For our God is a consuming fire.

-Hebrews 12:29


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Monday, October 12, 2009

Beast Reality

I'm cleaned up, rested and sipping coffee that wasn't boiled outside. These are all signs that I'm back home, and our camping trip is over. This weekend the husband and I were back at Shakori Hills for the fall music festival. We had a great time and the weather held out for us, only raining the last night we were there. Eating fresh veggies and homemade hummus, J strumming bass at the campsite, taking in new bands, hooping to the live music...these things all equal my festival fun.

J also let me lead us through some asanas, so we could stretch the air mattress sleep kinks out of our system, and so I could practice a bit of my yoga teacher training intake. Have I mentioned that yoga practice outdoors is the absolute best? Maybe, but it's worth mentioning again. I think that we're going to institute a regular backyard-yoga practice! I am so thankful to be married to someone with similiar interests; it's a treat to share music, yoga and more with my main man. I love him extra for that special look of surprise caught upon exiting our publicly shared bathroom. Chatham county portables, I'm glad to leave you and your antibacterial hand sanitizer in NC.

As for the music, one band we enjoyed most this go-around was The Beast. They have a politically charged hip-hop sound with serious funk bass lines kicking the background. We've seen them at Shakori before, but this year they were playing at the headline stage. Picked up their CD pre-release (yes, old school cd purchases still abound in our household), and listened to it on the drive home. The group's original name was The Beast Reality, which leads me to my final focus for this entry.

An overarching theme to this festival is sustainability. Throughout the weekend, Shakori offers a sustainability, peace & justice discussion series with offerings on solar power, living low carbon, and local food production. The "Beast Reality" is that there is a lot of unfortunate nastiness going on in the world, and it can be easy to insolate yourself, isolate really; perhaps thinking that one person can not make a difference. Yes, one person can!

So many of our daily decisions can influence outcomes, not just for us singular, but for the greater US community. Our purchasing power influences the way massive corporations do business, our volunteer and church participation positively affects thousands in our local realms, even the simple act of actively listening to someone speak can help ease a burden. Thinking along these lines, how the small things we do each day can cumulatively create a changed existence is empowering! I love this picture of umbrellas decorated by festival goers. Placed together they are an art installation of ideas. One umbrella reads "The opposite of war isn't peace, it's creation". So true. If war is destruction, then creation would be its literal opposite. What decisions can I make today, tomorrow and onward to promote sustainability, to create positive change?

*spend more grocery dollars at local farmer's market
*reach out to neighbor whose husband is out of country for a month on business
*smile more
*practice yoga. it changes you on a cellular level!
*let go of anger. control what I can, and admit/submit what I can't.
small ex: for the person(s) who stole our camping stove this trip, a 10 year anniversary gift from my company - may it serve you as you need it to. I can be thankful that we have the means to acquire another, and be done with it. There. Belly boil no more. Coffee boil no more. I'm back home to the drip pot, no anger rot, and positive thought.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yay! That was beautiful!