Strange happenings occur when you are on a journey called the Artist Way. Even now, as my pen hits paper, my ego screams resistance, yet my will tells me there is nowhere to go, I have arrived. Black ink leads me onward. My mind begs me to tell you a story about the Hostel in the Forest.
Currently, I am locked in a 10-Day service prison called Vipassana (by my own accord, of course). Again my ego sings resistance, but my body thanks me, and it seems the entire world and the stars reach down to kiss me in the aftermath.
So here I am, waiting with seven silent women as their course manager at Dhamma Patapa in Jessup, GA. Among the silence, I am able to hear my voice for what seems like the first time. I am telling myself to begin again, to write like a little child, and see the world with endless curiosity.
What is this indescribable sense of laughter and amusement that Vipassana has brought into my life?
Making a reservation at the Hostel in the Forrest
So story is story, and I have come here today to tell you of a magical haven located in the deep woods of Georgia.
I called to make a reservation at the Hostel in the Forrest about three months ago. This was only because my 12-week course called The Artist Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity summoned me to take a solo getaway. I had been to hostels in Madrid, London, Berlin, and France, but I had no idea that they existed in the USA until I was told about the Hostel in the Forest just before my assignment to serve in Jessup came through. I actually found out about the Hostel in the Forrest fro a feel meditator at the South East Vipassana Center.
So off I was with my backpack, journal, and guitar to the middle of nowhere deep woods Georgia. #sorryaboutit
When I made my reservation, a bubbly young chap answered the phone and said: “Hostel in the Forrest, what’s your spirit animal?” A snake popped in my head. Patient, quiet, aware, and quick to action.
What is your spirit animal? Find out here, or head to the Hostel in the Forrest for some soul searching.
Get Away at the Hostel in the Forest
So I must admit I chose this portal because I am totally broke, and it only cost $30 a night to stay at the Hostel in the Fores. Anyway Story is story, I pull into backwoods, GA around 2 PM to find a kumbaya circle around an old hippie named Tomm who was just beginning to tell the story of how he created his very own dream hostel.
But I will leave that story to be told by Tom beneath his magical trees. His words and story were too beautiful ever to replicate.
Tom’s Cabin
I was lucky enough to have tea with Tom and six other hostel goers in his personal hut, which was hexagonal and covered in greenery as if the cabin had sprouted out of the trees which surrounded it.
Tom explained how over the years, he had created his dream sanctuary for young artists and travelers to gather in peace among the Forest. & I, a mere girl with a purple guitar with my head in the stars was mesmerized by the beauty which surrounded me in the Forest.
I met an artist who went from Hostel to Hostel around the world, recording songs and stories of fellow travelers.
I met backpackers acrobats, magicians in practice, and souls that were submerged in the curiosity of the worlds which surround us. There is a journey led by the open sky and a simple smile.
I met a fellow meditator whose practice used only a voice that sang with the glory of 1000 suns. I sand with a woman on a path from the West who sounded like Janis Joplin and echoed songs of the desert.
I saw through the eyes of another woman who danced to the rhythms of the ocean and the trees. There was a traveling herbalist, a woman from Spain, and her lover from Portugal. We all gathered together beneath the full of the moon- one in the same | human.
Before Sleeping in the Nest at the Hostel in the Forest
Later that night before bed, I decided that I would hold a writer’s workshop. Any human being can hold a workshop at the Hostel in the Forest if they wish to do so. Most of my fellows retired to their wine and mary jane for the evening, but I was off into the woods to search for Tom’s designated Art Cabin. I thanked the trees for their solace and entered into the dark woods slowly.
OOOPS. I accidentally walked in on some travelers getting it on baby. No surprise, it was the Art cabin after all 😉 (that’s hot, #sorryaboutit). They paused, laughed, and let me gather some pens and coloring tools for my workshop. Thanks, yo.
I headed to the Music Cabin with my supplies and purple guitar to wait and see if anyone would show up for my last-minute writer’s workshop.
Writers Workshop at the Hostel in the Forest
One person walks in. It’s the acrobat! So we waited to see if more would come as I tangled the strings on my guitar into a soft rhythm. Another! The traveling herbalist (she was so dope). Then a third, the interpretive dancer, and her father, who had grown up with Tom, the creator of this incredible Hostel.
Lovely! Let’s begin.
And so slowly, I unraveled the 5 Steps to becoming your highest self. Then we ended by writing our artist intentions (prayers, spells, energy whatever you wish to call it) while I played a sweet tune. It was relaxing and peaceful.
We all thanked each other for the sacred space we shared that night beneath the woods in Georgia. Then we began to speak of Vipassana & all four humans felt the pull to go. They had to explore the faint sensations which they felt in their palms and experience the movement of their molecules across their entire body.
We spoke of pendulum energy and the power of our beautiful, unique minds. We reminded each other of our unique abilities to contribute to society in ways that no one else on the planet could.
Head to the Hostel
It is up to the individual to muster up the strength of their inner beauty and spread it like wildfire with love and compassion.
Head out of your adventure today! Work and live at the Hostel in the Forest as you explore yourself and the world around you, and follow the wind.
