Living Life Twice

I am constantly reminding students and teachers how important it is to write in different locations. So, I am doing as I say and writing this piece from the small island of Gili Trawangan , situated off the coast of Lombok and a three hour boat ride from Bali. Our lives tend to be about being busy. We move constantly from one seemingly important matter to the next. -Rushing and bustling to meet appointments and people. It’s little wonder our minds become cluttered and clouded with thoughts that serve to add confusion and indecision. The brain is full to overflowing. A fog descends. Thinking clearly becomes more of a challenge as we tire of the load. My short time on this island has provided distance from those matters that refuse to be denied. It has given me time to sit still. It has allowed me the headspace to clear my thoughts. I sit facing the sea and I can gaze, ponder, wonder, observe, listen, smell, feel, think and appreciate, the simple pleasures of the moments surro...

No one learns to ride a bicycle by observing pictures of one. No, we must clamber onto said two wheeled contraption and push off on our perilous first journey. It may be short lived and may involve a sudden ending. Our first efforts are most likely accompanied by a high degree of uncertainty and are characterized by white knuckled gripping of the handlebars. We wobble and shake in our desperate attempts to control the direction of the seemingly unmanageable machine. Our efforts are concentrated towards making those willful wheels travel in a straight line, avoiding potential hazards such as fences, potholes, power poles, - people!   Learning to ride a bicycle may also involve a few mishaps. It is most unusual not to experience the occasional ‘prang.’ -The kind of accident that separates rider and bicycle and occasions cuts, scrapes and a few bruises. A bit of bark of our knees comes with the territory the rider is exploring.   Despite such setbacks, the inexperience...