Returning to ‘Insanity’

Hey Gang!

Welcome to my life…

Where anything is possible and nothing is as it seems. I’m Freedom and I’ll be your host, coming at you from within…

The Depths of Geistopiaaaaaaaaaa

Velcum to my Life ees a prochect, un experiment een Life unt ART, A liwing storyboard, if you vill. Eet’s premise ees zat you can, and do, experience za life you choose. Eet ees based on za Veel of Life unt za ARTs for za New Millennium as life building tools. Ya. Eet’s true.

Welcome to my Life is an ITV Studios/Geist…House production. JustUs Productions, the parent company, would like to give a ‘Shout-Out’ to the following for their ongoing, and oft times unknowing, inspiration and support:

Princess Cuddlebug

Princess Sunshine

Craze & Co.

The Shaman

The Pillar

The Entire Putt-Putt-Putter Clan

FaeriePrincess

G-Man

Berton

The Baker of the Cornbread

The VanMan (may he R.I.P.)

The Messengers of the Galactic Federation

Osteen, the Son

The WhiteRose

The Fallen Angel

Jojo Dancer

Senior Swankypants

The ‘Original’ Mr. Baggins (and His Wife)

The Socialite

Roxie Heart

Prince Charming

Sir Patrick Wylde

Redd

The Unnamed One

Saint Diane

The Ziatonic Antagonist

Otto

Pasturizer

The Piz-Nifer

Dancing Queen

Downtown Donny Brown

Mama Rabbit

And, of course, a very generous sponsor who pretends to want to be anonymous.

(*Semi-Legal mumbo-jumbo jargon fine print – my thoughts, my words. Bug off if you think you theivin’ them.*)

It is Sunday, October 13 2013. Time….Revealing.

Sooooo…I had last Sunday’s date wrong.

…………

…………

Soooo…why didn’t anyone tell me?? (sings.) Hello…is there anybody out there? Just nod if you can hear me…

(sings along.) Is there anyone home?

Dude, that was creepy.

That’s why you keep me around.

I thought it was because I just can’t get rid of you.

That too.

Yea, so, I totally f’d up the date. Nobody caught it. Or, no one gave a shit. I don’t know. But, allow me to introduce you to a long-lost, and almost forgotten, segment of ‘Welcome to my Life’…

Feedback

Feedback has always been my favorite part of WTML, and also, the one I get to play with the least. I have long said that this is actually the most vital part of the project and have strongly encouraged folks to leave comments, questions and the like.

Okay. I admit it. There was a bit of sarcasm involved there. But, seriously people…I’m dyin’ here…

Alright now…

Sorry.

Feedback

Feedback has always been my favorite part of WTML, and also, the one I get to play with the least. I have long said that this is actually the most vital part of the project and have strongly encouraged folks to leave comments, questions and the like.

I wanted to start with Feedback anyway this week. There are very many things that come to me from time to time – passing statements, vague comments – little things. I do not always take the time to comment on them. This is for various reasons. Sometimes I forget. Sometimes I get buried in other confusions and distractions. Sometimes it just opens worm cans that I’m not sure I can swallow at the time.

Nonetheless, one of these moments has been on my mind of late. I have wanted to get to it for some time. It’s just…All Things in Good Time, I suppose.

I had been visiting with The General some time ago. We were chit-chatting it up and I made some comment that, “Welcome to my Life is not just about me.”

And just very casually The General asked, “It’s not?”

The moment came and went very quickly, and even subtly. This is something I have noticed in people or conversations a few times over the course of the years. It is something that seems “lost in translation” and I just can’t quite put it across right I guess.

Absolutely not!!!

There would be no WTML if it were not for all of the other very wonderful and amazing people that have filled my life. They have been 1/2 the inspiration and an even greater part of the learning. It is the reason for the Shout-Outs. I can’t always explain and tell every story or even every detail. Not everyone wants to be recognizable on a blog. (Also the reason for the nicknames.) So, in the spirit of Give Credit Where Credit is Due, I settled for the Shout-Outs. The people on there have and do influence me greatly.

