I’m chuffed to be able to share with you an event over 20 years in the making.
You see, I don’t post about it here on my website, where Very Serious Adult types lurk, but I’ve been going to Burning Man, playing music in live bands, singing around the campfire and in ceremonies, and teaching AcroYoga, amongst other things, for a very long time.
In addition to being a serious academic caring deeply about public health and the environment, these activities have given me insights into the world to be a better academic. Being able to fast (which sometimes goes very slowly!), sit in vipassana meditation retreats for 10-days at a time, withstand harsh weather conditions, and drum until my hands bleed, are all experiences which have taught me dear lessons that might have otherwise been missed if I had merely lived the cloistered life of an academic I felt was normative for the trade.
In other words, my genuine passions became inspiration from which to draw on when submitting endless grant applications, writing books and articles into the wee hours, and other activities which required burning the candle at both ends.
This 5 April, at Salon Ruigoord, I will be fusing, for the first time publicly, my two identities circus and academic. I’ll admit the mystery and that ultimate answers are ‘outside the scope of this paper’, while sharing best somatic practices for slowing down and recalibrating our nervous systems.
I’ll be mixing my love for the world with insights gleaned from both books and sweat.
You are most invited to come enjoy the ride.
