[Rough Draft]

Eventually I will add a detailed description of the symbolic meaning and its historical development. For now, below is a quick description followed by a video that explains some features of the symbolic Nastypose, which is one of the pillars of Somdeland. I will also make a gallery of nastyposes (because I have done one in every country that I have visited). 

[Caption] 13 years ago, I dwelled in self hatred, with broken grades and impotent ideas that brewed within a fracturing family and a dissolving identity, underneath the drooling fangs of my insatiable procrastination and perpetual fatigue. It was from within that damp desperation and muffled frustration that I gave birth to the nastypose in front of a dumpster at BU (left). My distended stomach represented my stagnant dreams (potential energy) and my extended hands represented actions that could have unleashed my dreams but for some reason remained dormant (kinetic energy)...and with half opened eyes, I wondered, “Why am I so nasty”. Slowly, through the years, as my roots of thoughts grew deeper and the rains of redemption washed away the stench of my mental cesspool, I gained some minor direction over my destiny, and the nastpose transformed from an expression of self-hatred into a reminder of my core values that I would often momentarily lose in the ambient noise of routine life. On July 5th, I passed the defense of my dissertation and as I entered into my nastypose by a nearby science dumpster (right), I felt an umbilical connection to the birth of the nastypose at the beginning of my academic journey. The time for rebirth had finally come.

In this video I give an overview of the birth, meaning and evolution of the Nastypose:

Examples

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(Grand Canyon, part 1) Listen; there was once a time when Humanity could hear the heartbeat of Mother Earth and see, with the most profound reverence, an ineffable divinity within the mountains and rivers and canyons. It was a time when we were umbilically connected to the larger flow of life and death, where we would incubate our destinies and synchronize to the rhythm of the universe and experience a spiritual transformation beyond anything that a drug could provide.

But time has changed the collective human spirit. Crowds of people visit the Grand Canyon and there is only the pollution of Language that violently ruptures every sacred moment. The same Language that connected us together and allowed us to conquer the world, also severed our connection with Nature and left us prey to meaningless loops of thoughts.

But I know, within all of us, is a lost primal creature that desperately wishes to momentarily forget Language and feel like how we used to...free within the moment and immersed in the song of the sun and rain and wind.

(Vacation, part 1)  After the conference, I spent 5 days slowly and meditatively wandering and exploring the Rincón de la Vieja National Park in Costa Rica where, underneath the romance of perpetual winds, solitude swallowed me and reawakened parts of my soul that were otherwise suffocated by my normal life.

Alone I walked, slow as honey, drinking the ambrosia of every plant, creature, rock and piece of Earth.  A year ago, I went on a similar spiritual journey of solitude where I spent 10 days in the Olympic National Park.  On that trip, after many days, I began to feel a frightening presence, which I later learned is called Sakshi (the Observer or the Witness) in the meditation literature.  This “Observer” is just a reflection of myself, however, at the time, it felt angry because my internal dialog (Zzymbrr) conquered so much of my mental bandwidth.  In my journey to Rincón de la Vieja National Park, I reawakened the Observer and this time his presence was more peaceful.  Thematically, this trip became about making a stronger bond between the Observer and my internal dialog (Zzymbrr).  In a few months, I will post about this journey and also the fascinating biodiverse plants and creatures I saw. I learned about this national park all thanks to Eric Olson.

In this picture I am in my sacred and symbolic nastypose partially submerged in a hot body of water rich with the smell of deep beautiful sulfur emanating from the depths of a slightly awake volcano in the national park. 

(Vacation, part 3) Before I share the many pictures of monkeys, birds, insects, plants and landscapes, and before I tell about their meandering interconnected breathtaking stories, I will spend a few months with relentless drive digesting, thinking and crafting a narrative around the following topics:

1. A year ago, I visited my grandmother for a month as she came close to death.  While I was there, I held a beard harvesting ceremony in her honor.  I will describe that and how I conveyed my feelings and emotions through the ceremony. 

2. I will share some deep meditative vibes that I absorbed from my grandmother as I sat next to her and watched her for a month.

After my grandmother passed, I held a rebirth ceremony and I will provide the details on that ceremony.

3. Finally, during the rebirth ceremony, my grandmother’s soul was reborn in the form of actions that I would take in her memory.  Many people at the ceremony wrote down intentions to make a positive impact.  I will compile those and make plans where I implement those ideas.  

I feel a deep gratitude for all of you who read my posts (and the many that will be coming in the next few months), because these are all topics close to my heart. 

In this picture I am in my sacred and symbolic nastypose.  Behind me is the volcano named Concepción on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua.  I climbed to the top 🙂  Photocredit: Eric Olson