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!

At the end of this month I will somehow have five years of sobriety!  What a whirlwind it has been!  I feel like I have been and still am on a tour through all of the things Jessica needs to improve about herself.  What can I say?  When you spend the most important years of your life in a bottle you just don’t learn to do life, much less respond to it.
 
At this stage of the game, I know I have to find some financial security for myself.  I am making financial security priority number one.  I have been focusing my job search on higher education in Memphis and in the not too far away cities though there is a part of me that would like to be back on a coast.  I know that staying in Memphis would be the best decision financially, but I also know one should never put all of their eggs in one basket.  I am also looking at a few other career options outside of higher education…both in Memphis and outside of Memphis.
 
I guess it is just time to do some adulting.  I have five years of sobriety, but I still have trouble handling stress and it has changed the type of jobs I go after.  I often find myself comparing myself to a hurricane…. I definitely feel as though I am one.  I roar into the office in the morning, wreak havoc all day, then roar out in the evening to the gym.  To be frank, I pretty much do this everywhere I go.  I expend a lot of energy that could be used elsewhere.  Someone said I should try flipping my schedule – working out in the morning and doing yoga in the evening.  I don’t know… I have very unstable blood sugar so I am not sure how that would affect things, but I might try it once I land a new job.
 
One of the bigger elephants in the room is the fact that I cannot seem to find a way to be happy.  Every city I have lived in had something I hated about it.  Every church I have attended had something I hated about it.  Every job I have held had something I hated about it.  One could argue and possibly win the notion that everything I have ever been a part of had something wrong with it.  It has always been after I have left a place or an institution that I could really appreciate it for what it was and continues to be.  And so after five years of sobriety, I have to ask the question, is it me?  The answer is most likely yes.  So then what?  I guess I must get to the adulting.  Find a career I don’t mind doing that will pay me a living wage and afford me the time off I need to do the traveling I want to do and start enjoying life for what it is instead of what it could be. 
 
For some strange reason “Happy” always seems to be in the future with me, but the problem is if “Happy” is always in the future, then it is never in my present and I cannot experience it.  That whole life on life’s terms thing in AA is my lesson right now.  I have to do life on life’s terms, be grateful for what I do have and find a way to enjoy the blessings I have been given.  How this works out in my day-to-day hurricane lifestyle… I do not know, but this is to be my lesson for year five of sobriety!  I guess, in part, I just realize my age and realize that I am far more emotionally stable than I have ever been (I know it doesn’t sound like it) and I want to capitalize on the gratitude I do have and enjoy every experience I can.  To do this, I have to find a way to calm down and stop complaining!
 
I don’t know if I will be staying in Memphis or moving somewhere else, but I do know that I have my work cut out for me in the year ahead.  I am looking forward to getting back on my feet financially and I am looking forward to enjoying all of the new experiences this year will bring.

My, Oh My, Oh My, it has certainly been a tough go of things here in sunny Florida.  I recently had someone ask me “What is God trying to teach you?”  I was explaining the never-ending circle of masochistic doom that I seem to keep finding myself in.  The cities change, the regions change, the jobs change, but the circumstances always seem to be the same.  Why oh why do I keep ending up in a crap job at a crap company with crap pay?  How come no matter what I try to do, I always end up with the short end of the stick?  This is when this lady asked me “What do you think God is trying to teach you?”
 
Well, let’s see, my temper came to mind and I am really working on it these days.  In the latest installment of Jessica, The Beach and that book Live, Love, Lead I got a healthy kick in the arse about striving to live each day, in each circumstance, to all people as a witness of God’s love, compassion, mercy and strength.  I am actually making progress, for the most part.  I really got to a point where I had to ask myself how can I find some peace in all of my chaos and the answer for me was music.  I already start my day with yoga and an intention to enjoy my day, but now I have added “to be a good witness” to my daily intention.  After yoga, I enjoy a brief quiet time and/or worship time and then I am off to the races and I am usually racing hard as I am somehow always late to everything.  It is the one thing that is a constant in my life.  I just live on Island Time and I don’t know what else to say.  I went through the music I have been listening to and decided that I need to reconnect with my hippie – gypsy groove and added a bunch of music to my daily commute.  I picked music that makes me feel calm, happy, joyful and just plain groovy.  I find that it helps me to lessen my death grip on my stirring wheel and my life.   Why I keep such a tight grip on my life I don’t know – It’s not like I have helped it along or anything, which brings me to the second thing I am learning.
 
