S12EP7: Yultide Quest - It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Xmas

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 Geistopia. 

DOC: Velcum To My Life ees a prochect, un experiment in Life unt ART. A living storyboard, if you will. Its premise ees zat life ees experiential, unt zat you can, unt do, experience ze life you choose. It ees based on Ze Veel of Life unt Ze ARTs for Ze New Millennium as life building tools. Ja, it’s true! 

WALT: Welcome to my Life is a Geist…House Players 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

Company

The Shaman

The Pillar

F’n Bob

The Entire Putt-Putt-Putter Clan

The Warden

FaeriePrincess

Professor Siggy Chong

Sparky Wentz-eclaus

The VanMan and General Ralph Glossop, and Craze (may they R.I.P.)

The Messengers of The Galactic Federation

 Looch

BJ & The Bull

Bert-On

The Baker of the Cornbread

Andy Pandy

The Mudder

Zason

St. Diane & You (4)

Brother John & Sister Jen

The Bee Man

Spooky Queen

Boom-Boom Snuffbox

The Nameless One

Tim-Bo

The Cousins

The Rox

PDT

Sir Richard Slouch

The Wix-ians

The Socialite

The Village of Idiots

Piz-Niffer

Dancing Queen

Downtown Encyclopedia Brown

Chicken Witch

Dick Pointer

Soup, the Son

The Legendary Pink Elephants

Baby-Mama Rabbit

Wisconsin Belle

The Babes

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

It is…Sunday, December 24, Two-Thousand and Twenty-Free. Time...Returning

Theme – Take Care of the Shop

Lesson – Let it Play Through

Observation – Every Act is an Act of Magick

The Post

Thursday, December 21, 2023; 2032

Today is the Solstice. Yule has officially begun. So far it seems as though this could be the strangest Yule in over 20 years.

If you have been following along, Fellow Travelers, you may know that I have been stressing the whole Yule experience. It is, without a doubt, my favorite magicks of the year. I look forward to these two weeks all year long.

This year, I just was not ready for them.

As long as the tradition will hold, now that I am in The Homestead, I host Christmas Eve dinner. I have forever had Christmas Eve with The Princesses. Also, Christmas Eve has always seemed to be a big deal in Geistopia. Nonetheless, I have been trying to get dinner together – food, drinks, desserts, utensils.

This is really my first official Christmas ever. 2 years ago I had a small Christmas like vibe going on at The Nest. Last year, we had a bit of a Christmas thing going on here, including dinner. But, this is the first year I had the potential for a full-on Christmas.

This was the first year ever I have had a full sized tree to decorate. In fact, I ended up with 2. We have lights and stockings and all sorts of little things hanging about. We even have a train around the tree. It has been a process figuring it all out. Some of it just got done in the past few days.

Also, for the first time ever, I am able to bake Christmas cookies. Big ‘D’ is kinda famous for her cookies – in particular her cut outs. This is a fine art that many have tried to copy and all but one have failed. I had to get her recipes and shop and also get some her tools such as the mixer.

However, my ‘regular’ life has been very strained lately. For whatever reason, this month has been very challenging financially. [More so than most.] It’s just been terrible. There are quite a few things I should have done this month that just did not get done. With the strain on the finances, I have not had money to get anything for anyone.

Likewise, because I have been straining to make the money, as well as get things together and ready for Christmas Eve, I have not had time to craft anything. Typically I would make ornaments and/or gifts for everyone.

Basically, this year I have nothing for anyone. This is why I have been pushing so hard to make the most of Sunday night.

I have been wanting to write for the past few days. This week has been moving along so strangely.

Monday, the plan was to get up and work the morning and lunch. Then, I was coming home to bake the Christmas Cookies with Cuddlebug. That’s not how the day went.

Friday, December 22, 2023; 0530

I ran out of steam last night. I just couldn’t anymore. So, anyway…

That was the plan on Monday. That is not how Monday went.

I got up and headed into my day as usual. I packed lunch and the whole shebang. But, as the morning ticked on something in me began to shift. Every time I would stand up and move towards leaving, I just couldn’t seem to do it. Now, I live my life off of feeling. Like, I mean, I could feel it within my body and soul. It’s like something was stopping me. I’ve been living this life long enough to know that feeling. Eventually I would just give in and stay home.

I realize this does not seem the responsible, nor practical, thing to do. But when has my life ever been that? Things got done.

I started the cleaning. The house was due for a cleaning – spiritually speaking. But, also, it needs to be cleaned for Christmas Eve. So, I started that process. I didn’t do any floors. But I did start the cleaning. This of course included straightening things up. I got dishes and laundry done, some things found their homes, etc.

I also decided to bake the chocolate chip cookies so that Cuddlebug and I could focus solely on the cut-outs. The cut-outs are the ones that need the magick. I am so glad I got the other cookies done. Big ‘D’ was laughing and cheering when I returned her mixer because I told her that I have a whole new level of respect for her. [She made more of a dramatic moment out of that than was necessary but that may be a tale for another time.] Anyway, those cookies kicked my ass. That is a lot of standing and rolling.

