Posts Tagged ‘Sunapee’

Ode to the Republic

05/11/2024

By Randall Richards
Happy Voting Day, Enjoy it While You Can**

The following is a good natured exchange on Farcebook between an old friend from my hometown (New Hampshire, USA) and me. It’s self explanatory but in keeping with an “Ode” theme, I’m also including some lyrics from a song I wrote some 30 years ago, which seems applicable. Happy reading.
My friend posted this meme of Farcebook recently, and here’s my response:

Hi James, others
I implore you to do one thing and that’s to look outside your newsfeed because you’re being lied to in real time. I didn’t want to believe it, who does? The power structure is scared to death of being called out on their decades of corruption and are hoping, and banking on, you won’t pull back the curtain and see the truth. What I say sounds crazy, but our future depends on you and others taking off the blinders and waking up to outright lies and defamation that you’re being fed. I warn you though it will take courage. Some of us have the advantage of long-term assimilation to the facts. You don’t have that advantage and the ride may be rough, but I and others are here for you. Again I implore you to at least consider taking the red pill, because all I’m promising you is the truth and nothing more. Oh and by the way, it has less to do with left and right than you can imagine

Addendum:
A good place to start would be to investigate who funds the media. You can find that on Yahoo Finance.
Do you still trust the banks? Remember the Enron and too big to fail events? Do you think they have changed their behavior since then, especially regarding military industrial machine? Lastly, consider reading or listening Whitney Webb.
Best to you on your journey.
Randall

This was my friend’s response:
Randall, I believe that you are sincerely reaching out to share what you believe to be important truths. It concerns me, however, that your comment was offered as a reaction to a post that decries bigotry in very general terms, and offers a pithy resolution to the “paradox of tolerance….” I would be surprised if your intent were to defend bigotry, but it’s hard to understand what else prompted you to post this comment here and now.
I hope that your reference to “the red pill” is intended to encourage general skepticism toward dominant social narratives, rather than an embrace of the fantasies of QAnon, MAGA, incel culture, and the “Alt Right.” Unfortunately, back here in the ‘States, the “red pill” metaphor is often deployed in the service of those collective delusions.

And today’s response on voting day in the U.S:
Hey James, Others,
Happy voting day there Stateside. Good luck.**
Good to hear back from you and thanks for your reply in the comments. I actually had a draft running, but FB deleted it. So I’ll give it another go. Yeah, I’m trying to reach out, which is an exception, because my knowledge usually falls on deaf ears. So generally, it’s not worth my time anymore. There are some you just can’t reach. But a fellow journalist is quoted as saying, there are many pathways to the truth, and some find their way through one issue or another, and then it hits them – “They’ve been lied to.” Then it’s a matter of prying off the bandage to see how bad it is.

I love your writing style. Top notch my friend. I could take some lessons from you. Here’s my response. I trust you’ll take it in good faith. Hopefully the days of respectful discourse are not of days gone by.

Your wrote, that my comment was “offered as a reaction to a post that decries bigotry in very general terms” is not how I see it. The post suggests that those on the “Right”, one side, hates blacks, brown, Asian, etc. and the other side, “Left” hates bigots.  Firstly, I put the left and right in quotes, because the terms are almost meaningless. I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, it left me. Having said that there is an extremist element that has co-opted the Democratic Party. You’d be mortified to know the truth. That’s why I said it would be a rough journey if you and others start doing the hard research.  The meme was not based on fact. No, I don’t defend bigotry in any form, nor even, “hate” which your post evidently advocates. Love your enemy, remember.  My response, in all due respect, was not meant to be pithy in any manner.  That you find it hard to understand what prompted me to post my comment is just the point that we’re on different planes of understanding.

