Activity #1: Why are we doing this blog?
Astha and I, who have been together for an extremely long time.... two weeks or so.... have decided to start this blog. So, the natural questions are:
1 - What is going to be the content and format of the blog?
2 - Why are we doing this?
Well, the answer to question one is that we'll post a different activity each week (i.e. we'll have a quote to respond to, a random act of kindness to do, etc.) and then we'll share our responses and/or stories on the blog.
The answer to question 2 is a little more elusive... because there are many concurrent reasons for starting this blog, and because Astha and I may have differing ideas on why we're doing this blog as well. Therefore, our first responses will be about the reasons for this blog.
Hopefully, some common themes emerge and we'll go from there. =)
Question: Why are we doing this blog?
Astha:
The question why? is such a simple question, yet it really does make you think so much. I see myself wanting to participate in this blog for many reasons. To back up a little, I think a little background information in how the idea of the blog started in the first place is necessary. Raj and I first met on a 5 week immersion trip in India that I know has definitely changed my life on a daily basis since.
We went to multiple cities in India, participated in many service activities and actively engaged in discussions with the people around us to challenge our assumed notions of the world around us. Words never do the trip justice but the biggest take home message for me was to open my eyes to the world around me and not take everything for face value which is something I'm prone to do. So skip forward a few months, and I ended up in Cali for residency interviews and Raj and I got to spend an extended amount of time together. We both just felt a natural connection to each other, that taking our friendship to the next level, only seemed natural. In prior conversations we had both expressed a strong desire to be part of a relationship that pushes our boundaries to become better people.
So then in that common goal, I think the idea of this blog has come up. During Inspire (the trip that we were both on), we would pick a quote and discuss it, read an article or reflect on a activity we had done the day before. I know having that forum to openly formulate my thoughts and at the same time hear so many varying viewpoints, is one of the many reasons that the trip was so influential on my life. We both know how easy it is to fall back to the routine of daily life here in the states and this blog for me will serve as a chance to continue actively thinking and engaging in an enlightening discussion. Also, another takehome point from the trip was that I think we both agree on is that it doesn't take a trip to India to promote self-growth. It can be done anywhere and at anytime and this blog will help form that space in our separate cities. I want to be more aware here, I want to learn how various "systems" work here (ex: waste management, healthcare, water usage...all topics that made me realize how little I know about on my impact on this planet), and I want to be constantly connecting to the people around me. I think the various activities that come up in this blog will help guide my awareness to the above mentioned things.
Then another huge aspect of this blog is to get to know Raj better and grow with him as this relationship progresses. In a "relationship" I believe its so easy to fall into a trap of being comfortable and getting into a routine where you lose track of the reasons that motivated you to be together in the first place. I think we have an understanding that we want to figure out a way to look at the bigger picture in this life and figure out what our role is going to be from there. Then in turn how will we push each other to reach those goals that we've formed together. The topics and activities will serve as one of the many reminders to us on the reasons we are together and how we're going to reach a common goal together. I don't know what the range of topics will come up and if they will get into more personal aspects of what we want but I know I love hearing/reading his thoughts and the conversation that will come up in the process will make us closer. I expect to be challenged in my thinking and be exposed to different thought processes. I can't describe more specifics but for now it makes me excited that we're taking a very proactive step to push each other.
Finally, a side note, I don't kno how I feel about making this a public forum because my conditioned thinking makes me think that if personal things do come up, they should stay private but I think it will be interesting to see what happens. Based off this entry, I don't think I've been sensoring thoughts yet because its for an audience so hopefully that honesty stays.
And one more thing because we both forgot :), why half-full as the title? When I first get in the car from the airport in LA, I keep hearing Raj and his friends saying half-full, half-full. It came up whenever there was a bad situation but someone would put a positive spin on it, and then the chorus began. It was funny/entertaining to hear a bunch of guys chiming in half-full and at the same time a great way to approach life. Then we both felt that this simple phrase would be a suiting blog name. We both do have a positive outlook to life in general, mine begins initially and then becomes slightly more critical later. For Raj, its the opposite. But two half-fulls will make a full glass :) Cheesy but in all seriousness for me thats a big part of the meaning behind half-full. We will complete each other's empty glasses together and keep each other accountable to it never becoming half-empty.
Raj:
Why the blog?
Why are we doing this blog? I still find it incredible how the stars aligned… you canceling your Southern Cali interviews, the car-ride up, etc. etc… (well, stars were aligned with a bit of my conniving-ness, as well). You came out here for one week, and everything just clicked.
For me, the bottom line is… among all the other things… the main thing that draws me to you is that we share the desire to live more meaningful and conscious lives as individuals and as a couple.
