Dearest Hive Friends,
I live along the street from a beautiful ('deconsecrated') church l'Ave Gratia Plena, which happens to be one of the town's very efficient hotspots for wifi, and which has a mostly-functional (only missing one wooden bar) bench to sit on - though I also enjoy the marble steps of the fountain or church, which cool the culo in the hottest months.
I've been out and about for my laptop-and-internet things, since I withdrew my consent to the controversies of the electrical supply corporations, and am using internet at home only via my phone. I like that there are two separate channels of use of technologies for online: I like VERY MUCH not having wifi emanations in my home, and not having the bills for either mains electricity or internet subscription - these two were upwards of 60 Euros per month, and considering that I Live In Gift and am very elegantly frugal - this huge expense was quite against my values and freedom.
So the move out into the street to do this aspect of my writing and posting, banking and the like, is a joy: there are myriad positives to my sitting in the cool street of a morning, or popping up to the piazza, or taking a break from my intense working situation in the Arthouse, and getting a coffee or a glass of wine, and people-watching and catching up with the local news.
Folks here in this wee town can be a bit surprised to see anyone sitting out (in their pyjamas, sometimes, hahahah!) in the medieval quarter, but seeing someone busy on their computer is quite an anomaly! I often get surprised responses as to what I am doing 'exposed' like this, as if it were a terrible inconvenience to be sitting comfortably between the beautiful columns and cobbles, archways and carvings, tapping way expressively and efficiently on my Pin64. It can be a bit of work to convince them that I choose to be here: I am using an autonomous-softwared computer, powered by solar panels and a powerbank, logging into Hive, Wirex or Simpleswap and a couple of other sites that I visit occasionally to message friends or new contacts, with the larger keyboard of my laptop (rather than flailing on the smartphone mini-keys). I am comfortable and relaxed, working to my own, Natural Law rhythm, and without the tension of a hurry or a deadline.
Most folks cannot comprehend this, though they appear to have lost their charge of emotion around '!!!But you can't live without current!!!' which met me when I first discussed my refusal to pay extortionate prices for what comes freely from the cosmos. They seem to acknowledge that in fact I AM able to subsist perfectly comfortably, without light at the touch of a button, even if they are imagining that I'm hiding my suffering, heheh!
Ma, they come across me in the street, and the whole neuroses pour forth all over again: 'why are you sitting out here??!', 'would you like to come and use my house?', 'aren't you uncomfortable there?!'The presumption of tension, pain, contraction is everywhere: it is seen as the base reality of all things, in all people. It takes a small effort at the least, to brush this off of my head and return it to sender. The echo of it reverberates after the passer-by, sometimes accompanied and emphasised by a trail of toxic perfume (fabric softener, deodorant, body spray) that lingers longer than it should. It takes a moment to come back to what I was doing, and to re-find my flow.
But on the whole I get to control how much I'm interrupted; I can choose the quieter street or hour. I can keep my head fixed to the screen in mock-super-concentration as I type, or I can be more curt in my salutations, indicative of my being 'busy': the space is my own, as much as my home and workshop are.
I like busy-ness too, and sometimes write or post with wine and loud music in the background: this is not my ideal work situation, but it is nice to be around the warmth of others' culture, even if it is not my own; the comfort of folks in movement and in stimulated conversation can be tonic, even when one is on the edge of it. I like very much the contrast, of my home with the million dollar view and the birdsong and shussssssssshhhhhhhh of the waterfall, with minimal footsteps passing, only an occasional tractor at a distance, and maximum disturbance of one of my cats miaowing from below about needing me to assist them with something. The quiet of my regular ambience and the relative chaos of my creative outpourings within are a beautiful symbiotic balance in themselves - and yet, I want more contrast, variety, biodiversity...
So when I get 'bored' or 'stagnant' at home, I get off out with my laptop and 'internet cushion', and tread the cobbles the few hundred metres to wherever seems to have the best shade, the working wifi, and perhaps a cold drink or splash of fountain water to cool my head or feet... My internet trips outside the house are usually quick, neat, and successful, in that I get whatever post posted, transaction transacted, and can move on: I like a LOT how this is kept out of my house; keeping the metaphor of physical movement outside, alongside my sharing and transacting. It feels like a good way to do things, aligned and clean - my home is energetically very activated, and so it it important for me to 'delegate' what I can to other spaces!
