Lifestylesss!

21 days!

If you Google up how long it takes to build a new habit, you’d usually end up with 21 days as your final answer.

Forget the usual ‘New Year, New Me’ nonsense, the best way to build a new you is to disappear to a new land for 3 weeks, surround yourself with the right people and gain new experiences.

A healthier lifestyle!

For starters, in Bario, I actually woke up early, excited for the day.

Pre Project WHEE!. Typically, waking up meant having to face the rest of the day, classes, responsibilities and such. Much more comfortable to stay sandwiched by my bed and comforter, off fighting dragons and unicorns in my own world.

In Bario on the other hand, we would be up early, smiley-faced, ready for a day in the paddy field! And the mornings were really great because everyone would be up, freshened up and at the breakfast table like clockwork. Morning conversations were always pretty simple though, not too much brain work required. But it was so good to start the day early with people I enjoy and with the excitement for a purposeful day.

Post Project WHEE!. Even though I do face classes and assignments with the same resentment, mornings are better waking up early and spending a good breakfast with my housemates. Conveniently, batch mate Shu, also happens to also be housemate Shu! So morning conversations are always pretty good.

Exercise, move that body!

Pre Project WHEE!. To put it simply, exercising was a ''oh hell to the no! I’m pregnant with a Spicy Chicken McDeluxe!''

Following the tepuqs to the paddy field everyday though, that is tough stuff! Especially when you try to compete with tepuqs who've been doing this all their lives. For them, its just another day, but for the Project WHEE! kids, it was one heck of a workout, especially lugging around sacks of rice. Hats off to the tepuqs man!

Post Project WHEE!. After 3 weeks of physical work, you come home with way too much energy. So these days, I swim at least 3 times a week. :p Big changes man, big changes!

Among the biggest takeaways I got from the project is to learn to just relax once in a while.

In the high paced life at home, between classes, assignments, chores, bills, part time jobs, and all the other commitments we get ourselves into, it’s really easy to just be swept away with tasks, forgetting to actually take a break every now and then.

In Bario on the other hand, life was simple. You’d enjoy the simple things like sitting around the dining table and just talking even an hour after the meals. At one point over the stay, the only thing I had on my to-do list was just to shower. There were even short spells of time when I would actually just sit, earphones in, and my mind on auto-pilot, enjoying and observing the sights, sounds and people around. Chilling on the longhouse balcony cherishing the gold paddy fields, fenced with green mountains and capped with the deep blue Bario sky.

A very typical view of Bario- Paddy, Mountain, & Sky Everywhere!

Gotta love that Bario Sky

This is a world of a difference from before, because I used to always have something on my mind all the time, every time. So for me, it was a good change to just enjoy the little things going on around me at the moment. Life just seems so much richer now.

You could say that Project WHEE! was a life changing experience for many of us. Because even though I've always perceived myself to be a well exposed person, the project gave me a good new perspective on lifestyle and being content with what you've got. 

Signing off with a 360 pic of the trail to Tepuq Ribed's paddy field: Trail to Tepuq Ribed's Paddy field

Dev Lian