S3EP7: Shish-Boom-BAM!!

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

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, February 20, Two-Thousand and Twenty-New. Time...Archipelago…ish.

Theme – The Mind Must be Mastered

It is our mind, our way of thinking that interferes with our progress. Mastering the mind Is not about making it do what you want as much as it is letting it do what it wants [in a controlled manner.] We can not avoid pain or hurt or fear or doubt. These are natural occurrences. We must let them happen and let them flow naturally. But we cannot let them dominate, take over, take root. Acknowledge them and let them pass.

Lesson – Let Go & Let G-d

This is actually an old one. It is on the draft I use to do these posts and I generally just change it each week. But, as you will read later on, I think it is important to remember this week.

Observation – I am no Longer a Participant, but an Observer

I think, eventually, in life we all reach this stage. We come to a point in our lives when other people are ‘doing’ and we are there watching, guiding, observing. It’s not that we don’t have lives or do things. I think a good way to get perspective on this is to look at The Princesses. They are building their own lives now – planning futures. At this stage, their lives are based less on what I do and more on what they do. So – they are doing and I am here as more of a guide. Even with The Theatre. They are doing and I am there but I am not really participating in the activities. I am more on the sidelines – observing.

The Post

Holy What-A-Week, MattMan!!

Quite honestly, I am having some difficulty remembering the beginning of the week. Monday was fairly routine. As was Tuesday. I got up, got ready, and headed out into the world for the day. I worked. I came home. I can’t think of anything, in particular, that stands out.

Situation Normal.

Wednesday would be the Full Moon and that seems to be when the fun began – though the party didn’t get started until Thursday. I got up and out the door early on Wednesday. I knew that I was cutting the day short at 1400, so I wanted to get a little extra in at breakfast if I could.

Breakfast itself was ok. Nothing to write home about, for sure. By 1000 I was stopped and I decided to hit the laundromat. I started the wash cycle and hit The Vantasm for one of my little naps. When that was over, and I had my senses back about me, I threw it into the dryer. This was almost an hour later and right at the very beginning of the lunch ‘shift.’ Now, there are many times when I do not get a ding until closer to 1130, and most of the time, when I do get dings, they keep me in the same general vicinity. I figured, one way or the other, I was covered. Even if it meant popping back into the laundromat for three minutes between pickups and/or deliveries.

It was a crazy lunch. Once it started [at about 1100] it was non-stop until 1400. The flow of work that day took me all over the place. My last two orders took me to opposite sides of The Valley. Consequently, my laundry sat in the dryer for three hours. I was a little stressed over that lunch. I made the money I wanted to make that day, but I didn’t like letting my laundry just sit that long. [Plus, those last two orders really put a crunch on me.]

I had things I wanted to do that afternoon, which is why I had planned an early ending. I swung by The Cave to grab a few things and that resulted, of course, in a stop by The Putter’s. I was there a bit longer than I had intended, but no harm no foul.

I had wanted to wash and clean The Vantasm but I figured that could be put on hold. So, my first stop was to hit the grocery store. Over an hour later [and $150] I was on my way back to The Nest. My original Goal was to get in a ritual bath since it was the Full Moon. I also had wanted to clean The Nest that night since we were having company for dinner on Saturday. However, it took me a little over three hours to get the groceries and the laundry put away, plus tidy up in order to clean. After that, I had about another hour’s worth of paperwork to do before my day could officially end.

I decided the cleaning could be put off until Saturday morning and The Princesses could help me. As for the ritual bath, I made sure I was up early enough on Thursday morning to get one in [and still have it count.] I felt so super-charged that morning. I felt strong and powerful and ready to conquer the world. I have video somewhere that I was working on. I remember commenting that I just felt there was something special about this Full Moon cycle.

I headed off into my day and again it was an abundant day. Over my afternoon break I went back to The Putter’s to return something I had borrowed. Sparky was there and so my afternoon took a little twist. I had planned on going back out on the road to work for dinner. However, there were a few beers involved.

