Saturday, February 24, 2007

Ending the countdown...

Reborn at 50
on 23 February 2007
His name is Wouter, he is in good health and doing fine, and he smiles a lot!


The day came at last...
I passed months of reflection and enjoyed my birthday tremendously. After my journey of 83 days I feel wiser and better equipped to enter this new phase of life.

Depending on one’s choice, turning 50 can mean a lot or a little. I decided months ago to make it a big event for me. Seeing my turning 50 as an opportunity for “rebirth”, I took time to review who I am, and everything I do. During my journey, I found many answers and also opportunities for change to live forward.

I feel an immense gratitude to my parents and to all who have supported, advised, and loved me in my first 50 years. Without their kindness and support, I would not be where I am now.

Today, the principal image I had of my journey was a door. I found that the door to a new and richer life at 50 has opened for me, and I am walking through it.

My birthday was relaxed and calm, that is, until I had a chance to jam with a band this evening. Before that, I visited a museum of archeology of Bali and Eastern Indonesia, saw the Moon of Pejeng, the largest bronze kettle drum of Southeast Asia, dating back to 400 years BC, and enjoyed a birthday dinner organized by the hotel, complete with birthday cake and candles, and rosé wine produced in Bali.

Music shifted my gears in the evening when I listened to guitarist virtuoso Balawan playing with his band at the Opera Café, and he invited me to jam with them. He asked what I wanted to play on my sax, and in what key, and we agreed to improvise on his favorite Balinese ethnic jazz fusion style. I felt super alive when playing with him.

Afterwards we chatted about being a musician, and how his life as a musical artist changed after signing a contract with Sony last year. While many more people came to know and love his music, and the sales of his CD albums increased dramatically, much of his work is now also pirated and available on MP3 in sidewalk stalls, which doesn’t bring him any income.

And as he spoke, I was reminded of Poleng, the pattern of the Balinese checkered cloth of black and white squares, signifying right and wrong. While these two qualities seem to coexist interwoven side by side, the Balinese people have demonstrated through countless ages that harmony between people, the environment, and the spiritual world can be attained through daily practice in an ever changing world.

I received several phone calls and many text messages during the day and evening, and I thank all my well-wishers for having me in their thoughts. I am now happily 50 and ready to share more of the magic of life with my ever-expanding community of family and friends.

The new angles for growth I discovered on my journey to rebirth at 50 will help me Live Forward, and I will continue daily reflections on that even as the countdown in this blog has come to an end.


Photographs: Cutting the birthday cake (top), my Balinese door to rebirth at 50 (middle), and jamming to Balinese ethnic jazz fusion (bottom).

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