Have you communicated your wants?

You don’t look happy! I am not. What day is it today in Bali? Buda manis. Ah. No wonder my trip resulted ‘empty’ again. Many shops were still closed at 11! I couldn’t believe myself when I realized how many same answers I got: masih ada upacara and masih sembahyang. Two important things in Bali: ceremony and praying. Wrong timing again? It’s a bit too much for me not to know the days. I stared at my calendar just now trying to record what dates in the future I should be aware.

I drove in Tegallalang again although many shops were closed because it’s still early. I made a few stops and realized that there’s little I could do for my new shop. I have to see what I have in the shop first, live with the display, then dig ideas of what else to add. I couldn’t decide now what kind of vitrine I need for necklaces and silver jewelry I plan to design. In short, there’s nothing I could do now. Only later after the shop ready and running.

Fine. I fetched stock record I asked Ngurah to make in Pallava. I bit my fingers. I walked to my neighbor’s shop and sat in front of my friend. He laughed. He knew already what happened from the way I looked. I told him I don’t know how to communicate. He preached: talking with people from different culture needs full text, long explanation, and few physical examples. Excuse me?! He told me that even talking to General Manager level, we need such procedure. Arrgghhh…

Then on we talked about how complicated to communicate with someone that has relationship with us (employer – employee, husband - wife, friends). We often miss the most important messages: what I want, what you want. We discussed his relationship with his ex-boss again. Having read their emails exchange, I see that both actually experienced miscommunication. It looks so easy to solve, in fact, it’s not…

So after explaining the same thing for the third times to the builder, I preferred to go home. My friend laughed out loud. Anyway, he’s my cheerleader. I have booked him to be my partner for the opening of my new shop. I have communicated my wants…

Photo of Buddha head in Pallava backyard.