Vivienne Westwood meets Jean-Paul Gaultier

Ubud, Bali, in the hour after dawn. The ether shimmering in the soft, golden light of early morning. Birdsong and the distant melody of gamelans drift across a sea of emerald green rice fields on the wings of a cool, gentle breeze. In the woods by the house a cockerel crows and from the rafter above my head a large pink and turquoise tookae peers down at me, laughing in his croaky voice.

Walking around the garden is a sensory delight. Flowers are in abundance everywhere. The white face-like blooms of a ghost orchid sway seductively by the lily pond. A large bright pink lotus with egg yolk yellow stamens is open in a carved white pot in the courtyard. Scarlet and yellow heliconias hang in wild abandon all over the place and from the striped green canna lily in the pond rises a brilliant orange flower, complementing the cushions on the sofa in my bale’. Frangipanis in a myriad of colours fill the air with a honey-sweet smell that makes my mouth water and the branches of the mango tree by the gate into my compound hang low, weighed down by a wealth of blossom that paints the breeze with an intense, deep aroma and the promise of a bountiful harvest of my favourite fruit. By the Buddha in my garden the gingers are flowering, waxy and pink with the most heavenly scent ... lemons and roses with just a hint of black pepper. Shocking pink and vivid red hibiscus are unfurling their petals in honour of the new day and the tree by the pond that was coppiced into oblivion six weeks ago is now flamboyantly dressed in waxy dark green leaves and startling purple blossoms. Last but most certainly not least are the flowers that adorn the tree by the gate into the courtyard. Creamy-green pom-pom like petals spray forth from a hard crimson cup in what can only be described as ‘Vivienne Westwood meets Jean-Paul Gaultier’ style.

As I type I am eating green grapes. Straight from the fridge and dewy with condensation. Grown on the slopes of Gunug Batur, they are firm and crisp, exploding in my mouth as I bite them, filling my ears with sound and my mouth with deliciously sweet juice.

Such endless peace. I feel my body physically relaxing, my mind clearing and without any effort at all I sink into a space of deep inner stillness.

Peace and tranquility really are easy to find, if only we seek them in simple, everyday things, no matter where we live. Things that often pass unnoticed in the frenetic pace we live our ‘modern’ lives. When I am in a busy city I regularly wonder if humankind is slowly losing the ability to ‘see.’

We may ‘look’ but do we really ‘see?’

Experienced & written in 2007