I’m standing here in my house in Gili Air wondering: How did it actually happen that such a small island became my home?
After working for the global automotive industry for years. I am now sitting here in my very own villa on a car-free island with a radius of 5.4 km – how did that actually happen?
In just one moment, everything has changed.
Two years ago, I didn’t even know that this island, Gili Air, existed
It was May 2022, when I had rented a house in Tegalalang in magical Bali, and everything seemed so perfect, except that my body and soul couldn’t really settle. Nothing was in flow for me. I couldn’t find peace…
So, I researched flights to Thailand in a café in Ubud. Lilly was sitting across from me. She approached me and said: “Why do you look so sad?”
“I can’t find my place.” I replied and she responded: “Oh yes … Bali … sometimes you just need to get away from this island for three days. Why don’t you go to Gili Air?”
Gili Air? What’s that?
The name evoked beauty, a breath of fresh air, signifying change, freedom – later I discovered that ‘Air’ translates to ‘water’ in Bahasa Indonesia.
Flow.
5 days later I was on Gili Air. On the short walk from the harbour to my accommodation, my jaw dropped. What’s going on here, what kind of place is this? How can it be that something like this even exists?
I had landed. I was walking on air.
“Can I please extend one night?” I asked the host.
And he replied: “Why not a month?”
I stayed for four months in total. I established my own company. I bought my house. This was never part of the plan. It wasn’t even a dream!
Often, we’re uncertain of our true dreams. We fabricate and define them…but what is it that truly aligns with our destiny?
My experience shows that the more we let ourselves be, the more we let go of concepts, the more we react to life, the more clearly, we are led to ourselves, because this manifesting and dreaming can be so limiting. After all, our minds can only dream within our imagination.
But what if life has something completely different in store for us?
My mind couldn’t have imagined that: me with my own house with a swing on this island – this was beyond my imagination. And that’s exactly what I mean by: our minds are very limited and limiting.
Our heartfelt dreams arise when we create space, when we live in the present moment, when we release the future and the ego. Then, our dreams reveal themselves, and it’s our choice how we respond, depending on whether we’re ready or not.
Last year, Lilli came to visit me. She asked: “Anika, are you in Gili? I need a break from Bali hustle & bustle.” And 13 months after our first and only meeting in Ubud, Lilly was sitting with me on my couch in Gili Air, just like back then in the café.
Life is like tangled chains – loosening them is more effective in unraveling the knot than pulling at the ends.
As we bravely let go, allowing space and making room – for others, for ourselves, for new opportunities- then life begins to create something beautiful.
It takes us by the hand and leads us to completely new places on the outside and also a little more to ourselves on the inside.
From Gili Air with love
Anika – Human Design Stories
