Keep doin it "your way" gav .... and stay in touch. At times like these these words ring in my head
As I walk through this wicked world Searching for light in the darkness of insanity I ask myself, is all hope lost ? Is there only hatred and misery ? And each time I feel like this inside There's one thing I wanna know What's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding ? Oh, What's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding ? And as I walk on, through troubled times My spirit gets so downhearted sometimes So, where are the strong and who are the trusted ? And where is the harmony, sweet harmony ? 'Cause each time I feel it slippin' away, Just makes me wanna cry. What's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding ? Oh, What's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding ? So, where are the strong and who are the trusted ? And what's so funny 'bout peace, love & understanding ? Elvis Costello Just love the optimism in the "So ...." despite the obvious despair. Hope you find the same. Take care Ian On Mon, Mar 15, 2010 at 8:29 AM, MarshaV <[email protected]> wrote: > > Sir Gawain, > > I wish you wouldn't go. With so many things that you say, I find agreement. > You have a > beautiful and important voice that supports the Earth. I've even become fond > of your > no-caps. > > Love, > Marsha > > > > > > > > > > On Mar 14, 2010, at 7:38 PM, gav wrote: > >> well good morning/evening folks, >> tis a fine autumn morn as i look out over the rolling hills of northern new >> south wales - the byron bay region, which some of you may have heard of. >> >> includes the famous 'nimbin' which hosted the aquarius festival in the early >> 70s and lotsa folk never left. marijuana capital of the state - police don't >> like that much though - they have to keep up appearances and make you go >> down an alley to buy it....can't be seen to endorse the second biggest >> industry in the region but then again it is the second biggest industry in >> the region. >> >> byron is a backpacker mecca now (biggest industry) and it is obvious why - >> beautiful beaches, great surf, forests,... beautiful people from all over >> the world, a lot of whom have ended up here permanently - legally or >> otherwise. the local government here is green - the only one in the country >> - has been for a while. u won't find any mcdonalds, kfc etc in byron or >> surrounds. >> >> new age is big here. the local radio 99.9fm (motto - nearly perfect) is >> community owned and commercial free. you get used to there being interesting >> people on the radio after a while: folks talking about jungian >> psychotherapy, entheogenic practices and shamanism, art therapy, writers, >> musicians, filmmakers, as well as a great variety of music. >> >> new age rubs me the wrong way sometimes - it becomes a bit like a beauty spa >> for the soul - people like to look good here: they think it is a reflection >> of their spirituality too. hey sometimes it is, but in other cultures, >> african for instance, the most spiritual elders usually look and smell >> terrible - they have lost interest in keeping up appearances and are more in >> the spirit world than this one. >> >> but to be somewhere like this - where u feel fine no matter what you wear, >> where there is a great respect for the environment, where there is a great >> range of quality healthy food, where the indigenous are treated with >> (comparative) respect....is good. >> >> i don't live here - i am housesitting. i spend a lot of time here at my >> ex-partner's house - bel. she and her husband michael have twin baby boys - >> river and banyan - and i am a very affectionate uncle to them. >> >> i spend the rest of my time in and around brisbane. west end is where i used >> to live and i still spend a lot of time there. west end has a little bit of >> byron going on too, but it is expensive to live there now...i can't afford >> it. i sleep at friends or sleep in the back of a van that bel lends me. >> >> other times i stay with my folks or my sister on the sunshine coast north of >> brisbane....this pattern has been the norm now for 5 years. i have travelled >> the east coast a bit too, and lived in west end for 18 months. but for the >> most part i have been drifting around. i am not young anymore: 37 this year. >> >> i have tried to make a go of it in society: i have been involved with >> permaculture for many years now but it is slow going. brisbane city council >> is enormous - nearly 2 million people under one council - crazy size - more >> like a small country. needless to say it is a bureaucratic behemoth. >> >> i have taught workshops, ran my own business, subcontracted to another >> lansdcaping company. now i sell some hemp products and do some gardening >> work here and there. it isn't enough to live on. >> >> but i am happy most of the time. i feel good around bel and michael - they >> are the closest to me. i feel natural around them and they appreciate my >> help. >> >> but i have become more and more an outsider, which is a dangerous thing. >> when i first tried the gypsy life i fucked out - i broke down. if it hadn't >> been for bel i would have been hospitalised or medicated at least. >> >> this time round i am more aware of the dangers. i can't spend too much time >> in the city and i have to be careful who i am with. i have to be careful >> with what i put in my body. >> >> the key is bel and michael, and a few others (john for instance - >> thankyou!). a society of one is insanity; but a handful that understand, >> that can be enough, if you are careful. >> >> and there is nature still - although it is cordoned off more and more. still >> it always there and will eventually overrun any boundaries. nature is sanity. >> >> i don't know what my function is yet...or if i have one. i am a good >> gardener, a good writer and speaker (i think so anyway); i am good >> footballer...(well, getting a bit creaky now). >> >> yep i don't belong. the old brujo story. perhaps me and those like me are >> the new culture bearers - i hope so - gives me a reason to keep plugging >> on...... >> >> u know when i was at uni studying philosophy i found the religion department >> more open minded - more philosophical - than the philosophy department. >> >> me and michael, bel's husband, went to a philosophy debate at UQ years ago. >> there was a big debate about dawkins 'god delusion'. over a hundred student >> turned up to hear the argument. but there really wasn't one. both guys >> agreed with dawkins - although one had some qualifications. generally they >> both agreed that religion was stupid, just like dave. >> >> michael and i spoke up afterwards during discussion. michael eloquently >> explained that religion cannot be interpreted like science, that we must >> approach it mythopoetically; i pointed out that a lot of religions don't >> even have a 'god' and that the neo-darwinist model that dawkins espouses as >> a replacement to religion is mathematically incapable of accounting for the >> world around us. >> >> we were both shouted down....which was surprising to us both. we were due to >> take over running the student philosophy association, which had organised >> this debate. we both left UQ for good soon after.... >> >> know how we get pumped full of hitler and the holocaust...ad nauseam? well >> maybe there is a warning there. i mean hitler really thought that the >> problems of the world could be put down to jews, and he must have persuaded >> a few others of this too - so simple solution: let's off the jews. guess the >> catholic church thought the same about witches. >> >> and now look at israel and judaism. it is like, as a reaction to this >> constant paranoia about its past, it has become what it most feared and >> hated - it has become the destroyer, the hater - and it is the arab and >> islam that is now the problem - eradicate islam and hey presto - no worries! >> >> and the same can be said for a lot of us that dig on nature, on paganism. we >> look at catholicism and perhaps all religion by extension as evil - look >> what they did!!!!! look what they do!!! and we become the persecutor in turn >> because of this morbid fixation. forgetting that mysticism is the thread >> that ties all religions together. forgetting that *it is power that does >> these things*, not religion; it is the giant playing his trump card. >> >> more division and blame and hatred is (obviously?) not the answer. but well >> i guess that ain't so obvious... >> >> so for the time being it is adieu and adios and fare thee well. >> i have become disenamoured of the list of late....i don't like the tenor - >> the intolerance, the arrogance, the cult of reason. i can't seem to do >> anything about it by writing so maybe my resignation will have a more >> salutary effect. >> >> john made me think twice - but then i realised that, as he is always >> agreeing with me, there is no need for two of us!! >> >> been a pleasure for the most part >> all the very best to all of you >> take care >> gavin >> ps [email protected] for anyone who wants to keep in touch >> >> >> >> >> >> Moq_Discuss mailing list >> Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org >> Archives: >> http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ >> http://moq.org/md/archives.html > > > > ___ > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org/md/archives.html > Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org/md/archives.html
