Bungee Jumping with Medha Shri

2011, Thailand

Have you tried bungee jumping? The one where they take you up to a great height ( here we are talking about approximately an 18 to 25 storey building height) and then you jump with a long rope attached to your feet) 

 Adventurous at heart, I very enthusiastically went up ready for a liberating experience. Especially after seeing my young son of around 11 years then, go up and jump as if it’s the easiest thing to do. He came out wide-eyed and exhilarated. “ It’s awesome, Mom” he said. 

 Slowly as I made my way up excitedly, I wasn’t prepared for the height and the overwhelming feeling that engulfed me. Standing on the edge, looking down, all tied up, I panicked. Why? Oh, why? do I always get myself into these situations? My heart raced and all my yoga practice and breathing techniques were up for a toss. The attendant kept saying ..Jump ma’am. For 5 minutes I stood there, imagining all things that could go wrong. He kept encouraging me and finally irritatingly said” Maam if you are not going to jump in the next 3 minutes, I am going to push you. I glared at him fearfully.

The kids were shouting below, “You can do it, Mom, just jump”. I then heard my husband say..”I don’t think she is going to do it “( twisted way of encouraging, but hey it worked then). That’s it! That coupled with a gentle nudge, I took the plunge. 

2022, Goa

An osdotme writing workshop which I decided to attend on sudden compulsion. That to bang in the middle of a holiday. I have been an on and off os. me reader since the time it started. Admiring posts and stories from afar, I did not give in to the voice in my head prodding me to explore this territory. And publishing wasn’t even on my radar yet. 

On the third day of the worshop, we were given an assignment where we had to write takeaways from the workshop and publish it. 

Me to myself,” ok this one should be easy. Had so many takeaways. The content was in my mind. All I needed was a good opening and I should be good to go. Let me get a little free and I should put down something worthwhile” 

On the fourth and the final day, after yet another interesting writing assignment, Medha shri inquired “ Kirti, “what about your take away”. Ah, I said..caught., “ Yes yes. I have written the beginning but the actual content I have to still to write. Will Complete and publish it later”.

“Publish it”, she said. 

For a second, I thought..ok let me get out of this. No no, it’s not complete. I haven’t written what I wanted to say. 

Doesn’t matter publish it. 

But it’s not finished yet. 

No issues. Publish it. The class won’t go ahead till you do it. We are waiting. 

Ahhh Bungee jumping again? Red faced, my hands shook, and my breath quickened. Why do I always get myself into these situations? Oh god..Swamiji let the network go. “I am not very conversant with this whole process of publishing. The images, the tag lines, the grammar, the font , spacing and all of it it will take time, and I haven’t yet written what the topic was about. What will others think”. My mind rambled on 

But all were waiting and waiting and waiting. I was like seriously..this is really happening. That feeling when suddenly the spotlight is on you and you are busy dancing in the background to your tune. Why are you so nervous? Just publish it.                                                                                         

And I took the plunge and Hit the Publish button                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

 Here are the actual takeaways, a little more refined maybe. A little rushed to publish lest the mind wants to refine it even further. 

 My 3 top takeaways for Starting your Mindful Writing Practice. 

1. Have a catchy title, subtitle, and an engaging visual. Capture and indulge the attention of the reader. Think of it as a trailer for your film. An invitation for your readers to come and explore your world. Present it with care. 
2. Writing for a 7 or an 8 on ten is perfectly fine. Even a 6 will do. We tend to be extra tough with our markings. Aiming for full marks puts added pressure on ourselves and we end up procrastinating. Striving for excellence is not necessary all the time. It helps us get over our self-sabotaging mode. 
3. Give your story a goal. It always helps you to keep the focus and structure your story better. Keep the, ” Chekhov’s Gun Principle” in mind. It comes from Anton Chekhov’s famous book writing advice: ‘If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. In other words remove everything that is not relevant to the story. However brilliant a line, if it is not relevant to the story, discard it. Keep it tight and concise with an element of surprise to engage the readers. 

An extra tip : 

Before starting to write, like any other exercise, a warm-up will help you immensely. For writing, the warm-up is called ‘The Stream of consciousness”. It is expressing yourself without any inhibitions. A play with no rules. Let all those thoughts and feelings express themselves. Once the noise is settled. You are set to go. 

Thank you Medhashri. It’s been a fun and an engaging ride . You are an amazing mentor. Loved the fun writing games. Your enthusiasm and sincerity about writing have rubbed off on me.