Musings in Bali - I Love My Life!

By Sterling Nelson

I am Sterling, and I want to share my truly unforgettable life with you. Just imagine you are sitting here with me in Ubud, Bali as you read my book!

Living in Bali has been a life enhancing experience. I thrive in its simpler - and I would say - purer lifestyle. No car, no insurance, no oven, no need for heat or AC. A large gecko lives in the rattan rafters on my ceiling. I use berries for makeup and leaves for medicine. My flip flops are ever so comfortable.

The unique energy and culture in Bali offer nourishment for my soul. Since I have lived here, poetry and writings have been literally pouring onto the paper. That’s how I came to write Musings in Bali: I Love My Life.

The book has two parts. The first humorously shares my experiences as an expat getting acquainted with and settled in Bali. In part 2, I give you a deeper look at the lives and culture of the lovely Balinese people. Among the chapters are interspersed some of my favorite poems that I’ve written about Bali. You will enjoy the amazing photos I’ve include with every chapter, so you can marvel in the culture as I do.

My village of Ubud is listed by important travel publications as 9th on the list of the world’s top 15 cities. Visitors relish the sights, landmarks, culture, cuisine, friendliness, shopping and overall value. But, there are much deeper traditions, amazing art and remarkable individuals that are not open to the casual tourist eye. I can hardly wait to share some of my insights with you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Aug 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781543910360

Book preview

Zulauf

PART ONE – My Musings: I love my life

Miros Garden Restaurant. Photo by Sterling

If you are looking for inspiration, relaxation and renewal, Bali is where you want to be. I live in the village of Ubud, which offers me a peaceful culture where I have found profound renewal, and a community of genuinely loving people who give me space to be truly myself.

I took this photo in Miros Garden Restaurant. Set in a traditional family compound on land that has belonged to the same family for centuries, Miros provides a chance to feel that sense of peace that is all too rare in our busy, day-to-day lives. Sterling

Poem on the Way to Bali

I am trapped in the belly of a metal bird.

God has painted the blurry, dying sky the colors of peach and azure.

Tonight, do not waste your art on me!

I need to scream, deeply, horribly,

as rocks have been damned up in my throat

for ‘God only knows how long.’

There is a fairy tale called the ‘Year of the Spring’,

where a black, electric storm arrives and

kicks the rocks loose with confusion and wild thunder.

Nature is not damned forever.

Sunrise Watercolor by Halfpoint. Shutterstock.com

Note: My first trip to Bali was 14 years ago, as a post-divorce rejuvenation trip. Surrounded by nature and Balinese enchantment, my spirit came out of depression and I came back to life. Sterling

Salvation in Bali

What a word! When I hear people use the word salvation, I always wonder what they mean. Saved from what? I begin guessing what they want salvation ‘from’. If they want salvation from this planet earth, they may find themselves on another planet with the same need to be saved from something.

I suppose divorce could feel like salvation from another person’s torment. Sometimes that works. Then, there might be salvation from physical pain: that’s real. Some people come to Bali to visit a famous balean (Balinese healer) who can connect them with the healing energies here.

Many people think of salvation in a spiritual sense, as that oppression that tethers them to grumpy unhappiness. These oppressions can be unsettling and overwhelming. We all need salvation from our habits and addictions, from our fears and from our ego. Even now, what do you need salvation from? If that unhappiness were gone, how would you be? Throwing out even one such oppressively heavy rock in our knapsack, such as a relationship, must feel like salvation. But, even this change may bring up still another situation from which we will need saving. For example, we may now need salvation from loneliness.

We can’t stay enlightened too long. For one thing, without these challenging oppressions, how could we evolve our Self? Perhaps facing the fears in ourselves lightens our load. One reason children are so happy is that they have fewer of these concerns to relish around. Their challenge might be learning something new, like riding a bike. No wonder life still enchants them. Few say, save me from this bike.

Bali offers a reflective environment like few places I know. Soul is walking around everywhere. Balinese want salvation from evil spirits and the effects of black magic. Ogoh-Ogohs, barongs and offerings are ways they are saved from such demons. Every day, Balinese give offerings: you’ll even see offerings propped on their motorbikes and the dashboards of their cars. Rice workers stop to smile and wave at me. Yellow frangipani are backdrops to song birds and fat noisy frogs. Birds are using my porch as a fly through. Bali is the place to give up rock collecting, withdraw from the struggle and to open your eyes. Notice how salvation kisses your face with the breeze.

If you’re not levitating yet, what prevents you from salvation?

Enjoying the moment. Photo by Phone Nuryadin. pixoto.com

My Life in Bali

I live in a village in the heart of the island called Ubud, and my house is like living in a rattan basket. My life in Bali starts about seven in the morning with one chirpy little bird that persuades his many feathered friends to join him. Bali is a bird paradise. I often lay in bed, listening as many varieties of birds sing their hearts out.

Soon after, my cat Pooky jumps from my clay-tiled roof into the window and plops on my wooden floor. She often gifts me a rat or critter she finds in the rice field behind my house. She will play ball with it in my shower for about 10 minutes before I hear her crunching the tiny bones. She does not eat breakfast afterward. Pooky then lays in the Princess chair to take another nap while waiting for me to get up.

No need for an alarm clock, because about 7:15 a.m., I hear the sounds of the help sweeping the garden path with a straw broom. My dreams and visions are still alive in scribble form on the tablet on my bed.

Overnight, the sky has fallen onto my bedroom floor through cathedral ceilings made of bamboo and supported by wood struts. This clutter includes exotic spiders and gecko shit. Two-foot long geckos live 30 feet above my head and maintain a certain respect for Pooky. They politely poop every morning in the same place within a two-inch square. I sometimes step on it, but hey, it’s not all that bad. If I would name my geckos, I’m afraid Pooky will surely eat