Reunion in Bali- Al's gift...

Wow! How fortunate am I that I live on the complete opposite side of the world yet I am able to share it with one of my very best friends. Last week I was blissed out with one of my favorite partners in crime, Allison Damon, aka (for those who know our tight connection) Altron... She bought her tickets before I set out for the states this summer, so I wasn't too bummed when we weren't able to bond as closely as I wanted during the music festival rampage we were on.
The clock was ticking & butterflies swarmed in my stomach for weeks before she was about to arrive. I was so excited to share my life over here with someone I love, with someone from my other home.
Matt & I arrived at the airport at 12:30am & by 1:45 I was seriously starting to get worried. At about 1:15 I realized that I had not given her my phone number or address, so if anything went wrong there was no way I would know as I stood there waiting...
Finally she arrived, and as anyone would expect, I yelled from the top of my lungs "ALTRON!!!!" running over to her. Gave her the FATTEST hug & realized "wow, you just traveled serious lengths to hang with me," this is something to be noted.

It took her a bit to adjust from America time to Bali time, but I also didn't give her much time to think about it, I through her right in to the Balinese culture the next morning. After I showed her "life at Greenschool" we set off on our motorbikes for a long day filled with ceremonies, jungle trekking, & sacred water cleansing rituals. Did I mention I crashed us?? On her first day here I toppled over the bike going about 1mph, it gave us some bruising & scars to immediately smile about.. We didn't have time for any big injuries, we had a big day ahead of us. Luckily, she smiled & said "that damn gravel!" I looked at her with a big smile, while blood dripped from my knee and exclaimed "Welcome to Bali Al!"
The ceremony & water cleansing ritual was not only a unique experience for someone from the outside world, I also grew a new love & passion for this amazing culture I live amongst. At about 9:30 when our eyes were growing heavy from all the cultural immersion, dinner was to be served. We sat barefoot & cross legged in the middle of a Balinese compound & were served a delicious authentic Indonesian meal which we ate with our bare hands. This was quite a treat, for all of us.
The majority of the trip was spent hopping from beach to beach, traveling by motorbike & jumping on boats to give Al a good ol' island hopping adventure. We sipped glasses of wine, ate incredible dinners, sipped coconuts, played with our hula hoop, wrote in our journals, had great conversations, played cards, laughed, smiled, did yoga together, joked about stories of our past, the list goes on...
The best part about it all, was that we were together. It didn't really matter what we were doing, what mattered was that we were together. It made me realize how much I not only miss Allison is my life, but it also made me realize how REAL & GENUINE my relationships are here in Bali & in the states. It made me grow a whole new appreciation for the simple fact that people have impacted my life in so many ways & how grateful I am to maintain & manifest incredible people in my life. It also made me grasp how much I have changed as an individual since I have left the states & because of that my friendships are being forced to evolve in the most beautiful way possible.
On Allison's last day in Bali I had a real treat in store. Our whole adventure allowed for some serious (much needed) relaxation, but this spot was going to be the most beautiful & relaxing of all. We took her to our FAVORITE spot in Bali, far away from the beaches, in the middle of nowhere. Surrounded by rice fields & positioned perfectly at the base of Mount Agung (a large active volcano) lays quite little Sideman (pronounced seedamon). It was here that we spent our last hours together gazing at the incredible view of the most sacred mountain in Bali. The infinity pool reflected the clouds & the tip of the crater, & the outdoor living room possessed the comfiest cushions one could possibly ask for. It was here, in this place, where we reflected upon the serious bliss we encountered over the week & realized that we are three VERY fortunate human beings.
When I took Al to the airport I gave her the warmest hug I could possibly offer & thanked her for succombing to the long travels (in the end it is so worth it!). As I hugged her it was definitely not a goodbye, but an "until next time" departure. She walked away & turned around for one last glance & I hopped in the car with the biggest smile on my face coming deep from within my heart, & saying to myself "wow!I am so fortunate to have such a beautiful friend!"

Now, I wonder... Where will we meet next time???

Awaken

Life is an offering.
life is for sharing.
Life is precious.
Life is ever-changing.
And the only certainty is death.

