The Last Time the Seahawks were in the Super Bowl…

In 2006, I was living in New Delhi, India, and it just so happened that my home team, the Seattle Seahawks were in the Super Bowl. Because of the crazy time difference, I woke up at something ridiculous like 3am, to watch the game (hallelujah it was on! usually I’d only be able to watch cricket!), and nestled in to a very unusual Super Bowl party: middle of the night, with leftover Dominos pizza (yes, they have Dominoes in Delhi), all by myself. At around 5am, my flatmate came out to watch the game with me, but it was still just the two of us, though we did text a few other Americans we knew living around the country. It seemed like all the expats were watching the game, but I had a special stake in the game, being FROM Seattle (and the fact that it was our FIRST TIME EVER in the big game!).

Of course, we lost.

And I called in “sick,” from school that day. I’m sure I used it as an excuse to not go in, but still, I was millions of miles away from my friends and family and watching the game in the middle of the night, by myself, I felt so alone. And yet, I was mourning with all of the other ‘Hawks fans that day. We were robbed. And today is the day we hope for redemption.

It’s crazy how much has changed in 8 years.

I’ll be watching the Superbowl here, in Seattle, with my husband, and son, and a few acquaintances with kids (because our friends won tickets to NY to go to a Superbowl PARTAY!). Maybe I’ll order Dominoes for old times sake…

Living your own Cloud Atlas?

I took this photo of performers when I was living in Jaipur, Rajasthan India.

So, on the recommendation of a friend, last week I indulged in the 2 hour 52 minute movie, Cloud Atlas. If you’re not familiar, the basic premise of Cloud Atlas is that souls are eternal, and are born into different bodies in different times and interact with other souls. This particular movie shows quite a few love connections across the ages, with souls somehow finding and interacting with one anther…really showing the meaning of SOULmate!

The idea of reincarnation was foreign and forbidden just a few years ago, but lately, I’ve begin to wonder….what if? There are quite a few interesting reads out there in book form, or on the internet, trying to prove that reincarnation exists. In some sense, it makes practical sense, since, if we believe that souls are eternal, what are they doing before we are born, and after we die, as we (in the Christian tradition) are sitting around waiting for the final judgment and re-establishment of paradise. It seems a lot to have an eternal soul that only gets to be in an Earthly body for max 100 years (and many, for much much shorter times).

One interesting story I came across, was that of Anne Frank/Barbro Karlen. Apparently, very young children, often ‘remember’ having past lives, and in some cases, these ‘lives’ are able to be figured out to be actual people. I watched a documentary once where a kid remembered being a pilot in war, and the details added up to be a real dude. So, in this case, Barbro was a young girl born in Sweden 10 years after Anne Frank died in Bergen Belsen, the story goes on to say:

hen she was less than three years old, Barbro told her parents that her name was not Barbro, but Anne Frank. Barbro’s parents had no idea of who Anne Frank was, as the book, Anne Frank: Diary of a Young Girl, also known as The Diary of Anne Frank, had not yet been translated or published in Swedish.

I can’t imagine having this happen to me, in such a detailed and difficult way. Barbro wrote about how hard it was for her as a young girl telling people who she really was, and feeling like she was a different person (having trouble calling her parents her parents), because people didn’t seem to believe her. And then discovering, at age 10, that her diary had been published and that she was really a famous person. Mind tripping!

But…less drastic than that, are those deja vu or other experiences people have where they report, “we had an instant connection,” or, “it was like I had been there before!” Has that ever happened to you? Other people say that if you have a particularly strong affinity for a certain location in the world, or particular time periods (like WWII or ancient Egypt).

Which makes me wonder, about some of my own affinities. Like, my obsession with India, and how I would confess to my close friends, that I am “brown on the inside,” meaning, that I actually felt Indian on the inside…which is a strange thing for a white girl to say, you know? And then I had a dream where I was seeing India from my own eyes, which sparked a trip there. Other things I feel an affinity for are ancient Egypt, WWII, and indigenous people in North America (either/both PacNW or plains). But, when I listen to the rational part of my brain, I just wonder if I feel an affinity toward those places is because I learned about them in school. Also, how can by interest in mermaids be explained? Ha! I’ve also had experiences where I’ve met someone and we instantly click…could that be meeting a soul I’ve known before? Perhaps?

So, what are your thoughts on the possibility of reincarnation? Any experiences where you were like “whoa, I’ve been here before,” or instantly connect with someone where you just feel like you’ve known them before? Do share!

It’s getting HOT in here

It’s hot in Seattle.
Really hot.
Like, sweaty while blogging in underoos hot.

While the rest of the country has been willing all summer under terrible heat waves, while the PacNW has sailed through unscathed. Not this week, though. This week Seattleites have gotten their come-uppance. We are melting. Mostly melting because only 6 places have air conditioning in the whole county. And one of those places is the mall.

Heat and babies doesn’t necessarily go well together. Potamus has been cranky, waking up approximately 46 times last night and crying like he was being chased by the boogie man. Not cool at all.

But, its days like these that I being thinking about how a mere 6 years ago I was returning from life in India. Returning from a place where air conditioning was a luxury I didn’t have. Granted, I did have a moody reed swamp cooler, and floors built out of stone to keep the heat down, and rickety ceiling fans, so in some ways the technology beat what I’m working with here in Seattle. But not everyone was so lucky.

It’s so easy to forget and acclimate to the goings on around me. 6 years ago 90 degree heat wouldn’t phase me. I’d get my wool socks wet and sleep with a fan blowing on my feet. I’d get my dupatta wet and pull it up on my nearly-nude body like a soaking shroud. How quickly I forget.

Even in high school, in Eastern WA, I had an affinity toward the heat. My car had no AC and I would sometimes drive with the windows rolled up simply because it was college than having 100 degree heat blowing in on me. Band camp and sports practices outside, and putting pants on when it got below 80.

But I also remember back to my young life, in the North Seattle house, where I wore slips to bed and had a big box fan in the doorway to cool it off. Where my mom got our hair wet and put cool washcloths on our heads to soothe the best-headache.

I know there will be a day, probably in November, where I will be missing the warm sunny days. So I am trying to keep cool and not complain. But with a hot, fussy baby, its hard!