Sept 23, 2022 • Ubud, Bali
Where the wind is soft and touching me all day long, this is where I choose to be. The bugs in this jungle are so loud, perhaps louder or more dominating than the roaring ocean. I’ve seen men fishing in dirty roadside streams seemingly content to catch whatever fish would surely poison my lips. Plants and the human structures are so so woven together I never long for nature or civilization comforts; they’re coexisting here in harmony.
The temples by the ocean are black lava rock. The temples in the jungle are red. I am in nature. I don’t have to go to nature. It’s all around me; more plants than cement, more bugs than humans. Human faces pass me on the street and make a deeper impression than the cars. I don’t need a car. I get my daily dose of wind rushing across my skin behind my scooter drivers. Everyone seems free to relax. I don’t see police anywhere…I’ve seen them once driving down the street with lights on. It stood out as strange. People seem healthy, happy and at peace with nature and themselves.
When I walk down the street I see prayers and meditation, humans sprinkling water on flowers and sleeping in the shade. Every interaction between humans includes a smile and a bow. I look around and I see no rush, no stress, no anger. I can hardly see any pain. I would have to look deeper to find it. The beauty and contentment is right here on the surface. I ate my first meal in Ubud at the Clear Cafe restaurant where the stairs were covered in these orange flowers, everyone including staff walked around barefoot, coi ponds swam up to the tables which were at ground level for sitting on cushions, like a tree house the wooden walkways connected different parts of the restaurant and when it rained outside it rained inside, and the staff jumped back and forth through a big hole in the wall to get between the kitchen and dining area. Easy to feel relaxed in a place like this. Take off your shoes, let your hair down, get squishy in the floor pillows and smell the flowers!
The internet is so slow it can’t be a priority. These conditions support presence and growth in my team. I must release control and ask for help. I’m forced to delegate and given the opportunity to focus on my area of expertise. What can I, and I alone, do? So my focus turns deeper into writing, painting and filming. Bali is helping my business, my life work, to relax and include more people. The first week I was here I ate these dragonfruit smoothie bowls in the restaurants every morning. Now I make them at home so I can indulge in bottomless bowls of refreshing purple yum! (To join me, Blend: banana, dragonfruit, mango, pineapple, (almond) milk + sprinkle on granola, seeds and coconut!)
I walked morning steps through the Monkey Forest. Now I sit in a coconut shop with ginger tea and tired tingling feet. I walk a lot here, flip flops on cement. I’m carrying hand-sanitizer for the first time in my life as tropical cats, fluffy and friendly, are following me around and I’m feeding monkeys corn from my palm.
The road traffic can be exhausting. Constant movement of humans is a lot to hold myself in, like trying to hold your ground in a swift river. I’d like to be somewhere quiet so I may focus and relax; a garden away from the streets where I can write without having to filter out harsh sounds. In these loud street coffee houses my work is inefficient. The buildings feel tired, broken down, decrepit. So with curiosity I’ll continue to explore Ubud, searching patiently for the hidden magic I’ve been promised. So far, it has been well hidden.
Love & Rainbows,
Cha Wilde
