Back in Australia....

I've made some changes since my last blog. That's the nature of this world. Change, impermanence, transition. I am in Australia after a great 18months in Bali. Why? Well I needed to reconnect with things Australian for a while: the night sky, the beaches, the spring flowers, the wonderful libraries. And of course to see friends and family for longer than a brief visit.
Because Bali is so near to the equator you can't really see a lot of stars at night, although the beaches can be lovely they can't compare with the amazing beaches in Australia, the flowers too are more tropical generally and of course you don't get many varieties that are common in spring in Australia. Libraries are another thing that is missing in Bali to a large extent. There are few and they are limited. Bali doesn't have a reading culture so that most Balinese wouldn't read more than a newspaper and that would generally be men. There are exceptions of course but the general population do not read books.
Before I left Bali a newspaper in Australia decided to write a profile on me and when I arrived back it was published.

I have also started dating again. More of that in a later blog.... 

Amazon Kindle now has my book available for download to kindle,PC,MAC, phone

The quack of dawn

Ducks (bebek) are in the newly harvested rice paddies I see from my room in Ubud, Bali, and each morning their gentle splashing and quacking drifts into my awareness with the dawn light. The ducks are so comical as they are herded into the selected paddy with their brisk wobbly run, long necks outstretched. Some have punk topknots to distinguish them along with the white and black ones which set them apart from the usual brown.

The harvest has taken place over the past few days with birds being chased from the grain as it reached maximum ripeness before the rice was finally cut and threshed by conical hatted women. Scarecrows are gone from the field now. Moved to another soon to be harvested paddy.

Verdant fields of emerald green topped with gold have been transformed into yellow stubble and reflection filled paddies. Fringed with coconut palms with a backdrop of mountains to the west I can watch the sunset each day.

Visa for Bali and friends

In Bali there are several kinds of Indonesian visa and mine means I have to leave the country every six months. So I've just been back to Australia where I was delighted to be able to explore Perth and Freo for the first time. Just loved the diversity and originality of Freo shops and environs. The volcanic ash from South America resulted in my flight being canceled so I had more time to explore.

Now back in Bali the rice is being harvested. More about that in a later post.....

In 1998 I was in India and made a good friend while I was there. She and her partner are going to visit me soon in Bali. It's interesting what binds you in friendship and we have supported each other in good times and bad in many ways. I am in awe of her abilities. She is an example of how to change your life in a positive way. We have followed our dreams to a better life. We are not young but we are young at heart. AND we are living proof of my own personal motto - risk a little live a lot!

Even more simplicity

The process of simplifying my life continues. India was the place where I sought out a wise man to reassure me that my yearnings were not selfish fantasies. Then my travels took me to Bali, Thailand, Vietnam and back to Australia then back to Bali again before my dreams started to become a reality.

Painful and long though the whole process proved to be, it was a journey that made me face the truth about my life. To examine the philosophy of Buddhism, of great thinkers, and to really step out of my comfort zone. It resulted in a book that not only looks at the process of travel in the world but also of travel in the inner world of the mind.

What has made us the way we are? What were the years that formed us like? How did our parents live and what was different? These are some of the things that I reflected on. Have you ever thought about these things?

Depression excerpt

"Many people get depressed in their later years as they look back on lives with some regrets and sadness at their lack of skill to deal with some elements of their lives. I have a friend who is depressed in Australia at the moment. I don’t know how to help him.

The teacher is saying that depression is not sadness. It is the dwelling on sadness that is depression. This simple fact is one of the best descriptions of depression I have heard. I wonder why, when we all feel sad sometimes, and choose to dwell the sadness sometimes causing brief periods of depression, some dwell on it continuously, causing major depression. It may be a choice. I know that myself. We can choose what we think about. I think back to my brief period of depression some months ago and I know I made a choice to have a pity party. It became tedious and boring, and made me feel stupid and weak. "

 This excerpt from my book is about clarifying sadness from depression. It gave me a better understanding of minor depression although clinical depression is different.

Trust excerpt

"Trusting those close to me is important. To me it’s the foundation of a good relationship of any kind. How do you trust someone close to you when they have betrayed that trust in the most brutal way? My husband betrayed me, which lead to our separation. Now I couldn’t regain the trust I had once had in him. Oh it hadn’t been an infidelity, at least not that I knew of, but another kind of trust that he had broken.

Trust is sometimes the elephant in the room, because often we don’t completely define it for our friends, our lovers, our families, or colleagues. We sometimes assume that others know what is meant by “I trust you”.

This is the second in a series of excepts from my book. What does trust mean to you?

An excerpt

"I long for a more satisfying life, a simple way of living. My life at the moment seems too complex. There’s always something on my mind about work, my marriage, looking after our many possessions at home.

