After a long time, I made aapam and Kerala style veg stew for dinner last night. While cooking, the aroma of the coconut oil, the roasting of whole spices and curry leaves took me to Kerala and rekindled the memories of many beautiful vacations we have had in the past few years. Kerala is our family's most favorite and default travel destination. We usually make at least one trip to some part of Kerala every year. Due to the current situation, we won't be able to travel this year and D is quite disappointed.
While making the stew, I was inhaling the aromas a few times on purpose as I just love the smell of coconut oil. Coincidentally a few days back, as I was revisiting an old blog post, I stumbled upon a travelogue from 2005 where I had written that I hated the smell of coconut oil. I couldn't believe it and I was thinking, "wow, there was a time in the past when I didn't like coconut oil! Strange!".
This is just a small example of how we evolve every day, every week and every year - our preferences change, our priorities change and our thought patterns change. People who knew me in the early 2000s might find to their surprise that I'm a different person than who I used to be. Even our beliefs and our values can also change depending on the duration of time, the environment we are exposed to and the experiences we have during this time frame. I can confidently say that 30s Anu is quite different from the 20s Anu.
Keeping track of our life through a blog or a personal journal gives us these indicators that show how much we have evolved as a person. If you are in your early 20s and reading this, I strongly encourage you to journal regularly, if not every day. When you turn these pages after years, you will be surprised (or even shocked) to notice how much you have changed.
Jot down experiences, interactions, day-to-day challenges and how you addressed them - anything about a given day. Make this a habit. Writing is a powerful tool for self-reflection. Don't fret too much about grammar and sentence formation. Just go with the flow and write freely without editing or correcting your language. Make it public if you are comfortable. Or just maintain a private journal. And yes, make sure you write down the date of the journal entry. It is fun to read what your journal entry was on Aug 18th 10 years ago!