I'm in Taos now. I left the Rainbow gathering 2 days ago. Remember, I was reluctant to go. Now I'm totally glad I did.
I hitched to the gathering from Moab, getting there with 5 rides in 1 & 1/4 days. A Navajo I rode with brought me to his house & gave me a cold drink, & then loaded me up with some tie dyes for the gathering (Tie dyes don't suit me, so I put them in the free box at the gathering & they vanished quickly). I spent the night before the gathering in the middle of nowhere in Navajo land on a mesa. It was obviously a sacred spot, with 2 rock shrines on top. The wind was whipping all night & I had intense, revealing dreams. I came to new insights, in fact.
My last ride was from a kid also heading to the gathering from Moab. Though we had never officially met, we recognized each other.
Funny, I ran into my friend Grace immediately upon entering the gathering (she's a friend I traveled with last year). I camped with her & her friends from L.A. near Kid Village. I was also pleased to run into other old friends from all over.
The 4th of July prayer-for-peace celebration was splendid as usual. It's always miraculous, in fact. It rained, and that added to the splendor. Later in the afternoon, the brightest, most perfect & spectacular double rainbow I had ever seen appeared, and people all over the gathering roared & even cried tears in delight. So did I. Everybody I talked to said they had never seen one like it before. Talk about confirmation, in flying colors.
Grace had to leave back to LA with her friends & I stayed on a couple more days. I usually like to stay longer & help clean up, but I was feeling ready to go this time.
The night before last a guy named Otter invited me to a service at the Hanuman temple here in Taos & I camped on the grounds. A lot of travelers were there. Lots of Rainbow folks are wandering the town. Last night I found a vacant house & camped on its lot, amidst an orchard of cherry trees! I might stay there again tonight.
There's a Peace House here I want to hook up with, but it's been closed the times I've gone. They do Food Not Bombs, as well as lots of other things out of there, including Quaker services.
I think I'm hanging out in Taos until I have to head down to Albuquerque to meet a new friend there at the airport, Insh'Allah.
I could write more, but am out of library time.
Infinite Love
PS
My friend Sara just sent me this link to Details magazine from that interview I did with Chris Ketcham months ago. The article is published!
http://men.style.com/details/features/landing?id=content_9817
cant believe noone has commended yet but i think its amazing what you do!
ReplyDeletehello suelo , I am from Singapore and I just wanna drop by to say hi. Your ideas and life style fascinate me.
ReplyDeleteHello from your friend in the South Valley. It was great talking to you over dinner. Good luck meeting your new friend and have a great trip to Gila.
ReplyDeleteYour lifestyle is not free. You stay in friend's houses that are paid for with money...therefore you are a freeloader.
ReplyDeleteIf I charged for house- and animal-sitting, like many house-sitters, getting paid for it, you would call me a productive member of society. Do what you love for free & people call you a freeloader. Do the same thing for money & people will call you responsible. Take more than you need, & you will work more than you need to do so, & people will call you worth something. Take only what you need & then see what they say. Think it through, my friend, think it through.
ReplyDeleteI don't totally disagree with the freeloader label, but it is not easy to live on the fringe of society. I have met a lot of people on both sides...rich and poor(Dumptser Divers)and have found my own formula of balance for living. I have bases my goals and wealth on my family and make enough money to do so. Interesting life, I would like to see where you are in 10 years.
ReplyDeletewhat do you mean? his lifestyle is not free? it's not " freeloader," as the definition of "free" seems to be a bit inconsistent and mis-used.
ReplyDeleteif staying at friend's place is not free because the place is paid and maintained via money, then nothing is free; as we always consume at an expense of others.
if you called this lifestyle "freeloading," then aren't we all freeloading off nature/Earth (digging up oil, destroy environment for our own convenience, etc)?
I don't like how the term "freeloader" seems to be giving off a negative meaning, as it's implying one ripes the fruit of others' labor without any contribution. But then how would one describe sincere hospitality? the willingness to help one another and not asking for anything back in return, charity.
I'm sorry if I am mistaken or my statement's flaw, but that's what I think.
God Bless
Daniel, I must say I'm inspired by your story.
ReplyDeleteI've sort of started the process of weaning myself off money a little under four months ago, though I'll confess I'm at the methadone phase of hanging off day labor from time to time. I'd love any advice you might have.
I don't know if our motives are the same, but reading some of your posts here I see that our mindsets seem to be similar in some ways.
Are you going to read all these messages? So, I'd like you to read my reply.
ReplyDeleteHey if you came to Tucson give me shout!
I made a post about you in my blog, if you don't mind, take a look:
Pecche' Nu sem Nu
If you don't like I'll modify or cancel the post, I don't care.
Why you use blogspot? they're going to make some money from your blog. try this: http://noblogs.org/
I'm currently in Tucson, Arizona. I'm unemployed for a year now, and concerned about money. I'd like to be like you. Why you don't join a bigger community? In Italy we have different eden communities, Avalon, for example. "The Elfs", that leave in the woods in Tuscany. Sure, Tuscany would be a nicer place than a cave in Ohio...