Sarah, our Buddhafield Administrator, tells us about her role and why she works for Buddhafield.

How long have you worked for Buddhafield, and what do you do?

I started working for Buddhafield just about 18 months ago, so am fairly new to the team. My role is one of general administration and office work, with a focus on front of house and publicity. So, if you email or Facebook Buddhafield then you’re likely to get a response from me! I really love this part of the work – being in touch with so many diverse people and helping them with their bookings and enquiries. It gives me an enormous sense of satisfaction. When I’m at the Festival I often wonder who these people are – I know so many names from so many email conversations, but rarely get to put faces to those names. I sometimes wonder if I should wear a t-shirt with ‘I’m Sarah from the Buddhafield emails’ on the back, just so I can meet all the people who I’ve been in touch with over the year! So if you see me in the field, do say hello.

I also commission all the posters and flyers, which is a lovely part of the job and I get to work with really talented designers. I also work with a fantastic team of ‘Secret Agents’ who busily distribute our publicity material across the UK. I run our Facebook pages and our blog. Recently I’ve been working on a little slideshow video called ‘Nature Changes’ with artist Sophie Wake, which I really enjoyed – it was a chance to explore an element of Buddhafield through a slightly different approach to usual.

Why do you work for Buddhafield?

I work for Buddhafield because the Buddhist path has transformed my life, and I wanted to help other people to come into contact with it. Nature is the other big factor for me. I know that when I’m in nature, on the land, then everything feels ‘right’ for me. Even when it’s windy or rainy, there’s something about connection and joy and aliveness that I can’t deny. And so helping create this environment of simple, joyful community on the land, where people can connect with the teachings of the Buddha, is a precious thing. I feel deeply grateful to be able to work in this kind of context.

What is it like to work in a team of Buddhists?

The Buddhafield team have been really supportive of me, and that’s another thing I find about working here. It’s not like the corporate world of targets or performance drive, with the person themselves being overlooked. Though it’s busy, and there’s lots to do, there’s also a sense of deeper connection. The people I work with care about what’s going on for me, about my emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Often I’ll have a catch-up with someone, and we’ll begin with talking about our practice of meditation, or of ethics. We’ll talk about what we’re finding difficult in life and how we might be able to bring a more creative approach to that, moving beyond ourselves and into a more altruistic/open state of mind.

What Buddhafield events would you recommend?

Ah, well all of them of course!!!! As publicity person I couldn’t really say otherwise!

I think the Buddhafield Festival is such a joyful, crazy, creative explosion of loveliness, that everyone (Buddhist or otherwise) should try it at least once. But for me, last year a highlight was Green Earth Awakening Camp. It’s a much smaller and intimate event, and I loved the sense of community there. It seems to be a very precious space.

I also think that the Satipatthana Retreat is a fantastic one this year – all about mindfulness, and how we practice it in our day-to-day lives. Being in a beautiful setting and learning to be more present with our experience, to open our hearts and minds to a larger perspective… what could be better than that?