A love letter to Bali

 

 For the rest of my life I will have Frangipani blossoms and scent as the simplest and most complete memory of Bali.  They fall off the tree and drift down all during the day and evening and their smell is a low sweet constant.  You tuck one behind one ear, one behind the other.  Your kids wear them as pixie hats, and spend hours swimming and collecting them to build flowery altars to the perfect day.

 

It's a place where you go and have a different experience every time.  There are the beautiful volcanic highlands, jungles full of gnarled trees and liana vines, lush rice paddies and the water canals that support them, the beaches which can be sandy or rocky cliffs, and the bright tourist shopping areas with very western food, clothing, and attitude.  On one hand, one can go for a relaxing and beautiful beach trip with all the amenities, on the other, one can head into the center of the island and find temples, monkeys, and a wild secret beauty. 

 

 

The thing that ties it all together in my mind is the beautiful mystery that is Balinese spirituality - an interesting combination of Hinduism, Buddhism, and animism.  Offerings are found everywhere, from the sidewalk to the dashboard of a car, at the cashier desk in the store to the temple.  This is the visible thread of Balinese devotion that you feel everywhere.  In Bali, the people strive for balance, good and evil, demons and gods, and they live their religion as they breathe through their daily lives.  One is moved to please the gods through music (like gamelon, an amazing percussive tonal display), dancing, and drama.  It makes for a culture that offers great beauty to the onlooker, and it is shared freely.

I will totally admit to you that this particular trip was not a pursuit of deeper spiritual enlightening.  I have also never read Eat, Pray, Love.  I went for a beautiful weekend of delightful friends and food and swimming and ease, but you can't help but observe the very real beauty of and the earthy connection to some deeper mystery.  Perhaps a connection to a life that is lived in the beauty and the danger of paradise.