Bali : My Found Paradise
I’m sitting bare chested in the morning sun in one of my favourite spots in the world overlooking the jungle and the Wos River at Keleki up the top of the Tjampuan Ridge walk. I have just finished stage 1 of my morning trek. I’ve taken to this particular location over the past weeks as a resting spot, a spot to sit and drink black Bali Coffee and write my morning “conversation with myself”. A short respite before I push my body up heartbreak hill, which looms up about 2 km down the road.
Some people come to Bali to party, some to stay in luxury hotels, some come to eat at fancy restaurants and others come to do yoga or do a retreat.
I am here because it makes me feel grateful to be alive.
To experience a treasured moment like this with the sounds of jungle birds, insects and the flowing waters below. The challenge of pushing my body up the ridge walk each morning and the feeling that it gets easier each time.
I come because for some reason I seem to fit in here. Bali feels like home. I am constantly struck with wonder and gratitude for the beauty of nature that engulfs me. The mystical combination of sunlight and rain. It is a place where gods would be happy to wander up and down the ravines taking in the spectacular beauty of life, the magic of photosynthesis, the miracle of what happens when water falls from the sky and mingle with the fertile rich soil.
I once realised that in life one of my strongest purposes is to help nurture beauty. It was such a powerful moment that I had tears cascading out of my eyes, a bit embarrassing at the time or even to mention now but it has stuck with me.
There is something about Bali where this beauty is all embracing. Sometimes it is nature that creates it and at others it is living creatures, it doesn’t really matter. It could be visual, aural, olfactory … it could be even just a sense of security and belonging. It is gentle and powerful at the same time. The Balinese have a word, “pelan pelan” which basically means slow down, take care, chill out and enjoy what is there to be enjoyed. That’s my bastardised interpretation anyway
I like myself more when I am in Bali. I don’t watch television, I go to bed early and rise with the sun. I do long walks in the morning, sometimes 20 kms or even more, these walks become adventures of discovery, even meeting people along the way and finding new things to experience. The endorphins seem to surge through my body as I push myself up a hill with loud music blasting in my ears or at other times I feel tranquil just listening to the natural sounds all around. There is also a sense of acknowledgement, not so much with the westerners although it’s better than at home. I’m talking about what happens when you gently lower your head or gently smile at a Balinese person, no matter their station in life. They always seem to notice and pretty much always respond, a lowering of the head or maybe just the eyes, a soft smile, a friendly greeting.
Another thing that I notice is that I am overall far more compassionate towards others while I am in Bali. I actually become a more friendly, more interested, more receptive person who tends to respond to situations rather than reacting to them, there is a difference. It feels good. I become far more tolerant and I am also heaps more inquisitive. The equilibrium is there.
I come to Bali to enjoy being alive. To walk, eat healthy food, sleep well, have therapeutic massages, to have saunas and then jump into a pool of freezing water, to become more meditative and creative, to have more gratitude for every breath I take, every heartbeat that pushes the blood, nutrients and oxygen through my body into my cells.
Having said all of that, I am one of the lucky ones, some may say one of the smart ones. I have my own unique and eclectic villa which reflects Georgie and my personalities and taste. We have wonderful staff, I have far more friends than in Melbourne. I pursue my creative endeavours including music and writing and on a financial level if I am careful I can live on my pension.
The funny thing is that I first came to Bali almost 40 years ago, actually 40 years next year and didn’t realise back then that this could have been a place to live a great life, to raise my children, to create some sort of business. In retrospect I can see that I could have easily done this but alas, I didn’t.
I am here now. Bali has embraced both Georgie and myself. We fit in well both with our Balinese friends and the expats that we have so far befriended. An affluence of intelligent, interesting and creative people are there waiting to be discovered.
Overall the equatorial climate works for me, especially up high in the highlands where our villa is located. It rains more up here and is a bit less harsh as far as heat goes. My long walks, saunas, good sleep, cold plunges, massages, good food, lack of stress, mindfulness, communication and pursuit of my creative goals are all contributing to good physical health and mental clarity and quite possibly my longevity.
Being relatively healthy and happy at the age of 70 I am in the right place at the right time. I’m not going to set the world on fire, I never was but I have certain things to offer others through inspiration and even active help, good communication and practical application plus sharing the things that empirically work for me.
I have pretty much decided that my relationship with Bali will be and ongoing love affair that is mutually beneficial.
