The 'Great Escape' Support Network thread

[[DW]]

Nice list Mountain Hammer!! I also am of the opinion that gaining these generalist skills is a very useful thing. The book My Ishmael (one in the series written by author Daniel Quinn (I review one of the others - see Recommended Reading section of the forums)) talks about similar things (as does the archdruid).. I think for anyone with an above-average pathological fear of security (esp financial security) should at some stage totally go bush for two or three weeks. Once you prove to yourself that you actually fully lived off the grid for an extended period, the fear should be seen as illusory.

For my mind, you also need 21st Century survival skills - which the ST work covers a fair chunk of! The ability to activate the relaxation response; other bodymind techniques for buffering stress and enhancing creativity; optimizing sleep and other biological factors; being a catlikemutherfucker; and so on and so forth.

[[DW]]

Yesterday my phone ran outta charge, and with it being Sunday and me having left the charging cord in the studio, I decided to leave it at home and go forth into the day. I have to say, it was one of the freest feeling days I have had in a long time! Full removal of the need for a phone is impossible at this stage, but I am seriously considering my friends' (LukeB) strategy of a 'Technology Free Day' at least once per week.

I know Craig has no tech on his forest retreats (to good effect). By no means do I want to completely abandon communication tech, it is simply the unrelenting nature of it that I am speaking about.. I've seen a number of well filmed videos on this topic in the last little while. I feel this is part of 'The Great Escape' - a proper relationship to communications technology use (and none-use)..

[Craig]

This lives in the same category as alcohol and partying and whatnot. The actual item isn't an issue, it's the habit that surrounds the item that is the problem.

So I like to remind myself:

- Do I *really* need to check that message right away? What happens if I don't (typically, the answer is nothing).

- Do I *really* need to be contactable for this particular period?

- Do I *really* need to be on the laptop/tv/phone at the moment or can it wait until later? Was I going to do anything important or was I just planning on filling idle time?

In particular in reference to the last question, I have found myself building a habit recently of not reaching for the laptop, phone or tv to fill my idle time. Instead I have been partaking in the fascinating activities of:

- Being bored (holy shit this is great! just sit around being bored! I need to do this more)

- MORE MEDITATION/practice

- random walks to nowhere in particular

I think Louis CK sums this up nicely in his talk here:

[[DW]]

Time to re-invigorate this thread a bit.. One thing that Kit and I discussed a few weeks back was the actual title of the thread; having both of us found precisely our missions in Life, we actually don't want to 'escape' from that - in the sense of endless frivolity and 'taking it easy'. Not that I think the people here fall in this boat..

This is likely obvious to the readers of this board; it is actually, as Kit put it, something like 'The Great Engagement with Life' or 'The Great Re-Alivening of Humanity'.. It seems to be a natural trajectory, that once you have read enough about and delve deeply enough into all this 'stuff', that if you avoid the solitary survivalist-apocalypse bunker-dweller path (not to say it won't go that way!), that you feel something akin to 'duty', but not in that naff blind obedience way, to your fellow humans and other creatures and the earth, to use what you have been privileged to be exposed and opened to in a positive way - because looking around it is sorely needed! Even "just stretching" or "movement" training..

Re-embodiment of all types is actually a medicine for the social-body (cultural-body), and that body is sicker than most of the individual biological entities living within it. Again, no surprises for most of the board members, but take a moment and look at your own journeys in this body of work (movement; ST; whatever you call it at a superficial level).. Not that I personally feel I have got anywhere special, but I am amazed with the difference in 2002 Dave and the 2014 version of Dave - and these re-embodiment arts have been core in this.

What happens when you get a hundred others to do this work (and remember we are always refine the methods) for a decade? Or a 1000? Or 25,000!!? In many different cities.. Me thinks you'll see some sizeable ripples into other 'organs' or the cultural body from that.. I surely don't want to escape from that! I want to be 'heavily involved' (joke for Kit).

What needs to change is the mode of work. Something I am working towards personally is a 9 or 10 week period 'on' intensively, then a 10-25 day 'retreat' period. The numbers are all tweekable, it's the divergence from 9-5 style that is the biggest part. Also, for me and a seemingly large number of board members(!), I want to be highly active and involved in my daughter's life and spend a large amount of time with family. It is, as mentioned above, about stripping away the unnecessary (social conventions; activities; possessions; etc).

Ok, coffee-fueled rant over (for now).

[[DW]]

The overflow of talk from a few posts on my Fb page resulted in the concoction of two blog-articles:

http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/the-agile-lifestyle.html

and

http://physicalalchemy.blogspot.com.au/2015/01/the-agile-lifestyle-part-ii-deathstyle.html

with Kit currently writing a piece that will (hopefully) form a nice trifecta applicable to this thread.

