S8EP11: Home Fires

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 (3)

Brother John & Sister Jen

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, January 15, Two-Thousand and Twenty-Free. Time...Elevating

Theme – Take it Easy

This is like a repeat but said differently. I stress and push and try too hard. It’s almost as if I force myself and my life to go in the direction I want. Only, that never really happens. In fact, the more I push in one direction, the more I find myself slipping in the other. This speaks to me of the need for balance. I need to balance out my life and my duties and my rituals and routines. In order to do this I must slow down and just kind of flow with it. I have to Take it Easy. Keep it simple. Flowing with it has gotten me this far. I can only imagine it will keep me on the right path. I mean, I can’t get lazy. But I also can’t be pushing and forcing so much that I break myself [on any level.] It’s like my fortune said, “An ounce of care is worth a pound of cure.”

Lesson – Bless All the Same

This Lesson actually started out as a reminder – Bless the Money Spent Just the Same as the Money Earned. This is something I knew, understood and practiced a very [very] long time ago. Bless it all. Because if you can’t feel good and grateful about the money you are spending then you are probably wasting your money. Every bill, every gas tank fill-up, every grocery trip, every random cup of coffee. You bless every cent spent because they are doing something for you. But then I got to thinking about it a lil deeper. It works the same in every arena. You have to bless the bad days no different than the good ones. The bad ones do something for us too. You have to bless the inactive periods just the same as the busy periods and vice-versa. Every moment, every experience, every dollar does something to help fulfill us and support our lives – good, bad, or somewhere in between.

Observation – The Rules Don’t Apply to Me

So often these things sound worse in writing than I mean them in my head. I noticed this week that [to me] it seems as though a lot of folks from m life talk to me as if I don’t “know how life works.” I mean, I get it. My life has definitely been different. It has unfolded at its own pace and in its own way. But that is just it. It is different. It doesn’t function by all the same rules and Principles as others’. Let’s face it. If I had to play by the same rules as everyone else, I wouldn’t be living in the house I am now.

The Post

It really was just one of those weeks. The beginning of the week – Monday and Tuesday – are most definitely Once Upon Ago. I really can’t tell you much about those two days, except that I was still wrestling with the illness. I honestly think that is why they are so much of a blur. The truth is [now that I am actually thinking about it] Wednesday and today are really the only two days of which I have any real recollection. The other days were there. They happened. Things happened on each day. But everything is just a jumble.

Wednesday I worked during the day. Just as I always do. Then, towards the later part of dinner rush, I was supposed to go to Bert-On’s to pick up some pots, pans, and knives. This was one of those moments that seemed to work out just perfectly. I needed to get as much work in as I could. Bert-On lives about a half hour away at the other end of The Valley. Of course, he wanted a heads up on when I was moving in his direction. I get that.

So, anyway, I was reaching that point when I either needed to get a fare soon – in particularly a close one – or I was just going to have to call it quits and kill a few moments before I headed out. This is always the challenge when I have something to do in the middle, or at the end, of a shift. I have the average delivery to be worked out at about 20 minutes. Some are more and some are less, but if you need an average for anything that is a good one to go with. So, if I have to leave to go somewhere and I haven’t gotten a final fare 25 to 30 minutes out, I usually call it. It creates much less stress and confusion.

All of a sudden I got a ding. It was a delivery all the way up by Bert-On. The pick up was right around the corner but the drop off would take me out his way. This was perfect. Now I could make the drive that I already needed to make and get paid for it.

I hung out with Bert-On just for a little bit because I did have one more errand to run while I was out at that end of The Valley. We chatted – both business and personal. He has a couple of dressers and entertainment centers for me to bring to the house. So we talked about the when and brainstormed on the how. [How is currently my biggest challenge in moving the furniture that has manifested.] He also has requested a specialized spiritual/magickal service from me. So we chatted a bit about those details. I ran my next errand and went the hell home.

Thursday, again, I worked during the day. However, I did not go out to work dinner. I had a Reading that I had been trying to get done for a client and I decided that it was time to sit and just focus on that until it was done.

It did take a while, but mostly because I needed to spend extra time getting into my spiritual groove.

I really do not remember Friday or Saturday. I worked and…whatever. *shrugs*

I want to save talking about today until the end.

So far, this year has been very intense – and we are only through the second week. Right off the bat, it is the Void known as January. It is pretty much the same every year, and this year has been no different.

I’ve learned to come into January without much of a plan. The reason for this is because things shift on an almost daily basis. The first few years I had to deal with this were very stressful. We want so much to be in control of our lives, but, for me, there is no such thing in January. It is The Void – where the formless takes shape. By the end of January I usually see what my year will be.

