5/8/19, 7am. Buena Vista Lake, CA. “LIB anticipation. Vata dosha at festivals.”
I’m sitting in the camper in BOH at LIB 2019. I’m grinding the gears of my mind. Getting the focus going. Perhaps meditate first. I can feel the nervous energy, the Vata of the morning. I wake up with sunlight streaming through the window; at 6:30 am and it’s bright in here.
In these moments, like in life, it’s easy to get distracted, even as I write this, the buzz of a refer trailer distracts me. There’s many people, art, stimulus, the energy of the land, all interacting here.
Right now, it’s just the staff and vendors. Soon, there will be many more people. Yesterday, I was told 20,000 souls. Each spirit with its own karma of others, interacting, like a city.
California. California, I just love writing that word. California has the space. The land to do it. I recall when LIB was at Irvine Lake. It’s always been next to a lake, except when it was in Santa Barbara. I didn’t vend there though.
Now I’m sitting on a metal dock at the boat ramp. The lake is glassy, but there’s a light easterly breeze that’s making reflections of the morning sunlight shimmer on the left side of my face. There’s birds singing and, always in the background, the droning rumble of diesel generators, the rippling voices of conversations, the beeps of cranes reversing. And soon there will be bass.
There’s six, maybe seven sound stage here, and it’s dense, but the way that the land curves around the lake, the sound-waves won’t cross much.
When everything is moving fast around me, why not move slowly. If the majority of energies are moving fast, then relatively, they are not going anywhere in relation to one another, because they are going at a similar pace. So, I will be the slow-moving spirit that is fluid and like a large body of water or a whale, I will shift my energy in confluence with the flow. If I succumb to the Vata and quickly shift energetic focusing, like a leaf or a raindrop, then I will go all over the place blown by the light shifts of entropy.
The Festival poses a challenge to the Vata, which is a sensitive dosha. It’s one of constant movement. A festival with massive sound and light is fuel for the Vata to charge up and quickly overheat. Then, if there’s wind, dust, and dryness it gets even more aggravated.
I notice the Vata in my body getting overloaded. Concentration and conversation gets difficult. If someone is talking to me and they think I’m ignoring them, I know that I need to take the time to ground out. It’s like my engine is overheating. But, heat and fire are inappropriate elements to describe Vata attributes. It’s more like my brain is dried out and needs a drink of relaxation; like a neglected plant needing water, so it’s roots can strengthen.
I find as much of a meditative space as I can find. A float tank would be awesome to have onsite. I could see that getting used for restorative rest from over-stimulation by the Zendo Project. So, a chill, silent space, alone, no phone. Early am after sunrise is the only time.
5/8/19. Lightning in a Bottle. Buena Vista Lake, CA.
I was on a knee and looking for the leaky connection in the water filter. The sun was low. It was almost sunset. Gabi and I were sitting in the grass in front of the booth, under a willow tree. She told me about a small festival in Joshua Tree.
It was in a boulder canyon, near the park. The owner, Charley, had made the large private property into an oasis of nature and art. There were tipis with costumes and there was a madrone gripping the boulders, she said. He planted gardens in every space. It was amazing. But he lost a lot of money.