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One morning, almost a decade ago, I was struck by the inspiration that comes only from staying awake for all of the previous night. I sat down at the computer and began a fervent outpouring of guts and aspirations for hours on end, knocking off several chapters of what came to be the beginnings of my short story: "Around". I've added bits and pieces to it over the years, but it was shelved and went on to collect far too much dust. That is, until I attended a graduation party for my cousin's son. I sat down... wrote out a brief synopsis for a novel that would include my short story as a section.
Fast forward to current day... the character building is finished, and many chapters written. The book will be in mostly arbitrary segments. Characters come together much in the much akin to the movie "Magnolia" or more so like Stephen King's "The Stand". These characters work earnestly to achieve a healing, both personally and collectively. They gather a deepening awareness, imbued with a sense of hope from what they accomplish, despite the imposing complexity of life. Only the intellectually engaging (slightly daunting) process of writing and fleshing out the story remains. As of late, I spend most of my time with monologues that would make for pivotal moments in the story. I like to think of these as "Aha... moments": tying together prolific reflection and rich character growth. Live broadcasts and other content from an instagram group named Kiingo, help me stay inventive with new composition tools and techniques. They've been invaluable for approaching what, without a better diversified perspective, could be tedious and uninspired. Advice, ideas, and opinions on the subject are welcome and encouraged. 
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Today, a true friend from days of old, shared some insight on her Christmas heritage. Hearing someone with cherished traditions say "however you celebrate is wonderful", in the current state of this world, is both fantastic and comforting.
Like her, my family keeps the tradition of an Advent calendar. We may not attend Catholic Mass or agree with all Catholic dogma, but we have a ceramic nativity that came over from Italy with my Great Nana when she was a little girl. There are many special ornaments that have been passed down, and others that will probably become heirlooms as well. There have been some clashes between my partner and I over how to keep Christmas. He is an atheist, and questioning what is real and what is important over time... that is one truth in our kinship. He feels the stress of getting gifts heavily, but he has some of the best ideas for them too: practical, creative, and personal. There is a sparkle in his eyes when he receives a special gift, and as time passes he grows closer to family. So as that evolves I count us blessed to find compassion and understanding among us. That is what Christmas is about, right ? Connecting with people. "Resetting our internal clocks and hearts", as my old college cohort reminded me. Restoring and strengthening some heartfelt kindness and good will. And with that I wish the best for you and yours, always. It will never be too late to make positive change in yourself and others. Let your light shine brilliantly. And thank you for sharing it with all of us. 
Uncertain, alone. Within a common tone, men and women reveal our own passions by the vessel of our actions, mostly without the drive for a single insistence, to justify their all too lethal persistence, in living lives free of resistance, for cryptic minds in regal subsistence.
Without borders or nations, stories are spun without narration. The 1st person's a keeper if we remain as a seeker for the strength to be meeker than in days heretofore. Careful to be clear whose door you close. Those whom we're true toward... all deserve kindness, regardless the sorrow we fear shall usher in tomorrow. For only to empower truth, its innate proof kept safe by wallflowers in history's high towers. Imbued with such powers, we sense with intuition and dispense with all suspicion of pretense, or some condition too immense for man's rendition, at dire expense coming to fruition. 
Being a stranger in a strange world, I feel more at ease. There are no ties binding me to my surroundings, or anything. I go voluntarily... no past, no future... a quieted down means of expression and experience. I exist comfortably, knowing nothing of worry outside of the time being.
And that, I think, is the key to understanding the truth inside: a blank mental space with no prejudice, and no pretense. Freedom of communication lives in the present, not static or fear. I simply find interest in living, to roam with no real destination. Still, I too settle into improvisation... as a means of coming to terms with the augmented reality of an intrigued societal subjugate. Concentrations of commentary wax poetic and wain philosophical. And I have woken up... out of carrying contentions and back into the hear and now, meandering through the faint atmosphere and these shaking shadows. I know intrinsic certainty in a true melancholy stability, even though the boundless do invade my mysterious, mortal dwelling. A temporary peaceful vessel, I see the horizon bend light and time... and I'm nobody. 
