The place to be and see in Kathmandu!

Here we are at Boudha stupa, this is destination number one for a traveller or pilgrim in Nepal’s capital city Kathmandu, it’s a gentle hearty cultural experience and for Buddhists it is of great inspiration.

We relax after a series of stupa circumambulations in aryia café eating Burritos and drinking Nepalese organic coffee, there are no cars in the square surrounding the Stupa and so makes for one of the most relaxed places to hang out with the children and let them run and explore, turn prayers on the Mani wheels and enjoy.

A little travellers tip for my friends and those who lurk here on fiddlesticks full of gypsy ambition, if your unfamiliar with the Indian/Himalayan subcontinent and are not ready for the mind trip that is India, come to this mountainous kingdom first, it will be a more soft landing for your cultural shocked adjustment. 

(Although there still seems to be small issues with my camera lens clarity (or maybe it’s just my eyes) The Nikon shop in Delhi fixed, cleaned and serviced my D7000 for less than a smiley $50.

And so after 3 weeks of no camera, here I go again distracting myself with angles and settings and contemplating lens shopping in one of the black market ghettos.)

light

I expect the only thing to do is grab your hands, pull you through the screen and bring you here, this way it would take 10 seconds or a minute at the most and would save me from searching my being for clever summarisation. 
I just can’t seem to do description, to get it out of me while it spins in acceleration within.

Things are never what they seem. 

Through our own senses we grasp hungrily to our idea of solidarity,

this is a featherweight reality here, not just an average density as far as I know average to go.

I thought my mind was big and able, but even with my over confidence in it's capacity, I walk around shaking my head saying why didn’t I know that there is such diversity to living.

 The shackles of materialism are shedding like scales; I am always surprised when I notice that I have been truly greedy… 

We are down to one carrier bag between us… all our 4 peoples stuff fits into it easily, this is a step, reading the profound book spiritual materialism was another, I should like to discover a book on eco hippy materialism one that shines light on the density of being cool.

But what really seems to weigh me down are the subscriptions to ideologies, layer upon layer of stuff to dissolve, get rid of these and one can live very light, and it is light that I can’t seem to describe.

Take for an attempt… A touch lamp that sits on the bedside table, the ones we loved as kids, flicking through the levels of brightness as we marvelled at the small power of our fingers touch… this is the visual, the light gets brighter on the way up.

 Up of course is in, because to go that way, means to let go of the things that have weighed us down.

Dye, wool, Bubble, Bubble

Does India flint know about India does she know that at every corner on every bush at every turn, straight or narrow is a plant for dying with.

Did Juliette de Bairacli Levy come here to play on her endless adventures or did she stop with the Bedouins and then head back west… East is herbal heaven and the mountains are alive with growing good things.

I run into a sheep on every stroll, bounding lambs so sweet dangle dangle dandy legs mid air leaps and bleats… Did the hand spun goddess of spindle and wheel know what the grazing grasslands could treadle her foot here in the highlands.

OH the inspiration, the potential the time and space come together in a crafters chorus supplies are all around me, where do I start.

With Spanish wool and Australia dye… 

Not yet India, I am clearing the stockpiles so that I can make a complete crafty move on the things singing hello around me.

I will get there soon and my fiddle sticks will get a snapping.

I have been working on many pretty things a vest that had no pattern but evolved into something surprisingly wearable into the dye pot bubble bubble toil and trouble with 3 mushroom caps, 1 stem and a Natural Suburbia patterned cow... bubble.

Brown ashfood wool dye plus nasty aluminium pot, plus knitted things from yarn with a story.

The result is dripping outside on my line I have high hopes.

And I am butchering my attempt as I ride the happy bandwagon and make a mess of the sunny days shawlette from Nurturing Fibres.

I will live through two springs and two summers this year to make up for last years two winters, sunny day shawlette will be my friend if it makes it to the end.

This month here has been so slippery sweet, feels like home!

Pictures are taken with my broken camera, can you tell!

Dismantling the mind

It has taken years to get a handle on meditation, to be quiet and removed from all the seemingly important ideas I allow through habit in my mind…

I gave up, deciding that some people have a capacity for this sort of peaceful practice and some people such as me just can’t tame it, that peaceful aura cultivated by stillness instead became a cloud of frustration and disappointment…

This stage was a fair bit of cowardice on my part. 

I guess it was all the expectations and unfriendliness towards myself.

