Keeping the feeling alive.

[Pa'li Makto]

Originally Posted by The Silver Stag

Ooh this is a good thread, ok there's a couple of ways I've found to keep the feeling alive. First and foremost, I try to see Pandora here on Earth. When I go to particularly nice forests I look around and see what looks similar to that which you'd find on Eywa's paradise. Every deer is a hexapede, every bird call the cry of an ikran and so on and so forth. I also try to live more like a Na'vi so I eat find and eat wild foods, exercise and camp in the woods. That last one is something I believe every single human should do atleast once in their lives, a text based description is hugely inadequate to convey just how special it is to wake up in a woodland with all the animals around you, the morning sun light breaking through the gaps in between the trees leaves and bugs crawling around in your pants It is arguably greater than Avatar itself.

The second thing, that doesn't even require me to leave the house (and I think I've mentioned this before in another thread) is to listen to music that I enjoyed listening to in the days just after had seen Avatar. Everytime I hear The Strangler's Golden Brown I am reminded of that week I saw Avatar and couldn't stop thinking about it. The feelings come back even though it's not even remotely Avatar related.

Anyway, these are just things that work for me

That's really interesting thanks for posting all those Silver Stag. I really must try to camp out in the Blue Mountains which is about 2hrs away from where I live. It really seems like a great experience to wake up with the sun and the animals.I also really like the part about exercising in the wilderness and imagining the connection between Pandoran creatures and creatures from Earth. Just something I want to ask you though: whereabouts do you find nice places to camp in your area?

Originally Posted by apache_blanca

How interesting you posted it now, Pa'li, cos I was afraid for a while that I was losing Avatar I was honestly afraid. I guess I overdosed myself on it a bit (watched it twice in 2 months) & last time I didn't really experience "the wave" or "the call"( aw, you know what I mean, don't you) - ok, I cried, I laughed, I said "ouch" & "oops" out loud - & the feeling was there but so deep inside that it was like an almost imperceptible tremble. It could be though cos I was not alone & didn’t “let go” as I usually do on my own. But last night I put the first, the original, Avatar CD on - & the feeling was back with the bang, I laughed & cried at the same time when Jake was running, & when it got to OST it was really beautiful: I flash-visioned myself in a bioluminiscent lake, floating on my back & staring at Polyphemus & other moons in their full phase; the forest was glowing & there were dozens of Atokirina floating above the water. I felt immensely happy. I am so grateful to the music for pulling me back! It always happens: when I get broody & think of backing away from Avatar & ToS something like this happens & pulls me right back. I guess I am lucky

As for my remedy to keep the feeling alive, it would be - meditations (I made it thru PAD mostly thanks to them), going to the natural spaces & imagine it's Pandora , and staying here on ToS. Somehow it brings Pandora to Earth.

I do enormously respect people who are inspired by Avatar to explore the wonders of the Earth (and yes there are so many), to take care of it, to live as close to the Na'vi way of living as possible... It’s a beautiful planet, & it would be even better if people were a bit more careful with it. But still my inner sensation is that I am here just for some time, it's like a business trip or a mission, & then- hopefully - I'll be back on Pandora, or a similar world, cos I am sure I lived there before. I do miss Pandora ok maybe it seems a far-out post – but hey, I am a dreamhunter, what do you expect

Ah ma tsmuke, I see you truly. The power of our imagination is so immensely powerful that we can be in another time and place. Especially when we have triggers such as music or sights that create flashes of imaginative dreaming in our minds. I could think about that image of lying back in water and looking up at Polyphemus during the nighttime all day.

It's so true that we don't even need to go to great sites on Earth to get back memories from our experience of the movie..Though I think we should all try to make an effort to see our wonderful planet while we can. There seems to be huge potential spiritually to connect with avatar..I mean, look at all your vivid dreams ma tsmuke.

Originally Posted by Sempu

For me, it's a drive to make my time here count for something, that in some way pays tribute to what I got from Avatar, so that it wasn't just another movie I saw, but that I can point to something that I did that makes a difference in the world and say, "That was thanks to Avatar." Currently working on two different books that are directly impacted by that experience...

That is a great message to take back from Avatar. I'll take a wide guess and say that for most of us Avatar only accentuated feelings, thoughts or values that we had inside, although it helped to make those feelings stronger or may have reminded some of us of how we used to think and value. I'd love to see those books one day. For me when I watched Avatar, I was reminded of how much of an enviromental/ spiritual person I was and how deeply I try to connect with the earth and the people on it. I want to try to help everyone when possible and help to heal the earth as best I can.