If you do not believe, respect.
“Thank you Father
For the Love you gave
So that I may live in Peace
Free from Shame.”
-Cory Basil
Archive for April, 2009
Where do I start?!?
Well…
I awoke this morning and thought, “It’s April Fools’ Day, I think I’ll make people I love cry and blow up my cell phone all day asking me if I really want to leave for two years.”
Not quite.
What really ha-happened was…
I was planning on posting the most off the wall stuff all day long. You know like, “I just landed on the moon.” And, “I just gave Britney Spears a piggy-back ride.”
But then it happened.
My first joke out the gate was about how I was going to move to Peru and live with monks for two years, giving up my music career. I was about to go onto my second joke when “it” happened. My cell phone text inbox started filling up as well as my facebook messages. I don’t know if people just didn’t realize it was April Fools’ Day or thought that my status update was so sincere that it had to be real.
But it duped A LOT of people.
So…
Naturally…
I couldn’t resist.
The idea to write something on a whim, off the top of my head, to elaborate on said joke was put into play. I did a small amount of research as to pull off proper names and such. But a majority of what you read in the post from earlier today was sheer nonsense.
I’m guessing I could write fiction, I dunno.
I did leave a clue buried in the story… if anyone were to research the names etc. for bits of truth they would have caught it. I found the language spoken by Peruvians and did a little word play on the name of the Monastery I was to be living at.
“Bendicion de Majt’illu Monastery.”
Which basically translates: Monastery of the Blessed Fools.
It was a small hint, but it was there.
I was out working all day and not at my Mac – I couldn’t really control things so I left it to play out. While stopped at a light I sent a “Direct Message” on Twitter to my pal, Sheila, who asked me to bring her back a llama (she knew I was full of it with my original status update) I responded with “I hope I don’t burn for my blog post.” I used a Twitter application on my iPhone to sent this private message to her and for some bizarro reason it sent this up as a normal public message which updated my status on facebook as well. And even stranger, it attached a photo from last night along with it.
So just 25 minutes into my April Fools blog post the jig was up.
LAME!
But I fought back as hard as I could with my iPhone. I tried over and over to delete the update on twitter and facebook before too many people caught it. I was semi-successful.
Throughout the remainder of the day I kept getting the sweetest emails and posts letting me know that I was loved and that people would be praying for me. I kinda felt like a jerk…
But it is April Fools’ Day.
One day a year I can let loose and be a prankster. So for the most part I let it go.
I love pranks and stuff that makes me laugh. I mean good clean harmless pranks. Wrapping me in duct tape and tying me to a tree in the forest is not a prank.
That’s assault.
I mean fun stuff. Like the time my sister’s best friend and I pulled an AMAZING prank on my sister. I mean it was BEAUTIFUL. I’d tell you but I’m not sure that I have their permission to disclose… So I guess that’s not a good example…
Oh…
The time my Mom was going on and on about how she swore that something that had happened in the news was caused by terrorists. None of the rest of us felt the same way. So to “get her goat” I designed a mock web page of ‘Fox News’ and wrote an entire report describing in detail everything that she had thought to be true.
The selling point was perfect.
I emailed her a link… she clicked on it and was reading it as we were watching her from the other room. She lit up like a 1000 watt bulb and came running into the kitchen with a printout of the webpage cheering, “I knew it! I just knew it! See I told you! …and you guys wouldn’t believe me!”
My Father, Sister and I just fell out on the floor in laughter, I swore we would need the paramedics – that was to date one of the funniest things ever.
In my family we are always trying to get each other, playfully.
So that is all this was: good clean fun. On a day designated for just that. I am NOT moving away anytime soon. Yes, I probably would if the opportunity would arise. Which is maybe why people believed this to be true.
However, the opportunity to go live amongst monks deep in the mountains has yet to surface. I will keep you posted. I really have outdone myself this year and I have NO idea how I’m going to best it in 2010.
Stay Tuned.
[Truly, thank you for all of the heartfelt thoughtfulness and time you put into writing me. It is nice to know that I am loved and cared for. You are amazing people.]
Many of you who follow my writings know that this past month I did the “Master Cleanse” and included with it a fast from all technology and entertainment. During my time of reflection and seeking inner-peace I was reading two books by one of my favourite contemplative monks. Since those ten days I have not been able to put aside a small thought that resided in my heart.
I felt it was more than a thought; it was a calling.
Since then I have been researching and sending emails back and forth with various monasteries of all faiths in South America.
Why South America?
Thomas Merton speaks greatly of a period in his life when he lived amongst the convent at Puquiura near Vitcos. Which was established by two monks centuries ago, Friar Marcos and Friar Diego, who dedicated their lives to reaching the Incan people living in the Peruvian Andes.
The change Merton went through while living there is something that I felt an incredible connection to. It’s indescribable. I know that this may be hard to understand for most. As we live in a society that cannot do without the television for a day.
Trust that I have sought great counsel in this and spent much time in prayer and meditation regarding my move.
I’ve already received a plethora of text messages asking me if I will be allowed communication. It is not that I won’t be “allowed” communication… it’s that I will be deep in the mountains where most villages know nothing of the internet. The nearest “city” to me will be Cuzco. Which I am told is fairly modern. Father Augusto has assured me that every 3 months there is a small group that travels into the city of Cuzco, by llama no less, and gathers supplies for the months ahead. Therefore, every three months I will be able to post a blog and make a few phone calls to let you all know how I am doing and what I am learning.
What is the best part?
This particular sect of Peruvian Monks have a small yet profitable vineyard! Yes, I couldn’t be happier. I will be able to learn how they make and bottle their wine. Which apparently is quite a process being as they are heavily surrounded in the mountain range.
I am hoping that I will also be afforded the ability to travel around the area seeing as how Machu Picchu is within 40 miles or so of where I will be living.
This will be such an amazing time for me, I am so excited I can barely obtain it! I will finally have the time needed to finish all of these writings that are floating on paper and in my heart. And who knows what else will inspire me while I am away!
When will I leave?
I leave October 6th from Los Angeles, California. I will be taking these next few months to prepare and finish out my lease. Then I will head to Colorado to spend some much needed time with my family before this new journey begins.
I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude and appreciation to Father Augusto Birú and the Bendicion de Majt’illu Monastery for agreeing to take in an outsider and provide me with a safe haven.
Please know that I will do the best that I can to see all of you before I leave and do keep me in your prayers.
Much Love,
Cory Basil
