The Land of Smiles: On Feeling Nurtured, Connected and Tapping into Joy

Picture this . . . . . I’m in a restaurant in Chiang Mai, Thailand with the sole intention of ordering, consuming and thoroughly enjoying a dish that despite it’s mouth watering, mind blowing taste, I’ve found really difficult to find in Canada. There’s a place that I usually go to where years ago a friend first introduced me to Burmese Tea Leaf Salad. Today, this isn’t that place.

I decided to be adventurous and try this dish somewhere else at a place new to me, and as I sit perusing the menu, I notice a couple of guys passing me on their way out. One guy catches me out of the corner of his eye, does a double take and says . . .

“Oh! Hi!”

The other guy turns to see who is friend is addressing, also does a double take and tries to wrack his brain until he finally just blurts out . . .

“Where do I know you from?!”

The thing is, of all places in the world, we know each other from . . .

Helena, Montana!!!!

But let’s step back . . . 6 years to be exact!

When I stayed in Chiang Mai for a couple of months to go to Thai massage school, there was a yoga studio I really liked and regularly attended. At the studio was a teacher whose teaching and style I really resonated with. That was the first guy. When I left Chiang Mai, I followed him on social media and subscribed to his newsletter. When he advertised a retreat the following year in Helena, Montana and I was living relatively close (North America definition of close) to that area at the time, I decided to go. And that is where I met the second guy . . . . let’s just call him “Z”

The yoga teacher had to go, but Z sat with me for a bit, we chatted, marvelled at the workings of life, exchanged info and just like that . . . I had a connection in Chiang Mai. Life’s funny!

Z and his wife (let’s just call her ‘M’) have been coming to Chiang Mai for nearly 30 years. I got to meet M, do a morning practice with them in the park, meet up for coffee and just have some great conversations and genuine connection.

That story basically sums up the experiences and feelings I’ve been having over these last couple of weeks in Northern Thailand. Even I’m surprised to find myself still here as I had the brief idea to go down south soon after my Chiang Rai retreat. But, sometimes life just has better plans than the ones you stress a little bit about coming up with on your own. Of the many lessons and learnings I’m getting from this trip, that one has been a big one!

I’ve experienced interesting connections throughout my time in Thailand (now and in previous visits), but I’m going to credit my retreat in Chiang Rai as the catalyst that actually has me observing, acknowledging and honouring these connections as they play out in real time.

Museflower Retreat was a completely different retreat than the ones I’ve done before and the word that kept coming up while I was there was “nurture” The space was amazing, the staff was great, the food was so good and filling, the teachers were loving and passionate . . . . I could go on and on! I felt so nurtured and supported that I FINALLY released some shit and gave myself permission to truly nurture me!

The moment I stepped onto the grounds of Museflower, there seemed to be this thread of connection and release. Some of my deepest lessons, learnings and struggles in this life have centred around these two words, and the first fellow retreater I met helped me dig into this.

(we’ll just call her) “N” and I clicked immediately. Not only did I spend a lot of time with her in and outside of classes, but we also took part in a workshop series that just involved us. I left the retreat before she did, but we later met up just outside of Chiang Mai where she helped hook me up with a couple of other magical people and we attended an equally releasing, magical and opening event.

Eventually it came time to say our goodbyes, knowing that whether we ever see each other again or not, a precious connection was forged that supports us in our new individual journeys!

I used to feel so disconnected with social media and resisted it for a very long time, and though there are still aspects of it I really don’t like, it has kept me connected with family and friends and these last couple of years has connected me on a deep level to some pretty amazing people.

Earlier in my trip I connected with an art gallery owner I’ve bought a painting from on a previous trip and have followed on instagram, and . . . .

. . . . a social media connection stemming from that is part of what has kept me here longer than expected.

When I posted the above pic on instagram, someone that went to the same Thai massage school as I did (we were in different classes) messaged me to tell me she’d be in Chiang Mai at a later time. I planned to leave two days after she arrived . . . that was over a week ago! 😆

(let’s just call her) “R” has spent the last couple of years in India and Nepal, and has lived off and on in Chiang Mai for five years. She has interesting stories, a unique perspective, is a wealth of information about Chiang Mai and loves food. Definitely my kind of person!

I planned to leave Chiang Mai because as much as I love it, I was feeling a bit claustrophobic in the city. But, R encouraged me to rent a bike and showed me how easy it is to access the country and nature from this city.

It felt so freeing on the bike, getting to other places I hadn’t been to before, and I wondered why I hadn’t rented a bike more often?

And just when I thought Chiang Mai is great, but I miss the clear, clean air in Canada . . . . I returned my bike and R and I hopped in a van, rode for 1.5 hours and made our way to a mountain village called Mae Kampong Village

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So R convinced me to stay north to relax, but she is also my catalyst for going south. I intended to go back to the beach, but I wasn’t sure where. I wanted somewhere small where I wouldn’t need a scooter. On the first night that we met up, she mentioned a small island that you can walk the length of that she wanted to go to sometime . . . . and a plan was born. Now sometime has become right now and off we go!