We are happy to share this post from the newest member of our team and a dear friend, James Stillwell.

Dane Austin (left), designer Niki Serras (center), and the author (right) celebrate Holi in Udaipur, India. Photo by Nina Abbas

“What’s next?” On a 10-day spiritual journey of Northern India with 17 other North America-based designers and architects, my life-long best friend Dane Austin and I playfully said this as we gazed up at some of humanity’s most breathtaking creations… knowing that we were already exactly where we needed to be.

As I type this from my home in Annapolis, Maryland, the sun is shining, the birds are chirping, and a light breeze is blowing. It calls to mind the garden grove in front of the Taj Mahal, where the beautiful medley of birdsong became the soundtrack for a bright sunny day with a shimmering blue sky, an architectural masterpiece that looked like a painting even up close, and the scent of citrus blossoms that dotted the pathway issuing out from the cool white marble mausoleum.

Pair that with the type of bonding that can only come from hours-long tour bus rides with a new community of friends, watching the world go by between stops. Women in brightly colored saris, men in flowing kurtas, cows and feral dogs all moved freely and harmoniously through city traffic. Our fabulous hosts and tour guides Deepak Singh, Vani Sayeed, and Kuki Singh shared with us their beloved home country through wonders great and small: communing with peacocks and a tiger on safari in Ranthambore, visiting a paper factory in Jaipor and an island palace in Udaipur, and the final, climactic festival of Holi. Dancing amid a rainbow of colors and humanity, I have never felt more fully rooted in the totality of my body, celebrating it for all that it is as a tool for sensory, spiritual, and social connection.

And everywhere we went, we were greeted with a fixed and limpid gaze so palpable and poignant that it looked straight into the soul. Villagers, schoolchildren, entire families on scooters – it was easy to make and sustain eye contact with strangers and even easier to share a smile, a wave, and a loving gesture of “namaste.” So many of the most precious experiences of the trip were caught in the simplest, most evanescent of moments: giggling at dinner over a new shared joke, a glam pool-table photo session on the evening of our safari, taking quizzes about love languages and putting them into practice with fellow travelers in real time.

*The author (left), designer Drew McGukin (center), and Dane Austin (right) at the Taj Mahal. Photo by* *www.SpiritualJourneys.net*.

Despite the extraordinary context, there was, much to my pleasant surprise, an element of all these experiences that felt just as ordinary as anything that could happen back home. Certain spaces and circumstances may feel particularly conducive to connection and awe, of course, but I want to remember that eventually all of it becomes the backdrop, and the reality and potential of the present moment by and by are what prevail. After a week and a half of crossing a subcontinent by bus, at some point it all started to feel normal – like our whole lives were contained in this trip. So many temples, so many forts, so many artisans sharing with us the fullness of their hearts through their craft. Day in and day out, we each showed up with an attitude of “Yes, let’s!”

What does it mean to spend a day on the surface of this Earth? We love. We care. We connect. We relate. In India, I realized time and again that there is nothing “more,” “higher,” or “better” than this very ordinary/ extraordinary present moment. This is the counterpoint to “What’s next?” and even “Is that all there is?” Eventually our whole lives culminate in a series of moments where reality is faced, experienced, and embraced with the fullness of our being – right here, with the people and places right in front of us… if we are willing to let it all in.

Spiritual Journeys in Splendid India