"Unsettled" and "Settled" .....

Its ironic and may be contradicting to use the words "Settled" and "Unsettled" at the same time. But that's just how best it describes by life. I see myself as both settled and unsettled. Its subjective how we use it. Yet again I am moving to a different city in a months time (Woohooo!!) and lately have started catching up with people to say "goodbyes" , "will miss you" and "see you soon's" .  Its nice to know that you have made so many new friends in yet another new city. Chennai was a new city for me 4 years ago. I came here with absolutely no preconceived notions, like a clean slate and enjoyed my time here. So the other day i had a brief conversation with an old friend regarding my move.

She - Do you like it this way?
Me - like what way?
She - Always moving around....city to city
Me - (Thinking to myself) I don't know whether I like it or not , but that's how it is for me :) and I'm happy.

I had a big smile on my face when I spoke the above lines. While driving my way back home a deluge of nostalgia struck me. I remember leaving my parents home when I was 19 years old. I hated the idea at that point of time. But like they say you got to do what you got to do. Since then I have been moving from city to city,  country to country first to study and then moved where ever my work took me. Everytime I moved, I received a mix of good and bad feed back about a place/city.  But I always kept an open mind and followed my instincts. People look at it as an unsettled life,  a single girl moving from one apartment to another etc etc. However if you ask me I feel as settled as anyone can be. It's the definition that you hold of it in your life. For me being settled is not about having a permanent address with a constant lifestyle. Being sure of what I want in life , being sure of my emotions , being sure of the goals I have set for myself is what I called being "settled".

The most cliche statement that we see on every other pavement is "change is the only constant". For some people it's the change of wardrobe,  for some it's the change of friends , for some it's the change of the decor in the house, for some its the change of problems Haha lol. I have been witnessing the change of my entire ecosystem and it wonderfully works for a person like me. I am a traveller , a dreamer and for me nothing is as exciting as the change of cities, jobs , environment,  opportunities. It gives me an adrenaline rush to think of exploring a new city and calling it home. To make new friends , to try out new cuisines,  to re build a new routine . The air of every city smells different. Every city taught me something new,  I experienced the good, bad and ugly and the best. With all the superficial changes around me , what remains settled are my emotions , my closest set of people , my ideologies of life.  It's not all rosy either, every move comes with a laundry list of challenges and some bit of fear. That in turn adds the zing of spice in life. It teaches me to be adaptable,  to be less judgemental,  to be more accepting of others , to be OK with things,  to gel with different cultures and habitat. It makes me more alive .

At the end of it , do what makes you happy. Someones definition of settled doesn't necessarily have to match with yours. What matters is what you want from life.  I have seen people who are so called "settled" in terms of marriage , home,  family,  savings , but still look so lost and unsure in life. And then there are nomads like me who have been on the move with more and more surety in life 😊. Again I ain't saying that having stay put at one place is a bad thing.  It's purely the choices we make for ourselves. A clan of people find it comforting to stay stationed at one place with the same kind of routine all their lives which is totally cool. However that doesn't define being settled is what I am getting at. And it's not like I am going to keep moving from city to city for the rest of my life. It's a phase and the moves are situational . I am accepting what life brings to me and making the most of it.

It's more about how we have evolved in the last few decades. Perhaps this thin line difference between settled and unsettled is also evolving for the betterment. Life shouldn't be caged with social dogmas and other peoples validation of your choices. It's about the surety you hold in your head about your own decisions and ways of life. You can be as settled from the outside and totally unsettled from the inside or vice versa. Do what best works for you. Don't draw boundaries around you based on the societies validation . If all the rules and societal definition worked for each and everyone of us , then nobody on this planet would have been unhappy Haha!!. Having said that, while I start packing my bags, this blog is something for you to ponder on !!😊

P.S - Below are the different cities I have lived in.

Hyderabad - Mumbai - London - Chennai - what next??