Written by Alexis Celnik
Have you ever thrown yourself into something 100%, not knowing where it will take you, but certain that the journey will be a wild ride of new friends, and new experiences? This journey is one I took with Extinction Rebellion, but you can do it with anything, just throw yourself completely into a thing and it will have so many gloriously unintended consequences!
Punk, Rebel, Hippy - Lex. It is how I choose to self identify, but in reality I am probably more nerd than anything else. Certainly been a nerd for a very long time and a massive tea addict.
It all started when I saw the 2019 April Rebellion on TV, when the pink boat blocked Trafalgar Square. It connected with me and I realised that the world needed this wake up call and I wanted to be involvedโฆ somehow.
I had never been an activist, instead for the previous 20 years I had played games: boardgames, roleplay games, wargames. It was over the course of the next few months that I started to find out more about XR as a movement and of the power of art to capture the imagination: to energise those around you, to reach out across social media and to draw more people in. From my background of LARP (Live Action Role Play) I have sewn costumes, performed, built sets, created worlds and emotions. I saw that I could use this energy to promote a cause that would allow all hobbies in the world to continue, without the threat of floods, fire, famine, and the mass displacement of populations.
So I got drawn in trying to find my niche. From helping build infrastructure during the summer uprising I found myself making print blocks, running outreach stands at gigs (New Model Army, the 1975, and the Dollop), getting a 5M high dinosaur, taking over a museum, meeting lots of new rebel friends across the country, print blocking in a night club in London, making hundreds of flags, photoshoots, the list goes on!
There was great hope that we would have been doing outreach and print blocking at festivals throughout this year, instead we adapted to Covid: we brought the Rebel Care Package to you. We brought car loads of flags, placards, patches, rebel bags-for-life and tie dyed clothing to peopleโs homes and allowed them to choose anything they wanted in exchange for a voluntary donation. To be able to reach out to people in this way brought many joyous moments during what could easily have been a miserable time due to isolation.
So where there is a will, there is not only a way, but a bunch of other extra ways will appear and each one adds to your life experience. I am now in a position where I have learnt so much more about a city I have lived in and around for 17 years. Its culture is so much more vibrant, creative and engaging than I ever realised and I can't wait to become a massive art hipster once lockdown is over.
So join me, do your thing 100%, fall in love with the world all over again.
Today's entry is by guest writer Alexis Celnik. Lex is an Arts Coordinator for Extinction Rebellion Cardiff Arts.
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