Journal

Fuego Austral: My regional Burning Man experience.

Burning Man is a social and cultural movement that has grown from a seed planted in 1986 on a beach in San Francisco.  This movement has been spreading all over the world through the emergence of regional burns; it has sent waves of expression and freedom which extend far beyond those who participate.

The concept of a temporary city created by those inhabiting it, where one can explore that which they wouldn’t readily be able to in their daily lives is an abnormality, to say the least. Even before attending this regional burn, Burning Man had significantly transformed my life. Many of my closest friends and family members had partaken in the experience, and through my own observations, the transformation within each one of them was immense, enough to spark my curiosity to experience it for myself. It appeared to me that something far more intelligent, far more conscious and far beyond my basic self was at play here – these experiences seemed a key of sorts; a key to expansion, a key to a new way of being and existing in the world.

All regional events are a part of the Burning Man Regional Network, having the same spirit as Burning Man, based on the Ten Principles of Burning Man,  yet still having their own proper identity that is a reflection of the culture where it is taking place. Argentina is a country where the people encompass a deep sense of expression and warmth, making it the ideal fit for South America’s first-ever regional event: Fuego Austral. Fuego Austral translates to Southern Fire, which encapsulates the spirit of this temporal city and the passion that burns within the Argentinean culture. 

An Impeccable Creation

Photograph by Andres De Leon

The theme of the first Fuego Austral was Infinisis, a word that represents a state of infinity, of eternal creation that stems from the Universe. The design of the city itself was that of a spiral, designed on the principles of the Fibonacci sequence, a numerical representation of a design of divine proportions.  Frequently found in nature, this sacred spiral is said to recur throughout the Universe.

Making up the spiral was approximately 300 participants. Within this medley of fascinating individuals were about 20 theme camps; each offering something based on the economy of gifting. To give without expecting anything in return. There was a wide array of offerings, including yoga, contact dance, martial arts, body painting, spaces for relaxation, hot soup for the cold nights and bananas to keep participants going. At the beginning of the spiral were the silent camps and the other end was composed of the more party-oriented theme camps, creating a fascinating progression of participation. The camp that I had the pleasure of being a part of was Respiral, the word being a combination of the words breath and spiral in Spanish. This camp was dedicated to giving guests the opportunity to connect deeper to their mind, body, and spirit.

Within the first day, I became aware of a sense of openness that was missing from my everyday life. This willingness to speak about things that perhaps most people shy away from was both refreshing and liberating. For many, Fuego Austral felt like a ceremonial process in which layers upon layers of boundaries and blockages were peeled away from our beings, leaving us with only our bare essence. Our movements and conversations became increasingly fluid, and the intelligent dance that is life began to manifest itself, teaching us more about ourselves and how to fully engage with others. It came with the reminder that if we are fully present, we will realize that there is so much more to ourselves and our journeys through time and space. Life is readily teaching us valuable lessons that pertain to our consciousness, and the people who life places in our path are mirrors of our experience. We are all a pocket and a window, a different perspective of the same Universe. There is no separation between any of us; our experience is a shared experience.

The Burning Of The Man

Photograph by Andres De Leon

On the Saturday before the final day, the burning of the Man took place. For me, the burning of the Man (along with drops of pure mescaline extract) induced a powerful state of being that was crucial for my development. The Man represented all of the social conditioning that we are subjected to our entire lives; the rules and constructs of reality that many of us believe to be “the way”. Social norms in which we are told how to behave and act in the world ceased to make any more sense to me. They appeared as limitations that we believe to be real, but only exist within our own minds. As the flames engulfed the Man, it was as if this symbolism burned within me to make way for the clear understanding that our thoughts extend far beyond our physical bodies and possess the capacity to materialize everything around us. Without these written out stories of a transfixed destiny; you create your destiny along the way because you are the absolute essence of creation. Above all else, the main realization was that the possibilities for us to create are truly infinite and boundless.

Looking around me, at all of these wondrous marvels that all of us had come together to bring into this physical world, it felt as if this was all a collective dream, a dream that is deeply intertwined and interconnected within all of its participants. The feeling that we are here to connect, to touch, to love, and to just be with one another was omnipresent. Our structure that we often so carefully hold onto, out of this fear of losing control, is the wall that prevents us from embodying everything that we really are. It appeared that transformative and collective gatherings such as Fuego Austral, Burning Man, and other experiences of this nature were all a part of a paradigm shift in the way that man relates to the world. Creating a different culture in which we as humans tap into our power of co-creation and collaboration. Showing us everything that is possible when we work as a collective.

