Living an outside-the-box life, sharing the journey and lessons learned

I grew up in Syracuse, NY, in the 70’s and 80’s in the Grassroots/ Dandelion collective where childcare and meal prep were shared, and pretty much every adult member of the collective was engaged in a cause: Feminism, Peace and Social Justice, The Environment. I was dragged to demonstrations and fundraisers and other “movement” events for much of my childhood.

I started playing guitar and writing songs at age 16. While in Syracuse I studied with Dana Klipp, a disciple of and accompanist to Elizabeth Cotten. In my 20’s I moved to Los Angeles to be a rock star and attended Musician’s Institute (rock n roll school), majoring in guitar and minoring in vocals and songwriting.

I met my kids’ mother in L.A. and we had two children , both born at home (the second my ex-wife and I delivered ourselves because the midwife was late). We raised our kids in Topanga Canyon, West Hollywood, and Silverlake before heading East to North Carolina where we connected with an “unschooling” community and homeschooled the kids. [We made a brief attempt at living in Syracuse in this period, and that’s when we started the vegan bakery and lunch counter inside of the downtown YMCA].

I supported the family in Durham NC by becoming a full time carpenter, and after a brief apprenticeship I started and ran my own remodeling business for a dozen years. (Still playing music in the evenings).

I finally stopped grinding with music in my 40’s and threw my creative energy into making folk art and furnishings out of antique reclaimed wood and found objects saved from my carpentry work and also sourced from dumpster diving, curb-picking, thrifting, and abandoned building exploration. I made and sold art at art and craft shows, gallery shows, and Etsy stores for 7 years. This was my full time gig.

In 2013 I bought a magical three acre piece of wooded land with a burbling creek in Efland, NC. I set up my artist workshop in a run down 4 bay garage that I inherited with the property. I commuted from durham 20 minutes daily and to make my art

Around 2017, I built a tiny house in Efland and moved into the woods. I built my place from antique reclaimed materials- 100 year old pine and beadboard, antique doors, salvaged wood flooring and other cool stuff.

When covid hit in 2020 and art shows were canceled, I started a real estate investing business, which has grown to a team of 8 now, doing 45-50 closed deals annually in the past couple of years.

Throughout it all I’ve been a self reflective person, a meditator, a voracious reader and learner. I’ve explored philosophies and religions looking for the truest truth, principles that are universal and irrefutable. I’ve sought peace and well-being, living a life filled with love, and doing my best to bless and respect those around me.

I identify as an introvert. I have an ADD brain. I’ve dealt with anxiety. I am passionate about maximizing my health and fitness, not for vanity, but to be the most energized, clearest channel for God or universal energy to flow through that I can be. I’ve been to mountaintops. I have done transformational breath work, sweat lodges, I’ve walked on fire multiple times, I’ve done group work, shadow work, 12 step work, men’s work, therapy. Meditation, yoga and prayer. I’ve pushed my body, mind, spirit, and emotions to find out where my edges are.

“You must suck the marrow out of the bones of life!” Is a quote from a movie I saw years ago. It touches the way I feel about living this short sweet time we get on earth. Put another way, “The purpose of life is to live life more fully”.

Thanks for visiting my blog site. A passion project. An attempt to share what wisdom and knowledge I’ve been able to distill from my time on the planet, in this body in the hopes that my words might help, inspire, encourage, validate others on their paths to becoming their highest and best selves.

Let me know what you want to hear about. Comment or reach out to me on email or social media. I’d love to hear from you.

Author’s Note:
The posts on the site are written by me, no AI. I love words and writing. Some posts may me transcriptions of videos I’ve made for social media. They will be tagged as such.