I’ve recently been reflecting on how dramatically my living circumstances have changed over the last three years. It’s been quite a wild ride indeed!

A little over three years ago I left the comfortable surroundings of the city I was born in and where I spent the first 31 years of my life. I moved to Devon in the south west of England, a very charming and picturesque place that many say is one of the most beautiful parts of England (and I would probably agree). Moving to Devon wasn’t something I’d been planning and I seemed to remember it all happened very quickly.

I spent about 10 very enjoyable months in Devon. I loved the tranquillity and calmness of Devon and the relaxed pace at which most people there seemed to flow through life. It was also the first time in my life I lived next to the ocean, and I still miss that ocean a lot. I never had any plans to leave Devon, but events happened, opportunities presented themselves, and bang, within a matter of weeks I suddenly found myself living in London, again something wholly unplanned.

I spent about 15 months in London and I loved just about every minute there. I loved the vastness of the place, the incredible amount of things to see and do and I was blessed to become friends with some of the most interesting, intelligent and fun, not to mention highly conscious, people you could ever hope to meet. I still miss London a lot to be honest, but I knew it wasn’t part of my path to stay there. I also lived in 3 very different parts of London during those 15 months. A couple of months in the East End, about 11 months in North London and then I spent my final two months living in a very swanky flat close to Richmond in West London.

Then, almost a year ago I moved again, and this time I moved abroad for the first time to Canada where I had some great friends I wanted to spend more time with. Canada was slightly more planned than the other moves, or at least I knew three months in advance of my move that I wanted to go there. However, I literally didn’t know until about week before I flew whether I was definitely going or not.

In Canada I was living in a small town in Nova Scotia called Wolfville, a very charming and friendly little town where very little happens. It could not have been more different from London, but I enjoy being there and I enjoyed slowing down once again after the mad pace of life in London. It was also fucking freezing!!

I’ve never experienced a freezing cold winter before. We literally didn’t see the ground for almost 4 months due to the snow. And my god was there a lot of snow. I don’t think that’s an experience I ever want to repeat but I’m mightily glad I endured it. It feels like a war scar of some kind and it’s certainly given me a whole new perspective on weather and temperature!

I also had no plans to leave Canada (are you seeing a recurring pattern here!?), and I was really looking forward to experiencing a Canadian summer after the long harsh winter. In fact I had literally just applied to renew my visa for another 6 months (and paid an administration fee) when a few days later I had a mad flash of intuition that I should move to Peru. 3 Weeks later I was jumping on a plane to South America, my most exotic and perhaps bizarre destination yet.

Each of those 4 moves (to Devon, then London, then Wolfville, then Cusco) was essentially a leap into the unknown. None of those moves were planned in advance and to be honest I never really had a clue what I would be doing when I got there. In all those cases I was essentially following my intuition and completely trusting that I was doing the right thing and that everything would work out for me.

Now I’m starting to feel like I might be about to take another leap into the unknown. In just over a weeks time I’m going to start travelling to Iquitos, a city in the middle of the Amazon jungle in northern Peru. At this moment I don’t have any plans to stay there for more than a few weeks; however, I’m starting to get a strong intuition that I will stay there a lot longer than a few weeks. I get this weird feeling that universal cogs are turning and that my life is about to take a whole new direction.

Also, as I finish this post I’m a few hours away from catching a bus to Bolivia. My visa expires in a few weeks and I want to renew it before I head to Iquitos. Tomorrow morning at 9am I should be arriving in a place called Copacabana on the Bolivian shores of Lake Titicaca where I intend to hang out for a few days before I get a bus back to Cusco on Sunday.

Hasta luego mis amigos!

I apologise these updates seem to be getting fewer and fewer. During the last six weeks I’ve been so busy with work projects that I just haven’t had the energy to focus on writing. Thankfully after this week I’m taking a break for several weeks at least, so I definitely will get back to writing more often.

