From the archives: Ubud, Bali

Dear all,
Here is a journal entry I wrote four years ago while visiting the island of Bali in Indonesia. I was in Indonesia for one week while working with Volunteers in Asia. I plan on doing some writing on that experience in the near future. Until then, here are some thoughts I scribbled while saddled up to the bar.


"April 3, 2005
Ubud, Bali

Here at an ex-pat bar, smile wide, chummy with Balinese bartender simply for not being as rude and brusque as some other patrons. I certainly wasn’t planning to land myself in this scene, but for some reason this is just right. Tonight I am a fly on the wall—or at the bar—of another manifestation of the inherently out-of-alignment clashing of 1st and 3rd (or 2nd?) worlds. A cultural train wreck, to borrow a favorite term from my good friend Brian Penrose.

I wish I could read the minds of the bartenders and all the Balinese selling their art along the pleasant streets of Ubud. I wonder what they think of these clunky, ponchy white folks who they supposedly depend upon. I imagine we seem arrogant and ridiculous, yet somehow powerful and alluring. We see ourselves this way, too, I think. Every time we pass another white face along the road, we put on our unfriendly look—somehow thinking we can transfer our guilt and discomfort into coldness towards those who most resemble us.

Realizing this, intellectually at least, I sit with this Buddha grin amongst my fellow bundles of guilt and abandon. I am the fly on the wall. I am outside the fray and therefore have the luxury of observation without participation. I am the book critic. I am the historian. If life were always this relaxed and enjoyable, it would all be a lark. But we all have to participate, sometimes in very nasty circumstances. Some of us have to participate in nasty circumstances from the get go, and we never have time to stop and breathe and ponder life and its marvels. Some of us are born into despair and are given precious few resources to extricate ourselves.

Some of us are lucky, and we have the leisure to sit at bars in Bali and muse about these things. Some of us are lucky, but we lucky ones tend to squander our good fortune on television and alcohol, trinkets and the pursuit of wealth. We’re not always so lucky after all.

I read Vonnegut feverishly today. He invokes great sadness, cynicism, humor, and compassion in me. He sees all too acutely what is happening, what is going on in this crazy world. His response is to tease us, to chide us, to nudge our slumbering conscience. He leaves me feeling just like him—cynical and pessimistic, yet tender towards our flawed and eager selves.

And here is an ugly scene. Insistent German woman with whole self focused on obtaining a cocktail. Uncomprehending Balinese bartender performing for the crowd. Dark skin on one side of the bar, light skin on the other. It is sad and done and poisonous. I think that word—poisonous—applies to so many of our relationships, so many of our interactions. Sometimes we bring the poison, sometimes our ancestors’ ancestors have supplied it without our knowing. We just inherent the bitter aftertaste and the vague idea that something is amiss."

New photos / first letter

Dear friends,

Sunday has brought rain again to Chattanooga, but Friday and Saturday were warm and presented a narrow planting window. We worked until dark planting tomatoes, beans, basil, herbs, onions, leeks, shallots, and lettuce. I woke up with aches, but the type of aches made palatable by satisfying work. Here are some recent pictures from Williams Island Farm and from out and about Chattanooga. I hope you enjoy.

I am also sending along via email the first of the Cracks in the Pavement letters in two parts. The letter is titled Underpinnings of Health and asks the question - Are there underlying characteristics common to healthy people, communities, institutions, and ecosystems? I hope you will find something in the letter that sparks a thought or a new line of inquiry. I still consider this an early draft and plan on revising all the letters before self-publishing them later this year. So if you catch any grammatical errors or typos, feel free to let me know. I can benefit from a multiplicity of eyes! On the topic of editing, my sincere thanks go to Maribel and Amy Andonian for their input and assistance thus far.

Take care,
Chad

Recollections of Plum Village

Dear friends,
It is late afternoon on Monday. The sun has made a cameo appearance on an otherwise gray and moody day. I find myself at Rembrandt’s Coffee House in the Bluff’s View art district in Chattanooga, sipping at a cup of Japanese tea, and enjoying some repose after finishing the first draft of the Cracks in the Pavement letter on technology.

Before jumping in to the next letter (on community), I wanted to share a few recollections of my five-week stay at Plum Village monastery in France earlier this year (sent via email). I also put together a short slide show you can view on YouTube. If the accompanying music sounds amateurish...it is! The first short song is called “Gliding”, and I wrote it the day before I left for Tennessee. The second song is called “A Walk By the Lake” and was inspired by my friend Helena McManemon’s poetry.

Many friends have expressed interest and curiosity about Plum Village. What’s it like? Can you talk while you’re there? What’s a typical day like? My hope is that these short pieces, along with the photos, will help give those who are interested a better idea of the place, the community, and why I love spending time there.

All the best,
Chad

Simply beautiful

This is a fractal zoom of the Mandelbrot set (some very complicated math). Click here, set to full screen, turn up volume, and enjoy!

Words from Wendell

Dear friends,

The rain subsided in Chattanooga last Friday long enough for a gathered crowd of 80 or so people to celebrate the dedication of Hartnell Farm. The beautiful, winding fields of Hartnell's 60-odd acres were gifted to the St. Andrews Foundation, a Methodist organization which plans to utilize the site as a functioning organic farm and education site.

Among those gathered was Wendell Berry, a Kentucky farmer, poet, and author who has penned powerful and prophetic works on culture and agriculture for four decades. If you have never read his wonderful book The Unsettling of America, I suggest you traipse on down to the library and check it out. Berry's words at the dedication ceremony prompted me to reread two of my favorite quotes of his. They go something like this:

"The triumph of the industrial economy is the fall of community. But the fall of community reveals how precious and necessary it is. For when community falls, so must fall all of the things that only community life can engender and protect: the care of the old, the care and education of children, family life, neighborly work, the handing down of memory, the care of the earth, and respect for nature and the lives of wild creatures."

"A part of our obligation to our own being and to our descendants is to study life and our conditions, searching always for the authentic underpinnings of hope."

I am currently finishing up the second of the Cracks in the Pavement letters, this one on technology and culture. In two or three weeks, we will be hosting an event on community and food at Williams Island Farm. Details to come. It's a good time to come visit Chattanooga!

Take care,
Chad