It’s been a week since we left Holland to head to Asia, literally Following our Sun. Our journey started in Bangkok, Thailand, where we had two days before we would continue to Bali, Indonesia. In Bangkok we spent our first night creating our own party while dancing under the stars in the middle of a street, not a bad start of ten weeks of exploration, research, development and learning.
At the moment we’re in Canggu, Bali, Indonesia. A beach town full of surfers on the Southern part of the Island. We’re amazed by the amount of hippy boutiques selling beach clothing and café’s with the most delicious granola & fruit yoghurt, green shakes and cappuccino’s. The town is full of it. However, the few rice fields that remain do make you feel you’re in Indonesia. Besides, if you’re not too much distracted by the beautiful design and interior of most Western restaurants and you decide to have dinner at one the Indonesian places, you find you can have the most delicious dishes for very reasonable prices. And oh, those fresh coconuts…
After a few first Skype conversations with other organizations and schools here in Asia, this Sunday we went to Ubud. Another one of the other popular towns in Bali, located up in the mountains surrounded by jungle and rice fields. One of our dear friends suggested us to join a cacao ceremony, hosted by some of her friends. The ride to Ubud would be at least an hour, and after intense bargaining with taxi drivers – which can be though in a touristy place, but still much fun! – and spending almost two hours in traffic, we arrived. The venue where the ceremony took place was a beautiful open space, made of bamboo and wood. With about hundred people, an equal amount of women and men from all ages, we sat down in a circle, surrounding a heart made from flowers. The evening that followed was a combination of meditation and yoga exercises, ecstatic dance and singing mantra’s, all of it guided by live music. Even during the moments of silence, the sounds of the forest surrounded us – crickets, frogs, the sound of the wind and the waterfall coming down – bringing a magical experience.
When the evening came to an end, everyone sat together in the circle that we created. With hand palms facing upwards to the sky and our eyes closed, we finished with some last mantra’s, being thankful to each other and the earth for this special evening. With my eyes still closed, being able to fully soak up every moment, I noticed it was mostly the women who were singing. But then, next to me, a beautiful dark voice joined in. First softly, but after a while louder, with more confidence every time. This voice came from deep within. It touched me, because I realized together we had been able to create an atmosphere in which also this young man next to me felt safe enough to let his voice being heard. We are creating our world. It’s up to us. Starting small, this is one of the moments in which we can choose to change. The beautiful thing about evenings like this, is the space that is being created for everyone to do what feels right. If you sing, you can sing. If you want to dance, you can dance. If you just want to be silent all night, that is also fine. Feeling what is right for you in the moment and doing just that. I think these are exactly the moments that are missing in our busy and quickly changing society.
With renewed energy we got up and introduced ourselves to the lovely women who lead the ceremony. Because we knew she used to be working for the Green School – one of the organizations we want to visit on this island and basically the main reason we started our journey here – we asked her about her experiences at the school. We noticed she was not immediately very enthusiastic, and she isn’t the only one in being a bit hesitant when talking about the school. Also from locals, we got the understanding that the school might be more of a ‘business’ than we thought it was. Of course, this does not necessarily says something about the curriculum or about what we could learn from them, but it did remind us of the fact that behind every organization or institution, there are humans. Every system is built up by humans. And the intention they have when starting something, might be key.
It happens to be the case that the same people that lead the ceremony, are also providing a 5-day course for facilitators who want to learn how to work with different kinds of groups. We feel this would be a great opportunity for us to learn more in this field, which will also make us better leaders. Probably, we will follow their course in the beginning of October. We are so glad we didn’t already plan our whole trip.
Our main insight so far: create space for the unexpected. If you don’t have time for things to unfold and occur, they won’t. If you do make that time, they will. And the fact that we might find inspiration in a totally different direction than we thought before we came here, is perfectly fine. It’s life. It’s why we are here.
Until the next time.
With love,
Kiym
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