If all goes well then I should have plenty to write about too. Around the 7th of October I plan to cross the border into Bolivia for several days and then come back into Peru to renew my visa. Then after Bolivia I will finally be visiting the Amazon which I’m really excited about. But more information about that soon once I have a better idea of where I’m actually going.

The most interesting thing to report about September is that it’s been a completely alcohol free month for me. I had to do it because things were getting a little crazy just before this month started, and I was drinking just a bit too often. It’s kinda ironic that I came to Peru for more spiritual and consciousness raising reasons, and instead I ended up on what was practically a four month bender! Slight exageration there perhaps, but drinking was definitely becoming too frequent, even for my liking.

Anyway, a month off alcohol (which has been far easier than I expected) has done wonders for my well being. I’m definitely a lot more clear headed and also a lot more productive in my work. I’ve also decided I’m going to stick with sobriety for at least another month. I hope to be doing some Ayahuasca ceremonies in the jungle in a few weeks time and I feel it’s important to stay completely sober until after then, so it looks like October is going to be an alcohol free month too. To be honest I’m not sure if I’ve ever gone more than 30 days without a beer in my entire adult life, so this could be a whole new experience for me! Who knows, maybe I’ll even give it up for good. Now that would really be something!!

I was going to start this post a few weeks ago and call it  ‘3 months in Peru’, didn’t quite get round to it, and it never ceases to amaze me how quickly time seems to fly for me these days. In about 10 days time I’ll have now been here 4 months and that seems hard to believe! Is time flying as fast for everyone else?

Anyway, it’s been awhile since I regularly updated this blog and I’m sorry about that. I’m hoping to get back into a more regular routine but you just never know with me. Writing has always been something I’ve struggled with and if I can put it off I usually will! Although the truth is once I get started I usually enjoy it more than I expect!

So what have I been up to this last month that’s made the time fly even faster? Not a whole lot strangely enough but it’s been a whole lot of fun!

As stated in one of my lasts posts I went without my laptop for almost 2 weeks due to my power adapter getting fried. At first I thought I was cursed but in the end it proved to be a blessing and I really enjoyed having a chunk of time away from the computer. I must admit I went a little bit crazy during that period, having a brief affair with a Peruvian girl called Ysabel (on vacation in Cusco from Lima), I ended up going clubbing, getting fairly drunk,  and staying out very late about 7 nights out of 10, which is definitely not my usual way of being. I certainly had a lot of fun but I was grateful for the rest when Ysabel returned home to Lima (she’s actually just returned to Cusco a few days ago but that’s perhaps a story for another post!).

Right now I’m busier with work than I’ve been in a long time with about 5 projects on the go, so definitely no late nights and parties for me at the moment! Hopefully this will mean I’ll be able to afford to take a trip into the Amazon in the next month or so which is something I really have my heart set on.

About a month ago I also did my fourth Ayahuasca ceremony while here in Peru. I’ve been meaning to write about that for quite sometime because I haven’t really talked about my Ayahuasca experiences so far on this blog and I really felt I received some lessons I want to write about any explore further. I will get round to that soon, and please give me a nudge if nothing appears soon.

Another positive development over the last month or so is that I’ve made quite a few friends with people who are either living permanently in Peru, or who are like me, staying here indefinitely. During my first 2 months here most of the people I developed friendships with were mostly just passing through on their travels, so I had to keep saying goodbye to a lot of people I really liked which was difficult at times. It feels really great to finally have some solid friendships with people who won’t be leaving anytime soon!

I’ve now been learning Spanish for about 3 months and I have to say I’m still really struggling with it, although perhaps I was expecting too much too soon. One thing is for sure though, it’s a very frustrating language to learn and I’m probably going to dedicate a whole post soon to my struggles with Spanish.

Anyway, it’s getting late and I have an early morning Spanish class, so it’s adios from me for a little while.

