2010.01.31 07:00 - Malta review: Wol

Being the first of ten personal reports or reviews on the Malta retreat.

 

 

Yakuzza Lethecus: hey everyone

Wol Euler: hello pema, yaku, calvino

Pema Pera: Hi Wol, Yaku, Calvino!

Pema Pera: and hi Qt!

Calvino Rabeni: Hi everyone

Yakuzza Lethecus: hi qt

Qt Core: hi all

Wol Euler: hello qt

Yakuzza Lethecus: hi widget

Widget Whiteberry: good day, all

Pema Pera: Morning, Widget!

Pema Pera: Morning, Eliza!

Qt Core: hi eliza, widget

Wol Euler: hello eliza, widget

Eliza Madrigal: Hi Everyone :))

Pema Pera: Morning, Doug!

Wol Euler: hello doug

Pema Pera: Wol, you have quite an audience this morning!

Wol Euler smiles.

Pema Pera: did you have a good flight back from Malta?

Wol Euler: yes, thanks. only an hour late :)

Pema Pera: hi Fael and Arch

Wol Euler: hello arch, fael

Wol Euler: and you, Pema? Where are you now?

doug Sosa: :)

Pema Pera: back in New York

Pema Pera: where I will be for all of ten days

Pema Pera: before my next trip

Wol Euler looks around and grins, remembering faces and voices

Fael Illyar: Hi Everyone :)

Pema Pera: :)

Archmage Atlantis: The cristals are open to all of the multi-verse

Pema Pera: Yaku, did you have any delay flying back?

Pema Pera: and yes, Wol, it does and does not make a difference, having met the person behind the avatar, in an odd way -- it is more a sense of enrichment

Wol Euler nods.

Pema Pera: but you can also go back to the sense of meeting the avatar before meeting the RL typist

Pema Pera: an interesting way of double viewing, double experiencing, a kind of degree of freedom

Wol Euler: mmhmm

Wol Euler: it enriches one's knowledge of the person, but doesn't really change it (I found, others may disagree)

Wol Euler: because we were all very much the people that we present here

Pema Pera: like I've met five of the nine of you so far, but still here it feels mostly like meeting nine avatars

Pema Pera: Morning Adams!

Wol Euler smiles. Hello Adams

Archmage Atlantis: Open your soul Pema, we are all here

Eliza Madrigal: :)

Widget Whiteberry: for the people I know in rl and sl, their SL gives me added insight into them

Pema Pera: yes, it goes both ways

Yakuzza Lethecus: no i had a great flight back, and no delay at all we had all our luggage at the time when we were supposed to arrive and since there is snow around here my brother was still at home thinking i would be late anyway to get me from the airport

Adams Rubble: Hello everyone. (waiting for rezzin)

Yakuzza Lethecus: it was great weather during the flight :)

Pema Pera: haha, so he was late!

Wol Euler: heheheh

Yakuzza Lethecus: he was still at home :)

Pema Pera: that's what one gets for thinking too much . . .

doug Sosa: There is gain and loss. the extraordinay richness of the person in the flesh, and the loss of the avatar, not as avatar but as promise as to who might be behind. A little like the guy behind the curtain in OZ.

Wol Euler: mmhmm

Wol Euler: though he is interesting in and of himself, too

Wol Euler: but there is a sense of narrowing of possibilities, yes

Wol Euler: like finally opening Schroedinger's box and looking at the cat

Pema Pera: :)

Archmage Atlantis: But the guy behind the curtain was hiding from himself, as much as he was being

doug Sosa: nice.

Pema Pera nods to Arch

Wol Euler: well, shall we begin?

Wol Euler: this is the first of a series of sessions in which we will each talk about our view of hte retreat

--BELL--

Pema Pera hopes Adams will join us in the circle, making it almost complete!

Wol Euler: there may additionally be written accounts posted to the Malta retreat wiki page

Wol Euler: I've started that, adding a page of the tweets that my alt posted each day we were away

Wol Euler: (feel free to ask questions or comment at any time, btw)

Eliza Madrigal: Thanks for those tweets, Wol ... they give a real taste of each day

Wol Euler smiles.

Wol Euler: http://playasbeing.wik.is/PaB_Retrea...a-Accounts/Wol

Archmage Atlantis: Adams, they have spoken of you fondly, please join the circle

Wol Euler: so ...

Wol Euler: I arrived a day late, thanks to two inches of snow at Frankfurt which stopped air travel for 10 hrs

Archmage Atlantis: So, a needle pulling thread

Wol Euler: the meeting and greeting of the first afternoon session happened in my absence, someone else can talk about that

Wol Euler: it started for me with Ara and Mick picking me up from the airport at midnight.

Wol Euler: and breakfast the next day. We were right from the beginning a comfortable group, I think

Wol Euler: it felt very easy being together, much like sitting here.

Eliza Madrigal: :)

Wol Euler: though I did miss the fifteen-minute bell

Pema Pera: :)

Widget Whiteberry notices that Fael's move created a symetrical pattern round the pound

Pema Pera: :-)

Fael Illyar beams happily.

