The Give & Take

​Life has been lovely in Chiang Mai. And as busy as I’ve chosen to be. 

I previously mentioned my Airbnb host, Amy, and she’s quite remarkable.

She organizes an outing most every day of the week. She says there are over 600 people on her listserv, and she doesn’t make a dime in profit. Tour guides in Thailand must be both Thai and licensed. Others need not apply. So she offers her services, hoping folks will come early and have a coffee at her café. 

However the name, “Creativitea,” is nowhere to be seen at her storefront. The entrance is obscured with trash containers, wayward scooters and bikes, and dead plants in pots. Doesn’t look like a place that serves a good cappuccino. Or a place you’d want to drink it. 

You know me, I mind my own business as long as I can, but I couldn’t help but offer to fix a 1/2 dozen things in my room: a broken shower-head, a missing clock battery, a table lamp that shorts out, and several other things. I said I had a background in property management, urban planning and retail, that I’d also be willing to help improve her curb appeal, remove dead plants, hide the trash bins, plant flowers, chalk a fanciful ”Creativitea” on her chalkboard. I make this offer in writing, carefully worded, “I mean no offense, but…”

She responds:” I have to do everything myself, and I have no money.” I reply I would want to do this gratis, it’s just what do. I never heard back, and I didn’t bring it up again. Sigh. 

I know this kind of person that gives and gives and gripes and gripes. Its an odd thing, but I suspect we all have a little bit of this in us. 

It takes many lessons to begin to understand life is at its best as a dance of give and take, a balancing act of yin and yang on the tip of a pin. Giving relentlessly, and self-care. 


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