Confest 2016.Part Two.Around a third of the way through the...
Confest 2016.
Part Two.
Around a third of the way through the trip, we realised that all the photos that had been taken of me had one thing in common. You betcha.
Yet, at least I wasn’t the only one.
Things had to change. Of course, after that, the majority of photos taken were of me crafting…
Because we arrived by midday, Friday felt like a whole Confest day. I spent it looking at all the pretty people, listening to all the amazing music, eating all the wonderful food and, yes, reading.
It had been my concern that having a partner along for the trip for the first time would harsh my buzz; a concern that I found out later we both shared. But, no, he wandered off and did his own thing, I likewise did the same. We wandered to the market and I ear-marked some clothes and bangles that I would later come back to buy.
As the afternoon soaked into early evening, “confest time” well and truly settled in. I was zen, slowly wandering, in my own head, my own thoughts, breathing in the beautiful energy that’s so much a part of so many likeminded and friendly people all just there to have a good time. Intellectually, I’ve thought for ages that it should be just as conventional for women to wander around shirtless as it is for guys. But intellectually and emotionally are two very different things. Then I remember thinking that no one here was going to judge me for what I was or wasn’t wearing. They weren’t even necessarily going to objectify or even look. And just like that I began having conversations with everyone there that were no different to those I had with a shirt on.
I spent most of Saturday in a kind of meditative trance. I remember disappearing from for hours, but for the life of me I can’t remember who I came across or what I got up to. By the time I got back, much of the rest of the camp drove into town for supplies and more alcohol. I was happy for the peace and alone time.
Our camp was made up of 8 people between 3 tents, so alone time wasn’t all that common, given that outside of my camp was upwards of another 3000 people. I was most commonly the first to rise and the first to go to bed, so mornings on the banana lounge were often spent in quiet solitude. Up with the sun, down with the sun. Didn’t stop me getting just as tired as the rest of us by Sunday.
It was another meditative day, with me moving on from camp after everyone started to rise, finding my way back up into the market, across to the chai tent, back down via some Chi Gung and eventually winding up with afternoon Kahlua drinking. I mean, it was the last night of the festival, for us at least.
