I really want to go to a rainbow gathering.. but..

I've been meaning to go to one for a long time now. I first learned about the whole rainbow lifestyle years ago, and absolutely fell in love with the idea of it all.
when i first moved out to california (this past june) it was right around the same time as nationals. i wanted to go, but i had to choose between the gathering and dead tour.. well i chose dead tour.. i shoulda hit up the gathering too i guess. but when i got back i kept hearing about things getting stolen at nat'ls and some bad stuff goin down.. kinda discouraged me..

i still really want to go to a gathering.. i have met a lot of family, i go to many shows, i enjoy and respect the lifestyle
but i find it hard to learn about these events, where to go, how to contact people, etc. i feel like a gethering is something i NEED to experience..

but i am also worried that if i go, ill want to stay forever! i suppose that is one thing keeping me "away". for a loooong time now (YEARS) i have seriously debated just leaving at all and going on the road for some time (haven't we all?) ..shows, gatherings, connecting.. is what i am all about

i feel like its so hard for me to break away.. on one hand i want to roam free, on the other i want to go to school and succeed in getting a degree (which is what i am doing now)

so now i am thinking, can you have it BOTH ways? i need help.. whenever i read your posts i feel like i want to be part of this family! i want to have rainbow friends.. lovin each other and having good times with REAL people..


wow sorry this turned into a rant.. whew.. anyone else know what i am talking about? just wanted to say i respect rainbow and want to be a part, wherever that leads me.. thoughts and feedback appreciated

love you all,
sarah

 

I know exactly what you mean.

Me and a bunch of kids I know are thinking of going, I really fucking want to, my only fear is the same as yours really. Made all the worse by the fact that I've come to the conclusion that getting away from the life I know, in as many ways as possible, will probably be the best thing for me.

Wanna run away together and join the rainbow family?

 

There are rainbow from all walks of life..I spent a year in 94/95 between the woods with family and on tour. That taught me a lot of life lessons I truly needed. My world now is different...I have a nice lil comunications contracting gig going out here that gives me freedom to travel a lil and give my wife and daughter the things they need.
everyday is different go to the gathering and live ..enjoy it and if fate keeps you there don't 2nd guess yourself what is ment to be comes about in the long run.



oh yeah...We just got back from the ocala gathering where we had our 2nd wedding. I met people I will never forget and every year meet people who change my life . GO damnit and dont look back......

 

The school/nomad decision is a tough one. I think that those of us who have educations could actually be a great commodity to the "free" counterpart. I'm not sure of what your academic aspirations are, but I know that we all live in the same world and that world forces interaction with the other parts of the world. For example; a doctor/nurse, lawyer, botanist, vetrinarian,......could all be very valuable in the nomadic setting. I would like to see a little more networking between folks, I will say. If a real unity was developed, we all could prosper spiritually and have extra to help the rest of the world. Imagine a real "railroad" of kind folks. I hear alot of complaining about capitalism, but we all use the same currency. There is a way that we all could live free and serve the rest of the world. I know this isn't very specific, but I'm willing to share the details if anyone is interested.

 

I am really interested in the rainbow family and hope to experience a gathering soon. I am only 17 and I planned on this summer being the ideal opportunity to follow through with this. However, recent events have greatly changed this plan. I was recently "arrested" (received a summons) and suspended from school because of this. Another shitty thing is it would be hard to sell this idea to any of my friends who are, for the most part, your stereotypical upper-middle class kid (w/ a substantial dose and acceptance of a whole different culture and music thanks to me). So, due to these misfortunes I am laying low for a while and trying to stay out of trouble. It is hard and tempting to risk it and continue to behave this way. For starters, I am missing STS9 this friday and saturday on my own accord.


^^^sorry for the weird ramble. don't really know where i was going with this but just wanted to put my thoughts down


anyway, i WILL be attending gatherings (hopefully soon) when I get through court and what not. be good family and i hope to meet some of you kind friends soon
(peace, acceptance, unity)


walking in place
Dawson

 

Sarah,
I can say that gatherings provide some of the most beautiful moments I have ever had in my life(kids first ). Never in your life will you feel so free and at peace in your mind, heart and soul. If you are feeling the tug, don't ignore it, let it pull you. There is no reason to ever regret it. Life will go on with whatever you choose. Our creator has a plan for all of us and no matter what road you travel down first if it does not fit you will be shown the way back. I try to live thinking that my soul will not steer me wrong, it will only take the path my life is meant to. I follow the feelings inside myself. Granted there are always going to be a couple bad seeds here and there that may cause something to go missing or a fight to break out but that is going to happen anywhere and in the end karma will take care of that. For the most part good family is always around and outweighs the bad. You said something about not knowing where to begin.. you've already taken it. We're always here to help you! Secondly, check out the www.welcomehere.org website calendar. Thirdly you asked about how to contact people...I'm always willing to meet up with good people at a gathering... All you have to do is ask around and eventually you will find someone, and make a lot of new friends in the process. You can have it both ways. There is no rule on how you have to live. If you feel like you need this degree than go for it! You have the heart and thats all that matters with us, the rest is up to you to decide. Listen to what you are saying in your mind. Feel what your feeling within and you will know where to go.
Loving you,
Eryn

 

hayhay glad to to here theres kids interested in goin to gatherings. oh yeah just so you know theres gatherings all thru out the year, but nationals is bigger than all the regonals. good to here you saw the dead this summer too, warren hames was real good from what i heard. any way you should DEFINATELY hit up some gatherings. degrees can wait, cuz you can only travel and live that life style for so long unless you just wanna do it forever. if your afraid of stayin in the woods forever, thers nothing bad about that at all. i was at nationals this year and i would be happy to still be there now. ill take you on the road and show you around to some gatherings if ya want =) good luck finding your rainbow sister,
much love and respect,
son

 

theese are some great words. lovin you sister

 

hey earthy mama nice lookin youngsters too..... hay what part of the country you travelin thru now? ive done quite a bit of living on the road my self, so just tought id ask.

