Monkeys

I combed through countless websites in my search for a place to stay in Ubud throughout my near month-long stay in Bali. I sent emails off to "innkeepers" of bungalows, villas, hotels and homestays. I would generally get responses the next morning, emails that were sent to me the night before. The concepts of "real time" or "same day" are blurred when you're connecting with people a half a world away.

My favorite email came about a week ago, from Emile H Snellen v Vollenhoven. In his email Emile told me, "we have a very nice house and cheap for 1 or two persons. BUT there are monkeys. The monkeys are coming sitting on the roof sometimes in the garden. When you are not afraid, when you like monkeys when you don’t feed them and send them away it is a really nice place."

I kindly passed on the Monkey House, but several times since hearing from Emile, I’ve remembered his last comment. I find his advice poetically applicable these days.

There are monkeys everywhere: things, issues or concerns that bother and scare us. The trick may be, as Emile suggests, to not to be afraid, to not feed them, to like them (or at least find opportunities in, or despite of, their presence) and to not attempt to send them away. By making peace with your monkeys, by challenging yourself to understand them, you may live more fully.

On Sunday, I’ll throw my monkeys on my back and continue my journey to Bali.

(Incidentally, not only Emile H. Snellen v Vollenhoven an owner of a boutique hotel and manager of rental homes in Ubud, he is a Dutch Indo Artist living there. To see some of his work, check out http://www.dutchartist.nl/)