My sister is ever telling me - "Patience, Johnny". I guess it is not one of my greatest virtues. Well, last week I escaped to upcountry Thailand, in the northeast region, named Isan, for a bit of fresh and quiet. It was "desert time", as I would say.
There, as I quietly spent my short time, joining in life and watching the locals, I noticed their patience. They have lives to live and things to do, within the tough environment of rural Thailand, with its heat and varied limitations of a challenging rural existence, somewhat isolated from the lures of the big city. In the midst of it all, its ups and downs, its dramas and traumas, they just get on with their daily routine, they're happy with their lot, they continue to ever thrive enjoying their family and love the place they call home. I guess that is what matters in life.
Living in a big city, being so western and critical in my approach to life, I can make life more complicated than it needs to be and become overly anxious about what should be. There is something to be said for patience, while still keeping a watchful eye on life and its comings and goings. .
I needed my "desert time". not to escape reality, but to be able to appreciate it more deeply and live it more wholesomely. I learnt from the people with whom I shared my desert. I came to see them in a new light - as good and simple people, who work and struggle in life, loving and enjoying their family, continuing the daily chores. I found that refreshing and life giving. The desert is a fertile place.
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| The land is fertile |
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