From NOHO to NOLA, my Going Away Party

I'm getting toasted

It has been a surreal time for me. An asteroid slammed the firmament of my psyche, knocking me out of my orbit, into some parallel universe. I have always been drawn toward celestial bodies, galaxies, the distant light of stars. I am at my core just a mystery unto myself, unexplainable by modern physics or ancient psychics. I have gotten to know myself better over the years but I have no good explanation as to why I am now sitting in a cafe in New Orleans blogging instead of amongst my dearest friends and community in Northampton, MA. My heart got broken for no apparent reason, and there has been no apparent reason for anything since then. What is just is. Yet there is this feeling there is something more…

the two Megans. Need I say more?

All that is clear to me is that after the asteroid hit and my dinosaurs died off there was a new life on my surface. Perhaps born from some sort of mushroom that stowed itself away in the craters of that mythical rock. Perhaps evolutionary. It took me a while to get my bearings and when I did there were these two words like drumbeats from alternating palms. New. Orleans. New. Orleans. I was in mourning but I knew there was something deeper going on. A new vision of the future forming in my third eye, inaccessible to the other two.

I found myself burning photographs and love letters. Purging my life of all the things I lugged around for years and decades. Selling stuff on Ebay, then on Craigslist, and finally just giving it away on Freecycle. It felt amazingly right. Quitting my jobs, giving up my office and apartment. I put all of my remaining belongings into a 5′x10′ storage space. I found it disheartening that I could still fill that. So much crap one can accumulate in a lifetime!

It is hard to leave such amazing people behind...

I found a sobriety too, cleansed myself of lingering bad habits. Delved further into yoga, started reading mystical literature again. Clouds cleared from my atmosphere, encouraging growth. My oceans became deeper, my valleys more fertile, and my peaks more radiant. From this new clarity I began to understand why this path has chosen me. I have long felt some deeper purpose for my life. Each decade I have grown towards it, and the fourth one seems to be the most profound. I am here in New Orleans to build a base for the Evolvegan project, a home in the south, the most inhospitable of places for veganism and sustainability. What better place to bring the evolutionary imperative of compassion? A city needing to be rebuilt the same as my heart. Here I will work on them together.

On the eve of my departure over forty of my dearest friends came out to share a final meal with me. It was so moving, so sweet. I am so grateful for such a community, and I promise I will not leave you behind. These times are moving more quickly, there is rapid change ahead of us. The Earth is calling forth the spiritual warriors and we must heed the call, who have ears and hearts. I cannot pretend to be someone less than who I am. I am here to fight for the survival of all the misguided monkey race, and all the species we think even less of. I have a vision coming through me, of unity. A song I must sing before my voice dries up and my bones turn to dust. I follow my muse and pray she is not just another siren singing me to shipwreck. But even if she is, tonight I am blazing bright as I shoot across the sky and into the unknown future. One thousand miles away from everyone I love, still connected through our hearts.

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I made a music mix in the wee hours of the night on the train that brought me here (a train they call The City of New Orleans). I made it to share with my friends, feel free to download. I added little voice intros to the songs with my new podcasting mic, to make it more special. It is in enhanced podcast format, with photos embedded and so you can skip from track to track on ipods or itunes…

Train To New Orleans Mix (AAC format – 55MB)

And here is a slideshow of my going away party… after clicking the play button click on the little “four arrows” icon to get fullscreen mode. You can also visit the photoset on flickr. As always, please leave some comments below to help my google ratings!