Hi guys, sorry I’ve been a bit quiet of late, I just haven’t felt like writing lately, but all is well and I’ve had a pretty good couple of weeks. Anyway, I just wanted to add a few more thoughts (from others) on normality, following from my post ‘There’s nothing good about normal!‘ a few weeks back.

First of all, Carissa just added a new comment and seeing as though most people don’t often go back and read comments from old threads I thought it deserved greater prominence. She wrote:

“Was re-reading this entry and I thought of some additional things that are now seen as “normal” in our society but which aren’t.

It’s now normal to root for people to fail and fall on their butts, and to see people as competition, versus cheering for people to succeed and being happy for them.  There are several reasons for this I think - so many people’s lives are unhappy and unfulfilling (which in itself is a point that I’ll get back to) that they can’t stand to see people achieving something good and being happy when they aren’t.  They want to tear them down to their own level.  So watching somebody fail or screw up or fall on their butt (figuratively speaking) becomes fun in an evil gleeful way.  (hence, the *tabloid culture,* which specializes in that.  Tear people down for the paparazzi pics capturing them with celulite on their thighs, no makeup, wrinkles, or an outfit that’s not deemed “haute couture” enough.  Look on in giddy glee when their relationships fall apart, look for the drugs, sex and cheating scandals after they’ve died so even in death they can be raked over the coals.)  This is now considered normal.  Which leads to how celeb-obsessed entertainment is now considered normal.  Following the minutae of celebs’ lives because people’s own lives are boring and pointless.

The jealousy/competition thing is an extreme manifestation of separation.  Instead of viewing ourselves as related pieces of a greater whole, they mistakenly think we’re all cut off from each other and completely separate…and thus, competition to be jealous of.   So it’s now considered normal to be separate, competitive, jealous, gossipy and mean spirited.  Not everybody is like that, but in certain regions (urban centers in particular) that attitude is prevailant.   We have movies and TV shows that celebrate this attitude, with backbiting and cat fights and scheming and plotting and jealousies galore, trying to tell people, “This is how you should be.  This is the new normal.  Strive for this.  Emulate this.”

And as just mentioned, it’s now considered normal to have an unfulfilling, mundane and possibly unhappy life.  You mentioned how it’s considered normal to hang with one’s friends being superficial and mundane (I definitely agree!) and this extends to one’s entire life in general.  I look around at people and I can’t believe the lives and jobs that most people have locked themselves into!  o_0   Like, who would WANT to do that……for years on end?!?!?!  Is that what they imagined for themselves as a kid??!  Who grows up saying “I want to be an accounting clerk who’s always irritated and frustrated obsessing over getting the numbers to balance!”  Nobody.  Or, “I want to be a stressed out executive assistant to a boss I don’t like, being run ragged every day!”  Nobody.  Or, “I want to become a corporate guy working for donor relations and attend endless mindless meetings where it’s all about ‘How can I get more money for the university?’ !”  Nobody.   Jobs with no life to them, no variety, no real point, *working for that which is illusory,* so that one can insure that they can keep paying the bills every month.  To me it’s a life not worth having.  Work should ideally be about producing something tangible……….not working for illusory concepts.  (I once wrote in one of my articles: “Banks, loans, credit cards, debt counseling and consolidation, taxes, personal investment, mortgages, car/home/boat/personal insurance, law firms, home owners associations — what I’ve found is that the number of useless, illusory industries is skyrocketing, while jobs that create an actual tangible product and serve a useful purpose are on the decline. [...] What good is it going to do anybody to be a financial investor, lawyer, paralegal, mortgage underwriter, IRS agent, insurance salesperson, credit card telemarketer or property manager enforcing rules for the Association about mowing your lawn and power washing your driveway when/if things finally really hit the fan? These people will kind of be up the creek, to put it lightly. Their jobs and industries are completely useless in every sense of the word. So since illusion is what now dominates your job market choices, it’s all the more reason to find a way out, ASAP.”

Illusory concepts is now considered the norm, instead of making or doing something tangible and meaningful.

