LIfe back in Parksville, May 14th

At Simon’s dad’s place I got cleaned up and we got to work on a new song. The evening before we’d stumbled upon the phrase “find your shine” as a central point to our project and existence in general. The phrase means that we should do everything possible to locate and engage in the action which brings you and the universe, the most joy. When we engage in those actions which are mutually beneficial, all parties win and each step into the metaphysical portion of life. We all have the potential to radically alter our worlds for the better, in millions of different ways, it’s about finding the courage to step into that place of personal power, to reject fear and societal restrictions in order to fully manifest that promise that lies within. A banjo track was laid down over some sick beats and we got to writing, magic was flowing and suddenly a series of thoughtful, challenging, humorous and compelling lyrics were recorded. Eventually we took a break for lunch when I ran into my friend Brad, who I met last year and has been living in the area for a long while. His life has progressed in the areas of skateboarding and living arrangement, but not much else, exactly how he likes it. We chatted about this small town that I left ten months ago, things have been more or less chrysalides, it is a vacation/retirement town after all. Everyone we talked about seemed to be happy simply living, working a bit, having fires, smoking pot, skateboarding, playing music, doing small town things. Some went off to namaimo for school, others across the country for travel, but most still just enjoying life in one of the most beautiful places on earth. S and I work on music some more then met up with Bossy and Darma at the Beach, there’s nothing like a parksville sunset. An elderly man approached me as I was picking the banjo and said he’d recently retired and just bought banjo, I did my spiel about the history of the banjo and clawhammer, which he much appreciated. He came from Ontario but had worked all over Canada with the RCMP, he then taught forensics at the RCMP school, but had always loved the sound of the banjo. While busking, I had a few fascinating moments, the first with was a 14 or so month old girl, who saw the banjo lying down and started staring at it, while I joyfully played it, she was transfixed, her two older sisters and parents came over and suddenly we had a dance party on our hands. Twirls and stomps galore on the boardwalk. Later a young local was so pleased with my rendition of his request, he gave me a necklace he’d made with a cool quarts pendent. Busking put a few extra dollars in my pocket, but I didn’t feel like spending them, I did the rounds of coffee shops and finagled myself some good free grub and a copy of the globe and mail. The thai situation I found the most fascinating. I saw some friends going back to their apartment and I followed suit, dropped off my bags then headed for the grocery store dumpster to engage in one of the types of active meditation I most enjoy while transcending some of the most malicious social boundaries we’ve been brainwashed into accepting. Jackpot mother load of near fresh produce and fancy bread, just like last year. With in the hour I had four pots of delicious stew ready for consumption, it lasted two days with the heavy youth traffic in that apartment. It was gobble up with joy and there was tones of grapefruit, oranges and apples for the morning. If you want to know more about dumpster diving, there’s an article from december that focuses on it. I crashed on their couch and slept extremely well.