There is some comfort in the way I live now – job security, a person who cares about me, the safety of Australia. There’s something missing though – peace and simplicity.

Do you ever get a niggling sense of something missing in your life? Something that makes you think, ”What is it I want?”"

This is the first copyright excerpt to be published on my blog. I will be publishing more over the next weeks. I want to provoke your curiosity about my journey from this state of mind and the places my journey took me to - inner and outer journeys

Avdentures

The thing about adventures is they are so unpredictable. You can make plans but you can't plan the outcome.
Whenever I travel alone to places overseas I don't have much of a plan. I like to land somewhere, find a room ans see what I feel like doing the next day. After all if you've never been to a place before how do you know how you are going to respond to it?
Sometimes I would have a few places in mind to visit or someone I wanted to meet. When I arrived though it was a matter of feeling it out.
Sometimes I would know that I was in a place I wanted to explore properly and that it may take several trips and a lot of time. Bali and India were like that. Other times I would know that I just wanted to get the hell out. Saigon comes to mind.
Other adventures took me on an inner journey and although challenging were always worth the effort in order to learn from the experience and grow as a person. They humbled me in many ways too.
How have your journeys contributed to your sense of self, to your understanding of the world and your place in it?
I have found that even the most negative experience can be turned into a positive if I learned something from it.
Recently someone told me that I should spend my nest egg on travel and GET A JOB! What they failed to understand is: that writing is a job. You are self employed when you start out. It's difficult, solitary and requires perseverance, discipline, patience, persistence, skill learning and experience. And the courage to expose oneself in many ways. And to make do with no income for a long time living only on your hard won resources. That's another adventure!

Vietnam and another adventure

Hoi An is a great place to have a relaxed stay in Vietnam. I stayed there in 2009 as I had been there before and wanted to soak up more of the river town. It sits roughly in the middle of the coastal strip in Vietnam and there is a beach not far away.

Heritage listed Chinese shop houses are a special treat and I am fortunate to have a Vietnamese friend who owns one. In my book I describe the town, how we met up again and what we did. The old town is unique and there is something very special that happens there on full moon nights. Islands off the coast provide great snorkeling and diving - as do the islands off Nha Trang.

Vietnam is such a picturesque country: Halong Bay, the mountains near the Chinese border, the towns and rivers. Hanoi in the north provides interesting architecture, an Old Quarter, sophistication in dining and art, in contrast to brash Saigon. And the hill tribe people of the north with their hand embroidered clothing and fabrics are a colorful delight.

Have you been to Vietnam? From there China, Cambodia and Laos are accessible too. All wonderful places to visit.

I'm off to Italy tomorrow. Another adventure awaits.....

Thailand and temples

Thais are rapidly embracing a more westernized life in many areas of Thailand. Not just in Bangkok and other cities. However Buddhism is practised throughout Thailand. Most boys enter a monastery for a period of time. Some stay on and embrace the monastic life to live a simple life making daily alms rounds with their bowls. Villagers believe that they accumulate spiritual merit by offering food to the monks as dawn breaks and the monks eat only what they are given.

Temples are elaborate and the traditional gold and red colour makes them stand out among urban or rural landscapes. Magnificent golden spires reflect a golden light outside at the large temples. Buddha statues positioned around the grounds and inside are plastered with gold leaf. Incense and lotus buds are placed in front of them as the Thai people kneel to pray and perhaps consult a monk who blesses them.

I visited a very different kind of temple in Northern Thailand. In my book I describe it  and how it came into existence.

Love and simplicity

Love is not a simple concept is it? There are so many kinds of love: love for your children, your husband or wife, your lover, family, friends and so much more........

We say we love all kinds of people and things but what do we mean by love?

Do we mean unconditional love? Or are we attached to the person or the thing being a certain way to give our love?

If there is passion is it necessarily love?

If there is attachment to the object of our love or dependency what will it mean if that object is no longer there to fulfill our need?

Do we love our idealised version or the real thing? Do we try to make it fit with what we think it should be to enable us to love?

Can love change to something different like warm affection without diminishing or demeaning the object?

Why is it that we can love someone then not even like them later?

Have you ever asked yourself these questions? Or tried to define love? It can help to simplify love if we understand it through examination but it can be difficult and maybe confronting.......

Quotes and Instincts

All those who are adventurous,

May meet with the mysterious,

They may meet the untoward -

But they will not be bored!

Diana Deer

I wrote this last night. Throughout my book there are quotes from people as diverse as Einstein to Woody Allen. I thought I'd insert one from me. 

I've always liked quotes that remind me to be all I can be. Not to try and meet the expectations of others but to follow my own path. It may be an unconventional philosophy that I live by but at least it's mine. Developed though reading widely, listening well and following my deepest instincts. 

