My friends who own Paddock Expresso just posted this picture on Facebook and it got me thinking because I have a few sets of words that I would say to my younger self…
The first one was
Teach Yoga
But if I was to look back on my path and where I was 10 years ago, as a 15 year a girl enjoying highschool, friends, boyfriends and sports I would have been no where near ready or in a place where such a thought or even practicing yoga would have crossed my mind. I tried many different forms of movement, and for the most part as my friends and I often laugh about, I had a sense of disconnectedness in my body. My fingers or feet were (and to a certain extent still are) all over the place, I had a sort of lop sided grin often masked by a funny face and although I played team sports such as netball, water polo, touch football, I was never the best or most talented or even had a natural talent. I had to work hard, but I enjoyed it. The connectedness and awareness of the body that is needed for a strong and mindful yoga practice was not something in my vocabulary at that time and that’s ok because that came later.
The second two words were…
Scrap Degree
Why you say? Well my degree was fairly generic, and even though it was done in 3 years, and I specialised in one particular aspect of business I still felt upon finishing (and even during completing it) that it didn’t set me up for the real world. It did however set me up with enough knowledge on researching, perseverance, common sense and practicalities that comes in handy for life. Things like determining a business model, having an appreciation of how the world and businesses work, mindsets and decision making. In completing my degree I knew that I could take it anywhere in the world because I was lucky that it was generic enough and had taught me enough that I could change and mould my experiences and learnings to many different situations. Plus I worked with people, and that bit I enjoyed and will continue to enjoy because it’s interesting and we’re all so different that every day and every challenge has to be worked through individually. Upon reflecting on these words that came up instinctively I don’t think I would say that to myself because it prepared me for a lot and although there may come a time when I don’t have to use the business speciality I chose at the tender age of 17 I know that the generics that I learnt and the experiences I have had will stay with me and continue to prove useful on a day to day basis.
Lastly, and most importantly my third set of words that came to mind were…
Experience World
Up until the age of 18, I hadn’t left Australia. In fact I’d barely explored it. But for my 18th birthday my parents bought me my first ticket overseas, all the way to Europe to visit my beloved extended family in Italy and to spend some time exploring.
My world opened. Literally.
I never studied history in school because I didn’t understand, I didn’t respect or even know about many of the significant happenings in the history of the world and in particular even the modern history of Europe. From seeing it first hand, and hearing the incredible stories of pain and humility, power and accomplishment, I felt this yearning, to know more, to see more, to live there, to immerse myself, to be a part of my ancestral culture (through my mothers side) because all I’d known to that point in my life was the Australian side. Sometimes I think it would have been amazing to have had that experience from a younger age, but we did and I just didn’t appreciate it. My Italian family did visit, but I was too young to understand what that meant and how far they had come. I just knew that it wasn’t close enough and that their trips were only every now and then. Since then, I have been back to visit my family in Venice every second year, and I intend on continuing that trend and more.
So the words I would have said to myself, and will continue to say to myself is experience world. Because there is so much to learn, experience, do, see, be part of that I don’t think I will ever stop. There’s too much.
Posted on 10 August 2014