It was early September, Fall of 2011. I had just completed my first stint as caregiver for mom and dad which started April 24th. Tired and exhausted, emotionally spent and yet reluctant to let go, I walked away leaving mom and dad on their own for the first time. It was the only way to really know how well they would do on their own.
Driving back to Colorado, I was sad realizing I had been on my mountain bike only once all summer and never got a chance to go camping. It’s a long five hour drive back to Colorado, plenty of thinking and contemplation time and I conjured up a scenario of unpacking, packing and going to the mountains for a camping trip. Unsure I had the energy to pull it together, I didn’t give myself a chance to back out and started organizing camping gear immediately.
Considering a short camping trip with lovely drive in the mountains an experience worth having even if it was too cold to stay for long, I headed up.
Camp up, tarp shelter complete, fire wood stacked, I settled into a chair by my camp fire with a good book, “The Bourne Objective”, my first foray into the Bourne series. Within a few pages, I was reading about Jason Bourne sitting cross legged on the floor of a hut with a Holy Man in Bali. I couldn’t believe the coincidence as I’d been considering going to Bali to visit the healers and make sure my energy was doing OK.
Fast forward, March 5, 2012: Larry, sitting in a hut in the rain with a Holy Man in Bali. The only two people there! Sitting after our session, in the stillness and quiet together, listening to it rain. I wish I knew Indonesian or had a translator as he chatted away to me and while I couldn’t understand a word he said, I could feel the energy of his meaning. Somehow, most of what he said had meaning to me.
My third day in Bali began with a session from my friend Eddy the healer. I walked in to a room with four people waiting. Since I called for an appointment, Eddy came and gave me a hug and looked at me asking if there was anything wrong? Nothing was really wrong, I just felt weary and a bit out of balance. In the treatment room, he looked at me again, his eyes having a focus like he was looking through rather than at me when he asked me if I was having trouble with my eyes. Yes! “Are you having trouble with your chest” he asked, holding his hand over the upper sternum area. I’ve had a rib that keeps jumping out just above that area. Yes!
He wanted to take my blood pressure to make sure that was OK. No heart trouble? None. I was concerned that my blood pressure would be elevated from the motorbike ride, my first time on a motor bike this trip and it’s a bit unnerving the first time. Blood pressure normal, heart rate 62. He told me he wanted me to stay healthy so I could come back and see him every year. “If you don’t have money for treatment, that’s OK. I’m happy to see you!”
My day began with Eddy, the middle was spent sitting with the Holy Man in the rain and this evening I was a guest at Nyoman’s birthday party. He’s the first healer I saw on Saturday. And this is only day three in my Bali journey.
Ciao….
Photo’s from the birthday party.