Wol Euler: There was a routine: a sitting-and-dropping exercise to start with each morning, followed by discussion

Wol Euler: then usually another exercise before lunch

Wol Euler: it's odd, coming to describe it we didn't really *do* very much at all

Wol Euler: but my impression is that the days were full.

Wol Euler: I felt that I'd been away far longer than six days

Archmage Atlantis: Understand

Wol Euler: time was stretched in some odd ways during the retreat

Pema Pera: Good afternoon, Arabella!

Fael Illyar: doing without doing :)

arabella Ella: Hiya!

Wol Euler: lots of that, fael :)

Wol Euler: hello ara

Qt Core: hi ara

Wol Euler is smiling again in RL

Fael Illyar: Hi ara :)

arabella Ella smiles too

Wol Euler: Pema talked about the origins of Play as Being, his path to creating this ... system

doug Sosa: (slips away)

Wol Euler: and we asked questions and offered our own ways of seeing

Wol Euler: I wish that the discussions had been recorded, actually

Wol Euler: since many of them would have been good additions to the wiki

Wol Euler: perhaps people can add what they remember to their Retreat pages

Fael Illyar: Best try to write essays on them while they're still relatively fresh :)

Wol Euler nods.

Eliza Madrigal: yes, please do!

--BELL--

Qt Core: can't stay here anuy longer today, will read the logs

Qt Core: bye all

Wol Euler: bye qt

Fael Illyar: have fun Qt :)

arabella Ella: ciao Qt

Wol Euler: the retreat was held at a farmhouse (not really a residence, just a few rooms in a valley, surrounded by farms) about 20 minutes by car from where we stayed

Pema Pera: (now Fael could hop to the left again for symmetry :-)

Wol Euler: :)

Widget Whiteberry: Fael and Arabella both

Widget Whiteberry: or....

Fael Illyar: no need :)

Wol Euler: it was very quiet there, very little traffic, only agricultural noises of machinery and dogs

Pema Pera: yes, Arabella had found a real gem of a place for us to meet

Wol Euler: the valley was a few hundred metres across and maybe 2km long, leading westwards to the sea

Widget Whiteberry amuses herself with the changing pattern we create round the pond

Wol Euler: so quiet that we could hear conversation from the other ridge, and sounds from the open end

Wol Euler: it was very windy, but not especially cold. The shutters and doors rattled

Eliza Madrigal smiles

arabella Ella: the wind played at being too

Wol Euler: we took blankets from the hotel, and sat in a circle wrapped up like cocooned caterpillars

Widget Whiteberry: Wol this is a lovely narrative

Wol Euler: it was much like being here, actually

Archmage Atlantis: For me, it was odd not to have at least some of you folks here

Wol Euler: people very quickly found favourite positions

Wol Euler: and I noticed that when we went to Ara's house for dinner on Friday night, people took roughly the same positoin there that they had taken at the farmhouse

Wol Euler: the second day was silent, from breakfast until dinner

Wol Euler: which was quite a wonderful experience, and a challenge

Wol Euler: We all described feeling an odd pressure to speak, and how this made us much more aware of our surroundings

Wol Euler: we saw and heard much more intensely and actively than usual

Wol Euler: I forget, did we go shopping that day?

Pema Pera: we went shopping every day :)

Wol Euler: (we stopped at a grocery store in the village between hotel and farmhouse every morning, picking up freshly hand-baked cookies and other stuff)

Pema Pera: (I seem to remember)

arabella Ella: yes we bought the ingredients for the soup which Fefonz cooked

Wol Euler: aaah, right

arabella Ella: i just ate some of the coconut cookies

Wol Euler smiles.

Pema Pera: Fefonz's soup was on Thursday, I think -- oh well, days blended together in a nice way :)

Archmage Atlantis: I thought, will this place continue to exist, as all have left for a new experience

Wol Euler: the silent day was free-form, Pema gave a 5-minute introduction and then we all did whatever we wished.

arabella Ella: Thursday was the bread rolls we bought from the store with all the other bits and pieces we had accumulated

Wol Euler: many sat at first, as we always started that way, then went walking

Wol Euler: Pema and Eos disappeared and came back late after lunch, an hour or so before sunset

Wol Euler: I'll let them say more about that

Wol Euler: I sat for nearly an hour, then walked out along hte ridge behind the farmhouse

Wol Euler: down into the valley, among fruit bushes and fields

Wol Euler: it was nearly silent, which was strange: no wildlife, hardly any birds

Wol Euler: no traffic

Wol Euler: occasional noises of mechanical tilling in the fields around, they were planting spring crops

Wol Euler: and dogs.

Wol Euler: and shotguns being fired.

Adams Rubble: :)

Adams Rubble: at the dogs?

Wol Euler: god knows what they shot *at* in the absence of birds and wildlife ...

Wol Euler: anyway.

Archmage Atlantis: This will soon be guided by volenteers

--BELL--

Archmage Atlantis: Birds, they shot at birds

Widget Whiteberry: shotguns and dogs might very well explain the absence of birds and other wildlife.

