When an INTJ doesn’t plan ahead…

I flew to Bali with no specific plan in mind. Trust me, that was probably the most spontaneous thing that me as an INTJ has ever done.

I did have some preliminary ideas about what this trip could be though:

One, it could be a trip about self-discovery, just like how Lizzie, author of Eat, Pray, Love, defined her life-changing trip to Bali as.

Two, it could hopefully involve a lot of walking, for instance like hiking in rice fields and rain forests in the daytime, or walking aimlessly at night on city streets. Given the fact that I just got back from London and Dublin less than a week prior to my Bali trip, any kind of long walks would make me as happy as the other Lizzie, aka the keen walker of Pride & Prejudice, was. 

And three, it could be a trip where I got the chance to indulge myself in lots of authentic music. 

I went to a Kirtan event the second day I arrived in Ubud, feeling ecstatic and even a bit emotional sometimes. But there was this feeling of void right after I stepped out of the tea temple where the event was held.

I tried Djembe then. It was a fun, free-spirited workshop where the 30 of us learned and jammed together. But there was nothing too surprising to me about this instrument.

Then came the day of my Gamelan 101 workshop at ARMA Museum. I was instantly captivated by the bright percussive sound that gendèr made, amazed by how fast I was able to play a few songs together with my instructor Pak Wayan, and more importantly, grateful for how genuine and welcoming he was. 

One thing led to another. I found myself interviewing middle school students and school founder at the Payogan Music School on Dec. 30th, filming the New Year’s Eve celebration performances on Dec. 31st, attending the cremation ceremony for one of Pak Wayan’s family members on Jan. 2nd, having in-depth conversations with Pacet, university lecturer and Gamelan orchestra founder, at Pak Wayan’s house on Jan. 6th…

All of these gave birth to my first ever independent documentary on the Balinese Gamelan. 

It thus turned out that, at least in my case, when an INTJ didn’t plan ahead, unexpectedly delightful things that one could never have foreseen or planned out happened. 

To be honest I was quite skeptical about what Michael Singer says about “not pushing for things we want and accepting any opportunity that life gives us" when I was reading his book The Surrender Experiment earlier last year.

But now I might have to re-examine my own opinions. 

So, going back to my New Year’s Resolutions for 2024. Maybe I should aim higher than being only 3-5% more spontaneous? 🤣

Well, on a scale from 1 to 10, how spontaneous was it to improvise with a professional dancer at the NYE celebration? 😉