Harder Baby Harder
In honour of Muzy, who sadly passed away, but whose influence started the story that led to this moto becoming a party. Beautiful hearts, beautiful ideas, beautiful sounds.
England, Norfolk: Forest Life
This summer I was blessed with the opportunity to experience some extended time living in a forest. When I arrived, the kitchen building was being used for storage and the toilet had bracken growing out of it, but I soon got them into a usable state and spent my days doing agroforestry, and my evenings absorbing the peace.
Chimalli-Huehuetl Drum Making
Inspired by the Mesoamerican ritual floor drum called 'Huehuetl', Ruben Te Yonton has created a workshop providing an opportunity to create your own drum, the 'Chimalli-Huehuetl'. 'Chimalli' in the Nahualt language is the shield used in battles, and 'Huehuetl' is the grandfather ritual drum; from these roots the design for this drum was born. The materials of frame, skin, and rope are provided for the 10-hour…
Transformative Roots, Sequoia Gathering
Transformative Roots is a 'space for connecting and conscious growth'. Their description "Transformative roots is not a business. You are our guests and we only wish to have your presence." well matched the feeling I experienced. This is just the kind of setup we'd like to achieve one day - a home, with vegetable gardens, woodland areas, and grass clearings; a space where like-minded individuals and…
WeLoveWoodGreen
Hosted by The Goodness, a microbrewery that from the outset was conceived as a community resource, somewhere all kinds of people can come together to enjoy music, art, and learning. WeLoveWoodGreen is a collective community event celebrating culture and well-being through music, arts, food and creativity. It's free to attend (though donations are encouraged) and included workshops such as samba, capoeira, rap therapy, arts & crafts,…
Lunar New Year with Mugen Taiko
I was blessed to be invited to the Mugen Taiko dojo's lunar new year celebration. These guys have a special place in my heart and hosted a beautiful gathering with performances, chasing away the demons, burning the broken bachi, and dancing. Thank you to all of you for being you!
Scotland, Edinburgh: Hogmanay
New Year is a time we usually spend together, whatever the weather, whatever the location, whatever the situation. This year we did something a bit different, choosing to prioritize the individual's needs rather than the group, we each went where we felt we should be – a new endeavour for a new year, in hopes of finding new (hopefully improved) ways to work together. So this…
XR Extinction Rebellion
At the core of Extinction Rebellion’s philosophy is non-violent civil disobedience:"We are asking people to find their courage and to collectively do what is necessary to bring about change ...We aren’t focussed on traditional systems like petitions or writing to our MPs ... We are promoting mass “above the ground” civil disobedience – in full public view. This means economic disruption to shake the current political…
Spring Wiggle
Spring Wiggle is yet another beautiful forest gathering. These nights warm my soul, bring a smile to my face, and (literally) music to my ears. A big thank you to Boogie Woogie for facilitating another night of togetherness.
Apocalypticus: Road to Ruin
What can we say; if the apocalypse is as full of community as this event, we can't wait for it to arrive! Apocalypticus started with the idea of a road run, to include rat/survival/radically militarized vehicles (anything that wouldn't look out of place in Mad Max), from these roots it has developed into a gathering of like-minded individuals; creatives of all types, builders, repairers, and (going…
Butterfly Effect
So much love to everyone who made this the best party I’ve had in forever; too many to mention, the organisers, performers, unobtrusive security, every person I talked to and danced with, and of course the special ones who became new friends. On top of all the people, the location was stunning, decor was beautiful, and the weather unbelievably cooperative. Wow! As usual for these sorts…
Canal Life
Today we visited a friend who lives on a canal boat. The similarities between boat and van living are obvious, but the differences seem to fall in favour of boat life; imagine having your fuel delivered to your van, being able to park up for 2 weeks at a time in any pretty spot you find, or only having a car pass you a couple times…