When I was visiting friends in Australia a few months ago we spent Christmas Eve in Nimbin, NSW. It was humbling. The vastness of the terrain. A naturalist dream. I felt that was the day I knew my pilgrimage to other ways of living was underway.
BEYOND THE SURFACE: I was with my girlfriend, her daughter and her partner. She wanted me to see where she had spent a year of her life – many a day seen broadcasting live from the porch of this cool modern paradise; a land of open spaces where Kookaburra thrive. Multi-colored parrots grace the skies in striking volume. Blooming lilies float atop clear, blue ponds. Grass grows higher than the tallest man, and the woods are filled with lovely surprises at every turn. That much beauty generates corresponding feelings of peace and joy; palpable, born beyond the surface of this rich hologram of quantum potential.
Walking into the tall grass gave one the feeling of pilgrimage into lands unknown. A place alive only in your imagination, yet there it was, stretched out in front of us. It was tropical. Fantastical. Magical. It was Nimbin. We spent the afternoon visiting, walking the lore of the land, laughing. A static free zone.
All we four felt like doing was playing. It permeated the day, the space we stood in, the time as it ticked away. So we played…
We ran, hid, climbed trees, splashed pond water, swung in a tire, sticked our way to a battle of swords. It was precious. Three adults and one younger, all allowing the child to come out and take the lead. On that day, the way it should be. I was happy. It was light and fun and all I could sense was the joy in the moment, and the moment in the joy.
FIELDING A PATH: It was an Alice in Wonderland meets the Wizard of Oz sorta day of pretend. We crafted a storyline that we were adventurers traveling in the deepest parts of the tropical jungle, looking for the rabbit, chasing the Wizard, fighting the witch. It filled our senses, displaced the heat, added color to the blues and greens of the rolling hills of Nimbin. We were alive!
That’s the pilgrimage I wish to continue – one where wonder replaces logic, fantasy washes away fact, and the senses of my surroundings overtake the senslessness of the 9 to 5. That’s where I want to live, to breathe, to be. Nimbon restored that in me. My friends’ willingness to see the world the same way as I, fueled my desire for more, knowing pleasure was mine for the mere thought of it. I found my Hiraeth, my home – in the knowing that all begins with the idea of being, and the rest just fills in like liquid poured into a glass.
As with all things, Nimbin goodbyes loomed in the offing. C’est la vie. On to the next… and the next… and the… Tall grass leading out from the Nirvana of a Nimbin-esk reality where the world behind is awaiting your return… longing to be painted with the colors of your vision once again, where you can co-create the existence you desire.
OCEAN BLUES: That’s where I am now. Nimbin. Free of heart and mind. Where I exist anytime by mere thought. I have found many Nimbins since that Christmas Eve day. They exist in life and in one’s creativity. When you need one it is a breath away. One of my favorite places of Nimbin can be found near where I am on Long Island, NY. It is a locale where City Hall resides at a true zero point, and the salty air of the nearby Atlantic brings thoughts of sandy beaches along the tall grass of the natural shoreline. It is my spiritual place of Nimbin. One where I am happy… where I am home.
A pool of blue water rippling one wave of life at a time, in, over, then out and beyond. Drifting. Shifting. Offering hiraeth.