In our daily life it is easy to become lost in our stories & our disillusionment, we forget about the real reasons we are on this planet. The real reason we were gifted with consciousness & intelligence. We succumb to our addictions & fall unworthy to our day to day trails & tribulations, most of which are mindless, numbing & distracting. But we become absorbed by them. They become the meaning of our life. They become our reason for being here.

Do you believe that some people can go through life asleep?
To be asleep is to allow life to pass you by, to not be grateful for each day & each moment, & to take this gift for granted.

Death is one thing that can wake a person up & make them recognize their purpose, make them recognize they should love unconditionally, among other things.

Do you believe a person can awaken without such an extreme?

Is your life conscious or unconscious? In your interactions are you reactive or responsive? When you think is it surface level or deep? When you love is their reservation or non-resistance?

Are you awake?

At some point it's time to wake up. And when this happens you will see life for all that it is worth. You will understand that your presence, interactions/relationships, love, & dreams are really all that matter.


Although I pride myself in living a conscious life, today I was re-awakened.
and love pours from my heart to all the ones I love,
to this planet,
to all living & nonliving.
To the depths & lengths that my small insignificant body can possibly send out.

FOCUS

Everything has happened so fast. The transition I mean. Although my summer was fruitful, pleasurable, and intimate; time flies when you're having fun, right? On our last weekend in the states we danced our butts off in the CO rocky mountains until Sunday morning then drove back down to Denver to catch a plane to Bali at 6am the next morning. We arrived two days later at midnight on Wednesday, then had to be at school (work) the next morning at 8am. It took us a few days to catch up on our sleep, come back to reality, and a weekend to make our house feel homey. Through all the rushed rampage we have slowly managed to ween out of summer mode and back into focused mode.
Through a chain of events that occurred one after another we are bursting with excitement to be back in this very different developing world.
The first weekend we were in Bali a HUGE ceremony was in line for the cremation of the Queen (A VERY BIG DEAL). We dressed in our Balinese ceremony clothes & headed to Ubud where the ceremony was being held. People had traveled from all over the island (tourists and locals) to see this big event. People were everywhere! It was my first time seeing Ubud this packed. The queens remains were put in the huge structure (you see in the picture), it took 1,000's of Balinese men to carry this immaculate casket about 1-2 kilometers down the road where they eventually burned the whole thing. This is a very rare ceremony celebration, and was definitely one worth seeing.
A few days later we were invited to John Hardy's house(founder of Greenschool) to have dinner with the rest of the new staff at the school. He always has tricks under his sleeve & this time I was thoroughly impressed with his planning. He wanted all of us to experience real-life Bali and what a better way than through food. He had banana leaves spread out on the floor and 50-70 people sat and shared an authentic Balinese meal off the floor with our hands (no utensils provided). As I sat next to the people around me having good conversation, butterflies flew through my stomach with excitement to be back in Bali.
After this Matt & I had a few of our good friends over for a house warming celebration where we feasted & projected a movie in our living room. There is nothing better than returning to good friends. The party left the house filled with an energy full of togetherness & love.
Returning to a focused life hasn't been all that bad (besides the whole waking up to an alarm clock part).
I have many goals, visions, and dreams to accomplish this next year in the Southwest Pacific, and this weekend I will be exploring all of the ways I want my consciousness to evolve.

Home

The journey "back home" thus far has been amazing! Time has grabbed me by the waist and taken me for a quick ride through it all. As I embrace each moment I still wonder how I can make them last longer. We are mid break and have had a plethora of great memories and tremendous amounts of reunions. Life is a sweet sweet fruit I must admit over here in America.
I first felt at home when I smelled those sweet dense Aspen trees in Rocky Mountain National Park, and everything since then has also hit home, I've pulled the trigger and admitted to myself that "God damn I miss this place" and "God damn I love these people." And yet, I still have so much more of this country to see, people to hug, and memories to store.
Thick family bonds & ultimate friendship connections have been the glue of this trip and have made my heart more plump & delicious. Instead of coming to America with a distaste for what's wrong I have reminisced in the sweet nothings that I may not have taken the time to be grateful for in the past. Like the barrels of hay lined up in the farm fields of Michigan, the wild flowers that frame the borders of the highways & streets, the happiness, creativity, & togetherness of the people, the pets, the cleanliness & gratitude for sacred beautiful land, and my god the GOOD beer.
Matt & I went to our first festival in MI and everything within us was sparked. Surrounded by amazing people, incredible music, ample amounts of creativity & passion, my heart was bursting at the seems. I held my heart so many times this weekend in gratitude for the space and time, and my matching grin showed that there was nowhere else on this Earth that I would have rather been.

