Here We Go Again...

Hey, gang! Welcome to my life - where anything is possible and nothing is as it seems. I'm The Rev. Matt, and I'll be your host - coming at you from within The Depths of Geistopia.

Welcome to my Life is a project, an experiment in Life and ART. A living storyboard, if you will. Its premise is that life is experiential and that you can (and do) experience the life you choose. It is based on the use of The Wheel of Life and The ARTs for The New Millennium as life building tools.

Welcome to my Life is an I TV Studios/Geist...House production, in association with The Center for Creative Inspirationalism. 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

Andy Pandy

The Baker of the Cornbread

The White Rose

Professor Siggy Chong

Bert-On

Redds

Hoagie

The Van Man & General Ralph Glossop (May they R.I.P.)

Jojo Dancer

The Looch

Saint Diane…and You

My Salt N' Peppa

The Rhoads to Everywhere

The Socialite

The Unc-countant

Osteen, the Son

The Piz-Niffer

Dancing Queen

Downtown Encyclopedia Brown

Mama Rabbit

And, of course, a very generous sponsor who (not so much) wishes to remain anonymous.

It is Sunday, May 22, 2016. Time...Reviewing

Theme of the Week

If You Only Knew

Lesson of the Week

It's a Matter of Choice

Observation of the Week

Idle Hands ARE The Devil's Playground

ART of the Week

The ART of Storytelling

Totems -

 Panther - (Reclaim) Reclaim what is rightfully yours. What has been lost, stolen or broken will be replaced by something more beneficial. 

Hawk - (Guiding Vision) Spirit Vision and guardianship surround you. Be patient and observe. You will see the opportunities. Signs are clear.  

Crow -  (Magickal Help) Unexpected help with problems and obstacles is at hand to bring relief. Your magic is calling and it will be answered.

Raven - (Shapeshifting) Things are shapeshifting around you. There is an awakening of magick. Give it new expression and life will change for the better. 

Grackle - (Handle Emotions) Free emotions and anxieties. They have locked everything into limbo. Seek out help and advice to uncomplicate your life.

Dove - (Peace) A new cycle of opportunities is at hand.  They bring a time of peace and prophecy. Mourn and release what has passed for new birth. 

Cardinal - (Renewed Importance) Accept your life's importance. Accept yourself as a source of light and do not be afraid to conduct yourself accordingly. 

Cat - (Independence) Mystery and Magic is afoot, but you must find your own way of expressing it. Develop your ability to be more independent.

Wolf - (Guidance)Though not apparent yet, change is occurring. Trust in self to find your path. Take control. Protection surrounds you in journeys.

 From Animal Speak Pocket Guide, Ted Andrews, Dragonhawk Publishing, 2009

Stone(s) of the Week -

Unakite - 

to draw negative energies from the body and remove blockages from the heart chakra.

A good stone for someone with anger issues as it helps bring out the softer side of your personality.

Helps connect your everyday life and your spiritual life so you connected to the all that is even when life tries to keep you tied up in knots. This is exceptionally important in todays busy lives because the trials of just getting by can make you feel like you have been deserted by your higher power.

Helps you to move past the obstacles in your past that want to haunt and hold you back from being all you can be.

From <http://gemstone-dictionary.com/unakite.php>

So, this week is going to be slightly different than the past several. This week we are going to set the clocks back and re-visit [about] a year ago. 

As I was battling the daemon recently and puttering and muddling through my life, I noticed that certain things seemed familiar. Certain Themes. Certain energies. Certain moments. I started to think on this and before too long I was left with a group of what I had considered individual experiences - complete and whole on their own. Only now, they appeared to be all strung together. 

I never really saw them together in order but I did eventually find them all. So much of it goes back to my death…and that time I was slain. Then there are a few moments before all of that which may tie in here or there. There are also many moments afterwards as well…and those do tie in. 

For instance last year. 

