Liz Sinclair
I write about travel, work and money. I'm also an emerging fiction writer and playwright. I've lived in the USA, London, Australia and Indonesia.
Bali Birth
If you want to fall in love with the world, really fall in love with it, watch a birth. Better yet, move to a developing country, work as a fundraiser for a birth centre for poor families, have no experience of birth yourself, and then watch a baby born into water.
Liz SinclairPublished 9 days ago in Families
"And the CNN Hero of the Year for 2011 is ..."
I looked around the spacious living room. The entire administrative staff from the Bumi Sehat center was crowded in, pairs of people wedged into chairs meant for one (Indonesian style), sitting cross legged on the floor, stretched out on the massive carved Chinese teak bed or leaning against the wooden walls of the joglo, or traditional Javanese wooden house.
Liz SinclairPublished 10 days ago in HumansPart 9: Karma is a Bitch (literally)
This is the last installment of the first Vocal Creators Saloon story series. Before reading this piece, please be sure to read the first eight parts that precede it. Each is written by a different member of the Vocal Creators Saloon Facebook Group:
Liz SinclairPublished about a month ago in FictionKnit One, Breathe One
Knit 1, breath in. Purl 1, breath out. When my mother was dying of cancer, I would sit by her side for hours at night, as she slept, keeping watch. I would knit in those empty hours, when the world was still and my focus shrank to the soft sound of my mother's breaths and the click-click of acrylic needles. Without thought, I would match my stitches to her breaths. Knit 1, breath in. Purl 1, breath out. As long as she was breathing, I told myself, she was still with us. I used a lot of moss (or seed stitch) as it was simple and repetitious, just alternating knit and purl. I worked on easy projects: cowls and scarves. No shaping, no increases and decreases. I had little energy for decisions or following directions. When my eyes drooped, and I started miscounting stitches, I would put my work down, and tip toe to bed.
Liz SinclairPublished 2 months ago in HumansHow Bali Taught Me to Love Tempe
Before I moved to Bali, I didn't really care for tempe (or tempeh, as it's spelled in the West). The few times I'd ordered it in vegetarian restaurants, it was cooked in a stew or grilled as a whole cake, and tasted soggy or bland. But that's not the best way to eat this unique fermented food made from soybeans. Indonesia is full of a range of delicious recipes made from tempe, and the people here have been cooking with it for hundreds of years. After all, they invented tempe.
Liz SinclairPublished 2 months ago in FeastFirst Place in Travel Cuisine Challenge
How Bali Taught Me To Love Tempeh
Before I moved to Bali, I didn't really care for tempe (or tempeh, as it's spelled in the West). The few times I'd ordered it in vegetarian restaurants, it was cooked in a stew or grilled as a whole cake, and tasted soggy or bland. But that's not the best way to eat this unique fermented food made from soybeans. Indonesia is full of a range of delicious recipes made from tempe, and the people here have been cooking with it for hundreds of years. After all, they invented tempe.
Liz SinclairPublished 2 months ago in FeastSo you want to live in Bali?
I live in Bali. Now, before you say, awwww, that must be like living in Paradise, let me give you a quick reality check. Yes, it can be an amazing life. There aren't all the rules and regulations that constrict us in the Western world. People come to Bali to re-invent themselves, create new careers and lives, find love, get healthy and fit, tap into or expand their spirituality -- think Eat, Pray, Love and how Liz Gilbert re-discovered herself, her love of writing and found a soulmate.
Liz SinclairPublished 3 months ago in Wander"Where are my scissors?"
Introduction So I'm living here in Bali, Indonesia, raising an adopted daughter. Long story short - she was fostered with the director of the health center where I came to volunteer many years ago. Her birth family couldn't afford to keep her. When she was two, Elle adopted both of us as her mothers (that's a different story) and so we co-parent her. She divides her time between our two homes. We -- her two Moms -- are also creatives. We're both writers, for one thing, and I'm also a knitter, while the Other Mother sews and makes jewelry. We've passed our love of creating on to Elle. The women in her birth family are weavers, so maybe creativity is in her blood as well.
Liz SinclairPublished 3 months ago in Families
