Free-ak.

* Warning this post has not been edited of even spell checked before posting, I wanted it to be as raw and free as possible, the filters of my mind tarnish it enough.

        Please view this post as a stream of consciousness as opposed to concise and contrived. I have no idea where this may lead but I haven’t done any free writing for a long time, maybe that should be the theme of this post: Free. Recently I have been expanding my mind and weary pupils at ridiculous hours of the morning, learning all about the lives of Freegans and Dumpster Divers as they are so aptly named. I stumbled across a user of Instagram who holds monthly  ‘Free- Markets’ whereby the salvage as much quality objects, from clothing to bikes as they can and set up a stall on the street so passers-by can pick anything up ; FOR FREE! This already had me in the palm of their anti-capitalist hands but to put the organic home grown cherry on the top this group host Freegan banquets in New York twice A month, now I was totally swept under this new exciting hippie wave. I’m not sure of how many people know what Freegans are, usually they are people who are Vegan and try to sustain their diets by growing their own food, thus spending little money in Supermarkets and opting out wherever possible in the Consumptive nature of our society.

  I have had so many slight opinions for so long but never truly felt like they were grounded anywhere, but through stumbling across this bold groups movement , I honestly felt like things were starting to click. I have never felt like I belonged in huge supermarkets, I’ve never really wanted to drive a car even (I’d happily cycle everywhere for the rest of my life) I suppose growing up a tiny village until the age of 6 and then moving to a city may have contributed to this overwhelming feeling of disbelonging. Anyway the strong community of like-minded Freegans and those who believe in mutual aid (doing everything in their little power to help as many people as possible) really struck a chord with me.

  This sense of care and help is what I feel is lacking in so many industries, potentially all industries, I have heard someone exclaim ‘why should I do that, it’s not my job!’ far too many times, if you work for a company or on a project you should believe whole heartedly in that company or project and want it to move forward in whatever way it can, even if it means mucking in with jobs that are not deemed ‘yours’.  I know there are a hell of a lot of people in the world who are doing jobs to just get by and may not take (or can) take an active role in the structuring and shaping of the project/company  but I truly feel, anyone at any ‘level’ (I hate the thought of anyone being ‘above’ anyone else) by being that little bit more conscious of the people working around them, and doing things to move the whole things forward will not only make them a happier person and their colleagues happier but it will also reap those superficial monetary rewards/targets which everyone is so focused on achieving.

  I’ve had some real ‘birds eye view’ moments recently, where I allow myself to totally extract everything from the life I lead, all the feelings I have and almost analyse the human race and world from an alien birds perspective. We are so odd. As a race, I have been questioning the word ‘civilized’ an awful lot of recent for it is those who are deemed 'uncivilized' that seem to show the greatest awareness for the Planet and forming a mutualistic relationship with their surroundings, anyway, I don’t want to dwell. There are so many reasons to be happy as humans, it’s the mindfulness and appreciation that is needed, I would urge everyone to take just 5 minutes out and view the world as a whole, then slowly bring it back to your life, all those ‘significant’ worries soon evaporate and I usually just feel an overwhelming sense on contentment at just being alive, just being able to breath, see, hear, feel and read all about the world. 

   The point I have been trying to make is, we may ultimately feel free, yet it is so hard to act upon this natural desire to be free as responsibilities, that we create, weigh us down and begin to cloud the beautiful vision we once had of the world, our child-like awe,  we become surrounded by negativity but we can make a change and that’s what I aim to do. I feel like a great cloud has been lifted and I have been observing life from a slightly clearer angle, everything is consumption and a lot of it is without even thinking about the consequences.

    I have been a Vegetarian for almost 10 months now (admittedly having a few small blips) and know in myself and my body that I couldn't be a Freegan, or vegan for that matter, but I can adopt some of their philosophies, I want to try and only buy from local shops if I have to buy, I’m going to try and make/grow as much of my own food as possible and I am going to gear myself up for a Dumpster Dive in the near future. As I physically cannot stop myself from acting upon and directly challenging the absolutely ludicrous laws governing food waste in Supermarkets.

PS. I am also looking at spending a minimum of 8 weeks in and Eco-yoga-commune in Peru. Some may call it escape, I call it real life and what it is all meant to be about!


https://soundcloud.com/mutual-benefit/advanced-falconry