Why Bali…
This past week saw our family take a last minute 4 day trip to Bali for Easter. It has been a big couple of months for us all, Luke has worked some crazy hours in a job he loves and Tim and I have been madly working on getting everything in place for the run, and of course I have been running six days a week.
Whilst there I reflected on the question we get asked a lot, why do you go to Bali so much?
Putting aside the usual, it’s cheaper than flying to Melbourne and the sun always shines, there is one stand out reason for me.
Tim and I had travelled to Bali many times to holiday prior to Celeste being born, and always staying at the Nusa Dua Beach Hotel. We loved the traditional furnishings and gardens and of course the staff, always greeting you with a warm smile.
When we lost Celeste, we booked two weeks to Bali, leaving after her funeral, it was a place we knew we could escape to where we could start our long journey towards healing. It was the only trip that we did not stay in our usual hotel as we were scared to face the reality of questions at that point in time, however looking back now and understanding the Balinese way better it would have been the best place to have stayed.
What Bali gave us was a place to retreat to when times were tough, when the noise was too loud or we just needed a good dose of good humans. It is Bali where I learnt to answer the question, How many children do you have?
In Australia it had been a question that had always hurt as people just didn’t and to some extent still don’t understand that just because your child is no longer earth side it does not automatically mean you have less children. In Bali they always count all children and will refer to a child as “passed away”, this brought me great comfort when it came to describing my own children. This also gave me the confidence to answer this question back home without fear of making others uncomfortable.
Bali is a place, amongst the busyness, of serenity and calm, a place where one can rest and recharge, without judgement no matter how many children you may or may not have. Bali understands life and death and how precious it is and this is reflected in their celebrations both for the living and those that have passed. It will always be our first choice to escape to when needing a boost of goodness.
So where do you think we are heading once the run is done?