Worlds out of balance.

I’ve woken up early this morning. Before 5 am early – what an ungodly hour.
My throat has that telltale scratchy feel.
Damn, I’m getting sick.
Just as well we are nearing the end of our trip here.

Today we are going on a canoe ride up a river, under a waterfall, and down some rapids.
Jeez…..
NOT ordinarily the sort of thing I’d do.
Why is it when you’re in foreign countries you do such insane things?

I have to admit, I’m feeling a little overwhelmed.
The noise of the traffic is getting to me. The noise in general is getting to me.
Everywhere you go there is noise.
Noise, colour, motion and smells.

Taxi drivers play the radio loud….the shops belt out music – loud. In restaurants people eat loudly and heartily.
People EAT here. My God do they EAT!
I’ve never seen so many restaurants and fast food outlets, street food, and yet more FOOD!

And shops?
Man, this is consumerism gone crazy here.
There are shopping malls here that make our shopping malls in Australia look like corner stores.

It’s making me feel really … bad.

I watched a movie once where there were all the subliminal messages being flashed on the billboards and signs throughout the city saying “BUY ME”….”SPEND”….”CONSUME”…..”WANT MORE”….
Basically it was this brainwashing being done to society….can’t remember the outcome of the movie, some B grade flick that turned into something science fiction like, but that is exactly the feeling I get here.

In Manila there are Billboards the size of buildings – everywhere.
You can see them for miles…..hundreds of them.
Flashing lights, screens on buildings all advertising something.
Buy buy buy…..spend, spend spend…

So much STUFF, on every street corner….markets with unbelievable amounts of stuff. Shoes….I have never SEEN so many shoes! And bags….and clothes, belts, more shoes….STUFF!

I feel sorry for what feels like a lost culture here.
A world completely taken over by western ways.
Not that it appears that they mind? No….that’s not the feeling I get.
Hard to know exactly though.  Perhaps if I could have a deep and meaningful with some old folk they would feel differently?

Right now I am longing for some quiet and some simple.
Nature.
A place uncrowded by all this “stuff”.

It is so true that we ( most of us everywhere in the world, – particularly in western culture) spend more time and energy on nurturing and expanding our material worlds, rather than our spiritual worlds.

So much imbalance going on.

I have to wonder if this is part of the reason why you watch the news and see so many people going crazy- killing themselves and others.
We are a world completely out of balance, don’t you feel?
Losing touch with some essential core within ourselves that keeps us sane.
Our focus is more outside of ourselves than within.

How much time do you spend nurturing and feeding, developing the within?