This week I have the holiday you have when you’re not having a holiday

On Friday, there I am, in Bali, on holiday, having a pedicure. Which is kind of the bourgeois equivalent of getting Bo Derek braids. Two hours and 15 minutes later, there I still(!!) am, having a pedicure. Sujatmi, the all-smiles Balinese girl attending my toes, couldn’t have gone slower without going backwards.

Being the Bourgeois, Uptight Westerner with A Week Off (a BUWWO?) that I am, such a protracted scenario would normally see me commit hari kari. I’d be a mess, fretting about all the nasi gorengs I could be eating and the white beaches I could be strolling. Everyone else is having The Perfect Holiday, is what I’d be thinking, while I’m bloody-well having my calluses scraped at glacial speed.

But on this occasion I remain calm. So much so that three hours later when the polish smears everywhere and sand granules get mooshed into the tacky mix I laugh. Why? Because this holiday I’m having the holiday you have when you stop trying to have a holiday.

I’m in Bali on holidays… So I’m posting in advance a short best-of series. I hope you don’t mind. But it’s really something I need to practice, since I preach this kind of thing (shutting off, creating space), right?

Part three is  mini-list of the tricks and tips that have grabbed people the most. It’s funny what triggers interest in others. I often think it’s the energy with which I’ve written the post, not so much the topic. If I’m “there”, everyone can smell it.

1. My chat with Eugene Tan about his “inside people”. Funnily I’m here in Bali for his wedding. He’s marrying my mate Deb. Two of my favourite people. I wrote this post yonks ago, but people still mention it to me. It’s more a reflection of Eugene‘s essence, I think.

2. This quinoa post. Don’t know why. But kids liked it.

3. And of course this post about how I deal with my auto-immune disease. It’s amazing how many people have discovered they have AI from reading this, or have realised that they need to change doctors. LOVELY LOVELY LOVELY how this blog stuff can do good things. I’ll drink a Bintang to that. Actually, no I won’t. It contains gluten….

Have a wonderful Friday. I’ll be in Changgu at the Desa Seni yoga retreat by the time you read this, om-ing out in a rice paddy.

xxx

So, this week I’ve packed up and racked off to Bali for “annual leave” (are such things relevant when you work for yourself?). I’ve vowed not to work. So I’m posting in advance a short best-of series. I’ve been on this experiment…trying different tricks and meeting various gurus for just over a year. Some work. Some don’t. Some are legit. Some need to start practicing what they preach a little more!! Which have worked? Well… part two of the best-of series…. plus an entirely gratuitous shot of a VERY handsome man. Because it’s a Thursday!

1.  The Pomodoro Technique works. It really does. I use it every week to write my Sunday Life column. Sprint, pause, sprint, pause.

Developed in the 90s by an Italian efficiency enthusiast, it’s recently experienced a surge of popularity. It’s stupidly simple. You pick a task and take one of those kitschly 90s red tomato kitchen timers and set it to 25 minutes. Next, churn through your task, ignoring distractions, not stopping to make tea or stare at the ceiling. Rest for 5 minutes and repeat the cycle three more times, after which you rest for a good half hour and grab lunch or read emails. The aim is to work to these 30-minute cycles daily, building up the self-discipline muscle. Read more here.

* I love instapaper. I can’t imagine life before it. I divide all my reading into different folders. There’s also an iphone app, too!

It works like this. You’re wasting time online and stumble upon an interesting blog post or New York Times article. You can’t read it now; you’re meant to be finalising a spreadsheet or something….What to do? Glad you asked. Once you’ve installed Instapaper (three easy online steps, or thereabouts), you simply click a “Read Later” button on your Bookmarks menu and your article is filed in a special folder in cyberspace. For perusal at a more languid juncture. Get more here.

* Only answering emails twice a day. I’m not so good at this one. But I HIGHLY recommend trying this etox technique, even just for a week. It reshapes your thinking.

So, step one, on Monday I set up a perky auto-reply that essentially tells email to rack off, while putting the kybosh on my own addictive patterns. If you were to email me today you’d be greeted with this: Hello! Email is wasting my time and creative energy. For the sake of efficiency and wellbeing I now check me emails twice daily only, at 10am and 4pm. It’s urgent? Call me on… For more…here!

Do you do this? Fret about finding the perfect holiday WITH A PURPOSE? Recently, I went around in 238974897 circles trying to find the best place to do a traditional Indian treatment. That’s what I do. I Over-research. Eventually the right answer pops up in front of me. So obvious. I didn’t want to travel to India. India ain’t good for us vatta types. But, it turns out, the first ever ( officially recognised ayurvedic wellness retreat outside of India is in Ubud, Bali at Como Shambhala.

I know, I know…these details are a long time coming. I posted a while back about visiting a shaman (who told me I shouldn’t do relationships). Tri Makna is his name and he’s a lovely, gentle soul who’s got it going on. He has a twinkle in his eye that says, “I see you”. From memory it cost about $AUS30 for an hour and he’s a 15 minute taxi ride out of Seminyak, past the Denpasar jail where poor Shapelle is couped up. If you’re in the area, he’s worth meeting and being seen by. Go with an open heart…

Last week I mentioned I visited a shaman in Bali. The reaction from everyone was, did he dress like Sandy from Monkey (skulls around neck, carrying a staff), and what wisdoms did he impart. To the first, no, he wore shorts and plastic sandals and we sat in his kitchen as kids and cats run amok and his wife cooked curry.

And his profound insight? Oh yes. Well, he told me I don’t much go for relationships. And that I shouldn’t. Go for them, that is. Nor should most women like me. If we want to be happy.

Now this might strike a shard of horror through the spleens of some.  But I’ve had a week to digest and clarify the idea. It opened interesting cans of worms, with myself and with friends, both partnered and otherwise. And I wrangled with whether to explore it as part of this journey to make life better. In the end, I decided I had to.