Post Shambhala Blues? Get Off the F*^king Internet!
So Shambhala Music Festival was smokey this weekend due to forest fires in the area. They kept festival attendees up to date through their app, website and even by handing out flyers across the site. They even made the executive decision on Saturday to have music end on Sunday. Many people left early Sunday morning (including ourselves) to only be greeted in the afternoon by our friends at the festival telling us to come back because the party is back on. What should we do? Head back? Possibly. Enjoy the hot tub at the hotel we stopped at due to being way too fucking tired to drive? Probably. Complain on the internet? HELL FUCKING NO!
For those of us who are members or regular contributors of any of the many Shambhala groups or are involved in any way in that community, the internet right now is a brutal fucking place to be. Its full of people complaining about EVERYTHING (even more than normal.)
People are complaining that they left. People are complaining that people stayed. People are complaining about headliners not playing Sunday. People are complaining about the music, the dirt, the people. People are complaining about the damn lemonade not being lemony enough. Most of all are people complaining about other people complaining.
I’ve had enough.
I think we all need to get back out to what original festival culture was all about and just enjoy life.
We need to remember the raver mantra P.L.U.R.
Peace — We need to stop complaining about each other and especially about things we cannot control. One of the biggest wastes of our energy and mind is complaining about things in the past. If it already happened, then we cannot do anything to change it. Therefore it literally has absolutely no value to complain about anything in the past. Therefore in order to fully experience peace, we need to live in the now. With this, I do not mean sit on the internet right now and engage with all of the complainers on the internet. I mean you should do something you enjoy. Go out for a walk. Have a rest. Watch a movie. Go to a park. Do some reading. Play some music. Whatever it is that you enjoy, go do it. Find your inner peace and embrace it.
Love — If we are not showing love to one another we are failing at life. If you do happen to find out one of your friends are struggling, whether its with their come-down, being tired, hungry, or just overall bitchy, show them the love that they need to get through it. We are all in this fight together and we will only make it out together. Festival season in general is full of stress and anxiety and can often lead to depression and at very least some post-festival blues. Try and be there for one another and let others know that you love them. Remember the golden rule. Treat others only as you wish to be treated. Unless you want to be treated like a piece of shit, if thats the case, you should keep to yourself. You will eventually get what you are looking for.
Unity — At times like this, we need to be united. With the internet being such an enormous collection of assholes of all varieties, it is nearly impossible for everyone to agree on anything. There will always be those trolls as well who are determined to fight against those who are unified with a sole intention of getting you upset. Do not let them. It is best to just STAY THE FUCK OFF THE INTERNET, find some real friends and make sure they are okay. Send texts, make phone calls, DM your closest and those who you have recently met and see how everyone is doing. Do your best to be there for one another and understand that people are going through some fucked up emotional shit and will get through it after some food and rest. Just help them get through it.
Respect — This is one which I feel is so lost on the internet, especially today. It is crucial to respect your fellow festival-attendees, which unfortunately is a concept lost across many of the internet gathering places. I felt that there was an enormous about of respect at Shambhala this past weekend as there is at many festivals, but unfortunately you would not think that by looking at the current state of the internet for the week after.
We should instead try and think of the things that we loved and enjoyed and fully feel them inside ourselves. Think of that AMAZING set on Thursday with Mat The Alien vs. The Librarian or when Hulkamania broke loose during SkiTour. What about Kytami rocking that violin to those classic DNB tracks with Phonic Ops scratching at 10,000 miles a minute. Think of the feeling of jumping into the river on a hot hot afternoon. Think of running into that old friend that you haven’t seen in years or the brand new one that you hope to see again soon. Think of the hilarious totems you seen and amazing costumes you wore. Think of the sick dance moves you learned and the fun games you’ve played. Look at your pictures and videos and embrace the fun you had. Now get some rest and enjoy today as it’s really all that matters. Next year will come around but you have over 360 more days you can enjoy between now and then. So get out there and enjoy life. ❤