I wasn’t drunk. I can’t even say I was very buzzed, but my edges were rounded. [Honestly, I had 4 beers in about as many hours, so I wasn’t drinking hard.] I was mellow. It was just enough to leave me OK to drive but I wasn’t sure I should try driving for work. It’s a very different mindset driving for work than it is just driving home. The work becomes a lot of driving and requires a very focused mind. You get what I’m saying.

I thought about it. I tossed it back and forth in my mind. But, in the end, I thought it best to head home. I decided I would take the bypass. I don’t really like driving on it at all, let alone during evening rush hour, but the other way gets extremely backed up and it would certainly take longer.

I was driving along doing my thing. In fact, I was doing a quick update video. Letting the ‘audience’ know how my day had been progressing. I’ve watched one part of that video a few times to see just where my head was at the time.

Traffic was moving along fairly casually. I cannot recall any moments of panic when I might be too close to someone in front of me or feeling the need to step on the brake. That’s why I had gone back to watch the video. As far as I could recall I was moving along just fine. It was all fairly Situation Normal.

Then, all of a sudden, BAM! Someone had hit me from behind. Not just hit. Slammed into me. The picture does not even do justice to the damage. It’s bad. I got out of The Vantasm, surveyed the damage, and saw that the car that hit me was in the middle of the bypass. The front end was smasked and fluids were just running from it like a waterfall.

My actual first reaction was to call Big ‘D’ and ask about using dad’s old truck. We were waiting for the cops and I honestly figured my vehicle was not going anywhere. Needless to say, I have to have a vehicle to work.

The cop arrived, paperwork was being taken care of, I checked on the other driver – a woman of about 35. Everyone was fine. I actually maintained a calm and composed demeanor through the whole thing.

Everything Happens for a Reason. Precise & Perfectly Placed.

At one point the girl says to me, “Well, just be aware of concussion symptoms.”

I looked at her and chuckled softly, “I wouldn’t even know what they are.”

“Dizziness, inability to concentrate, fatigue…”

I laughed and said, “Sweetheart, that’s me on a daily basis. I wouldn’t know the difference.”

My head reeled with thoughts. Maybe I should have gone and tried to work. Maybe this was some sort of negative karma – a Lesson – for not having done so. But, at the same time, I thought about how there was no tingle, no whisper, no vibe or gut feeling telling me to choose different. I’ve been in similar situations, in both directions, when I would make a choice and there would be something to indicate choosing different. Not this time. I do not deny there may have been undertones of Lessons and wake-up calls. But, this is not why I was there.

Over the first 24 hours after the accident, a list of “Thank G-d”s developed. Little things you think of along the way:

Thank G-d no one was hurt.

Thank G-d there were no passengers involved.

Thank G-d the glass didn’t shatter.

Thank G-d I could drive off the scene [and still be able to drive.]

Thank G-d the airbags didn’t go off.

Thank G-d there was no damage to the exhaust.

And so on and so forth. A list of blessings. Any number of things could have happened and didn’t. When you see this many blessings all clumped together two things happen. First, you realize that you cannot give into negativity. It will come. That is only natural. You will worry and wonder about what happens next – what will become of the life you know. But you cannot collapse under it. Acknowledge the concerns and put them aside until the moment comes. Then move forward one step, one moment, at a time. All of those things happened perfectly, a bunch of little happy endings, that developed naturally and on their own. With some effort, imagine the potential for the long term ‘ending.’

The second thing that happens is you acknowledge that there were higher powers at work. There was a definite reason for the placement. I had this realization. I accepted it and stepped back to look at things with a broader perspective. Something put me there that day. I could have gone in so many different directions and I just flowed so naturally in one I normally wouldn’t take. An accident would have happened, one way or another. My being present had no influence on the accident itself. That woman was going to slam into someone, whether I was there or not. So why should I be there?

