" Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives.
Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself."
- William Martin, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents
The society we live in demands a person to think big, dream higher and above all to be extraordinary and that too at the cost of our true self.
But in the midst of everything there is always a struggle for an ordinary life: a life of our own, a life of love and relationships, a life where we live for our family, our friends and the world around us.
This is what I found out: a day in a life of an ordinary woman...
Pema Choki, a farmer in Pemagatshel lives with her husband and her son. Most of the time she is left alone with her son when her husband goes on pilgrimage.
Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness.
Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life.
Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears.
Show them how to cry when pets and people die.
Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand.
And make the ordinary come alive for them.
The extraordinary will take care of itself."
- William Martin, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents
The society we live in demands a person to think big, dream higher and above all to be extraordinary and that too at the cost of our true self.
But in the midst of everything there is always a struggle for an ordinary life: a life of our own, a life of love and relationships, a life where we live for our family, our friends and the world around us.
This is what I found out: a day in a life of an ordinary woman...
Pema Choki, a farmer in Pemagatshel lives with her husband and her son. Most of the time she is left alone with her son when her husband goes on pilgrimage.
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| As usual she begins the day by taking refuge in the almighty. All that she wishes is for a fruitful day ahead. |
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| Then she attends to household chores. |
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| Getting her only child ready for the school. |
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She then feeds her only milking cow |
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| Leading Darzom, her only milking-cow to the pasture land. |
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| She came across this monkey when she went to collect firewood from the forest. From that day on she has been looking after it with love and care. |
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| Dhendup, her beloved pet has a liking for potatoes. |
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| In order to reduce her expenditure, she cultivates vegetables such as potatoes, cabbage, chilli. In short, a little of everything. |
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| One thing that I appreciate about her is her technique of chasing birds: she has got a long rope tied to a poll near her house and the other end tied to a bunch of empty tins. All she need to do is pull the rope and then the birds would fly away due to the noise produced by the tins. |
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| Looking out for monkeys in order to save her crops from getting destroyed. If she finds one, she chases them until they vanish from her sight. |
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| At the end of the day all she is left with is: the love of her only son, a never-ending support from her neighbors and atmosphere filled with happiness. |
