I’ve been talking a lot about the recent journey I have been on, but I have good reason.  I’ve been thinking about it a lot because I find myself back at the start.  I returned home five years to the day I left and I am somehow right back at that starting point.  My creativity is flowing and my desire to return to LA is stronger than ever!  I feel like I have trampled my away around a gigantic circle and now I find myself where I started, completely unsure of what to do next.
 
I know I had to leave Los Angeles when I did in order to experience more personal growth and receive some much needed healing.  I am not saying in any way shape form or fashion that my decision to leave was wrong.  It was not.  The strange thing, that I am trying to digest and figure out what to do with, is after this five-year journey of growth, healing and transformation… I now find myself right back to where I was at the beginning.  Even though I did do the impossible last go around, in terms of moving across the country with a mountain of debt and my sheer will to succeed, I cannot do anything right now.  I am more strapped than I ever have been, closer to financial disaster than I ever have been and then there’s the whole car issue… Hercules might make it back to Los Angeles, but he cannot pass inspection and so I have to ask what was all of this for?  Why have I been plopped back down at the starting line?  And what the hell am I supposed to do about it?
 
I have been doing a lot of meditating as of late.  I’ve shared that I have always had some sight so to speak and I have been working on focusing that sight and one of the ways one maintains a clear channel is to meditate so one can quiet the chatter and hear the Voice that counts. 
 
You know how sometimes you just know something and don’t even know how you know it?  I have had that too lately.  Along with meditation, I have been doing a lot of praying and sometimes begging for clarity.  I have a list of things I am to accomplish for the end of 2017 and most of them don’t make since to me, but they are what came through while listening for that Voice that doesn’t belong to me.  That Voice told me that as I move forward, He would move me forward.  And I believe that has happened or is happening.  As I have stepped out in faith and completed some of these steps, new steps have appeared for the first half of 2018.  I will tell you this, the steps I am completing right now are easy; the steps for the first half of 2018 are not.  But I am willing.
 
I guess I say all of this to tell myself that if God is pouring into my life then He must have a reason.  As I sit here right now on the brink of financial ruin, wondering if either of my lifelines will come through in time and if I should even do what I am thinking of doing… I am just in one of those moments where I cannot see an inch in front of my face and nothing makes sense.  Why go through the spiritual journey just to end up defeated?  Why am I creatively coming back to life at a time when I cannot make anything happen much less fund any projects?  Why have I been brought back to the starting point?  I can’t answer any of these questions.  All I can do is complete each task on the list and keep on completing the tasks.  It is like I am experiencing that staircase Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about.  As I take one step, the next step appears out of nowhere.  I have often spoken about how I need to learn to live my life as if I am trekking up a mountain.  I never have any problem figuring out where to go when I am exploring… I let the spirit inside (who is mighty curious) guide me.  I never wonder if I should take this side trail or if I should duck under that rope and head down the cliff to enjoy an amazing view… I just do it.  I have literally hit a wall of rock on some of my explorations and you know what?  I scaled those walls.  I can say that some of the best trails I have ever been on were the trails we got lost on or encountered something we weren’t prepared for, but we figured it out and we always found a sweet reward in the form of a hidden pool or creek or view.  I don’t know why I can’t translate who I am on a trail to who I am in life.  Maybe that’s what I am beginning to do right now. Maybe what feels like utter defeat is actually my learning to treat life like one of the many trails I have explored.
 
I do still need an income though.  I have had some amazing opportunities slip through my finger tips because I am way too qualified or the person sitting across from me doesn’t understand why I want to work for their company after what I’ve done and where I’ve been!  That last part might be more of the reason…. I can say that I have started looking into avenues that I would have never looked into previously so who knows maybe one of them will work out before the burial begins.  I guess I just have to keep reminding myself that if God is pouring into me then He must have a reason.
 
Putting all of my life havoc aside, November is the month of Thanksgiving!  I personally strive to make gratitude a part of my daily life.  I wake up thanking God for bringing me back (because He did not have to) and I go to bed each night thanking God for His provision, His direction and His protection on my life and the lives of those I hold dear.  I used to struggle with insane amounts of depression and anxiety and I spent a great deal of my life in addiction with thoughts of suicide and actions of self-harm as a regular part of my life.  Gratitude and its daily practice is one of the many components that have taken me out of those lower vibrations of living.  I cannot even allow myself to feel those thoughts, those feelings, those vibrations…  If you don’t have a daily practice… I highly recommend you start one by buying a notebook or journal and taking some time each day to write down anything good in your life.  I have learned that no matter how bad my situation is… it can always get worse and I am thankful for all that God is keeping me from that I cannot see or have any consciousness of!  Another way to ward off pity parties, self-doubt and all around bad vibes is the careful use of music.  I am in love with a song called King of My Heart.  I particularly love the extended worship versions from institutions like Bethel Music.  I even listened to a 17-minute version the other night while walking because I was in such a bad head space over this financial entrapment I am currently walking through.  This version includes a spontaneous line of “You never fall off Your throne.”  I needed to hear it; I needed to be reminded of it.  There are other songs playing in my head right now, but their messages are not what I need to be hearing.  Sometimes you just have to turn certain messages off.
 
