I think it's through this word that I found one of my favorite yoga teachers.
Favorite is such an overused word. We toss it around without any consideration whatsoever.
Derek is one of my favorite teachers nonetheless. I don't care how misused this word can be, he really deserves it.
I've never actually met him, I take his classes on-line. He calls them Transitions.
The idea behind this word -and yoga class- was appealing. Could it be an approach in which points A and B were secondary and the focus would be on the journey? the in-between? Would it give me hints and explore the answer to the million-dollar-question of how the hell do I get myself from here to there...and there and there.
I've obsessively taken pretty much all his classes and it always amazes me how he weaves not only poses but music and words, he creates a sacred space that transcends geography. I can be thousand miles away yet I'm still part of his class.
Transitions are not easy. They're not easy in a yoga class and they are not easy in life.
The thing is we are always transitioning, one way or another.
I feel like I suddenly woke up in an alternate reality. I mean...drama queen-ish speaking you know.
Yesterday I had to make the rash decision of officially transitioning my favorite shirt into...a pajama.
Favorite, I know.
Did I mention I think having favorites is limiting?
If someone asks me what my favorite ice cream flavor is I would say Chocolate, hashtag YUM.
If someone reaaaaaaaally wanted to know what my favorite flavor is I would tell them that I actually don't have a favorite anything. I don't believe in them.
How can I claim to have a favorite something if my variety of options is only a handful of limited choices.
I can say my favorite food is sushi but that is until, let's say, you try an amazing ceviche.
Ceviche is so darn good.
So then you change your mind and now you're like "Ceviche is my favorite food in the world!" and that is until you try a Vietnamese Pho.
And so on. You get the point.
Having favorites never seemed like a choice to me. I can't pick one single band to be my favorite or one writer or a friend!
How is it ok to pick a favorite song but not a son. Favorites should be banned.
But not the word though, so I can keep using it when I refer to my shirt...and Derek.
Anyways, my shirt is a very random shirt. It's a loosely fitted white t-shirt, it has a V-shape neck and it is beautiful.
I didn't realize it was my favorite shirt until I had to stop using it. It is also undergoing a transition stage where it has stopped being white and is now aiming to an either gray and/or yellow hue. It is still undecided.
I love it because it is was white, simple and very very unpretentious. It wasn't a fashion item, it was a I-look-well-with-everything-type-of-shit. I mean shirt.
It traveled with me through Southeast Asia and while I was there I did try to go to every H&M I could to search for its replacement. The search was unsuccessful BUT looking backwards I definitely see a love affair starting to unfold.
So useless bottom line is, it has been so far my favorite shirt ever. It made me think that if I had to chose one clothing item that could define me it would be that fit-for-traveling, go-well-with-everything random white t-shirt.
I'm officially letting it go, just as I am letting go a big part of my life here in El Salvador.
One of my best friends, scratch that. One of my favorite friends is moving abroad and it hit me today that this is yet another transition. Mostly for her but I can't help but feel a little -ok a lot- sad.
It's contradictory to claim not to have favorites and then having a favorite teacher, shirt and friend but you know what?...I make my own rules and hashtag YOLO.
When I was in Costa Rica I got the feeling that the word TRUST is something I'd always been looking for. Transitions are not comfortable and some people deal with them better than others. I'm on the transitionally challenged crew.
Sometimes my inner voice seems a little shy and only whispers, I needed it to scream louder so after I came back I got it tattooed on my right wrist.
I look at it every day.
Now, back to serious business. Let's all have a minute of silence as a tribute to all those favorite t-shirts that someday had to transition their way into pajamas.
P.S. Good bye my friend. You are a gift from the universe to me and I'm always able to be myself when I'm with you. I'll miss you. A lot.
PP.SS. I'm not talking about my shirt.
For Derek classes you can take them online here