The Burning of The Temple

Photograph by Andres De Leon

The temple is a place to visit and connect with one’s spirituality, and often people write on the walls an intention that they would like to burn away with the fire. This year it was a pyramid made out of tetrahedrons, interlocking triangles that make up one larger triangle. My intention written within the temple was to let go of everything that was blocking me on my path, everything that wasn’t allowing me to move further and actualize my full potential, especially in the realm of creativity. As the corners of the pyramid were lit on fire, a flood of emotions began to come over me. An overwhelming sense of being fully in the present moment took hold, my mind was still, yet seemingly connected to everything at once. The sequence of events that led me to Fuego Austral, to the temples burn, presented themselves as a cohesive and thought out story that was unfolding for me to come into this moment of awakening. It felt as if I was genuinely letting go of the parts of my story that weren’t allowing me to be fully immersed in the present. My gratitude manifested itself as tears, and upon looking around it felt as if everyone who was watching the temple burn was in receiving the same solace. We were all feeling together and everyone stayed in complete silence. I felt so much gratitude for being able to experience such a beautiful and awe-inspiring feat.

Life brought me to this experience to fully remember and realize that we as bound essence of the Universe are not helpless participants in some cosmic show but powerful co-creators in our own work of art. Burning Man in itself is one of the many avenues through which life can unveil for what it really is; purely conscious, magical and absolutely marvelous.

An Experience That Ripples Through Time

I will hold this experience dear to me and will make it in my intention to allow this to grow, like the seed planted on that beach in San Francisco, but this one in my heart. Thank you to everyone who was involved in this process, to the inception of an idea that was planted many years ago. Almost a year has passed since my regional burning man experience and the community of people who have been presented into my life, who share the same intentions of living as fully as possible as if their entire life was a work of art in itself has been absolutely astounding. I now realize why it is so important to cultivate community wherever you may be. Through our instances of connection we heal, we transmute and can bring this back into our lives with us.

This was a reminder that things that start so small, can expand and multiply into so much more, grow into a movement and culture capable of transforming the world and leading us, perhaps, to a brighter tomorrow.

With much gratitude,

Daniel Hugo Miceli

 

One of the most impactful memories I have of my brother was at the early age of four. I remember, my brother stormed into the house and began yelling at my father. Being so young, there was no way that I could have a full understanding of what was going on. My father went to the bedroom and my brother chased after him, while his dirty footprints marked the tiles of the living room floor and hallway. In the background I could hear something crashing against the wall, the sound of a lamp being thrown and shattered. One of the neighbors had heard the altercation and called the police. When they arrived they arrested my brother and the police officer began to speak with my mother about everything. I faintly remember looking up at the both of them, holding up a baby bottle of warm chocolate milk and nursing myself for comfort. My mother, talking to the police officer, burst into tears, the officer assured her with his embrace that everything would be alright. Upon witnessing my mother’s tears I felt this deep sense of empathy and a sadness within my being, I began to cry with her, for her, wanting nothing more than for her to not feel this way. It  was my earliest memory of empathy, of experiencing someone else’s pain.

The memories that I have of my brother come of a wide variety of emotionally charged experiences. Memories of him walking me to my first days of kindergarten are juxtaposed with memories of visiting him in juvenile detention facilities. Although his relationship with my mother and father were turbulent, he would always make it known to me and my sister how much he loved and cared for us.

My brother had been diagnosed bi-polar disorder, and would frequently have violent outbursts and often-times contemplate suicide. His upbringing was also entirely different than mine because his father was not an active participant in his life and my mother had him at a much younger age. My own father ended up being an important figure for him, and my brother would often express his gratitude towards my father for being there for him through his rough and troubled youth.

On October 6th,  my father sent me a message asking me whether I had spoken with my mother. This wasn’t a common ask, so it immediately left me with the feeling that something had gone wrong.

“It’s about Shem.” he shortly explained. “What about him?” I asked in confusion. “The worst that could possibly happen.” he rebutted. “He died…?”

“Yes.”