Through our reconnections with the people we love the most, Matt & I have felt a healing inside of us that could not have happened in Asia, Africa, S. America, Europe or Antarctica.
Only right here at home.

Now we are gearing up for a road trip to the NorthWest Pacific. A place I have been dieing to explore for a loooooong time, and we still have two more music festivals to participate in. Then, at the end of all this bliss I am fortunate enough to leave to one of my other favorite places in the world. Bali ;)

Living & Loving this life I have chosen.

Exploring
Dreaming
Discovering

Embracing the Difference

For the last year of my life I have surrounded myself with something VERY different from what I was used to. I have seen my (American) culture from an outside perspective & everything in my world has changed drastically because of it. Today is the first time in a year that I will return to my home country and see it again after my inner transformation. I forgot how intense the American culture is (in its many forms), it has really been a while since I have emerged with it.
Today is the big flight travel day, we flew from Bali to Seoul (Korea), then to Tokyo (Japan), then to Seattle, and finally to Denver. It all hit me once we were in Japan, we walked to our terminal and almost simultaneously as I saw the sign for Seattle (USA) I got a HUGE wiff of McDonalds. I choked it down and walked to the desk to change our seats (Matt & I were scheduled to not sit by each other during the loooong 10hr flight). Only to be in line behind an obese pissed off Guchi wearing American woman screaming at the Japanese clerk about God knows what. I noticed her thriving off the fact that she was causing a scene as she was twisting her head like an owl to see who was watching her. I felt anxiety rush through my blood & disgrace fill my being. After this episode we moved on to another obese individual (mind you I haven't seen an overweight individual in a long time) who was struggling for each breath just from standing in place. Again, I choked this down, took a deeeeeeep breathe & said to myself "OK, here we go!"
One of my goals returning to the states is Non-judgment, I think I underestimated how difficult this task would be considering all of my mental shifts about America. I will stay strong with this and remind myself that we are all connected, and although I see & live life differently, I too could have been in their shoes in a past life.
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4 Days later....

From Rustic Bali to luxurious Denver my mind is filled with difference, indifference, beauty, and openness. Today I really felt at home and in my body as I took in a deep breath of the sweet fresh Colorado Rocky Mountain air. It was like medicine to my soul. When I am in the city I am shocked by the constant development & consumerism, but when I am here in nature I am awe-struck by the exquisite natural beauty this country possesses. There is nothing like the fresh smell of sprouting Aspen trees & pungent Juniper pine needles. We bought an annual pass to the US National Parks. I am so eager to spend the summer in some of the most geologically beautiful places in the world!
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I woke this morning reading this:
"Joy is transformative as I allow it free and fill expression through my thoughts, words, and actions. Joy fills my heart as I hold the hand of a loved one in need. Seeing past any human flaws and frailties, I behold their true essence. Our connection is life-affirming and joy-filled.