Wol Euler: well, there were at least 100 spent shells on the ground for every bird I saw.

Wol Euler: anyway

Wol Euler: the weather changed in the afternoon, and we collected at the farmhouse

Wol Euler: and all of us slept at one time or another

Archmage Atlantis: You are not a hunter. Wol :)

Wol Euler: it was comfortable, though, there was contact and friendship in the silent presences

Eliza Madrigal smiles widely... lovely

Wol Euler: after that, we went to the Silent City of Mdina, across the parking lot from our hotel

Wol Euler: behind the pizzeria with the wifi :))

Eliza Madrigal: :)

Wol Euler: and had a truly marvellous meal at which a lot of pent-up talk was let out

Fael Illyar smiles.

Pema Pera: a real banquet in an amazing historic place!

Wol Euler: mmhmm

Pema Pera: Ara had outdone herself . . . .

arabella Ella: :)

Wol Euler: yes, a great success

Pema Pera: (to get the drinks you had to walk up to an old Roman wall that was part of the restaurant)

Wol Euler thinks. That was something of a peak in the retreat, the silent day seemed to me to cement the group together

Wol Euler: we were much more of an "us" after that, I felt

Archmage Atlantis: And you Pema, did you outdo yourself?

Wol Euler: (others may disagree)

Pema Pera nods (in agreement :-)

Fael Illyar: Sounds like a very nice retreat :)

Pema Pera: twas!

arabella Ella agrees with Wol too!

Wol Euler: the high points of the last two days were rather personal, compared to the more general and perhaps theoretical sessions at the first day

Wol Euler: I won't say much about them, I'll let Lia and Fefonz and Eos and Bertram describe what happened at their sessions

Wol Euler: (in both senses, heheh)

Wol Euler: we did a lot of visualization during the last two days, suggested or guided exercises

Wol Euler is smiling again.

arabella Ella: argh ... I miss you all so much :)

Wol Euler: yes, me too ara.

Widget Whiteberry smiles at ara

Eliza Madrigal can't help but smile too

Pema Pera: yes, we will all be missing you & your hospitality, Ara!

Wol Euler: it was a wonderful time.

Pema Pera: AND your special way of giggling

Wol Euler laughs.

Archmage Atlantis: Home is where the heart is

arabella Ella: hopefully there will be a next time ... even though I think i may be crazy to say so

Wol Euler: well, it was definitely home then, for a week

Pema Pera: we'll be back, Araballa!

Wol Euler: I encourage everyone to try to attend a retreat or two

Fael Illyar smiles.

arabella Ella: you are all very welcome to come back any time

arabella Ella: it was amazing how we all gelled so nicely together i think

Pema Pera: yes

Wol Euler: yes, we did.

Wol Euler: I thought that we would, actually, since I've been in RL meetings of SL friends before

Wol Euler: and the fact is that we did all know each other quite well

Pema Pera: !!

Wol Euler: just not the bodies

arabella Ella nods

Fael Illyar: matches well for my own feelings of meeting SL friends in RL too :)

Wol Euler: and they are in the end just another avatar form.

Wol Euler: makes no difference whether Gaya is an old lady or a 2d cat, it's still her.

Wol Euler: the RL body is just the same...

arabella Ella: yes

Pema Pera: :)

arabella Ella: or whether Yaku drinks tea or coffee :)

Wol Euler: right

Eliza Madrigal: :)

Pema Pera: or smokes a cigar :)

Yakuzza Lethecus: :)

Wol Euler laughs.

Widget Whiteberry blinks

Pema Pera: (outside only, and not Yaku :-)

Wol Euler smiles. So, that was my retreat.

Adams Rubble: thank you for your report Wol :)

Archmage Atlantis: Now knows to get Yaku Cuban cigars

Pema Pera: yes, very nice, Wol !

arabella Ella: that was so beautiful Wol

Eliza Madrigal: Wol, you've been incredibly articulate and have painted such a picture! Thanks so much. :))

Wol Euler: thank you

Pema Pera: hard act to follow!

Wol Euler: naaah

Pema Pera: (I will follow in five hours :-)

Fael Illyar smiles.

arabella Ella: very hard act

Pema Pera: at 1 pm SLT I will give my little report

Yakuzza Lethecus: pema was really Indefatigable

Pema Pera: hahaha

Pema Pera: there's a pun there

Pema Pera: which you won't get

Wol Euler laughs.

arabella Ella: :)

Pema Pera: I had difficulty pronouncing that word

Wol Euler: you'll have to explain

--BELL--

Pema Pera: well, off to the village hall

Eliza Madrigal: Oh, ya, you were going to let me do that :)

Widget Whiteberry: are we meeting now?

arabella Ella: yes

arabella Ella: guardian meeting at village hall now

Wol Euler: ah, yes, 8am

Eliza Madrigal: Thanks everyone! See you there :)

Fael Illyar: hmm.. Wol do you wish to post this log?

Wol Euler: yes, I've claimed it already

Wol Euler: I'll take care of that

Fael Illyar: Ok, thank you :)

Wol Euler: bye or see you later, everyone