Fairly short entry at 5.45 am...

i have never partied so hard as this weekend, 30 hours out at parties and 15 hours solid dancing... some video evidence check out http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=506897071#/video/video.php?v=32555097188
can;t actually believe how many drugs were available and consumed.. one girl alone i met had done ketamine, GHB, cocaine, cb2 (ecstacy and acid) and mdma as well as the usual fags and booze.. she actually looked completely together!!! don't get it myself.. they all seem to love it
...anyway met loads of great people and had a stonking good time : >)

Beauty to darkness and back

After the beauty that was yesterday, at night 4am, having just dropped to sleep, got a call to say we were needed to help a girl in the west end.. being on call and bleary eyed, Katrina and i headed into the centre. We got there 20 minutes later to find she had just gone with some guys helping her. We set off looking for her and instead were directed to another girl, who had been raped in door way and left half naked, a worker had found her and was helping and had already assisted by getting a lift organised. we set off again looking for the other girl to find a big crowd, in the middle was a guy face down with a pool of blood. There had been a fight and so we assisted calming people down and providing tissues. the police soon arrived and called for a medic, by this time the guy had come round and was talking and ok. Again we walked on and saw others we could help, most helped by friends and were okay. we ended up chatting to workers until 6am which was great. Whilst our original call did not work out, our presence at a dark moment was i feel needed.
I am alarmed by the truth of what sometimes happens here. Without wanting to alarm you This week i have encountered and heard true reports from the past weeks here in San An of a girl raped, as two guys tried to intervene the attacker stabbed the girl and ran off. Another worker had to leave having been gang raped by some other guys. The other night as probably every night a drunk guy was robbed as he lay on the pavement. A guy died after taking 7 ecstasy tablets and 9 the night before. We also encountered a guy who was o drunk he had eaten half his dirty flip flop!! (My prayer and compassion go out to them and their loved ones.)
Today we went to a beautiful beach, hang out with friends and appreciated the beautiful idyllic waters of the Mediterranean.

Thought for the day
I was, at 3 am last night, questioning why i have the compulsion to always tell people that their savory snacks have MSG Mono Sodium Glutamate) in them. I think i arrived at the answer that it is my desire for people to know the truth.
This kind of comment can produce different responses in people. Some react ' i don't wish to know that' ' i was enjoying those until you told me that'. Others may say " really" and just carry on happily eating.

Truth is something i am reading about in Jeremy Mark's new book 'Exchanging the truth for a lie (a journey on the subject of Homosexuality and same sex partnerships). i hope to add some thought on this in coming weeks. But for now back to the crisps...

Interesting to think about those above responses and maybe relate them to how we encounter truth people share with us. Which response has the most integrity? the one that says i will carry on regardless or the other that says i was happy in my blissful ignorance (to put it bluntly)... I believe in informed choice and all i want to say is Well done Hula Hoops for putting 'No MSG' on your packs and shame on you Doritos, Pringles, Frazzles and smith's square crisps... your time will come!!

I think my question to people is usually " Do you Know?', or 'have you heard that...?' Not 'Do you want to know?' I like to speak the truth sometimes weather people want it or not (and i hope it is motivated by genuine concern or Love and i hope i don't force my little comments on people at inopportune or untimely moments.)
Learning together can be beautiful if we are open.

I am open to learning many more Truths...

Ibiza Beauty

Ibiza is a place of amazing beauty.

Beautiful people beautiful places, beautiful sunsets, music, fashion and spirit.

I spent a great day visiting Es Vedera with my beautiful friend Jessica from the UK. We spent some time on the beach and had a moment meditating trying to escape the anxieties of the busy island, which was awesome. We then walked the steep hill climb to the lookout the at one of the off islands. This is a place that really clears your head and your thoughts. (see pics)

Today i was working in the centre. As my car is a currently out of action have started getting the ferry across the bay. Unfortunately today was a public holiday so after a while we realised the ferry's were not in action either. As we waited I noticed some small waves rolling in and i wished to be surfing again. In the centre a worker came in and asked me if there was any surf on the island, i said i had heard there was at times, but in winter. We checked it out online and i thought be great to do that at the end of the season. i got back home at 8 and went for a little run along the coastline as the sun went down. I couldn't believe my eyes when 1/2 a mile from my house i saw 4 guys surfing beautiful waves in the sunset surf!!! Yes surfing in Ibiza, oh my goodness this is heaven on earth. Unfortunately was getting too dark to go home and get the surf boards out.. the guys there told me it was a freak one off and would be gone tomorrow, but i live in hope!!

Next time i will bring some deeper thoughts to the page, but wanted to get a bit of balance for those who agree with my sentiment that 'too much thinking hurts'.