“For their ongoing, and oft time unknowing, inspiration and support.”

I have forever taken the Shout-Outs very seriously. It means if you find yourself there. It means nothing if you don’t. It’s just, again. life is as it is so quick and fleeting. I do try to keep the list as up-to-date as possible and review it as often as I can. So, don’t ever feel slighted. I am well aware of the influence of each and every one of you and I give thanks for it daily.

Quite frankly, you may be up there and not know it. There are a good number of people out there who do not know my nicknames for them. In fact, if you do not see yourself in the list, perhaps I just have not given you a nickname yet. Is somewhat of an ART, after all.

I have always wanted to include everyone in my life in ‘My Life.’ (shrugs and waves hands in confused exasperation.) It’s really…kinda…the whole point.

But as I say, getting active participation from those in my life in ‘My Life’ has always seemed a bit more challenging than I would have hoped. It has really kind of been the bane of my existence. And, the life of this project.

People do not like to be exposed. I respect that. I totally get it. It makes us vulnerable. It also makes it harder to ignore parts of ourselves we do not like. Things we are aware of but have not yet faced and foiled. You think this blog hasn’t come back to bite me in the ass…or at least try to? Many times it has happened. I am exposed. It is the nature of the project. If the project is to thrive then I must be exposed.

If I am exposed then I am out there – for things to come back at me. So, believe me I get how folks feel about it all. In fact, that is how the nicknames came to be in the first place. I have been blogging like this for a long time and in various forums. In writing, it is easy to hide a person’s identity. With nicknames if you don’t actually know the person then when you read you won’t know who they actually are.

In video form it is a bit more challenging to “hide” someone. So, in it’s video form it seems more difficult to get participation. And sometimes, with video, it is difficult to even ask permission to record.

I have tried to make do with this over the years. It is why you mostly just see me in the videos. But it is challenging and it frustrates me because I feel that you, as the follower, are really missing a certain…depth to the project.

You’re actually missing out on much more than that. In video form, there is a whole other face to this project that has never once been touched – but by me alone. Last season a newcomer had kind of brought attention to it, but it’s never really done anything.

There was always supposed to be a splattering of sketch comedy involved in the video project. Just a lil whimsical fun along the way. There have been many ideas over the years and, from time to time, I have pursued them in my own way. But, none was ever to come to pass. I think this is unfortunate.

But…it is what it is what it is what it is.

So, no. This project was never about just me.

Nothing I have ever done has been about just me.

(It just looks that way on top.)

A book by it’s cover and all of that.

So any hoot and a holler…it has been a very intense, and yet oh so vague, time lately. There has een a lot of activity and growth and struggle and victory. There has een a lot of shift and change and growth.

But, nothing has really changed. It is what it is what it has always been. Just more of it.

Work has been…null and void…for two weeks. There has been very little if anything at all. I’m quite certain that today was the most work I have had. Today I took Berton on an errand or two to NJ, which he did pay me for since it was business for him. So…I worked. Along the way I did stop and do one of my gigs. So…I worked again.

In the past two weeks, however, life seems to have come to order. At least a bit. The areas that I have occupied over the years are finally under control. They are not finished, but they are definitely under control.

The work shed has been brought up to speed. In fact, it is now officially the workshop. It’s been upgraded. It is organized and functional. It has become productive.

The basement has been sorted and organized. It too, has become functional and productive.

The attic has come a long way.

There is still much work to do in each of these areas but all of that can happen as it does. For now, it is all functional and organized and productive space. This is another example of it is what it is what it has always been. The same – just more. A long time ago this is how it was. The spaces are functioning now just as they had once before. Each with its purpose.

Today, that is all revisited but it is more space, more functionality, more…stuff going on.

And, it is here, we must determine what our definition of “work” is. This has forever been a struggle between me and others. I have always said that my life is my work. There is not a lot of separation between them.

