbai, I play so many roles: I am a wife, a dog mother, a daughter, a sister, a friend. But who am I when I am alone?
Getting away by myself for a few days puts me back in touch with my core. And it’s an incredible feeling. Sometimes the core tells me that I am getting something wrong and I need to correct it. And that’s okay. When feedback comes from you to you, there’s no ego. Sometimes the core simply smiles in gratitude and says, Thank you for being who you are. And it makes life feel worth it.
In my time with myself, I get a chance to relive the past. I lost my mother about five months ago, and in my recent soul-o trip, one of those afternoons, all I did was relive some of the most beautiful memories of her. Her hugging me. Her tousling my hair. Our trips together. One would think this would be painful, but I cannot describe the deep peace it gave me. It made me feel she was right there with me, sharing every moment. It was deeply nourishing!
One of those evenings, simply gazing at the sunsets, I relived all my successes. Those moments where I knew my presence had made someone’s life better. Much better. Those awards. Those projects. Those “You go, Girl” moments. And I felt so beautiful. I realised we crave validation from the outside only when we don’t invest enough time in celebrating our success. Simply loving myself, patting myself, and hugging myself in quiet pride made me feel, Wow, you have come far. And
although there is a long way to go, the journey has surely and most certainly begun.
One of those early mornings, while strolling through the gardens, I was just overwhelmed with gratitude. I went down on my knees and thanked life for my relationships and each person for adding what they did.
There were moments of sudden insights—and also a revelation, of a correction I needed to bring to feel like my healthier version.
So much happens on these soul-o trips. Every moment seems laden with meaning. It somehow cleans me up of what needs cleaning. It charges me about who I am becoming and what I need to do. And it makes me recognise how inherently important I am to myself.
And everything outside of me comes later. First, it’s me.
I urge each one of you to go on these soul-o trips. Allow yourself to talk to yourself. Allow yourself to reveal yourself to yourself. I can promise you, you will return lighter, happier, and more ‘You!’ But first, begin with that morning with yourself. Tell me what it does for you!
Megha Bajaj is a bestselling author,
film script writer and poet.
An ardent seeker at heart, she also
runs her online writing and healing
workshops called WoW. You can
read more about her on www.
MeghaBajajWoW.com.
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