(no subject)
Huh. Apparently I've been ignoring this thing. I went to post, and up popped a half finished entry from three weeks ago. I guess autosave is a good thing. And even though it's no longer remotely relevant, I'm going to post it anyway.
Recently, someone asked me why I would want to go to Festival. My immediate response was "'cause it's awesome and fun and theres singing and dancing and history and canoes and caribou and.." But those are all things that you can find elsewhere, although maybe not all in the same place at the same time. It got me thinking though, what exactly is it about festival that appeals to me? The culture certainly isn't mine, although it does bear on the history of my nation, and in particular, my city. But I love it there. Even if there isn't something specific like, say, Men In Kilts to bring me to the park, I still love it, the very atmosphere makes me happy, even when I'm alone, with no friends at my side. (and anyone who's paying attention can tell you how rare it is for me to go out alone). So what is it? I know it's related to the way I feel about canoeing and being out in the wilderness in the summer. It's a part of my soul that needs to be nourished on occasion, and in the dead of winter there's precious little else for it to subsist on. I think part of it too is that lately, most of my socializing, indeed, most of my life outside of work has revolved around darker things; going out to Goth/industrial night, hanging out at the Lo (again, industrial), hell, even my sex life has a darker edge to it. Don't get me wrong, I love all of this, it is fun and none of the people I'm hanging out with take themselves too seriously (oh, look at me, I'm so goth and tragic, kill all the people, fuck the world, etc) But theres still shadows in the corners, and the music thuds, and the boots stomp, and we tend to shun the light. Festival is something entirely different. It is socialization without the darkness, it is the purer light of joie de vive, Let's all be happy to be alive and enjoy the music that makes us dance and sing until the rivers melt and we can canoe on down to the lakes. It's something that I've been missing, and now that Festival is over, I'm not sure I'll get another chance to experience it till spring.
...I've totally forgotten what the hell I was going to post here. So umm, I miss you guys!
Recently, someone asked me why I would want to go to Festival. My immediate response was "'cause it's awesome and fun and theres singing and dancing and history and canoes and caribou and.." But those are all things that you can find elsewhere, although maybe not all in the same place at the same time. It got me thinking though, what exactly is it about festival that appeals to me? The culture certainly isn't mine, although it does bear on the history of my nation, and in particular, my city. But I love it there. Even if there isn't something specific like, say, Men In Kilts to bring me to the park, I still love it, the very atmosphere makes me happy, even when I'm alone, with no friends at my side. (and anyone who's paying attention can tell you how rare it is for me to go out alone). So what is it? I know it's related to the way I feel about canoeing and being out in the wilderness in the summer. It's a part of my soul that needs to be nourished on occasion, and in the dead of winter there's precious little else for it to subsist on. I think part of it too is that lately, most of my socializing, indeed, most of my life outside of work has revolved around darker things; going out to Goth/industrial night, hanging out at the Lo (again, industrial), hell, even my sex life has a darker edge to it. Don't get me wrong, I love all of this, it is fun and none of the people I'm hanging out with take themselves too seriously (oh, look at me, I'm so goth and tragic, kill all the people, fuck the world, etc) But theres still shadows in the corners, and the music thuds, and the boots stomp, and we tend to shun the light. Festival is something entirely different. It is socialization without the darkness, it is the purer light of joie de vive, Let's all be happy to be alive and enjoy the music that makes us dance and sing until the rivers melt and we can canoe on down to the lakes. It's something that I've been missing, and now that Festival is over, I'm not sure I'll get another chance to experience it till spring.
...I've totally forgotten what the hell I was going to post here. So umm, I miss you guys!