Bali

One of the last mornings I was staying at the Grand Hyatt Bali, I woke up early and headed down to the beach to watch the sun rise. I sat down and noticed a guy standing in the low tide with his camera and tripod. I was very curious about the shots he had captured. But the other thing that was pulling more was the intuitive knowledge that he and I were going to have some sort of exchange. It felt as if he kept looking back at me on the beach. I carried on with meditating and appreciating the sunrise. As he started to gather his equipment and head back towards the beach he veered away from me and I thought no no you're supposed to come and say hello and he redirected his position and headed straight towards me.

Our exchange was simple and fleeting I said "did you get some great shots?" We carried on for a brief moment. He was from Singapore. I mentioned I lived in Berkeley. He said San Francisco is gorgeous. I've been before when I go to Illinois to visit family. Funny I said I'm from Illinois. We introduced ourselves and wished each other safe travels and that was it.

I'm a believer in serendipity, sliding doors, fate, whatever you'd like to call it. But what I've learned when you open your heart to the world and the people on this planet, amazing life changing things can happen.

Now my interaction with Veraj was not life changing but it was proof of following your instinctive gut reaction and how by listening to your inner voice you can guide your life down the path you are supposed to take.

Don't get me wrong there have been many times where I've neglected that inner voice and found myself on the wrong path only to re-correct my direction. I take these detours as part of life and don't feel like anything happens in vain. As I've gotten older my intuitive self has gotten much stronger and being on an island like Bali only increases that energy.

Bali is a sacred spiritual land and once you get out of the hustle and bustle of Denpasar, Kuta and Nusa Dua, you can feel the energy all over the island. If you go to Bali it's imperative you get out of the touristy beachy areas to truly experience the beauty, love and spirituality of the land and people.

People come and go in our lives sometimes fleeting like Veraj and others like one of my dear friends Melissa, who I've had the pleasure of knowing since we were 10. Our friendship over the years has taken many forms, but it wasn't until we were in our late 20s that our friendship solidified into a life long friendship. It was great spending time with Melissa on Bali, we initially were supposed to leave on Thursday, but Melissa didn't want to go back to Thailand and I didn't want to go back to the states, so we both changed our flights. I really should know better now, Bali is the only country I've been to where I've extended my trip BOTH times.

It would have been such a shame if we hadn't gone with our impulse to change our flights, the experiences and people we met in those extra days have created lifetime memories.

We decided to leave Ubud and go up to Munduk, the mountainous area of the island with rice paddies, water falls and views that go on for days. We were told to go to the Banyan tree, the oldest and largest on the island. We hired motobike drivers to take us to the tree. Initially, I wasn't that impressed, but then I remembered reading somewhere to walk amongst the roots. In we went walking through the maze of the roots, touching the limbs feeling the energy radiating off the tree. Our motobike driver told us we could climb it. As a child my cousins and I would climb the trees in my grandparent's backyard and it came back naturally, though now as an adult I'm scared of heights you can fall off of, I climbed about 12 feet into the tree. I had pumas on with zero traction and I knew I needed to be careful. The rise of panic started to boil but I tamped it back down and wasn't scared, yet I knew I was going to fall. I started to make my way down and I grabbed this thick yet short nubby limb that I had used earlier to climb up. As soon as I heard the snap, I knew what it meant and down I went. I could have hit one of the many limbs, I could have landed in various positions. Aside from a scrape and a bruised bottom (which doesn't hurt) I was fine, convinced angels were watching over me.

Saturday, Melissa left for Bangkok and I headed back to Ubud. I went to see another healer and that whole experience will be told at another time, but while I was waiting to see him I was growing impatient. I had a plan for how the day was going to go I was going to be checking into my hotel by 1 (at least that was the plan in my mind) but this guy was not going along with my plans. I still had to go to the Ubud market and could tell that my arrival time to my hoteI was going to be pushed back. I took a few deep breathes, reminded myself to not be so American and just be. The day unfolded just as it was supposed to and everything that happened the last night in Bali happened exactly as it was meant to happen. And for that I am thankful.