Connection Through Diversity At Camp Kulabanga With Samantha Mee

By Courtney Alex Aldor

It’s no secret that I, along with the rest of the world, have been laying low for awhile, taking a break from writing about festivals and events - and that includes all that’s going on online because I haven’t known how. With so much of what’s beautiful about festivals being the sense of heart connection you feel with so many smiling faces around, I wondered if that would be possible with a festival online. But when the sweet people of Camp Kulabanga reached out about their event, which is part yoga festival, part wellness festival, partly aimed at education around diversity, hosted by musician and LGBTIQ activist GRIZ, I got curious. And so, they connected me with one of their longtime speakers, healer and teacher, Samantha Mee.

As I asked her about facilitating connection regardless of our seeming sense of diversity, she mentioned the diversity we each have within. As a meditation teacher, Ayurvedic practitioner, and all-around healer employing various methodologies, her job is to help connect each of us to ourselves. And truly, each one of us is composed of a diverse blend of circumstances that are truly unique from any other. Is it possible that we can embrace more diversity in others if we can learn to embrace it in ourselves?

And that had me thinking about forging human connection during a time when we’re meant to be without festival crowds. In response to this, she shared that she’ll be teaching a meditation practice aimed at connecting each person with their heart. Is it possible that we can better connect to others if we know more about what lights up our own hearts?

And then my chat with Samantha led us to talk about the concept of time. When Samantha said she was once a person who never thought she could meditate, I asked her why and she told me, ‘I didn’t think I had the time.’ But since then, not only has she found the time in her day to do personal meditation sessions, but also to guide and facilitate sessions for others one-on-one. She’s studied Ayurveda, Reiki, Auricular Acupuncture, Sound-Bath, Gong, Yoga, Meditation, and more. She works privately, at a clinic, online, and facilitates and teaches at events such as Camp Kulabanga. It would seem that when she created a sense of time within, it showed up on the outside too.

And so in this interesting moment in history, we have the opportunity to play with paradox: Embrace oneself to embrace difference and diversity in the world, connect within to forge deeper connection with friends, take a moment out of your schedule for yourself and find that you have so much more time to devote to the differences you’d like to make in the world, and of course check out Camp Kulabanga and Samantha Mee the weekend of Feb 20th & 21st online to tune into your heart.

You can find out more about Samantha Mee HERE and the upcoming online festival Camp Kulabanga at: www.campkulabunga.com.