I hope everyone reading this has a lovely Thanksgiving.  If you don’t have anyone to share the day with – try inviting people over to your place, look for churches that host holiday gatherings (I know Mosaic in LA used to/might still do this), or try being of service with others by helping out at a soup kitchen or homeless shelter – Just don’t be alone.  The vibrations you will get from being alone are not worth it.  On the flip side, if you have holiday plans – be on the look out for those who might not have anywhere to go… No they will not tell you, but just try and be a little aware of those around you, be willing to invite people you know don’t have family in town or have recently lost family or don’t have good relationships for this time of the year… Be willing to spread a little cheer.
 
Happy Thanksgiving!

As I approach the end of this year, I am hopeful for many changes in the year to come. Namely, my job, my place of residence (I want my own pad!) and I really need to show some people currently in my life, the door.  Just because someone has a good heart, does not mean you have to keep that person around.  Good heart or not, if they drive you insane to the point that you want to set them on fire – perhaps you need to let their good heart be good to someone else. 

They say the only way to change where you are at, is to change the actions that got you there in the first place.  A lot of people like to use this line, but they never stop to think what it actually means.  It means going against your own grain, it means doing the exact opposite of whatever your instinct might be, it means not being you – at least that’s how it feels.  This uncomfortable existence of going against my own grain has been the bulk of my reality for 2013.  I am beginning to think that getting sober was the easy part in that all of things I was evading with the alcohol are coming to light in a succession similar to that of a hundred clowns exiting a Beetle.  It’s fast, it’s quick and it’s confusing.  Walking through this new circus, I feel like I am doing more damage in sobriety than I did while drinking.  The good news is that I am starting to have fleeting moments of feeling like myself again – albeit a different version of myself and I am hopeful for a complete resurrection in the year to come.  They say that as long as you stay in the program, things will get better and I am counting on this testimony from those who have already been here and done this and have moved on to a life they couldn’t even dream of having, yet they do.

I must apologize as this post is not well put together, but neither am I at the moment.  I actually thought about not even posting anything at all.  The only thing I can say is that whatever changes are flowing into my life – I am ready and I hope to be able to share them with you soon.  I am going to try to have a better plan for this blog next year, but I do still want my life and the lessons I learn to drive its direction.  Maybe that is the issue I am facing this month.  Maybe I am in the middle of a lesson right now and having not yet learned it, I cannot yet share its wisdom.

But I can share this morsel of truth: If there is one thing you do this holiday season, make it this – do something nice for someone else, hell, go a step further and do it anonymously and then do it again! You will be the one with the present in the end.  I don’t know much folks, but I do know this to be true: it is only by helping others, that we truly help ourselves. 

To you and yours… May you have a wonderfully Happy New Year!

And when the rain falls down

You know the flowers are gonna bloom

And when the hard times come

You know the teacher's in the room

Excerpt: MICHAEL FRANTI - HAVE A LITTLE FAITH LYRICS


To say this past month has been an emotional rollercoaster would be an understatement.  I stay very busy between job hunting, my internship and other projects I have on the burner, but my addiction has been making a very convincing play for my life.  I find that nights are the worst, which is when I would typically drink.  I am also in amazement at how quickly I am returning to the person I was ten years ago.  I thought I had evolved, but it turns out I was just drunk all this time.  Today happens to be a good day and by that I mean that the monster living somewhere inside me is asleep.  I see my addiction as this little green monster that stays locked up in a cell and from time to time he wakes up and throws a temper tantrum, which is when I crave like a crazed maniac.  I just have to remember that if I feed the monster, he will get bigger and eventually break out of the cell and destroy my body and my life.  But, if I do not feed the monster, his temper tantrum will eventually give way and he will give up and go back to sleep.  The key is to not feed him.

I recently read in 2 Corinthians that Paul talks about feeling as though the end is near, feeling as though there is no way out, but that his God continually rescues him.  This made me think about my own cravings because when they come, they come strong and hard and I feel as though I will die if I don’t drink.  It occurred to me that during these times I need to just talk to God about what I’m feeling and ask Him to handle that monster.  I find that sometimes, just talking to God about my cravings and the fear and depression that comes with them can help restore some of my sanity.  It also occurred to me that if I am having a craving when I have somewhere to be and feel too overwhelmed to go, I should make the decision to do nothing more than show up and tell God that He will have to handle the rest.   Just showing up, after all, is something I can handle regardless of my state of being and I have found that when I am honest with God, He tends to honor my weakness by adding His own touch to the situation whether it be a friendly person, an easy on ramp, a parking spot right in front of the door or a renewed mind and spirit, I find that He shows up when I do.  In fact, this entire post is an example of God honoring my weakness in that I honestly chose to sit at the computer even though I didn’t think I had anything to say for this month.

With holiday season nipping at our heels, it turns out this is a great time to post about reliance on God.  If you have a roof over your head, food on your table and people that love you then be THANKFUL for the gifts God has given you because these things we refer to as necessities really are nothing more than gifts from our Heavenly Father.  If you are lacking in one or all of these departments don’t feel bad or unworthy.  Instead, turn yourself over to God all day everyday, surrender to His will and ask for His plans for you.  I have no doubt that He will see you through not only this holiday season, but through the rest of your life as well.  Let me just put it this way, if He still has a plan for my self-sabotaging and addicted butt, then He has to have a plan for you too so talk to Him daily, get in His word and just keep showing up.  Do these things and let him do the leading and you will have peace in knowing you are exactly where you are meant to be in order for His plan to unfold in your life.