You see, my father is not one to deal with emotions well, and this was his way of protecting me from the inevitable, telling me that my brother had passed without actually telling me. This moment was paralyzing for me, one in which I felt nothing yet at the same time that vast nothingness was accompanied with the deepest sorrow that I have felt in my heart. A sorrow that I feel at all times and one that I know will take me years to heal.

At first, in the wake of his death, it was difficult for me to  comprehend what it was that I was feeling because of the complexity of our relationship.

In the last years of his life, my brother became addicted to heroin. In a way, I felt like this dehumanized him, at least I dehumanized him. My brother became a caricature in my mind, he became, “the brother with a heroin addiction”, and I used this label  as defense mechanism to detach from the reality of what he was going through. Apathy was far easier for me to deal with than the actual weight of knowing that someone you love and care for is destroying their life.

I had not spoken to my brother in months, not so much as a hello. The last time that I was in New York and we saw each other on Christmas day, I didn’t really take the time to engage with him, to ask him how he was doing, I didn’t even tell him that I loved him. It really struck me, because I now wonder, if telling him how I felt could’ve even made a difference.

I always had this dream that my brother would find Iboga, a rainforest shrub with medicinal properties that has been proven to be effective within treatments of addictions, particularly that of heroin. When I was in the Amazon I would often think of my brother and wonder what would happen if I could just get him down to Peru to take part in some ceremonies with me. I would think, maybe if I helped him find an Iboga clinic that could bring him healing, he would finally find peace. It was my dream to see him be relinquished from this suffering, and I feel that the most painful part of accepting his death, was the realization that this wasn’t going to happen, that this vision of him finding Iboga was nothing but a fantasy.

The day I found out about his passing, I was supposed to go to a guided meditation hosted by a Peruvian man living here in Buenos Aires.

All I wanted was to stay in my room and curl up into a ball, to not see anyone or talk to anyone and sit with what I was feeling. My initial reaction was for me not to go anywhere, nor be with a group of people that I didn’t know. When I spoke to my mother, she immediately reminded me that Shem wouldn’t want me to be alone. With my mother’s words,

I decided to attend the meditation despite my feelings. Perhaps this would be what I needed. When I went with my roommate, Elizabeth Jean Engle, (Who has been staying and living with me in BA for a few months working on her Spanish and has acted as an incredible guide during a difficult time), we ended up being the only people that came to partake in the meditation. We did some breathing exercises, allowed ourselves to release whatever was not serving us through the form of hums and vibrations. We were guided to take refuge in the darkness that is within each and every one of us. Something incredibly powerful began to happen, even though for years, I could not see my brother, nor did I know who he really was, he came to me during my meditation and led me to come into a state of full understanding, peace, and acceptance.

In that moment, it felt like I met with his soul. I remembered every beautiful moment that I have experienced with him, his creativity, his kindness, his wit. I could feel his soul telling me that it was all okay; that in his death he was liberated by his suffering and not to feel guilt over how things ended. Now he could do profound work because his experience was everything that he chose to go through in this life. Although he was not able to find peace through Iboga and the Sacred Plants, I feel that he was able to find peace through transcendence. It was his karma, not the type of karma that we get what we deserve, but in the way that our lives are intricate lessons that touches and impacts every single life and being that crosses our path. I felt so much love and in that moment I broke down in hysterical tears and a stream flooded through me. It felt like I was in the presence of the Universe and that everything was all unfolding in this way that would inspire all of us to make something of this tragedy. I felt deeply sorry, for everything, for not telling him that I loved him, for getting so wrapped up in my life, in my own drama, in forgetting a human being who was deeply hurting, someone who chose the same point of entry here on Earth, someone that although I did everything that I could to block out painful experiences, was always a part of my story. He was someone that would act as one of my most powerful guides.

My promise to my brother, is to take whatever I can from this, and construct something beautiful out of it. To continue my work with the Sacred Plants and to find alternative forms of healing. I know that it’s within my path to work with those who are suffering from addiction. I will find Iboga one day, work with it and understand its healing potential, in honor of my brother and in hopes of being able to help others dealing with the same pain.

