Regrets, or no regrets
Published: Wed, 09/02/15
Last week I was at my last camp of the season. The event is called Superspirit and it takes place on the same site (and is run by the same people who host Druid Camp.) It was good fun, the weather was pretty good considering and I had the chance to teach my self-defence seminar based on Peacock Kung Fu which seems to go down pretty well. Some good things came my way too including a pretty intense sweat lodge with Mark Graham, an amazing Sound Bathing session with Sue Paramor and Spike Jones and even a Yoga session although I am afraid I can’t remember the teacher’s name (she was very good though).
The bonus event came on Saturday evening after the sound bath when some friends were still on duty in the gate tent. So Mark and I joined them until the gate was closed up around midnight. Mark thoughtfully bringing Gin and Tonic. Parked by the gate was a quad bike which belongs to the farmer who rents the field to the camp organisers. The farmer has developed a taste for the camp scene and sometimes spends an evening in the cafe tent joining in the fun. When it was time to go home the farmer came to collect his quad bike and I found myself in conversation with him about the machine.
Did I fancy taking it for a ride? He suggested. I pointed out that I had never ridden one before (motorcycles yes, for years, never a quad bike), I had had a few drinks and it was midnight and pitch dark. My objections were brushed aside and the key pressed into my hand. Well, I knew the field quite well, there were cars parked to the left, the canvas covered bender for the sweat lodge in the bottom right corner and apart from that the field was empty as far as I could remember. Yes, there was a headlight on the bike but I think there was a tame glow worm behind the glass rather than an actual light bulb.
Anyway, I fired up the bike and took it down the hill for 50 or 60 yards, turned it round and brought it back again. Fun, but not too ambitious. Then the owner of the bike insisted I take it for a proper ride so I went around most of the perimeter of the field and at the bottom of the hill I found the track to the gate. I could see the entrance silhouetted against the sky so I opened up the throttle and came up the hill at what felt like quite a speed. Yes, I can see the appeal of a quad bike and next time I would like to ride one where I can actually see what I am doing, riding in darkness, just hoping you can remember what is and isn't there is a slightly surreal experience. When I discussed the experience with one of the ladies who had been watching she just said that I made it look easy.
A crazy thing to do I suppose and if I was now in a hospital bed recovering from falling off the quad bike I guess I would be regretting my foolishness. On the other hand I didn’t go that fast and I turned the corners pretty carefully (I kept thinking about Ozzy Osbourne, google it if you don’t know the connection!) and I can ride a motorbike. I would have regretted it more if I hadn’t taken the opportunity when it was presented to me.
I generally subscribe to the idea that it is better to regret what you did do rather than the opportunities you missed. I was only invited to Superspirit at very short notice, it wasn’t that easy to clear the decks to get there. It would have been much easier to have just not gone, but I would have missed out on a lot of great experiences and meeting some lovely people if I had not gone.
Two Stav training opportunities coming up in the next two weeks. Crewkerne on the 5th and Salisbury on the 12th check out http://iceandfire.org/calendar.html for links. Of course it is a risk to come to a Stav training seminar, it might be a waste of time, effort and money, you might not learn anything you don’t already know, then again can you be sure?
regards
Graham