 A good friend yesterday made the analogy that learning the facts of the backstory is a bit like mathematics. It starts with bath arithmetic, etc., then algebra, and if you can handle that, calculus and then delving into quantum physics. At some point, especially me, I’ll get lost at about the calculus level, (if I’m lucky!) and drop out at that point.  Learning the true history, and facts behind the current situation is similar to my analogy. People can handle the truth up to certain point, then cognitive dissonance sets in. Yeah, “the Military Industrial Complex may not have my interests in mind” or “Yeah, there were some mistakes with the vaccine rollout”, and “Yes, the media might be owned by three corporations but, it can’t be that controlled.” “Partial truth” is good enough for a lot of people. It’s not good enough.
Yes, my comment about the red pill, was not in reference to the republican party. Sorry, I wasn’t clear on that. It’s about challenging the illusion, per the Matrix movie. Author of the “Great Unraveling” Julius Ruechel has brilliantly addressed the issue of mass-formation, which I encourage you read/watch. In summary, it’s as if we’re trying in some way to get y’all, people on both sides, to snap out of it.
Your listing of  Q’Anon,  MAGA, “incel”, and Alt Right is curious and, respectfully, shows you’re a bit uninformed. “Q” is a listing of clues supposedly from someone on the inside of government. Never had time for that, and frankly I think it’s a danger to the republic, (notice I didn’t say democracy). “Anon” is a movement of onliners devoted to deciphering the clues or “drops” from “Q”. Again, a time waster in my opinion. “Alt-right” is a term like “Conspiracy Theory” that’s a powerful label created (the latter, created by the CIA, look it up) to marginalize with the sweep of a hand. And it’s effective.  Yes, you’re spot on, regarding “collective delusions” but what I find interesting is it’s playing out on both sides, more acutely on “The Left”.  Seeing a sea of “Red hatters” is a cautionary vision for me too. Of course Thiel’s backing of JD Vance is not a good sign. Have you heard of the Bilderberg Group, or CFR? He’s on their board of directors, and no, it’s not conspiracy. It’s fact. Please read up. As a side note, I’m not “anti-vax” but RJK Jr’s book shows that Big Pharma, and the agencies they’ve co-opted, don’t have your health in mind, and that’s putting it very mildly. They have a long history of money-making at all costs.

Replying to some of his commenters:
Tom wrote:
As a Trump supporter I was never a bigot. With regards to Obama…we got the first sort of mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.,
I voted for him, but I was fooled. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I agree though, he is indeed articulate and bright though.
David, wrote:
Please read some actually reporting and scholarship, instead of conspiratorial drivel.
I wouldn’t call RFK Jr’s “The Real Anthony Fauci” or “The Pfizer Papers” by Wolf, conspiratorial drivel, nor, while I’m at it, “The “Creature from Jekyll Island”. If the first book were untrue then RFK Jr. would have been sued for libel by now.   
Christian wrote: try breaking the pill in half.
Unclear, please expound.
Ted, wrote:
Ok, so I read this page on Whitney Webb. Are you going to support Trump, the good friend of Jeffrey Epstein?
Ted, Respectfully, your comment is irrelevant and incorrect.  And you say, you ‘read a page’ on Whitney Webb. The problem is, one group has done deep research and the other is fed a narrative and believes it based on a corporate media feed.
Of course Trump is not ideal, and whether he’s been convicted of rape or not, I admittedly don’t know for fact one way or the other, but have read it was a complete set-up. (As a side note, you do know, I assume, that to get a conviction, it used to require a unanimous decision on each count by a jury of your peers. The NY judge allowed each juror to come up with his own decision on individual counts, and that called those convictions. That wasn’t justice.  It makes for great pablum, unless you look into it.  Of course he should not be calling anyone stupid or other insults. I wouldn’t want to spend a weekend with Trump. But…Watch the “Art of the Surge”, The whole documentary series of a behind the scenes reporting during this campaign with an embedded team. It’s a rare opportunity to see history in real time. As difficult as it might be, make the stretch and see the real person vs. the “straw man” the media has painted of him, (and Alex Jones, by the way, which should trigger a few!)
Ted wrote:
It seems like you think: Peter Thiel, Tucker Carson, RFK Jr., DJT, etc. are truth-tellers instead of just self-serving lie-peddlers. I don’t think you’re correct.
Your comments about truth tellers/lie peddlers is not based on fact, and, you “don’t think” I’m correct? It’s matter of knowledge from source materials. Respectfully, do some research, (happy to provide a book list for you), then get back to me.
Martha writes:
I am basing my decision to vote for Harris on information I’ve received directly from people who have dedicated their lives to defending democracy on the world stage (Gen. Kelly) or original documents (Project 2025).
Admittedly, I’ve not delved into Project 2025 yet, although have had a cursory look and understanding of it. I need to look at it. I trust you remember when Obama cleaned house of all the top brass generals and installed new ones. Why do you think he did that?

In conclusion, from my side perspective and experience, I’ve seen the huge amounts of censorship that has kept “the left” from seeing the facts. So I understand the slumber, and the reluctance to look outside the info bubble. I was once accused by that “crazy guy” Ed Brown*, (anyone remember him?) from Sullivan County, NH, USA. They locked him up and threw away the key. Yeah, he was inflammatory, and wasn’t good with people*.
*(All that exists online about Brown is a Wikipedia entry. While I don’t argue with their record of convictions, I’m completely dubious of Wikipedia, and take what they say with a grain of salt.)
But Brown once said to me, “It’s all good that your hobby is researching the deep state and all that, but what are you actually doing to spread the truth and push back against the bullies?” At the time, I was offended at his frankness. Now, I’m a busy guy.

