The Bass Coast Project

INTRODUCTION:

I am a 19-year-old male who is attempting to abstain from all sexual relations for the next year. After surviving the first month (I'm not masturbating either) it is safe to say I am beginning to realize what I have gotten myself into. I have shared a few of my experiences, successes and difficulties with close friends who have all come up with their own nick names and jokes as a response to my new-found initiative. However, one of my friends, Alex, has recently inspired me not only to document this new chapter in my life but also to blog about it so that he and others could share in this journey... and of coarse get a little kick out of it. So, without further ado I will dive into my relatively new world of Celibacy.

THE BASS COAST PROJECT:

For the last few weeks I have been living in Squamish, BC raising money for trips to France and Uganda that I plan on making before the end of 2009. Well, that's not exactly true. As much as I enjoy spending time with nature and painting an old friend's house, I really just needed to escape the temptations of Vancouver. I mean, now that I am attempting not to partake in any sexual activities for the next year, I felt as if I needed some time away to prepare myself for what is now becoming an extremely challenging shift in my life, and I had been doing very well. That was, until I got a phone call from one of my best friends Lucas. The call sounded something like this:

 

"Hey Buddy, how's your penis doing?" Lucas asked in his jokingly sarcastic voice.

 

(Both laugh)

 

"Not too bad, he's starting to get used to only peeing," I responded slyly.

 

"Aww, that's too bad," he shot back.

 

"Why is that?" I asked.

 

"Well, you remember what's coming up this weekend don't ya?" he chuckled.

 

I knew damn well what was coming up that weekend, The Bass Coast Project. A three-day cesspool of an outdoor music festival that would be featuring; alcohol, bare-chested women and of coarse very poor judgment. Oh, and it happened to be taking place less then 15 minutes from where I had been living and trying to avoid temptation for the previous two weeks.

 

"No," I said dryly.

 

"Come on, what's gotten in you?" he said in a disgruntled voice.

 

"I don't know, I've got no money man."

 

"Well, you know I'll spot you if that's actually the problem," he said confidently.

 

"Hmm... let me see what I can do" I said, knowing full well I would not.

 

"Ok man... well you’re going to be missing out on an epic event that will be remembered for decades to come," he laughed back.

 

"Alright, maybe I'll see you there," I said with a confused undertone.

 

"For your sake, I hope so," he said as we both hung up.

 

I spent the next few hours answering emails and doing my best to catch up on some reading I had fallen behind on. But, for some reason I couldn't shake Lucas's last words, "For you’re sake, I hope so". Was he right? Was I in some sort of trouble? Would my testicles explode if I were to continue suppressing and totally disregarding my natural human instincts? As I pondered these things the friend that I had been staying with and his girl friend returned from a road trip into Squamish town to pick up some groceries. Before I continue I would like to state that if it were not for my friend Aaron's girl friend, Phoenix, I probably wouldn't have actually stuck to this whole celibacy thing. She was the person who gave me the final bits of inspiration I needed to take on this immeasurably large challenge. In a nutshell, she explained how powerful semen is and then we further discussed how crazy it was that most young men were constantly giving away this source of power without even thinking about it. 

 

When they returned I immediately started questioning Phoenix about whether or not I should attend this event while Aaron would periodically shoot demoralizing statements my way like, "Man, shut up about celibacy" and "You should go have sex." Phoenix had been invited to The Bass Coast event to DJ on the last day of the festival but she wasn't going to be able to make it because she had already planed a trip out of the country. She told me that I couldn't avoid temptation forever and that I would have an unbelievable time if I went. She also added that it would be a good test. That night, before I went to sleep, as I stretched out in my bed I thought about this 'Bass Coast Project." What could be so bad about attending such an event? Phoenix was probably right, I couldn't avoid temptation forever and even if I didn't go to this event I was bound to end up in some sexually enticing environment at some point. As my eyes closed and my mind drifted into my mixture of past experiences and present desires I thought to myself "Bass Coast Project here I come".

 

Saturday morning I woke up around 10am and starting preparing myself for the adventures that were to ensue over the following day. I had decided that I didn't want to go to the event for the whole weekend for fear that my entire system might go into shock and start randomly ejaculating at inopportune moments. No, I would only go for one night and slowly ease myself back into the world of beautiful women dancing to good music. I spent the entire afternoon making sure I was caught up on all my work and that the house was clean. Around three o'clock I got dropped off near the festival and was picked up by a friend who was also picking up his girl friend and a few other stragglers who had bused from Vancouver. We made our way to the entrance and paid the mandatory fee to get in.

 

As we entered this magical paradise valley located at the base of several seemingly untouched mountain peaks I began to reevaluate my decision to attend such an event. It seemed no matter which way I looked there were beautiful bare-chested (and some times bare in other places too) women who seemed to be smiling back at me and dancing to what were presumably, rhythms perfectly designed to make their bodies shake, shiver and shimmy. I watched for an undefined amount of time as we drove past each new group of free spirits and soul searchers. Was I in the belly of the beast or the Garden of Eden? It was difficult to say.

 

As we drove on I began to realize that the sight of these female bodies elegantly moving to each new melody was not arousing me. For this first time I was free of the sexual tension that had plagued me throughout my teenage and even my preteen years. I felt free. I started to recognize that most of these women were not baring their skin to attract a late-night lover, they were simply freeing themselves of the clothes that society had labeled to market their beauty. And for this first time, I greeted their actions not with desire but with understanding and gratitude. They were no longer the prey and as such I was no longer the predator. I was free.

 

The night continued and I met many other souls who I began to openly express my new objective with. Many of the people who I told (that I was celibate) would react by laughing and mocking my decision asking questions like "How old are you?" and "Are you kidding?". I would answer each question that was asked with complete honesty and I found that somehow by the end of each conversation I had not only won another internal battle but that everybody I talked to would actually praise me for repenting from my sexual desires before our dialogue had ended.

 

By the time the event had ended on Sunday I felt as if I had reinforced my goal to remain celibate for the next year and I also felt as if I was a new man. Turns out The Bass Coast Project was more then 'a three-day cesspool of an outdoor music festival... featuring; alcohol, bare-chested women and of coarse very poor judgment'. In fact, I would say that there was barely any lack in judgment. All and all, I survived my first major test along this long hard journey that is celibacy. On second thoughts, it doesn't have to be 'long' or 'hard' and that's what makes it so fun.

In abstinence,

Celibacy Seb