It is the end of March and the last week of daylight saving. The days have already become shorter and I now leave home in the dark and it is almost dark when I am coming back home.
March is what I have started calling the month of “Women’s Day”. It is the month when everyone starts remembering that women need to be empowered and they play an important part in the society. I am being sarcastic but it pains me to see how gimmicky the day has become with everyone capitalising on the rhetoric that they want to sell.
I stopped attending the so called lunches and meets ages ago and the only one I now attend is the one organised by Saree Club. I know I would be subjected to some meaningful discussions. This time it was an intimate affair, with 45 ladies, where we learnt about financial wellbeing for women, decluttering and then had a saree draping session by one of our own members. Games with a twist and delicious food made up for an amazing afternoon and time well spent. I felt relaxed and rejuvenated, which most women don’t get to do very often. Best kinda Women’s Day celebration.
I was able to regularise my morning walks in March. It has had such a positive impact on my health and well being. Starting my day with a walk, listening to a wonderful podcast, sets me up for the day. This month, I listened to 3 wonderful people on my favourite podcast – Feel Better, Live More.
The first one was with Yung Pueblo, who talked about the ingredients to have thriving relationships. He talked about the impact of meditation on relationships and how it helps us communicate better. The thing that stood out for me was the impact of honesty and authenticity on relationships. When you are true to yourself and project that to the world, there is no performance and that leads to better relationships. I live my life like that, so that really resonated with me.
The second one was conversation with Oliver Burkeman who spoke about the finite time we have on this earth and how to maximise it. My key takeaway was that we not only need to say no to things that don’t add value, we also have to be mindful and picky about things that we say yes to coz we won’t be able to do everything even if we want to. It is such a simple and powerful statement, and one that I will apply more and more.
The last one was with Mel Robbins, author of the best selling book “Let Tbem Theory”. She spoke about some powerful tips on how to get control over your life, most of which was based on her own experiences. The key takeaway for me was the power that we create, not only for ourselves, but for others by giving up people pleasing. She also challenged the whole concept of failure and how the fear of failure was more about people’s opinions rather than failure itself. I thoroughly enjoyed the talk.
The last weekend in March, we went to Avalon Airshow, an event that is held every 2 years. We went in 2023 and had so much fun that we decided to make it a regular affair. It turned out to be a dampener this time. A large part of that was due to an accident at the Friday show. The pilot and his companion thankfully were saved, but the flying was culled the next day.
I had no qualms about that part as safety first always. But the sheer number of tickets sold meant that the place was packed. They charged money for parking, which was free last time, under the garb that it was limited. But there were hardly any limitations. You had to park a few kms away and walk to the gate. The toilet and other facilities were stretched due to the numbers and I had concerns around the crowd management in case of any issue. There were little kids and every empty space was full, meaning no one could get in or get out. Gross greed was in full display.
We made the most of the trip. As a family, we love driving holidays and the road trip was tiring but fab as my husband and I got plenty of time to chat about anything and everything, something that gets missed when you are at home busy with keeping a home.
Here is a snapshot of our March in pics. Looking fwd to April when my parents will be here!