Often when I have rationalized away an instinct it has bee detrimental to me. So I have learned to trust my instincts about a lot of things. What about you?

India travel

India challenges you in every possible way and delights you in ways that are unexpected. Some people love it and some hate it. I love India! Its diversity of people, the aromas (and smells), the color and vibrancy, the ancient historical buildings, the Himalaya, the desert, the hills and vast waterways and the sheer energy are a delight. People are so humorous  there that I think that I've had more laughs there than anywhere else in the world so far....

Have you ever been to India? I've been there several times over the years. Each experience has been different. It's a place that teems with every strata of humanity: from those who eke out a day to day existence and may live under a piece of plastic to the obscenely and conspicuously wealthy. It's a place where you can come face to face with yourself too. That can be shocking sometime.

 I went to India at the beginning of my journey to a simple life. To seek support from a spiritual man who is a great teacher.

It was an interesting month in 2008 and one that I will always remember for a number of reasons....

Life's Questions

Let me ask you something...

What does friendship mean to you?

What about love, truth, enemies, trust, work?

These are some of the things I explore in my book. It's interesting when you try to really define what these thing we talk about all the time are for us. Just try one and you'll see.

Take truth for instance. Now there's a tricky one because at first glance it seems so straightforward. But is it? Mmmmm. What if there was a situation where if you told the truth you may harm someone?

And friendship. Friends have helped me so much and been there when I've needed them in Bali. Like these two. New friends I made in Bali who really support me. There's a lot of trust between us too. But I had to examine trust to know what I really meant by it.

Spirituality and Philosophy

Seeking a simple a way to imbue my life with spirituality on a daily basis, and a simple philosophy to abide by every day has been a trip in itself.

I wanted something to give me tools for living: practical implements of the mind. In Australia in Sydney or Byron Bay NSW, Chenrezig Buddhist Intstitute QLD, New Zealand, or in India, Thailand, Nepal, Laos, Cambodia and other places I have sought these tools to simplify my life.

Examining my life and simplifying it was a journey that involved many facets of the enquiry process in many parts of the world. Everyone has their own path to follow.....

Have you ever been through a process like that? There is so much on offer out there that it's difficult to sort it all out isn't it? Some of the most useful philosophical and spiritual teachings get entangled with cultural and traditional trappings that have nothing to do with the essence.

But what I found out during the process was that wise people and different philosophies can be accessed so that we get something that boils down to is a simple daily living plan. It took me a while to get to that. I went through some pretty complex studies and processes but it was worth the journey!

So you want simplicity!

Is simplicity something that you want more of in your life? Is there too much complexity clogging up your brain and your life? Or maybe you want to simplify just some aspects of your life?

Well here's the good news: you can simplify your life! It doesn't matter how complex things are in your life it's all about taking the first step. Simple? Maybe. Scary? Possibly. Satisfying? Definitely!

I had a very complex life just a short time ago. I felt as if there was never enough time to do everything because there was so much that needed to be done. I was tired most of the time and it wasn't just from the doing. It was from thinking about it as well, when I wasn't doing it. What a crazy life! I longed for more simplicity. Yearned for it. It wasn't until I took the first step toward change in my life that I started seeking simplicity in earnest. Instead of just dreaming about it.

So...... that's why my book is called Seeking Simplicity! Because the steps I took and the places I traveled to in the process were all about reaching for that goal.

I love the colorful cover we created and I hope you will enjoy the book when it's published soon.

Bamboo gamelan

Seeking Simplicity Book Cover

My gorgeous book cover has been designed by Robbie and me. We've finished it sitting in a restaurant in Ubud, Bali, with gamelan practice as background music.

Gamelan music is preformed by groups in temples. Metal gongs, bamboo gongs, drums and other instruments can be used. Gamelan is the music that accompanies the traditional Balinese dance featuring both male and female performers in colorful and elaborate costumes, some with masks, others as mythical beasts. Characters such as witches appear and sometimes tall puppets are mingled into the performance - as in the topeng or masked dance. Stories such as the Ramayana are told and the gamelan is the soundtrack to the story.

If you come to Ubud, Bali, go and see a performance at one of the many temples in the area or at the Ubud Palace! It's an experience that will be etched in your memory forever!

Colorful Hindu ceremonies in Bali happen nearly every day of the year!

My book is nearly ready!

This month two good friends are helping me to get my book ready to publish as an EBook. We are all in Bali where part of my story takes place......

So what's the book about? Well it's about taking some steps to change my life. Hopefully when you read it you may make changes to yours. Why? Because most of us have some dreams that are unfulfilled.

But it's scary to change things, right? It's exciting to think about change but when it comes to making the first move it's hard.

In my case I wanted to change some very big things that weren't working in my life. Is there something that you want to change in your life whether it's big or small? But you just can't seem to take the first step? That's what it was like for me too.