Wayan Dolphin

I made Wayan in my woodcarving classes in Bali recently. He seems to have brought with him the warm spiritual energy from the place. I sprayed him with insecticide before coming back to Australia so that there would be no problem bringing in foreign bugs inside the wood. I had him wrapped in a plastic bag. When I declared him at customs the officer waited expectantly as I unwrapped him. Then a big smile broke out on his face and he said Wayan could come in.

I named him Wayan after talking to the hotel manager in Ubud - His name is also Wayan. He explained to me that in Bali each child is named, regardless of gender, by the order of their birth. Wayan is first, Made second, Nyarman third and Ketut fouth. If you have a fifth child you start again with Wayan. Wayan the manager is number 5. He is a twin and his brother was born 5 minutes before him. There were already 3 sisters so this brother is called Ketut.

Wayan Dolphin is the first - and hopefully soon there will be brothers and sisters to swim with him (if I get to the workshop to do more carving). The next one will be Made Dolphin.

There is something so lovely about creating with natural elements like wood and stone. So here is a picture to introduce you to my new friend, Wayan Dolphin.

Misty Evening

Here I sit in a high rise
Bathed in fluorescent light
And gazing out at the night
A blanket of mist has descended
Slipping into every alleyway
Spreading moist cold air
Through car parks and shop fronts
Obscuring the night sky
So that only blurry yellow lights
Wanly shine through
From other buildings
Shaped like blocks of cheese
And interspersed with dark green
Patches that could be trees

The Pause

There is a lot of writing and speaking out there about you choosing your emotions. You being 100% responsible for everything that happens in your life and that no one can make you feel anything - only you can decide how you react to experiences in your life.

Is this true? It's not really helpful when you are feeling strong emotions or thinking negative thoughts. We all have unconscious programs we acquired growing up that turn on in the blink of an eye. This is a good thing. Just imagine how little we could accomplish if we had to consciously be in control of every action. For example, when you start learning to drive a car you are clumsy and you have to pay conscious attention to everything. I remember being near our home with my mum teaching me to drive. I turned the corner to see a 'huge' bus bearing down on us from the top of the hill. I stalled the car in fright. In reality there was plenty of room and now buses, if I notice them, are normal size. Now I can drive from A to B without even remembering how I did it. My unconscious is in charge and will only engage the conscious in an emergency.

So it isn't a bad thing that you can react so quickly or not have to control every thought or action to live your life. The problem comes when we look back and say: I wish I didn't feel like this or say or think that. I want to do it differently.

Well, you can but you need to create a pause or gap between the event and your reaction. This pause gives you the opportunity to choose your reactions and ultimately your feelings and thoughts.

When people say: you choose your emotions and thoughts, I like to rephrase it to: you can choose your feelings and thoughts. This shift is less judgemental and more in line with how our brain works.

Back from Bali

Here I am with the famous palm reader, Ketut Liyer in Bali - from the book Eat, Pray, Love. The movie starring Julia Roberts will be released in July to coincide with Obama's visit to Indonesia. Ketut was going to play himself but had kidney stones so they had to get an actor.

Ketut said the following after examining my palm, my knees, my face and ears and the back of my neck/shoulders.

I will live until I am 100 years old.
I am very very smart - and tend to think too much.
I have good ears, chin, nose and cheeks - very healthy & strong.
I have merry eyes.
I can wake up 3 times a night (not sure what that means).
I will marry very soon - to a good looking boy and this marriage will be very harmonious and last until I die.
The neck/shoulders are in the shape of a gardenia - this is the perfume associated with me and means there is a lot of spiritual energy coming through me.
I will not suffer from arthritis - no problem with knees, but I should be careful driving as I tend to go too fast.
I am very artistic and also good at writing - I should publish.
I will be very wealthy if not already.
There are 2 gods in me: The Moon God and Saraswati - the latter meaning I am quiet (very true).
There are 2 animals - a tiger which means I can be very angry (true) and a small pigeon.
The tree associated with me is the Banyan tree.
Ketut said if he were younger he would marry me himself, but he is 96 yrs old now and lost half his teeth (he opened his mouth to show me!)

Anyway, a very interesting encounter. I didn't really have a question to ask him.