Bionic Teutonic

This last weekend, Ariel and I and a bunch of friends went up to Shambhala, a music festival in Canada that in past years has been one of our favorite weekends. I didn’t go last year because of work, but was excited to get back. Our friend Dawn got there before us and had set up camp. She was travelling with some hippie friends of her boyfriend and by the time we got there, she was already feeling overwhelmed. We set up camp and wandered around the first day. My immediate impression was that the festival had skewed significantly younger since I was last there. Way less people who felt like peers and way more really, really young kids. It’s always hard to be objective about things like that (am I just getting older), but it just felt different this year. After about 36 hours at the festival, Ariel and I were getting ready to take a nap. “I’d really love to be in this environment without all the noise and cracked out kids” Ariel put in. “Fuck it. Let’s go camping” I said. Within an hour, Ariel and I were packed and on the road. I think in years past I would have stayed out of a sense that if I wasn’t enjoying myself, there was something wrong with me (I just need a different attitude, etc.). The second half of our Canada trip turned out to be great. We stayed a night in Nelson, then headed up to Ainsworth Hot Springs, then on to a night of camping in the Kootenays. I feel like it’s a good sign of maturity that I can recognize when something which has traditionally been so enjoyable is no longer working and let it go. I hope that I can continue to cultivate non-attachment in similar ways and that it pays off like it did this past weekend.