The spectrum of human experience is vast and daunting. 7 plus billion people playing out their lives, all in different and unique ways that you can't imagine. Now expand that spectrum of experiences across the spectrum of time, encompassing past and future generations - the possibilities seem mind boggling.
Aren't you curious about different human experiences, awesome and not so awesome? Past and present? I know I am!
What's it like to be a sailor? A mountaineer? An artist? What's it like to hitchhike around the world, to be famous?
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| I've wanted to learn to sail for years. This summer I made it happen - anything is possible |
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| I never feel as alive as I do in the beautiful mountains |
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| Duality - I love to dress colourfully, and I love dark music. Photo credit: @exploreofcourse |
I guess we've got pictures (and blogs) for that, right? To find out what it's like to sail the seas, to hike to the top of the world, to spend your life creating art. Pictures create a window into different human experiences.
But there's a reason why pictures don't tell the full story. No picture or video will ever be as visceral as actually being there, as experiencing it for oneself. If it could, then people would never get off their couches. Life would be too easy - reality too easy to mimic on a screen.
To experience life as it's meant to be experienced, you have to get out there!
Two summers ago in 2016, I did just that. I lived free, road tripping around beautiful British Columbia, which though is the same country, feels a world away from Ontario. I spent lots of time in nature, connecting with amazing people, and exploring the undefined and boundless realm of consciousness with the aid of spiritual medicine, or psychedelics (or drugs as those who have never tried them prefer to perceive them).
It was such a memorable summer I knew I had to do the road trip again. And this summer would be the one... I knew I would have another awesome summer, but somehow didn't even think about topping the original summer of 2016.
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| Pushing a makeshift bicycle rickshaw full of camping and climbing gear up a forest road in a hidden valley |
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| Red Beard, my captain, one of many rare and inspiring personalities I spent time with this summer |
Somehow, some way, this summer blew away the first summer road trip!
The adventures were more grand, the human connections deeper, one improbable synchronicity after another serving to build the energy until I was vibrating at a high level.
With an epic crew of adventurers, on the Toba Adventure, we climbed a mountain as only the second group to ever go there, using a sequence of sailing, hitchhiking with loggers, and a near-death gully ascent to get there. A few weeks later, I went into the backcountry with another friend, hiking 30 km on the first day to camp under one of the most towering mountains in the Rockies, the Assiniboine.
And although I went to fewer music festivals this summer than 2016, I danced longer through the night under the sweet forest canopy, feeling interconnected, as one, on the dance floor like never before, with my fellow dancers and the trees swaying above. I reconnected with some lovely people I met from 2016 summer and, through these festivals, I discovered a community of some of the best people in Vancouver.
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| Festival #2, Shambhala - so much magic! |
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| Festival #3, the most inspiring community, THIS Gathering. Photo credit: @exploreofcourse |
And isn't that what it's all about? Community. Community creates a sense of meaning, which leads to long lasting happiness... wait. That's what it's all about - happiness!
I was often subject to such rushes of happiness that I felt like the luckiest person alive. It's a strange feeling when one ponders it because, from an objective standpoint, I'm probably not actually the luckiest person in the world. I'm just among a fortunate group of people following and finding their bliss, just doing it in his own different and unique way.
In a similar way, I realized this summer was not necessarily better than the last. It was just a different and unique experience I had as a different person. This summer would not have been possible without last summer, without the self growth, and without building on those human connections.
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| Mount Assiniboine Provincial Park, BC Rockies |
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| Toba River Valley, Powell River, BC Coast |
Speaking of self growth, as this summer progressed, I was becoming aware of a sea change occurring within me. An old line from Chris McCandless in the movie adapted novel Into the Wild kept creeping into my consciousness...
Happiness is only real when shared.
That was this summer's big revelation - last summer I learned how to live out the human experience - this summer I learned how to share it with others. I deepened all those connections from last summer, as well as made many new ones, in intimate settings such as THIS Gathering.
Sharing is caring - a line I heard over and over. I shared a lot of stories with all the different and unique individuals I met - satisfying my curiosity about how humans can and do live. I'll probably never get to hear 7 billion stories in my lifetime, but at least this summer, I lived my own real life experiences and learned to share them with others to broaden my human experience!
That was this summer's big revelation - last summer I learned how to live out the human experience - this summer I learned how to share it with others. I deepened all those connections from last summer, as well as made many new ones, in intimate settings such as THIS Gathering.
Sharing is caring - a line I heard over and over. I shared a lot of stories with all the different and unique individuals I met - satisfying my curiosity about how humans can and do live. I'll probably never get to hear 7 billion stories in my lifetime, but at least this summer, I lived my own real life experiences and learned to share them with others to broaden my human experience!
As I settle into autumn back in Ontario, the memories and the people from this summer are still fresh in my head, creating the occasional pause to smile. That seamless transition and growth from the original summer into this one, that escalation of human experiences - that's what serves to make summer of 2018 a real sequel.
Moving forward, I hope to keep making more stories and share them with you! Perhaps a three-quel is in order?
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| Best tent spot I could ever ask for - mountain companions, and besides my crew, no humans for miles |
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| Best swim with a view I could ever ask for - a bit cold though I must admit |
Some fun statistics (all approximate!) from my road trip, May 27 - Oct 10
13,000 km driven
5 rideshares taken 6,400 km (1 from Toronto -> Calgary)
10 BC ferries taken
110 km hiked
32 nights camping
14 of those nights at music festivals
8 nights taken spiritual medicine
4 cuddles had
10 days sailing and sleeping in a sailboat
1 night sleeping in my car
13 friends stayed with
$100 paid for accommodation for 2 weeks with friends
15 days jumped in a lake
10 days took a real shower
15 nights dumpster dived
4 days hitchhiked
1 hitchhiker picked up
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| 14 days wearing this bright electro-hoodie out in public! |
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| Another summer in the books! Keep camping, folks :) |
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