06/05/2026
I didn’t expect a passport to feel so symbolic.
In an ashram in India, I was told to leave it at reception during my stay. A simple request. Routine, even. But my reaction was anything but.
I almost walked away.
Because for me, a passport has never just been a travel document. It’s something I’ve always kept close — especially living abroad for so many years, holding residency in one country while carrying the identity of another.
It represents security. Continuity. A sense of “I can always get back.”
So handing it over didn’t feel small. It felt like being asked to loosen my grip on something essential.
And yet, I stayed.
There was something about the moment — the journey to get there, the atmosphere of the ashram, the quiet authority of the request — that made me pause long enough to consider it differently.
So I left it.
Just for a day.
What I expected was unease, a low-level hum of worry in the background.
But instead, I felt strangely unburdened.
Lighter. Not in a dramatic, spiritual-revelation kind of way — just subtly freer, as if one invisible thread of tension had been released.
It made me realise how tightly we sometimes hold onto things without noticing. Not just objects, but the sense of control they give us.
And how different it can feel when we let go, even briefly.
Full story here:
Letting Go of My Passport in an Ashram in India
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