If the shoe fits...

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A civilization lost.

Yesterday I watched a storm brewing, and rain pouring down over Lombok. Slowly it moved over to Gili Meno and then towards us. Watching it, we packed up our stuff and moved to a little beach hut to carry on playing cards. Then the rain belted down. We walked home. It felt good to be washed wet with fresh water. What a luxury it is. How spoilt we are, us rich westerners with all our creature comforts. So wealthy we’ve forgotten how to walk in the rain. How to call water “sweet” and long for its embrace.

A comfortable shoe.

I am still.
The ease of Gili Trawangan has settled over me. It fits like a soft old sock. Below me Cusz teases his guitar, gently as is his nature. Five young men are spending their night together, their soft talk as subtle as the lapping waves that frame their sounds.
There is something about this island that strikes a chord within me and makes me want to stay.
It is the simplicity, I think.
There is not too much here.
Nor a need for more.
I feel safe here.

Paradise found

I become happier with each day I stay here.
There is a calm to this island that washes over me.
I am having a bone mellow transplant.
Not all that much seems important any more. Or, rather, the things that seemed important, no longer register on my radar. Now, there is time to marvel at a hermit crab as small as a newborn’s baby nail. To pick up a starfish and let it crawl over me just because it feels nice, and they are interesting. To stop, and feel the sun on my skin.

There is much to be grateful for here. And each day I spill my thanks onto the shores of Gili Trawangan. We are so privileged to have the opportunity to slow down
long enough to regain perspective on our lives.
It is not just a matter of stopping.
It is a matter of shifting paradigm.
Of staying still long enough for one’s self to emerge, rather than just allowing one’s thoughts to catch up with oneself.

There is a certain sense of surrender that comes with landing in paradise. It starts slowly. Subtly. So quietly you don’t even notice it to begin with. Then all of a sudden you find that you are allowing yourself to be still. To simply be. Without purpose. Without point B shouting for attention.
You begin to notice that not all grains of sand are the same. And that blue comes in many colours.

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