I’ve taken a few weeks off from the Substack and enjoyed a much-needed escape to Wiseman’s Ferry with 200(ish) of my closest friends for a mini “Burning Man” type festival. It definitely filled my cup to the brim and I left feeling restored, connected and contented.
It got me thinking that when I choose books (which inevitably lead to hyper fixations), I often wind up choosing books that uncover the darker aspects of humanity. For example, last month I wound up reading a lot about the QAnon Cult (unfathomably stupid, cannot get over it), the billionaires subverting democracy in the United States and around the globe and addiction and the War on Drugs. Oddly, the book about addiction wound up being the most hopeful.
I also know that where you focus your attention is inevitably where you focus your energy and your spirit. So this week, I have decided to focus on four things that are currently bringing me joy and spreading that out into the world instead.
1. A Pleasure to Burn
As I said, I just got back from a mini-Burning Man-type event and honestly, I can’t even describe how lovely it was.
It’s a small event and everyone mostly knows each other or at least are friends of friends. We gather for five days of music, workshops, partying, art and fun. Everyone is expected to contribute something – whether it’s their time serving food or at the bar (both of which are included in ticket price and are communal) or by putting on a workshop or event. For example, I contributed a pole show, help on a dinner shift, and put on a Death Meditation, which went really well!
It was absolutely wonderful. Five days of collaboration, creativity, art, music, laughter and play – something everyone could benefit from. And best of all, it gave me more clarity on my PhD proposal on psychedelics and their ability to foster “purposeless play” in adults, leading to improved mental health, enhanced community bonding and individual resilience.
Before I went to any events like this, I thought I knew exactly who I would find there. If you’ve never been to one, maybe you do too. But instead, I found a collection of incredibly impressive individuals – and I mean impressive in every sense of the word. I met neurosurgeons, physicists, incredible artists, musicians and people from just about every walk of life you can imagine. But the thing that impressed me most was the fact that the only pre-requisites for being there was to have someone vouch for you, to contribute your time or creativity (or both), and to be a good, conscientious human. Thassit.
And where else will you see everyone participating in creativity together, from children all the way up to Pensioners? Engaging in workshops like sock-puppet making, acro-yoga, Maranasati meditation and wild dance parties under the moonlight?
I remain convinced that if more people embraced communities like this, they would feel more connected, happier and less lonely. People should be playing, making art and making friends throughout their entire lives. These are the things that make life wonderful – and the need for connection doesn’t end at some arbitrary age. It’s something we need our whole lives.
If you ever get the chance to go, try it. Give your inner child free reign for a weekend. See how it feels.
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”
- Roald Dahl
2. Truly Delightful Books
I moved on in the past couple of weeks from reading books that were brilliant but semi-horrifying to books that, while still dealing with heavy subjects, managed to do so with an optimism and appreciation for the humans they examined to be uplifting and serious at the same time.
The first was Johann Hari’s incredible Chasing the Scream: The Search for the Truth About Addiction in which Hari posits that the opposite of addiction isn’t sobriety, but connection. His hypothesis takes him on a globetrotting investigative journey about the War on Drugs and drugs more generally. The results are often incredibly sad (particularly when they deal with how we treat people suffering from addiction) but also frequently hopeful (particularly when looking at the new ways in which progressive countries are tackling drug use and addiction.) It’s a thought-provoking, mind-changing, exceptional book and I can’t recommend it enough.
I also recently finished Yuval Noah Harari 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. He’s so brilliant and his books are always a pleasure to read. I love coming away with new little fact nuggets (did you know that wolves have a “moral code” in that if a wolf puppy continues to bite another puppy who has “surrendered” in play, the other puppies will shun him? Or that the term “Hocus Pocus” comes from the Latin “Hoc est Corpus” meaning “this is my body” – employed during Catholic Church services when holding up the body of Christ bread and misunderstood by peasant parishioners who didn’t understand Latin as “Hocus Pocus”?) It’s a wonderful, affirming, thought-provoking read. I adored it.
“Consistency is the playground of dull minds.” - Yuval Noah Harari
3. Making Low-Stakes Art
I sang semi-professionally and then professionally for about a decade of my life. I went to school for musical theatre and then got a scholarship to the University of British Columbia to study opera. I had originally moved to Vancouver because I’d gotten an agent and started auditioning for film and TV. I danced most of my life and was terrible at it because I was always so aware of how terrible I was. What I learned was that trying to commodify these artistic pursuits that I loved to do made me miserable. I had terrible anxiety and depression and finally quit it all at age 24 because my mental health was so terrible.
It took me a long time to go back to music and dance because I had, understandably, a lot of complicated feelings around it. I went back to dance first because I had the most neutral feeling around it – I’d never been great at it, so I had no expectations. I chose pole because I love the combination of strength and flexibility it required – and the fun outfits and giant heels were a major plus for me. How many forms of workout involve that!?
