This update is mainly for my international friends on my mailing list to give them an idea of how I'm going.
Well, there ain't no traveling happening at the moment, so I can't zip across to some European vista and jangle my strings on the cobblestones... this whole Covid thing has everyone under wraps. What a downer.
There's a lot of differing opinions, beliefs and even differing versions of facts spoken and repeated by various people, experts and leaders as to what is actually going on. Well, if you've read any of my other politically oriented information, you already know where I stand on the issue and I don't need to address it here. So take a deep breath and collectively go 'phew!'...
Talking about what's actually happening in the living of my life... what a novelty! Just like I used to... writing on the streets of Crete or living in a cave or forest somewhere -- when life was all about experiencing something interesting and new and jumping into deep water head first.
One little tidbit I will put in, regarding all this mess - just trust yourself. Trust that there is something deeper and innate that is an essential part of your being that knows what's going on and knows how to deal with it. This awareness is a part of you and you can claim it now.
Moving on! 😀
Here is my new coffee cart! I've been having fun designing and getting things together for this exciting new business venture which I will own in its entirety eventually. So running and owning a small business is a big step for me into the world of the completely normal (what is that now? Anyone remember? Shhh Monty, you're breaking the flow 😂).
It's been a long step down from the cloud of my extra-ordinary life from 18 months ago when I originally decided, 'wow, I can't keep up this street music thing like a wreckless experience junky any longer..' that of course didn't stop me from gallavanting off to Ireland and Europe again in September 2019 but I came back in March of this year with the same realisation and intention.
Due to opportunities at the restaurant I was working at and new office workers moving in nearby, post 1st covid lockdown here in Perth, it seemed to me to be a really good idea to commit to something like this. I've been a barista on and off for years and I don't half mind the job so it's a good half-way in finding a place in this crazy system.
Pretty soon I'll basically be living permanently at the cart ... as in October (mid Spring for Australia) I'll be opening till 2pm. I already wake up at 5am for a 6.30am start Mon to Fri so my hours will be up in the cajillions! But that's just it, I'm super happy to be doing something predominantly for myself working towards independence. Lots of learning is being had by me to take it this far and to maintain it.
As a side note: I am aware of the cultural appropriation of the word Gypsy in modern western society however I have had this debate already with an ex-friend anarchist from England a few years ago and I've been in contact with my friends in Macedonia who actually live in a culture with gypsies in it and I've been reassured that the gypsies couldn't give two shits if westerners use it to describe an easy going free-spirit or traveler. Also, there are so many types of gypsies around Europe and Turkey and they do not all come from one place! PC speech out the way... continue....
The artwork is mine, the text on the right is by my friend Jess. Fluorescent chalk pens on a black board is a great medium to work with!
I've got plenty of time while sitting here on the street to do blogging and music of various forms and chat with friends that stop by for a coffee. There is the occasional busy rush from the office workers nearby and a consistent rapport is slowly being built amongst the community regarding the coffee cart.
I'm grateful for the restaurant that I work with for this opportunity as it's made the process of getting this on its feet so much easier than to do it entirely on my own - especially considering all the accounts are sorted, being run as one business with the restaurant. If anyone in Australia is aware of the red tape and tax blah blah it takes to run a small business here, they've normally got a few extra grey hairs on their head. 😂
Of course, it's nice to say 'I'm an anarchist, I don't care about that crap,' but being in the public as part of the status quo makes it mandatory by social standards to do it 'proper'. We live in a loose fitting form of authoritarian communitarianism (people keeping other people inline). All my ideals of a 'better society' weaned from the various socio-political groups I've been a part of are suddenly faced with the reality of how everyone else does things and how they've been doing them for years. It's not to say I've given up my ideals, it's to say it's important to pick your battles - conflict takes energy.
I find it hard enough running a small business, to get my head around the responsibility of this - I can't imagine what people running a larger business go through. Do they get any rest? Do they have any free time to pursue arts or music? The answer is no, they don't. lol - not unless you're an amazing micro-manager that can juggle two plates and three mugs while jumping over a hippopotamus.