Thank you all for reading,

Warm regards,

In South America Ayahuasca is referred to as medicina (natural medicine)and not a drug. Out of respect to the Ayahuasca, and the culture that I have been submersed in, I will refer to her as medicine as well. To be quite honest, words do an injustice to the relationship that I have formed with Ayahuasca, but they can give you an idea. Perhaps the impact that Ayahuasca has had on my life is partly due to my upbringing and the events that led up to me coming down to South America. I grew up in Miami, FL and came from Latin descent. In August 2010, after graduating high school I chased my childhood dream of moving to New York City. I was pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts at a rather expensive art school which I’ll leave unnamed. It kept me busy for a while but I gradually realized that I felt incredibly unfulfilled, was paying way too much money for my education and was craving something more.

Daniel Hugo Miceli in the Peruvian Amazon.

For as long as I can remember, I have been a spiritually inclined individual. Although, the first two years of living in New York I was completely ignoring that side of my being altogether. I was overwhelmed by it all and wasn’t dealing with my dissatisfaction and disappointment with the society that I had been living in. I realized that the art world (specifically that of NYC) was incredibly vapid and everything I was doing served no real purpose. I began to drink heavily and was using any opportunity that I could to get high off drugs in order to cope with not knowing my place in the world. I didn’t love or value my own existence and was using sex as a method of dealing with my insecurities. I was beginning to feel emptier than I had ever felt in my entire life and was looking for solace in all of the wrong places. I was so detached from my reality that I was unaware of how my actions were affecting those that cared about me. My grades plummeted, my relationships were suffering and I felt like I had dug myself into a hole that was impossible to get out of. I began to ask myself “Why am I here on Earth?” and “What is my place in this Universe?” Deep down I knew that I wanted to do something with my life in which I was making a contribution to this planet instead of just taking whatever I could from it.

My spirit was telling me that it was time to go explore the world, but my mind was getting in my way. You’re already halfway through Daniel… Are you really going to quit now? I felt lost and confused, but still believed that something beautiful was waiting for me elsewhere. After a long and difficult battle with myself I made the decision of dropping out of college. Would I take any of that back? No. I realize now that everything happens for a reason. I met beautiful people during my studies there and some great professors as well but I knew that it was time for me to go travel. Where exactly? I wasn’t so sure. I took up three jobs, two working at coffee shops and one in a restaurant behind a computer taking orders once every few hours. My social life shrivelled to non-existent. While working a shift at one of the coffee shops a man came in and started talking to me about how amazing Peru was, and somehow, at that moment, I felt that I was supposed to go there. I looked at a map, felt a tug on my soul and that night I bought a one way ticket to Lima. I still hadn’t heard of Iquitos, Peru until one of my friends from New York casually brought up that she had taken Ayahuasca while she had been there. Ayahuasca? What the hell is that? Although I had heard the name before, I was still rather ignorant about the subject. I had experimented with psilocybin mushrooms and LSD, but something was telling me that Ayahuasca would play a pivotal role in my life. She was calling out to me, and I knew I had to meet her.

Shortly before the ayahuasca ceremony begins.

On September 7th, 2013 I boarded a plane from Miami to Lima anxious for the adventure that was awaiting me. For the first three months, I volunteered at an NGO in Trujillo, northern Peru, and from there I found my way to Iquitos. Within the first week of being there I had met the owners of a hostel called La Casa Chacruna. There I met a couple who were holding ceremonies with a local shaman by the name of Roman. Something was telling me that the events that were about to transpire would change the course of my life forever. The next day we took a 45 minute hike out to a beautiful house sitting at the top of a hill overlooking the Amazon Jungle. Right away I knew that it wasn’t going to be the last time I saw this place.

I remember the fear and anxiety leading up to the moment in which I drank my very first cup. It was thick, dark and sludgy and was unlike anything I had ever tasted before. I sat down on my mat and waiting in anticipation for the medicine to kick in. The ceremony started off horribly as I had been pushing a lot of things under the rug. I’d been drinking heavily, my diet was awful and I wasn’t the most spiritually healthy person on this planet either. I spent the whole time yacking away not only the chemical toxins in my body, but also all the negative energy that had been festering inside of me all of those years. The Ayahuasca was forcing me to deal with all of darker aspects of my personality. The partying, the promiscuous sex, the self doubt and the self-destructive aspects of my being were all ominously surfacing. There was so much love that I had been bottling up inside of me, because up until then it had been very difficult for me to express my genuine feelings to the people I cared for the most. When the ceremony got too dark for me to handle, I would focus on the shaman’s icaros (songs sang during ceremony) and it would soothe and comfort me. Suddenly, spirits of indigenous men were entering the ceremony room and surrounding each of us. They embraced me, they assured me that I was indeed a beautiful human being and that life had big plans for me. During my limpieza (cleansing) the shaman spoke words to me that I will never forget. He saw that I was leaving behind a dark past but that there was a lot of light that was guiding my life. That I had a big purpose and would one day work for social and humanitarian causes. He told me that there were people who would never close their doors on me, to never feel alone in this world and he ended it with the words “Daniel, Te Amo” (I love you) I had never felt that someone had looked into my soul in the way that this man had looked into mine that night. I knew that this was the beginning of a long relationship with the medicine. Within a week the couple were telling me that they needed a translator for their ceremonies and being one of the few bilingual people around at the time, they offered me the spot. Was this all real? I’m suddenly working at an Ayahuasca center and getting paid to do it? Did I manifest this?