Randall Richards is a facilitator of the NZ Media Collective, Jam For Freedom New Zealand, a movement to connect freedom and health loving muso’s both in NZ and beyond to spreading the truth through music and creating vital community, He’s a co-founding member of New Zealand Rising, and currently content editor of its newsletter. NZ Rising is directory of Freedom and Health groups in New Zealand, which was based on the successful model of Canada’s Freedom Rising. He’s currently helping others to re-start the United Free Press, an initiative to create an ethics-based international journalism cooperative.

** Since I wrote this piece yesterday, since Trump’s win, I thought I’d better clarify the meaning of “Enjoy it while you can” in the header. Since Harris’s loss, it could be construed that I was gloating, which is not what I meant.
In fact, there’s a fair chance that the globalists and deep state, and 3-letter agencies, CIA, etc., who have it out for Trump, will stage another assassination attempt, and/or a false flag event. Prefacing that no-one is coming to save us, Trump is better than Harris, and talks a good game at least. It’s fairly clear the powers that be are scattering like rats on a ship. They don’t want to held accountable for their crimes. So they’ll do whatever it takes to avoid being brought to justice.
Make no mistake, these are delicate times, and let’s pray, meditate, do Hawaiian affirmations – whatever it takes to hold the peace, be welcoming and open hearted and above all compassionate. There are some wonderful posts by people on both sides saying to stay calm and enjoy the ride. I suggest readers here do the same. Trump is not the monster the mainstream media has made him out to be, nor is he a savior. But after generations of entrenched power structures, he’s one of our best bets (not the only one though) of making this right.
So, in short, what I meant was, buckle up. It could be an interesting ride.

Oh, yes, an Ode to The Republic,

Turning Point
Copyright 2024 Randall Richards written in 1995

HERE WE ARE…AT A TURNING POINT
HERE WE GO…..AT A TURNING POINT

THINGS AREN’T AS THEY SEEM
COME TAKE A MINDWALK WITH ME
WHERE SCIENCE, ART AND THOUGHT ARE ONE

IN A PLAY OF WORDS,
A BOOK CAPRA WROTE
WELL TO HEED HIS WORDS OF LIFE AND LOVE
WITH OPEN ARMS AND OPEN MINDS
THAT’S THE TURNING POINT
WE FIND OURSELVES IN NOW

ROME WAS GONE
IN A TWINKLING OF AN EYE
SO SHALL WE
UNLESS WE SEE THE FOLLY OF OUR TIMES
THATS THE TURNING POINT
WE FIND OURSELVES IN NOW

ANXIETIES RISE
PRESSURE’S BUILDING DAY BY DAY

THE ANSWERS WE SEEK
DEMAND NEW QUESTIONS
NOT FROM RIGHT OR LEFT
BUT FROM THE CENTER OF OUR HEARTS

GONE ARE THE DAYS
OF BLISSFULL FEAR AND HOPELESS NIGHTS
UP OR DOWN
RIGHT OR LEFT
THE CHOICE IS OURS YOU SEE
WE’RE AT A TURNING POINT

Music as Protest, US, Vietnam & New Zealand

29/09/2024

By Randall Richards
Performing Music to Protest & Educate: Past, Present, & Where to From Here?

When I started a couple of volunteer music venues as listening rooms which I named “Coffeehouses”, one in Leavenworth, Washington and a second, in Sunapee New Hampshire (which is still going strong), Little did I know the history of the term CoffeeHouse.

I recently happened to stumble upon this interesting definition of the term, but never realized its origin when I had created those coffeehouses in the states. Interesting how things turn out: “GI Coffeehouses” were a consequential part of the anti-war movement during the Vietnam War era, particularly the resistance to the war within the U.S. military. They were mainly organized by civilian anti-war activists as a method of supporting anti-war and anti-military sentiment

. The FTA Roadshow was explicitly created in the ’70’s as a counter to Bob Hope’s pro-war USO tour. Original cast, from left: Gary Goodrow, Jane Fonda, Donald Sutherland, Peter Boyle, Dick Gregory, and Barbara Dane at the Haymarket GI Coffeehouse near Fort Bragg.

We started the first venue in Washington State because I had been a professional pianoplayer for years, and budding singer/songwriter on the guitar. I wanted to perform in a supportive listening room environment. 

I had taken note of one such venue in a Sedona, AZ bookstore.  Since I could only find bars and pubs, where venues treated the artists as background musicians, I wanted no part of that.So I decided to give it a shot by approaching a local hotel owner who was willing to let me set up on Friday nights in his unused conference space and stage in Leavenworth, WA. More on that winning formula in another piece.