Last year I started yet another series of video posts. This has been the cycle for some time now. I do nothing, Then suddenly inspiration and I am off. Before I know it I am buried under a [literal] week's worth of video (spanning several weeks of time.) I get some edited together and then….I stop. I get distracted. I get bored. I don't know what I get, but I stop. Videos left unfinished and unseen. 

Last year was but another cycle of this. 

Now, I haven't watched any of them since last year. Until recently. I wasn't sure what was going on last year, but I knew something had to have been happening. If for no other reason, because I videoed. That means there was something to capture. That's the only time I turn the camera on - when there is something to capture. Typically, it is the only time I am inspired to turn the camera on. It's when there is something that should be documented, recorded, remembered. I don't always know what it may be, but I know when it is happening. I actually make this a point early on in the first video. 

"I don't know why you're here."

I have to admit, watching it all a year later brings with it different perspectives. When I originally edited this video together it was just a few weeks after it was shot. I was still attached to the experience. A year later, not so much.  Perhaps my viewing experience now is more akin to what you may have.

In reviewing and re-posting these videos I am hoping to achieve two things. First, to set the stage for whatever is going on currently in my life. I see a connection. I just don't know what it is exactly. I am hoping to uncover it, for all of us, as we go through these next several weeks.

Second, I want to respond to some Feedback that I received from Redds quite some time ago. Whereas White Rose commented on 'The Sameness' of it all - the repeated cycles and conversations - Redds commented that, basically, there is a lot of dead space. "Perhaps," she suggested, "shorter videos."

She also mentioned that there seems to be a lot "private" moments or inside jokes. In particularly in my moments with Spirit. (I hope to clear some of those up along the way as well.)

As I explained to her after her comment - not all dead space is dead. Sometimes it is there for a reason. For example in this next set of videos, I play a CD. It is a compilation CD that I had put together a number of years ago. It tells a story. It tells the story of my 'Last Great Love.' So, in order to allow the viewer to follow the story I needed to make sure that at least some portion of each song made it to the video. Even if there was nothing else going on in the clip I needed to capture the song. 

However, there are places where things could be different. One example is the Shout-Out section of the first video. The list is way too long. Waaaaaaay too long. In fact, I believe I comment on this in a later video. When it is that painful to get through, that is when you need to comment and let me know. 

In one of the videos in Episode I, pt. 2 (which will be coming next week) I get on a creative streak with something. I set out to capture the process, how it develops and grows and happens. I did this. But, I also over did this. 

Typically, the videos are edited to fit the current television standard for an hour program. Perhaps an hour is too long under current conditions. However, in the beginning, with the original vision, it had purpose. Unfortunately, there are many parts of that vision that never really came to fruition. (Maybe they will moving forward…Maybe they won't.) Anyway, each episode is then divided into 3 segments, approx. 15-20 minutes each.

 I don't know that I ever intended, or even expected, that you folks would watch all three in one sitting. In fact, the whole idea was to split things up so you wouldn't have to just that. With Moments of Freedom I really wanted to try for each of the three videos be almost whole and complete on its own. But, each a part of a larger story. 

I also wanted to try to define some of the segments. So, with Moments of Freedom, I included title boards to tell you where you are and what is happening. I divide the program into segments [just as I do when I edit] from the prelude to the opening monologue to the closing and all the clips and stories in between. 

I took each of these segments then and associated them with particular editing effects, for future reference. However, with the loss of the computer last year and the inevitable software changes that happened with it, I do not have all of those video effects anymore. Sadly, the "recording camera" effect is one of these. I really liked that one and hopefully one day I can replace it. I think it adds a certain depth to the experience - across several levels. For instance, since it is primarily used with the random Clips, the effect can be used as a sort of guide or gauge as to where things are actually taking place in my day. There is a battery indicator in one of the corners and I would manually set it to try to indicate just how long into the program something is placed. (In the raw recording.)

But it also added that separation between clips and other segments of the program. I miss that. 