And to do this… we must continue to push each other. Push each other to be more still and listen to the voice within, to think more critically, to feel more deeply, to connect with each other and humanity, to question, to search for solutions, and to have experiences that will help us grow.
To me, that’s the purpose of this BLOG. The main component isn’t the BLOG.. the main purpose is to continue to push each other and at the same time create a path for us, as a couple.
The BLOG acts as a medium for us to share these thoughts and experiences…. and kinda keep a record of our journey.
Especially with the long distance… I had the fear that we’d fall kinda into the ‘long-distance’ trap… talking everyday to ‘keep things going’… and always just waiting for the day for us ‘to be together.’ But, how about the here and now? If we’re regular with the quotes, activities, etc… then we’ll always be learning from each other and growing together. Not only that… but we’ll be sharing experiences together… without being in the same physical space. (Is this really going to work? Who knows… but even the experiment… even carving out the path… is an undertaking that we’re taking together)
Why not just personal emails back-n-forth? Well.. I like the potential of a BLOG actually being a PUBLIC venue. Gandhi, who is always an inspiration, said, “My life is my message.” Putting our lives “out there” allows others insight into us… and instead of closing ourselves off to the world, we are opening ourselves up to it. With that comes vulnerabilities… with that comes the feeling of being judged… with that comes the question of ‘how honest am I being’.. etc… but I feel like all those uncomfortable feelings are stepping-stones to something bigger.
If, in the future, we want to live a life together where we are harmoniously living with society… then that’s something we need to start NOW. The final destination will be determined by the path we take.
With that being said…. let the journey begin.
(Oh yeah. One more thing. The title of this blog - "Half-Full." Well, the first day that Astha was in California, and what ended up being the slogan of the entire week was "half-full." Astha is definitely a "half-full" type of person. But what "half-full" ALSO signifies to me is that we cannot lose sight of the fact that the glass is ALSO half-empty. The glass is not full, is not 4/5 full, is not 3/4 full... it is HALF-FULL. There is a lot more filling to be done.... unless we are happy with only "half-full." Strength, hope, faith, and confidence come from the realization that the glass is "half-full" but that should not stop us from wanting the glass to be all the way full, should not stop us from being aware of the half-empty portion, should not stop us from critically questioning why the glass is half-empty, and finally should not stop us from working towards filling the entire glass.)
Astha and I, who have been together for an extremely long time.... two weeks or so.... have decided to start this blog. So, the natural questions are:
1 - What is going to be the content and format of the blog?
2 - Why are we doing this?
Well, the answer to question one is that we'll post a different activity each week (i.e. we'll have a quote to respond to, a random act of kindness to do, etc.) and then we'll share our responses and/or stories on the blog.
The answer to question 2 is a little more elusive... because there are many concurrent reasons for starting this blog, and because Astha and I may have differing ideas on why we're doing this blog as well. Therefore, our first responses will be about the reasons for this blog.
Hopefully, some common themes emerge and we'll go from there. =)
Question: Why are we doing this blog?
Astha:
The question why? is such a simple question, yet it really does make you think so much. I see myself wanting to participate in this blog for many reasons. To back up a little, I think a little background information in how the idea of the blog started in the first place is necessary. Raj and I first met on a 5 week immersion trip in India that I know has definitely changed my life on a daily basis since.
We went to multiple cities in India, participated in many service activities and actively engaged in discussions with the people around us to challenge our assumed notions of the world around us. Words never do the trip justice but the biggest take home message for me was to open my eyes to the world around me and not take everything for face value which is something I'm prone to do. So skip forward a few months, and I ended up in Cali for residency interviews and Raj and I got to spend an extended amount of time together. We both just felt a natural connection to each other, that taking our friendship to the next level, only seemed natural. In prior conversations we had both expressed a strong desire to be part of a relationship that pushes our boundaries to become better people.So then in that common goal, I think the idea of this blog has come up. During Inspire (the trip that we were both on), we would pick a quote and discuss it, read an article or reflect on a activity we had done the day before. I know having that forum to openly formulate my thoughts and at the same time hear so many varying viewpoints, is one of the many reasons that the trip was so influential on my life. We both know how easy it is to fall back to the routine of daily life here in the states and this blog for me will serve as a chance to continue actively thinking and engaging in an enlightening discussion. Also, another takehome point from the trip was that I think we both agree on is that it doesn't take a trip to India to promote self-growth. It can be done anywhere and at anytime and this blog will help form that space in our separate cities. I want to be more aware here, I want to learn how various "systems" work here (ex: waste management, healthcare, water usage...all topics that made me realize how little I know about on my impact on this planet), and I want to be constantly connecting to the people around me. I think the various activities that come up in this blog will help guide my awareness to the above mentioned things.
