An Introduction to Welcome To My Life

 

Welcome to My Life is a project, an experiment in Life and ART. (A living story board, if you will.) Many years ago I discovered something that I found to be absolutely amazing. The Universe WORKS! It doesn’t matter who you are or what you believe, there is a natural flow to existence and it is constantly working…for you. The more I investigated this seemingly living force behind the process of life, the more I discovered just how wonderful, how fascinating and inspiring our lives truly are. I began to believe that life, as it naturally happens, could quite possibly make an interesting “reality show.” And by this I mean actual reality, not producer contrived drama and situations. I was inspired by the people (or characters) in my life. I was intrigued by the adventures that I was led on as I allowed myself to just follow the flow of this natural force. I was challenged by a friend to try it – to put it on film and see if it would take off. So, I did. Here I am 10 years later still trying to get it right. The project has taken many forms and has had many rebirths throughout the process. My hope is that this will be one of the last.

Originally the project was recorded on VHS and shared only with friends or a select group of people. I had done this to get some feedback, insight into what might make it better. Later, I found myself trying to reach out to a new audience – a wider audience. I wanted to use the internet but at that time I had no way to transfer the video footage to the net. So, instead, transformed it all into a blog on Xanga. Originally, the posts were daily (or semi-daily) entries. Soon those posts began to take the form of a script like version of what the former video segments had been. Eventually, I even added some characters – including the entertaining Dr. Hans Franz von Lichtenshteiner (doctor of metaphysical sciences and other strange things.)I did this for a little over a year.

Soon, my life began changing with a move here and a move there, new jobs and newborn daughters. The blog began to taper off. After some time I tried to revive the project online with my newly purchased editing software. At first it was touch and go and not a very steady output.

After some trial and error I decided to try YouTube in another attempt to gain a larger audience. This became a much easier medium to access, though post length is very limited (not that I think the limitations will be different here.)

But alas, things were still not perfected. I found that when I stopped writing and reverted back to “video mode” I had lost some of my audience. Some folks just preferred to read rather than watch. The question then is how to fix that. Perhaps this is my answer. I am going to use this blog spot (no pun intended…well maybe a lil one) to bring the two together. I can post my weekly videos, which most likely will be broken down into 10 minute segments and I can also blog as the whim strikes.

That is the first part of the project – to present a “reality” type show. It follows my life in its day to day routine. The full cast of characters has yet to reveal itself. One thing you can be sure of is that my two daughters (Makayla – 5 and Nyssa – 6) will be making frequent appearances. These two lovely ladies not only enjoy helping daddy with his project but they both have such wonderful personalities and take naturally to the camera. The whole premise is “from beginning to end.” I have someplace I wish to go, something to achieve. The question is, “can I do it?”

Enter the second part of the project. The whole is experiment is based on philosophies I discovered on the path to where I am. So the second part of the project is to demonstrate these practices. The first is The Wheel of Life. This is a path working tool. The premise is that by using this system one will find it easier to achieve goals and navigate through life. The Wheel of Life looks much like a compass. (Compass…navigate…hmmmm.) It has 4 major spokes or Keystones – Goals, Themes, Principles and Observations – and, 4 minor spokes or Cornerstones – Intent, Lessons, Resources, and Commitment. (Lately, it seems I am struggling with commitment.)

The second demonstration is The ARTs for the New Millennium. This is a system based on the ancient eastern philosophy of the 64 ARTs. It was said that those who mastered the 64 ARTs were spiritual, or life, masters. The ARTs for the New Millennium is an adaptation of this system. (The 64 ARTs was an out-dated list.) The idea is that all of the ARTs have things to teach us – practical insights and disciplines that can be applied to daily life. Most of the ARTs on the list you would be familiar with, such as, singing, dancing, writing, etc. But the list gets more in depth than that. Merriam-Webster online defines ART as a skill acquired by experience, study or observation. Almost anything can be an ART really. And, every ART has something we can learn from.

Finally, in a dedication to the ARTS and ARTists of all kinds I wish for Welcome to my Life to be a springboard for creativity – my own and others’. One way to accomplish this is to allow others to express their creativity through Welcome to my Life, whether they be actors, writers, filmmakers or whatever.

Another way, which has always been part of the vision, is to take the camera places - restaurants, shows, festivals, etc – and show off the ARTists that are. Or, to select individuals to interview – to have them share with us their ART in depth.

These last two parts of the project have always eluded me. Let’s see if this time around we can see them develop.