Life in Bali…Over the hump and Loving it

In the entry I sent out just a few days ago, I shared my feelings of having one foot kind of enjoying my life here, while the other already had its running shoe on and was headed home. Same thing happened to me I think it was around month three of living in Thailand. Well, my indecision seems to have passed and I have fallen in love with my life here!


Amongst the colorful Balinese culture of super smiley people, devoted to their families, their Hindu rituals, and to a beautifully, simple way of life, there also exists this well represented sub-culture of westerners who have left the grind of the ‘normal’ way of life back home…a 9-5 job, a house, kids, errands, traffic, bills, being inundated with advertising that tends to make one always feel that we are not enough or okay as is, etc…and have arrived here in Bali to ask ourselves the question, “What kind of life do I truly want? What will truly make me happy?”


Enter the Yoga Barn. The Yoga Barn is a stunning beautiful, open air yoga studio where all of us seem to congregate throughout the day…perhaps for a 7am breath class, or a 11am get-your-sweat-on core strengthening class, or a 6pm unwind-from-the-day gentle yoga class…and then throughout the rest of the day, it is inevitable that we bump into each other either at the super healthy ‘Kafe’ Café, or the all-organic ‘Bali Buddha’ restaurant.


I’ve met tons of great people…Brian and Alexandra are an extraordinarily energetic and upbeat couple from LA. Brian sold his very successful health conscious social networking internet business a few years back, and now spends his time reading the works of the greatest philosophers of all time and leads group discussions on them 3 times a week….and Alexandra teaches “Goddess Training.” Mia and Kathy are two cool chics from London who are starting their own yoga clothing line. Michael is a great guy from a little island in Scotland who sold his soul to BP oil for 23 years and now is just enjoying his relaxing life here in Bali. And I’m Jody, the cool woman who worked in Thailand for a year at some ritzy resort and is now here writing a book about it.


So I’m loving it! People ask me everyday, “So how long are you going to stay?” And I answer, “Don’t know…just seeing what shows up each day and how long the money will last!” So what has shown up in the last few days? Well, let me tell you… Three days ago, I got an email from my ex-boss who is now starting a health magazine, asking me if I wanted to contribute an article on health. Yesterday, the man that runs the place where I’m living asked me if I wanted to help him with how to make his business more profitable. Today, a local guy sitting next to me at the internet shop when I was talking on the phone, commented on how clear my English was and asked me if I wanted to become an English teacher on the island...So, how long will the money last? Maybe longer than I think. Only time will tell.


So in the meantime, I have fallen in love with my life here. Everywhere I turn, I get more inspired with new ideas, new energy, new people... You may ask,” JODY! But what is your PLAN? Well my answer is, I’m not going to worry about it. I am going to keep loving my life and watching my story unfold, literally and figuratively, and just trust that whatever is meant to show up, will show up! Now, back to my book….bye for now!