I’ve now been doing pole for about eight years. I like to joke that I am the world’s okayest pole dancer. But I do it because I like it. I like to dance. I like feeling stronger. I like my friends in class and I like moving my body to music. Who cares if I’m good at it or not?
For my MA last year, I interviewed a guy I’d seen on stage at Mr Pole Dance Australia. His name is Glynn Owens, though onstage he’s known as The Prince. He was 68 when he started pole dancing and when I interviewed him, at age 71, he was excited to be getting his first pair of heels as he got ready for a competition. He was a professor emeritus of psychology at the University of Auckland and former champion marathoner and martial artist – so clearly a man who loves a challenge. He was also one of the most kind and delightful humans I’ve had the pleasure of speaking with.
He gave me some great advice that I have tried to apply to everything I want to try. I think of it often. He said:
“I only try new things I think that I’ll be bad at. – Glynn Owens
I LOVE THAT. And I have since applied it to a range of new things. I started playing piano again, took up the guitar, and have joined choirs that get progressively more and more chill. I started with the Sydney Philharmonic which required an audition, and a lot of time and a lot of dedication and money, then moved on to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Choir, which was lovely but still a bit more commitment than I was after, and most recently have started attending the ultra-chill Chaotic Social choir.
You just drop in, sing nice music, have a laugh and go. So I do. I show up at dance and don’t worry if I’m getting it right. I sing at home along with my piano because music is beautiful and I enjoy it. This is how I wish my relationship to art and creativity to be from now on.
“You say ‘amateur’ as if it was a dirty word. ‘Amateur’ comes from the Latin word ‘amare’, which means to love. To do things for the love of it.”
- Mozart in the Jungle
4. A Most Excellent Heist
Anyone who knows me knows one thing – I bloody love a good heist. I don’t know what it is exactly about them. I think it’s the audacity it takes to carry them off. I love an art heist, or a jewel heist, or a heist of anything rare and precious. Because yes, it’s wrong to steal. Of course. But billionaires get away with it constantly, so what’s wrong with taking a little delight in a little guy (or gal) pulling off a dazzling heist with nothing but chutzpah in their pocket?
Gerald Blanchard, the subject of an insane documentary called The Jewel Thief, had (and still has, it seems) chutzpah to spare. This Winnipeg-native began his career of thievery at a young age. In high school, he started stealing furniture, consumer goods and electronics and re-selling them (often back to the stores he stole them from), eventually cleaning out an entire RadioShack and putting its whole contents in a U-haul.
He was arrested for this at the age of 15. Shortly after he began selling stolen electronics to his probation officer and their probation officer friends.
In 1993, he was arrested again at the age of 21 and managed to escape police custody twice in a 24-hour period, once in a stolen police cruiser right in front of the officer whose cruiser it was. The second time, he crawled into the ceiling of the interrogation room he was being held in and waited there until the station emptied out several hours later. When he finally did leave, he left rude notes all over the desks of the officers who had arrested him.
Like I know all this is very naughty but honestly. What a fkn little legend.
Eventually, he moved on to robbing banks across Canada by scouting them out and securing all their security details while they were still being constructed. He cultivated a jet-setting lifestyle, hobnobbing with the rich and famous and living the high life as he trotted around the globe.
The crown jewel in his heist career though, was stealing one of the hair jewels of the beloved Empress Elisabeth or “Sisi” of Austria from Schönbrunn Palace. How did he do this? Allegedly by PARACHUTING OUT OF AN AIRPLANE onto the Palace grounds after hours.
I mean. Come on.
I highly recommend this doco. It was so much fun and my jaw (and David’s) was on the floor most of the time because the audacity of this dude was delightful and so very entertaining.
Butch: “What happened to the old bank? It was beautiful.”
Guard: “People kept robbing it.”
Butch. “Small price to pay for beauty.”
- William Goldman, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
Bits and Bobs
Elsewhere this week I’m…
Reading: History of the World in 100 Animals by Simon Barnes. Speaking of delightful, this is like a warm cup of tea in book form. It’s beautiful, funny, charming and the illustrations and artworks included are great. I am loving it.
Listening to: Javelin, The heartbreaking new album from Sufjan Stevens, written for his partner who recently passed away. He’s never commented on his sexuality before and this album is just… the most gorgeous tribute love could ask for. </3
Watching: Encounters on Netflix. I fkn love stuff about aliens, and you all are going to hear about it. Yes, I unironically believe in aliens. Yes, you are welcome to ask me about this.
Taking: A (second course) on using Chat GPT and other large language models. It’s so much fun and I’m learning a ton. Play with them if you have not yet, you’ll have a blast. I’m not going to talk about Skynet.
Until next week! (I promise).
Ahh this was a delight to read! Thank you