Another reason why this coffee cart is a great idea is because it is a business that can survive the apocalypse. Everyone wants a take-away coffee regardless of what's happening and it's one business that is still allowed to operate in lock-down (our version of it). So with a couple of quick alterations, plastic screens can go up and the street cart can continue on forevermore unto eternity! (ok, not quite that long haha)
So this cart has been keeping me busy and and just adjusting to the life of committing to a small business has been a job in itself. Finding a mid-way in the self in order to relate to the average working person again. Coming down from the heights of hopes and dreams that were only bound to last a short time. Finding a level...
Here is a small recording booth made using a bunch of insulating materials. Why? Recently a sound producer friend from the Netherlands recommended me for a voice-over job. I had 1400 words of Dutch War History to revise and recite (in English of course, haha). My favourite subject as well! 😂
That's a new avenue for me, doing voice-over work. If you want to hear how my voice sounds you can hear the poetry on Kelebek Evrimi's release from 2018 on these two tracks here -
"The Butterfly's Burden" (featuring translated abridged poetry by Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish). Poetry starts at time reference 4:29 -
https://soundcloud.com/kelebek-evrimi/5-the-butterflys-burden
"On Living" (featuring translated abridged poetry by Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet)
Poetry starts at time reference 2:22 -
https://soundcloud.com/kelebek-evrimi/03-on-living-kelebek-evrimi
I've been practicing a lot with my loop pedal and violin improvisation act so I can perform it comfortably and to a new skill level on the streets here.
I've also been busking a bit here and there singing and guitar like I normally do as a few weeks ago the markets re-opened.
I realise Western Australia is extremely lucky regarding its border policy and its freedom at present. So many around the world are going through so much and isolation for many is creating a pressure cooker environment for their emotions. So my happenstance willy nilly decision to come back here from Europe in March turned out to be a pretty good one. I'm blessed, lucky and grateful to be able to live as I am at the moment.
The world is a strange place, all previous dreams and aspirations must be taken back to the drawing board and reassessed. I've friends who had so much time in isolation and doing things they've been putting off for years and then when things opened up again, now have less time than they did before.
I considered that possibly this experience would wake a few people up from the society slumber but have been proven wrong as everyone just jumped back on track to find their place within the system again.
This depresses me more than anything. How can you hope to be that fancy career in a system that doesn't exist? Can you seriously believe that this system will just last forever and you will live forever? But the delusion is turned back onto me, I am projected with insanity for questioning their pursuit of the system dream.
[writing in my notepad]
I thought for a moment in all that mess that "this was it", that a critical mass of people would 'wake up' and start behaving like humans again. It seems I was wrong. I've just seen the collective adapt to a new path that promises less pain but it just delays the inevitable.
This system is going down peeps. Stop hoping in a return of the economy. Stop trusting your government to do what's right. There will be remedies and they will work for a time but this system was designed to fail. The people behind it don't give a shit about you - only as much as it serves their purposes. The curtain is being pulled back and the truth is being exposed yet who has the gusto to open their eyes to see what it reveals?
The system no longer serves its original purpose. It is delusional to think otherwise, yet it is clear to me now that most people need to be standing right on the edge of the abyss to see the danger of it - until then, it remains a fantasy. This is unfortunate.
Creative ways to give a visual illustration of the abyss we're falling down like street theatre and comedy might be fun.
So... if you haven't already, ask the serious questions. Do what you really want to do. Reassess your life goals. It's no point studying to be a big this or a tattle that. Is fear of death getting you down? Why let it control your life?
Easy to say for you says the mother of five children dependent on government subsidies...
Independence is now more important than ever... we must be doing all in our power to be more and more independent from this system - it seeks to keep us close while it slowly implodes. We must make a job out of being independent in a world that doesn't have fancy cars or fancy jobs. We must become survival oriented.
Independence also means having strong and meaningful communities rooted in honesty.
For now, we can talk like this and 'breathe easy' in a sense. But it's all going to get much, much worse (not even being pessimistic about it.. really). So why not face that reality now and get cracking at a real solution instead of remaining in a utopian pipedream dependent on endless 'progress' and drugged up optimism.
Optimism without root is a cause of calamity. Yes, we must stay above the waters of emotion, optimism is a tool of the mind that we can learn to utilize when it assists in our survival. But we must also look at what is actually going on. We must learn not to react emotionally to what is actually going on so we can face the truth. Then we can act on what is real and our actions can have value and lasting impact on the world around us.
