Friday, October 26, 2018

The poverty of wealth

At the beginning of October I went six days with my friend Kadhow (my dog) by car from Chiang Mai to Bangkok and Pattaya. A period to celebrate a wonderful long weekend with my girlfriend.

We had booked a beautiful bed and breakfast adjacent to Bangkok city where Kadhow was more than welcome. A villa in a location between the city and the sea (Gulf of Thailand). Well better said a villa in a kind of green zone as part of this mega-sized metropolis. A unique experience to suddenly come to an oasis of peace from the extreme hectic on the busy Bangkok Friday afternoon. Rid of people crawling like ants in the streets, not outcast from noise.

The sound of 'very large birds' that left the international airport, sometimes it seemed nearly touching with their wheels the roof of the villa, kept us awake for a while. For Kadhow it felt like a long rehearsing New Year's Eve. Super early in the morning that same kind of big birds, yes even Dutch nationals in a KLM Boeing behind the windows, arriving.

Accustomed as I am getting up early I felt happy to go for a walk with my dog. Place enough and lots of new smells for him to discover. Both he and I incidentally had to regularly sneeze because of the air pollution that was sprayed over our heads every about two minutes and came over us from the ongoing heavy traffic from the city nearby.

In the green zoned spacious villas one even larger and more luxurious than the other. On the driveways car brands like Lexus, BMW, Porsche and Mercedes. Large high walls and heavy ornate wrought iron fences as entrance gate. At the corners of the walls around various villas security camera systems and even private surveillance. The 'park' itself already had surveillance so this was even extra and thin over.

Kadhow did not care. It was quiet on the street only the regular aircraft noise. Perhaps inside he had to laugh, walking with a big curl in his tail, because his pet-friends were looking at him from behind the fences and barking at him. He freely walked around happily. Not a single roommate coming to smell his ass.

It made me smile. What a poverty actually to have and want to live in this 'wealth'. In many cases only a fantastic 'success show' that says nothing about real happiness. Which, by the way, does not mean that these people may not experience optimal happiness in their own way. But to be able to celebrate this type of happiness every evening and night in a kind of prison… Happy for me not my way.

After the weekend I brought my girlfriend to Pattaya and together with Kadhow in two days I went back to Chiang Mai. In the evening I arrived safely after a nice driving adventure of about 2300 kilometers.

The next morning I woke up ... yes, by birds. This time smaller species that whistle their morning tunes. A big green scenery of the mountains and fresh air, especially at the end of the rainy season. No, indeed no sea in the neighborhood. I do not have a large villa either, no walls and a large steel ornamental fence and ... 'only' a Mazda not even on a private driveway.

What a wonderful long weekend the three of us got. Rich and worth repeating. Rich, yes, certainly at home. Grateful and without any reason to have to secure and build a wall around my ‘wealth’. No status, no position, just being myself. Experiencing happiness and enjoying life without stress, fame or the hunt any longer for success.
Something that I am extremely grateful for.


Gangey Gruma (Frans Captijn)


Captijn InsightCatalyst in developing tranquility & in-sight to get in a sustainable way real connection, purpose, pleasure and flow in life, love, family, business, career and work again.


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