Hello, hello beautiful soul! Sending you my love and light today! š š
Itās been a week since Iāve last written, because life has been incredibly busy! This past week I c elebrated my 29th birthday and decided to take some time away from the computer to relax, unwind, and indulge in many of my other passions -- like painting, reading, eating, and spending time in nature. It was a lovely birthday, and I was surrounded by so many of my amazing friends and simply enjoyed basking in each otherās presence to laugh and drink and be merry. 29 is surely going to be another INCREDIBLE year.
Plus, this week has been another one FULL of events and activities and so much action. Chiang mai is always brimming with super high-quality events and activities (incredible open mic and comedy nights, music jams in botanical gardens, game nights at friendsā houses, intention setting ceremonies, pizza partiesā¦) and itās taking me some time to transition back into this busy, busy life while still maintaining my own personal growth and goals.
But Iām here now, back on the net and excited to share more of my life in Chaing Mai with you beautiful humans!
This past week, I had the opportunity to help put on a massive interactive role-playing costume party here in Chiang Mai.
My friend Matt, and his whole family, were the brilliant minds behind the concept for this party. So before I go on, let me fill you in on what that incredible concept was.
The theme for this shindig was āThe Labyrinthā, and we pulled inspiration from Panās Labyrinth as well as David Bowieās film Labyrinth. We turned one of Chaingmaiās most beloved bars/venutes into a live, interactive, Labyrinth maze; complete with characters to interact with, beautiful decorations, dead ends, prizes, secret quests, and we even had a magical wardrobe that you could walk into and through, into a completely different room of the maze.
Some photos from the party:
Left: King Matt and Queen Kristi, the Royal party hosts.
Right: Me, the Ice Queen, and my friend Derek, the Minotaur
Upon arriving to the party, we wanted the guests to be transported to another world. Plopped inside of a thriving, breathing, multi-layered universe, with characters, quests, adventures and entertainment around every corner. The idea was: the more you interacted, the more fun entertainment you got out of the party.
Sure, you could come, dance, drink, and ignore all the action going on around you, but if you took the time to talk to the characters at the party, and if you took the time to participate in the interactive art installation or participate in the open mic, for example, you were rewarded with stamps, or clues, or riddles that took you on to the next adventure. You could complete quests and collect special keys that unlocked more areas in the maze, like the sexy Harem room with special drinks and party favors, or the magical treasure room containing a Pirateās treasure and a very hilarious Gollum.
When the guests arrived, they were greeted by two mysterious characters, a Magician, and a woodland Dryad. Both of these characters had quests for the guests to complete, but they also had opposing advise on how to proceed into the maze. To enter the party, should you go right? Down the longer, more lit path? Or should you go left? Down the shorter, and darker path. Each guest had to make a decision. And the greeters had opposing advice.
So how to choose?
A labyrinth is an ancient symbol that relates to wholeness. It combines the imagery of the circle and the spiral into a meandering but purposeful path. The Labyrinth represents a journey to our own center and back again out into the world.
Labyrinths have long been used as meditation and prayer tools.
A labyrinth is an archetype with which we can have a direct experience. We can walk it. It is a metaphor for life's journey. It is a symbol that creates a sacred space and place and takes us out of our ego to "That Which Is Within."
http://www.lessons4living.com/labyrinth.htm
Photo Credit
Luckily, King Matt was often near the door, explaining this concept to the guests. The labyrinth is not just a maze. It is a way to journey into the center of oneself. A journey filled with mysteries and questions and answersā¦ and in order to get the most of your experience, King Matt invited you to close your eyes, to set an intention, and with your intention clearly in mind, choose to enter. Right, or Left?
Photo Credit
I played Queen Eira, the Ice Queen, visiting my friends King Matt and Queen Kristi, the royal party hosts. But I was there with secret business as well -- to collect the magical spells that from the three most magical beings at the party -- the witches, the fairies, and the magician. For any guests who could help me collect all three spells, I rewarded them with one of my magical keysā¦. What do they open? Well, I canāt give away all my secrets nowā¦
The 3 Magical spells the guests could collect
Getting ready was so much fun as well! It was so liberating to take on a different persona, and to really dive deep into the role. My costume was so successful that my closest friends, and even my partner had trouble recognizing me! It took everyone a few double takes of staring into my eyes to realize who they were talking to. It was so LIBERATING! I felt like I could be anyone and say anything. It was so much fun!
In fact, my friend Alex, who loves role playing and was fully into the whole Labyrinth theme, started talking to me to find out what secrets and quests I had up my sleeve. I knew he didnāt recognize me, so I dove deep into my spiel about being the Ice Queen and that I was there to collect magic. After about 3 minutes (3 whole minutes!!!), I saw something in his eyes change, as if something clicked, and he suddenly realized who I was and who he was talking to. He almost had a heart attack. It was truly hilarious.