Here’s the East Coast’s Sunapee Community Coffeehouse, still going strong after many years!


New Zealand:
Fast forward to New Zealand, 2021 in the thick of mandates, and other general draconian measures pushed upon the population, based on a injection that was neither safe nor effective. We started having occasional bonfire music jams, and a like-minded Saturday Market, primarily for our freedom loving community (but all were welcome) in the Upper Clutha region of the South Island.

  About six months ago I decided to apply to be one of the 16 international chapters of Jam For Freedom, backed by Eric Clapton. We were welcomed with open arms.

We have yet to hold our inaugural event. I’m still in the process of reaching out to additional musicians in the country who have been part of either the Wellington Protests, were featured in The River of Freedom and We Came Here for Freedom documentaries. Once we have a critical mass of freedom loving musicians, we’ll create an event,

We’ll also create traveling Jam For Freedom (Coffeehouse type roadshow), starting with the South Island based on the Coffeehouse formula I had started in the U.S., but simply a mobile version. That means a featured performer, followed by an open mic, a “trained” listening room audience, and passing the hat for the musicians, venue hire, and roadshow expenses,). I have a van, a waterproof trailer for the music gear, and just need some JFF branding for the vehicle and a stage backdrop.

Vietnam:
My family and I just toured of Vietnam, and I’m now writing a few pieces, not about the tourist side, but the impact of the war museums, the wonderful people we met, the stories I was told, and most recently, a book I’m reading called Understanding Vietnam explaining not only the war, but the deep seated psyche of the Vietnamese.
During a visit to the War Remnants Museum in Ho Chi Min City, I found these images on display:

Yo koi Kumiko sings to solders in the artillery battleground in Quang Binh Provence, 10 December, 1973
“A rally against US aggression in Vietnam from Japan’s Beheiren, Tokyo, 1972

This might be the time to premise some the articles I’m working on about Vietnam’s view of the US Occupation of Vietnam. They call it the “American War”, by the way. I went to Vietnam with some ingrained knee-jerk conditioning, courtesy of our government’s controlled media in the states. That paradigm quickly dissolved. Of course I could see Vietnam’s plugging their side of the story as well. But I do have discernment, and will talk about that in later posts.

Although there is a history of protest music from the US side I assume there’s more about Vietnam’s side, protesting war. However, this was the first time I it was on my radar.
The historians will write about such protest songs being written now, not only about anti-war, but about various nefarious agendas that aim to curb our freedoms, hurt our children and enslave the world’s population. Music is one of the best ways to call out the troublesome behaviors of those powerful people in charge who obviously don’t have our best interests in mind.

Comedy is a another avenue to opening the dialogue where direct debate and conversation often fail to bridge the gap between different paradigms. Jim Breuer’s Somebody Had to Say It, is a case in point.


So wish us luck with our Jam For Freedom adventure here in New Zealand! If you’re a musician get in touch! If you’re a friend of mine, who happens to be living stateside, or elsewhere, I also invite you to join in the conversation on our Jam For Freedom Telegram chat or the International Telegram group. Even though the NZ chat is focused for us here in New Zealand, I feel, the more the merrier. We could use the moral support! Did you guys hear that… Kirtana, Neal Fox,  Scot Bergeron, Conspiracy Music Guru?

THANKS TO:
A special thanks goes to those New Zealand musicians who performed at our protest on Parliament grounds and were featured in those documentaries mentioned above, and to those who have joined our Jam For Freedom NZ Telegram Group. Also thanks to all the steering committee and volunteer members of the West and East Coffeehouses who have worked hard to deliver live music in a listening room for so many years.

A special acknowledgement again to Neal Fox for being ahead of the curve, and for his unflinching creative stance in music compositions and film-making productions, and sticking it to the “all powerful”. You can see his work here.

Learn more about the Coffeehouse concept here. Start one in your community! You learn more about Randall’s music here. Our music studio is open for musicians-in-residence who would like to be pampered and be free to write and record in our small studio set in the mountains of the Southern Alps of NZ.

Slowdown Post #13: “Hayice” Climbing!

13/08/2020

20200513_120509 copyDuring lockdown Level 4, we eyed the farmer’s hay bales, the next field over, and received permission to take ice axes and crampons to them “as long as we didn’t tip any over on us”. It was remarkably realistic climbing except the occasional piece of straw in your boot and of course the warmth! Who knows, maybe it will catch on. It’s a great way to get a pump, and practice your skills. When growing up in New Hampshire, I took for granted the ice climbs that were 10-15 minutes’ walk from the car, Frankenstein Cliff’s in the White Mountains, come to mind, or smaller local climbs hidden in the woods near Sunapee. In New Zealand, you’ll need a full day’s approach by ski touring into Wye Creek, or Black Peak here in Wanaka to see any ice. No driving to the ice fall or belaying off the bumper here!

