S3EP2: Jump Start

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 an I T.V. Studios/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

The Bassett Hound

Bert-On

The Baker of the Cornbread

Andy Pandy

The Mudder

Zason

St. Diane & You

Brother John

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

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, January 9, Two-Thousand and Twenty-New. Time...Finding

Theme – My Life is All F’d Up, and Still People Turn to Me for Counsel

I’ve always thought this was odd. There Is absolutely nothing about my life that indicates I have any kind of a practical, working knowledge of life. Yet, people come to me often for advice or insight. It’s so very fascinating.

Lesson – Tragedy + Time = Comedy

I’m not sure what kind of a Lesson this is. I heard a comedian mention it in his act. He wanted to tell a story involving his dad. He said it was an old story but he didn’t tell it for some time because it was actually quite troubling for his father. However, time had passed. I thought about it and he’s right. Lately, I have been listening to a lot of comedy stuff on satellite radio and I have heard all sorts of jokes about darker parts of life. I’ve heard at least two Hitler jokes and I’m pretty sure I even heard a Bill Cosby joke. But, I wonder what the larger life Lesson may be. Perhaps it is akin to Time Heals All Wounds. If, given enough time, tragedy can turn to comedy, then I imagine that, given enough time, hurt can turn to healing.

Observation – I Always Have What I Need Somewhere.

It’s true. It happens to me all the time. Oh, I need this? I have it over here. I need something to do that? I have something that might work over there. In fact, it happened to me Thursday. I needed something while I was at The Putter’s. I thought for a moment and I was like, “I bet I have something in The Cave that will work.” Sure enough, I did. If you want to get all existential about it – even groceries. When I need them, I have them – at the store. I just need to go get them. I wonder what the bigger Life Lesson might be. You hear it all the time in metaphysics/new age. What you need is out there. It exists. You just need to attract it to you. Could this be the moral of the Observation?**

The Post

The truth is I am starting this on Thursday night. I’m hoping that helps my writing process a bit. It certainly wasn’t my plan for the night but then when do my plans ever pan out.

It’s been a crazy week. Not intense. Not anything like the previous two, but definitely interesting.

I came into the week negative in funds. It wasn’t much at first but it grew a bit in the day. I did manage to make that money and rectify things despite my struggles that day. I was not feeling well on Monday at all. I can only assume it was the pressure in the air because I noticed I felt worse when I went up on the mountain. I put in as much of a work day as I could, but I did have to stop early because I just felt like crap.

The problem was I had begun the day with a negative amount in the bank and it got worse before the day was half over. It wasn’t unmanageable, so I made what I needed to in order to cover my ass and I moved on.

That seems to have been the pace for the whole of my week. Every day I have been butting right up against myself financially. It teeters back and forth between being negative and just barely being positive. In fact, I am looking at starting tomorrow negative as well. It’s just been that kind of a cycle.

Cuddlebug asked me why I was having such a tight week financially. It’s because I had a down week last week. I made less than I have in quite sometime. This is to be expected what with all of the Christmas shopping and Christmas wrapping and errand running to prepare for our Christmas. Plus I had an appointment to keep Thursday night and I stopped early Friday to get the Princesses so we could go grocery shopping and still have some time to do our Christmas without feeling rushed. And, of course, we dropped almost $200 on those groceries.

All week long I have been back and forth like this financially and my hours haven’t been much better. I made more money this week, but only slightly. I have dropped well below even my minimum Goal for a week. I will need to focus this coming week to get it back up.

This week was a lot of the same. I had things to do and to get done. So I worked every day except Sunday, but found myself done earlier than I probably should have been. I had slower days. These things happen. I’m not stressed about or upset. I’m not giving myself a hard time for not “Trying hard enough,” or, “doing more.” I should have expected as much. I can’t say that I saw it coming, but I’m not really surprised either. Look at the large transition that has happened in my life over the past two weeks.

One factor – moving into the apartment – and everything else shifted so drastically. So now I am trying to find my way through it all. I’m trying to find my place and my path amongst it all. Not only has my physical space changed but my routines have shifted…or are shifting.

