You see, even having a vocabulary stops the experiences. It is as if we know too much all the time, so we can’t really experience what’s happening. Because of our knowledge, immediate connections are made and everything is boxed into a known realm pretty quickly.
This invites us to think about the fact that everything we refer to in everyday speech is an agreement of meaning and form between people. My friends Michael and Petra, who are shamans, were talking to me about this: that the moment we give a name to something it becomes a supposed known thing, and it loses its magic. But the name is not the thing.
The woman in my session then looked at the grass and the daisies, and she said she felt the same curiosity; it was like looking at them for the first time, with inquiry, rather than with ‘knowledge.’ She was just exploring, as if there was a whole world there in that grass (why do you think a kid can spend an hour looking at an ant?).
So in a culture where we want to know it all, the real fun is perhaps in knowing less.
In that way, we could see the world immediately next to us (a chair, a paving stone, smoke) and notice that it is very beautiful indeed.
Gaia’s Magic Weeks, held in Italy, are part of the F**k It Retreats program. Find out more at www.thefuckitlife.com
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
John C. Parkin is the UK’s bestselling wisdom teacher. F**k It: The Ultimate Spiritual Way has sold more than 250,000 copies around the world and is available in 22 languages.
The son of Anglican preachers, John realized that saying F**k It was as good as all the Eastern spiritual practices he’d been studying for 20 years.
Having said F**k It to a top job in London, he escaped to Italy with his wife, Gaia, and their twin boys, where they now teach their famous F**k It Retreats in various spectacular locations (such as the volcano of Stromboli).
John has been featured on The Graham Norton Show and on the radio, and in magazines and newspapers around the world, including The Times, The Guardian, The Observer, Psychologies, and Cosmopolitan.
He spends his days spreading the F**k It message, with words (that often make people laugh) and music (that often makes people dance and whoop), then saying F**k It and lying by the pool or napping.
www.thefuckitlife.com
YOU’VE READ THE BOOK – NOW GO ON A F**K IT RETREAT IN ITALY
This is where it all started: John and Gaia ran their first F**k It Retreat in 2005.
They’re now running these famous retreats in spectacular locations around Italy, including an estate and spa in Urbino, and on the volcano of Stromboli.
Say F**k It and treat yourself to a F**k It Retreat.
‘Anything that helps you let go is okay on a F**k It Retreat.’ THE OBSERVER
‘I witnessed some remarkable transformations during my F**k It Retreat.’ KINDRED SPIRIT
F**K IT THERAPY IS NOW ALSO AVAILABLE AS AN ONLINE COURSE, so you can explore the teaching in this book in depth with John & Gaia from anywhere. www.thefuckitlife.com.
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