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What an opening weekend to my hollibobs!
The Unearthed Festival has come and gone and I’m left to reflect on a life-changing experience.
So much has shifted in just three days! A brand new timeline has opened up in front of me!
On Wednesday night at 1am, I, Frunza and Frankie piled into the red Land Rover to drive to Pembrokeshire over night.
A week earlier, the windscreen had cracked and the earliest repair appointment was Wednesday.
The trusty old Land Rover Defender is still being repaired, so this very first trip of One Woman and her Dogs in a Land Rover is taking place in my Discovery instead. I love both my Landies!
I’d planned to sleep on route but was so excited that I managed only about an hour at Wetherby Services. Not a lot, but it would have to do.
After a tiring drive, I zoned out in some layby in Wales and woke up to the most amazing view of the Welsh countryside. It’s such a lush country!
Frunza and Frankie explored the nearby field on their lead so as not to worry the cows that were peacefully grazing there. I know how these two silly billies tick! They’d start a fight with a bovine next…
Ever since Frankie joined the pack, the two are ganging up on other poor unsuspecting animals…
First thing on Thursday, I dropped both off at a boarding kennel in Cardigan and made my way. I hate boarding my dogs and always worry, but with Frunza being easily stressed and Frankie being with me only three weeks, it was the kindest thing to do.
The festival would have been too noisy and too busy for my little fur babies. The lady running the place was very nice and made me feel a bit better. They were going to have a lovely time in a Welsh farm, being walked and fed and looked after. A doggie holiday…
I got to the festival and after a bit of a struggle to find my crew (it’s a big festival in two fields), I got settled in and ready for the next few days.
And what a few days they were! I volunteered for the lovely Deya who runs Cacao Amor. She does wonderful cacao ceremonies. Check her out!
The festival was very well organised. There was a field with all the usual stages and loud stuff and there was a “Temple” area with more of a hippie flair with everything from funky clothing to gong baths and the rest in between.
I was the Temple Guardian for the Temple of Amor. A really fancy job title! I loved it! I wanted a sword and black armour so I could shout “Non shall pass” at latecomers to the workshops. I am a Monty Python nerd…
I had lots of fun with my lovely team and lots of aha moments at the Temple workshops, which were on topics relating to sexuality and sensuality.
Some were quite saucy but hey – I’m finally free to do as I please, when I please and how I please!
But the real paradigm shift came on the second night!
There was a mist delightful tent called the Magic Teapot, open 24 hours with live jam sessions all the time. All of the staff can sing and play the old upright piano and double bass that are always in there and there is an iPad with thousands of song lyrics and chords
Musicians can just turn up and play so I decided to take my ukulele. Once there, I almost lost my nerve. Everyone was so bloody brilliant on their instruments and there was me knowing some basic Rock’n’Roll stuff on an instrument I’ve only been playing seriously since January.
I almost slipped out the door, but then one of my team sisters turned up to watch and I was committed.
I quietly sat near the main group and started strumming along. But when the songs switched to ones I didn’t know I had no choice but to move nearer that iPad on the piano.
And something magical happened. I started playing IN the group instead of near the group. And they switched to songs I knew. Johnny Cash, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis… And before I knew it, I was suggesting and leading songs.
When at one point the piano player went out for a bit, I ended up getting the whole tent to sing Have You Ever Seen the Rain and Proud Mary. I was the band leader!
The little bass player who always stayed in the background graduated to lead singer.
And the crowd loved it, and my ukulele, too.
This is such a HUGE shift for me!
For 31 years, I always played my music together with my ex husband. I never played or sang with anyone else. So I didn’t even know if I COULD fit in with other musicians and styles I wasn’t familiar with.
Turns out, I can do that just fine!
Now I’ve tasted blood and want more. And I have this crazy idea of playing an electric ukulele in a dirty great amp in a standard Rock’n’Roll band setup.
Just like Marty McFly in the opening scene of Back to the Future…
And I want to record and do all the things I used to do, but now in my own right and without hiding in the background.
The little bass player graduated the School of Rock’n’Roll this Saturday past!
Lots of things shifted this weekend:
I’m finding it ever more easy to connect with people.
I’m no longer sharing away from flirting.
I have some great ideas for future projects that would have seemed impossible and outrageous to me in the past.
I’ve realised that the world really is my oyster and that I’m totally free now. It’s finally sunk in properly.
I AM FREE!
As I’m writing this, I’m sitting in my trusty Land Rover, my two pups in the back snoring, watching the sun setting over the Welsh coast.
I AM BLESSED!
This is the life I’ve always dreamt of.
This is my new reality.
This is my New Earth and Golden Age.
Has your reality shifted during a profound experience whilst travelling solo?
If so, I’d love to hear from you!
I’m compiling the multi-author book Fearless Female Travelers. There is a spot waiting for you.
Are you ready to shift your reality and become a published author?
Then email me at silke@innerhippiebooks.com
