The Kaleidoscope Isle
Stories from the edge of the dream
Three decades ago I arrived in Bali wide eyed with wonder and the vague idea that life might be more magical if I stepped off the map. What I didn’t realise then wasI was stepping not just on to an island but an ever turning kaleidoscope - where the scared dances with the absurd and the mystical hides in plain sight, and the ordinary is anything but.
Bali has a way of unravelling you, being this close to the equator everything flourishes in the mid day sun and dissolves as quickly in the heat. One moment you’re deep in a temple ceremony where time stops and the air vibrates with offerings and chants, the next you’re dodging a scooter driven by a dog.
It’s a place where the gods are neighbours, the roosters have opinions and the veil between the worlds is sometimes thin.
Over thirty years I’ve witnessed the island change in ways both heartbreaking and breathtaking - yet the elusive shimmering something remains. The way the morning light hits the rice fields, the heady murmur of gamelan late at night, the knowing smile of the old Balinese priest who sees straight through you but laughs kindly anyway.
This is my collection of stories, some spiritual, some strange, all woven into the colourful chaotic soul stirring kaleidoscope of life on this island.
May you laugh, wonder, question everything and perhaps fall under Bali’s peculiar spell just as I did.
Natalie
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Wife sharing and other broadband Bali mysteries
“Please be patient. Many people sharing wife”
When I first moved to Bali, the jungle hummed louder than the Internet. Back then, finding a reliable WiFi connection was a bit like spotting a white heron mid ceremony - mystical, fleeting and accompanied by incense. The running jokes amongst foreigners was that we we all “sharing wife” thanks to the delightful typo you’d often see in cafes and homestays…
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The Retreat Years
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
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Grow it.
It all begins with an idea. Maybe you want to launch a business. Maybe you want to turn a hobby into something more. Or maybe you have a creative project to share with the world. Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