Over-Tourism – Now What Do We Do?

13/07/2019

003 Smllr

Dexter and Genelle Richards at Dexter’s Inn circa 1940  ©randallrichards

I grew up in tourism. My parents started a ski lodge, Dexter’s Inn,  in the 1940’s in Sunapee, New Hampshire. I’ve been in and out of tourism over the years, and in different shades of it, from ski instruction, to experiential education, high-altitude mountain guiding,  a guide on the Inka Trail to Machu Pichu, back in the days when you didn’t see a lot of people, and no permits required (referring to the Inka Trail only).

We now own Lake Wanaka Yacht Charters and Mountain Spirit NZ in the Southern Lakes District of New Zealand. So we’re officially back in the industry. However the industry seems uber-industrial.
Einstein said, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  So when is enough, enough? And what do we do now?
Here are some rumblings about our, small, but very fast-growing communities, Wanaka and Queenstown, New Zealand.
First an article from CNN: in which Queenstown is listed, among other areas in the world, as a trouble spot, with over 3 million visitors per year…

Destination trouble: Can overtourism be stopped in its tracks?
(CNN) — We first hear about these places when we’re kids. Famous destinations full of wondrous architecture, spectacular scenery or ancient mysteries that fire our imaginations and fill us with yearning.
We dream, we grow, we save up all our money and one day we finally get to visit — only to discover, read more…

20190705_115036[1]

Queenstown, New Zealand , image©Randall Richards

Next, our local Wanaka Stakeholder Group’s Protect Wanaka Facebook page, a firebrand in its own right (and I mean that as a compliment), weighs in: “Queenstown has been named in CNN Travel’s global list of locations that are currently plagued by ‘Overtourism’, read more…

The Wanaka Sun
The Disadvantages of Tourism
By Allison McLean (journalist@thewanakasun.co.nz)

“Tourism is noted as New Zealand’s top export earner and the cornerstone of its economy. It sustains and grows local communities and reportedly employs one in seven New Zealanders, according to Tourism New Zealand. Many locals consider this sword to be double edged, noting the accumulated waste, erosion of land and consumption of fossil fuels from tourism that put the country’s land and greatest asset at risk. read more…

 – – – –

Just as shifting our paradigm on how our family uses plastics during Plastic Free July, we’re in the process of shifting how we think of tourism, and how we contribute to the problem or clean up the mess. Whether as suppliers or tourists, we all need a re-think. A saying I heard the other day made me chuckle, and again was a paradigm shifter:
“I’m not stuck in traffic, I am traffic”
Responsible tourism is the future, not simply the bottom line. Here’s New Zealand’s webpage on the subject, as well as another great page on NZ Sustainable Tourism Tourism Industry Aotearoa, TIA’s page.  And acompany, Responsible Travel has had some new global initiatives.  Lake Wanaka Tourism has published a sustainable tourism page.

Unfortunately I see Wanaka and Queenstown going the way of Park City, Vail, or other towns in the Alps, that just got too big, and now deal with smog, traffic and overgrowth, but that’s another subject, I suppose.  Although we, too, are new here, one redeeming attribute is we’ve always tried to live a small footprint, including buying existing houses rather than building anew, living off the grid when possible etc. .

Tell me what you think. Respectful comments welcome.

XC Ski Instructors Talk About Nordic Nirvana

31/01/2013

Deborah Sellars

Deborah Sellars

Deb Sellars and Molly Morgan, part of the ski instructor team (with Randy Richards) for the upcoming Nordic Nirvana program, talk about their background and the concept of blending XC Skiing and the Buddhist practice of mindfulness and presence while skiing in nature.

Molly Morgan

Molly Morgan

Mountain Spirit Institute is collaborating with Wonderwell Mountain Refuge in Springfield, NH to offer a special weekend, based at the refuge, of XC skiing (possibly snowshoeing depending upon conditions) on Feb. 8,9,10th. For more info see  Mountain Spirit Institute’s and Wonderwell Mountain Refuge’s webpages on the program.

Nordic Nirvana Interview w/ Lama Miller, Part 2

01/01/2013

"Letting the mountains meditate you"

“Letting the mountains meditate you”

Mountain Spirit Institute‘s director, R. Richards, continues his interview with Lama Willa Miller of the Wonderwell Mountain Refuge about their collaboration on the upcoming Nordic Nirvana Cross-Country Ski weekend retreat. This is the two organization’s second collaborative offering of mindfulness and outdoor pursuits. In Oct. 2012, MSI and Wonderwell offered Mindfulness in the Mountains.
This program promises to deliver a similar flavor of quietude but this time, with a balance of motion over snow on ski.

