Day 38 - Lovely Day for a Tea Party

Today I taught a yoga class where the theme was 'occupy your body'.  By being present and connected to source, we can know and express our personal truth, whether that be protesting or not.  It was well-received :-)

On the way home from this class, I walked past the VAG.  The weather was beautiful and so was the entertainment, despite Mao's claim that revolution is not a tea party.  Guess what?  The Christmas Starbucks cups are out!  It wasn't so much a tea party, I guess, as much as a university campus clubs day.  There was hackey sack, a drum circle, random people with clever and poignant signs trying to get others to care about their cause.  No one seemed particularly interested in being there.  Many people with signs almost looked kind of sheepish, like it was some kind of joke.  At the Skytrain platform, around 3 pm, people waited for the train, signs and flags neatly folded, ready to head home (maybe in time for hockey). 

I realise my last post was probably a little cynical and harsh.  I really wanted to go and prove to myself that these people believed in something and that this was their truth.  Sadly, I didn't see that.  I don't think the general public wants change.

"For everything you want in life, there is a price you must pay, in full and in advance. Decide what you really want and then determine the price you'll have to pay to achieve it...Whatever you want you'll have to pay a price measured in terms of: sacrifice, time, effort and personal discipline. Decide what it is and start paying that price today." 

-- Brian Tracy

There is a price to pay for the kind of change some people want and I don't think it will come from simply occupying the VAG lawn (unless Starbucks/Tim Hortons/McDs/Walmart has to shut down because they can't find anyone to run their stores, as they are all protesting).  I truly believe that the price is abstaining from corporate products - from gas, iPhones etc.  It is very simple and something that has been said countless times.  I know it isn't easy -- the past month has been tough, and it's only food (which I love).

Instead of 'Buy Nothing Day', it needs to be 'Buy Nothing Month'.  If everyone who 'occupied Vancouver' or any other city today could support one another in doing this, I think the 99% would have a stronger voice.  The problem is that we can't bear to sacrifice comfort and convenience.  The truth, it seems, is as bitter as finding out that horse chestnuts are inedible.