In Between Dreams

You know the place between sleep and waking when you cant tell if what you were dreaming was real or not, this morning I kept hearing screaming “GOOD MORNING JAMES!” As I came to my senses I realized that this was no dream, in all reality there were 6 little kids from our ashram calling for me at 6:30 in the morning. Anyone, who knows me, knows that I am not what you call a morning person but I couldn’t help but smile. I ran down to meet my little friends and we did morning yoga together, it mostly consisted of giggling because I am so not flexible. But in-between the smiles and laughter something clicked inside of me.

This past month I have been searching for something that seemed elusive and not real. I knew we were looking for girls to bring to an ashram, but I am not talking about that part. It was the inner reality and understanding of what we were doing that I couldn’t grasp. There were times I felt like I had a hand on it but it would slip through my fingers. This morning, what clicked for me was that this is real, it is not a dream there are 6 real girls who live in our ashram, their futures rest in our hands. The opportunity that has been given them is something they don’t fully understand at this moment. But the education and training that they will be able to receive would have been close to impossible in their previous situation.

It has been so great to be a part of their lives, there is nothing better to me than seeing the smiles on their faces. I have never experienced these emotions before, I guess this is somewhat like the feeling that a parent might feel about their child. They are all so smart and have the funniest personalities, Sarojany is not shy by any means and likes to play jokes on every one, and give a little “sass” when you are talking. Kirna is the little A.D.D child who likes to have all the attention; she is like the energizer bunny. Dolma is the oldest girl, she is very shy and reserved, she always likes to be cleaning and helping cook. Lata is the second oldest and likes to take charge, she is the leader of the group. Poonam is the quiet lovable one who is always happy and loves to draw. Shobana is the littlest, she is quiet, shy and seems to like to observe, and when you talk to her she just smiles really big. So far these are our girls, and I wouldn’t trade them for the world. I love all of them to death and hope that I can make a difference for them in some way.