In this sense, honesty is more positive than any form of deluded ungrounded optimism. Honesty = survival. You won't have a nervous system and a brain to feel airy fairy and larger than life if you can't survive.
We find more and more honest ways to live. We form new honesty based communities of close friends. And through our actions we purge this society of lies and cause an uprising from the ground up. Not by burning down infrastructure or looting department stores but by using unstoppable firm decided action, resulting in a non-violent resilient collective change - a change not planned and decided upon by the leaders of the current mess (or the would be leaders for that matter).
They want violence, they want a reason to lock us up and change the laws to give them greater permission to do so.
Anger comes and goes. Life stays. Let's stick with life.
Live! 😀
[image taken at Bibra Lake, near where I live]
Continuing...
I've been getting into body weight training at home and slowly building up muscle mass, which is a big thing for me because I've not often been motivated to do this in my life but now through persistence and hard work have built up a habit to make and do a small workout almost daily a part of my life routine.
Having an ecto-morph body type is not the easiest body to build muscle on. I have never eaten enough protein to build muscle like I want to in my life. So to get out of the 'skinny' I have to make a job of eating. It's a new turn for me, having started it with just doing a few pushups a day from 18 months ago.
I knew that if I wanted to do this properly I would have to commit to it long-term. I'm not looking to get tanked over night. By listening to my body and slowly increasing my workout over time, I've come to expect and even enjoy it - and I enjoy feeling stronger too. I'm not massive by any means but I have more muscle mass on my body than I've ever had in my life and it feels really good to be a bit more solid.
It also helps a shitload with posture. Doing core building exercises has shown me that my lack in muscles in my abdomen and sides has been a major factor in the difficulty of standing up straight. I wish I knew this before and committed to it before (like when I was 16). It's wrong to assume that this is just me and posture is hereditary.
It can be corrected by building muscles where your body finds it difficult to support itself and these are not hard exercises with big exertion. It's core building like plank and side-ways plank. Starting with those and getting the body used to those is a great start. It also increases self confidence because you've more confidence in how you feel standing straight and therefore how you appeal to others.
I've always been anti-image mentality in my life, having stood up for a lot of things and having a lot of opinions about stuff regarding this hypocritical image focused narcissistic society but regardless of whether you're doing it for sex, looks, personal strength, or whatever - gaining a little bit of muscle mass affects so much - especially the mind!
I can't believe I waited till I was 34 to discover this. I suppose I was too absorbed in living such a strange and eventful life, believing I was saving the world (ha, so delusional 😂) to really sit in one place for long enough and take proper care of myself. To take the time to get to know what is necessary to take care of myself.
I can also touch my toes with relatively little knee bending now, which is something I haven't been able to do my entire life. It just took a bit of persistence and daily stretching.
[a wicking bed in process of being made]
I've also made a few wicking beds out the back (self watering garden beds). I'm growing coriander, parsley, kale, pumpkin, strawberries, chilli, rocket, basil, broccoli (a rat ate all the broccoli though, and ONLY the broccoli 😂), spring onions, some out of season corn, tomatoes and snap peas. It sounds like the garden is huge but it's really all just crammed into a couple of small beds. I'm growing seedlings in the used compostable cups from the cafe to possibly sell there as well.
I'm kept busy with my housemates dogs and cat which I love to bits. Life is pretty good for me really, I don't have much to complain about and when I do - 90% of the time, it's internal and I just need to sit it out.
I get stressed about world issues and also about this Covid disaster but many times I just need to take a sabbatical and deliberately put my focus somewhere else. I have the luxury to be able to do that. I've had a love hate relationship with my music over the last few months but have found a level once again and have got back into playing consistently.
If I can break the nine month mark, living in one place without moving, then I've hit a milestone. I haven't lived in one location/house for longer than nine months since I was 15.
This vagrant nomad's travels are by no means over but a new leaf has been turned in the chapter of his life. The world gets more interesting but here we are... we remain. What to do? ðŸ¤
Regards,
Monty
ps. Like a good blogger, I leave you with animal photos. 😂
[Headline: Sleeping dog finds most comfortable position]