Another guide to following along with the videos is to follow the description as well. When I do the description section of the YouTube posted video I always try to break it down with key words or moments to help you find your place as you watch.

I had to go back and look at where I was in life at this time. I seemed so relaxed in the videos, so confident and so sure. I found myself curious as to what I was doing for work and income at the time. 

The answer is - I was collecting partial unemployment and working part-time for a retail merchandising company. So, at the time, I had any number of various things going on at one time. I remember this time last year being productive and active across the board. I was doing a little of something in each of the areas of my life. I was working, I was doing ministry things and seeing some clients, I was doing some crafting, I was starting to get things into order around Geistopia. 

And that is what becomes curious at this time in life. I'm in a similar situation right now. So much going on across the board. So much shifting and settling. The exact same experience and emphasis of paradigms. Only, this time, I don't have the work or the income. (Hmmm?)

I don't know what had happened that day. I only know that at some point it was time to turn the camera on…and this is the result of that.  

So without further ado, I present the re-boot of Moments of Freedom, Episode I, Part 1. (Commentary and explanations included.)

Here is the original commentary section for Moments of Freedom, Ep. 1, pt. 1-a:

 

In this Episode:

The Prelude - Setting the stage for the 3 videos (Or, a taste of things to come.)

The Intro - Same old. The Intro really says it all. New Shout-Outs

Theme, Lesson and Observation of the Week

The Opening Monologue - Telling you what you need to know[about the moment.]

The Body, Pt. 1 - For the Record, Senor Swanky; It's Been Crazy; Prophecy; The FB Post; Pink Floyd - wrong trip; Response 1; "This is a test"; Great Debt; The Polka Hour Begins

And here is the video:

And now for my side notes:

The Prelude is exactly as it was described - a slight sampling of what the night truly was for me. The thing to remember is that I turn the camera on and just go. There is not usually a script or guide of any kind - excepting an actual Sit-Down Post. So, I turn the camera on and just let it run, later taking from it what I can. 

The Intro is based on the usual intro, the very one you read at the beginning of this post. It has worn many faces over the years but the core of it has not changed. 

The Theme/Lesson/Observation of the week are based on points on The Wheel of Life. Whenever we are moving through life, doing this or accomplishing that, these are things that come along to help us and guide us. Little bouys of direction on the ocean of life, as it were. 

The Opening Monologue is fascinating, in particular in this video. It, just as most other segments, is taken from moments strewn here and there throughout the night. Little snippets I find here and there that seem to sum up the whole of the attitude of the journey. In this particular video, most of it is done at the end of the night. I actually take the time to sum up, the best I can, what I just went though…or as it comes across in the video, what I am about to go through. The thing to remember here is that I call it, "One of the most incredible nights of my life." 

The question is…why?

The Body is the meat of the moment. It is just me chit-chatting and doing my best to put things into perspective. A little dialogue from me to you. In this video I make a reference to Senor Swankypants (now known as The Looch.) He had an improvisation gig that night and I had said I would go. I had planned on going…and then the video happened. 

I also make reference to a 'Prophecy of Change.' I have not located it yet. When I heard this I became intrigued as to when it had come across. I have been searching journal entries, but to no avail.

'The Debt' mentioned captures my attention. If for no other reason than because it is something that deals with The Shaman…and I'm not sure it was ever tended to….or perhaps it is being done now.

And now on to pt. 1-b.

The original commentary:

In this Episode:

The Body, pt. 1 (con't.) - What's goin on?; General Response; More going on...and loving it; Release & Revelry; Is that a wood joke?; The Fiddle Man

1st Clip Seque - (To break up the monotony and fill in the gaps. These are little moments along the way.) Miscellaneous; All Dressed Up; The Lord's Name; CD 'Disclosure'

The Body, pt. 2 - New Albumin; Finding 'the CD'; Kickin' & Screamin'; Gettin' Serious (Yeah, right); 1st Confession; The Roller Coaster; 2nd Confession and a poem; Takin' it to 'The Man, or Kickin' & Screamin' pt 2; 3rd Confession; The Lesson of it all; The Three-Fold Song

2nd Clip Seque - St. Paddy's Day Redemption

In this part of the body I made a reference to The General. May he Rest in Peace. He is greatly missed and I know there are many more references to him and video directed towards him. 

