In the last 3 weeks of traveling and spending time at retreat centres, almost everyone I’ve talked to has left there lives behind and took to the road in seek of…something. I’m sure that this phenomena isn’t new and I am aware that people have been wandering around the globe for centuries. However, what I think is different about this day and age of traveling is there is a need, a real urgent need to find different ways of living. It seems to be no longer about just traveling and seeing different places.
These aren’t left over hippies looking to get away from “the Man”. These are people, young and old who are aware of shifts in not only their own consciousness but, something much deeper, other forces driving a good portion of us to find, in a way, spiritual refuge. There are a number of people waking up to the fact that the way that most societies are completely dysfunctional and not sustainable and we can't go on living the way we do. More and more people are, instead of taking up activism to disperse their frustrations, are turning inward and battling their own daemons, walking the walk instead of talking the talk. And because there are very few safe places where one can do personal work , many are hitting the road seeking out spiritual safe havens. When I look at what’s going on, it’s almost like animals fleeing a burning forest, having to rebuild by starting at the beginning.
These retreat centres are popping up all over the place. There is a great need for these types of places. These retreats are not just offering a place just to “be” and explore the inner realms, but places where learning to work together for right-livelihood is also key. Getting back to the basics of growing all your own food, saving seeds, learning about foods and herbs natural properties and learning to cook and prepare them properly, helping build shelters, homes and healing spaces, learning about the land and it’s cycles, helping and building relationships with neighbors and strangers…The centres are really about what it means to be human.
Money is hardly exchanged. People work for their food and shelter or they offer their services in exchange for services they need. Everyone works together for the common good. However, it isn’t as utopian as it sounds. These places survive by trial and error. Some work really well and some don’t. People’s egos and shadows show up and can corrupt the whole situation. When most people are conditioned to live in a particular way…say, go to school, get a stable secure job, earn money to buy the material things you “think” you need such as a house a car and stuff to fill them with…it’s hard to let go and live a different lifestyle that doesn’t require ownership of much. Not to say that the mentioned lifestyle is wrong, or nobody should live that way. It’s perfectly fine. But if you do want to step out of that, the old ways die hard.
What is unique about most of these particular places is they try to work all that stuff out. They provide space to unpack all of the conditioned belief systems and old behavioral patterns that prevent most of us from truly living. And of course this isn’t as easy as it sounds because we are all in different places in our own evolution. What is interesting is the number of people who are finding an urgency to “get out of the system” while they can and star living more meaningful lives.
There are many of us just wandering around seeking to live differently and also wanting to make a positive impact on society. Perhaps if more and more people started to walk away from “Big Brother’s” control, the powers that be would have to start making changes themselves. All I know is that something has to be done. Something has to change. The only thing I know how to do is change myself first. I’m happy that I have many traveling companions who are on the same journey as I am. I’m hoping that even when we separate, we will still stay in touch, widening the webs of light. Encouraging and supporting each other, knowing that what we are doing isn’t futile or a waste of time. Times are changing quite quickly and I think that the key to our survival is to live more authentically, being connected through community by being in real contact, in real relationships, without relying on technology (yes I see the irony here).