Redness and tinges of white...

so sorry for the delayed entry, what with heading back to the uk for the weekend, not much time to settle. so 3 for 1 today... going back
Wednesday 6th Aug- the night before i disembarked we had another night in the west end. We had the very popular Garlands club night at Eden. We were due to finish on he streets early and ake the Irish team out.
Firstly we walked the west end and met some cool people. then we got a phone call to say that a guy was in need of help. We got there and team already on hand. a guy had fallen, hit a parked car and cut his head open, fortunately it was my car he had fallen on, so not a problem to bundle him off to the medical centre. we managed to get to the club on time, but just before had a call out for a guy we had helped on previous nights, we could find him so got changed in our garland glad rags . as we were about to go in i spotted the guy outside, me and Brice felt obligated to get him home, plus one of the workers had spent two hours with him already. he was really badly sunburt, bright red and peeling everywhere as he insisted on hugging us all the way hime. we managed to get him to his hiotel room, upon which he decided to down a massive glass of red aftershock which sent him spinning round the room. we left him with his mates and headed back to the club to join the team for the last hour. We got in about 5.30 and danced to the song of the summer 'man with the red face' by Laurent Garnier. No sooner had the sing finished and anquaintence, a young lady worker, stepped on to the dancefloor next to me. her friends looked down and seemed perplexed, i looked down and in horror just saw blood spurting from her ankle. within seconds blood covered the dancefloor. i ran to get a first aid kit which the staff would not give me, by this time her friend had picked her up and carried her out, i grabbed my white wrist band and put it on the open wound. She had stepped onto a broken glass which had torn through her leather shoe and into her ankle. We managed to get her to the medical centre, her white shoe full of blood and my white top now a red and white mess. greatfully she was fine and i found out from Nurse friend amy after that people seem like they bleed a lot more when drunk as it thins the blood. She did but was fortunatley all good in the end.

This sets me up nicely for a little review of the Gettin Hectic Red and White Ball in Dulwich statley home.
i arrived home friday and stayed at my parents, in Guildford. Loaded up the car Saturday morning with nic and headed for Dulwich, 23 hours later we were home. What a great 23 hours it was.. a sea of red and white (see photos) Amy Tollington and Rich Watkins came up to support me by singing and rapping over my dj set, it really added something and was a fantastic musical affair. nic was great as usual lugging equipment and generally helping out. we finished the night chillin at someones house talking of love, life and deeper things till the sun came up.
Sunday was my parents anniversary. So after getting up at 3, seeing ben and beccy edmonds cute addition to the planets infants, Daisy, i headed for a meal with my parents. Their humility and continued approach of 'you are always learning in life' still impresses me, mum challenging her lifestyle and dad trying to be a more loving husband... great role modelling.. to top it all off mum cooked me a great Steak and Kidney pie before returning to ibiza on monday. I got in at 1am and was in the worlds biggest club from 3-7 am watching Tiesto(worlds number one dj). what a wierd contrast, to one minute be having a home cooked meal with loved ones and a few hours later the other side of europe with 10'000 manic party people. Its good to be back in the red hot sun!!!

check it out

audio bullies... break down the doors... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_z6XhrW0-Q

God is a DJ

hi all
this week things have been hotting up in Ibiza. The weather is scorchio and things seem to be a little more exciting. i am due back in the UK this weekend to Dj at the Gettin Hectic summer red ball. Check out www.gettinhectic-club.co.uk for details. i am doing the 6-7 sunset slot and 2-4 main room set. Think Amy tollington and rich watkins are singing and rapping with me too. Gonna be strange to be back and then come out again straight away for two more months.
Also it is my parents 40th wedding anniversary on Sunday... well done Pete and Pat you have done yourselves proud :) No seriously if you don't know them my parents are the most sacrificial ,selfless people i know, always putting others first, which i guess is a good value for a long lasting marriage. It is great that i am able to be back as my sister ( Anna) is in Cyprus for the summer visiting her boyfriend Andy.
So back to ibiza. we were all in a little daily prayer time the other day and this doesn't often happen, but i had this song flash into my mind, one is didn't know well. It was a dance tune called 'Gonna break down the doors'. Bruce immediately informed me it was by the Audio Bullies and so i downloaded it right away. The words seemed so spot on for what we are doing here.
We used it the next night to focus our thoughts before hitting the sweltering, night time streets with the new Northern Irish team. We were all filled with expectation and excitement after this session. feeling like something fresh is brewing. The first line of the song is 'enter the darkness, the beats marching in.... this is the start of something... its gonna break down the doors'
As a Christian our belief is that we are in a battle of some description, darkness obviously represents evil in some form. We do not have a battle against people but against what we may call strongholds (things that hold people back from living the happy and joyful life that God created). Often we pray for protection as we come across some dangerous situations, things can appear like fun, light or good and then not turn out so. There it a lot that is unseen here. As the new team ventured out of the prayer room for there first time on the streets ' entering the darkness, they turned back to shout that there had been a huge power cut blacking out the whole of the west end. This was an unusual and remarkable experience with no music or light in the busiest strip of the night life hub. Could have been coincidence but it didn't feel like it.
We are excited.
We spent the evening helping vulnerable people, girl who had been separated from friends and been harassed by a bunch of guys, a very drunk 19 year old that we picked up from the hospital. Again we were told we were angels, good Samaritans. I found it amusing the other day when a girl called our Batphone. She didn't know i had heard her, but she said to the guy she was helping, 'don't worry mate they are God Squad, they will sort you out' never heard that phrase used in a positive way before :)

