Every new thing speaks excitement, thrill, the unknown, a new beginning, a nouveau challenge, like a new taste your tongue encounters and you don’t quite know whether you like it or not but you’re still taking tiny licks of it because the pull of discovering something novel that you might possibly like is irresistible!

I remember my two month old Labrador pup going for her first walk in the big bad world. The tiny thing had a frown on her face and was half walking and hesitantly sniffing around her and then taking a short little excited run before realising she was on unfamiliar territory, freezing once again for a few seconds to look at me for reassurance afore exploring afresh. I remember her yelping in excitement and hopping around and being scared of black ants. I remember her not wanting to be more than two feet away from me always making sure I was right there as a safety net to protect her from this weird world which was brown, green and full of insects. I also remember her randomly running a little far from me and then suddenly realising I wasn’t with her, turning and sprinting towards me with her ears flopping as fast as her short fat legs would carry her! Awwww

I have always loved the ‘new’ in life. Naah not clothes or the usual temporary high that shopping brings, but the unfamiliar in daily living. A slight change in schedule every day, a walk back home via a new route once in a while, a random walk in the neighbourhood discovering a new park or library or grocery store, an impromptu weekend getaway, a fresh sport, language, cuisine, culture, colour, new job, new friends, talking to strangers on the tube, on the street, at a party, exploring a new city, town, locality, settling into a home.

It’s almost dewy. Sigh. Change makes you unbelievably happy! There are so many different things in life, so many choices, so many variations and to never experience more than one variation in any one category is simply…sad. Only true love and loyalty don’t change, for everything else nature’s laws apply!

I moved rooms on Saturday. From the first floor to the second floor and boy it was some move! There was scrubbing, cleaning, mopping, dusting and wiping to do. From the doors and windows to the muddy wooden floors. And then there was packing to do on the 1st floor and unpacking to do on the 2nd. Up and down the stairs I went carrying clothes and books and bedding and more clothes and cosmetics and miscellaneous odds and ends. Gosh! I had no clue that I’d collected so much essential junk! Yes essential! It’s amazing how you could do without certain things when you don’t have them and then suddenly when you have them you simply can’t do without them. And then came the painful part. Dismantling furniture like removing draws from cupboards and racks from chests and carrying them up one by one. My new housemate, Tosh was God sent! I said it’s too heavy and she said ‘tosh!’ So we carried everything up and co-ordinated on the stairs and managed so well stumbling only once or twice (no fatal falls, don’t worry) and damn felt so powerful! I even put together my first DIY shoe rack yesterday…felt like an engineer!

For all the cribbing and back breaking activity, it was amazing. The anticipation of what all that work would lead up to was simply thrilling! I have always found roughing it exciting because of the ‘newness’ of it as well. I remember kids complaining about travelling by DTC busses every day in Delhi, but for some reason I found the journey a novelty all the time for things you get to see, do and hear!

My room’s all done up now and for a change after a long time feels like home. I even became a domesticated homemaker; made the effort of putting a make-believe divan, bought a rug, cooked a warm meal and had coffee. I haven’t had coffee or tea at home since my Uni days.

It felt good…the change, the novelty of setting things up in a new space, the entire idea of starting a new way of life. It’s amazing how shifting homes helps you come up with a whole new bunch of completely achievable resolutions. I resolve to keep my room clean and look as pleasing all 7 days a week, I resolve to iron my clothes and look hot every day (:P) no matter how time consuming it is, I resolve to read something new, interesting and current every day, I resolve to eat right and I resolve to use my new rug to practice yoga a few times a week.

For now, I’m just going to lie on my cosy bed and stare out of the skylight window and dream a new little dream…