Would you rather live for something worth living for, or die for something worth dying for ? When all is said and done, they both reach the same conclusion. I should probably explain what I originally thought the difference to be between them.
I live by 3 axioms: Do no harm; help where you can; and create inspiring and empowering work. So generally, I consider myself a "live for something worth living for" person. With a few reservations, I am proud to give support to a nonprofit organization called Amnesty International. They champion social justice causes around the world without affiliation to any one government: abolishing the death penalty; advocating for the release of prisoners of conscience; and promoting the free exchange of ideas in stable and peacefully established, democratic societies. But by having a closer look at what it means to "die for something worth dying for", there isn't much difference between the two. Certainly, one can choose to physically sacrifice their life for another, but even by that example they would be extending living for something worth living for to its mortal conclusion. For this respect, I will reword the second part as "killing for something worth killing for". By one of my three axioms, I can do no harm. The taking of another life, to be concise, goes against my very nature. I have my demons and darkness inside, and I live with them daily. Rather, it's because I live with demons and darkness inside, that I do my best to give what I give... to compensate for my imperfections and shortcomings. Unfortunately, killing for something worth killing for is a necessary evil of the world. Soldiers must take the lives of others to maintain societal freedoms. No doubt that in a perfect world, there wouldn't be a need for war. However, mankind is an imperfect being in an imperfect world, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And so with a heavy heart, the soldier's hand moves us toward the freedom of expression and the preservation of our civil liberties, with integrity and honor. But there is one aspect of this human condition whereby I can help the soldiers: I can lend my support to Amnesty International, All Out, and the ACLU so that the soldier won't need to take as many lives, fight on as many battlefields. I can save the soldiers' lives, just as the soldier saves mine. It's this strange, unfortunate balance that we strike with each other... it's the most that we can do for ourselves. I know that I've spoken in generalizations here, so I look to you to comment your thoughts, passions, and where you stand in this world... in the comments below. I thank you for your time spent reading here, and your consideration of what I have said here. Best wishes to you and yours. 
Questions well thought out will take flight forever. Answers well founded bring success in hopeful endeavors. We who were spending through a long heartache, will grow a whole wonderful world within. We are all travelers in this greatest tragedy. Where to begin ? How to begin ?
Who am I to you ? Why do you live ? How do you love ? What do you mean ? When can you start ? The history of the balance between reading palms and tea leaves, or believing the ill strike down of helpful deeper meanings. A reminder of the world war on truth, beauty, freedom, and love. With an unconventional will, our souls are certain to rise above. Who am I to you ? Why do you live ? How do you love ? What do you mean ? When can you start ? We'll learn about the worlds untold and everything surrounding. This, that, the other... everything's astounding. In the good grace of what I may strive toward, surely someday I'll deserve my life more. Maybe we'll find something else within the mind... build a strong abiding faith in human kind. Who am I to you ? Why do you live ? How do you love ? What do you mean ? When can you start ? So our trust in the importance and goodwill of others, must be built carefully with our sisters and brothers. I falter greatly but less often than at first. The slate of wrongs daily wiped clean, in rebirth. Who am I to you ? Why do you live ? How do you love ? What do you mean ? When can you start ? 
I wrote and posted this piece last week, but was very unsatisfied with it. So, I made a few changes. To understand the title better, and how it applies, look up Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel by the same name.
Through the complexity, I have found a strange, intrinsic presence in the periodic untying of my mind. I have spoken of this before: this dive into entropy, this deathly peace. Hope in presence springs eternal moments of inspiration, when simplicity is revealed for that which was once beyond our comprehension. The presence at the source of my awakening is none other than all mankind's common heartache. Thankfully, that pain grounds us in humility, reminds us of our humanity and our mortality. It allows us to feel, to develop a sense of empathy. It helps us because we sense our soul again, because it quiets rampant thoughts, silences the ego, preparing us for better things. In this hopeful truth, we develop a deepening appreciation for all that is in this vast universe. Not because it is infinite, but because we are transient beings. We exist as both a part of, yet simultaneously apart from, all of creation. With this incorporeal heartache, we travel through life, traveling upon firmer ground for the soul. We are imbued with further opportunity for clarity within, and some day the minister's black veil will be lifted from our eyes. 
