My child’s birthday and Kae Tempest (On Fridays I write)

You may or may not have noticed that I didn’t post last week. Fevers, nit invasion, time-consuming and ultimately disappointing work project by daddy, and a cancelled long weekend in the country. That happened.

This week 

I’m back – or maybe not I think Joanna just woke up. She did, I’m now writing on Saturday.

I live a simple life – no dishwasher, no central heating, I just have one pair of shoes at a time and I never wear heels. I wear clothes for practical reasons, always comfortable, and I will never buy shampoo again. My daughter received four presents for her birthday and a sleepover party. I live this life in an amazing place, where things that are important to me are possible, for example on Thursday night: I knew it was the Kae Tempest concert months ago. I didn’t buy a ticket because it seemed likely to be a waste of money, and then…  Joanna went to sleep at seven-thirty, Kira downgraded the expectations for the sleepover from “Murder mystery game with clues to find around the house as well as treasure” to simply “Treasure hunt”, and my body and soul was lifted by the idea of going out, rather than the usual yearning sleep, and taking any opportunity to try and hit the golden target of more than four hours straight. And the concert wasn’t sold out. It’s a twelve minute walk from my door to one of the best venues in Barcelona, and then there I was with the amazing Kae Tempest. 

kae tempest

Dear Kae, 

I must be the biggest fan here who has never heard your latest album. I figured, why spoil the surprise so late in the year. Also, planning to go to the concert would probably jinx the possibility that I would be able to leave the house. It was a decision made one hour before you came on stage.

I first saw you perform at the Nowhere festival back in 2010 and have been looking out for you, and dragging friends to see you at festivals ever since. I cry at every gig and love getting so filled by your words. I was teaching maths (and life) in a secondary school most of these ten years, and I played Circles to all my students in class when it came out. It makes me laugh and dance hearing it at your gigs. 

I nearly had the chance to interview you when you were here before COVID, and my favourite questions were all about how connection, empathy, waking up and loving more can fix the world. About whether you consider your work to be activism or a catalyst for change. Whether you are a fan of Joanna Macy. Thank you for performing Hold your Own at the end of the gig. 

Nature connection is so important in the work I do. I have a powerful activity which I must do more often, where you invite people to connect with the planet. Bend down to the ground, open your hand and press your palm and fingers against the planet. Imagine the enormity and complexity of the entire living mass that you are touching, your tiny existence amongst mountains, oceans, life and interconnected elements of ecosystems. Then you can draw energy and fill your soul from feeling this connection and being part of the living world that wants to flourish and thrive.

Your work helps me feel the same energy from connecting with people. You see people, you understand so much about them, and you bring out the complexity of so many stories, lives lived, fears, dreams and love. To hear your gratitude on stage, to see you being in the moment and living the energy in the venue is awesome.

This year at Boodaville there has been talk about the balance of “people care” and “earth care”. My whole heart agrees with Robin Wall Kimmerer:

“Action on behalf of life transforms. Because the relationship between self and the world is reciprocal, it is not a question of first getting enlightened or saved and then acting. As we work to heal the earth, the earth heals us.” 

Honestly though, I don’t think our communication and realisation of this idea is always successful.

Humanness is storytelling, and since your gig on Thursday I have been reflecting on how we can really bring more self-care into the project. I’m feeling excited and inspired to bring storytelling into the way we work and share. Rather than asking people how they are day after day, we can invite people to share stories, to really live, learn and love together.

In order to bring forth the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible we have to move together with other people, and the amount of care and love that is required is huge. We should move remembering that gratitude is the first step. 

Thank you Kae and to so many other people for filling my soul, 

Wake up, Love more, Fear Less

Lou

team 2023 and opportunities for visitors/volunteers

Things are really coming together now! We had a chaotic yet wonderful meeting with Alex, Jordi, Natalia, Carlos V and myself on zoom last week, and as well as practical support from Jessica it seems that we are ready to move forward together. The idea is to have a “Boodaville Caseres Team” for new projects, sharing ideas, pushing forward with suggestions. We will meet regularly and enjoy time together in person in Caseres and the Boodaville Finca as much as possible. Then we have the “Site Manager and Volunteer Mentor” role which will be held by Alex for at least the first three months. This person is focused on maintence, care of the communal space and the group. We have Jessica as a tutor in practical tasks and Lou as a member of Boodaville Team and also overall coordinator. 

We will also have visitors. With the development of the carefully run and cared for community spaces we are excited to be able to offer a few very limited places for visitors. We will no longer have to say no to everyone who asks to come and see us!

We also hope to be open for guided tours in Spring 2023, but are still on the last (we hope) part of the paperwork to legalise the activities. 

There are also two places available for funded volunteers with the European Solidarity Corps.

tree planting

We are hoping to get some free trees from the LifeTerra project to add more to our Food Forest, Thyme Terrace and future Regenerative Agriculture project. If you are interested in coming along to help plant them on 28/29 December there are a couple more spaces in the house in the village – Please fill in this form if you want to join!

mince pies and chai

For our last Friday at the Ecosocial Info Point this year we are bringing some treats, surprise gifts and a chance to reflect on what we’ve achieved this year with Boodaville Barcelona. Come and join us! Information on the poster below.