Namaste - You And I Are One...
We did go for a swim yesterday evening in the wild and choppy waters; and the rain came down harder and harder as we headed ‘out to sea’!
We laughed and laughed; the sky was growing darker by the second and it was a case of ‘water water everywhere but not a drop to drink’… Unless we put our tongues out to catch the falling rain… Which has hardly let up for three days and three nights now; there have been occasional moments where the sun has burst through, only to be chased away by the clouds heavy with more rain…
As we emerged from our swim and were walking, like dripping castaway children past the restaurant, the young woman whose tranquil swim we interrupted with ‘handstand practice’ last Sunday was emerging with her sister after their evening meal…
‘We thought we saw people in the sea, she said… ‘You are nutters…’ we all laughed.
I kept smiling as we padded back to our ‘home’… How many times over the years have I heard myself described this way…!
Early this morning it was still raining; I sat sheltering on our little terrace uploading ‘Julia’s Gone running, day Sixty five’ and then went inside to wake Anadi for our morning swim… We walked – only a little bit reluctantly - in the pouring rain to the sea… Once immersed we were so glad to have ‘braved the elements…’ It was magical to be swimming, we both felt strong and fluid in the waves, and with a day of travelling ahead, it was like we were dipping our bodies in a special magical bath that held properties of healing and energy to sustain us as we journeyed on…
Last night we enjoyed speaking over dinner to Frederick from Paris who lives in Belgium; and this morning we breakfasted with Kate and Eric who live, teach and study in Korea… At the airport we saw once more the young woman whose name we still do not know, and her sister… We laughed together and they told us that they had been inspired to do ‘headstand practice’ in the pool; and that they had even tried cartwheels, which they discovered had posed more difficulty…
Fellow travellers; fellow travellers on the path. The more I journey, whether by boat, train, plane or simply in each conversation, wherever that occurs; I am reminded that our world expands through the amount of different conversations we can engage in, and is limited if we are not open to each others differences, not able to understand one another and cross the bridge into one others world.
In every conversation we have an opportunity to connect through authentic dialogue and so to heal deep within ourselves, interaction by interaction… In my experience of journeying around the world, we are connected through our similarities and through validating our differences; through the art of being together, listening and stretching to accept and celebrate one another.
This intention transcends the potential barrier that speaking a different language could pose. Through eye contact and kindness and intention to support rather than sabotage, bridges between us all can be built.
I love it here that each interaction ends with the clasping of hands into 'Namaste' - ‘You and I are one…’
We flew from Koh Samui to Bangkok and were driven through the madness of rush hour in the middle of the city by Mr Kumron, who welcomed us to Thailand, assured us that we would always be welcome and shared with us his experiences of being a Thai boxer. He showed us the scar on his eye and told us where the Thai boxing gym owned by his bother was, should we have time to go it…
He dropped us off at the Davis hotel where, at the recommendation of Pete our friend we met in Koh Panghan, we have booked ourselves into ‘The Diplomatic suite’ (or rather Amy did… !).
It is amazing! It is like a little mini flat; luxurious and elegant, and one room is completely given over to a huge Jacuzzi, which we are about to enjoy!
There is a swimming pool and gym on the 9th floor looking out over Bangkok…
So exercising in the center of a vibrant City is taken care of; there is the roar of traffic as a back drop, the pavements full of people, noise, movement, the energy and the feel of sunny possibility, skyscrapers reaching up up up, the sky their limit.
Bangkok feels like a place that does not sleep…