This year, that whole experience is intensified. Life has become very different, elevated. The experience of having a home has been overwhelming. I imagine that one day I will settle into it and it will seem fairly natural. For now, it is all very odd and bizarre. I stop, more often than one may think, and just look about, thinking on what it all means to me to be here and to have this.

Twenty-Twenty New was the first time in my life that I got to experience space of my own. In fact, I spent most of the year in some sort of space or another. I was in The Nest until about mid-June and by the end of August I was camping out here. Neither of those, at the time, were actually my space – but borrowed space. So, I had the freedom of moving about and doing my thing but I could not really re-arrange or set-up.

Prior to last year, I spent three years being homeless and bouncing back and forth between my car and whatever space I could find myself in temporarily. I lived in a treehouse, in a tent, in a friend’s basement, at a friend’s studio apartment.

And, before that, was life in Olde Geistopia. [Not even worth describing at the moment.]

But, here I am – officially. I do not own it, but it is still my space. I am watching it take shape and find its way. It has shifted quite a bit in just the last two weeks and there are more changes to come.

There has been the addition of new furniture – such as two chairs for the basement space and a dresser in my bedroom. [There’s something I haven’t been able to say in over a decade. “My bedroom.”] I suddenly have a full set of pots and pans [And Then Some.] In fact, I have so many pots and pans that when a friend offered me even more, I laughed and said, “Man, I have so man pots and pans right now I could open a soup kitchen.” I have extra plates and glasses/mugs. We have some bath and hand towels now. A brush set for cleaning, etc. Cuddlebug found a dish drying rack for like a dollar. We even gained a new heater for the basement space. It is actually part of an entertainment center that is making its way here. It is an electric fireplace. They were in two separate boxes and I was a able to manage the fireplace without a truck or assistance. The entertainment center itself was a different story.

The House is starting to look like a home. Little by little each day it takes shape. Things have slowly been finding their way to permanent homes. Décor is starting to adorn the walls and shelves. The excess is being disposed of. And, as I said, there is still more to come.

I have a dining table and four chairs to pick up/ As well as two more dressers and two entertainment centers. Now, I may even have a bed. I haven’t slept in an actual bed [except on occasion] for over a decade.

I see all of this happening around me – so quickly, easily, and naturally – and it is overwhelming at times.

It is so strange to have a home, a space, of my own. It’s just weird to be able to move about and do my thing freely. There is no need to bend around other people – their schedules, their presence, their possessions. I do not have to defend or validate anything I do [or don’t do] to anyone. I mean, I can see how my presence could have been difficult at Olde Geistopia. I have constant piles of things to do or put away, take care of. More often than not, they sit longer than I would like. In my head everything moves smoothly. But then it doesn’t really. So, I get to everything as I can. A little shift here. A little tweak there. I can see how this would be challenging to another.

Nonetheless, none of that is truly important. I’m just really trying to purge my thoughts these days – to put everything out so it can be put in perspective. The moral of that long-winded story is that I am very grateful the experience that is New Geistopia.

The question on everyone’s lips is, “Can you really afford it?”

Absolutely not.

By no practical nor rational line of thinking can I do this. But I am doing it. I’m somehow making it work. The money paid towards rent is my number one priority each week. I am finagling everything else around that. One day either I will get caught up or it will catch up to me and bite me in the ass. In the meantime, I just take it as it comes. I promised myself that if I managed to get here I wouldn’t worry about the money. It will come. It will balance out.

I knew coming into the year that the first three weeks were going to be challenging and difficult to get through. I have managed to survive two so far.

I started the year very sick and I think I am actually still working some of it through my system. It’s kind of hard to say. With the sickness came great changes. I have been hypersensitive on every level lately. For example my taste buds have been just popping. My spirit energy is accelerated. I don’t really know how to explain it. It’s like the illness just popped something open and I am having this flood of energies and experiences.

Let’s see if I can bring things around to what we need to know.

Like I said, I knew the first three weeks of January would be very challenging and they certainly have been so far. Of course, the illness had a lot to do with that, but also the pressures of the added weekly expenses.

In true January fashion, I am finding that my life is shifting itself into place. I started the month with very little notion of anything. All I could do was just set out and see how it all played.

In the first week, I truly was in a Void. I was swimming in this dark pool of formlessness. But, throughout the week things did start to take some shape. This was when all the new stuff would arrive and eventually find its home. It is when arrangements were made for some of the furniture. It was the first weekly payment towards the house. In a way, I guess you could say, foundations were established.

This week saw a little more growth. As I said, I did have a Tarot Reading. That was nice. And Bert-On and I discussed those other spiritual matters. So that area of my life saw new life and growth already.

In week one I picked up some cans/metal and this week I learned someone else has more for me. So, that area of my life is seeing growth already this year.

Little things were established like the new printer, or getting WiFi, or paying off the current garage bill.

Now it is just a matter of continuing on, keeping my motivation, and seeing how the rest of things will fall into place this coming week and the following.

