Here I am, straddling this balance of learning and unlearning, hoping and grieving, inhaling and exhaling; constantly locating the sacred space between these states is where I find the place called Home.

Part of this balance involves releasing old beliefs and welcoming new wisdom, gracefully allowing our perceptions of what I thought I knew before. It calls for a cleansing dissolution, a liberating purge—a release of unfulfilled expectations and self-limiting beliefs that used to define me. Like shedding old layers to reveal the beauty beneath, unlearning clears the path for growth and renewal.

My body also reminds us of this delicate balance between embracing and releasing: My hands can clench when I’m tense, or they can open to hold another. If my hands were perpetually clenched or forever outstretched, I’d be frozen in place. Another example of this balance is shown in the human body, which sheds 60 billion cells every day and produces about 330 billion cells to replenish them.

My body reminds me that my true essence lies in each delicate contraction and expansion, of death and rebirth, harmoniously balanced and coordinated, like the wings of a bird in flight.

This painting portrays a woman curled up in a fetal position, in a sea of her tears, beside another version of her sitting upright in quiet contemplation. Above them, a cosmic spiral mirrors the water droplet below. They are two versions of me, resting in the space between learning and unlearning, between grief and hope, in the sacred pause between inhalation and exhalation.

This piece is an ode to the journey of constantly returning home to myself. Henry Havelock Ellis describes this balance beautifully in saying- “All the art of living lies in a fine mingling of letting go and holding on”.

In moments where I stray or trudge on, I am called towards this sacred centre, to find the delicate balance of Being, time and time again…