Elements Festival 2021
What an ELEMENTAL experience… Thank you Hands Tribe for the memories 🤟
The Elements felt like a fairytale; Anyone could be who they wanted to be. I released all society’s expectations and wore cat ears that were given to me proudly, painted my nails, painted my face with glitters, and then dived deep into the Elements and danced the nights away.
In the Elements, something about the combination of nature, EDM, and other mythical beings was soul healing. The visuals. The mud. The bass. Being in middle of nature with no cellular service. Having a bird man fan you with fire blazing and gleaming in the background. Closing my eyes at some points and letting the music take me, lights shining and glittering through my eyelids. When opening my eyes, I look around and see all the magical spirits enveloped in light, smiling, all synchronized to the same beat. These were some magical moments I do never want to forget.
One part of the weekend had a huge impact on me. A friend discovered what I call a portal in one of the legs of the woods. After some energy push and pull, I gave in and allowed her to bring me into the room. There sat a mirror on the wall. I was told to look into it and examine what I see. Looking into the mirror, where I saw my face I saw a canvas. On top of my head were pink cat ears that was given to me, my nails painted black by a friend, blue glitters across my face given by another, a necklace that we all shared, while the face was my own. In this magical moment, I’m looking at this canvas called Keith. A beautiful human that is a fusion of all nature and those who has nurtured him.
Also, in this same magical moment, I felt my mask dissipate into a veil of smoke. Instantaneously, I felt like a huge burden fell off my shoulders. I dived my head into my friend’s arms and broke down crying, holding her in an embrace. This mirror I was looking at was a reflection of myself, my true authentic self, masks removed, showing me that I am the creation of all those who I’ve been blessed to meet on my life journey.
The mirror was also a reminder of how deep and genuine connections with other human beings are often so fleeting, because of the masks that people wear back in society. The society where cellular service and wireless internet run rampant among us, distracting us all from our true selves.
My morale of the above — As society evolves and embraces technology, people are masking up gradually, adding more and more layers to their complexity. Posting all their life experiences on the gram and using that as their TLDR. It feels I am constantly fleeting this overhanging darkness of superficiality in search for people’s authenticity that has diminished.
Reminders to you all:
Be vulnerable. Share bits of you where you go. Vulnerability is actually connection in its invisible form.
Make time for 1:1’s. Make each other meals. Stay in one weekend and catch up with people that matter to you.
Ground yourselves. It may feel like you must maximize every day and stay busy. In this mindset, you may outweigh the experiences over the genuine connections.
Ask, Listen, Share, Affirm, Emote
