#8: Is it spiritual bypassing or just Bob Marley?
Dear dancer!
I'm curious: are you reading my letters to the end? Are you just skipping to the events or the set that you can download? And why? Is it too long? Just not a reader? Should I write in Dutch? Let me know by replying to this letter..
Again, no story about my posture journey. This story here just came out, I feel so free to do what I want here. But I'll save it for next month, no promises.
This month:
Spiritual bypassing or just Bob Marley?
So, this summer I am booked for Ecstatic Dance Festival Holland again. Which is lovely, I might see some of you there (you can win tickets for the festival if you play along in the 'Why We Dance' promotional campaign).
Ecstatic Dance Festival Holland is a bath of bliss where, for a few days, your life is made so frictionless that it is almost impossible to not dwell mindfully in the present moment.
Related to this: I got triggered a bit by something that a musician named Sam Garrett posted on social media (which is why I don’t want to be on social media - I am on the toilet and get triggered by personal lamentings of strangers). Garrett’s music is all about love, joy, eternal connectedness and being peace. He looks and sounds a bit like Bob Marley, but white and for hippies. His post was a confession about his own spiritual process:
Everything feels like it's crumbling right now. Both in the world and inside me. I can't relate to my own music. How can I go out into the world and sing "I am Joy" when I feel so much rage. There's so much spiritual bypassing so much that I don't want to be associated with any more. For so long I just pushed away feelings because "they don't exist", for so long I ignored trauma and pain because I thought that's just normal and it's just how it is.
Garrett realizes: spiritual people are humans after all! I have to say that i find it a bit sad that it makes him stop believing in his own music altogether. Bob Marley himself sang songs for a broken, oppressed and poor people. His songs were all about hope and good vibrations, smiling at three little birds in the morning sun etc. But I reckon that Marley and his fans didn't doubt the escapist nature of his music and concerts. After the concert, people might have left with renewed hope, but Africa would still be an oppressed continent.
I would like it if we stopped treating the ‘spiritual world’ as something where only enlightened beings are supposed to dwell. We can start by just accepting it for what it is: humans coming together, enjoying life and making a little effort to be present with each other. If you look at it this way, Garrett singing “I am Joy” is not spiritual bypassing at all. He is just celebrating something beautiful, being the fact that we are human beings, and that we are alive, and that we can be present with each other and sing and dance.
I feel it becomes spiritual bypassing when you think that the world of spirituality is the only world there is, when you start pushing away everything that doesn't fit your positive vibes. This is not spirituality, this is a kind of (social media-induced?)narcissistic individualism and it can cause alot of problems. You start to lose touch with society, family and friends, those 'other' than you. Your inflated spiritual ego pushes away the world and the unwanted feelings, like Garrett also realizes deeply.
But I also feel that we shouldn't get all judgmental about ourselves here. If we imagine some kind of ideal, enlightened version of the world, then the world will always disappoint us. We might want the world to be a continuous Ecstatic Dance festival (I wouldn’t mind, actually 💃). But right now it seems more realistic to see the festival as an escape, a very welcome safe space where the hardships of the world are not there. You can spend your time at a festival to come back to yourself, rest and enjoy. You can even take it a bit more seriously, and see it as a space for easy spiritual practice (for the intellectuals: check out the concept of ‘Temporary Autonomous Zones’ by Hakim Bey). But we shouldn’t think that the world can always be like this. We have to work to sustain ourselves, take care of the ill and vulnerable, and spend time organizing our homes and our communities. So when we get back from the festival, we should return home with the realization that being present and joyful is more difficult outside of the bliss bath that is Ecstatic Dance.
I hope Sam Garrett will find his footing again. I know that many people love what he does, and his message of love and peace and joy is very welcome for many people. This earthly plane is a total mess so it is important that we keep on celebrating, and singing about the good things in life. Because every little thing is gonna be alright 🇯🇲
Musician of the month
Some dancers (mainly from the Culemborg tribe ✊) have asked me about this track, and I want to share it because it is so special! Maya Kamaty is a singer and activist from an island called Réunion, a (former?) French colony east of Madagaskar. She sings in Réunionese Creole here, a language that is so indigenous that it doesn't even seem to have its own dictionary. The track is empowering and epic, and her voice is just so powerful.. find her live performances on Youtube as well and enjoy!
Also, check out this live performance of Kamaty it's so good!
Upcoming Events
March
1 Ecstatic Dance Gathering Ottermeerhoeve
10 Ecstatic Dance Amsterdam, Loods12 (FUNKY NEW LOCATION!)
13 Ecstatic Dance Utrecht, Bar Beton
19 Ecstatic Dance Culemborg
28 Ecstatic Dance Rotterdam
April
4 Ecstatic Dance Nijmegen
10 Ecstatic Dance Utrecht, Bar Beton
16 PLAY! Ecstatic Dance Zwolle
Download this set
My set in Utrecht this past month had alot of new music, with some special attention to the very slow first 20 minutes or so. It is all 75BPM, which is about 5-10BPM slower than my usual openings, and I might have scared some new dancers away. But I will continue to experiment, as I have so many nice tracks in that range. So take it easy, use those hips and slowroll yourself into ecstacy!
(you might have to click again in google drive to access the file)
DOWNLOAD HERE
