details

it's definitely the little things.

the motorcycle taxis: in addition to taxis and buses and tuk-tuks and trains, you can take a motorcycle to get somewhere- hundreds of guys wearing orange vests who will take up to two passengers on their motorcycle. it's fun, and better yet, the motorcycle weaves through the notorious bangkok traffic, so that you're always whizzing by everyone else. add in the element of freewheelin' danger and it's a great ride ;)

the Thai theatre show we went to last night, which began with an angelic, bell-like rendition of the Royal Anthem; I have heard the Royal Anthem before, and paid my respects to the King by standing silently whenever it is played. But this performance, this version of it was so beautiful that I was overcome. I was struck, once again, by the familiar re-presenting itself. I was struck with the newness of everything I have already seen.

The view from the back of a taxicab; the meter, the small Buddha sitting on the ledge in front of the speedometer, the flower garlands hanging from the rearview mirror, and the thai prayers written on the ceiling… they are all the same. Well, almost. Some of them smell wonderful and others smell like feet.

The way people smile so readily here.

The dried octopus popsicles the vendors sell on the street. (I’m not joking.)

The streets. The sky. The smells. The sounds. The senses, the pace, the faces, the elephant in the road.

I cannot capture all of it when I write, or pull out my camera… all I can do, really, is sort of breathe it in.

one of the very first times i posted to this blog, i wrote about travelling through europe with my friends- i had seen so much, and felt so much, that i felt almost overwhelmed trying to process it all. i wanted to share what i had experienced; my heart felt like it was overflowing with thoughts and images and sounds and smells and feelings over the course of that three-week journey. and i felt at a loss because the words i was writing about it, the pictures i was taking of it, just didn't seem to do it all any justice.

so i wrote about it as best i could, and then i added the following quote. it helped me let go, a bit, of that feeling of needing to get it all down on paper. instead i was able to just sort of let it be within me. now, as bangkok is swirling through my head and my heart, the quote once again helps me realize this:

at some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough.

you don't need to photograph it, paint it or even remember it.

it is enough.

no record of it needs to be kept and you don't need someone to share it with or tell it to.

when that happens- that letting go - you let go because you can.

the world will always be there- while you sleep it will be there - when you wake it will be there as well.

so you can sleep and and there is reason to wake.