Oh gosh, it’s already September! 4 months has passed since I first arrived on this beautiful island.
My fiancé arrives next week and I’m very excited to see him. He told me it feels like forever since he has seen me. Whereas I feel like it was just a month that has passed since I saw him. I miss him but it doesn’t feel that long in my mind.
And so I reflected on my time here. So much has happened. I’ve met so many great people and had lots of amazing experiences. But why does it seem like such a short time?
Here on the island, I’ve been in this strange state where time seems to stand still. I feel like I’ve been suspended in time and I could stay here forever. Like some sort of trans-state or hypnosis. It’s an amazing feeling. I wake up feeling great everyday and happy to go about my day. Sometimes I forget what day it is. And sometimes I forget what time it is.
After teaching morning yoga I have so much spare time, yet I never once felt bored. I spent my days learning Thai, reading, practising yoga, and riding my bicycle/scooter to explore the island. In this constant state of exploration, I feel like the pages of my life story have just been a constant page turner. You know the kind of good book you can’t put down so you stay up reading it till 3 AM. I think right now, this is my life. Only there my story is pretty anti-climatic. It’s probably a lot like The Old Man and The Sea – some people love it, some people hate it.
Recently during my explorations, I wanted to look for interesting places to take my fiancé to when he arrived. I found an artsy boutique hotel where I fell in love with. It was that kind of vibe that I was drawn to. It beautiful handmade decorations from paper flowers and stars to large painted canvases. It conjured beautiful emotion.
As soon as I saw him, I knew immediately that he was the owner and the artist. I knew we could be friends. Initially, I asked just about the rooms, not wanting to impose. Then, I cycled home.
All the way home and the next day, I was washed over with the feeling of longing. I missed painting. I went to Art School and I miss the days where I and fellow students alike stayed up all night to finish projects. I missed creating.
That place brought back my desire to create. And so the next day, I went back to visit him. I asked him if I could buy canvas and paint from him. My Thai was as good as his English, but we understood each other. He understood I was an artist too. I interpreted his expression and his few words as, “Every artist needs to create, we will find you something.” And so he led me to his small studio, where he was painting a girl, who I found out later was his girlfriend.
After a little bit of shuffling, he sent me off happily with an old watercolour set, brushes, and paper. I grew up painting with watercolours but I quickly switched to acrylics like many artist do to the convenience of fast drying times and its adaptability to mistakes. With watercolours, you needed to paint in “layers” and can be somewhat technical at times. There are ways “to erase” mistakes, but it’s better if you don’t make them at all.
The last time I used watercolours was probably when I was 18, almost ten years ago. So I decided to paint Koya (again) to get my feel for it back again.
Turned out alright! 65 likes on Facebook! Which is a lot of likes for a person like me, who only gets 5 likes on any given post…and that’s if I’m lucky. Which makes me wonder do people like this post because it’s a good painting or because it has a cute dog on it? Maybe a little bit of both?
Whatever it is, I’ll just keep doing what I love and let days like these be imprinted into my mind. One thing is for sure, if and when I have grandkids, I’ll never run out of stories to tell them.
pause then press play 