By EK Wills
A week in Bali was an opportunity to reflect on what really matters but the noise of distraction – good and bad- drowned out any true contemplation.
The 6 hour flight out of Sydney was a captive start to a downloaded audible version of Waking Up by Sam Harris. I was trying to get some clarity for how I want to settle into post pandemic life, now I have completed my training. This was the opportunity to step out of the fishbowl to gain an outside perspective and make some decisions.
The sagely wisdom reminded me that you cannot see yourself when facing out and that mindfulness reduces anxiety as well as inflammation and social stress. I thought I could use some of all of that.
We had a luxury villa tucked into an oasis, off a bustling street near the airport. We had to keep venturing out of for sustenance, reminded of the lack of fresh air in this seaside part of town, because of the relentless traffic. I spent the first night with what I thought was the start of Bali belly and my head in a toilet.
We decided to take it easy the next day so booked a Bali body massage for an hour, where the kneading of the flesh promised relaxation. Then spent hours figuring out a safe place to eat for tender Western digestion but still tasting local cultural cuisine. The apparent opulent resorts revealed mostly reasonable prices but still smacked of the intersection of privilege with poverty.
Sam Harris reminded me that your mind will determine the quality of your life and that changing your perception of the world, reframes your experience. This is akin to the concept of the glass half empty versus the glass half full. The glass still has the same amount of water, it is just how you look at it that creates your reality. So maybe this is all providing employment for the locals that they would not have otherwise had.
We moved on to the temple guarded by forest monkeys and found them to be fierce warriors, who stole tourist phones, hats, glasses and anything not secured in bags. Our driver reminded us to not make eye contact as it is viewed as a challenge. Locals came to the rescue of hapless victims with pre-packed fruit offerings in exchange for now broken glasses. The monkeys obliged, growing fat and wise. More theft for more fruit – it was truly frightening but also reflective of the cultural concept of the security role the monkey plays.
Waking Up goes on to say that wellbeing is in the usual experience of life. Ubud is the arts centre of Bali in the mountains, and the newly introduced cars choke the narrow lanes in and through town. Stepping off the path into a temple and on to the mountain ridge affords peace and a taste of Bali before the influx. Power poles litter the picturesque path to block the view of the rice paddies. But this is less crass than the love swings, zip lines and drones over the well-publicised rice terraces.
My narrator begs me to contemplate and accept the self now while striving for change, because all attainment requires effort. At the same time, the voice talks of dualism – of another goal - which is the path itself and to experience every moment. Nothing is simple and the cost benefit of tourism in this haven also reminds me that good and bad can co-exist.
By the time we have walked more steps than we could track, we sink in to our flight home where I can finish my audible journey. It states that emotions and thoughts are transitory and do not change consciousness. Our brains act as filters in order to function in this world which can, in turn, limit our experience.
I have returned home none the wiser for how I wish to proceed. I return to the comfort of reframing, a known technique, and to consider mindfulness in moving forward. I will have to trust that the path I’m on is the one I wish to follow.