Focus:
No attachment
No Resistance
No Judgment
Accept
Enjoy
Presence
~~~~~~~~~

Be Bold
Be True
Be Kind
Be You.

My Top 10 Favorite Things I Love About Balinese Hinduism

(in no particular order)

The Karma: The people live by means of Karma. They believe their actions in this life will lead to the life & privileges in their next life. This inevitably creates people who are highly conscious in their daily interactions, resulting in a very calm, peaceful, & safe environment. I have NEVER felt at risk or in danger here in Bali.

The Temples- Bali is filled with temples, they are all sacred places of prayer & gratification to the Gods. They are immaculate, every section of the temples are intentional & beautiful. There are large temples that belong to each section of the community, all people of that community gather at this temple for their ceremonies & celebrations. The majority of Balinese people live in a compound, which means their whole family lives inside of little houses that are attached to each other. Each compound has their own temple where they visit daily for prayer (these are also beautiful).

The Offerings- Everyday they prepare offerings to the spirits. These offerings are made from natural materials, the main material is banana leaves, they use these leaves to form a little box & inside the box they fill it with flowers, incents, and some type of food (usually candy or rice). All additions are placed carefully inside the box with their own significance. The food represents their gratitude for being given the opportunity to have food in their daily lives. These offerings are placed all over temples, in front of doors, on cross roads, on the front of cars/motorbikes, etc. You have to watch your step constantly, they’re EVERYWHERE. They are the symbols of the Hindu’s gratitude & appreciation of the offerings they wish to return to their gods.

The Ceremonies/Celebrations- The ceremonies happen at least twice a week, they gather to rejoice all kinds of celebrations. The people here are extremely happy, helpful, & compassionate; I believe this has a lot to do with their persistent gathering & celebrating. This culture always has something to look forward to, something to prepare for, & something to work for. A majority of their money goes towards ceremony costs, but it is the way of their life & they are happy to spend the money on their beliefs & rituals of their religion.

The Gratefulness for EVERYTHING!- They have specific days to celebrate silence, metal, fire, rice, motors, water, etc. etc. They literally celebrate all the gifts they are given in their lifetime, because they acknowledge their potency & realize how much they affect their lives.

The Incense-Bali smells amazing because incense are lit all the time, I have never seen such large packages of incense at the store. They use them to purify the air; this is an item of one’s everyday life here.

The Music- an everyday affair, some nights I fall asleep to it & some mornings I wake to it. The best part is when I am cruising on the motorbike & pass by a Gamelan (a group of Balinese people jamming away at percussion instruments), they are always dressed up, even if they are just practicing. Sometimes there are parades marching down the streets, whenever I see this I feel like I am in the middle of some magical dreamland. These visions & auditory awakenings always make me feel smack dab in the middle of Bali.


The Outfits-The Balinese ALWAYS dress up when it is time for gatherings or ceremonies. They have very specific outfits depending on the celebration. But the typical outfit is stunning, for both men & women. The women wear sarongs, and a handmade blouse that hangs down to their thighs, with a scarf wrapped around their waist, and their hair pinned back in jewels. The men also wear sarongs, with button down shirts, and a wrap around their heads which forms a hat. Every time I see these outfits I smile because not only are they so beautiful, they are also so unique & so traditional to their own culture. The Balinese definitely have their own “style.”

The Prayer-paying respect to the Gods is a daily ritual. The song for prayer is belched out to the whole community when it is time to pray. They pray during designated times, but they also pray on their own time, especially when they give an offering or enter a temple. Their connection to the higher power is highly dedicated.

The Thick Sense of Community, Togetherness, & Wellbeing- with all the gatherings & ceremonies the people are constantly together. Their sense of community is a way of life, an expectation of the others around them.

After I go to India I know this list will change, for instance yoga will be added, but I couldn’t add it now bc I haven’t experienced the Hindus here in Bali performing yoga (mostly just the western bohemians who pass through). Anyway, my writings & ideas are always up for transformation. What an incredible cultural journey it has been to live here.. All my love & gratitude to these amazing people I have been introduced to, I have so much to learn from them.

positive. and. negative.

I wrote this a few years back, just happened to stumble upon it... It's quite intense I must admit...


It hurts my gut that we walk along the same soil...
............................................
I say fuck your confounded bombs!
Fuck the way your pride thickens your skull,
and the way your testosterone runs through your blood
so dense
that
your neck becomes broad enough to hold your heavy head.
.....................................................................
Clear visions
for the country folk are a desperate mile away when
their own hierarchy is stoned out of their minds on steroids and power.
............................................
But people like me are the enemy,
I smoke joints.
I sit in trees.
......................................................................

"GET THOSE DRUGS OFF THE STREETS!"
You scream.
....................................................................
I call your bluff
YOU hypocrite!
.....................................................................
You're more stoned than me!

********************************************


I have one exquisite weakness:
I love when I come across a good soul.
I feel it deep
like we've been anxiously reaching out
for each others encouragement.
It's these moments when my faith restores.
.....................................................................
Walk with me you mindful creature.
Dance next to me and let our spirits
explore
the beauties of life!
.....................................................................
Realize with me that being able to
See true beauty
is more powerful than any weapon.
...................................................................
Challenge me!
to think expansively
In the most gentle fashion.
......................................................................
Water my seed of wisdom
With your tears of joy and pain.
For a lifetime or
For even a moment.
....................................................................
Thank you for coming across my path
I will remember our unification.
.....................................................................

I say lets celebrate life!
The purest beauty of existence.