Shaking It All Up

Shaking it all up. What does that mean to you? Why would you do it?

Are these even good questions?

There’s a few reasons why I am shaking it up, and I’ll be reflecting on some of these, I hope both insightfully and humourously, in these upcoming blogs.

And the first reason I’m shaking it up, is because I’m fed up with living with - my privilege.

Privilege. Well. I sit in a home I own, I watch Netflix, I have a fridge full of food and a little more than I need. Privilege allows me to live in middle-class SW London, where people paint their houses shades of grey because, well, we just lack the imagination these days don’t we?

It also means I have voting rights, am given human rights gratis without a struggle, can buy anything on credit, live in a Democracy and have freedom to choose and do almost anything. My maleness and whiteness allows me elevation in many circumstances, and my education has given me the freedom to work anywhere in the world if I want.

If I’m not careful this can blinker me to a great deal. So for me, I want to shake that all up, in a gentle, privileged sort of way.

So what is shaking it all up for you?

For me, it’s practicing surrendering to not knowing.

Surrender feels good right now. As in a grief, we surrender when we’re ready, when we can’t go on doing how we’re living in the same old way any more. That’s where I’m at. There’s something I can’t keep doing anymore.

This morning I went into a small Peruvian shop in Cuzco where I’m staying, and the old guy spoke a little to me in Quechua, an ancient language spoken by the Aztecs.  I took some water and gave him a note from the ATM. He looked at it. He probably wouldn’t have made enough in a week to give me change for the fifty Sol.

We laughed. His history shone through his eyes. And for a lingering moment we met each other’s gaze. Then we talked a little in a joyful pigeon Spanish/Italian/English.

“A teacher” he replied.

“Si”

I could have given him the note - couldn’t I…?

I left, thirsty, happy. I’d learned a thing.

Shaking it all up. Everything rubbing up against itself, things re-arrange; shaking ourselves, our lives and bodies, makes a temporary chaos of a present reality. It’s a necessary chaos that I remember is a law of the Universe. There is no form without chaos. Anyone practicing artistry will tell you about that. Dionysus must come knocking in your life…

I’m writing from Cuzco, Peru, where I’m on a 6 week volunteering placement. I’m privileged to volunteer in this second world country and I will get to shine my light here a little, contributing to an English teaching program for local Peruvian teachers. There’s still much rural poverty in Peru, and high rates of illiteracy, especially for women.

I’ll be blogging about all sorts of things over the coming months and I’d love to be in touch with you about that.

Apparently a speciality is eating guinea pigs.