D

[Adurst]

I've very much enjoyed your articles. Thanks for taking the time and effort to share.

[[DW]]

https://kitlaughlin.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/where-are-the-wise/

Kit's companion piece to my 'Agile Lifestyle' articles.

Great stuff!

[Frederik]

It is great stuff - and at least for me very timely advice.

As far as agile lifestyle goes there are alot to pick up on in Antifragile. (whoever you are, do yourself a solid favour and just read the book ).

I agree sincerely with the points Dave has raised above in the post and in his blog. For me all of these pieces fits together very nicely. I have been on a searching and reading spree for a quite a few years, and it is only now that the pieces of the puzzle are coming together to a coherent message or narrative.

And while it behooves everyone to do some soul searching and introspection on a regular basis, I think it is also important to remember that a renaisance of the agile style, is a collective or community effort. I think that the growing popularity of say Physical culture or Movement Culture (maybe with more culture and less facebook) is hopeful signs.

regards

Frederik

[Alejandro D C]

Well, I have been having this in my head for a couple of weeks (not really thinking about it just having it in there floating and moving around), and I think this 'Great Escape' topic is a nice place to let it out and introduce me.

 

I have read most of the content in the forums and this is the best place to write for the first time since I have decided to embark me as well into my Great Escape. And I think I couldn't have decided a better moment to do so since just a couple of moths ago I turned 29, I have just left my job and basically I'm in the position where I can start from zero. I really don't know what to expect from this neither I know what I want to do, but I love how many possibilities and doors that left open. The unknown is so exciting

 

Just a little about me, until recently I realized I have been escaping from "the trap" (in absence of another term, lets call it that) firstly by quitting two times college and by my constant change of jobs. Never settling down in any job and by being, in all honesty, a terrible employee. Firstly I thought I did that because I didn't want to accept I turned into 'an adult person' and also because that was what I have been told by my friends and family. But now I realize it is because I have not found yet what I want to be and do for a life (and that's frankly sad being almost 30) and that's what I want to remediate by embarking myself in this journey. (in no way this apologizes my lack of responsibility)

 

So now I found myself, asking to myself what am I and what I want to be. Well, for starters I think I'm a creative person and that a field where ideas and original thoughts are valued would suit me (a field I have never worked in). I graduated from a Translation and Interpretation degree, speak three languages and have a sense of humor  (something I see lacking more and more). Don't know what I can make with that but I see potential and I want to turn that potential into actions, real actions. (as you can see I just don't know a lot of things).

 

So wandering in retrospective, thinking about all those nights "watching the white of my eyes turn red" the first thing I feel I need is to be more open, to let people know what's going inside my head. And that, being more of the introverted and shy kind of person is very difficult to do, but I think that the simple act of expressing myself would be really helpful. Second, find your purpose, lately I have been to a meditation group, meditating on my own, and reading a vast amount about it, and one thing I have realized through the practice is how much the people around me, the ones I love (my close family, my close friends) need of a person that doesn't live in 'the trap' (I seriously don't like this term) a person that deviates himself from the preconceived route and that shows the possibilities of an alternate route, and that perhaps I'm that person, perhaps through following my heart I can show them that it isn't that bad to really do what you want to do, that the notion of 'sacrificing' your individuality to survive simply is not correct. So basically I also want to be a positive force.

 

Man, I have really gone long in here. And it is all over the place (this is why I rarely speak during long periods of time, my head just get confused and filled up with an excess of ideas). So I basically leave it until here. I'm starting to make changes happening by moving more, stretching, meditating, trying to be more relaxed in my life, etc. I feel I just need to be more opened and tell people what going inside my head. So this is a start.

 

I just want to leave a very cool Mitch Hedberg interview, he touches so many of these topics with his incomparable humor, and expresses so many things I have been thinking:

 

Barry Farber Diamonds In The Rough with Mitch Hedberg Part 1

 

Barry Farber Diamonds In The Rough with Mitch Hedberg Part 2- v2

 

Barry Farber Diamonds In The Rough with Mitch Hedberg Part 3 v2

 

Barry Farber Diamonds In The Rough with Mitch Hedberg Part 4 v2

 

Alejandro

[Craig]

I may as well pipe up here also.

I have resigned from my job effective December 23. Still a few months to go, but so busy between now and then that it doesn't matter!

I have spent a good portion of my savings learning how to be a daoist wizard.

My wizardry teacher is coming to live with me for a week and teach me more wizardry.

Meeting many fantastic people!

Sold most of my stuff.