Then another huge aspect of this blog is to get to know Raj better and grow with him as this relationship progresses. In a "relationship" I believe its so easy to fall into a trap of being comfortable and getting into a routine where you lose track of the reasons that motivated you to be together in the first place. I think we have an understanding that we want to figure out a way to look at the bigger picture in this life and figure out what our role is going to be from there. Then in turn how will we push each other to reach those goals that we've formed together. The topics and activities will serve as one of the many reminders to us on the reasons we are together and how we're going to reach a common goal together. I don't know what the range of topics will come up and if they will get into more personal aspects of what we want but I know I love hearing/reading his thoughts and the conversation that will come up in the process will make us closer. I expect to be challenged in my thinking and be exposed to different thought processes. I can't describe more specifics but for now it makes me excited that we're taking a very proactive step to push each other.
Finally, a side note, I don't kno how I feel about making this a public forum because my conditioned thinking makes me think that if personal things do come up, they should stay private but I think it will be interesting to see what happens. Based off this entry, I don't think I've been sensoring thoughts yet because its for an audience so hopefully that honesty stays.
And one more thing because we both forgot :), why half-full as the title? When I first get in the car from the airport in LA, I keep hearing Raj and his friends saying half-full, half-full. It came up whenever there was a bad situation but someone would put a positive spin on it, and then the chorus began. It was funny/entertaining to hear a bunch of guys chiming in half-full and at the same time a great way to approach life. Then we both felt that this simple phrase would be a suiting blog name. We both do have a positive outlook to life in general, mine begins initially and then becomes slightly more critical later. For Raj, its the opposite. But two half-fulls will make a full glass :) Cheesy but in all seriousness for me thats a big part of the meaning behind half-full. We will complete each other's empty glasses together and keep each other accountable to it never becoming half-empty.
Raj:
Why the blog?
Why are we doing this blog? I still find it incredible how the stars aligned… you canceling your Southern Cali interviews, the car-ride up, etc. etc… (well, stars were aligned with a bit of my conniving-ness, as well). You came out here for one week, and everything just clicked.
For me, the bottom line is… among all the other things… the main thing that draws me to you is that we share the desire to live more meaningful and conscious lives as individuals and as a couple.
And to do this… we must continue to push each other. Push each other to be more still and listen to the voice within, to think more critically, to feel more deeply, to connect with each other and humanity, to question, to search for solutions, and to have experiences that will help us grow.
To me, that’s the purpose of this BLOG. The main component isn’t the BLOG.. the main purpose is to continue to push each other and at the same time create a path for us, as a couple.
The BLOG acts as a medium for us to share these thoughts and experiences…. and kinda keep a record of our journey.
Especially with the long distance… I had the fear that we’d fall kinda into the ‘long-distance’ trap… talking everyday to ‘keep things going’… and always just waiting for the day for us ‘to be together.’ But, how about the here and now? If we’re regular with the quotes, activities, etc… then we’ll always be learning from each other and growing together. Not only that… but we’ll be sharing experiences together… without being in the same physical space. (Is this really going to work? Who knows… but even the experiment… even carving out the path… is an undertaking that we’re taking together)
Why not just personal emails back-n-forth? Well.. I like the potential of a BLOG actually being a PUBLIC venue. Gandhi, who is always an inspiration, said, “My life is my message.” Putting our lives “out there” allows others insight into us… and instead of closing ourselves off to the world, we are opening ourselves up to it. With that comes vulnerabilities… with that comes the feeling of being judged… with that comes the question of ‘how honest am I being’.. etc… but I feel like all those uncomfortable feelings are stepping-stones to something bigger.
If, in the future, we want to live a life together where we are harmoniously living with society… then that’s something we need to start NOW. The final destination will be determined by the path we take.
With that being said…. let the journey begin.
(Oh yeah. One more thing. The title of this blog - "Half-Full." Well, the first day that Astha was in California, and what ended up being the slogan of the entire week was "half-full." Astha is definitely a "half-full" type of person. But what "half-full" ALSO signifies to me is that we cannot lose sight of the fact that the glass is ALSO half-empty. The glass is not full, is not 4/5 full, is not 3/4 full... it is HALF-FULL. There is a lot more filling to be done.... unless we are happy with only "half-full." Strength, hope, faith, and confidence come from the realization that the glass is "half-full" but that should not stop us from wanting the glass to be all the way full, should not stop us from being aware of the half-empty portion, should not stop us from critically questioning why the glass is half-empty, and finally should not stop us from working towards filling the entire glass.)
