The first time I fractured my left foot was when I was 18 and had lied about my age to get on a research gig with Dr. Vegard Iversen. Somewhere along the slopes of Ilam, before we reached Jamuna, I slipped and hurt my left foot. I didn't have the right shoes.
Dr. Iversen asked if I would cut short my trip and return to KTM to see a doctor. I said I would continue. I was an annoying teenager. Too stoic for my own good. And so I limped from village to village in Ilam, dragging a swollen foot, a crepe bandage woven around it, taking notes for the report I would eventually write.
It took several weeks after I was back in KTM for the foot to heal.
And what has happened since is, it's become my Achilles' Heel. In a very literal sense. It's the first thing to give way on difficult paths. I trip easily and end up with a swollen ankle. Oh, so often! Injured tendons and torn ligaments.
But it's nice to have things to watch and beautiful words to read. I've been reading Prawin's manuscript and it just makes me cry endlessly so taking a break from it today.
I've been watching an eclectic collection of films-- Past Lives being the one I liked most.
And mostly, I've been dreaming of things I will do before this year is over. Write my essays. Travel to China and Malaysia and to Goa. And...
And go back and sit at that desk in Sanepa to write my essays.
Happiness has to come from things I do for myself.
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