Embarking on adventures in the high seas starting January. Several months in Australia spending much needed time with family. I realised that since 2005 I have not spent more than 2 weeks with my family, as my job basically didn't allow this (distance is an issue also). What the actual fuck, me? Time to get priorities straight!

After family time, off to Bangkok then Europe for more intensive wizardry, travel and meeting more people.

After that, no idea! The possibilities are huge, I'm not going to restrict myself to one path yet, except to say that whatever path I go down, there will be much more wizardry involved.

Woohoo!

[Edd]

Yes yes yes yes to this thread! Also to these forums the more I explore them!

 

I feel like I am exponentially heading to my escape.  Thanks primarily to a few inspiring people in my life (few and far between for me), some people on the internet and yoga in regard to opening my eyes to relaxation.  I’ve always asked a lot of questions in life or should I say I’ve always questioned the way things are done but they’ve always been quite specific and based on things as they come up.  I’ve just not questioned the day to day accepted ‘normal’ things until recently. 

 

I now have the urge to sell / give away anything I don't need - De-cluttering feels so good.  I'm working towards having an almost furniture free living (I prefer the floor anyway).  

 

I'm 32 (is around 30 the age people tend to escape?) and I don't regret what I've done so far in my life - It just aids me having a more striking contrast and appreciation between then, now and where I'm heading.  The main thing I know is I want to help people get the best out of themselves and I want to be bloody good at it!

[Craig]

Nice Edd!

 

I have 7 days left in my office job, then hitting the road to travel, train and teach! woohoo!

[SwissDanny]

Still coming via Switzerland?

[Craig]

Cherie wants to visit every country in Europe, so yes Not sure when though, first stop is Munich, arriving May 3.  no plans after that

[[DW]]

#deathtocubelife

[Frederik]

I'm 32 (is around 30 the age people tend to escape?) and I don't regret what I've done so far in my life - It just aids me having a more striking contrast and appreciation between then, now and where I'm heading.  The main thing I know is I want to help people get the best out of themselves and I want to be bloody good at it!

 

Good on ya!

 

As far as any sweeping generalizations can be made I think 30 is far ahead of the curve! At least if we are talking about actually having made an escape and gotten through to the other side.

Most people never get there, and many only realize that there might be more in their 40's or 50's. That said, what other people have do and have done should not be a great concern of yours. Just work with what you have got, where you are, no matter your age.  This thread exist, I feel, to give people support in the notion that they are not alone in feeling that something is not right.

[tigreton]

Cherie wants to visit every country in Europe, so yes Not sure when though, first stop is Munich, arriving May 3. no plans after that

[tigreton]

Are you going to teach in Munich?

Also, if you info about the city or something, let me know!

[Craig]

I'm happy to teach classes or workshops anywhere there's enough demand!

[Ngaire]

Hi everyone; I just wanted to tell you I've just quit my job. My "great escape" plan has been about two years in the planning and hatching, (much longer in the "dreaming") and "hatching" has arrived. I'm giving notice up to mid-April 2017, although I intend to ask if I can deliver this on a reduced-hours basis. After that... my plan is somewhat opaque. I intend to stretch and move a lot, travel a bit, learn some new things, take naps, swim, write, read, that's about as far as I've got. This thread (and Kit and Olivia's workshops) has provided me with quite a lot of the impetus needed to decide I was going to do this and then do it, so thanks everyone ?

[jordan]

On 12/13/2015 at 0:11 AM, Craig said:

I'm happy to teach classes or workshops anywhere there's enough demand!

but the catch is it has to be in europa? 

[jaja]

On 13/12/2015 at 6:11 AM, Craig said:

I'm happy to teach classes or workshops anywhere there's enough demand!

Come in Milan, I bet you would find people interested (like me, for example).

[Rik]

2 hours ago, jaja said:

Come in Milan, I bet you would find people interested (like me, for example).

Depending on the timing of this, I'd be interested in that as well!

[Craig]

I am in Europe until July 2017, after which I will return to Sydney to open a school with @Dave that will focus on our approach and methods of reenchantment. Will likely have little time to travel once I return

Milan is possible but unlikely, would really need a venue and some guarantee of numbers to make it work. 

All other workshops in Europe will be posted on https://awarerelaxedconnected.com.au/workshops ... Next year likely to include Vienna and somewhere in Bavaria, both quite close to Milan!

[Matt Chung]

Love this whole thread and while it has been (almost a decade) since there's been activity, I just want to share my enthusiasm not only for others who are embarking on a new path, a new journey, but for myself as well. Like others in this thread, I am in some ways drastically transitioning to a new era in my life (though multiple life changes, I would say that the biggest catalyst was my divorce) and ST has played an important role in the discovery process. Would love to hear updates from others in this thread, especially those who took the leap of faith.