June 29th & 30th: 3 stories, all saying the same thing

bike ride to the west of Luang Prabang

same bike ride

veranda outside my room in my new guest house in town - Xieng Moan Guest House

garden of my new guest house

interesting plant at new guest house

laundry in the window

sunset on the Mekong from our cafe

sunset on the Mekong

village wat

Regine, Gertrud and I at a village wat

Sheila, Regine, Gertrude and I went on a bike ride yesterday morning on a dirt road along the Mekong, east of Luang Prabang. We stopped at an "artisan cafe" in the middle of nowhere. During the course of the conversation, the term "maximize your potential" came up.  What was discussed was how manipulative this expression is: become more successful, more ambitious, work harder, consume more. But I sort of liked the expression, because what popped into my head was "be 100% present to each moment." in my mind, that would be the ultimate maximization of my potential. 

village roadside laundry

more village laundry

As I have been wandering the street and countryside of Luang Prabang, I have come to realize how "un-present" I have been, thinking of other times, wondering what I will do next, how long I will stay, where I will go. It made me realize how difficult it has been to step into what I call "travel mode" - being present to that which is before me. What also came to mind was an experience/lesson I had a few years ago. It was November, 2009 during my sabbatical year. I was in Dharamsala, India, which is the Tibetan refugee capitol, the home of the Dalai Lama. There is one main street on the hilltop village of McCloud Ganj, where the Tibetans live a few miles above Dharamsala. At the top of the main street was a tea stand. The steps next to the tea stand was my favorite place to sit, watching events below me. On one occasion, and Israeli woman joined me on the steps, waiting for her overnight bus to Delhi. After a little conversation, she said to me, "You don't have to try. Everything is coming to you." I thought she was talking of my location and the view. No, she corrected me, it is not about the view. A philosophy for life then, is what I thought. A nice philosophy. But I was corrected again. "I am talking about you." She was a "seer," and what she was talking about was much more personal. She was seeing into me.

village wat - wats everywhere

wat laundry

young monks- the second from the left spoke good English

I met a Spanish woman named Marga a few days ago, on two week holiday in Laos. She is busy every day - trekking, waterfall, river cave tour. She just came back from a two day tour, working with elephants. She told me of her first time on the elephant. There is a big platform on which you can sit upon, but the elephant trainer, the mahout, suggested she ride on the elephant's neck, while the mahout took his seat on the platform. What I thought as she was telling this story was: "feel the elephant beneath you." I imagined each person with his or her imaginary elephant beneath them, riding on our elephant's neck, with the bulk and stability of an elephant beneath us - rooted to the earth, secure and strong in our place, if only I could feel it.

fish and sausage barbecue stand

interesting flower on very thorny plant