Way of Life

I have long been attracted to"3rd world" Asian cultures and there are many reasons why. One is that I like the sound of their language and music, which I find accurately represents their way of life: mysterious, spirited and chaotic. Although it may well be that I enjoy my rudimentary understanding of such even more than the thing itself.

I also value their intimate connection to the land: rice farmers tilling the paddies by hand, construction workers sifting the soil to make mud plaster, roosters caught in hand woven baskets - these are just a few of the things I view as a satisfying and fully connected to the surrounding world. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I have romantic notions about manual labor. That guy plowing his rice paddy by hand is walking knee deep in the (no doubt) leech-filled muck, which looks just about awful to me, but I guarantee that his legs are the coolest thing in the burning sun and that his feet could tell you detailed stories about that land. He, and the other Balinese around him, are 100% alive.

They are alive in their history, in their culture, they are alive in their somewhat informal day to day offerings and prayers, they are alive within the rhythm of nature. One of the things you often hear Westerners complain of in Asia is the lack of firm schedules and timetables that fail to exist for just about everything from bus to plane to appointment and even in regards to how long it will take you to walk from A to B. While I can see how someone used to artificial timetables would have a hard time in Asia, I can't for the life of me understand why we choose to live in such a way.

So what if the bus does not leave at 2 o'clock when scheduled? It leaves at 2:45, when it is good and full so that all the precious petrol they can barely afford to buy is used efficiently to carry the most number of people. So what if the music/dance/ceremony does not start at 8 o'clock as promised? They are plenty of people around to engage in lively conversation. And whether it actually takes 5 or 25 minutes to get from here to there, well that depends on how much it is gushing rain or who you happen to stop and talk to or help along the way.

The Balinese (and other peoples of the 3rd world) are creative people. They can hold things together with gum and paperclips that have absolutely no business being held together in such a way. Most of them know how all of their possession work. When they get into a smash up in their cars they don't take the vehicle to the mechanic for a fix, they find their friend and together they go about, well, something or other, until it runs again. They also have the unique skill of being able to fit an entire family on a 100cc motorbike and can either negotiate or charm the money right out of your pockets, time and time again.

Or, 3 more of my all time favorites, they hardly wear shoes, they sit on the ground and have no idea what personal space is. Considering that I teach yoga (no shoes, no seat) and like to be squished smack in the middle of a group of friends, none of this is new to me. What is new is that these traits are common to everyone here. They take their shoes off when entering a temple or a residence and when it's positively soaking wet and they are entering a business. They sit on the ground or on raised platforms whether kneeling or cross-legged for ceremonies, dinner or simple conversation and always with one person just about on top of the other. It is difficult to tell who is the mother, the father, the grandmother, the sister the brother, the friend, etc because everyone is social and affectionate with everyone else. They are all here together.

They only thing that is truly unnatural for me here is that they walk slowly, a combination of un-godly heat and flip flops, I believe, but either way it leaves me trailing behind and asking myself exactly where I am rushing off to? Is it to lunch that I must hurry to? Or, wait, to dinner? Oh, maybe I'm in a hurry to wander down the street? It doesn't matter, though, because I never come up with an answer. They only place I really need to be, I already happen to occupy.

I leave you with a quote from Nostradamus.

When you find the place where happy, vital, and healthy people live, and many old folks are in good health, then stay there.