As I sat down to write a piece about my experience in Bali thus far, a record player sitting in the corner of the café with a handful of records to choose from caught my eye. Walking over to the record stand, I began to inspect the vinyl options underneath. As I kneeled to flip through a stack of records including Johnny Cash, Queen, Dire Straits, and the La La Land soundtrack, one of the café servers invited me to choose a record to play. Like a kid in a candy store, I excitedly told her I would love to and began searching for a suitable sound.
The young woman asked if I wanted a photograph while picking an album, and agreeingly I handed her my phone as I thought this would be one of those remember when moments I wished to capture. She began to video my quest of finding the perfect album, and as my fingers flipped each cardboard square to view the next brightly colored cover, we began to talk about her favorite music. She told me her favorite album of this selection was the La La Land vinyl, and though she hadn’t seen the movie yet, she enjoyed the soundtrack greatly. After going through the row of records about five times, I finally settled on an album by The Carpenters.
We laughed as I attempted to figure out the record player setup as this model was a bit more modernized than my record player back in Dallas. She patiently showed me how to orchestrate the machine, instructing me cautiously and kindly. Reaching over to adjust the volume after the record began to spin, a crackle followed by Rainy Days And Mondays filled the café atmosphere. I thanked her for helping me as she replaced the Dire Straits album on the wall with the pale yellow album ‘Carpenters,’ returning behind the counter to continue her barista work.
I returned to my spot behind my laptop screen on the black leather couch, listening to the soft music now playing around me. I smiled and placed my hands over the keyboard to record my thoughts about Bali up to date. As I attempted to think of a way to describe this wonderful place, I decided I could not fully explain my opinion without beginning with a story that attempted to paint a picture of my time here.
When I booked this trip back in January, my knowledge of Bali was dismal minus the luscious rainforest environment and the low-price tag on living costs. However, what I’ve learned here in just four days far exceeds anything I could have anticipated or wished for. For each day that passes, I feel like I learn a year’s worth of knowledge.
The Balinese people are the kindest, most selfless people I have ever encountered. In each interaction, their genuine nature and desire to help you without any compensation shines through. They speak invitingly, asking questions and going out of their way to make sure that you feel comfortable in any environment. You might have only known them for a few fleeting seconds, but it feels as though your happiness equivalates to their own.
They are an incredibly giving people, offering up to you whatever they can regardless of how much they physically have to donate. Just two days ago now, as I walked down Mt. Batur, an elderly woman walked adjacent to me. My friend Sydney and I, half delirious from the two hours of sleep we managed to squeeze in before our 1:30 am wake up call, kept slipping and sliding down the steep mountain, not necessarily helping our cause by laughing so hard that we continued to slide rather than stabilizing ourselves. This woman noticed our struggle and grabbed my hand, guiding me down each slippery surface. She must have been at least seventy, yet she was taking her time to make sure that I safely made it to the bottom. Each time I would slip, a “You okay sis?” would echo behind as her hand gripped mine tightly. No matter how many times I almost dragged this poor elderly woman down the mountain, she continued to make sure I got my footing back from underneath me until we reached the very bottom.
I began to wonder and to reflect upon the attitudes of these incredible people. While Bali might seem like a destination holiday to overseas people, it remains a developing country. Many people in the service industry here work to survive. Another gracious woman I met at an off-road massage place revealed to me that without customers entering, she is unable to afford food. However, she did not say this to complain or to reveal any resentment. Rather, she stated it as a simple fact, almost implying that she was grateful to have me sitting across from her.
When I look out of the window of our rented room, past the pool and the greenery enclosed in our complex, I see dogs running around the streets. They belonging to nobody but the people who offer them scraps of food. I see families sitting around one table, eating small portions of simply made meals. I see buildings with unfinished roofs and walls that are made of cloth, blowing ever so slightly in the breeze as to allow me a gaze into these homes, these lives.
Then I look again. I see families together, laughing and talking without distraction because that is what they have grown up valuing. I see workers going above and beyond for their customers and even strangers passing by, not because it will earn them anything of magnitude, but because servitude is something they offer to every individual, regardless of status or relationship. I see smiling faces as I pass by, and I am greeted left and right by people I have never seen and may never see again. I see friends assisting friends and strangers giving to strangers, continuing to give until all that remains are empty pockets and tired hands.
At first, I felt an underlying sense of sorrow for some of the people I encountered. A lingering guilt sat in my chest as I realized everything that I had been given since a before I could comprehend it all. My education, which my parents have ensured to work for so that I was fortunate enough to be in Indonesia in the first place. My home and clean water, which I never would have thought twice about until arriving in a country where bottled water is a necessity rather than a luxury. To think that some of these people, especially the older ones, had not even been given the option to complete education past middle or high school level due to their need to work to survive. Or that no matter how much they desired to, they were never given the resources to be able to travel outside of Indonesia or, oftentimes, even Bali. Yet here they were, noticeably happier than the locals I had encountered in the numerous other countries I have been to in recent months.
For these people to be so happy with so little is something that most individuals in the world will never be able to experience. To be consistently content with life and to wake up each day immediately thankful for what is yet to come is a rarity now. One of the hardest things to do in an age of competition and materialism is to understand what truly gives life. Yet for Balinese people, it is a simple equation. In removing the ego and looking at another person as simply another soul living in this world, they experience a sense of life that is greater than I have seen before. No jealously or hatred resides in their being. Rather, appreciation and gratitude overflow. Gratitude for each passing encounter, for each day that the sun rises and sets over their heads. These people have something that I might work a lifetime to achieve, and that is raw satisfaction.
Balinese people focus their lifestyle on something known as “Tri Hita Karana,” a philosophy which instills the need for harmony between God, nature, and people. They live to keep peace between these three and find fulfillment by doing so. Karma also plays a large role in their understanding of life on earth as the Balinese believe that destiny can be created through a series of actions. Good and righteous works will ensure a lifetime of peace and harmony, while doing evil will only invite negative outcomes.
It is unexpectedly refreshing to visit a place where you can converse and interact with other humans on the basis of simply being alive and living alongside each other. There are no implications regarding status as what matters to these people is who a person is beyond what the eye can see. Being kind in this community will get you millions of miles further than any $500 pair of shoes ever could.
I think that what excites me most about being in Bali for the next week is that in each person I meet, I learn something new. I can understand what might have been forgotten where I am from. I wish for nothing more than to know the why and the how behind their way of life and to understand their philosophy, hopefully one day being half as grateful and kind as the people I have met. I conclude this writing with a growing admiration for Bali beyond the affordability and the picturesque scenery. With just one interaction, I am beginning to understand how charity will invite more good into my life than any amount of income will ever offer.
To live a life aligned with instead of above other people. To appreciate the beauty of nature in its truest state and to know that these things around me have been here for years before I was a blip on this planet. And, to thank God every day for giving me the two previous things to experience in my finite lifetime.
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