The Beard

I have shaved my beard and I am keeping it that way.

While most of you may cheer, I want to give my heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported my wiry bush while I had it. It is a beardist world out there, so I appreciate the love.
Why the sudden change of heart? it was very sudden. The thought crossed my mind one morning during yoga (I know, I was supposed to be concentrating on the posture, but bear with me) that I didn't want my beard, and the more I pondered the thought the more it spoke to me. A beard is like a big insulating blanket wrapped around your face at all times. Its wrapped around your face! the part of your body that is probably most important for human communication and self expression. How our energy flows through our body is essential to our health and happiness, and I was giving it a road block in the most crucial area. Two days after the initial thought I got a buzz.
  By Shaving I hoped to make my self more centered, more intentional, freer, looser, younger, more carefree, and lighter. I have felt most of those things, and I think I will shave something like once a month.

Wisdom Forest

Wisdom Forest

What is Wisdom Forest? Well I will tell ya. It is an organic farm and forest restoration project in the Ecuadorian rainforest. It grows all sorts of foods and tries to biodiversify the trees that are growing to replace the forest that was cut down. It’s run by a thoughtful hardworking guy named Bhaga who created the whole project, and does cool stuff like heating the water by running the water line through the compost a bunch of times. It is a magical place, and has been my home for the past three weeks.

The Yoga

I start my day by waking up at 6:30 to do one hour of Bakti yoga. We have an upper deck with no walls that faces due east, so as we stretch and work our bodies we have the golden, morning, equator sun warming our bodies. Bakti yoga is dynamic and we don’t hold posses for very long. It can feel like a real workout at times. The effectiveness is astonishing. In three weeks I went from being able to only touch my toes to being able to tuck my forehead between my knees. As proud as I am of that accomplishment, I have enjoyed even more learning to be in touch with my body and its feelings.

The Work

Over the three weeks I have labored at a large variety of jobs which has included trimming coca trees, weeding all over the farm, preparing compost (which involves getting wood shavings from a nearby carpenter, getting rotten vegetables from the market, sorting through the rotten vegetables and taking out all the trash (ranging from straws to diapers), and then mixing the two), planting crops, harvesting crops, and other simple farm tasks. We grow uca, coca, bananas, plantains, Chinese potatoes, tomatoes, pineapple, sugar cane, and much more. The plants are not planted in rose, but rather are a scattered mass of vegetation, which helps with permaculutur, but makes things hard to find and maintain. I learned a lot through the work. Of course I learned about planting techniques, the workings of plants, and how to use a lot of farm tools, but I was also taught a lot about really working. The main farmer Pablo worked so furiously and efficiently that I could hardly help but try and emulate him. I like to think I have picked up some of the ability to maintain focus on the task at hand and work consistently hard at it for a long time.

The Food

Oh god the food! Three meals a day we were served platters fresh platters of fried spiced and sauced fruits and vegetables. Every single meal was a masterpiece, as beautiful as it was tasteful. On occasion we would be treated with chocolate cake, made from the chocolate we grew on the farm. I assure you no food, not even pizza, has ever brought me such pleasure.

The People

A place like Wisdom Forest attracts a lot of incredible people, so I am always learning from and making new friends. We range from a simple five to a boisterous dozen people. Once at one dinner table we had people from the USA, Columbia, London, Ecuador, Ireland, Mexico, Germany, Australia, and Portugal. I have met a lot of very magical people and learned so much from all of them.

Change?

Wisdom Forest has changed me, though it can be hard to put a finger on exactly how. Perhaps I am more centered or more aware. Maybe I have a stronger capacity to feel? I no longer eat savagely and wolf down food, but chew and swallow each bite before taking another one, and I no longer feel pride in being able to eat monstrous amounts. Do I sit straighter? I dunno. I shaved my beard because I felt like it was an insulatory mask that inhibited energy flow, and I left the character who took manly pride in a big bad ass beard along with the one who ate everything. I hope not to give the impression that I am calm and serious now, I hope to always remain energetic and silly, but something isn’t quite the way it was.