ONCE YOU SEE, YOU CANNOT UNSEE!
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Birthday Intermission Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20Intermission No. 2 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25 Part 26 Part 27 Part 28 Part 29 Part 30 Intermission No. 3 Part 31 Part 32 Part 33 Part 34 Part 35 Part 36 Part 37 Part 38 Part 39 Part 40 Intermission No. 4
So many amazing things happened in our journeys, that it's just really unreasonable to even consider recounting for the sheer magnitude of them.
The private treehouse we enjoyed sleeping in at Bilston Glen. All the structures here are from salvaged/scavenged materials high in the trees with pulleys and ropes. They are built with great intention and specifically to deter anyone wishing to easily removing the protesters from the land.
The roof of our tree house at Bilston Glen made from found PVC pipes, found blankets and tarps.
We were treated like royalty in the context of each country's/person's abilities.
We were invited to stay with a family we met in our travels. They gave us the whole upstairs to ourselves. Here is our bedroom.
The kitchen of a the beautiful grandmother who invited us in for a home made breakfast of eggs and tortillas with fresh salsa. Notice the big pots hanging on the wall which she uses to cook for her 30 grandchildren. I loved this family!
Another home we stayed in. Met the owner and within 5 minutes he had invited to stay with him. We stayed a couple of nights, on his living room floor along with a scorpion or two. Very grateful for the opportunity to share with the locals.
This most amazing family (Grandpa -- in front -- has 30 grandchildren) that harvests bamboo. They invited into their home and made us feel part of their family. The most welcoming and quaint little town ever.
Being immersed in the culture and with the people gave us really good insight into not only "what" they do, but "why" they do it. Most of the "what", follows the "why".
The air in India is quite intense....thick with smoke and smog and ???? We covered our faces quite often while traveling in the open rickshaws or buses.
The why is often because “that’s just the way it’s done”, because “we don’t have any other solutions”, because “I actually never really thought to do it another way!”.
Being that sustainability is one of Quinn’s fortes, I too had to look at how often my “why” was the same answer as theirs. Traveling with Quinn showed me many sides of life that I had always felt inside were skewed, but personally never did anything about either, and I gained new understanding that not only were my thoughts and actions often automatic, but were based on convenience and lack of consideration for myself, other humans, and the world around me.
A typical part of the family home.
Hand harvesting fresh food.
Utilizing the air instead of paid-for, manufactured electricity.
Digging in a burn pile.
The sacred cow doing its part of help with the waste.
There were potent examples of sustainable and beneficial ways during our travels, as well as unconscious, detrimental ways of handling life.
Manpowered transportation.
The scene after the Yoga Retreat Puja Ceremony conducted by high society people. That's where the cups and the plates all go. That's where they go all over this country. There aren't trash cans in any public places and apparently they don't need them!!
The grounds at the Puja Ceremony. After dinner, of course!
It's always easier to see the dysfunctions of others, especially when they are out in the open, and seemingly much harder to address my own, especially when I can blame them on a society and generations past for setting up things the way they are.
Generally speaking the U.S. doesn't have all of its trash out in the open, doesn't put on display the infrastructures or underlying deceitful and/or malfunctioning aspects of existence we are living, but hides it where people are not likely to examine too closely.
Even something as simple as setting our trash out to the curb goes unchecked. All we have to do put it out there, and the truck comes and hauls it away never to be seen again. Next week, next month, next year....we do it all over again and our normal life goes on. Denial, complacency and compromising our well-being for the established norm keeps us on the downward spiral, which in and of itself can be difficult to see.
I once went to a 35 acre junk yard, piled high with broken and unbroken discarded (mostly metal) "trash". After seeing new baby strollers and car seats, useable bicycles, working go-carts, of course auto parts and more, I felt sick to my stomach. Many of these things landed here because corporations threw them out, obligating the junk yard owner to never let them be sold or utilized. Knowing the struggles of many to earn money to purchase these items that were already in working condition in grand abundance, I felt that I never wanted to purchase anything ever again and support this kind of reality. Soooo much consumption. Soooo much waste. Soooo much stinginess. Soooo much manipulation. Soooo much life force energy spent on financial gain over loving and caring for one another.
Once one sees, they cannot unsee. I was drawn to reconsider again the roles I played for the sake of convenience and was seriously challenged to pull my head out of the sand. How could I truly love when there was so much of my involvement in things I viewed as so detrimental, and that I needed to become aware of and take responsibility for? I wanted to love---and this was definitely NOT love!!
Quinn has been making youtube videos now for years about sustainable living, including a whole series on the consciousness of our travels in India addressing many areas of life. No matter how many times I have heard Quinn speak about sustainable solutions, I continue to deepen my understanding and awareness of possibilities for change.
Thank you for reading my blog and for going on this journey with me toward Unconditional Love!
Stay Tuned for Part 42
Get in on the series from @saramiller about her own intriguing personal experience at the @gardenofeden.
Check out the @gardenofeden website too to see how we're doing our part to change the world.
