A home that had been waiting for me forever, by Pico Iyer
Meditative Story
WaitWhat
4.6 • 3.2K Ratings
🗓️ 2 August 2019
⏱️ 21 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Facing a dreaded 20-hour layover after weeks away from home, Pico Iyer sees his best option is to set out and explore a city he never planned to visit in the first place. Pico's expectations, like anyone traveling to a new place for the first time, are to distract himself with new experiences and try to make sense of the world around him. What happens, though, couldn't be more unexpected. A feeling of recognition and familiarity washes over Pico as if he's been there all along. What happens next is anything but a layover.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hi there, it's Rohan. |
| 0:02.3 | For Mental Health Awareness Month, we've been highlighting different podcasts that are |
| 0:06.2 | doing incredible work in the wellness space. |
| 0:09.5 | For our last feature, we're sharing two very special books written by former meditative |
| 0:14.9 | story guests, Gretchen Rubin and Sharon Salzburg. |
| 0:19.5 | Gretchen Rubin is a number one New York Times bestselling author and her latest book, |
| 0:24.4 | Life in Five Senses. |
| 0:26.9 | It's all about how engaging with your senses can get you out of your head and into the |
| 0:32.6 | world. |
| 0:33.7 | And Sharon Salzburg's new book is another fascinating exploration into mindfulness. |
| 0:39.3 | It's called Real Life, the journey from isolation to openness and freedom. |
| 0:45.8 | You can find life in five senses and real life, the journey from isolation to openness and |
| 0:51.5 | freedom, wherever books are sold. |
| 0:59.6 | I couldn't tell you why, but I felt I knew this place. |
| 1:06.9 | I knew it better than I knew the English road on which I'd been born, better than the |
| 1:12.3 | apartment where I lived now on 20th Street. |
| 1:17.3 | It was like a home that had been waiting for me forever. |
| 1:24.3 | Thirty years ago, the travel writer, Pico Ayah, booked himself on a trip to Southeast Asia. |
| 1:35.7 | It was a trip that would transform his life in ways he couldn't have imagined. |
| 1:41.2 | Visiting foreign places will often put our senses on high alert. |
| 1:44.8 | In the story you're about to hear, Pico reveals what can happen when we wander and allow |
| 1:49.4 | the world to unfold around us. |
... |
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