Shambha-Love
How a music festival can teach us about caring for one another, ourselves, and lead the world in keeping us alive amidst a toxic drug supply.
World Leader in Harm Reduction
Little did I know that when I agreed to volunteer at Shambhala that I would fall in love with it. But I have, and for very good reasons.
As a therapist, and personally, I have been severely impacted by the losses stemming from our toxic drug supply problem and all of the poor folks who suffer from Substance Use Disorder. It is a burden on my heart. I still miss Brodie terribly.
Shambhala Music Festival has all the bases covered in terms of keeping people safe. The good people from Ankors have a tent set up to check the drugs that people bring with them to party to make sure that what they have is safe. The drug checking technicians can then use the information they gather to bring new knowledge back to their communities.
There is a safe consumption site, as well as Safe Space where people can go who may be having problems with their partner, tent mates or other party goers. There is also a full Medical area, MASH style, with doctors and nurses and volunteers who can tend to any medical needs that may arise. The Sanctuary, where I typically work, is another cool area (figuratively and literally) where people can go if they are tired, hungry, hot, cold, overwhelmed or just need a quiet space to go and have a chat with someone for support. Then there is the Outreach Team who roam the grounds and all of the stages to make sure people are safe and they respond to any needs that may arise in conjunction with the Security staff.
Doesn’t that all sound awesome?! It is, very awesome indeed. I would venture to say that for a festival that has about 20,000 attendees each year for the past twenty-five years, their track record on keeping people safe far exceeds any town or community of the same size. They work hard at it, and it works. The world can learn a lot from watching their model and bringing it back to their own communities.
Caring For One Another
A basic tenet of Shambhala is to show love toward all. What I have witnessed at the festival is people being kind, friendly, caring, extending themselves if there is a need, etc. No room for judgement, impatience, rudeness, selfishness ~ it just doesn’t exist at Shambhala. This culture has been encouraged and fostered for years and you can see and feel it everywhere you go. What a wonderful place the world would be if we could all follow their lead in this way as well.
Caring for Myself
It might seem kinda crazy that I can attend a music festival as large as this one and find inner peace at the same time. I can because Shambhala really goes out of its way to treat the volunteers well. We have our own camping area that is in the shade and the furthest from the music. At Crew Camping, there is also a Crew only beach on the river and we have our own bathrooms and showers. The camping area is also a quiet zone as people volunteer and work around the clock, so you never know when the person in the tent beside you might be sleeping.
As I was relaxing in the river on a day off, I remembered that back in the day I had a ritual where one day a week I would turn off my cell phone, and on a different day every week, I would have a no-car day where I wasn’t allowed to drive my vehicle that day.
Now to be fair, the day I did the no cell phone I don’t remember if it was a full twenty-four hours or not, and I might have skipped a week here and there. But for the most part that was the goal. The reason I decided to engage in this crazy practice was in part because of the teenagers I was working with at the time. I noticed a direct correlation between their cell phones in their hands and how anxious they were. Their phones definitely had a lot of control over them in determining whether they were okay or not. Too much control.
One of the teens I had in my practice boldly turned her phone off for a week during the summer. She reported initial anxiety on what she may have been missing out on, then got less and less anxious as each day went on. She found herself reading again, which she hadn’t done in quite some time, and much more relaxed overall. I was very proud of her. If my clients could benefit, so could I!
This is why I started my own no cell phone day, for my own mental health, and a no car day for the environment and exercise. I really liked it, however sometimes other people in my life didn’t enjoy it so much. I remember my mom calling me once and said “hey, are you free today?” cuz she knew I was off on a Wednesday. I told her that yes I was free, why? She replied “there is blah blah on sale at this store in White Rock and I need a ride to go there and get some”. I let her know that I would have loved to help out, but today is my no-car day. Then there was this long period of silence on the other end of the phone. “No car day? What do you mean?” she asked. I informed her of my new habit and that I couldn’t do that task today. I am pretty sure after we hung up she was a little bewildered.
Fast forward to today. As I reminisce I am not sure when I was diligent in that practice, maybe at least ten years ago? Perhaps because I am getting older, it may have been more like fifteen years ago? Way too long, that’s for sure.
These days I have been noticing that when I am camping, or I am Forest Bathing at Rosebud Lake Retreat, or sitting in a floaty in Salmo River at Shambhala Music Festival ~ I have a difficult time relaxing. Some people might say that I am really not that special in this regard, except that I was one of those weird people that was blessed with next to zero anxiety. Point zero one, maybe, which I think is one of the contributing reasons to why I have been able to do my work for so long and all of the other things I have managed to accomplish. Anxiety has not been present or gotten in my way.
