Contemplating Shutting Up

David Dakan Allison - 01/07/2012

Dear friends and family - 

I hope this finds you beginning the new year as intended - with changes that make your life more enjoyable. 

I didn’t take any pictures this week. I’ll take one right now. (as soon as I wrote that a lovely Australian gal appeared and took the picture of me on my bike). I’m at Ease cafe, taking it easy. It’s a sweet oasis in the city--close to my hotel. This is where I come and spend hours writing my novel - which, btw, has transformed into an even more magical story than I had imagined. Sitting in a garden setting, listening to great background music, drinking jasmine tea - having a meal for $3 whenever I want one . . . ahh. It’s good.

My new years day message was to “shut up.” This of course was perplexing. Was it a shut up for the moment regarding whatever was going on in my mind, or was it an overall message for the year to come? It certainly started my year into more self-reflection. Am I being too transparent? Are these blogs about me talking too much? It’s Saturday and I usually want to get a blog out on Wednesday, and had decided to forget it. Who cares about my blabber anyway? Just shut up already! Then I received two unexpected emails telling me how much they enjoyed my blogs and looked forward to them each week. So, here you go. 

Normal to light traffic

I’ve been here in Chiang Mai for less than three months, but already I’m feeling like an old timer. I was riding my bike down the street today and a couple of farang’s on bikes were coming right at me - on the wrong side of the road, well the right side of the road in the US and most of Europe, but the wrong side here and I’m thinking what the hell? as I did a tactical maneuver to avoid a crash. That just doesn’t happen in the natural rhythmic chaotic dance that is local Thai traffic. I had just smoothly negotiated over three lanes in fast car and scooter traffic on my bike - only to almost have a head-on with tourists who act like they own the road. My Chinese doctor told me three weeks ago to go away and relax - to calm down. I thought I was doing pretty good . . . I’ll see what she says on Monday. If she tells me to go away and shut up - then I know I’m in trouble.

Looking out my 6th story window

So, I guess you can see from this blog that I don’t have much to say. I could talk about the weather . . . I’ve seen one little sprinkle of rain since the first of November--every day is beautifully sunny in the eighties. I often forget I’m in a foreign country - like I had moved from Kauai to Honolulu - just a much more ethnic and colorful Honolulu and without the beach. The language has not been a problem, though often I wish I could just say it in Thai. I’ve gotten “pow mai kow jai” down - which means “I don’t understand.” It’s easier for me to shut up when I don’t speak the language. 

Well, back to writing my novel. I just finished the 6th draft of Part One - The Mystery. It’s the first twenty chapters, 150 pages. It’s a flowing mystery that happens in Portland, Oregon. I’m into the first (four new chapters) to sixh drafts of Part Two - The Magic. The location changes to Kyoto, Japan. Part Three - The Miraculous - happens in Tibet. The places I write about in Tibet are very remote. (A Flash) I’d like to place myself in the miraculous market and put out a request that some good someone appears wanting to journey to the most sacred mountains on earth - Mt. Kailash and Khawa Karpo, to the far west and far east of the great land that is Tibet - and is looking for a companion and will buy my tickets to experience this amazing Shambala - The Path to Paradise - story with me.  Wouldn’t it be fun if that someone who is living a comfortable life throws up his or her arms and says “What the heck, I can afford it . . . the most sacred mountains on the planet, the path to paradise? Sure. I’m ready, Let’s go!”  We can dream such dreams, why not? “Why not?” has led me this wonderful new life in Thailand and a “Why not?” can give someone a most amazing adventure with me to two of the most remote places on earth. Is that fun in the making or what?

One of a thousand dragons

So the year moves forward. Maybe next week I’ll take more pictures and have something more exciting to write about. The good new is - I’m still having fun.

At the Chedi Wat

With much love and blessings,     

David/Dakan