Of books, travels and intimate relationships

The book fell off the bookshelf onto the floor in front of the lady next to me and I said to her 'maybe that's meant for you'.
She looked at it and smiled, it was about female health, we both chuckled.
A moment before the falling book she had made a quick offhand remark about another book title, something about 'finding the perfect mate'...we both chuckled again and she commented 'why bother, they're all the same'....ouch I thought to myself.
While I don't necessarily agree with her statement, I knew where she was coming from.
We were of similar ages and no doubt she like myself could tell a story or two from a rich tapestry of lifetime experiences which in her case seemed to have left her a little jaded and perhaps a little bitter.
For a brief moment I thought to make a comment and then I caught myself and thought 'how lucky am I' I could write a book on my life and experiences and not all of which have been good but on the whole I felt a sense of gratitude for being where I am today...I might be a little cynical but I'm certainly not jaded and bitter..... what I am is the sum total of all those experiences and for who I am I truly give thanks. I have a good life, in fact I have a great life.


My new found friend reaches up and  plucks another book  from the shelves  and drops it into her basket, she seems pleased and turns to me to share her find,   'An Authentic Life' by Caroline Jones..on that we both nod in agreeance...it would be a stimulating read that one! Uplifting I think I heard her say!

The Salvos bookshelves hold a a treasure trove of stories, biographies, classic reads, history, study, childrens with a  book to please every reader.
I so love a bookshop or secondhand shop where it's like a jumble sale and this one is like a giant factory, stuff everywhere and all over the place, just how I like to do my fossicking...all neat and tidy doesn't inspire me at all....I can scan a shop like that in seconds and be out the door in no time!

So back to the bookshelves of the Salvos, in my arms were two books, both chosen for friends.
The Dance of Anger by Harriet Lerner PhD and what a great read that was when I discovered it so many, many years ago...it was one of those aha moments for me and it literally changed the way I chose to act in my relationships.....these days, whenever I come across it or the Dance of Deception or the Dance of Intimacy I grab it to share around.. Some great insights for anyone who wants to change the patterns of intimate relationships.....and a can of worms that subject would open up and I'm not about to enter into today....there wouldn't be enough space here to delve into the depths of that subject!!

My other book is titled 'Indonesian Gold' based on the 'events surrounding the infamous billion dollar gold fraud and the determined few who destroyed so many lives in their all consuming quest for gold in Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo'.
Having been to Borneo myself I was drawn to this and will read it before passing it onto a past partner and travel companion who I'm sure will immerse himself into this tragic story.

I recall flying into Borneo over the immense jungles and being shocked to look down and see so much logging cancer dotted about the landscape....I had visions of a dense and untouched environment, teaming with animals and pretty much untouched by modern civilization.
How naive was I, I did many walks through the jungle on designated pathways, not the rugged trekking you might expect, and in the whole time I only saw two butterflies and one of those was dead...I barely saw a bird, none of those exotic primates where I was and although my trip to Borneo still  remains one of the highlights of my SE Asian travels., it was a shock and a great disappointment to realise that the mighty jungles of this far off land have been decimated just like every other.
Can you image logging with the use of helicopters, well that's what they did when the terrain was too rugged to get to by road and there is a lot of inaccessible land in that part of the world.
I feel sad to recall the memories of that destruction and yet I was and remain in total awe of the immensity of the caves I was lucky enough to visit. That was the jewel in the crown for me.

One cave, affectionately known as the Bat Cave could hold something like 47 jumbo jets inside and they still don't know the exact depth and distance that cave penetrates into the earth...it's almost impossible to comprehend until you're inside and even then it's absolutely mind blowing trying to rationalise the sheer size..underground rivers, thousands of bats, plants that only grow in that particular region of the world and crystal clear water like no other.

Who would have thought that a trip to the local second hand book shop and  meeting a fellow browser would have stirred such vivid memories of one of the most wonderfully exciting trips of my lifetime....I must return to Borneo, experience those caves once more, stand in awe of the ribbon of bats that thread their way so spectacularly through the dusk sky each evening amidst  the almost deafening sound that accompanies their nightly voyage as they head out in search of food..

So thank you Helene, you've inspired me and triggered some deeply satisfying memories...on the one hand of intimate relationships and on the other of a trip of a lifetime that I will never forget....