No two ceremonies are ever alike. You can have seven people in a room with each of them having a completely different journey. I have learned that a persons experience is ultimately determined by the intention one has going into ceremony. An intention is the motivation or question that you have at the moment that you drink your cup. During one ceremony, my intention was “only let love and light into my heart.” Interestingly enough, that night we all decided to make that our intention. It was one of the most spiritually profound experiences of my entire life. I completely left my body and visited all of my loved ones. I could not see them, but I could feel them. Everything was pure bliss and I felt this endless love and compassion for all of the people that had influenced me in some kind of way. My soul was flying through a spectrum of bright colors flowing through a tunnel. At that moment the shaman began to rub some kind of perfume on my scalp, it was a very calming sensation that felt as if it were coming from the distance. There was something anchoring my spirit down to my body and at the perfect moment I was yanked back into the room. I felt disoriented and wasn’t exactly sure of what had happened or how long I had been out of my body for. Within moments it was time for me to translate the limpiezas. During, I channelled all of the shaman’s words to the person being cleansed. The shaman was their leader; He would look into their soul and speak a profound message that was in tune with their own personal journey. It was as if the words were pouring out of his mouth, into my body and coming out of mine. I could feel a deep connection to the person being cleansed, their pain and suffering but that all of it was being washed away by the shamans icaros. I remember the awe and wonder that I felt at that moment. If magic was real, this was it.

Jungle House. Iquitos, Peru.
There are many contrasting reports coming from people who have taken Ayahuasca. Some report sheer terror while others report pure bliss. Just because one person has a dark experience while under the medicine does not mean that it is the case for everyone. First, the medicine works to cleanse your body of its toxins. Now she is working on providing me with the knowledge and wisdom that I need in order to fulfil my purpose in life. Whatever the Ayahuasca is purging you of will present itself to you as it leaving. That is why in your first few ceremonies (depending on how spiritually healthy you go into it) your experience can be a bit darker. Once you are clean both spiritually and physically you are open to the wonder and euphoria Ayahuasca has to offer.

There’s a lot of negative propaganda surrounding Ayahuasca; but it can be very difficult to understand unless you work intimately with the medicine. It is important that you trust your shaman, as the shaman is there to navigate the space and protect you from evil spirits. Unfortunately, corrupt shamans do exist and there have been horrific stories of the past. Some so called “shamans” will put women so under the medicine that they will have no idea what is happening any more. They will violate them and make them believe that it is all apart of the ritual. Although this does occur, it is fairly easy to avoid such an event from happening. You need to make sure that you have references for wherever you are going. Ayahuasca is not a joke or an excuse to go out and “get high.” It is definitely not something that one should go into blindly either. Make sure that you sense a good vibration from the person that you are looking to have your ceremony with. It is important to know that there are brujos, or ‘bad shamans’ out there, people who are out to steal your energy and money. If your intuition is telling you that something isn’t right you must not second guess this and leave the situation immediately. You must always be aware of brujos – you’d be surprised at how many westerners fit the bill. Just because someone has worked with the medicine previously, does not mean that they are necessarily a good person. As with everything in this life, some will taint it and use their new-found knowledge for personal gain and not for the well-being of the Earth.

