Elegant Simplicity - A week of healing through Ecology, Spirituality, Community

- August 11, 2019

'Elegant Simplicity' seemed to be the perfect way to start my year of exploration of myself and the world. And it was! The peace activist, ecologist and author Satish Kumar was giving a short course here at the Schumacher College - that he founded. The food is vegetarian and grown onsite by the group of 'growers' and volunteers, the woods are at our footstep and the atmosphere is that of caring for the mind, body, soul and soil.

Now that it is over, I still think it was the best place I could be to start this year of travel for many reasons:

- it was a time and place for healing of my newly twisted ankle surrounded by the care and attention of a community and people I have just met. I received lots of love and it was an important challenge to be so vulnerable. I learned to let myself accept this moment of dependence on others. It was really moving to see how much everyone cared for me by helping me get food from the 'buffet' table and sometimes even offering to bring me tea and help me set up in the room with cushions. I even got Reiki sessions and arnica cream.

- It was a perfect chance to get some time to start my blog, while accepting that I was missing the day trips with the group due to my injury.

- The experience of the surroundings in the redwoods and the inspiration that came while very slowly walking and sitting alone in the middle of the trees in the forest for several hours. The sense of awe, the feeling of resourcing myself and perceiving the wisdom of nature

- These were 10 days of healthy delicious vegetarian food, grown and harvested right there in the fields. and a glimpse of ecological agriculture and the abundance it can give

- The deep discussions with other participants and seeing how we each come with our struggles yet the will to be inspired and contribute with purpose, each in our own way.

- the many teachings/life lessons Satish that I can take with me on this year, mainly:

The importance of growing food and working the soil with your own hands. This confirms beautifully the plans I have to go work on farms in different countries and learn how food is grown in ecological ways through permaculture, biodynamism and land regeneration. He actually said the words 'Those who eat, must learn to grow food'.
Satish also talks about the importance of beauty in our lives, beauty that comes from making things with our own hands, making art, useful objects, poetry, cooking, but also singing, storytelling, poetry.
The B.U.D. principle, everything we own should be Beautiful, Useful and Durable.
The importance of joy and love in all our actions, especially in all actions as an activist (whether it is for peace and/or environment). The main learning for me here is to detach ourselves from the results of our action. To act and serve not for the result itself but because it brings joy. Indeed, he is a good example of still having so much energy and enthusiasm in his activism, without burnout as he says! Something that will definitely help me on my journey.
On love and relationships, how love is not attachment, not possession, and the importance of freedom, together with responsibility. I liked how he said that when 2 people get together, it is not 1+1=2, but 1+1=11. When 2 people get together, it can create the energy and strength of 11 people.
The importance of walking, using ones own feet, to create true adventures. Paradoxically, he considers walking from Dehli to Moscow during 10 months by foot as simplicity - simplicity that brings adventure. 'A beautiful life is a life of adventure'. This simplicity of walking definitely brought him adventure. He explains is much better in his book, together with his journey of 2,5 years walking from Dehli to Moscow, Paris, London and Washinghton DC for peace.

One thing I really loved to see and observe was the relationship between Satish and his wife June. How she is included in his course giving meditation and Qi Gong sessions. They have been married 48 years and when talking about love in his teachings, he refers to them and how they love each other but they are also free. It is really beautiful to see them together and how they both radiate love all around them.

A few quotes from Satish in my notebook:

'A beautiful life is a life of adventure'.

'The purpose of life is to love and to serve.'

I'd like to note that I admit (and Satish does too) that all this sounds very idealistic. Personally, I believe that a crucial element to take into consideration and work on before or in parallel of all the above is the psychology aspect of each individual. Many people have not have the luck to have received a sufficient amount of love and attention in their early years of childhood and it is therefore very difficult to simply radiate love when some unknown limiting beliefs keep you from it. To be truly optimistic and loving in a healthy way needs a good emotional state, that may take quite some work to get to, depending on your life circumstances. For many, there is psychological work to be done to 're-parent' our inner child and fill some gaps in our internal mind patterns. More about this topic that I am very much linked to in a future post :-)

https://www.schumachercollege.org.uk/courses/short-courses/elegant-simplicity-2019