Constant creation

Thai people work so hard at whatever they do. It's like a performance, a creation, whether they are washing dishes, giving a massage, or driving a tuk tuk (three wheeled motorbike-cab). Whenever I buy steet food (every day), I enjoy watching my food being prepared. The making of a papaya salad looks about equally as complex as the composition of a fugue. Coming home from dinner one night I met a man making tiny beautiful flowers out of discarded plywood, wich he cut into petals, painted, and assembled. He looked "homeless," though you might consider many thai people "homeless" by western standards. I was inspired by his artistic skill, his passion for his work and the creativity to make money from virtually nothing. This creative process has captivated my attention,  especially as it relates to the discipline of creativity. (Are these things not contradictory?!)

Every weekend there is a night market on Saturday and Sunday. The best comparison I could make is if the Ann Arbor art fair happened for 2 days a week every week.  The street is shut down, and food, clothing, art, massage, and music take the place of automobiles. Vendors begin setting up hours and hours before the market begins. Small old women walk down the street balancing huge loads on either end of long poles. Impressive strength. Discipline. There is so much manual labor involved, for vendors to display their handiwork. Their creativity. Discpline. Creativity. Discipline.

This saturday I walked down the street at an impressively slow pace, "shiny" distractions slowing me down even more than the impassable wall of people. I made it to the center of the street in about 2 hours time, where I found V, a previous acquantance. V is one of those people who is actually cool. Not just in appearances, but in genuine kindness, enthusiasm, and (you got it!) creativity. V, like many of his Thai counterparts, is a creator. At this particular Saturday market he was in the center of the throng of traffic with three other artists, drawing portraits for whoever would stop and sit for a moment. He saw my guitar and asked me to play a song.

I was invited into the creation process.

As I sat and played, V began to paint me. In no time at all, a crowd gathered to watch. A live painting of live music! The energy was really something, the feeling of the crowd and the focus of the painters (2 more began to paint me as well, and one let me keep the portrait for free). I felt so priveleged to be part of it all, to create side by side with the thai people, from whom I have so much to learn.

I don't know that I have a closing thought. It was a really rad experience?  Come to thailand? Maybe I would be a better musician if i worked my ass off like these people do? All of the above, I spose. That and, I think I'll keep carrying a guitar to the night markets.