Sometimes it’s about what you learn from a shift in perspective.  I recently awoke in the night with the knowledge that I had to catch the Mosaic live stream the next day and so I did.  It had been a while since I was able to catch a live stream as I can only catch the 12 Noon or 5pm services with the three-hour time difference.  I was all excited to hear Erwin or Hank, but I soon found I would be hearing from a guy named Joe.  I was like what is this joker gonna tell me?  Where’s Erwin?  Where’s Hank? But as it would turn out, that Joker named Joe would speak into my life that day and change everything.  I have really been missing my LA friends lately and reminiscing about life in Los Angeles and even contemplating trying to go back even though for whatever reason God ripped me out of that city.  Joe said something that really rattled my cage.  He asked us if we had ever had a time in our lives where everything was just good?  A time where we were happy, doing well, but felt as if something was missing for some reason.  I was like yes – that would be my time in Los Angeles.  Anywho, Joe went on to drop some bombs in my world.  One being that the only way to live the satisfied life is to never be satisfied, to never be okay with being okay, to always want to experience more, create more, help more, etc.  His words were that if you are satisfied, then you should be dead because you have fulfilled your purpose on Earth!  Another bomb being that the satisfied life can actually keep us from living the extraordinary life because to live an extraordinary life, you must let go of the satisfied life.  Maybe that’s what is happening to me.  I could have stayed in LA and enjoyed my church, my friends, my fast-paced life and never had time to slow down and get some much needing healing, never had time to step onto a recovery ministry leadership team, never had time to learn some much needed lessons because I would have kept choosing my friends and outdoor adventures over the growth classes and Celebrate Recovery meetings.  One last bomb Mr. Joe the Joker (err Joe Smith) dropped was that God never gives step-by-step or turn-by-turn directions because He trusts that if we spend enough time with Him that we will turn when He tells us to turn.  I have experience with turning when God says turn – it is how I got to Los Angeles and it’s how I arrived in Jacksonville.  I guess I am just really hurting right now and desperately needing a new job and a community around me here in Jax, which brings me back to the beginning.  When this lady asked me “What is God trying to teach you?”’  It hit me that if I ever want to get out of this cycle of disdain and despair then I’d better learn the lesson quick so that pasture gate can open.  Otherwise, I will live out my life in the tiny bull pin God has me in forever waiting for the gate to open and wondering why it won’t. 
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, I am in the process of learning a lesson that has been 16 years in the making.  I am calming my butt down, finding meaning in the mundane and everyday existence, becoming that person that changes the thermostat in a positive way instead of a negative way and putting my focus on serving others, sharing love and kindness and being a more accurate witness of the God I claim to love so much.  It’s spring.  Everything is in bloom and I am too.

I turned 2 on August 26th.  I have officially been clean and sober for two years.  While I still have cravings and yearnings of times gone by, I can most certainly say that I do not have any desire to go back to the life I used to live.  I cannot even imagine being that person again.  When the cravings and yearnings come for that so called simpler time, I am immediately reminded of my inability to control my drinking and who that drinking made me become and the yearnings disappear. 

What seems like an easy answer is often times nothing of the sort.  More often than not, easy answers lead to even more trouble and don’t actually do anything to help one out.  The way I see it, the use of drugs and alcohol is a self-induced mirage.  Dude has a bad day, Dude goes to bar to blow off some steam, Dude forgets about how stressed out he is for a few hours, Dude crashes into bed, Dude wakes up and is stressed beyond belief all over again.  Another example of this self-induced mirage is a woman getting over a heart break by going to the clubs and getting smashed out of her mind and going home with someone she won’t even remember, she forgets everything for a few hours, but come morning she is sneaking out of an apartment and trying to figure out where she is and how to get home and the heartbreak and loneliness return a few minutes later.  Both scenarios are culturally accepted ways to deal with heartbreak and stress; the problem is that neither of them actually solves anything.  They are easy, temporary bandages that take us farther down the rabbit hole.  Only problem is that we don’t recognize our being in the hole until we find ourselves stuck at the bottom. 