Now, onto today.

It was an odd, broken up day. I went out and worked a bit at breakfast time. Then I had to be back at New Geistopia when someone dropped off a dresser. Then I went back out for a bit and came back to greet the girls when they arrived.

Originally, I had planned to go back out for dinner. I am glad I did not.

We had a very nice night. A necessary night. [Also a very odd and bizarre night that seemed to come and go fairly naturally.]

They brought all sorts of stuff with them again – clothes, plants, chairs, dish drainers. So, they unpacked and sorted their stuff while I made dinner. It was nice to sit with them and have a family dinner.

After dinner we moved to the basement area. [I don’t know what to call it yet.] We sat in our three comfy chairs, put on the ‘fireplace’, busted out the ice cream and watched a movie. I introduced them to the world of Mel Brooks by way of History of the World, Pt. 1. I recently saw an announcement that part 2 is finally going to be released and I wanted to get in the groove by watching the first one.

I very much appreciate old school Mel Brooks. I explained what I could about him and his works to the girls and then we settled in to watch it. They actually enjoyed it quite a bit and that made me happy. I was worried that they wouldn’t. It was a different era of filmmaking and screenwriting.

After the movie we just hung out and chatted for a bit. I learned that Sunshine is apparently very knowledgeable in Greek Mythology. Enough that she kind of made me jealous. That was all very interesting to me. Though I work with other pantheons – Roman through Astrology, Egyptian and Christian through magick – Greek has always been my favorite. I relate to those gods more than any of the others. It was soon after this conversation that things shifted.

I don’t know how we got there but suddenly we were talking about Skinwalkers. If you don’t know what this is – it is a Navajo thing. It is believed that Skinwalkers are witches who can take the form of other people and things. They’re not very pleasant.

Suddenly, it was as if we all – at the exact same time – realized that by having the conversation – we were calling something to us. In a flash, I remembered that early in the week I had seen some being creeping around the yard. It actually left me with a very unsettled feeling.

Now, I am not foreign to this. I have had beings of all shapes and sizes – including darker ones – hanging around me for decades. It sort of comes with the job. When you work and project the kinds of energies that I do on a regular basis, you sort of make the spiritual world very aware of your presence and it is inevitable that things will come to check you out.

In the true balance of nature, the more light you put out the more dark you will attract. I do not consider darkness to be evil. It is what it is. But that does not mean that I don’t find some of the darkness to be dangerous. I don’t think a rattlesnake is evil, but I wouldn’t want to hold one on my lap.

Nonetheless, no one panicked and that is the first thing to point out. We all just set about, doing what we needed to do to secure and protect the house. We saged. We put sea salt at all the doors and windows. I even taught the girls the very basics of what they absolutely needed to know in order to work the LBRP and BRH.

A good magician, I suppose, would tell you that every part of a magickal rite is important and necessary – the words, the vibrations, the actions. I admit those things are useful. But, I would tell you that the most important things are Visualization and Intent. If you have dedicated power behind those two things, then you can work any magic you like.

The other things can absolutely give The Universe a nudge in the right direction. Though, I promise you, Fellow Travelers, The Universe does not need a nudge. Chances are, it is already working the very magicks you are visualizing. No. Those things are there for the practitioner. They are there to put the mind in the proper state. They give the mind something to focus on and put belief in. We need that. We are too prone to doubt and disbelief. So, I taught the girls the motions and visualizations they needed and we worked those rituals together.

I don’t know exactly what I saw in the yard that night. Skinwalker is possible. This conversation was actually the second time in 24 hours that the word had come up. This was all after the sighting. However, I looked into Shadow People as well and they seemed to strike a real chord with me. Still not sure that’s what it was either.

Whatever it was, it makes my skin crawl across my flesh and the hair on my arms stand on end. It seems to be gone now, but I must be prudent in shielding and protecting the house. As I must also keep myself in the proper state of mind as I enter or leave.

What I ‘know’ moving forward –

Again – 3 weeks. Two of which are passed.

The fourth week seems to be the critical one. This is the week when everything must get moved. This is the week when I should start to see what I am truly working with in my life this year.

After that is Imbolc. That is always a marker of my year – for it is when my year truly begins. But, this year, all markers [old and new] seem to carry a bit more weight with them.

I will muddle through February somehow and, by Ostara, my life should be fairly well balanced out. [Though not done shifting.]

I would love if I could find a week to just take off and do things. I really just want the house settled now – things in their place and functioning. I know there are many more shifts and changes to come and I would like to be solid in what I already have before they happen. So, a week to just put things in place and balance out my soul would be a most excellent thing.

Who knows? Perhaps The Universe has that planned.

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**

No Totems to speak of this week. I mean, I’m sure there were some. But I cannot remember enough of the week to recall what they may have been.