Visual Journal is a new series in which I document slow moments of joy, beauty, inspiration, and wisdom I come across in my everyday life in a dominantly visual format. My hope for the series is for it to serve as a visual way to share what is happening with me as well as serve as a reminder that nothing is ordinary and that the beauty of life reveals itself despite the chaos if we slow down.
I am excited to make my way back to the Visual Journal series, after taking a break through what was an overwhelming start to 2024 with a lot of changes. One such change was adding a place in the city (finally!) Getting the place has served as the ideal antidote to my rural life and the stuff I was going through in my hometown.
Though I have moved, I’m still settling-in and setting up. I also decided to keep my place (also referred to as my Fortress of Exhile or Haveli) in my hometown and so I’ve had to make quick runs back home to keep the plants living and the cobwebs away. While in the city, I have greatly appreciated treating myself to good food, company, and other conveniences that urban living offers.
As I slowly get set up, I have made my way back to work. I’m putting together the summer capsule for the year and cannot wait for the full-length mirror I have ordered to arrive. As I shuffle between the two places, I have also been working on an essay in which I compare the contrast between rural and urban living. Besides this, I am aiming to record and share a video of me performing my song “Fire” in the city (as I had when I moved back home.)
As the days have passed and the month has progressed, the apartment is slowly coming together and feeling like home. I am glad I picked the same building as the one I used to live in before returning home. Doing so has helped add a sense of familiarity in a much changed city. In many ways, it feels like I never left. Seeing a few of you has also helped tremendously to that extent and I hope to see more of you with time.
* The write-up is structured chronologically while the images below are structured in reverse chronological order*
