Bali, round 2
When I came here in December, I fell in love with the peacefulness and spirituality dimension that seemed to fill up every street corner. I was met by much kindness and a warm welcoming from both the locals and the expats.
After 2 months in the Pacific Islands, coming back here feels nicely familiar. No need to explore much atm, but rather it is time to land a little, integrate, and find a home away for home for a few weeks.
If one is open to it, I find that Bali has its way to guide one fluidly, yet firmly, into and through what needs to be felt, transformed, and alchemized.
I had heard of water temples before but had strictly no idea about any ritual associated with them. A taxi driver (here again 
) recommended me this particular one, and a couple days later something in me told me to head to it.
Much has happened over the past few months, and now reaching closer to the end of my 6-month sabbatical, there’s much to ponder : lifepath, choices, closure, new beginnings, location, writing… and many questions left to answer. The main one is:
Can I know what’s next, please ?
Or: Will someone magically put a clear 5-year plan in my hands?
I wish that, so badly. Perhaps, when I know, I’ll feel better… or perhaps happier?
Honestly, to find happiness, the imaginary future is not where to look. I am sure you have heard this before, but truly here and now is a better place to find it. This is at least what Mother Bali seemed to tell me.
Here I was, watching people get into the water for I don’t know what reason, Balinese and tourists alike. Suddenly, this young local man approached me and asked : “Do you want to get into the water?“I first said no. “I didn’t plan to and have no changing or bathing clothes,” I replied.
But then an inner voice got louder: “Come on, you’re given an opportunity you’ve been waiting for. And now that you’re here…”
I changed my mind, and the young man gently talked me through the water purification ritual process. First, you change and put this green sargon around your waist. Second, you get your little offering basket and kneel in front of the large alter to pray. Third, you step into the first of the three pools and wash your face and body in the water directly gushing forth from the holy spring.
Not only does the ritual seek to purify the body, mind, and accumulated karma from past actions (an already quite big process in itself) but it also prepares you to receive the gifts of grace and blessings for what’s ahead.
The joy I felt by going through this powerful ritual, which BTW is done fairly regularly by the locals, suddenly felt so much bigger than the happiness I seem to seek by trying to know the path ahead.
This water ritual was one of the most powerful experiences I’ve ever had. Had I listened to the first few “no’s” I automatically replied to, I’d have never gotten to it. The welcoming of this experience offered me in this special moment was a doorway into a deep sense of joy. The joy of saying yes and trusting.
The joy to trust
Joy is only here, available now. Ananda, the blissful nature of who we truly are. We already know that, deep within us, but we forgot—as the Tantrikas say. Nevertheless, they also say that we forgot to better remember. Joy is waiting for our remembrance and, especially, to see us delighting in it as we remember.
As we slowly let go of the need to know our future and return to the moment, another gift makes its way to us. Next to joy, trust comes up. As we start to trust life, we become able to change the automatic “no” into a clear “yes” to what it brings our way.
Life shows us the path but only if we’re willing to be shown and available to receive it. For this, we need to stop trying to figure it all out and accept we just cannot know everything. For a minute, think about the energy that becomes available to you as you drop worry about the future? What else could this energy be used for?
Friend, I am walking this path with you, and I die to know what tomorrow will bring. Redirecting our focus to the here and the now takes the courage to pause and tell ourselves, honestly, “I f… don’t know… and that’ OK!” Only so we can open, welcome, and perhaps appreciate what is happening now.
So, I am asking you friend:
What opportunity and experience are offered to you now?
Where can you stop resisting and, instead, give into?
Where can you say yes, instead of no, and rejoice into trust?
As I’m still holding a lot of unknown about the future, uncertainty and lack of confidence at times, I know that the trust I also can have for life can hold it all.
I’ll return to Europe in the spring, France and Denmark, and I can’t wait to share with you many of the new learnings, joys, and just the nature connections and humanness I’ve encountered.
I am also currently learning to become a damn good bodyworker/massage therapist, and I hope to share that with you soon!
More on this later, as more clarity comes 
Much love
Cédric
