the blues experiment part III: campfire night



Wednesday night at the Experiment is campfire night. And I have Isabelle to thank for being there at all. At this point I was in a severe mid-week slump and I just wanted to sleep. I was feeling sad and grumpy and tired and cranky and just leave me alone, will you?! So I decided early on to ditch the campfire thing (which happens after social dancing ends, in the middle of the night) and just go to sleep.

But when Isabelle came into our room to put warmer clothes on, I woke up, and she asked if I didn't want to come along after all? Oh allright. Fine then.


And it was really lovely.





My first ever s'mores!







All in all, it was a really cosy, really lovely time. And at around four in the morning or so, we went into the hot tub, and I almost fell asleep in there, floating and looking up at the starry sky. I wish I could have photographed that feeling for you.

When my roommates went to bed, I hid in an armchair in a corner on the third floor, talking to Liam for two hours or so. The wifi was so incredibly shitty for most of the week that you had to be basically the only one using it to be able to make a phone call, and I couldn't resist this opportunity - no one else on the wifi and it being a good time for Liam to talk? I watched the sunrise from the window while we were talking.


And when we'd hung up, I was feeling quite tender, so I took a short morning walk on the beach, all alone at seven in the morning, before going to bed.



Nothing reconnects me to myself like this kind of beauty.

Chris Thomas King | Red Mud

the blues experiment part II



Tuesday morning at the Blues Experiment!




The mornings were my favourite time in the day; breakfast were at 10, so there was a lot of time (for me) to sit in an armchair in the lounge and relax before that.


PONIES!!!
(I know they're not ponies, but that was what people screamed when they could be seen from the house. Yes, there were actual wild horses on the beach.)





And then we had sessions and all that and before I knew it it was evening.






And that lazy hour after dinner before social dancing, where people would just hang around and play board games and things like that.


Wednesday afternoon and time for games! Water balloons and giant slingshots!



I didn't take photos because there was water splashing everywhere, but I got these of Virginia. <3





This was so much fun!!! It was only my second time trying VR, but I loved it. I've been flying and exploring and all kinds of fun things. Love it. Vicci doesn't seem unhappy either. :)

And then, later in the evening, it was time for campfire night. And that will have to get its own post later. :)

Nina Simone | Be My Husband

the blues experiment part I



I went to a thing!

I went to a thing called the Blues Experiment.

Short version: A week in a house on a beach in North Carolina, with 30 participants, and some of the best blues dancers in the world as our mentors. Sessions in the daytime, social dancing at night, and in between: loads and loads of hugs and hot tubbing and beach and board games and food and talking and tears and horrible wifi.

Long version will show up in segments here in the blog over the next week or so. :)



No roads on the Outer Banks! So to get to the house, you need to go in a 4x4.




Which was an experience in itself. :)


And then we arrived, and Sunday evening was a whirlwind of newness and trying to figure out what was what and who's who and how to do living in this bizarre alternate universe that is the Blues Experiment.


Shani made welcome cocktails!


And we danced. (But I was still jetlagged at this point and also tired from travelling, so it was a very early night for me.)


The day after sessions started. And I was still so occupied with all the newness of this place (being there does take some adjusting if you're the kind of person who will take EVERYTHING in and then process everything at length, like me), that the only photos I took all day were these, from a walk on the beach with my crew, Virginia, Isabelle and Emily.










This beach became a source of comfort and security for me throughout the week.


But not half as much as these women did.

Vancouver Sleep Clinic | Someone To Stay