Yes, I was in Tibet in Toulouse. What a strange confluence of factors that brought me here. I just spent a year working solo in London. This was in 2007. Between a work permit and a plane ticket home, I chose the plane ticket. I think I’m done with what I want to do in London. Home calls. That season of life is over, and a new one beckons. I want to return home and give back to it. To Singapore.

But! Before I return, I have to take some time to reflect and retreat. I was sick of the whirlwind backpacking - spending a day or two in a city, and taking the Eurail out to the next. I wanted to stay in one place, for weeks and months, and really immerse into it. I wanted to slow down in order to speed up (when I get home). I loved France, so I decided to spend a few months there before heading home. What better way than to spend it in retreat, in a meditation monastery. The funny thing is that this was a Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Toulouse. The strange juxtaposition of being in a Tibetan culture while in France is not lost on me. But I think this strangeness is precisely what’s helpful to my purpose. 

To jolt me out from stagnation and indifference of daily routines, and feel alive, feel excited about life, now and to come.

……