Sad thing to trust, but sometimes you lose, no matter how hard you've been working to prove. Though we can't loosen the grip of our demons within, it's the only place that a true change can begin. But no need to covet answers from above. Only keep close the song of the dove.
A subtle change in view, like a flickering light, can lead the longest loved to choose to take flight. It leaves us with a dull ache begotten, the pang of their passions never forgotten. But no need to covet answers from above. Only keep close the song of the dove. Outside of our minds lies a crippling world. There are terrible things done in the name of flags unfurled. Too much noise can create a cold, deafening silence, the presence of which entices fools to follow with violence. Alas, no need to covet answers from above. Only keep close the song of the dove. -- Me 
He was glad to be alive. Now he's mad from being alone. It's the worst way to go, when your mind's a home that you no longer own. Too much time spent passing time. In his search for some proof of enlightenment, to fix the hole in his roof where the light gets in... the whole of his head came crashing down, under the weight of going in circles, and now...
In circles, his mind goes in circles. His mind is not his own. In certain circumstances... in certain circle dances, throughout the four seasons, his mind is not his own. His life's a reminder to be forgotten. Sometimes the mirror shows the confusion in his eyes. Sometimes the mirror shows a conclusion to goodbyes. The roots of our existence are true in their persistence, as we try to live lives of fortitude and pride. No remorse from the source of our trials, just a grave case of hysterical survival. In circles, his mind goes in circles. His mind is not his own. In certain circumstances... in certain circle dances, throughout the four seasons, his mind is not his own. His life's a reminder to be forgotten. 
"How long have we been covered by the clouds of confusion ? All the hapless delusions bring only beautiful illusions. Such pain not included, these dreams were concluded. It becomes crystal clear why the banishment of fear (the essential concern from which we learn) can never leave the ground. If we are to be sound of mind, then remembering our mortality must become divine.
Intelligence can become an attractive sense, if it is placed carefully so in an apropos scenario. Entropy qualifies as such: a gradual decline into chaos, an infinite loss. But logic can impose order, as we grow older... until the heart is strong enough to allow itself to heal. Only then can the soul feel a renewed sense of purpose, and carry on in this circus." -- Me 
After finishing my search through the journals covering my 20's in Milwaukee, I found almost no usable material for my current project: the 50 piece poetry book. Seems like I poured everything of any importance into Kuderski and my 2 albums together. That's all good and fine, but I really did, and still do, have high expectations where my creative abilities are concerned.
There are two songs that didn't make the cut for my solo debut. I simply thought that my vocal delivery just wasn't up to standards. You know, I couldn't seem to get it out right. So, I'm reworking them both. Either way, the price of the album will NOT be raised. Meaning that if you buy the whole release, you'll have 14 songs for the cost of 7 songs. Fortunately, I'm drawing inspiration from the novel I have been writing. No progress adding to the novel, but I've found plenty related to the deeper content of the human condition. "What's it all about" takes center stage for many of us, but especially during our 30's and later in life. Maybe it relates to more of us then because the days of our youth move further and further behind us, distant memories in a linear progression of time. Only time will tell, but the world seems far more promising now. That's really all for now. To be honest, the day to day, humdrum roll of it all taxes me much greater these days. My last blog, that I wrote yesterday, addressed all of those subjects, so if you're interested in that sort of testimonial topic it's right there for you. I hope that this posting finds you doing well and in good spirits. If not, may you discover the root of your discontent, and tear that weed out of the ground. Take care, and best wishes to you. 
In my last blog, I waxed poetic about my first true relationship that was both romantic and serious. I just read over that blog, and I think this time, I'm going to wax philosophical and only a little poetic about the relationship that I have shared with my life partner for the passed 13 years, 7 months, and 19 days. We have shared highs and lows for certain, but their are traits of my partner and I that keeps us together. I would like to explore those here with you.
