I dream of the trip I make with a small bag of blissfully simple essentials; bikini, journal, guitar, and a Kindle. Alas, here I go again on a trip with bags weighing more than my body and I curse the burden with faith that my dreams are coming true. I can’t tell you how many hours I sat in coffee shops in the past eight years, producing my early songs on older laptops, fantasizing about the day when I would be working in the same program (Ableton Live), creating new songs in new places, exotic places. My most prominent daydream was hovering around me since 2018, a vision of myself sitting at a table on a porch of a treehouse in a jungle in a rainstorm, on my laptop producing music. I escaped into the music and dreamed of escaping into the world beyond the coffee shops of Seattle. Well, here we go with a music studio on my shoulders.
Thank goodness for the wonders of traditional Balinese massage. My shoulders are lovingly sacrificing themselves for this artistic trip to Asia. Why is it worth it? These days, I’m making life decisions for these people within me, my parts (Refer to “Internal Family Systems”). A part of me longs to try this music trip, a tour of sorts, and so I give it to her. She worked hard and prayed for this. Now it is possible. I will satisfy the wonder. I fulfill the promises I made to myself and in doing so space is cleared, fresh space for a new dream to play with, a new wonder to sparkle in my consciousness. I feel I am finishing something I started many years ago so I may begin anew.
My body is excited to play in the water, to understand handstands, to open the energy flow through my chakras so I may experience deeper freedom in my movements, voice and relationships. My body is excited for simplicity and simplicity is immediately available. It’s in the mind. So why are my bags so completely stuffed?
I feel the burden of a complex mind pulling down on my shoulders and I wonder with less wisdom than usual what I’ll discover on this trip. Will these toys on my back help me conjure magic? Will this trip be the opportunity for me to learn to conjure magic with less toys? I suppose my adult parts are content with a bikini, a diving mask and a Kindle. I packed these monstrously heavy bags for all these children inside me. I love them and so I carry their luggage this time. Perhaps on this trip these young parts of me will mature beautifully and discover they need less entertainment. “Less is more,” is a key lesson I’ve been teaching them since Thailand.
So what’s in the bags? Phew. It’s a music focused trip so I’ve got a new MacBook Pro (for making music videos and producing songs), Taylor GS Mini guitar, Akai MIDI Mini Play keyboard, Aston Spirit Microphone, Focusrite Scarlett 4.4 Audio Interface, GoPro and Canon 5d Mark IV, Two 4TB Lacie External Harddrives, Four Tripods (one for phone, one for GoPro, one for DSLR, one for microphone — I run all four pieces of equipment simultaneously so they all are using their own stands), Rode Wireless Go Bluetooth microphones, XLR cables, and Sony mixing headphones. That’s just most of the music equipment.
My personal stuff includes workout clothing, bikinis, a Kindle, journals, toiletries, rainbow shorts and tee-shirt for cozy moments, Jean shorts and crochet top for daily wear, baggy jumpsuit for travel, fleece hoodie for summiting to cold climates, Matcha (powder, whisk and wooden bowl powder — my special morning beverage treat), a couple figurines that hang out on my bedside table keeping me company, resistance bands and a rope-less jump rope (aka little balls I swing on a string hehe in case I can’t find a gym), Bose Speaker for dance parties, Nintendo Switch (I told you the kids packed the bags!) to continue improving my Settlers of Catan and Mario Kart skills so I’m primed for victory when I visit my Seattle competitors again and (final drum roll!) a brand new ScubaPro diving mask! Oh, and a few paint brushes and pallets knives stuffed into the creases of the bag in case my painter part decides to crash the party. Shoes: Nike running shoes, Haviana Flippy Floppies and New White Leather Birkenstocks which I’m determined to bring home absolutely dirty. Besides all that, it’s just me with my passport, ticket and money.
What will I do with all of this? Write some songs in the cafe, dive in the ocean on one breath, practice handstands on the beach, make some fun videos for you to watch, write on this blog, and meditate with the sunrise and sunset each day.
I wrote this blog post while standing in the check in and security lines at SEATAC airport. Leaving Seattle on Monday. Arriving in Bali on Wednesday. Approximately 30 hours of travel, 21 in the air. See you there!
Love & Double Rainbows,
Cha Wilde
PS: I think I forgot my AirPods, not sure where my house keys are, decided not to wear any rings this time, a large chocolate bar is in the side pocket, my eyeballs kinda feel swollen, my nose is sore from dry air, and my deodorant smells like Roses.