Lately I am finding a base…

When a big fat egocentric thought stream makes itself apparent or a rather thick insecurity bubbles comes stinky like to the surface, I can watch without turning away and am rather amused … this is not always, actually not often, but just enough so that for 15 minutes every now and then I feel a base to the practice and a potentiality beyond the upper current of thoughts.

No school... a road less travelled!

It's been about a year now, of full time natural home based learning.

I would like to share some of my experiences.

To begin with, I stumbled full of previously unimaginable fears and was ultra sensitive to the opinions of others and hungry for the suggestions from those whom had walked similar paths.

This was a rather uncomfortable stage where I took the path of my heart,

 a paradigm shifting and moving within.

At times I was doing this for my children, sometimes for myself and occasionally I had an exalted feeling, that I was doing this for peace on earth and humanity.

I collected resources, books and blogs, joined forums and groups. 

I have tried on Waldorf home education, listened to online conferences, used school standard work books, chewed the philosophy of unschooling, and importantly at times have left the processes to lay fallow while we just lived life.

I admit to comparing and having heart palpitations when I assessed her math’s standard at being lower than average and feeling smug when she began reading 9-year-old books at 7.

We bought an ipad and I began a process of discovering how it could enhance our learning, I joined an unschoolers with ipad group and apps for kids.

Downloading kindle on my ipad was a great move, no matter where we are, airplane, train, hotel room or in one of Asia's power outages we have books... beautiful words, pictures and inspiration.

A search on Amazon will reveal many free or cheap kindle books, such as the Anne of Green Gables entire set which I payed under $1 for...

I will always prefer the printed word but not when we have luggage restrictions and lack of library.

I have spent hundred of dollars in educating myself on the different methodologies... oh the beautiful collection of (paper) books I have owned and then sold or passed on, one thing to be said, resale of home school, Waldorf and unschooling books is quicker than lightning... Hungry hungry humans.

We have been traveling now for 6 months, with multi countries experienced, mostly our geography, maths, science and cultural studies have been in the now... the best place for all schooling I believe. 

Although I do think that the *now* is enhanced with rhythm.

 We lacked this rhythm at stages during the last traveling period, it was very tricky to establish anything consistent and hence a sort of burn out from too much trying occurred. 

I will be approaching family travels in a different, more relaxed and flowing way next time.

I have let a lot of guilt go!

Lately with confidence and experience under my belt, I have been feeling especially happy with the decision that at times have caused me much heaviness. 

Listen to your heart if you have the inclination to spare your children the processing of school, honor that, investigate it, you will be in fine company.

Although as for company, I have been mostly alone for inspiration, only having met up with 2 unschooling families and a local homeschoolers group, made up of the cutest headscarf wearing organic Christians with an average of 12 kids per family, they were an absolute fascination for me, we would drive the 1.5 hours to the bi monthly meet ups just to hang out with them.

In a way, a lack of input from the wider alternative schooling community has been a blessing, 

I have found my own way!

Basically I am stoked, really stoked with it all.

mostly relaxed, living more love, having more laughter.

All my romantic notions aside,

 These children of mine seem grounded, strong, and curious.

all good places to be in life.

Camera-less but cosy (around our place)

I dropped my camera.

it hit the ground with the sound of shattering glass

I had hoped this would never happen... and it did happen, of course!

And so I came up with a little tour of my town from the rummaging in my photo library.

This is where I live these days... I love it so.

It has so many treasuries of colour and spirit,

and many very mystic and majestic sights 

The people are the real treasure, it is so incredibly easy to live amongst them and I have been quickly liberated from trying, from being someone to somebody, from impressiveness and judgment, no expression is needed

... 

And so I am experimenting on bland for a change, doing without mirrors and ideas and effort,

and my insides are lightening up and rainbows dance within.

They here understand that we are all an impermanent phenomena and pay no mind, much of the time!

It's a relief, 

I’ve worn my pajamas for 3 weeks.

 Stupa filled with sacred objects

local transport outside our gallery

 comfortable things

everyday breakfast

The lounge

My neighbours who untangled my yarn while sniffing snuff and fussing over the children

This is very much an incomplete picture of our spaces and surrounds

 Our house is lovely and I will share it with you one day.

Our neighbours look like a spread from national geographic.

Ancient faces, monks and nuns, stray dogs, nomadic cowboys hanging onto their motorbikes and sweet moon faced children.

The elderly walk round and round the prayer wheels, spinning out the aspirations with grace.

 The elements have wizened their hands and hearts,

It's a raw kindness here, 

no one expects anything in return.