Monday, March 18, 2019

Recharging

YouTube recommended a video by Kelly Doyle, a full time van dweller with Traumatic Brain Injury. She had been staying in Los Angeles for a couple of weeks when she made the video. The nomadic TBI sufferers I’ve known seek a haven in places like the desert, where they don’t need to deal with the noise and chaos. But Kelly reacts differently.
There’s an energy here that lifts me up…  
There’s like this low energy I feel out in the desert, like everyone’s just sittin’ around, sittin’ around, gonna have a kumbaya campfire tonight.  
In the city, around Santa Monica, people are rollerblading, biking, surfing… it’s alive. There is a positive energy in LA. It’s alive! 
I totally relate. I can take only so much peace and quiet and natural beauty before I need to go get some of that big city energy.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting...and look (below) at what it inspired!


    I have yet to check out her prev vid, but what strikes me is how much time she's spending in "nature" in L.A. whether it be the beach, at dog parks or places where Sophie can be off-leash.

    Maybe in her other vid she mentions the incredible exhibits at LAACMA or MOCA. Does she mention Bergamot Station, the San Pedro area where you can wander around the docks and boats, or the INCREDIBLE Buddhist temple, one of the most ornate in the western hemisphere, right in the center (or, it used to be) of downtown L.A.

    I go to L.A. and other cities for their cultural offerings. But I don't find rollerbladers, surfers, squalling children, the immense cacophony of innumerable cars and planes or the fact it CAN take 45 minutes to go 7 miles or having to move three times a day energy-inspiring.

    I've been around Tucson for almost a month. While here (camping in the Mt. Wrightson Wilderness and on State Trust Land in various places) I've attended several meetings of the Tucson Psychedelic Society and one of the Ajahuasca group. I've investigated the MANY alternative and BDSM groups and am looking forward to seeing their venues and perhaps attending some get-togethers.

    I saw the Zoppe Family Circus, an olde-world circus from Italy that was started in the late 1800s.

    I've seen the Richard Avedon show at the Center for Creative Photography (always free) and attended several concerts (also free) at the Univ of AZ School of Music that were offered as part of a weeks-long festival. I spent an incredible hour (it was overwhelming) at the world-renowned gem show.

    At the end of this month Flam Chen, a Cirque-style group that performs around the world but is based in Tucson, will give a performance.

    Last time I was here I visited the Zen Archery dojo and video-taped segments of the class. See: https://uakyudo.wixsite.com/azkyudo

    At age 67, and after the accident last December, I'm not as able to get up and go. But truth be told, I've NEVER enjoyed racing to the goal. I'm a process-oriented guy and have most recently (last five years) been attracted to Tantra for its (generally) slow pace and focus. I rarely meet other folks who give attention to the cultural goings on or even, when in the wilds, the things going on around them.

    It takes all kinds, and I've seen some incredible art in L.A., but a good conversation about cats, art or the art of love-making, a butterfly going by, coyotes howling, the *unbelievable* smell of the innumerable flowers as you descend into Death Valley in the evening when they give forth with their scent; the distant sound of a stream renewed by a recent snow, the sparkle of light on water, the LACK of overflight noise or anyone else's voice; a tarantula, (OMG!) a coatmundi...or a bear; all combine to give ME energy.

    It's my impression if you're in the company of your dog (NOW where'd it go?), peddling your bike (watch out for that rock!), or "hiking" to the top of the hill (the top!!), you're missing the small bones in that scat; the one and only of its kind flower in the area, the pleasure of an amble to simply "go see."

    I've always enjoyed One El's reply when I call and ask, "What're you dong?" "Nothing" she says.

    And I'm getting better at it all the time.

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