Happy New Year

Hello all,

Much love, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  I hope it has been a beautifully festive festive period.

I have been living in a hippy commune for 3 weeks now and can quite safely say I am a fully fledged hippy. I'm living off a diet of raw food and hallucinogenics, having endless unprotected sex with as many people as possible and I haven't washed my hands in four weeks. So far its going quite well but pooing outside is going to take a little getting used to.

Amidst all of this connection with nature, becoming one with myself and animals I was bitten by a feral cat. It was quite a wonderful experience on the whole. I was on the drive from Orgiva to Malaga to collect my Sister, I was completely lost, again. I eventually asked a stranger where a good place to sleep was and he lead me to a small beach that had been squatted for the past five years. It's 30m long enclosed on both sides by rockface and from behind by Bamboo. The bamboo was so thick that people had cut and bent a house in the middle of it. I had been hoping for a solitary evening on a beach for so long and I stumbled across the quietest and most beautiful squatted beach. I swam in the sea, meditated in the sun and began speaking with some of the beautiful people who lived there. All was going well until a young woman I was speaking with said the following statement pointing at the sea.

"Is that a goat?"

I looked out to the sea and saw what looked like a large black log rolling around helplessly in the waves about forty metres out. I thought this woman must be on the raw food/hallucinogenic diet, until out of the water rolled a tail. I was blessed with a wonderful moment where there was no indecision, no thought and before I knew it I was naked swimming towards a drowning cat. I picked it up out of the water with my right hand and began to swim it back to shore. I learnt three things that day. One; A frightened animal on the brink of death is a dangerous animal. Two; never pick up a drowning cat from underneath where it can reach your hand with its mouth. Three; if an animal bites you while you are in the middle of the sea don't try to shake it off because it simply bites down harder. It bit me twice. It hurt and bled alot. The hippies gave me warm clothes, a tin of fish and a warm fire by which to rest my bones. They seemed so calm and generous that when it turned out they were heading back to the same village I had just driven from I offered them a lift. That night I slept in the open air, sea lapping at my feet, an endlessly starry vista above me and a wonderfully warm feeling within me. I woke up the next day and the three hippies I had offered a lift to had transformed into six, the majority of which were drunk, toothless and wonderfully rowdy. We set off early to pick up my sister from Malaga airport. I can only imagine her face when instead of being greeted by me, her brother, a face she loved and recognised. She was greeted by six drunkards walking aimlessly around Malaga airport holding cardboard signs screaming "Katy!!!" at the tops of their voices. Was a beautiful journey home.

I am loving my life at the moment. I am waking up each day and learning afresh how I have to live to be content. I am doing alot of Dancing, Yoga, Tai-Chi, we are all working together to build a house for one of the guys that lives with us and I am making so much art. So many ideas, so many stories, poems pouring out of me. It is also becoming so much clearer when it is time to try and do stuff and be around people and when it's time to go and lie down with a blanket over my face. Something I've never really been able to do before, I normally just get over-excited and keep going until I collapse but here I'm finding a much more sustainable rhythm. It's a great relief.

There is only one more thing to share. I have nearly run out of money. It's interesting. Normally I would be worrying and stressing for a solution to this apparent problem. But i am so inspired by everybody I have met on this journey who simply trust that money will look after itself. I find myself strangely calm. I am going to throw myself into pennylessness and trust that all my needs will be met. I will let you know how it goes, hopefully the next blog won't be a call out for the relief fund.

Thank you for the wonderful feedback for the first chapter of Katius. I was anxious about sharing it but the feedback has been beautiful and really humbling. Thank you. There has been a delay in the building of the website so you will have to wait for the next chapter but I promise you it's on the way.

I wish you all much love and hope life is bringing you all that you need. And mum don't worry I was only joking I am eating lots of hot food, steering clear of free love and hallucinogenics and I am washing my hands very regularly.