Mind massage, bush style.
Attention is like a barrel of water, as long as we keep it topped up with distraction we can let very little in. Pulling the plug and letting the noise empty out over a week or so, creates space to see what hasn’t been getting in.
The change in a clouds shape,
Shimmer of quartz
& precious space between thoughts.
An empty barrel of attention is a enticing space, so welcoming to it’s surroundings the wall between mind & environment wears thin. Doing this with a group of mates lets our minds mix & meld with each other’s along with the environment. Allowing the hive mind to begin buzzing, accompanied by feelings of collective flow, generosity, compassion & gratitude. Imagine if we could start to think collectively like this on a global scale?
“What does not benefit the bee does not benefit the hive”
- Marcus Aurelius
Introducing the ‘Catamayak’
Like everyone that reads South Sea Vagabonds, I got inspired to build my own boat in the backyard. A lightbulb moment for me in my research was reading that the ancient Polynesian voyager’s would lash their waka together & pop up a sail when sailing conditions were favourable. I had two sea kayaks so I figured I was halfway there already. Using cheap PVC down pipe as struts & discarded inner tubes from the bike shops (the modern man’s Harakeke) I fixed the boats together. The windsurf rig and speed board was donated to the cause by Simon from Beggs Ski Shop who can be seen sailing the catamayak in the video. I’d say the whole build cost about a hundy bucks. Definitely some room for refinement but I’m chalking up the maiden voyage up as a success. Next stop Tahiti
Powered by granny knots & beer
Holding the present moment between chopsticks. Just enough not to drop it, without trying so hard I squash it.
Work in progress - savouring the process.
Dingle ——-> Corner Peak
2 days, 20 hours on the trot.
Crystallised creek washes the anticipation off my shoulders,
Each step lighter as I start clambering over the boulders.
Worldly-worries interrupted by the way a fantail flurries,
Busy hurry replaced by thoughts of dehydrated currie.
Sweep the hut,
Mattress up,
Door shut.
Bush-bashing through the last of the Subalpine,
Into the High Country of my Mind.
Crisp, Sublime,
Thoughts float away on a river of time.
Standing on the peak way above the fog of next week,
It’s clear what I came to seek.
The idea is to not throw experience through the sieve
& try intellectualise a life that should simply be lived :)
