Jason Lunn.com/ Portfolio of a life…..

Ok what you see below is a picture by Surrealist painter Salvador Dali. It is commonly known as the Temptation of Anthony. I had this as my desktop wallpaper for about three years, then one day in approx 2001 when I was with my ex partner Anisa Lokat the picture jumped out of the srceen quite literally and I felt like I had a real insight into what the picture was expressing. It was like a warning and a blessing, a signpost and an explanation to so many things all rolled into one.

I have not really explained this to many people as It has been important to me to pick the right time and I guess the time is now. If you are interested in the interpretation I had in my spirit of this painting i will go into detail separately in an individual post. There is a link to this on the right hand navigation,… Dali; Temptation of Anthony

This painting was like a warning a signpost and a sign from above and within to me

This is a low res version I found online, however if you are unfamiliar with the image it is easy to find in a google image search

Ok so this is the Painting that for me started a chain reaction of events in my world and has ended up here with my

Surftrip to Indonesia December 2008

Ok, so a brief explanation On Tuesday 2nd Dec I have made the journey from Bristol to Heathrow Terminal 3 on National Express coach. I have a surfboard and a heavy camera rucksack with 15kgs of digital photo and broadcast filming equipment, the rest of my luggage consists of a mosquito net, a healthy supply of codeine phosphate painkillers and diclofenac anti- inflammatories, a jungle weight sleeping bag, malaria tablets and a laptop.

My personal effects amount to a toothbrush, a pair of shorts, 2 pairs of socks one spare t -shirt and the clothes on my back. 11 years ago I took out a mortgage on a 3 bed semi detached house. Year by year. I slowly filled it up with material possessions, as many do when approaching their early thirties as an adult in the UK. Alongside the material possessions filling up each of the rooms, garage and the loft, each year a few more direct debits attached themselves to my current account. So whilst I was slowly becoming more enslaved to these direct debits I was also getting sick and tired of driving up and down the same road 4 times a day for 10+ years..

So each year as the direct debits eventually overtook my dreams and became my personal too do list, I decided it was time for change and this is the list of what wanted to remove from my daily life, even if only for a short while…

-mortgage
-council tax
-water rates
-sewage rates
-gas bill
-electricity bill
-cooker breakdown cover
-Phone line rental
-broadband rental
-tv license
-cable tv direct debit
-Vehicle insurance
- a few assorted appliance insurances
- mobile phone contract
-mobile phone insurance insurance

Ok 15 direct debits so far that all need paying for and I until these are paid I have not put any clothes on my back, food in the fridge or tissue roll for the toilet…

Include the running and repair costs of a vehicle,
road tax
mot and repairs
and the rising cost of fuel

and the cost is beginning to put a heavy strain on my spirit..
Well the boiler always broke down in the coldest week of December, January and February each year and this would add a nice pre and post Christmas expense to my overdraft facility..

So what do we have here so far, I am living like Mr Average in the UK economic system, labour market and culture.

I do count my blessings for my life, friends and every lover that has passed through, I give thanks for the surgeons and osteopaths that continually repair me and the inspiration and inspirational people that guide me,

however deep in my spirit something increasingly began to feel uncomfortable and unfulfilled in the way of life i had slowly submerged myself into.

So over this 10 year period, I would notice many of my close friends and acquaintances work hard all week then drown their discomfort in a weekend binge drinking session and then numb the mind with assorted methods of recreational self medication..

Groundhog day once again, same roads, same traffic jams, same grey clouds and raindrops still a fallin’ on my head, so the week passes and I thank the Good Lord for my health and daily breath, then Monday arrives and its time to repeat the routine all over again.

Well Oct 8th 2007, I met a very clean and sober woman, Katerina Petropolous who shone a light into this area of my world and her inspiration made me decide that was the last day I would ever be getting wasted on alcohol etc . Now the fire of life burning in my soul grew stronger, the hunger to taste all the ideas and images I had dreamt and places I had envisaged of one day visiting took on a new sense of urgency and reality, so here I am explaining how I have managed the first few steps into my childhood dreams.

SECURITY what is security? a mortgage, a home?

I decided that I needed to sell my home of 11 years, which after some finishing touches to the decor finally happened just before all the talk of recession and house price crashing came to become daily media headlines. I then finished all my paid employment, detached myself from the emotional responsibilities and aspiration to be part of “a happy couple”. Then I downsized the possessions, Now all that remains of value to me are my boxes and hard disk drives of photos, notebooks, poems and writings from my coffee mornings. I removed the fridge, the freezer, the washing machine, sofas, beanbags, chests of drawers, desks, shelving units, rugs and curtains from my world.

It has now been one year and 3 months, clean and sobre. Coffee is the last remaining addiction and that is going to be next to go.

My mind has sharpened up and my days feel longer and i have felt a distinct change in my spirit and outlook since deciding no more! In this time I have managed to visit my brother in Thailand, wander the streets of Athens with my camera for a period of 4 weeks split over two trips and spent 4 weeks during summer living in Cornwall and learning how to surf.

Well that was the beginning of a new era for me
“Learning to surf”

The motocross bike and skateboards are now being kindly stored by my friends alongside the 7 years of accounts that by law I have to keep hold of as a self employed person. yep that is it now, so much has been removed, my world now consists of a passport, a surfboard a camera bag full of equipment and my laptop full of mp3s and my photos.

This is all I value in my material world..