things i have indisputably done

i recently submitted my quarterly report to the watson foundation. (let me know if you're interested in reading it.) in the prompt for the report, they asked me to describe my successes. in the report, i tell them that that is not really my style. i am in the very early stages of figuring out what my personal definition of success looks like, and i suspect that i will forever be reworking that definition, so listing my successes feels artificial and braggy and weird. that being said, it got me thinking about things that i have done during my first 3 months. it often feels like i have done nothing, but there are some things that even my existential brain cannot disqualify. here are some of those things that i can think of right now.

i learned to french braid my hair. this hairstyle got really bad reviews from our cook on the farm in andhra pradesh, but i still like doing it.

i ordered food and got directions in bahasa indonesia.

i held hands with an orangutan and had a vast spectrum of feelings about it.

i baked cookies on a gas stove.

i wrote consistently.

i kept in touch with and continued to support people i love in the ways that i can from this far away.

i found community.

i hitchhiked.

i watched eat pray love and realized i just did love pray. maybe i should go to italy and do eat.

i stepped in an enormous pile of cow shit in the middle of a busy public square in mysore.

i went without wearing shoes for weeks at a time.

i learned how to make organic pesticide.

i met satish kumar (who is a fascinating man).

i rode a scooter.

i had my feet nibbled by tiny fish.

i read a couple books.

i kept myself alive.