I'm not really a fan of posting a lot of memes. Over time, I've come to consider most of them to not really say much of any importance. Sure, I've had my favorites, most of which I'll add on my 2 cents about what is said. One thing ties most of them together, I suppose. I reach out to those whom might be going through a rough patch. I have always considered myself to have a vagabond mentality, the heart of a black sheep, and have been dubbed by many as an old soul. As William Patrick Corgan (Billy Corgan of The Smashing Pumpkins) penned: "I sensed my loss before I even learned to speak." So I guess it's just in me to identify with wallflowers. There's a Catch 22 there. Get too close and you get hurt, but you have to see people in order to help out, if and when you can. My trouble lies in that delicate balance in my life. So, I tend to walk outside of it all, with my heart on my sleeve. I do my best to be kind, true, and necessary in my thoughts, words, and actions. That's how I live with myself, day to day. I met my life partner in that way. We share the same kind of heart, mind, and soul. Our weaknesses and strengths mostly compliment each other, and we are both talented and skilled in artistic means and ways. We are by no means perfect people, but it's my firm belief that we are perfect for each other. For me to ask for anything more is foolish, pretentious, and pointless. So, as you may have surmised, I love him dearly and our relationship is anything but sensible for me. But I will never cheat on him or look for any romantic or relationship other than ours. When I cheated in my past, I lost everything and almost everyone for whom I dearly cared. I am by no means willing to part ways with my partner, everything I have gained, and everything that I have accomplished since. That may seem completely self-interested; but if I don't care for myself, how am I supposed to care for anyone else ? With that, I think that I have said everything that needs said. It has been brewing within for a good amount of time now, and I have written all of this in one, convoluted stream-of-consciousness, and in one sitting. I will probably go back and make grammatical and spelling alterations, but that is really all. I hope that some of this may have helped somebody else, in whatever way it may have helped, but mostly it was necessary in order to help me to make sense of everything in my mind, heart, and soul. Take care of yourself, and take care of everything that you prize, and of everyone for whom you care. Goodnight and best wishes to you. 
At one moment in my youth, I lived briefly through rose-tinted visions, nineteen and reeling in the whirlwind of discovery, and maintaining some assemblance of mental order. I had met and loved a few men my age, equally dazed and confounded by this paradoxical newness of purpose and devotion to reckless abandon.
The 1st taught me the disillusion in obsession. The 2nd taught me that there were actual men who lusted after me. The 3rd gave me the ability to admit I had a lot to learn in lovers' arms. The 4th taught me unrequited love is a sickness to be cured by abandonment. And then, there was you, my 1st true love. I will always feel your trauma inside of me. No apologies can ever do it justice. You were a trembling lover who only let go... as I brushed the hair back over your ear while you slept. The French have named it a little death that left you excising demons in my arms, You caught truth inside the words of Emily Dickinson. "The heart asks pleasure first, And then, excuse from pain; And then, those little anodynes That deaden suffering; And then, to go to sleep; And then, if it should be The will of its Inquisitor, The liberty (privilege) to die." By means of writing our names in strange signatures, you scribbled that passage of her poem by the side, and I felt it my duty and privilege to mend and sanctify your struggling and suffering. Your kind of insanity was prudent, necessary for your survival. You thought you were lucky to have me. But I fell from the grace of our exaltation. I have no reason other than the confusion within between my mind, heart, and flesh. Split from reason, voices around and inside myself beckoned me to try rekindling my obsessions, my lust for more than sanctity and safety. I betrayed you, and I can't forgive myself for the ignorance and lust for more than what I had always dreamed. I never did and won't ever deserve you. I do this, go through this... daily. But if you should need me, for any reason, other than the love I yearned to have for decades, seek me out. I will not bite at the chance to return to your love. This yearning wishes not to be forgiven; that isn't how life and the unknown play out mankind's destiny. I can't promise a perfection in time. To know that you are safe and relatively sound, that is my bond... for whatever it is worth. 
