Saturday, March 29, 2014

Blog changes A-coming...

Hey faithful few, I have decided to implement the first change in my blog. Hopefully you will see the change in the next few weeks or so.

I am going to also add a little cosmetic changes as I mentioned last week to my blog as well in hopes of driving more traffic to my blog. I may even later in the year transition from Blogger to Wordpress. That's where I have my other 2 blogs hosted at now. Maybe I can go with a little unity on the blog front. As usual, whatever I do you guys will be the first to know.

Until next week...

 

 

-Namaste

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Show me the Money...Or not...

Hello faithful few, I have been blogging for a few years now and occasionally I'll change up my page. Just a little cosmetic things here and there...but now I am thinking of really switching it up. I am thinking of trying to monetize my blog.

Over the coming weeks I am going to be trying out a few things to see if I like it or see how I feel about it. Apart of me feels like I'd be forcing ads upon you guys but then another part of me feels like as as an artist, I should be trying to capitalize on every venture in my arsenal. What do you guys think? That's all I have this week. I know kind of a short post but this one was just about sharing with you guys the changes that are coming and to get you opinions.

Until next week...

 

 

-Namaste

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Six Months and No Regrets...

Last week I talked about Adult Choices. This weeks post is more of a continuation of that post but it's more of a State of the Moment kind of post...

Six months ago to the day I walked away from my job. A job I may added, while having reached the proverbial glass ceiling; paid pretty good. I packed up my things and walked away from somewhat comfortable but boring life and I left Baltimore. I choose to take a leap of faith and pretty much walk away from it all. For all intents and purposes right now, I feel like an alien in a strange land (For some reason Sting is in my head right now, for the uninformed, Englishman in New York).

I am just getting my life really going in my new state of residency. Things are still really new to me but I am finally working again and moving in the right direction. This has probably been one of the hardest things I have ever done in my life.

Every now and then I might feel a little discouraged but something will happen that changes all of that. This past week I was texting with one of my ex-coworkers and he told me, "Be the beast...you are a testament to us all. Don't let them take your artistic soul!" And that really touched me.

I always...always said that I couldn't wait to have something as simple as my Facebook profile saying that my current city was somewhere else and my hometown was Baltimore. Well for the past 6 months I have been living that life. Whenever I am out in public or at work and I hear people talking, every now and then I kind of chuckle to myself. I am still amazed that I did it. After all this time, it still feels quite surreal. In the beginning, especially when I wasn't work, it felt like I was on the longest vacation EVER! It took me a couple of months to get used to the idea that it wasn't a vacation but that this was actually an ongoing part of my life right now. I missed family...I missed friends...I missed the monotonous routines...

For as much as I wanted to get away, there was still a part of me that was still back in Baltimore. Those first couple of months were so strange to me. I mean I was really excited but I was also kind of sad. Have you guys ever experienced that kind of feeling? That kind of...hmmm...happy guilty I think I'll call it. It's like enjoying something that you tell yourself that you shouldn't enjoy too much. I mean it's crazy exhilarating though.

There are plenty of pluses. I mean my family and I have always been close and with all the bad things and death that has happened in my close-knit family the last few years we have gotten even closer. But it is true what they say, when they say "...absence makes the heart grow fonder" because every time I talk to my sisters or dad or even my friends back home, I feel so much love surrounding us all. I never in a million years would have imagined that I would... You know some people never see themselves outside of the situations that they are in now. I mean they probably have the same dreams as most of us. They know that they are going to grow up, get a job and maybe start a family. They'll probably travel, do wonderful things, become wonderful people but they probably stay in the same circle or same town that they grew up in and don't get me wrong that perfectly ok...but for me for someone who has always felt outside of the box...someone who imagined things happening in a whole different way...it's awesome that I am building a life outside of where I'm from. In a different town.

I am truly feeling no regrets. Even when facing adversities or uncertainties at times, I have always like the Phoenix, risen from the ashes. Yet I have always been hesitant about making big choices or moves. It's funny...years ago, I wouldn't have the testicular fortitude to do some of the things I have been doing the past few years. I mean I may have talked about but I always had the fear of not being able to conquer them very same adversities or uncertainties or not being able to pull of what I said I would do. It was like I could see the other side of the mountain but I kept putting these obstacles in my way. I couldn't get past my own mental obstacles. And then it happened a year or so ago. I told myself it's now or never. From that point on, I begin to devote myself to the task at hand. And that brought me to six months ago where I seized my own destiny and took my leap of faith. It has been unreal up to this point for me. I am glad that today I am at where I am in my life and I can't wait to see how the next six months play out...

Well you guys it's about 4am and I should have been sleep hours ago but I had to finish this post for you guys...felt like I was about to start rambling, LOL. I put so much time into this post this weekend but I always have fun sharing with you guys. Who know some day I may pen a memoir and you guys definitely would be apart of it. Thanks for allowing me to share with you, the faithful few.

Until next week...



-Namaste

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Adult Choices...

You know faithful few sometimes I look at myself as a late-bloomer. I have friends who I have known more than half of my life, in some instances 3 decades, (Yes, I am telling my age...) who have families or are married. Now I am not comparing myself to them, I am just pointing out the differences in our current situations. I am happily involved with a very supporting and loving young lady who I love with all my heart so I found happiness. It's just a lot of things have always come later than now for me. I recently had a conversation with one of my new coworkers who is exactly 10 years younger than me but has been married for 11 years!

Now I know what you guys are thinking right now..."Hmmm, is he ready to be married?" and no that's not it. That just so happens to be the example that I chose to start this blog off with. The theme of this blog if you will is Adult Choices. I have always been mature for my age but I've still had that little big kid in my guiding me some of the time. My one friend would say that the choices I made were right for me at the time and that I made the most of them but on some instances I would beg to differ.
While some of my friends were going hard in the work force, I chose to go to college and mind you I made the adult choice to put myself through college...I still sometimes see where I could have attacked things differently.

Like I regret to going to school in Chicago a couple of years after I graduated from art school. My sole decision for not going, was pretty much that I felt like I wouldn't be able to go to school that far from home and work at the same time. Right there my big inner kid overruled the adult in me and decided against taking the Adult Choice and going for it. Who know where I could have been right now...

Recently I have been taking the Adult Choices option and going for it... (see my leap of faith to quit my job and relocate to Charlotte) I have always made the Adult Choice when it came to my finances for the most part, its just other parts of my life that I am slow to make it happen with. I can say that in the past few months I have gotten really good at kicking the big inner kids ass and making sure that I do whats best. So I am getting there. Don't get me wrong there is nothing wrong with being a late bloomer, Peter Roget invented the Thesaurus at 73! That's all I have for you guys this week.

Until next week...


-Namaste

Saturday, March 1, 2014

The Working Week...

This week has been really tiresome faithful few. Getting back into the swing of things in the workforce is quite...tough lol. I haven't had much time for anything else other than recouping and working.

I guess having a long layoff like that can be both a blessing and a curse. Now the next 2 weeks are going to be really tough for me guys. Once we get over that hump, I will share it with you guys.

Until next week...

 

 

 

-Namaste