A year ago today I decided to make a change. A year ago today I was living a life that had lost meaning. I would live everyday as if it was guaranteed, I would neglect things like my health, my personal time, my friends and family and would fill my down time with things that did not bare life.
As I come to the 6 week mark until I go home I realize that the toughest thing for me will be re-entry back into the the life, the society and the idea of what life appeared to be with a mindset that has been reshaped over the past year. I honestly don’t know where to begin. Life out here has certainly been different and it was definitely what I signed up for but so much more.
Life for me before was draining, mundain, purposeless and quite dead but now it’s become more about living simply and finding joy in the daily interactions I have.
Life now is awesome granted it’s not glamorous but it’s beautiful to wake up with the mind of simplicity.
Today I take less than 2 showers a week, I rarely brush my hair, I wear the same clothes for days at a time and things that I normally wouldn’t have considered a luxury certainly are now: warm showers, bottled water, clean clothes and electricity.
This has become “My Normal” and life in Tanzania looks a little like this:
It is normal to be walking down steep rocky hills in Tanzania to make house visits, to go to the nearest grocery store and feeling like a rock star when you hear kids screaming “muzungu, muzungu, how are you?”.
It’s normal to look in the bucket of water you are splashing on your body and feel like your simply rubbing the dirt around rather than cleaning it off.
It’s normal to walk outside and have more than 10 kids waiting to touch your hands and greet you early in the morning.
It’s normal to have half the village visit you when you arrive and bring you fesh fruit they’ve carried on their heads.
It’s normal to be living in a small room with 4 other girls, sleeping on the floor and thanking God for the amazing life I get to live.
It’s normal to walk miles to the “Mutatu Stop” find myself jumping into a van that already has 30 people on it and thinking “there is no way I’m going to fit” just to get internet.
It’s become normal to walk to the market to buy fresh bananas from a woman who like many here, walk miles to sell produce at the local market inorder to support her family.
As you can tell, my life has been simplified and although it has had it’s challenges it has been most rewarding because I have been given a new perspective on life. I have met people all around the world who I other wise wouldn’t have and I would have missed my opportunity to meet friends like Monica. I could go on to tell you about the life challenges she has faced but instead I will tell you that despite her challenges she lives a life with joy. Not only is she a mother of 22 children, a grandmother of 13 and a great grandmother of 6 but she continues to foster the people around her. Today she is 101 years old, her face is weathered, and she’s lost most of her teeth, hearing and eye-sight she continues to smile and live life with the idea that youth is on her side.
Life as we know it is passing us bye. Their is nothing we can do to hang on to the time we are loosing. Everyday is filled with moments where you can choose to share love, kindness, and empart a new perspective on life onto another. Do your part.
Meet Monica
