Brock { Abroad }

Experiencing these past two weeks have really made me re-define what the word contribution means for myself. I’ve made a lot of personal breakthrough through Knowmads In these two weeks, where we have been attempting to better understand each other through 14-minute presentations to the tribe to express ourselves in any way we wish . Realizing what I now understand contribution to be, I knew it was time to open myself up to the group in a way I don’t think I’d ever really shared with anyone before. Hopefully, it will not be the last time I am able to do it either.

I began explaining why I chose the word openness as my contribution to the Knowmads tribe in an exercise we’d done the previous week. To me, openness simply means “letting go”. With the most profound amount of honesty and sincerity within yourself, truly letting go all of all negative feelings. I explained my experience with the Camino de Santiago, my belief in attempting to ritualize time. To re-connect to a word that’s become such a dissonated delusion to most of society. I shared my experience of attempting to take everything step by step, to enjoy and explore the time spent on getting from point A to point B. To have fun, enjoy the journey! I shared with them how connected I felt to all of them as I shared why I started this journey, and how I felt it was no accident I was brought to Knowmads, to discover my purpose.
I told them about my mother. I explained that she is my best friend and the wisest woman I know. How she is a gardener, and how I now realize just how much her green thumb has really made a difference in my life, attempting to grow me into something beautiful. I shared a story with them about my sense of fashion that she nurtured in me by letting me dress myself as soon as I started school. I told them about my green little mermaid sweatpants that she would have to wash every night because I insisted on wearing them every day.
I told them about my love for the water. How it brings me peace. That water is needed for growth. I shared where I’ve lived, places all near the water. I explained the impact my experiences in Spain had on me. I shared with them my inner journey on the Camino de Santiago that led me to realize the major theme in my life; ritualizing time.  I explained that I saw my life as a journey, a slow accretion of details I hoped to make them understand that each and every one of them were part of it. I went to a place deep within myself that I hadn’t been ready to share with anyone before. I went to a moment on my pilgrimage in Spain that actually stopped me from even finishing my blog posts about the experience. It was an extremely personal place that I finally felt ready to share. It was a story about a pine cone.
I brought out a flower box and a bag of dirt and placed a piece of wood pulled out of the garbage in front of me. I explained to the group the ancient Mayan tradition of young latino men on pilgrimage and that I wanted to make an altar for everyone to contribute to. I lit a bowl of sage and placed it next to twelve unlit candles. I pulled out a bag of flower seeds. I lit each candle as I gave my tribe a packet one-by-one. I told them how they made me feel. Plants can’t survive on water alone, and with too much they will drown. A healthy plant also needs plenty of sunshine and there has to be a balance between the two. Without it, something really beautiful may never really grow.

The sunshine in my tribe: how 11 brothers and sisters make me feel…
faith, love, grace, inquisitiveness, nurturing, respect, honesty, partnership, strength, play, loyalty.
These past two weeks, I have learned to strengthen and widen my core. I have learned to think before I speak. I have wiped away my own tears and the tears of others. I have been humbled. I’ve faced challenges, obstacles, and fears. I’ve taken them head-on and  learned from them. I’ve danced the lindy hop, practiced aikido, wrote poetry, and admitted I was wrong. I’ve met over 20 new and fascinating people making meaning in this world. I’ve chosen complexity over complication and sought simplification in being rather than doing. I’ve given a presentation on one of the biggest festivals in Europe’s creative industry to one of Europe’s biggest creatives, brainstormed with some of the best social entrepreneurs and innovators in the city, and have continued creatively connecting myself to the world around me. I’ve never felt so much adrenaline pumping through my veins on a daily basis, where every day is completely different from the last.

Related posts:

1. Time as Ritual
2. How to live a life of Pilgrimage:
3. Private: Synchronicity at its finest.
4. Film Workshop- day 2
5. Knowmads Walks: let loose in Amsterdam!