Tomorrow I move on to things new, after a spell of living in Bath caught short, times meant to move on, I meant to be elsewhere, spirit leading me elsewhere in this relentless journey of the material world... Though! It may have been short, less than two months, its been all that has been needed in many respects, for much of what I was envisioned came to fruition, save only for the ability to find space in all of it (and, well, my spirit knows best for this one, and it leads elsewhere now). Some highlights: Within twelve hours of returning to Bath, heading straight into the magic of the No-NATO camp in Newport. Meeting absolutely delightful people there. An afternoon on a crazy floating bridge thing, after having been at the courthouse in the morning making our presence known. This is activism. Activism = loving community. Id only just met everyone, and yet they unconditionally included me as a huge part of the family. Job-searching, and what it allowed me to do. Without having the need to be in town on a daily basis feeling like I was doing something useful, I wouldnt have been able to raise the £120-or-so for Nikkis dog, nor connected so strongly with the spiritual significance of looking for a job (and being rejected on numerous occasions) [simoonji.wordpress/2014/09/25/the-art-of-treating-the-job-search-as-sacred/]. The Freedom March. Myself and Alexi took to the streets of Bath in revolutionary spirit, as we coated ourselves in blue body-paint, wielded a flag of Palestine, and drummed and screamed to the masses FREEEEEDDDOOOOMMMMM. We landed ourselves in Abbey Courtyard, no buskers occupying it but plenty of people around, and we took it over. We drummed and chanted and sang (Freedom for the body, freedom for the mind, freedom for the spirit, freedom of every kind), I gave a short monologue, and we allowed people to join in the chanting and singing. It was incredible. The chalk revolution. The most incredible moment of meeting one of my favourite old lecturers, Chris goes off to chalk in front of the Abbey, and he comes back, lecturer notices the chalk and asks about it, a reporter from The Independent newspaper suddenly arrives with notepad in hand and asks to interview Chris about it all. He goes off, two days later a well-written article arrives about the busking ban in Bath that references this exact moment. Working this crazy job. Travel surveys are as mundane as make them out to be. The only sleepy part of the job, for me, was due to me sleeping less than five hours each night of the week, and my body needing to catch-up during work. I met a wonderful geezer called Andrew, who became a best friend and partner in ridiculous acts [a fair few other lovely people were met along the way, too, especially through the roadside stuff in the last two weeks]. Wed kind of have competitions of getting in as deep-er conversations as possible, especially with attractive females. Shallow it may sound, but it was a great confidence-booster, and I feel that my ability to communicate with girls has improved hugely since. And - there was plenty plenty plenty of time when there really wasnt much to do. We became amateur historians in these times, using my phones slow and restricted internet access to research into anything from family history to local buildings and geographic usage. One hugely memorable moment was when a full car of uni girls stopped, I was interviewing, and River interrupted the interview to give a flower, declaring that it was a flower for every girl in this car. The girls were so taken away by the gesture, and I went on with the interview. The huge amount of support that I received at a time when I was really quite stunned and confused by what was going on. I was hosted for a couple of weeks by friends that cut me a key and fed me and were so very relaxed with my presence there. I was offered lots of offers of where to move on to. Ros hosted my mum for a few nights in Freshford, and me for one, as I took in what previously only existed in my imagination in this cottage and surrounding in the extraordinary Freshford village. Friends talking it all through with me, allowing me to work out my own mind as I wasnt sure if it all was just created inside my head or not, and realising that it didnt really matter either way - there was a huge need for things to be different, I was receiving a massive message telling me that I was going elsewhere, and all this support I got helped me hugely to remain calm, reflective and composed in my approach. Getting involved in the Bath Buddhist Group. A fine group, that didnt mind that I was turning up and falling asleep in every meditation (it fell on a Thursday evening - the final work day of the week for me, and so obviously the least sleep of the week had the night before...). A variety of themes explored, lots of lovely people met/reconnected with, friends friends friends. The TUC/Parliament Square revolution, as conducted by myself and Alexi. Well, maybe we didnt exactly conduct it, but we were certainly very warmly received at Parliament Square when all was extremely quiet and they needed energy OF ANY KIND to get their spirits up. We roared in on our drums and voices, and took it up to renewed levels. Alexi read the Great Dictator speech out to the police line in front of us. Many people there thanked us deeply for all wed brought over, pleading us to stay rather than going on the march, but we said that we needed to go on the march in order to bring more people over. A couple of hours later, and after a great Hare Krishna meal, a spontaneous march ensued from Hyde Park back to Parliament Square, dodging police lines along the way, screaming WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS and FREEDOM!!!!!!!!!!!! all along the way. The taking of Parliament Square was a moment unmatched by anything. Political Liberation. The full car of us going to Skanda Vale for last weekend. Diwali, and Skanda Shasti. Incredible to be with three people who had never experienced anything alike it before, three people all dear to my heart, who I kind of looked out for during the weekend but also knew that they needed to experience it all for just what it needed to be for each of them individually. Coming back on Sunday afternoon, and heading straight to Bruces for the Becoming Human gathering, with Ray et al. Deep talk, connections, philosophising and practicing. When everyone was due to leave, a hugging revolution happened. It was unbelievable. It was the most tremendous moment in Bath that I have experienced since this: [simoonji.wordpress/revolution/vibrant-activism/sing-freely-we-are-all-free/], when we exploded into a song that affected absolutely everything. Yet, this was indoors, and we were just hugging for big amounts of time. But the energy was just the same. Something very very deep was happening, whether we knew it or not. The two days since have been mad, to say the least, as I have been sort of cracked open in this time. And now its time to leave. Its time to say goodbye to Bathtown, as I move on to the forest on the edge of the Plain. There will be something else for me there. I cant promise that Ill be coming back to Bath frequently - I may, and it would have to depend on how things formulate. But I can say that, well, this project that Im going to be spearheading is something that Ive been working towards for a long time. Its what I moved back to the area for, initially, as I was actually supposed to be going to Glastonbury for a few months in order to make the connections needed in order to lead a project on this scale. Life works in strange ways, sometimes. I cant just live a normal life, I realise, when I have this roaring spirit that is so needed by myself, by the world seemingly, and just needs to be allowed to thrive thrive thrive. My attempts to fall into a career failed symbolically - as I left my suit jacket at the interview, and realised that I wasnt supposed to be wearing it after all. Im supposed to be barefoot, Im supposed to be smiling, Im supposed to be working with creating as beautiful as a world as possible all the way around me at all times. This is the existence of this body, this avatara, and where the reason of existence is lost the avatara makes the world around it what it needs to be in order to affect change totally, resolutely. And it only moves me forward, moves the whole world around me forward, how it all happens. In Love I trust, to All I bow, and in Hope I lay my foundations. This is it, and always has been IT. youtu.be/0S9fIpwdwAM?t=1m47s
Posted on: Tue, 28 Oct 2014 21:32:02 +0000
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