I took a good hard look at it. Weighing all of the factors I am 120% convinced that it had to be me for the same reason that everything happens to me – because I could take it. The Vantasm could take that hit. [And it certainly did.] That accident was going to happen. If The Vantasm didn’t take the hit some other vehicle would have. That could have ended badly for a lot of people. That woman slammed into me. I keep playing it over in my head and, even with my vast accident experiences, I cannot fathom just how hard she hit me. And she hit me perfectly. Her car was built perfectly to just slam into the bumper/frame. A bit higher, a bit lower, and even our crash could have been much worse for her.

On Friday, I took The Vantasm to my mechanic. Despite its very obvious physical maladies, it has been deemed [technically] driveable. From there I went to The Putter’s to visit The Professor and wait for Mama to drop off the girls.

We went back to The Nest, had dinner, and then Cuddlebug went to the ER with me. I was supposed to go see The Harlem Globetrotters that night, but general consensus was that I should get myself checked out. It’s a good thing I convinced Cuddlebug to go with me because they gave me a muscle relaxer before I left. Despite that, I have been deemed physically OK. [For now.]

Saturday, we got up and hit The Farmer’s Market. We like to go in general, but this day we had a few things to pick up for The Dinner that night. We bought some rosemary olive bread , plus some kiffels for after dinner. Big ‘D’ is well-known for having kiffels from The Market around for social gatherings. So, we thought it would be appropriate to get some for that night. Also, Sunshine doesn’t really care for the potato soup so I had to get something for her for dinner. She wanted swordfish.

We got our goods [and a little bit of coffee] and headed back to The Nest. The girls helped peel and cut the veggies for the soup and we got it started cooking. [The trick to any good soup is to let it slow cook all day long.] The soup is a family recipe. It is one that my great-grandmother began using some time in the 1920s or 30s. My mother is the one who is ‘famous’ for it though. She has made it for decades and everyone loves it. She makes more than enough to have a week’s worth of leftovers, as well as to give containers away to the all the mouths.

This was my first time making it.

After the soup was cooking we took a bit of rest and shower time and then we cleaned the apartment. We worked as a team and it was done in no time. Then a little more shower and rest time and before we knew it Cuddlebug and I were off to the grocery store and to pick up Big ‘D.’ Cuddlebug wanted to drive her back to The Nest since she needs the hours on her permit to get her license.

Overall, The Dinner was a success. I think we all felt a bit awkward initially. This was the first time since I left Old Geistopia that Big ‘D’ and I have had serious ‘alone time.’ I saw her a few times when I would visit Craze and of course through the process of his passing and subsequent funeral. But we haven’t really had any true engagement between us.

The dinner itself was very good. Everyone loved the swordfish and Big ‘D’ must have commented three times that she couldn’t believe that I got the soup so spot on my first time out. After dinner, we played some Uno, had some coffee and kiffels, and just talked and laughed. We talked a lot about dad.

On Sunday we would get up and hit The Art Museum. I used to take them there from time to time when they were much younger. Of course, with the way life has been for the past few years I haven’t been able to take them in quite some time. We even duplicated a picture that I had taken of them way back then.

Somewhere along the way on Sunday I managed to talk to the other driver’s insurance company. Based on what I told them, and the computer’s evaluation of things, they believe they are going to fix The Vantasm. I’m not as convinced. But, I suppose, only time will tell.

Through the course of all this – the accident, and being doped up, and running with The Princesses, I managed to loose track of my daily rituals and devotions, but I am hoping to get that back on course sooner rather than later. I even lost track of my time-tracking. That isn’t really a critical thing, but I do want to follow it as best I can. I also dipped into the ‘Special Fund.’ I didn’t use much of it but I wanted it available just in case.

I’m honestly a little bit concerned about my future at this point. I am putting forth my best effort to not give into the fear or doubt and just take this whole experience one day at a time. For now, all things considered, life is…

Situation Normal – All Fucked Up.

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.