“I wanted you to see what real courage is, instead of getting the idea that courage is a man with a gun in his hand. It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”
– Harper Lee To Kill A Mockingbird Many parts of my life fall under this definition of courage. Without courage, confidence is impossible to possess. There is no reason to persist if you don't gain confidence from what you have accomplished, and then by that means gain the ability to believe in what you will accomplish. Love takes courage to carry on and to see it through. There's another quote by an unknown author that says that sometimes courage is a quiet hope at the end of the day, of a voice saying "I'll try again tomorrow". Too many times I backed down when I shouldn't have, withholding my truth and apologizing for making things too difficult for my lovers. It would have been wonderful if I hadn't. That's one of my faults: lack of courage in dealing with my partners of the past. Compromise is the truth learned with age, but learn from me and don't sell yourself short in love. Determination to pursue your passion in your vocation also takes courage. I can't count the number of times that I've put down my passion as silly or pointless. Like the quote at the beginning of this rant, that's not the point of doing it. All success should be celebrated, but it's the difficult work that's most worth doing. Another of my faults here is not surrounding myself with helpers. I was encouraged to stand alone and be self-reliant, but to the point of turning away others when they tried to be there for me. When they tried to help me see that everybody needs help in some aspect of their lives at most times. My life's work is one place where I should have learned that earlier, and I only have myself to blame for it. I squandered my opportunities with inaction, when my current partner professed his belief in me, in so many aspects of myself and my life. I don't intend to make that mistake again. So to you, the audience, please take these ramblings of a madman, what I have professed... keep them in your mind for those moments when you find yourself in similar situations. Love is meant to be love with courage. Life is meant to be lived with courage. And your life's work is meant to be pursued with courage. I hope you've found something that will help you this Spring, and possibly beyond this moment in time. Class dismissed. 
This song has taken the mantle as the favorite track from the album. Listeners seem to identify best with it. While I was recording it, I also enjoyed the process of laying down the vocals a lot. Some songs... you have to drag them out kicking and screaming. But this one came pretty naturally and just seemed to flow easily. Also, being radio friendly and having a pop sensibility, "Home within the Sacred Silences" has more people tuning in, and identifying with the message behind its lyrics. Don't get me wrong; I am very happy about how it's being received. So, keep tuning in... and maybe stay around for a while, to hear what other songs might speak to on the inside of you.
To be honest, this song embodies the principle at the center of what I'd like to achieve with my music. I have always been on the outside of the world looking in, but also looking inside of myself. I want to inspire the black sheep of families, feeling at home on the island of misfit toys, to do the same. It's one of the benefits of being an outsider looking in. As they say in one of my favorite nostalgia movies, The Perks of being a Wallflower, "You see things, you keep quiet about them, and you understand". It also helps the nostalgia factor that I grew up in Pittsburgh (where the movie takes place). I'd like to share this, too. Please... don't give in to the dark or the light, but maintain a balance between them, on the inside. Spiritual or not spiritual, there is always something under the stars, and among the stars, to learn. I'll close with a second quote from Carl Jung, a man whose work has always resonated with me. Take care, my friends, and try to enjoy the short time that we're around. "In the last analysis, the essential thing is the life of the individual. In our most private and most subjective lives we are not only the passive witnesses of our age, and its sufferers, but also its makers. We make our own epoch." -- Carl Jung 
This is a piece that I've been kicking around in my head, and intend to add to the 50+ poems for my upcoming book of poetry: Cornucopious. It's by no means finished, but I figured that it marks where my mind has been recently, so I decided to share it with you. Feel free to comment on your thoughts about the subject, and where you are in this dreamy process that we call life.
"Delusions of Humans" --Hobbes Deutsch, Jr. Your own home, and the others you've known, leave indelible marks on parts of your soul. I'm certain that I could not make amens, for the wrongs I have done to strangers and friends. And the cost is far too great when our company we have come to hate. Oh, the delusions of we humans: we break love to make love. Whether past, present, or future; there's no healing suture. In this life, it seems that I can't achieve, the things which I can't bring myself to believe. Existing in the company of thieves of the heart, is reason enough to grieve and fall apart. But we pick up the pieces, and stitch up those wounds, to make scars of the creases, a Frankenstein monster doom. Oh, the delusions of we humans: we break love to make love. Whether past, present, or future; there's no healing suture. Then as I follow the imperfect path, laid down to shield demons from God's wrath, I remember that even they were angels whom fell, from the lofty heavens into an imperfect hell. And Satan always preferred a Chinese water torture reign. So I hide my mortal weeping behind a fogged up window pane. None know I mourn our passing under passion's wicked spell. Unsympathetic daydreams rule our minds... I cannot speak; I must not tell. Oh, the delusions of we humans: we break love to make love. Whether past, present, or future; there's no healing suture. 
