Old trucks and new skulls.
Day 5 & 6
Where do I start?
The last two days have been a whirlwind of color and culture, with a lot of decisions to be had and made. I woke up on Day 5 in bit of a fragile state, due to trouble sleeping the night before. I had made the poor decision to have a second coffee after noon, and damn the coffee here is strong. To those who don’t know me, I struggle with anxiety sometimes and although I like a good kick in the butt to get my day going, anything too heavily caffeinated keeps my brain up a little too long after bedtime. Needless to say, I was having a bit of a “sad brain moment” for the first half of my day. Luckily, I have a patient Ibu Boss to get me back on track and there was a lot to distract that ol’ thought-machine of mine.
(To those of you reading this who struggle with depression and anxiety: you’re not alone.)
Day 5 consisted of visiting roughly ten different wholesalers in the Ubud area, so without boring you with the long list and sweaty details (it’s 35+ degrees Celsius here), I’ll talk about the one that stuck out in my mind the most, which was also conveniently the first place that we went to.
Reduce, reuse, recycle; remember that from grade school? Well, with resources falling more and more scarce, and being the impoverished country that Indonesia is, people learn to work with what is available to them in order to get by. The inspiring thing about “Upcycling” is how someone looks at something so easily discarded by the rest of the world, then takes it into their life to work then mold with their hands and find a means to create change, new joy and value to another life.
In this case, what I consider to be really cool looking furniture is made from wood from old truck beds. There’s a lot of shops around here that do similar work but with old ships or old oil barrels and things of that nature. The materials are taken and simply reworked into new pieces of art. The reason behind this particular wood is how sturdy it is, but if you needed to add to the romantic idea of repurposed trees, no one piece of work is the same.
Today I awoke in a far better mood after sleeping like the goddess I fell asleep feeling like. Freshly manicured toes and fingers from the night before had me feeling like a queen, and self-love is important when you’ve had a tough day. Don’t you think?
Day 6 consisted of all of my favorite things and two of my favorite pieces: the Buffalo Skulls and the Teak Root Bowls. If you haven’t seen these yet, you are going to be in for a treat when our new shipment comes in because I am ecstatic to have been a part of the decision process on these. Despite being a vegetarian-turned-pescatarian, I have a bit of an obsession with skulls, bones and art created with remnants of animal life – as odd as it may seem to some others. These carvings are made into the wood by hand and the work is impeccable and completely beautiful. In my eyes, it’s kind of a tribute to the life that once was.
As luck would have it, and with six being what I consider to be my “lucky number,” I’ve found my day at it’s close after a delicious Buddha Bowl meal next to an Medicinal Herb Garden, good chats with my life-coach (my mother and the OM & Away business owner Debbi Howat) and a good swim in the pool to wash the grime of the day away. These moments in life are special, and I’m truly grateful to be in a place and time where I can find time to reflect on my days in this magical world each night and share my thoughts with those who share my passions.
Thank you for reading, as always.