Nordic Nirvana Interview w/ Lama Miller, Part 1

01/01/2013

XC Skiing and Meditation

XC Skiing and Meditation

Mountain Spirit Institute is excited to once again partner with  Wonderwell Mountain Refuge and Natural Dharma Fellowship to offer a weekend of nordic skiing and meditation in the beautiful mountains and woods the Dartmouth Lake Sunapee region of New Hampshire. Below is part 1 of yesterday’s interview with Lama Willa Miller, the spiritual head of the Wonderwell and Natural Dharma Fellowship of Cambridge MA. Part II is here.

Justifying My Existence

02/11/2012

A case for the hard working travelers & educators

Finally Realizing I Actually Did Make the Best Life Decisions
By R. Richards, Founder
Mountain Spirit Institute
Andrew McCarthy in his book  “The Longest Way Home – One Man’s Quest for the Courage to Settle Down “  writes, “Whenever I would tell people that I was going off on some trip or another, I was met with remarks like, “Oh, tough life,” or, “That’s rough.” Even good friends reacted with outright hostile envy-“Must be nice,” they often said. I used to try to explain and justify my travels.  It was pointless.  Travel, especially by people who rarely do it, is often dismissed as a luxury and an indulgence, not a practical or useful way to spend one’s time.
“People complain, “I wish I could afford to go away.” Even when I did the math and showed that I often spent less money while on the road than staying home, they looked at me with skepticism.  The reasons for not traveling are as varied and complex as the justification for any behavior.  Perhaps people feel this way about travel because of how it’s so often perceived and presented.
“They anticipate and expect escape, from jobs and worries, from routines and families, but mostly, I think, from themselves-the sunny beach with life’s burdens left behind.  For me, travel has rarely been about escape; it’s often not even about a particular destination. The motivation is to go, to meet life, and myself, head-on along the road. There’s something in the act of setting out that renews me, that fills me with a feeling of possibility. On the road, I’m forced to rely on instinct and intuition, on the kindness of strangers, in ways that illuminate who I am, ways that shed light on my motivations, my fears. “

The author as a child on Lake Sunapee

My wife, who had been reading McCarthy’s book this week, showed the above passage to me the other day.  Although I’ve done more than my fair share of “inner work”, in one instant, after hearing her read these words, I realized, I too have been carrying a chip on my shoulder about supposedly not working hard enough, about being a mountain guide and facilitator and director of a non-profit organziation. I’ve tried to defend what I do to  family, friends and the fellow community members in my home town. It has not been the work of my imagination – that some have thought I “was on permanent vacation”.

After graduation from University of Utah, I was on a fast track to represent an Austrian ski boot company in the U.S. by taking a Master Boot-maker program in Austria. However, the combination of two main life events,  meeting Erga and Luciano Cappella, (see my earlier post: Reconnecting with a Mentor)  and one day, simply realizing I was on the wrong side of the window in that little mountain workshop where I was learning how to make ski boots, made me have a paradigm shift. I needed to be “out there in the mountains”, in the Alps. Something in me snapped, and I realized at that moment, I was the closest I would ever get to corporate life, (aside from later conducting Outward Bound Professional corporate team-building workshops). I took a left-hand turn out of the corporate ski business, and never looked back.  With that decision, came a shift in perception, and future decisions  led me to international mountain guiding, a long stint with Outward Bound as a lead instructor and staff trainer, and lastly, founder of Mountain Spirit Institute.

Richards rappelling in his twenties, Newbury, NH

I’ve worked hard, as do most people in the outdoor education field. Anyone who has started a  non-profit organization from the ground up also knows program building and organizational management on a small scale takes a lot of energy, more so than punching a timeclock.  It has sometimes felt like pushing a boulder uphill.  That’s not even taking into account the fun, but hard and endless hours of making sure the participants get what they need on any given program.  I’m committed to what I do, and feel I’m  good at it. It has been my passion since I started teaching in the outdoors at age thirteen, and I feel it’s my life’s purpose.

But from the outside,  it looks like I’ve been galavanting around since my twenties. “When are you going to get a real job” is what if not said, is implied sometimes. Indeed, even my parents occasionally expressed concerns about my not “biting the bullet” , a nice term. Then, later in her life, my mom was just happy knowing that I was doing what filled me up.

With Dr. Theo Paredes, Peru

I didn’t know this article needed to be written until a few nights ago, but now realize it has been long overdue.  I quoted Eckhart Tolle in an earlier post
“Most people are only peripherally aware of the world that surrounds them,  Especially if their surroundings are familiar. The voice in the head absorbs a greater part of their attention. Some people feel more alive when they travel and visit unfamiliar places or foreign countries because at those times sense perception, experiencing takes up more of their consciousness than thinking. They become more present.”