So first, I had the move-in itself and that took several days. I moved things in over the course of a few days and then it took time to settle things into a place. There is already stuff here so I have had to shift just to accommodate my stuff. Along the way I was also getting ready for Christmas and for the Princesses to come for the first time.

I’ve also had the task of cleaning and re-organizing everything. This is a transient home. People come and go from here several times a year. They may be polite and tidy things but no one is really concerned about cleaning things. The Lil Boss comes between tenant sets and cleans but it is a quick clean that just makes it ready for the next group. And there’s honestly not always time for a clean in between. One show ends and the next day rehearsals start for the next show. One group out and one immediately in – except for twice a year when there is an extra week between shows.

One example is dishes. I have found dishes and pots and pans that were not cleaned properly to be put away. The silverware drawer was so chaotic I couldn’t see what I was pulling out. Everything was just all tossed in there on top of each other. So, I have been taking a bit of time here and there to work my way through all of the cabinets – cleaning it out, cleaning the stuff [if applicable], reorganizing. I’ve been doing little tweaks here and there to make the kitchen more fluid and functional. I actually did the bulk of it today. I emptied out all of the dishes and washed each one, including all of the silverware, and I have been putting it back piece by piece. It’s basically been an all day project and I still have quite a bit to do before I can consider myself done for the day. But, once it is done it is done. Even after I finish tonight I will have food cabinets to work through.

I’ve been tweaking other things to work. I brought in a table big enough for me and the girls to sit at. The one that was here was a small round café style table. I’m using it now for my computer set-up and it is barely big enough for that. So, I brought in one of my portable work tables. I found three really cool chairs along the side of the road one day and I brought those over for us. There were chair here but again these are more suited for us. I have been cycling through tables to hold the TV.

There’s been a lot of stupid little things to tweak and touch on as I go. No, I didn’t make nearly the money I should have over the past two weeks. I could have stayed out longer or different hours. I could have pushed myself a bit more. But I have been busy in my ‘off’ time. Cuddlebug got to really take notice of it this morning. I do not sit still long. Last night the girls were here and Cuddlebug had her boyfriend over. I made dinner then washed the dishes. I made a no bake cheesecake and hot chocolate and washed the dishes. We played a game and I sat at the table for a total of like 10 minutes. Other than that I was up taking care of things. Honestly, even while I’m writing this I have been up and down several times to do this or that. I even contemplated stopping for a bit and doing another task.

The moral of the story being that I am always working at something – always accomplishing just one more step. How can I feel bad or guilty about that? Especially when you consider that my finances were low yet I still made Just Enough to survive – until at least tomorrow. Then we’ll take it from there.

As I stated previously, my routines are taking shape as well. I have been slowly getting back into my devotions and ritual. That has been a beautiful feeling. I have missed it so very much. I am finding time to work on the blog. It has found it’s place, I believe. And, unlike previous attempts in that past three years, it is actually flowing. This is because I can actually settle into it and accommodate the flow. I’m not cramped in a vehicle or distracted by the presence of other people. I can simply just sit and write…comfortably.

My other routines are finding their place as well. Showers have been such a random thing for well over a year now. So, now I shower frequently. Sometimes it is in the morning. Sometimes it is at night. I think once each of these past weeks I have skipped a day. I figure what’s the harm. I had one stretch over the past year or so when I didn’t get a shower for 7 days. Life just didn’t allow for it. So if I skip a day from time to time now who cares? I do try to shower every day though but that is more because I try to shave every day and those two things just go together for me.

Part of my routine is getting myself together for the next day. Before I go to bed each night I make sure I have everything together that I can. I pull clothes out in advance – usually up to three or four days at a time. I fix my lunch and organize the things that need to go along for the day. I do everything I can to ensure that I can get up in the morning and just ease into my day - no rushing, no pushing, no stressing.

