monkey man's devotion

making hanuman's leap

i've been thinking about monkeys lately. not the wall street ones in suits (tbh those too, hi NB), but the mythic ones – the ones who leap across oceans because they must. there's dev patel's "monkey man," charging through the underbelly of mumbai with unstoppable conviction, and then there's hanuman, the original impossible leaper, crossing seas on pure devotion. both stories keep finding me at this strange crossroads in my life.

here's what's been keeping me up at night: the difference between obsession and devotion.

obsession asks "what if you fail?" while devotion whispers "what if this is exactly where you're meant to be?"

obsession feels like clutching a dream so tight you strangle it. devotion? that's something else entirely. it's showing up day after day, not because you're obsessed with the outcome, but because you've fallen in love with the leap itself.

sometimes we are presented with false choices: security or passion, stability or meaning, golden handcuffs or wild faith.

the most transformative experiences don't come from obsessive optimization or anxious planning. they come from devoted exploration, from being willing to look ridiculous in pursuit of something you can't fully explain yet. it's like hanuman not knowing he could cross the ocean until the moment he had to – sometimes our capacity reveals itself only in the leaping.

when we devote ourselves to something greater, paths have a way of appearing. not the safe ones, not the obvious ones, but the ones that require us to become more than we are. the ones that demand both the precision of a wall street trader and the faith of a mythic monkey.

perhaps that's what genius really is: not the desperate grip of obsession, but the daily practice of devotion. showing up for your deepest truths even when certainty is calling. choosing again and again to make the impossible leap, trusting that – like hanuman, like monkey man – you'll find your way across the ocean.

..with a lil sprinkle of monkey business

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inspired by a 21-day practice of the hanuman chalisa shared with my mom