Greetings all of you beautiful steemy people. That haiku was just for you. I have never had a blog before but they say there is a time for everything. Perhaps now is the time for this.
Reading, Writing...
I've always been an avid reader. My feelings for writing however have pretty much been inversely related. It is not so much the idea of recording my thoughts and ideas as the actual mechanics of writing and typing that has aroused my ire. Pictures too, both taking and having them taken, have always been a chore.
Communication.
Why the sudden change of heart you ask? Well for the past few years, by forcefully prying my head out of my ass, I've realized more and more the importance of community. I suppose it is no surprise to most of you that communication is extremely important in building a strong foundation for any community. Unfortunately for people like myself communication can be difficult, especially with unfamiliar people and even more especially with crowds of people. Ironically, playing music for people has always been something that has brought me great joy (of an extremely conflicted, sometimes tortured variety).
Photo by Allison Carnegie-Smith
I think this may stem partly from an aversion for the impersonal and a longing for relationships of a more intimate character.
I hope we can all use this opportunity to breakdown a few of the walls that are hindering effective communication, and thus creating barriers to forming the kinds of strong communities that will allow us to take our power back from those who seek to divide us in order to rule over us more easily.
My Journey
My journey has been slightly atypical. Now in my mid thirties I have worked many different jobs; from stone masonry\
to selling vacuums, to parking cars, to plant nurseries, to landscaping, to pursuing a career as a bassist. I've lived many places around the US and lately I've been getting to know India (which is a truly amazing place).
Iyengar Yoga
Right now I am living off my savings while studying yoga, taught in the Iyengar tradition. I find that this method of teaching yoga is extremely rigorous and well thought out. It is based on thousands of years of tradition that has been elucidated beautifully and clearly by the profoundly dedicated student and teacher of yog B.K.S Iyengar, with his children and grandchildren continuing the lineage as well as hundreds of other dedicated teachers. I am still a beginner in the study of yog, as we all are in view of its lofty purpose of liberation from the self over multiple lifetimes. However I have already experienced profound transformation through my practice.
Lofty Goals
In the future I hope to begin creating content with various media to help spread awareness about the illusions that are used to control us with our own complicity. To encourage others to look inside themselves and value truth above materialism. To facilitate the building of communities that are supportive instead of coercive, promote peace and beauty and do not fear diversity. To show people that cooperation is stronger than competition.
Meanwhile
In the meantime you might find me blogging about music, permaculture, yoga, truth, frisbee, books, nature, health and nutrition, sculpture (here is some of my own).
I'm also in the process of learning guitar, programming (html, Javascript, CSS, as well as about the mental kind perpetrated against us) homesteading, blogging, photography and videography, life... Please be in touch if you're also interested in any of these things so we can learn from each other.
Thank You
If you've taken the time to read this whole post then I sincerely thank you and look forward to getting to know you better and learning from each other.