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Finding well-being through travel and books. |
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Hello and welcome! I have two great passions in life. The first one is travel. After a series of life-changing events, my husband and I decided to spend the kids’ inheritance and see as much of the world as possible (I’m still bitter about Damascus). Our bible? A Thousand Places to See Before You Die. Please join us on our adventures seeing new places, meeting fascinating people and trying new, exciting, and sometimes just plain weird, food. My second great passion is books. Reading expands my interior world in the same way travel expands my external one. And, books are a great way to armchair travel - not only through distance but through time as well. My tastes are eclectic, so we’ll be looking at a wide range of writing in a possibly haphazard fashion. Come along for the ride! My best, Kirsten ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| Her name is Jorani* and she is seven years old. When she was five, she decided there was nothing more in the world that she wanted to be than an Apsara dancer (celestial dancer). For this she would need to be trained in Classical Dance (or Royal Ballet), one of Cambodia’s most sacred art forms (dating back to c.1 - 6 centuries CE). Fat chance in the small village where she lived. Her parents were rice farmers of modest means and there was nary a dance school in sight. Jorani was determined to study dance and her parents longed for a better life for their daughter. After lengthy inquiry, they found a dance school in Siem Reap where she could board, continue in school, and pursue her dream of becoming a dancer. At age six, Jorani went for an audition at the School of Arts. Her parents knew her heart would be broken – out of the 1,500 or so children who audition each year, 50 are accepted into the program – but they also knew she wouldn't rest until she tried. However, it wasn’t that that kept her out. She was deemed to be hugely talented, but alas, the earliest children were accepted was age 10. This seemed a truly formidable obstacle. Jorani wept and wept and wept. In desperation, her parents contacted the school again. Couldn’t they, just this once, make an exception? Read the rest and see the photos and videos here  |
| We entered the Chi Lin Nunnery (left). “Confucius sought order and social harmony, he believed the answers to maintaining both lay in understanding the lessons of history, learning and study. He wasn’t at all big on introspection or trusting intuition. But study would help us to understand how the past affects the present and help us to plan for the future.” “Very left brain,” I said. She shook her head and corrected me. “Very yang. Learning – both knowledge and the proper way of doing things - is the way to develop one’s character, to become a cultivated person, an asset to society and to bind family ties and communities.” She pointed to the inscription under one of the, what I can only assume to be meditation, stones. (below) “There are many virtues discussed in Confucianism, but the most important is the virtue of ren, it’s more than just benevolence, it’s oh –“ She waved her hands in the air as if trying to shape her thoughts like dough. “It’s not only wanting to be the best you can be but to help others be the best they can be, too.” See the rest of the post and the photos here . |
| “The Chinese view of the universe has influenced all of East Asia and possibly the rest of the world.” My guide turned and waved an arm to encompass Hong Kong and the greater world beyond it. We resumed trudging up the staircase leading up to the Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas. My husband had taken one look at the staircase, muttered ‘400 bloody steps’, and then bounded ahead, gazelle-like, leaving my guide and me in his dust. “The universe has rules and patterns with the most basic pattern being the interplay of forces between yin and yang.” I nodded. This was a common enough notion. “Within yin and yang are the Five Processes or Stages with certain attributes. We tend to think of them as fiery, watery, earthy, woody and metallic. These Stages go in cycles. When we understand the cycles, how each stage will either be in its ascendancy or decline, we understand the changeability of life because they affect everything – the human body, animals, nature, colors, and even music.” She checked to see if I was still following. I was. Picture “If we understand the pattern that is being formed between all these forces, we understand how the universe is working and why it is affecting us the way it is at any particular time. When these forces are out of balance we are out of balance.” Hm. Lately I’ve been feeling off-kilter. The universe seems to be conspiring to keep me tilted at about 45 degrees. Mostly at 3 a.m. when thoughts race around my brain like a demented squirrel. Read the rest and see the photos here |
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