Nepal Recap

Hello everyone!!! As most of you know I just came back from my BuildOn trek to Nepal. BuildOn is one of my favorite organizations as they work to break the cycle of poverty, illiteracy, and low expectations through service. This is done by building schools in developing countries. Education truly is the root of everything and I think we so often take it for granted because it’s so natural to have easy access to school in our developed world. Going to Nepal was truly one of the best experiences of my entire life. I had the best time ever, learned about the world and myself, and connected with incredible people that I will never forget. I wanted to make a post about some of the things I learned from being in a completely different environment, routine, and life. I also want to raise awareness and spread a few messages.

I already briefly mentioned this but I think we all need to be more thankful for the things we have. Not just on the surface level of material possessions and experiences, but necessities like running water and the ability to create the life you want. In our world, with enough hard work and dedication, we can make almost anything happen. We have the resources, the education, and the support. We forget that not everyone’s life is as advanced as ours is and in fact, most are not. In the village that I visited, everything that these people had was made by them. They made their houses out of clay. They each had a little bit of land for agriculture to be able to support themselves. They had farm animals so they could have things like eggs or use them for transport. They made their bed frames and didn’t have mattresses. Everything was handmade. I think this also supports the fact that we can be more creative and resourceful than we are now. When I was there, I made single use plates and bowls out of large leaves and sticks. I thought this was brilliant because not only was it a fun activity, but they can be used instead of plastic. I saw almost no plastic. Our developed world has all the advancements and technology, yet we are destroying it through our careless plastic usage.

When I was in Nepal, I was so much more conscious of my trash and waste products. There is a saying, “leave no trace” which basically means that when you leave it should look like you didn’t even come (in terms of your trash). I think we can all embody this a little better on a day-to-day. Instead of having the view that one person isn’t going to make a change, be the change and others will follow. One person is more than none. Do your part because you can and because you want to create a beautiful world. Don’t skip out on it because you think it won’t help or no one else is doing it.

Even though they had nothing, they gave everything. Throughout my entire stay there was nothing but kindness and love. The community is tight-knit. They work together and they help each other. Instead of trying to compete and decrease the light of others like many do here, they came together and allowed each others strengths to shine bright. This showed me how powerful we can be through teamwork and cheering other people on. If we all come together, be ourselves, do our part, show our strengths, and listen up… imagine the environment we could create! Be each others cheerleaders. Wish others well. Compliment them. Next time jealous thoughts come to your brain or you start to wish badly for someone, ask yourself why. Why are you doing this or feeling this? You attract the energy you give out. Our world is formed from frequencies and energy. Be the energy you seek and that energy will soon come back to you. Not only did they give through hard work and kindness, but I left Nepal with so many homemade gifts. So ornate and beautiful. I have also never seen anyone work as hard as they did when we were building the school. It was a constant flow of work. The villagers showed up and worked and worked continuously even while wearing flip flops and dresses. I was motivated by them. Be the motivation for others. Give your all to the things you take part in.

The aspect of this trip that is still crazy to me is the fact that although I could barely speak to them, by the end we all felt like family. You could never fathom the amount of kind, loving, generous people I met in four days. Each day, we rose to do sunrise yoga together, we built the school for four hours together, we did activities like fishing and weaving together, played games, danced, sung, etc. I laughed more than I have in so long. My mouth ached because I smiled so much. Speech is only one way of communication. Body language, smiles, laughs, and most of all respect. These are forms of communication that echo out. You can tell when someone appreciates your presence and appreciates you for exactly who you are.

I found that they were so quick to share. In fact, that was their first thought. They would share their houses, their possessions, their village. Anything I wanted or didn’t know I wanted, they gave me. In my everyday life I encounter so many people who can’t share for their life. They couldn’t imagine giving anything up. The villagers were so selfless and found happiness in others happiness and I think that is an incredible quality. If they thought I would enjoy something, they wanted me to have it. This also showed me how we attach ourselves to possessions and latch on to them, but take a step back. Is that thing that you are so protective over really that big of a deal? Do you really need the newest pair of lululemons? Can you start to find contentment in what you have right here right now?

When we take the emphasis off of competition and off of possessions, life becomes a lot less stressful. We start to do the things that make us happy because they make us happy. Not because we will gain popularity or status. Close off the outside voice and listen carefully to the voice right inside of you. In Nepal, I was so blissful. Before this, I seriously could not remember a time that I was not stressed about anything. There would always be something. School or work or working out or just life in general. On this trip, the world seemed to stop and let me breathe. I entered this vortex of joy and love and light. That was eye-opening for me because why, out of everything, did this trip, in which I was actually working really hard and had 12+ hour days, bring me so much peace? My answer lies within this post. It is not just one of these factors, but the culmination of all of them and more. It was nice to disconnect from my phone and my life and be present.

Lastly, I was shocked by how many photos people wanted to take of me. It was like I was a celebrity. My group was the first group of foreigners they had ever seen. They loved my white skin and my blue eyes and blonde hair, but I loved their dark skin and dark eyes and dark hair. They kept calling me beautiful and I would say the same to them. However, when I said it to them many would shake their heads as if they didn’t believe they were pretty because they didn’t look like me. Two takeaways from this. One being that we always want what we don’t have. There is something about human nature that makes us want curly hair when we have straight or to be somewhere else or someone else. Fight that devil voice whenever it comes up. Appreciate you. The other takeaway links with this one. Learn to appreciate yourself and others. We can all be beautiful in our own ways.

I love you all and I hope you will take something away from this post and bring it into your life.