This is especially noticeable as a minister and metaphysician. I live life from that mind-set. Not always successfully, but that is where I ‘m at. I see things in terms of Spirit and Divinity and Energy and Manifestations. I work with Chakras and Stones and herbs an Feng Shui type things on a daily basis.

It is the most natural occurrence in my life.

The basement is my place to ‘be’ that. It is now where my books and herbs and tools and references are stored and used. Even my altar is there. It is a workspace for me. And now it is a functional workspace.

The workshop. The workshop is dual-sided and multi-faceted. On one side is the crafting. Here I have tools and supplies and projects. Here I whittle away. I have been a craftsman for some time, though I have not always been a very productive one.

From time to time I will make something that gets sold at a show or y request. But, mostly, the craftsman in me has stayed alive all these years through Christmas. Each year I craft gifts for my family and some friends (usually their children.) This year will be no different. Except that this year I will be better prepared. This process has already begun. Plans are in the works and soon projects will be as well. Usually, I’m lucky if I have the ideas as early as Thanksgiving.

I have already crafted some things and made progress on others. This was just in the last week, all the while I was reorganizing every corner of my life. I am interested in seeing how much more productive I become as the weeks move onward.

I’ve actually been wanting to share some of that with all of you but I always find  myself just barely prepared to do so. That’s not quite enough for me. If you follow me on Facebook you may have seen a group of pictures posted recently, each labeled with a project number.

I think this is something I would like to expand on here. I want to post and introduce all of my ‘current’ projects and then share the progression of each as it happens. To do this, I first need the ‘Before’ pictures. I have some, but another project or two has come across my desk since they were taken.

I consider this work. I do not make a lot of many at it, but there is money to be made. But it is who I am and what I do – as a craftsman and an ARTist. It, like the metaphysical, feels right in my life. It happens of its own accord and seems to breathe its own life.

The other side of the workshop, the original side, is the one that is multi-functional. It is my chill space, my zen space. It is a place to hang, by myself or with others. It very often functions as an office for me. Sometimes I even do a bit of crafting – detailing and designing – sitting over there.

Of course, it is also the studio for ‘Welcome to my Life.’ ‘Welcome to my Life’ is part of my ministry, believe it or not. It also includes a touch of the ARTist in me. But then that is not surprising when you take into account that my ministry is based largely on the ARTs.

But, through its video format, ‘Welcome to my Life’ is also part of the JustUs Productions family of projects. The public side of JustUs Productions video may be all but defunct but it lives on through this project.

However, a slight little twist. JustUs Productions wasn’t always a video production company. It started as a theatrical production/event entertainment company. I kind of always hoped to resurrect this under the JustUs Productions umbrella. Again, in a way with it’s scripts and characters, ‘Welcome to my Life’ has kept this alive, just enough to be considered real.

Suddenly, all these areas of my life, each of these aspects of my being, has a place of its own in which to thrive and grow. I find myself feeling like the MattHatter once more.  Even with the work/income situation being in flux again I am not worried or put off by this. I feel more alive. My senses are keener and the world seems to ‘pop’ around me. I see potential and possibility. Even when life gets stifled there is something productive to be done.

I look around and I see myself at a place I have been trying to get to for almost 10 years. Due to what turned out to be a failed venture, 10 years ago I found my life quite topsy-turvy. And, try as I might, I as never able to quite straighten it out right. I would get a little bit here and then there would be something over there. But never before in these past 10 years have I looked around and thought, “Yea. I can do this. I’m ready. I’m able.”

For the first time in a while, over the past few weeks, I have been able to slow down and take it day by day. Each day has been very interesting since.

And, since I look around and see that my physical life has not changed over the years, I can only assume that the real changes, the true purpose of the past 10 years can be found on another level, a different plane. Perhaps that will be the focus of the next part of this project.

From here in Geistopia, for now and for always, I am your beloved Rev. wishing you…

Love

Light

Peace

and Freakishness.