Want to find peace and happiness? Go to Bali.
Blood was everywhere in the losmen mandi (the homestay bathroom). Puddled on the tile. The Australian girl slumped over the squat toilet, where she’d slit her wrists. This was in 1976 or so.She’d come to Bali to find paradise.
Instead, she killed herself.
The family who owned the losmen had to pay for expensive cleansing ceremonies, but without a murmur of complaint, and pity for the girl.
This wasn’t an isolated incident. Over the years, I’ve observed many people arriving in Bali to live, or deciding to stay, thinking that at last they’ve found peace, a place for their soul.
What they really found was a cheap place to live, with warm weather, a bit of distance from problems back home, and no real peace at all.
Because the biggest problems of all are the ones you carry with you.
Louise (Garrett) Koke observed this as far back as 1936, when she and her companion Bob opened a hotel on Kuta. In her fascinating memoir, “Our Hotel in Bali,” she notes:
“European visitors have been inclined to romanticize Bali, and to say that the Balinese have the secret of harmony and contentment. They claim that a complete escape from the problems of civilization and the inner conflict worrying most of us can be achieved by settling down in Bali, as if some soothing spirit would enter the distressed soul or as if happiness were catching….”