I’ve always been like that with big things. For example – vacations. I will start packing a week in advance. This allows me to slowly gather everything as I think of it. I have found that in the true nature of packing that once I have it all ready and together I can think of things I had forgotten. It may take a day or two but it always happens. Better to have it happen before I leave then to have it happen on the road.

I have learned in my life that if the day starts easy the whole day is easy. If the day starts stressed the whole day is stressed.

Come this Tuesday I will be at The Nest for three weeks. [The Number of Creation.] So, again, I can’t say I ‘saw’ it coming but I’m really not surprised. Three weeks of intense chaos and I find that things are settled [mostly] into place and I am free to just flow.

Also, we must consider, Fellow Travelers, that this is January – the Void of my year. I cannot get to attached to the results of anything in January. Nothing is definite. All things are pliable. All things exist and happen but nothing really has form or substance.

Add to that mix The Prophecy. Over Christmas weekend I had a zenitation which brought the words, “Three days. 30 Days. 60 Days.” Well, three days from then would have been last Tuesday. That was the really intense and crazy day. That was the day when I found the new shop and had such an intense conversation.

30 days would be January 28th. So I can’t really be attached to the experience until then. Something in that time should indicate how I’ve been doing and what happens next.

My dietary habits are slowly shifting as well. For instance, I have taken to drinking orange juice. This may sound like an odd accomplishment but seriously I haven’t had a place to keep orange juice in a very long time. I mean I was never really a big OJ person. We had it for a while in Olde Geistopia when the girls were younger but even then I didn’t drink it often. Now I have a place to keep it. So I bought it. I’ve bought it twice now. I don’t drink it every day but I do drink it when I crave it. I’ve even contemplated getting myself on a better water regiment. I really don’t drink that but now I have it here in bottle for the girls…so why not?

I am eating more regularly and more diversely. I’m having like real meals. I’m not only cooking dinners but I am cooking breakfasts. I’m eating more like an adult and less like a teenager.

Food in general is very interesting to me lately. I can’t, or maybe I shouldn’t, tell you how often I just stand and gaze into the refrigerator in awe of how much food is in there. I realize, of course, that it is still sparse in comparison to many homes but it is a lot for me. It’s also very different for me.

At Olde Geistopia I didn’t deal with the food unless there was something special the girls and I wanted to make. Big ‘D’ did all of the grocery shopping and stocking. She made the main meals. In the treehut I was limited to dry goods and things I could microwave. I had the same situation in the tent. At Hoagie’s we had just a dorm fridge between us. It was a decent sized dorm fridge and probable perfect for a bachelor. But we were two bachelors and he had a kid that came every week for dinner and every other weekend. So the choices were still limited. And, needless to say, in the Mattmobile and the Vantasm I was restricted to what I could buy – fast food and quick bites.

Here’s something fun from the weekend. On Sunday morning I was going through my FB memories as I do everyday – thinking back, remembering, seeing what is still applicable enough to share now. I stumbled upon one of the old WRML videos. I think it was something like 9 years old. The first clip of the video involved a young Princess Sunshine. This little girl was always so full of life and energy. So I cast it to the TV and had her and Cuddlebug watch it. This spawned a marathon of my old videos. Cuddlebug wanted to see more with them in. We spent the better part of the morning watching them together. Cuddlebug was more into it than Sunshine though she did come out and watch a few.

It was nice to look back on those times. I have truly loved every single minute with my daughters. It was even nicer to share those memories with them.

Now it is time to look ahead. This coming week is important, I think. It is going to be slightly challenging and also slightly different. I don’t get The Princesses until Saturday night, however they are staying until Monday morning. Also, The Theatre starts back up this week so I will have work Friday and Saturday nights.

I am starting the week behind. I do not yet know how that is going to impact me or what I am going to face each of the next few days. But with some focus, dedication and determination I should be able to get myself well grounded again before the end of the week. I can put in extra time or nights. I can be more flexible in my delivery area and tasks. I experimented a bit this weekend, going outside of my comfort zone quite a bit.

Honestly, the way things have been going I am interested in seeing just where one more week finds me.

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**

We will return to the use of Totems shortly.