Back to Basics
One of my favorite movies is the The Lunchbox (2013), which is about a woman in India who cooks meals for her neglectful husband that she sends through the lunchbox delivery system, but it gets routed to the wrong man, and they start to communicate through letters. Toward the end of the movie, the woman (Ila) says: “I read somewhere that the wrong train can lead you to the right station.” I just love the hopefulness of that sentiment. I mean who hasn’t felt like she’s like taken a wrong turn somewhere or made some mistake that seemed like there was no coming back from? I feel that way all the time, and I think about that line a lot. It helps keep me moving when I’m not sure what to do.
I turned 35 earlier this week, so now I’m officially in my mid-thirties. It honestly doesn’t feel all that different, but I’ve been thinking about what theme I want to focus my life around in this year. Last year, I focused on gratitude, and I started writing letters to people, but then I got behind and stopped, but I’ll probably continue that in this year.
This year, I want to focus on simplifying my life and getting back to basics. I want to distill my life down to only the necessary things and cut out things that are in excess. I’m still working on defining what that means for me, but it’s part cutting down on my possessions, part clearing out mental clutter, and part refocusing on things that are most important to me.
I’ve spent the past year chasing anything to distract me from grief. I’ve been hopping on trains to any destination away from my pain only to find that I can’t escape forever. I’ve been grasping at anything and everything trying to fill a void, and now I just want to focus on the things that matter most. There’s a lot of ways to be distracted, but what I want is to be fulfilled, so I’m taking stock of my life and only holding onto things that spark joy. I’ve got a lot of physical, emotional, and metal things to sift through, so wish me luck. No matter what happens this year, 35 is going to be a great year.
Kimberly