a number of people have said to me i sound like i am being hard or negative about myself in this blog and that i am doing a great job. Thanks for that, i suppose i is just finding a place in my heart that does not fill me with the pious pride of look at me, how good i am, cos actually i am no more so than any of you. We all have the capacity for kindness and compassion.

Dorathy Day said...' don't call us saints, we don't want to be dismissed that easily'.

affirmation

31/7/08

Had our weekly lads time today, where 3 of us get together to talk about man issues. Today we talked about mastication ( yes you read right) the process of salivation in the mouth when chewing… during this time we also chatted about the need for affirmation and how we humans are actually really swayed by the opinion of others.
I was reminded of the night I went out with Jon, the current night club chaplain, in Bournemouth. The first person he introduced me to he said , “this is Michael my replacement”, the Bouncer looked me up and down and said, “what swampy is gonna take over, eco warrior here??!!” that was a nice introduction. Then a second person took to me negatively. Obviously filling Jon’s shoes is gonna be tough, but the initial experience of negative comment could easily rock me. I have become aware how easily peoples opinion/comments affect me. The need for affirmation is subtle but great and I think is a big factor in a lot of things we do in society. How nice was it at Pacha (the worlds best night club) last night when 3 different people said how cool my Addict hat was (thanks for the hat Chris), or how nice it is to be called such a good person, 12 times in one night by drunken party revelers.

Tonight we were out on the San Antonio streets. It is amazing how alcohol and drugs can reduce the, ordinarily, civilized person into a gibbering wreck who can’t even say their name let alone remember where they are staying. Tonight was no exception. We help a guy, cleaned his nose, stood with him as he wet himself and generally took care of him and he cried, mostly of embarrassment. He was so much harder on myself than we were toward him. We tried for over 3 hours to establish where he was staying. Took him round to two possible hotels. We took him round the streets to see if he remembered things, took him to the bar he got kicked out of. The barman their who is not sympathetic of our cause started shouting at me, “save me save me pray for my soul”… and as I walked out, he shouted “have you got holes in your feet?” Another girl told me i was wasting my time with people like that. Exhausted and slightly overwhelmed we tried one more time at a famous Ibiza hotel to chat with reception staff to establish where he was staying, it was at that moment that I heard the encouraging words “swampy, what you doin at this hotel?" I turned patiently and extended my hand saying, my name is Michael not swampy” to be honest I had to find it amusing just how blatant this insult was in light of the earlier lads conversation.

In my foundations and beliefs I have to remember what and who I am doing this work for. I still can’t tell someone fully about my faith through fear of what they may say, even though many drunk people have no problem shouting ‘Jesus Loves you’ it at us as we drive the van though San An…maybe one day I will be secure enough in myself and my faith to be honest about what I really think, but for now I will extend the hand of patience and kindness and let my action talk. I might even get to point one day where i can wear a 'Jesus Rocks' belt!!?? (joke for the trendy among you)

I am no saint, and have need to be respected, affirmed and accepted by others as many of us do.
In his book ‘ Do nothing to change your life. Stephen Cotrell suggests that society in one voice says we need to accept ourselves, love ourselves etc and in the next is selling us all kinds of images, potions, diets and regimes that we should be aiming for. This ends up with us striving to be a different way, we strive for perfection in the search for a better me. Ultimately leads to a realisation that actually we don’t like ourselves very much an maybe we even want to be someone else. He suggests the only way to combat this is to put something else at the centre of our existence, instead of the self.
He suggests putting God in the centre is the best way. He goes on to say that it does not mean we have something missing ie. A God shaped hole in our lives. But that by realigning our compass, we discover that putting something else at the centre brings a whole new perpective and creative energy that we will not find in ourselves.

I like these ideas and I want to have someone else at the centre rather than me, if I am the centre of the universe, it can’t be a very interesting place!!! Maybe I have to learn to love myself another way…