We as a society love self-induced mirages.  We are all about distraction instead of answers.  Don’t get me wrong, it is good to take a break from life and get into a good movie or go out and dance the night away. The question at large is the intent behind these and other distraction actions.  Are you desperate for a distraction from feelings and thoughts you don’t want to feel or think or are you just allowing yourself a needed break?  There is a giant difference and unfortunately, you often need a clear heart and a clear mind to tell the difference between the two.

The real answers to our unwanted thoughts and feelings involve facing them head on, sitting with them, getting comfortable with them and learning how to accept them as a part of life.  Once we are no longer afraid of these feelings, their power lessens and we are able to navigate around them in a healthier way.   Many of the greats say that if you feel lonely – you should do something for someone else; if you feel alone – you should become a part of something of significance; if you feel not worthy – you should lift someone else up; if you feel heartbroken – you should find a way to help mend someone else’s heart.  The only distraction God has ordained is our focus on Him, his Goodness and His fierce love for each of us.  For it is by focusing on Him and the giving of ourselves to causes that provoke positive change in our world that we receive healing.  It all starts with a relationship with Jesus and a few good friends who are speaking truth into your life.  If you don’t have either of these, then I suggest starting that relationship and getting involved in a good church or faith-based community.  After this, I encourage finding a few more ways to connect.  If you like hiking – join a hiking group.  If you like painting – go to some painting classes to find others who enjoy your craft.  If you love animals – volunteer for a local shelter or rescue group.  In other words, get a grounding group of people around you, belong to a community and make sure you are involved in something that makes you come alive.  And lastly, when those unwanted thoughts and feelings rear their ugly heads, share them with your grounding group of friends and be willing to let them carry you through when needed.   

Happy Labor Day from a quiet cove in Malibu:

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!

In continuation from last month, I need to ask what does it mean to act like you are the answer to someone else’s prayer?  How do we break that down into bite size pieces that are small enough to apply to our lives?  I guess I can start by stating what it does not look like.  I know it does not look like complaining about the lack of or perceived lack of planning at my church or giving the worship leader the coldest shoulder I could muster this morning or coolly responding to someone who was just trying to make small talk before service.  What can I say?  I was having a moment. 

Anywho, when I think about what it means to act like I am the answer to someone else’s prayers, I am reminded of a short message given by the very person I spent all morning complaining about.  Coincidence?  I think not.  The message regarded Being Your Best For God and was the central theme of a production meeting held earlier this year.  In this meeting, our worship leader spoke about how God wants to work in us, with us and through us.  By working in us, God wants to challenge us to be on a continual path of improvement with ourselves, the responsibilities He has handed us and the people He places in our lives.  And yes, this includes, those pesky horn honkers on Wilshire, that co-worker who makes your skin crawl and that obnoxious new friend of your best friend.  Our end goal being, of course, to love our neighbors as ourselves just as Jesus demonstrated.   Once God is able to work in us, He can start working with us to build His Kingdom.  He has a role for each of us to play and has therefore, equipped each of us with a unique set of abilities and interests.  It is as we begin working with God that He is able to show Himself to others through us.  Instead of living in a world of me, we begin to live in a world of we and as a result we begin to treat others with kindness and respect.  We begin to change and so do the people around us ... in that they don't seem so bothersome anymore.  What's really happening is that  we have stopped being a part of the problem and started becoming a part of the solution.  

Yes, we are all still going to have our moments, but the goal is to have less “me moments” and more “we moments”.  More smiles, more kindness, more generosity: these are the ingredients of a much happier you and a much happier world.  So I end with asking what is God stirring up in you?  What is your first step?  Do you need to become more reliable?  Do you need to be more proactive with the responsibilities God has handed you?  Do you simply need to be more welcoming to the people that cross your path?  Whatever it is that God is stirring up in you, I challenge you to improve in that area and see what God does as a result.  One thing I do know is this:  He works in you to change you for the better so that He can work with you and through you to … well, answer prayers, yours included.