If you want an authentic experience I would suggest avoiding some of the bigger centers. Many of these places will charge an obscene amount of money to conduct ceremonies with over twenty people. Personally, I’d never participate in a ceremony with a large number of people. I have actually found that the smaller the ceremony is, the more the spirits can work on each participant. The best ceremony I’ve ever had was one where only three people were partaking, not including the shaman. If there is too much energy, the atmosphere can become a bit chaotic. There is also more of a connection within the participants when the groups are more intimate and your questions are more likely to get answered. Be smart about it, do your research, not so much about individual experiences (as like I said, everyone’s is unique), but more so on the precautions that one should take and the ethics of Ayahuasca centers. Many of these centers will lose sight of the reason that they started in the first place and become corrupted by greed. Their work will no longer be about healing any more and will only be about the money they can make off of you. Another thing that I will stress is that it is very important that you aren’t on any kind of synthetic drugs, especially anti-depressants. Ayahuasca does not like being mixed with man made drugs and if you are on anti-depressants you can go into what is called serotonin syndrome, resulting in death. It is also important that you go into the ceremony with a good period abstaining from sex, unhealthy eating or drug use. This will make your first experience with the medicine a lot more pleasant than my own! The people who tend to have the most horrifying experiences are those who aren’t exactly living the healthiest lifestyle or do not respect the medicine, because in the end, that is what it is.

Ayahuasca has been a very powerful guide for me, and I know that once I stop taking the medicine, she will always be with me. For the first time in my entire life I can say that I am genuinely happy. I have mental focus and concentration that I never had prior. I no longer feel numb to the world and have empathy towards all living beings. We are conditioned to be afraid of these experiences, to fear the unknown, to believe either that we are simply God’s creations or that no divine power exists, but ultimately you will not find truth unless you find the courage to enter into the unknown. The western world is now returning to the indigenous cultures that we have oppressed for so long because as we’ve “evolved” the human race has moved farther and farther away from being one with nature. We speak of it as something separate from us, instead of acknowledging that we are apart of it. Ayahuasca is a voice for the Earth to communicate with humans. She is here to teach and help us evolve as a species. She knows why each of us are here on Earth and can provide you with everything that you need to fulfil your purpose in life. Why do I call Ayahuasca a she? Because she is the embodiment of mother Earth, our Pachamama. She is here to teach us that the true nature of being is to love and in the end that is all that matters. Everything else is just noise.

Originally published on Reset.me on June 8th 2014

Palermo

Buenos Aires, Argentina. Where could I possibly begin in detailing my absolute love that I have for this city? I came here a year ago after a year long journey of self discovery in Peru and Ecuador, primarily working with medicinal plants. My roots run deep within Latin culture. I was born to an Argentinean father and a Dominican mother, and grew up in a bilingual household. Retiro

I am currently pursuing a degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology here at the University of Buenos Aires, one of the top universities in all of Latin America. It is a free, public institution and works on a completely different system than what you would find in the United States. Here, there is no acceptance rate to get into the university, (although there is an application process) and at La UBA (the acronym commonly used to the university), you have to go through a first year called el ciclo basico comun (the common basic cycle). This year acts as a filter and allows for students to get used to the rigorous study that is pursuing an academic career here. The classes that compose my CBC are Introduction to Scientific Thought, Anthropology, Sociology, Semiotics, Economics, and Introduction to the Society and Estate of Argentina. This system deeply resonates with me, because it gives everyone the chance to study at an amazing institution without the hierarchy and division of social clases that you would find in the US. This has been by far my favorite element of living in this city, as it has been one of my main observations that the free public higher education really seeps into the society and the culture as a whole.

You see, here there is a completely different attitude in regards to higher education. Degrees here take an incredibly long period of time, on average about five to six years, sometimes even more. But instead of just looking at the degree as a title that will get you a job, it is often viewed as a formation that gives you a broad perspective and way of looking at the world, allows you to question and really works for the betterment of society.

La Boca

Buenos Aires in itself is a city filled with culture, art, and various means for expressing oneself. Never have I seen so many creative workshops (classes, although here they are often referred to as talleres) in one place, so many opportunities to channel your energy into things that bring you back to life. The people are open, friendly, passionate and above all give you a feeling of warmth and comfort. People take the time to spend with friends, drink some mates and just enjoy each others company. Sure, this place isn’t perfect, the economic situation is troubling, and you never know how much things are going to cost due to staggering inflation and rise in the cost of living. (Especially after this recent change of government). And although those things do get to me sometimes, I realize that I wouldn’t change this for anything in the world.

Because it feels like I’m home.