I am writing to you from Bali, which feels like a tropical magical theme park most of the time. Days are feminine, warm, restful, colorful and slow movements and fresh food and new friends. Scroll down to read the captions - they're numbered and they relate to the images left to right, top to bottom.
1) I'm one song away from the water. I walk out my front door and smile at the sea. As I sit on my scooter, I click “play” on my favorite song, drive down the hill in the warm breeze, and before the song ends, my feet are sliding inside my pink fins.
2) I bask in feminine moments. On my visit to Gili Air, I purchased a thick grey blanky to keep me comfy. My spirit was wearing thinner than the hotel bedsheets of Indonesia. I NEEDED a comfort blanket, literally. Now, wherever I go, I lounge on my bed and spread out my journals, books, wooden bowl and spoon and listen to Indian flute music. I light a coffee scented candle and voila…cozy vibes. I shut the curtains to block out bright tropical sun and for a moment, I'm back home in the PNW rainy winter. There's a charm to the darkness that I create for myself on what I call “spiritual rainy days”. Once my cocoon moments are complete, I skip out into the sunshine again refreshed.
3) I eat dinner in this enchanted garden almost every night. I would believe you if you told me fairies lived in these bushes. Most days I'm eating quinoa or lentil salads with olive oil dressings, roasted veggies, sweet potato fries, sunny side up eggs and drinking from fresh coconuts. I could eat sweet potato fries with every meal. It's a precious treat to be able to eat at a restaurant every night. There a handful to choose from in town and for months I've been making my rounds. Lately though, I've been coming here because it's next to the gym and it has the most magic.
4) I wake up for the sunrise…never want to miss it. Sometimes my eyes pop open at 4am and I drink cacao and write in my journal, waiting and waiting for the first light. The sky turns purple then red…then it glows bright and then wait for it……the orange red neon ball emerges slow and steady. This is the sacred moment to start everyday. I cherish it and try to wrap my mind around the fact that it's actually a sun out there…a big ball of fire that never moved…I'm the one who spun around on this rock. What?!
5) I've been painting a new series of paintings inspired by the sunrises I watch from my porch. I'm still creating in the style of abstract expressionism so none of them look realistic and all of them have totally different feelings…even though the actual sunrise is essentially the exact same colors….hot neon fire red. I let the paint flow wildly without overthinking it. Every painting is created with a live audience online. If you'd like to join the livestreams, you can become a studio member. Heads up, I paint naked and speak openly about whatever is on my mind.
6) I'm living my dream of producing music on exotic clifftops. I have at least a dozen songs in the pipeline. I'm honing my craft as a songwriter and producer; focusing extra attention on the way I'm placing lyrics together so the words fall in line with the music and bounce with the percussion. I'm practice cutting away space in the music so there are these suspenseful pauses that release into fun dance moments. My mantra right now to inspire my work is… “I make music for women who want to dance around happy and play in their imaginations….guys can like it too."
7) I've fallen in love with black sand. This week I shared a peanut butter picnic and stargazed with a new friend. When we left the beach, I turned on my flashlight and the black sand sparkled. There were stars in the sky and stars on the earth. I didn't realize until now that the black sand sparkled and it's magnetic (so it sticks to my Airpods and Kindle cases).
8) I'm upside down when I watch the sunset. Around 5 everyday I ride the scooter to the outdoor jungle gym. I'm in good company with athletes, acrobats and yogis. We stretch, hang, balance on our hands, and pause our workouts to stare out at the sunset lighting up the sky behind the volcano and thoughts soften as we gaze to the horizon of the Bali Sea. Fresh breeze blows through the gym and the flowers bounce up and down as I'm jumping rope. This is the most peaceful nourishing space I've ever worked out in. It's a sacred part of the day for me now. I look forward to sweating beside these people for a couple hours each night. We have a yogi from India, a calestenics dude from Italy, a lifting coach from Germany, a swimmer from somewhere in South America. Despite the fact we're all from different countries, our bodies are the same species, we've all trained for lifetimes, and we share our tips with each other. It's nourishing my soul to move beside them each day.
9) The book…oh the book. I'm swimming (drowning?) in words. I've written so many threads of words and now they're tangled in the most complex puzzle I've ever attempted to solve. All projects ebb and flow. I'm taking a breather and enjoying some summer time play in the paintings and music. Enough of this novelista game…my writer parts are enjoying a break. I'm re-reading my older journals for insight and beautiful writing that slipped through onto the pages. I call this ‘harvesting the journals'.
Love & Rainbows, CHA in the WILDE