Turn on, Tune in and drop out……

Turn on, Tune in and drop out……

 Timothy Leary made that phrase famous after hearing it from someone. The alternative culture of the times took it as an order to consume massive amount of psychedelics and depart from society... so years later he added some clarification to it 

Leary later explained in his 1983 autobiography Flashbacks:

"Turn on" meant go within to activate your neural and genetic equipment. Become sensitive to the many and various levels of consciousness and the specific triggers that engage them. Drugs were one way to accomplish this end. "Tune in" meant interact harmoniously with the world around you - externalize, materialize, express your new internal perspectives. "Drop out" suggested an active, selective, graceful process of detachment from involuntary or unconscious commitments. "Drop Out" meant self-reliance, a discovery of one's singularity, a commitment to mobility, choice, and change. Unhappily my explanations of this sequence of personal development were often misinterpreted to mean "Get stoned and abandon all constructive activity"

 No I’m not thinking about dropping into the New Brunswick wilderness hopped up on hallucinogens....

image from http://www.in5d.com/psychedelic-art.html

 I’m thinking about this in the greater sense. The sense of connection with what you do and what you produce…how you live…how you justify you in all of this. 

http://cdn.buzznet.com/assets/users16/greeneyesblueskies/default/day-178-fit-all--large-msg-123725341494.jpg

 For me just thinking about the process of disconnect is a little overwhelming. And I say disconnect because in order to see the situation correctly you have to stop being enmeshed in it. So the process of disconnecting from the only way you’ve known it to be is a bit like Indiana Jones taking the leap of faith.

… hundreds have done it before you…but it’s only not terrifying once you’ve done it yourself. 

 One challenge I see with moving towards a permaculture lifestyle, growing as much of your own food as possible, possibly in alternative housing (anything from a school bus to a yurt and more) is the base land to work off of. 

 However the major challenge with the plan is that I’m a super city boy and while capable…my learning curve on matters such as this will be steep…steep steep steep. The best thing about it, or so it appears, is that once you step…the community shows up if you reach out for help. It’s great having ten thousand downloaded books on it all but it’s another thing to have someone who KNOWS teach you. (a quick google search shows up 123000000 sites related to living off grid...but finding a Cnd doing it in cooler climates than I am planning...perfect)

 So I’ve put out an add on Kijiji looking for some land to work with and I have already gotten a few great responses of people looking to do the same thing (which backs up what I already know…people are looking for more than a cubicle and a weekly cheque..and a weekly raping at the grocery store, and a raping of your heating bill, and a raping…etc). 

 So once the work thing stabilizes I will be pushing forward on some plans. Who knows…this may not end up being a permanent base…there are places with cheaper land than this (which is hard to believe). But this place feels right, I do have work and those two things are essential for any sort of long term sustainability. 

 The responses I have gotten are great. It’s been people from a mixed bag of life who are curious to know what I’m thinking and curious to know how to start to make the change. It seems like more and more as you think about this stuff…you move towards like minds. I’m finding more unique websites, more communities to talk to, more people that don’t want to fit into the box or better yet want to think outside of the box. 

  Right now I’m just dreaming of it all coming together......