Something else came of this sudden “day off.” Part of straightening things up included the pile of papers on my desk. Actually, it was 3 piles that just looked like 1. It was old mail, new mail, receipts, things to be filed, and so on. In that pile I found a gift card.

Now, I knew this card was coming I had just forgotten about it. I received it as part of my package for switching mobile carriers. It was for $100. This is interesting in a couple of ways. First, that made up some money for not being out on the road. But more interesting is something else.

I don’t know if I commented on it in the previous posts or not, but for a few weeks now I have been feeling like there was money coming. I could feel it deep in my soul. It is why I was so willing to play the lottery the way I have lately. I could feel it. It got to be such a strong feeling that I had commented it felt as though I already had it.

I did. It was right under my nose the whole time.

That gift card has gotten me 2 rounds of gas and my small grocery list from the Club Store – my case of soda, a 2 pack of bread and paper towels. I’ve been wanting to get paper towels there for months. But, every time we needed paper towels all I could think was that I couldn’t spend $20 just for paper towels. It wasn’t in my budget for the week. However, I thought about it and decided that if I didn’t do it then that when the time came for paper towels I would once again say I couldn’t spend $20 just on paper towels. This was not going to impact my own finances for the week in anyway.

Monday was a good day.

Tuesday was a bit rougher. I had one of my pressure headaches [since I don’t know what else to call them.] My weather headaches? They come only on occasion and seem to match the weather in some way. Anyway, it was killing me but I muddled though my day anyway.

I dropped off Big ‘D’s stuff and chatted for a bit. Then I ran for gas and those groceries. I think I ended up napping 2-3 times throughout the day because the pressure was just so intense in my head. When I get those headaches they start to spread through my body and soon the whole thing is aching.

Wednesday was The Day Before Yule and my official start of such. Wednesday was different.

I set out in the day stressed over how much money it seemed I was going to have to make each day just to scrape by. It was kind of unfathomable. I had no idea how I was going to manage all of the large bills for the week – most especially rent. Still, I set out with a positive attitude.

The day was average at best. Still, I was feeling good. At some point in the morning I had posted on the WTML Facebook page, “Let the Yultide Games begin.”

Suddenly my day began to shift.

First, I looked at possibility and potential. I reached out to Brother John and made the arrangement to pay half of this week’s rent on Sunday and include the other half next week. My next 2 weeks are financially light. Rent is my biggest obligation each week. [Followed closely by gas lol.] So, I will have an opportunity to kind of bounce back and get myself grounded again.

By the end of lunch I still had a decent amount of money to make – not impossible but not guaranteed either. Then it happened. I was on my way to make a delivery for one app when I got a Wally World delivery. Now these have been touch and go of late. I never really know if it is going to work out.

The offer came through as a pre-offer. One of those offers that goes to multiple drivers at once. Then if no one takes it the closest available will get the official offer. When it comes as a pre-offer you have to be quick. All I saw was $195 and my thumb started pressing. I didn’t even fully read the offer before I started pressing.

That offer made my night.

And now I need to stop writing so I can get out on the road today.

Saturday, December 23, 2023; 0527

Oy Vay! What a yesterday.

I know when I was writing yesterday I had things to say about Thursday. I know I did. I can’t tell you what those things were. I can’t recall a single thing about Thursday. I know it happened. I’m looking at my hours tracker and my day ended so early and I’m not certain why that was. [Slowly things are coming back to me.]

The afternoon was moving slower. I decided to do some running and get some things for tomorrow night. On my way to my one stop, I noticed extremely heavy traffic and thought, “Don’t come back this way.” While at my last stop I got an offer. It had me going back in the direction that I just said not to go. There was another way though. Except that road was closed. The offer wasn’t enough to sit through an extra 10-15 minutes of traffic. I headed home.

I got back home just in time to let the kids get out of the driveway. It is hard to get out of this driveway more often than not. So, since I couldn’t pull in the drive until the left it, I ended up stopping traffic for them in at least one direction.

Anyway, I did have refrigerated groceries to put away and from there I just went into Yule mode. I lit candles and incense and saged the house. This probably why I can’t remember much. I do tend to zone out on Holi-Days. Especially the one coming up.

There is another reason I cannot remember much of Thursday – yesterday.

When I left The Homestead yesterday I headed straight for The Mechanic. I just wanted to touch base with him and let him know that several of the problems were back. He had me pull it over to a bay and he checked some things out – pulled some fuses and looked at them, hooked the Rocket up to his monitor. There was nothing out of the ordinary for my car. Nothing pressing nor imperative. We agreed we would see how she ran through the weekend and maybe take a closer look next week. [I kept trying to convince him to just let it go until after the new year.] So, I got in The Rocket and went to leave.

I had no steering.

