Hard to Believe...

It's hard to believe it has actually been a whole two weeks since I last posted here.

Granted, sevenof those days were given over to attending a festival in Oregon... plus travel time. And there was some pre work on the front end of that, followed by some decompressing on the back end.

Workshop in progress, in the meadow

It has been a long time since I have been to anything that involved travel and being away from home for six days.

In retrospect, I'll say that "breaking state" was definitely a welcome change, although I was also reminded of why I don't like crowds and tend to "take my people" one on one, rather than I large groups. It might sound silly to some, but the energies of that many people — no matter how "spiritual" they might be — becomes very overwhelming, very quickly.

It's been a while since I've been (primitive) camping, and it was definitely nice to be out among the tall trees of a patch of old growth forest in central Oregon. I could have wished for it to be a bit cooler — don't care for being hot and sweaty for six days straight — but that was a relatively minor complaint.

The "vending experience" was not exactly what I had hoped for, in part because attendance as this year's event was quite low... at about 120 people, compared to the previous 300+. I normally enjoy "isolated" niche events like this because you have a "captive" audience.

Even so, the somewhat modest sales result did help pay for gas and attendance fees, and that was nice enough.

Mostly, though, I just enjoyed being in a place with no electronics (and no electricity) and no cell service... so the only real "option" was to commune with nature and the land... and to write — long hand — in my paper journal.

Although there was a substantial range of workshops, I didn't really feel compelled to participate in many of them, preferring instead to hang out at the vendor booth.

Peaceful vending booth beneath the trees

Above all, I like events like this because it offers a chance to "break state" and be (for the most part!) alone with my thoughts.

Without a doubt, people do like my work, and they like to stop and hear the backstory that goes with why I like sitting around, painting tiny patterns on stones. It's good to have that reinforced in a context where nobody's "in a hurry," because there's simply nowhere else to be.

And now I am back "in circulation," trying to ramp back up to life, as it exists.

I'm glad and grateful that my life is as laid back as it is... even while it is far more structured and rigorous than the lives of the many "festival nomads" I met... people who do little more than travel from event to event, sleeping in their cars and vans as they go... trading whatever they make, as they go.

If I were younger and less dependent on the "comforts of life" it might sound more tempting...

In general, we work too much. We live lives that are contingent on our spending an unhealthy amount of time and effort on the basic business of "making a living."

It makes us forget important things... like the healing power of nature.

Thanks for visiting, and have a great weekend!

How about you? Do you take breaks to spend "off grid?" What do you do to "disconnect" from the technological life? When was the last time you took a break? Leave a comment if you feel so inclined — share your experiences — be part of the conversation!

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Created at 2024.07.27 01:04 PDT
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