The Clip Seque is pretty much as it is described. These are just little moments throughout the night that I use as filler and to show the many variations of my time of Freedom. Pay particular attention to the 'CD' Disclosure. For many years I made compilation CDs together, either for friends or just to capture a feeling. Many of them were part of a project to tell a story and over time I realized they are all telling part of that story. These CDs will come up a lot in My Life. Again, I talk about the CD after I had come through the experience of listening to it. 

In the body, pt 2 I make a big deal out of switching CDs. The Magic is in the Music after all, so the musical selection can be important for these moments. The rules are simple. I let Spirit pick the music and then I listen to it, from beginning to end. I get 1 (maybe 2) skips. This is where I can skip a song if it really isn't doing it for me.  

It was difficult to have this particular CD chosen for me. This is the story of my last great love. This is the last person to make my head spin and my heart race. (Well…there was one more, but that is a different story entirely.) This was the story of 'The Girl' - The 'Last' Time Stopper. I really did not feel like reliving it at that moment, despite, as I said, how I had been reliving it from time to time. This is the 'Kicking and Screaming' in the 2nd part of The Body.

Again, some of the clips that seem to be dead or be drug out are there to help tell the story. They are there, mostly, to give you as the viewer a fuller scope of what I was feeling when I created that CD. Also, some of those clips are demonstrating the variety of my life at any given moment. Pay attention to what I am doing…or not doing. 

And, finally, Moments of Freedom, Ep. 1, pt. 1-c:

The original commentary:

In this Episode:

The Sermon & The Rant

The Body, pt. 3 - Theme Song for my love life; Love the loves I had; All her; Anticipation of a need; Tracing the story; A Real Moment; The Curious Song; Starting the Bag; "Nasty Shit"; A message for Jo-Jo; The "unofficial" closing

'The Sermon & The Rant' is a good demonstration of what I struggle with. I do not necessarily have a problem with any particular religion. I just feel, sometimes, that practitioners in all religions…I don't even have a way to say it. It is something I should have patience with, something towards which I must show understanding and acceptance…but it is definitely something that troubles and frustrates me. [And, it's not any one particular religion. I see the same hate and discord and disrespect from practitioners in many religions.] I guess if I had to break it down I would say that the problem for me is that we tend to so strongly 'embrace' our beliefs that we blindly cause harm…all the while accusing everyone else of causing the harm. 

(Even that doesn't do it justice.)

But, rest assured, I am a follower of all faiths. I enjoy them all. I learn from them all. And, I revel in them all. Spirit can reach us in so many ways if we let it. 

'The Sermon & The Rant' is something I would cut out now. Or, at the very least cut back on. In fact, if it weren't for the story of the CD, there is a lot I would have cut from this part. 

The rest of The Body of this video is self-explanatory. 

For this video series I started adding 'previews' of what was to come next. The next video is Moments of Freedom, Episode 1, part 2. 

Next week we will look at the rest of this night. There was so much more to it than what happened here. It truly was a night unlike any other.  

From here in Geistopia, this is your beloved Rev wishing you Love, Light, Peace...and Freakishness, baby.

I would love to hear from you. Tell me what you think. Tell me what your experience of this is. Ask me the questions you ponder. You can email me. You can comment here. You can comment on any of the Facebook pages on which this gets posted. Feel free to reach out and communicate with me.

Rev. Matt can be found on Facebook on his pages - Rev. Matt or WTML. To schedule, or inquire about, a Reiki session, Tarot Reading, House Cleansing or Wedding services you can contact Rev. Matt at RevGeist@gmail.com