I never looked back – Guiding in Alaska

It’s almost a cliché, but I think this is what other climbers, outdoor leaders and guides are up against when they encounter the world of the conventional. It’s almost like two worlds intersecting. Many articles and books have been written about this. Of course we’re all connected on one level. On another, there very different lives happening in my small hometown.  Said Oliver Wendall Holmes  “A mind that is stretched to a new idea never returns to its original dimensions.”

Fortunately my mind has been stretched. Now it is up to me, with this new perspective, (thanks to McCarthy), to compassionately nod to those who don’t understand my lifestyle and career choice, and to move on.
For more information on R. Richards’ career choices you can read his short bio at Mountain Spirit Institute’s About Page.
Re-edited on 11/3/12 16:46EST (My motto, post first, edit later)

Some responses from my personal Facebook Page, also see the comment posted below by Jay for additional insight.

  • Peter Canaday Hard to explain unless you come across others of the same mind, and then, no explanation is necessary….
  • Wendy Gilker Randy, I understand living a life different from the norm. Generally, people do question it. How many times have people asked me – “When do you get a life Wendy”. As Joseph Campbell said ” the Journey begins with a” call to adventure in which the He…See More
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  • Wendy Gilker Helen Keller – “Many people admire what I did with my life because I seemed to be at such a disadvantage. But, they’re mistaken. If anything , I was greatly blessed. The danger in my “zone unknown” was great, but so was the treasure since eternal pr…See More
  • Randy Richards Good comments Wendy, I like the quotes.
  • Irene Powell Thank you for sharing….I will be allowing this words to percolate inside and see where they take me in my inner voyage of discovery.
  • Kevin Sleeper Randy, I have to say that it is/was probably jealousy which produces those comments. Be comfortable that it is our loss and your gain. Being outside was always a passion of mine, mostly expressed through scouting. Check out my posting of the Sailors take warning sky last Sunday at 6:15 or so over Lake Sunapee. I am sure you will recognize the place?
  • Randy Richards Thanks Jay Leavitt for the comment and poem (posted on our blog). You bring up some good points I failed to include. Also, I’ve done some re-edits of the blog post – My motto: Post first, edit later.
  • Randy Richards Hey Kevin Thanks for that..Yeah I remember that about you.
  • Dale Morrow I agree with Kevin, Randy. Feel a little sympathy for us who look at you, and feel the need to needle you, because we covet your life. But don’t take it all to heart. They mean no harm. People have to learn to accept the choices they’ve made.
  • Kevin Sleeper Randy, I learned a long time ago if U R going to swim upstream U R going to need a thick skin.

Mindfulness in the Mountains #2

30/10/2012

 Gunshots in the Wilderness
#2 in a Series – Mindfulness in the Mountains

The mist clears, the gunshots arrive

It seemed that spirit was working with us on this day on the water, during Mountain Spirit Institute‘s recent program with The Natural Dharma Fellowship Buddhist retreat center based at Wonderwell Refuge in Springfield, NH.  The six of us slowly paddled our kayaks through the mist on Grafton Pond. There was no one else to be seen on this drizzly Sunday morning, when normally 20-40 cars might be unloading their boats. It’s for good reason this place is popular. Actually a one-and-half-mile lake with a wilderness feel, complete with some 44 islands and great views of Cardigan Mountain to the north, this place has become overly popular with weekend warriors. We didn’t even have Grafton Pond on the schedule, knowing that private mediation and crowds weren’t conducive for contemplation in the wilds of New Hampshire. But there were no other cars to be seen on this day. Just us.

The weather forecast called for a short break in the rainy downpours between 10am and 2pm. Right on schedule, the rain stopped, and all was quiet, for the time being. We paddled  quietly to the southwest arm of the pond. The first exercise we gave our  participants was to drift in the big bay, slowly exploring the shoreline with presence of mind, quietly and slowly paddling from their kayaks.

All was idyllic, no rain, no people, just peace. Then,  like a tear in the fabric, gunshots from 3 miles away broke the silence. As we were each far apart from each other, we were not comparing notes about the noise until we reconvened one hour later. The shots rang regularly every three to five minutes apart.
We asked our participants, (not only on this day, but also at the end of the program), what their takeaways were from the experience. My co-facilitator, Tara Moon, shared that “the gun shots were” for her,  “like punctuation marks, reminders to stay present” . Unlike her, my first reaction was to swear at the offending firearms person, granted, under my breath. But as the hour drew on, I too accepted the state of the lake, complete with echoes of the gunshots heard on the water’s edge.