I work with people who’ve been doing the same lifeless, pointless job for 20, 25, 30 years.  I can’t even IMAGINE.  The worse part is when I encounter coworkers who hate their jobs and complain and gripe and moan and groan….and then what happens when I nonchalantly suggest to them that they quit.  Their faces get a wide eyed, surprised look, like, “huh?!”   You can see them running into a wall with the idea.  It never occurrred to them to leave.  They think I’m weird for suggesting such a thing.  You don’t…..quit your job!  They think it’s normal that you hate your job and complain and be miserable for years and years on end!

I can think of many more so-called normal ways of being in the modern western world that are anything but normal, but I’ll stop here!  :D  ’Cause
I could go on all day, seriously…..”

Great stuff Carissa, I agree entirely!

Also, about a week after I made the original post, I discovered Paulo Coelho also looked at the subject of normality on his blog. Given that I’m connected with him through Facebook and that he might have seen my blog post in his newsfeed I wondered if he was influenced by my post, but then I noticed he posted it in January so he was first.

You can see Paulo’s blog post here: Inventory of normality

So there’s been another unexpected development with my friend. I’m a little sad to say that she took an early flight home without allowing me any chance to work things out with her. It’s a huge shame, but I guess I have to respect her decision.

Although I screwed up a little, I’ve been completely honest about why, and I can’t do much more than that. But it seems that honesty is not what she wanted and I’ve received an email from her saying how happy she is to be back home with ‘normal people’, that I have my head stuck up my anus and that I’m living in a drug induced fantasy (a reference to the fact I occasionally work with plant teachers like Ayahuasca). Ouch!

Anyway, surprisingly, I’m totally fine about it all, in fact I’ve actually been feeling really good today, however it’s left me feeling like I want to have a bit of a rant about what’s generally considered normal in society. None of this is aimed at anyone in particular.

Now obviously what’s considered ‘normal’ is quite subjective and of course it will vary from country to country and culture to culture. However, I want to aim my sights squarely at western society, particularly in the UK and the US.

The sad fact of the matter is that our society has gotten really sick - and for most people, that’s completely normal. Our culture has become like a cancer to this planet. It’s rampant with greed, lies, corruption and injustice; and almost nobody wants to hear the truth about all that - and that’s considered normal.

Here are many other things that most people in western society consider to be ‘normal’.

It’s considered normal to lie or talk crap about people all the time. It’s considered normal to be superficial and mundane, to meet with your friends and talk about the same old nonsense time after time. Gossip about friends and family, gossip about your colleagues and work, gossip about celebrities and media bullshit, and sport. And let’s not forget about Big Brother or the latest soap opera storylines. It’s considered normal to spend your evenings watching trashy tv programs, reading trashy novels or watching trashy movies that feature a never-ending stream of degrading sex, violence and conflict.

Conflict is all around us, not just in the media, but in our relationships with friends, family, colleagues and even strangers - and it’s all considered quite normal. It’s considered normal to argue, put down, or fall out with people instead of trying to understand them and resolve differences and make peace.

Selfishness is normal too. It’s considered normal to go after whatever you want no matter that others might get hurt. It’s considered normal to be a nothing more than a consumer and spend insane amounts of money buying stupid shit you don’t need and probably will never use. It seems that the most popular type of therapy these days is ‘retail therapy’. Isn’t it considered normal to go out and splash your cash because you’re feeling down about yourself?

It’s considered normal to spend most of your life doing a crap job you really hate because you need to pay your mortgage and all that other debt you’ve acquired. Sadly it’s now perfectly normal to be up to your eyeballs in debt from bankloans and creditcards and storecards (and all because you can’t help buying useless crap to make yourself feel better).

It’s considered normal for both teenagers and adults to go out at the weekend with the sole intention of getting blitzed out of their minds on alcohol and/or drugs so they can’t even remember what they did.

