Four days after leaving site at the Small Nations Festival 2008

I am slowly re-adjusting to normality (whatever that might be)!!

Walking down the streets seeing the cars and lorries steaming by, watching people trudging around, going to work, off to the shops. The weirdest thing, on Monday night after leaving the festival fields was hearing adverts on the tv and radio.

For anyone reading this, that has never experienced a festival atmosphere I can only say "It is a different world". Generally everyone is nice to each other, people talk, chat, hug and kiss. Children run around playing with things they've made or found. Fires burn, music plays and the smells and sounds of happiness are all around.

I do not wish this to sound crass, but I went to work Small Nations because I wanted to find myself, well at least a part of myself.
For many years my nearest and dearest have told me that I have lost my Shaman, my inner spirit.

I used to work the festival circuit almost a decade ago and after a long summer on the road, I decided to call it a day.
I thought I wanted something better. An education, a career and financial security. While much of this I have achieved at various times and to varying degrees, it did not seem to make me happy. I felt deep down there was something missing.

The initial boredom spirals into moodiness, the continued use of alcohol and drugs without purpose or effect create a new and sustained feeling of uselessness and pointlessness and depression....Break the Ever Decreasing Circle.

So, after having volunteered to Recycle last years festival, this year I was pro-active in my involvement. I joined the committee, attended meetings, organised the waste and recycling infrastructure...and...
I arrived on site on Thursday 10th July at 11:30am, I was the second committee member on site and I found that things had already gone 'tits-up'.

A week before, we were seriously discussing cancelling the festival.
Thank the Gods we did not.
Despite all the problems that nature and various humans threw at us, we accepted them, we dealt with them and we put together what has generally been described as "the best Small Nations Festival to date".

It was hard work, it was exhausting and in parts it was painful, but it happened none the less.

So before I digress too much, I must return to my initial point.
I found my Shaman and he was in a field, in a valley in Cilycwm.

So thank you to the elements, thank you to the people and most of all thank you to my Shaman for finding me, again.

Love & Light, Blessed Be.