For those of you who are currently feeling sad at the loss of the Beacon, here is a note: don't be!

In the time since the madness began, I have never felt alone, because I have been joined by the most beautiful people I have ever met in my life and, in gratitude to the warmth I have felt from all you who have supported the Beacon, I wish to extend my arm of friendship to say that, although the outer Beacon has gone, may its memory sink into your hearts and light a fire within you. The fire still burns bright within me, I am brimming with new ideas for an even brighter, better future. Please take the light within you too and use it to guide you to greater things than your minds can have even thought possible. Only your hearts know it is. You know what has to be done. We will find other places to meet in rooms and cafes around town and elsewhere and we will discuss how to move forward. Sam is already eying up places for a new cafe that could turn into a small gig venue. The wellness shop can go online. All we need is another room to hold the pod and do reiki/seichem attunements. The library will find some walls where people can look through the books and be inspired. The outer Beacon is gone, but what we achieved will never leave our memory. Every room was so beautiful in its own way, even the stairs!

The closing of the Beacon was inevitable someday or other, but just saying, if you have been fluctuating between elation and despair, you are not alone. If despondency colours the breaking dawn, you are not alone. If a single ray of light (like a warm hello) dispels the despondency, you are not alone. If that hope is so fragile that a mere ill glance shatters it, you are not alone.

Maybe some people have been calm, centred, uplifted, and steady through this whole month. I have not. It is as if all the ups and downs of the past two years have been mashed together. No, this isn’t a call for sympathy or for help. It is a message of brotherhood to all who are experiencing the same. You are not alone.

Let's get on and create a new Beacon even better than before. I will not be leading it this time. We all will.

Lots of love and best wishes,

Marcus