It’s considered normal that the rich keep on getting richer while the poor get poorer and nothing much is ever done about that. It’s considered normal that a very small number of people control the vast majority of the worlds wealth. It’s considered normal that in many countries millions of people lack even the most basic human needs such as food, shelter and water, and that each and everyday thousands of children are starving to death. But let’s just leave it to Bono to sort that out shall we?

Tragically, war is also considered a normal part of our lives on this planet (just so long as it’s at the other side of the world, mind you). It’s considered normal that our governments are regularly committing genocide in far off places, and that the lives of many thousands of men, women and children are being snuffed out in increasingly more disturbing ways - just so that we can all maintain our ‘normal’ lifestyles.

It’s now considered normal that our governments are hell-bent on removing what few liberties and freedoms we have left. That they’re putting us under increasingly more surveillance - all in the name of our safety and protection of course! If you’ve got nothing to hide you’ve got nothing to worry about, isn’t that right?

It’s considered normal that corporations all around the world are destroying the planet all in the name of profit. Rainforests are being destroyed, rivers and oceans are being polluted, toxic waste is being spilled, millions of species are going extinct, indigenous peoples are being displaced from their lands where they’ve lived for thousands of years - all because corporations are legally obliged to keep making fat profits for their shareholders, no matter what the consequences - and it’s all considered normal by our society.

Now I’m not saying that the majority of people love war and violence and all the other terrible things that happen in our society and around the world. Most people seem nice, and they will usually say they dislike those terrible things and wish they didn’t exist. But all these things are generally accepted, and it’s that acceptance that allows these things to keep happening.

It’s not people like me that are living in a drug induced fantasy world, it’s most of society. Since the moment we are born we’re conditioned to accept the status-quo, conditioned to believe that this is just the way things are. A combination of media (books, films, television etc), education, religion and the people all around us are constantly reinforcing what’s supposed to be ‘normal’. It’s essentially brainwashing, but the brainwashing is so subtle that most are never aware of it, and so complete that most will never escape it.

Anyway, enough of the normal stuff, let’s take a moment to consider what’s generally not considered normal in society. The kinds of people who are not considered normal are:

Anyone who rocks the boat or asks too many questions
Anyone who tries to point out all the lies and the bullshit and the corruption at every level of our society
Anyone who wakes up and realises that our governments and media are lying to us about just about everything (and they really are lying about almost everything!)
Anyone who sees a major conspiracy in the way our society is controlled
Anyone who seeks to know the truth about our reality, about God, about the universe
Anyone who tries to expand their consciousness
Anyone who loves and wants to live closer to nature
Anyone who talks to the trees and the plants and the flowers (and particularly those who get a response!)
Anyone who decides to downshift and simplify their lives and stop buying useless crap they don’t need
Anyone who doesn’t have a television in their house
Anyone who knows there’s a lot more to this world than all the things we can experience with our five senses.
Anyone who talks about unconditional love and acceptance and strives for those ideals (even though they may not get it right all the time)
Anyone who claims to see or communicate with the spirit world, or anyone who even believes the spirit world exists!
Anyone who claims (quite rightly) that civilisation is rapidly heading towards a major calamity that it may never recover from.

Isn’t it strange how the people who are trying to create a better world are rarely considered normal?

I’m ecstatically happy to admit that I’m not not considered normal by most of society. I feel so relieved that I managed to wake up and see through most of the nonsense and the bullshit, and that I feel like I’ve left it all behind. Right now I couldn’t think of anything worse than to be called ‘normal’. I might even consider it an insult!

I long for the day when truth is considered normal and lies are rejected, a time when conflict is a thing of the past and everyone is working together to create a better world and live in total harmony with one other. A time when all of humanity is united and not divided. Although it’s hard to believe sometimes, that time is coming, I’m sure….

PS. This post is a little rough around the edges, but I wanted to post it before I start my trek to Machu Picchu tomorrow. I have to be up in less than 5 hours and it’s definitely time for bed. I’ll be offline for the next 5 days.