To be almost sixty years of age, I am not happy that I am finding myself a little more anxious and looking at my phone too often. I also seem to go from one task to the next to the next, thinking when I complete ‘this one’ then I will be able to relax. When that doesn’t work, off to the next task I go. Sounds like I am developing a mild case of ADHD at the same time!
This all leads to today’s point of my blog. I think we need to go back to the basics. I think we need to schedule that twenty-four hour period each week when everyone in our life knows that our cell phone is off. There is always a way to be contacted. Call the neighbors, or call a friend, if something absolute disastrous happens and someone needs to get in touch with you. Other than that, you are not touching it, you are not looking at it, and it is not poking at you. Did you see that movie The Social Dilemma?! Scary how social media algorithms are designed for behaviour modification and psychological manipulation.
So take that time to relax, to breathe, just enjoy what is immediately around you.
“Not Worth It”: Cost/Benefit Analysis
(July 24, 2024 audio recording made while at Shambhala)
I had a couple of tough clients yesterday [customers, clients, peoples, amazing folks, insert beautiful person word here] who came into the Sanctuary yesterday who needed support, even though we weren’t open yet. I was super happy to do that, but it did also take a bit out of me as I wasn’t quite ready yet to be in that mode yet and they just kind of sat with me afterward more than usual, let’s put it that way. Zero regrets about it happening. I think both situations were amazingly successful, but it did take a little bit out of me that I wasn’t planning on. So whatever, that is a sidebar and completely okay, but it does lead into taking care of myself and turning my cell phone off.
Today I decided on my first day off (from my work at Shambhala) to put my floaty in the river and read and relax a little bit. Just chill out. The one thing that was looming for me a little bit was there was an optional training in my volunteer department. I love going to trainings, and even though I have taught similar trainings myself and I have attended these before, I am not that person that doesn’t think I need it. I always learn something new, I meet new people, etc., so I was actually excited about it.
Herein lies the dilemma. To attend the training would mean I would have to leave my zen river area and my campsite (that I spent the majority of my day at today before going to the river, not even moving lol) and go into “downtown Shambs”.
A couple of hours before the training was supposed to start, I was contemplating whether or not to go. I was chatting with some other people who were in the river, lamenting a little that this was probably something I was going to do. A few moments later one of the guys in that group was having a completely different conversation with his friends. I wasn’t intentionally eavesdropping, but we were sitting close together and I heard him say the words “it’s just not worth it”. When I heard those words I was just about to get up and leave my zen spot in the river, but still having a small dilemma around it. Hmmmm, “it’s just not worth it”. Sounds like I found my answer!
Let me clarify. ‘It’s not worth it’ did not mean that the training’s not worth it. It meant to me that the trade off wasn’t worth it. I would have loved the hour or so at the training, but then I would have been pulled out of this beautiful zen experience that I have been in for three or four hours this afternoon.
I actually chose not to go, which is definitely not like me. I am an overly responsible and conscientious person, which I love about myself. But as I get older, as I age, I need to think about myself first a little more often versus the larger good. Not often, once in a while, but today was that day. I also still really needed to process a couple of those situations that I dealt with yesterday. I just want to be on my game, I want to be healthy, I want my nervous system to reset. Those are the benefits in the cost/benefit analysis.
I will end with an excellent example of what taking care of ourselves can look like and takes place in one of the largest cities in the world:
“Amsterdam’s No Cell Phone Day in the Park” is an initiative to encourage people to disconnect from their devices and enjoy quality time in nature. During this day, people can engage in various activities like walking, cycling, picnicking, or simply relaxing in the park without the distraction of their phones. This initiative aims to promote a healthier balance between technology use and outdoor activities, fostering a sense of community and connection with nature. source: IG Meta AI (this irony is not lost on me)
You can consider organizing your own No Cell Phone Day in the Park event with friends or family. Amsterdam’s No Cell Phone Day in the Park Initiative boasts that it is a great way to promote digital detox and community building, and they suggest some ways to make the most of this experience:
- leave your phone behind or put it on silent mode
- bring a book, picnic, or outdoor games
- connect with others and make new friends
- enjoy nature and practice mindfulness
- take part in group activities or workshops (if available)
