By the sea in Bali, an idle afternoon is best spent doing nothing at all. Choose a shady thatched hut, lie back on a bamboo daybed still carrying a trace of sea dampness, and look out until sky and water dissolve into one inexhaustible blue. Nearby, the waves move at their own unhurried pace, folding onto the beach again and again. Now and then a sea breeze passes through, carrying a faint saltiness and a little heat. Beside you sits a freshly opened young coconut; every few minutes, a sip arrives cool and sweet.
Let the body surrender to the looseness of sun and surf. Close your eyes and listen to the tide, letting time wear itself away in the quiet advance and retreat of the sea.