I left New York 1999 to follow a part of my destiny to get to know one of the most interesting ancient cultures on earth, the sacred island of Bali and its friendly, deeply spiritual people who welcomed me with a kind OM SWASTYASTU - You are welcome in Peace.
Balinese generally are passionate and peaceful people.I experienced their joys at various ceremonies and also their sadness, including 2 bomb attacks in the year 2000 and 2004. I happy to tell you my adventures and mystical journey so far, living with a Balinese Family, the chosen musicians by the King of Denpasar.
Here is I Wayan Berata's Biography , I Made Bagus Grandfather who died 2014. I only met him a few times.He did not speak with his Grandson a lot but that's a long story to tell, maybe another time. Made's father died when he was 15. He was a very well respected man and teacher for Balinese Dance and Music.
This is Made's Great Grandfather on Kendang Drums
I suggest to read a couple of books , (more valuable than Eat,Love,Pray, I personally found very boring ) by Vicky Baum, an Austria Writer who lived in Bali in the 30's. She writes about the Dutch invasion in 1906 and the resulting mass suicide of the Balinese royalty
This is an original photo of Made's Ancestors , Family
Backstage Bali Stories
Here I am with a Steemit "Bali " tag right in my face after reading a few related blogs this morning and damn, one was even trending. I do not mean to criticize anybody but who would know the real Bali better than me, I thought. I admit that this sounds a bit arrogant and for sure I am not the only one who has interesting tales to tell about this fascinating place but the ones who know me understand what I mean.
I wish all of my friends and guests passing by those past years could tell their own. We showed them places , events nobody would usually find. I will invite all to join steemit and start a project, call it " Backstage Bali Stories " Contact me at silvie@onartbali.com to submit.
Ahh, Trust me, there are a lot of secrets and fun moments and you would be surprised to hear about documented with some photos of course.I hope, I find them in my old files and so many more pictures I took.
My Viennese, half Indonesian friend Sasa Feldbach, a professional photographer shot this photo I love most of all !
I knew, I had to get it started but first a little intro
So, It's been about 2 weeks that I am having fun, writing a few stories about different episodes of my quite long gypsy life. I was speechless this morning about a post I was mentioned in, humbled and happy that somebody seems to like my random posts. Thanks so much guys @derekareith Your steemposts on twitter rock!
Hello also to my slack team on steemitcolab who always support each other.
My first baby steps as a storyteller because I don't dare to call myself a writer
I wrote about ageing, Anais Nin, Frida Kahlo'spoetry, motherhood, how I became an airbnb superhost , my activities and plans for the future, meeting Miles Davis, Femi Kuti and so much more and very proud to make already over 200$$$. I documented a great producer/Dj Diplo, skydiving into my party crowd showing off a little bit, what hot party promoter I once was and one of the pioneers of the Bali electronic scene via the underground. I am planning to make a picture collage as soon as I figure out how to do this but I already got a lot on my promotional blogs, MassiVeVibrations and Mammasitta's Art Network in case you are interested to snoop around.
That's how we party :) in Bali for New Years Eve
onARTBali
I also introduced one of my passions for onARTBali project trying to crowd fund a table book and told the life story about an original icon Pak Wayan, my Balinese uncle. I spontaneously put a not so valuable video "What the Fuck " during the hack on this platform, some smashing celebrity make-up I personally like since Tara never impressed me with her superstar tutorial and who knows what else. I was quite a bit shy about blogging because even though I used to be a social butterfly for most of my years and considered as an outgoing extrovert, I calmed down a lot and prefer to keep personal stuff private.
Steemit is perfect for a Bali lifestyle - wonder why ?
I found peace of mind and finally time to write. That simple. A writers block cured ! The open living environment is everything anybody could wish for, looking at my garden filled with exotic flowers, 6 kitties and dogs cruising around catching snakes, bugs and geckos , screaming roosters, burning garbage, upsss …..sorry …it is heaven on earth with the beach close by, bi-weekly flower bath after a long day with cheap massages at the nearby spas and the best food you can just dream off. I never have to polish my own nails; mani and pedicures do not cost more than max 25k. I used to have maids helping me with everything as long as my daughter lived with me.
These things I call: " living in luxury ".
These things I call: " living in luxury ".
This photo is taken during a work break at my friends Birci eco-retreat in Amed , one of my my little hidaways ( I got a few )
Crypto-currency madness hit my paradise
25000 already signed up, when I joined, those exciting steemit times some of us remember too well. I was in shock and a bit speechless, what did I do leaving my familiar Facebook faces and the easy manageable timeline? I had no explanation what to think about my decision to be a part of some crypto currency new world I had no clue about. What is bitcoin, what does it mean to do a hard fork? OMG, so many words I never even heard about before being a somewhat old schoolgirl. I took me a while to even figure out what means IMO and RLOF and so on, hours to study how to post my first blog. How much I wish I could edit them but Oh well, It's inside the blockchain now , Blockchain technology, decentralization, how cool to become a game changing part of the future generation! Something feels just right. I was so hooked to go for more and what I have learned those 2 weeks is simply amazing.
BaliOHBali
I don't know how and where to start my tales , so I participated in a photo challenge showing some amateur pictures of my beloved frangipani trees and lotus flowers in my garden, one of my never pursued dream to become a photographer. Sweet @cheetah caught me using some text I liked, describing those plants without my own words but I did not dare, yet, to speak about my home, go deeper into a magical Bali, the Island of the Gods and Goddesses but also Demons, indeed.
Photo by onARTBali Auction for a Bali Magazin
The Real Bali has many faces and I will show them
I feel it's my responsibility to open up the truth and scenes from the background of local lifestyle. The real beauty of an ancient and sacred culture I respect so much, I tried to understand, live with it to realize I will never fully be a part of.
I did not want to make the mistake to sound tacky like some travel agency ads or Hollywood movies who cash in on a false "picture perfect" ( it is NOT )
I did not want to make the mistake to sound tacky like some travel agency ads or Hollywood movies who cash in on a false "picture perfect" ( it is NOT )
Tourists who visit only once will probably never see what I was lucky enough to experience living here. Some might be curious enough to go deeper to learn , visit their temples during ceremonies and not on some tour , open the hearts for their faith, music, believes, fears and also their flaws. Balinese Hinduism is the religion but its their culture first of all. The never-ending devotion to be thankful which they show with offerings , at least 2 x per day in their home temples. Many think and even told that Balinese believe in many Gods .....
No, not true at all. They believe in only one God and their trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) as manifestations.
No, not true at all. They believe in only one God and their trinity (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva) as manifestations.
This is for sweet @cheetah :
There are five sacrificial rituals, known as panca yudha in Balinese Hinduism:[11]dewa yadnya – for gods and deitiesbuta yadnya – for spirits and demonsresi yadnya – consecration of clergymanusa yadnya – human life from weddings, childbirth, growing up and starting a familypitra yadnya – for death and reincarnation
It was kind of hard to get started and what I should talk about first therefore I like to ask what you would be in interested to hear about,
Please add in your comments below. What to expect next ?
to be continued with Episode 2 :
A breathtaking collection of photos of last year's MASS CREMATION, which happens only every 5 years with approx. 5000 participants and my first BODY WASHING CEREMONY a few years ago
Meanwhile enjoy this Clip : Bali - Paradise Isle 1946 by travelfilmarchive; A tour of Bali and its religious traditions in 1946, This Youtube clip was uploaded on 19 May 2008 - Footage from this film is available for licensing from www.globalimageworks.com (credit )
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