A place where you can laugh and cry

By Duong [Team 10 participant]

The 3rd weekend of Knowmads was just over, and I am here, starting to write the blog post that I promised to do as a harvesting practice since the 1st weekend. Every time I sat down to write, I didn’t know where to start. It’s been one heck of a ride for me. I have left in Knowmads laughters, tears, confusion, fulfilment, frustration, joy… This is the education that I have always dreamt of – a place where I am accepted for who I am, where I can speak up my mind without any fears of judgement, where I start to connect deeply with myself and collaborate with others with mindfulness.
 
I remembered me crying my eyes out during the check-in of 2nd day Knowmads. Our check-in question was “What is one time you felt depth gratitude?”. As usual, we sat in a circle, anyone ready would take the talking piece and pass it to the left once they finish sharing. If you don’t know what to say yet, just keep passing it to the next person and the talking piece “will eventually come back to you” – thanks to the miracle of the “circle” that we use a lot here in Knowmads. I sat in silence, trying to search my memory for a time that I feel very grateful, and suddenly my train of thoughts brought me back to that very morning – just an hour before I arrived in Knowmads.
 
“I feel grateful for having my family and loved ones who care for me and protect me no matter what. I feel grateful when this morning I woke up, I saw my mom in the kitchen preparing my lunch, my dad in the yard washing my motorbike, and my boyfriend picking me up and drive me here even though the weather was very hot and the ride took more than 1 hour”.
 
I felt teardrops falling on my face. I never thought one day I would cry that much in front of strangers. Indeed, I had just known these guys for only one day… I kept crying for the thought that I had taken my loved ones for granted for quite a long time – a sense of guilt kicked in and I couldn’t hold back the tears. Then I felt hands on my shoulders – those are hands of strangers who listened to my story in silence and respect, who were willing to comfort me and give me love and care. I was absolutely touched. Knowmads is such a miracle – a place where like-minded people gather and hold a safe space for others to be their authentic self, to be true to their emotions and express them without any fears.
 
From that moment, I know for sure that this journey is going to be life-changing…