The party was a HUGE success, and everyone I interacted with seemed to be having a great time. There was something for everyone: A space to paint and create art, plenty of spaces for dancing with great DJs playing all night, an open mic portion of the evening for people to share songs, words and silliness, and then all the fun and interactive ways to āplay alongā with the party itself.
As always, people showed up wearing the most outrageous costumes, which helped make the event that much more special. That is one of the biggest things I love about Chiang Mai. People are never afraid to wear costumes and go full out. I feel like my daily life is a costume party! And for those who showed up looking a bit underwhelmingā¦ we had three gorgeous fairy godmothers who could help spruce up peoples outfits by adding sparkles, animal ears, and other fun party favors to help get people in the party zone.
I think we could all use a bit more silliness and playfulness in our lives.
For so many people, there comes a time in life when you just stop being a kid. But we are all kids-at-heart. And we all have our own inner child living inside of us who is screaming to let loose and have some fun.For so many people, life has become so much hard work. But by locking away your inner child and forcing yourself to be serious all the time is creating so much stress and unhappiness in the world. We need to learn to honor our inner childs, and to let them lose to have fun and to PLAY! Life is meant to be joyful. Life is meant to be LIVED. I truly feel that is what it means to be alive. That is what this existence is about. To fully LIVE. And whenever Iām laughing, I feel truly alive. And full!
Photo Credit
Happiness leads to more happiness. Joy brings more joy. So let your inner child out. Let yourself play. Donāt take yourself, or life, too seriously. Thereās no point to being stressed out the whole time youāre here. Because you only get THIS life, THIS existence, ONCE. There is no reason to not have some fun along the way. Or better yet, have fun the WHOLE way.
You cannot struggle to joy. Struggle and joy are not on the same channel. You joy your way to joy. You laugh your way to success. It is through your joy that good things come.
-Abraham-Hicks
Photo Credit:
So, with that in mind, I hope you can find a way to do something silly today. Find a way to laugh more. To play more. Allow yourself to feel the joys of being alive. Allow yourself to feel grateful. And donāt forget to dress up in a costume every now and then. I swear, itās good for your soulā¦
Until next time, I hope you have a magical day!
Love and Light,
š Rachel
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Wow! What an incredible looking party! So creative and fun. I love fantasy stuff like that.
You all look great in your character roles.
It sounds like the Chiang Mai scene is really buzzing these days. Hopefully we'll get to check it out again soon and meet up with some of our SMG buddies - I definitely feel a Thai holiday coming up in the next year or so.
Funnily enough, I had my 29th birthday just up the road from there in Pai.
Wow - that was a long time ago, but it still feels really recent!
XxIt's definitely a very lively city these days! Sometimes too lively! When you make your next journey here, do let me and @yinyangmichael know. It would be awesome meet up with you and the other Thailand SMG crew!
You are very beautiful. I do like you :)
thank you so much š
I am follow you and you show beautiful
Greetings from Bangkok, we are heading home tomorrow. Where is home for you?
Looks like a super fun night out. I loved Chaing Mai and Rai, are you making your way up there too? If so I highly recommend the white temple, we never made it to the black one but my guess is it would have been just as amazing!
Home is currently in Chiang Mai. Haven't made it to the white temple in Chiang Rai yet, but it's definitely on my list of places to check out! Ive never heard of the Black temple though!
Hope you're enjoying/enjoyed BKK!!
We didnt hear about the black one until at the white ones and that was the day before we flew our so missed it bjut have heard it is just as amazing. If you do get there. Id love you to tag me in a post about it if you do one so we can see it.
WOW that looks like an AWESOME time. It's amazing all that stuff happens in the place you live - you must absolutely love it. YOu look amazing and Ilove all the photos!! Ilove the labrinth symbol - there's a really ancient one carved into the rock near Tintagel, England, where King ARthur's castle was said to be, but Ithink it predates that. It's such an ancient symbol.
thank you! Yes, it is very, very fun living in a city with so much to do, but it can be exhausting as well. I'm really working on finding a nice balance between work and play. With so much to do here, I'm realizing I really need to pick and choose which events I go to that will actually help me grow :)
And yea, the labyrinth symbol is so old, I don't really know much about it's history. But I really like the meaning behind it --- a journey into yourself and back out into the world again... I really like that about the party, that even in the midst of drinks and dance floors we encouraged people to take a minute to meditate and be present before diving into the madness!
What a fun idea for a party. Such creativity!
Missing Asia...