The Spirit of Songkhran

Still two days officially to go, but according to the people, Songkhran could go on for another four or five days.  How, one asks, do they go on getting wet and wetting others for so many days?  My thoughts are related to the origin of Songkhran and the fun-loving nature of the Thai people.

The photo below shows the sacred aspect of Songkhran, Thais gently pouring water on other Thais.  The pouring of water on another is an act of bestowing a blessing.  I am impressed by just how reverently Thais perform and receive this blessing of Songkhran.

In the next photo, we see the fun-loving nature of the Thai people.  They call in sanuk.  They give themselves entirely over to the spirit of play.  To me it's as if the sacred breaks out into play.  Or perhaps it's that the true nature of the sacred is play.

Western culture tends to separate the sacred and the profane, as it tends to separate nature and humans, or body and soul.  Here I experience daily the oneness of all at its most fundamental level.

Songhran Burst Out Today in Chiang Mai!

Today at about one o'clock in the afternoon, suddenly Songkhran burst out here right in front of my guest house.  The guest house had put out barrels of water and small buckets for the occasion.  Everybody who passed by got a drenching.  But before that, the guests thoroughly drenched one another!  I had dressed for the occasion:  a tee shirt, bathing suit, and shower clogs.  But still, when someone comes up to you and dumps a bucket of iced water on you, you are anything but prepared!

The festivities will continue until Monday, they say.  I'll try to get some photos for you; however, it's a little tricky since no one wants to get their camera drenched in water.  More tomorrow!

Things Thai, Links

Today I have started up a listing dealing with things Thai.  It's there to your right, called Thailand Through Links I like.  Because we are about to start the celebrations of Songkhran, my first posted links deal with that high point in Thai communal life; however, except for the link to a compilation of photos on Songkhran, the other sites contain a variety of information on things Thai for those friends and family who want to know more.  I'll keep adding links as I go through the process of educating myself in all things Thai.

How honest and open should I be?

Really, how much editing of my life here should I do?  I am seriously considering this question.  We humans are all always considering this question.  There are many ways that we know about another person's life.  Some have a very public life, and therefore many people know a lot about their lives.  And there are people (really!) who make it their business to know about another person's life.  But then there are the aspects of our lives that we choose to share with others.  We decide just how much of ourselves we will reveal.  And that is the question I will continually be considering as I make posts to George in Thailand.  You can help me with your feedback and suggestions.

Songkhran is Coming!

Songkhran, Festival of Water, Thai New Year's celebration: Everyone here in Chiang Mai, where the celebrations are considered the most enthusiastic, eagerly anticipates Songkhran.  Officially celebrated this year on April 13, 14, and 15, the people can't wait to get started, so some say it'll start as early as Monday, April 11.  Once started, they can't bear stopping, so some say it'll go on until as late as April 18.  A week of Songkhran!
By the way, you are probably asking just what the celebration consists of?  What do the people do?  Simple: They throw water on everyone in sight!  They tell me that I won't believe how enthusiastically the Thais throw, dump, spray, and shoot water on perfect strangers, especially foreigners. Here is a people who whai (bow reverently to another with hands pressed together, fingers up) to everyone they make eye contact with, now drenching the otherwise referent objects of their attention!
Songkhran is coming!  And I'll be right in the middle of it.  Literally.  On May 14 I will be moving from my present guest house to another guest house across the city.  People say I'm crazy, but that's not new to me!

Looking

Thailand, Amazing Thailand, Land of Smiles!
All that and more, but as a child I knew Thailand as Siam.  As an identical twin, early in life I learned about Siamese twins.  Later, I learned that twins joined together physically were called Siamese twins after the famous Siamese twins Chang and Eng Bunker, born in Siam, now called Thailand.  Of course today Siamese twins are called conjoined twins.  I suppose it would be awkward to now call them Thai Twins, although I do like the alliteration!
Who doesn't look at a pair of identical twins when they appear?  And who wouldn't take a good long look at a pair of conjoined twins?  As children, my twin Jimmy and I were used to being looked at.  Why even I, an identical twin, am completely enthralled in the presence of identical twins, a rare phenomenon indeed.  How many identical twins do you know?  And I have yet to see a pair of conjoined twins, even here in Thailand, home of the Siamese twins, Siam.
So now here I am, living in Thailand, the original home of the Bunker boys!  And what do I do?  Look, of course!  There is more beauty here per square inch than I have seen in all my 72 years of living.  And the supreme beauty?  The people of Thailand.  Physical beauty.  Emotional beauty.  Spiritual beauty.  Land of Smiles, yes, but for me, Thailand is the Land of Beauty.