It was the most confusing thing. Nonetheless, we got The Rocket into a bay. The Mechanic fiddled around and cleaned this and that. The steering came back. 10 minutes later, as I pulled into my usual waiting lot, it went out again. Then it came back.

This is how my day would go. The power steering would just randomly shut off. Sometimes it would come back on its own in a short enough time. Other times, I would have to find a place to pull over and turn the car off and sit. The it would work when I started the car again. Sometimes it would be almost impossible to steer at all. Other times it would just get more difficult but was manageable.

This just had my head in a cloud all day.

I’m not upset nor stressed. It is what it is.

However, I need to go out and work today. I need to make quite a bit of money minimum. ($175) That will just balance me out for the week. So, if I can get through today, I do have the option of not going out at all tomorrow.

My issue is that I have my mind set on what I want to do for everyone for Christmas. I also know what it is going to cost me. It’s more than I can make on Sunday. I can tell you that. If I could put in a whole day, sure. But I can’t. So, I’m coming in short one way or the other. The question is – how short? I would like to be able to make close to $100 tomorrow. But anything would be good.

Of course, there is always the potential for me to recoup some of my expense through my Christmas “present” to everyone. If I didn’t write it previously, I am doing lottery tickets for everyone. This has been a whole thought process. Lottery tickets are really such a shit way to do things. Maybe someone wins.

After much debate and deliberation, I have come up with a plan that should get everyone at least a little something. First, I’m buying Powerball tickets for everyone for the Christmas Day drawing. Who knows?

Then, I am getting everyone scratch off tickets as well. Last year I did this and everybody got one ticket. I happen to have the one winner. I didn’t like this thought – just one winner. It’s like, “Here, Merry Christmas to you and fuck everyone else.”

Originally I was going to get everyone 1 $30 ticket. Out of 6 tickets there should be at least one winner. This would set me back $180. But, again, just 1 winner. I thought maybe I could suggest that if the winnings were a splitable amount, then everyone could just take a portion.

I’ve given it more thought. It seems awkward to ask people to split winning under such circumstances. I think it’s fair and there’s nothing wrong with it but it’s a lil awkward. So, I thought on it some more. The new plan is to get everyone [including myself] 5 $5 tickets. Every batch of 5 should find at least 1 winner. [There is always for potential for 1 stack to have none, but equal potential for 1 stack to have 2.] Basically, there should be 5-7 winners in all those tickets, with prizes ranging from $5 to $200,000. [One can dream. Even that would be $15,000 - $20,000 each after taxes.]

I figure this way, if the prizes are all smaller amounts, everyone still walks away with something. If we get 1 or 2 larger amounts then everyone walks away with something a lil more.

But…this venture is going to cost me $162.

All I can do is see how the day goes.

And now it is Tuesday morning. The last 48 hours have been intense. However, I can no longer write backwards. If I reach Tuesday morning and things are not finished, then that is what you get.  But do not fret, Fellow Travelers, I will finish the stories…somewhere.

If you’re not already there, go to the Welcome to my Life Facebook page – WTML. Or the YouTube channel – WelcomeToMyLife08. You can also find me on Facebook under Rev. Matt.

Wherever you are and whenever you are – Like, Comment, and Share – we’re on a Journey and it takes you to get there.

So, without hesitation, for now and for always, from here in Geistopia, this is your beloved Rev…

WALT: And Walt…

DOC:  Unt Doc…

JOHNNY: Aaaaand Johnny…

And those guys, saying, “Stay Tuned-In, Fellow Travelers,” and wishing you Peace, Love, Light…

WALT: And Freakishness, Baby.

The Totems & Archetypes

from Ted Andrews’ Animal Speak

Deer – Gentleness and Innocence – Gentle Luring to New Adventures

They have been able to adapt to every sort of habitat. Buddha is often pictured with a deer. Antlers are symbols of antennae, connections to higher forms of attunement. Look for new perceptions and degrees of perceptions to expand for as much as the next five years. Can indicate that there will be opportunities to stimulate gentle new growth increasingly over the next few years. Leads us back to the primal wisdom. A deer’s senses are very acute. Find increasing ability to detect subtle movements and appearances. Begin to hear what may not be said directly. Time to be gentle with yourself and others. A new innocence and freshness is about to be awakened or born. There is going to be a gentle, enticing lure of new adventures. Are you trying to force things? Are others? Are you being too critical and uncaring of yourself? An opportunity to express gentle love that will open new doors to adventure for you.

Mouse - Attention to Detail. 

It is either time to pay attention to details, or an indication that you cannot see the forest for the trees. You may be getting so locked into details that you forget the big picture. Are you taking care of the trivial, yet necessary, things of life? Are you getting so lost in big dreams that you are neglecting other aspects of your life? Are you becoming so focused on one or two activities that you are neglecting other opportunities? Are you missing what is right in front of you? Is there something obvious that you are missing or need to focus on? Are you trying to do too many things at once and therefore scattering your energies? Mouse can show how to pay attention to detail; how to attain the big things by working on the little things. Lessons associated with attention.