I love Julia Roberts.

I watched the Julia Roberts movie ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ on a recent flight.  It’s a colossal ‘chick flick’ if you are the sort of person who likes to categorise movies.  As bad as this may seem, I must admit this was not the first time I had seen it.  Keen to go to the movies some months ago, it was the best of a bad bunch to choose from.  In a cinema full of young females and old couples, I guessed there wasn’t going to be much violence or gratuitous sex in it.  It is, I learnt quickly, a woman’s journey to find herself and learning to open her mind to the world’s wisdom and love again.  With such a charming description I sense your eagerness to sprint out and obtain the DVD instantly.  Anyway, with some splendid cinematography, stunning landscapes and inspirational locations, somehow Julia Roberts portrayal of a self centred and manic woman, actually spoke to me in verse.  Not that I think I am any of those qualities, but her longing for contentment and answers in life is no different to mine, albeit slightly more exaggerated.  It’s what we all want really and anyone who tells me otherwise is a liar.  We may be happy now, I know I certainly am, but this shouldn’t stop us from wanting more of this feeling.  Once we stop wanting happiness and bliss, we will slowly begin to die inside.  Our souls will empty of passion, leaving a void that the universe itself could never fill.  It takes effort to keep our lives at a happy balance.  So despite my adoration of the ‘chick flick’ that even my most girly of female friends snigger at, it gives a good warm glow to my heart.  It reminds me to keep living, keep looking and embrace all opportunities and challenges that come my way.  Keep your eyes wide open. Life is generous. 

Beginnings are usually scary and endings are usually sad,but it's everything in between that makes it all worth living...

Each occasion I have journeyed to a Pacific island, I am struck by the simplicity and casual tempo of island life.  People’s lives appear to be uncluttered and unpretentious in the way the majority of the world’s societies lost a long time ago.  The ebb and flow of daily routines embrace much of what we would refer to as ‘down time’.  Periods of quiet interaction with fellow villagers or nature - clusters of men sitting beneath a huge Banyan Tree, women and children playing down at the river or individuals simply sitting on the beach surveying the waves as they harmoniously interact with each other.  It is a lifestyle I envy, devoid of modern anxieties and complication.  I wonder what they must think of the western style of living.  Do they think we are illogical or do they aspire to have some of what we have?  The nice car, money, electricity, running water?  Is the grass always greener on the other side?

"One’s destination is never a place, but a new way of seeing things."  Henry Miller