I am from Canada; although I wouldn't necessarily subscribe to that nationality. I am from a National Park IN Canada: Jasper National Park, and if you understand THIS you will understand ME. I love nature, poetry, music, the sun, and books after books after books; I love to learn, anything, and always; I am called both the Happy Man and more recently, the Naked Man, however I disagree with the validity of the second. I love to dance, barefoot, high up in the mountains around a great fire; I love to share, and give, and share what I've been given; I love the trees and the wind, Walden, Han Shan and the Dharma; I love Buddha, and mediation, and Jesus, and Bob Marley, and Brett Dennen. I love the philosopher, the poet, the madman seeking truth and the lovers seeking each other. I love my guitar, my grandfathers gift; I love tents, the hills, the 3 day hiking trips through the great Rocky Mountain Valleys of my home. I love to bike, quickly, through mad afternoons of high traffic where the present moment of dodging and turning is all that exists. I love the morning, the quiet morning, where I am awake, after meditation, actually awake, and aware and drinking tea while I start the days tasks. I love Liberty above all things; Liberty of Mind, of Soul, and of my Physic; I want to be free to go, free to feel and express, and free to ponder and reflect, quietly, with a quiet mind, with an insightful mind. I love to write, and write, and write, and write. I discovered myself through writing, once, and again, and it will always be the place I go back to. I love to study, all day, and all night; I am a philosopher with a love for Wisdom. I love to play, any instrument, as long as I am able to inspire rhythm and joy in it, or it in me. I love to feel, simply feel, the great emotions that we've tried to rid ourselves of. Empathy, compassion, sadness, and incredible joy; emancipation and bliss. I remember when I freed my mind, when I felt like 'I knew': it was a coming of age, and I loved it then as I do now - this is something that I want to share. I love the happiness that I've found, and that I hold, and that I try to share. I love life, my life, our lives, each life; and hopefully we can share one, or a part of one, together. What am I doing.... and why? -I am learning, now, so that I can then use what I've learned to GIVE and to CREATE and to SHARE. (see - What I'm learning) -I'm interested in developing culture, a culture, which I have not understood completely yet; however, once I am done with my study, I want to develop a culture that allows ME and EVERYONE to EXIST TOGETHER. Thus, I am studying the art of living; or, likewise, the art of how to live WELL. I want to be in peace that my EXISTANCE is an EXISTANCE in relationship with every other; I want to feel comfortable that the way I live is good for the world: for nature and for the creatures on it. The alienation I felt from the world due to the culture I was raised in broke me, and sent me, away, on the road, and I am still on this road... looking. -I was, firstly, liberating myself of all the truths that I had gathered in my life; so to say, Forgetting Everything I had Learnt, and the relearning it all again. Secondly, and presently, I am involving myself with social projects that exemplify and exist in the philosophy of Social Change; I am learning and participating in the best ways that I can. -I am studying, like a madman, everyday. What I'm Learning -Firstly, Freedom. -Secondly, well-being. -Thirdly, everything else. -Currently (as of today, September 6th, 2009) I am studying these things, in the order of time spent each day. 1. German, the language and culture. -As a born member of the Germanic Language Family and long time subscriber to Wisdom and Knowledge it is due in my part to learn, study, understand, and apprectiate the German language, mostly so that I can reread all the poetry and philosophy. Hesse was German, and so was Goethe, and so were most of the other mad men like them. That and the fact that German turns me on. I'm aspiring to 8 hours of study a day, and want to see how constant study influences the learning process. 2. Communal living, as a form of existance. - Collective decision making, communal food supplies, room space allocation, hospitalit y exchange and the interesting study as to whether projects like this GIVE you energy and time, or if they TAKE AWAY energy and time; in, of course, the philosophical sense. Projects take time, but they shouldn't take away time. Further, are these projects sustainable, and if so, are they permanent? 2. Harmonica, as an income - I play music on the street. 3. Philosophy and Poetry - As a salut to my ambitions I try to read as much as I can. Currently I am allowing myself only German texts, or french; however, a little Greek translation is hard to say no to. What I'm Teaching - As a long time recipient of LOVE and GENEROSITY I feel that I have now has and had been given to me, meaning that I owe all my gifts, talents, freedom, knowledge and happiness to those who shared it with me. There fore, I want to continue this tradition and SHARE WHAT I HAVE AND KNOW. So, this is a list of things that I feel I can share and teach you... so don't be afraid to ask. Music : Guitar, Piano, Harmonica, Flute and maybe a little tam tam. Music theory, counterpoint, modal theory, improvisation and how to hit your guitar and forget about your drummer. Hitchhiking: I'm still suprised when I find out how much I've hitched in the last year and a half; it's rather natural now, nevertheless, I remember when I first started hitching and I remember the views I held about it, not to mention the nervousness. In any case, I was completely wrong then and have learnt over the last 30 000 kilometers that hitchiking is, indeed, a beautiful act, and one that has taught me many things. I can share with you everything that I know and maybe we can go together sometime. Busking: I've played alot of music on the street; there's not much to teach, or learn, but there is alot of music to make, so let me know and we'll make a street party. Languages: I can teach French, as a subject, thoroughly; I can correct English and work on prononciation; however, my grammer is not as good since it's my mother tongue. German, I can teach you everything I know, as I know it. I will be learning, intensively, over the next few months, so as long as you don't know more then me, I can teach you whatever I just learnt. Learning: In general; I'm a madman for learning, and I've been doing alot of it over the last few years. I can teach you everything I know about how to approach a subject, how to effectively study, how to be organized and I'll teach you how to get to know your library! Cooking: I have, by no means, any formal education in cooking; albeit I still cook, and have cooked for a long time (merci Mama!) and love it, and can share what I know. Come down to the PV and we'll create something together. Dumpster Diving: How to get food from the markets, mostly the things they don't sell and don't want to take back home with them; as well, how to find bread bread bread and more bread!! How to Contact Me The best is through my email, elephantson@gmail.com, or otherwise through couchsurfing, Username Elephantson, or just come down to the PV house and say what's up. If you want to stay at the house, email me and I'll see to it; if you just want to meet up and talk poetry for 3 days, find me and we'll see to it. |
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