 

now we are stuck in pa, have some stuff to take care of before we head back out(came to visit for x-mas and ran into problems...everything happens for a reason!). it just provided a good opportunity for me to get a bunch of stuff taken care of. I really want to go west coast next but if we have the chance anytime soon that might not be at least till April maybe late spring. Where are you? And Thank you for the comment on my babies.

 

I've never been to a rainbow gathering and I plan to attend a few on my life. But I have successfully held a job running a business and living on the road. I also know two people that travel all the time and are currently getting a few degrees online. It's possible.

 

man. i just cant wait till nationals this year. ive never been to rainbow but from what ive read its gonna be totaly sweet.

 

im back in my home town in so cal, ojai. this place is the best. if your heading out to the west coast, check ojai out. lotsa great phamily out here, and we got lots of woods. great hot springs too. man i love this place. lovin you

 

I was at the STS9 show at the 9:30 Club on friday. That was quite a hopping-good show. lots of kind phamily types there, or at least a lot of beautifully knotted hair. Anyways, i feel your pain as far as the court melodrama goes. i hope since you're under 18 you'll be let off easily. i was on the road attending shows, festivals, and especially Rainbow gatherings for a large portion of 2004 and was having a fine time with few worries. But then I got arrested, jailed, bailed, trailed, trialed and put on a strict probation requiring biweekly urine checks to double check that my LSDays are in the past. I am also required to maintain regular employment and residency, attend NA meetings, do community service, and suffer headaches and hairloss. At least Nationals (not the baseball team) won't be too far away from my place so i should be able to get "Home" to the gathering at least once this year.
I am still staying positive and i won't be broken. loving you phamily!

tOM sawyer

 

*gasp* you didn't happen to go to the alabama and illinois gatherings this fall did you?

 

Yeah I am 17 and my lawyer is a good guy. He has handled these types of cases before, all successfully. I am not scared about what will happen I just am tired of watching my back and keeping myself out of situations that could be bad news. I missed the STS9 shows and I am pretty bummed about it. I will still be attending quite a few festies this summer (not bone-a-newb though) and what not. I just can't get into any trouble, which is pretty hard. I can control myself and what I do, but I can't be on top of everything and I can't control my friends actions. Shit, I can't even be drunk in a car with a sober driver anymore. Just in case we did get pulled...


I feel for you brother and I wish the best for your situation. Keep trucking. Peace and love


Walking in place,
Dawson

 

Worst part is, this shit has affected every aspect of my life. This shit happened out of school (pulled two blocks from a school and they found out we were at a concert at that school earlier) and we recieved a summons, I was suspended, I now cannot be exempt from any exams, I had to get drug tested, I had to be evaluated at a mental health place, I was recommended for a 6 week class/rehab type deal, still have court, i hurt my family, i dont know man it just sucks


however, i feel even worse about my boys situation. he was driving and got more charges than us and he was 100% sober

 

yup!! you are quite right sister mama, i remember some fine times in rainbowland with you and the rest of the RV crew. i sort of rushed out of the alabama gathering really fast without much goodbye, but that rain was icky. me and my dog smegol (his siblings i believe you know) made it back here to my folks house but smegol didn't really fit in with our other dogs so i had to give him away. my house isn't too suburban or babylonian... there are enough trees that i can't really see any of the neighbors houses. and now our well has dried up so we have to drive in water in jugs and use a composting toilet.

tOMsawyer

 

how have you been? We had to get rid of Ganja Bear... I've been really sad about it. I miss her sooooo much! I'm getting sad just thinking about her now. We couldn't keep her... Simon, (Zenny's dog, remeber?) unforetunetly died in Ocala. I miss him alot too. So Smegol's gone now too, huh? Must be a litter curse? lol Where in Maryland are you? Maybe we can hike and campout some weekend all of us(since we're all stuck). We're pretty close to Maryland, about an hour I'd say. I had so much bad luck in Alabama, you know that flood? I got sick and had to save my camp out of deep waters and salvage what I could. I'm glad you got out safe before most of the bad stuff happened. After the Alabama gathering we had some crazy experiances! We'll have to chat sometime...just message me!

 

Well...Maybe. I guess it depends on your field of study, and what your school and your instructors will let you get away with. I was at an East Texas regional back in '93 (when your laptop meant the cat's favorite place to sit) where this sister would work on her Senior Exit Project for her BFA, and commute from the woods back and forth to school. I suppose it was a theatre degree, as I seem to recall her working on costume designs. She graduated. Michel Niman did his doctoral dissertation on us, and even got it published as People of the Rainbow: A Nomadic Utopia. I guess there's nothing like getting paid to go to school at Gatherings, and have the royalties keep coming in after you graduate. You could probably work a paper on a gathering into an anthropology, sociology, or psychology class, or maybe folklore, or music...even engineering. A mechanichal engineer used to come to ETex gatherings to look at what the hippies were doing with sticks, string, rocks, and tarps, so he could get ideas. And he'd build neat stuff for us, too.