MSI Founder R. Richards on Mindfulness in the Mountains Program, Grafton Pond, NH
Image: Tara Moon

What has been most powerful though, has been the extension of this lesson learned, the transference of the experience, and how it has stuck with me in “my life away from the wilderness”, back in civilization. The gunshots are, to me,  like any disturbance that comes into my life, whether it’s an unkind comment that comes my way, or a bank that has overcharged me.  What I do between these disturbances is my business,  my responsibility. It is up to me to keep the calm, to remain in balance.

I also presented a metaphor of the lake and its waves during our kayaking program to illustrate, (from Eckhart Tolle’s example) that our lives are like not just the waves on the surface of the lake, but the whole lake. The waves might sometimes be windy and rough, but that is only part of the lake. Going down deep, where the water is undisturbed, or moved ever so slightly, is similar to staying focused on the goal of presence.
I love facilitating groups in the mountains and wilderness. I learn as much, or more than the students, and this case proved that again.

Contact us if you’d like to know more about the Mindfulness in the Mountains program, as well as our other programs in Peru, upcoming programs in France and New Zealand.

Mindfulness in the Mountains – First Adventure/Meditation Program a Success

20/10/2012

First Adventure/Meditation Program Deemed Success by Participants and Facilitators
This is the first in a series of posts called Mindfulness in the Mountains

Lama Willa Miller, of Wonderwell Refuge climbs at Rumney

Kayak, Hike, Rock Climb with Presence

Mindfulness in the Mountains, a 3-day adventure and meditation program, co-sponsored by Mountain Spirit Institute and the Natural Dharma Fellowship’s Wonderwell Refuge of Springfield NH, just wrapped up a weekend of rock climbing, kayaking and hiking on Sunday, Oct 14th.

Says Mountain Spirit Institute founder, Randall Richards, “A pair of instructors led each activity, one focused on outdoor skills, the other focused on teaching various meditation techniques. Both instructors, however,  were encouraged to offer their knowledge and background in both aspects of the program.  Consequently, there was quite a bit crossover between the co-leaders. Each instructor team shared exercises in both meditation and outdoor skills.

Eleven participants, both beginners and experienced hikers and kayakers came from as far away as Florida and New York to hike, rock climb and kayak in both the Dartmouth/Lake Sunapee region and Rumney, NH.

Richards said of the program, “I’ve been guiding and leading mountain programs for over 28 years, and this was, by far, one of the most fulfilling and meaningful experiences I’ve had.” He added, “To hike, climb or kayak, and focus, as a group, on the quiet of the place through which we traveled, was meaningful for both instructors and participants.”

Ilene Venizelos & Randy Richards walk the granite slabs above Lake Solitude, Mt. Sunapee, NH

Wonderwell Refuge’s spiritual leader, Lama Willa Miller and Richards, and former MSI director Ken Wylie came up with the program idea shortly after the Refuge’s open house which introduced the community to the center early last spring.  Miller states that “Buddhism actually has a strong wilderness tradition,”  adding,  “Monks, spiritual teachers and meditation practitioners have always gone to the mountaintops and into nature to get a sense of the sacred.” Lama Miller gave a video interview last spring on this blog where one can learn more about the philosophy of the program.

The participants signed up in advance for an activity but were also allowed to switch to a different sport on the second day of the weekend program, which allowed them a different focus. Rock climbing, for example, tended to bring up fear and trust. Hikers focused on meditation in motion and awareness of surroundings, while the kayakers focused on the metaphor of sky and water in meditative contemplation.

Once back at the refuge’s large meditation room in Springfield, the participants from each group came together and sat on big orange meditation cushions arranged in a circle on the large wooden floor. The old fireplace blazed, warming the room. They started with a short guided meditation, then both participants and instructors talked about their experiences of what happened for them during the day – the high and low points, and what heartfelt experiences if any, that they may have had.

Lama Miller rock climbed both days. She said of her experience, “In Buddhism, we have a meditation practice designed to help with facing one’s fear. Being forty feet up on the rock put’s it right in your face.  It’s quite visceral.

Said participant, Ilene Venizelos of Enfield, NH, “I feel this experience has helped me reconnect more with  myself, to the other participants, and to especially to nature.” Responded Richards, “Well, that’s good to hear!” adding, “What you’ve just said were some of our stated goals and outcomes for the program.”

You can learn more about Wonderwell at www.wonderwellrefuge.org and Mountain Spirit Institute at www.mtnspirit.org . Both are non-profit organizations which plan on offering more outdoor/meditation collaborative programs.

Stay tuned for more posts in this series: Mindfulness in the Mountains