Unwordable

My friend is a energy master. One of the few Westerners to study under the Balinese spiritual masters. When we meditate at Balinese temples, strange things happen. Her experiences are stranger than mine, but still, strange things happen.

What strange things, I hear you ask. Tell us more…

I cant!!! There are no words for these kinds of experiences. These experiences are simply unwordable.

Now, language is one of my favourite things. I love the nuances of words, finding exactly the right adjective to convey the subtle differences between things, being precise, being honest and being descriptive. The technical term for me is a logophile!!

But language applies to emotions in about the same way as paint applies to sunsets- it can create an apparent representation, but it can never be the thing it is communicating. The glow, the depth, the scope of a sunset can never be fully captured in a painting or even a photo. Some things, you just have to be there for.

I collect travel experiences the way some people collect shoes. It is not where I have been that counts; it is how it made me feel when I was there. Moonlight and coconut trees evoke the beach parties on a Saturday night in Africa, anything cold is compared to camping at -25C near Everest Base Camp and no meditation is complete without the wave of energy that I feel when I meditate here in Bali.

As I continue my "journey" (ugh- that phrase conjures such images of reality TV contestants and Oprah interviews), I find so many of my experiences are based on emotions that completely defy narrative! What are the words for the feeling of when the spirit of a Balinese king 'gifted' me with wisdom (in a meditation) or how would you tell someone about the physical sensation of the notes of my meditation music dancing in my solar plexus chakra?

Sometimes I think about changing the genre of adjectives we use- what if something smelled blue, or felt lemony? In that case, the Balinese king looked like chocolate truffles, sunsets smell velvety and the Himalayas felt like lightening.

I think we sometimes try to fit so much into so few words. Have you ever said “I love you” and felt like the words were too small? Have you tried to tell someone about something that happened, and found that as you talked, it became almost less than what happened, like you were boxing it is with your words? You end up with a lame, "you had to be there", in an attempt to salvage the moment and to help yourself hang on to the feeling you were trying to communicate.

All our words, all our stories are just an attempt to share the experiences we have had. But words are just that- words; they are not the experiences themselves. They are not the feelings we hold in our hearts. Maybe some things are best left being unwordable.

Eat, Pray and too much Love

Don't worry- this is not a blog about what I have been up to!!!!!! :)

This title has been buzzing around in my brain for a few weeks now, mostly as a result of the 'over-touristation' that is so obvious around much of Bali, but now also because of my new volunteer role looking at child protection here.

Ubud, featured in the book "Eat, Pray, Love" is now a mecca for 'spiritual tourists', with organic cafes and yoga studios on every corner. The Balinese seem fairly laid back about this invasion of their ceremonies and temples, but I have heard that some are disgruntled at not being able to afford to live in their own town any more!

It is such an interesting dilemma, as perhaps the only way to contain tourism, to ensure that Bali is not destroyed from over-love, is to increase the prices of flights and services, thus further disadvantaging the locals! Of course also, most locals now rely on tourism for their livelihood, so any actual decrease in tourism is detrimental. How Bali manages issues of infrastructure and resources remains to be seen...

On a different scale of 'too much love' is the problem of sex tourism, and especially child sex tourism that pervades the developing world. I won't say too much more, but of course it is happening here as it is in most developing tourist countries. :(
www.sacredchildhoods.org

What is the future for destinations that are getting too much love??