For my next project, an old idea that my partner suggested, I am coming back to writing a poetry book. It will have an example of as many of every type of poem that's out there. Some examples, I've written one of Ginsberg's concoctions (The American Sentence), the Japanese invention (haiku), and a few pieces loosely based on James Joyce's form: the (Stream of Consciousness).
Having started, I am doing my very best to stray away from the last form as much as I can, seeing as how it's the most comfortable. I need this project to challenge me, and am looking at possibly 50+ works to be included. This Poetry book, tentatively titled "Cornucopious", has no future publication date as of yet. Currently, there are 25 works completed. I had more, but several poems were pulled from the list, while I was reworking the debut. We'll have more on this story as it develops. Below is an older poem slated for this project. I wrote this 5 years ago, and it came up on Facebook as a memory post. After working it over and over, I feel fairly confident in this liberal offshoot of a (Shakespearean Sonnet). I hope that you enjoy reading it. Comment below and let me know whichever way your opinions go. "Nomads & the Damage Done" The ground massages his tried, tired feet travels unbound upon barren concrete. All of this reminds him to tread lightly if he wants words to come out politely. That would mean a lesser pain born nightly. But oh, the times he tried to give and take only made worse his troubles and heart ache. And then when he cursed and swore at it all, it only slightly slowed his certain fall, leaving only crumbling stones from his wall. And so he asks of me with final breath: "Perchance, I solved the riddle before death ? 
I'd like to say a little about this album. Released in the beginning of February, well... this is the first time that I've tackled the subject of what this album means, and how it was created. In fact, it wasn't until the whole project was finished that I looked back and considered what songs fit and which should be hacked off of my debut.
Compared to the concept albums that Jake Kuderski and I recorded together, this seemed disconnected. The only real central notion was that I wanted it to be contemplative, complicated, but blatantly honest. "A Brush with Death (Condom-Nation)" is the album's shining example of it. Those lyrics have been around since 1995, but when they met with the music it was lust at first bite. I went back and forth, over and over the lyrics for "Imagination, Mind, Soul, and Heart" until I just threw them out all together and pasted in a little piece that is only four lines long. It evolved from a charity account on Instagram. Each photo you shared had a filter that raised awareness for a specific charity. Then Johnson & Johnson donated a dollar to the cause that you chose. My choice was a charity that helped fund a college student's education, hence the subject of my post. So I was writing and composing separately, and kept smashing the two entities together. Yet, somehow the message in the lyrics for each song evolved into something that still has a poetry to it, but especially "Truth of a Soul's Whole (Halloween)". As I have grown, my take on Halloween is more aligned with El Dia de los Muertos or All Saints Day. There's a justice to the chill of Autumn that for me will always be beautiful. I have my testimonial, my update as to where I am in all of this, but the original forms of lyrics and compositions were slashed, crashed and burned. Again, it was a well orchestrated train wreck of a process. But from what I can sense of it, I'm pleased with my creation, and I have my favorite moments and songs. I hope that it meets its audience and is well-received. I can't wait to see how this turns out. 
You and I, on the way through. In these times, we have nothing to prove. And we're true enough to, work through the tough, too.
Why the delay before our purpose is served, the breaking of words which no one has heard ? Here's to a breaking of bread. Hope it's not too far off ahead. Sharing thoughts that we've bred, we find friends in those who just said something true. From me to you, it's the best we can do. Too late, it's passed away from us. No, it wasn't sent for you and me. That was meant for someone else's story. You and I are, better off by far... without it. So for now, reflection rules my mind. Empathy rules my heart with this pain inside. It's the pain reminding me that I have a soul. Present in the here and now, it builds my faith in wisdom somehow. Those are my heroes. Those are my guides. No need for a crown. No good reason to hide. And the moon's now found the horizon. Something to focus our eyes on. Because hope always puts a prize on, that which our hearts may inspire from. 
Love lies in between the case of life and the case of death. Both are included within us, consistently and constantly, though rarely balanced in regard to one another. Although I am certain life is the mirror image of death, I'm not entirely sure what to do with either of them. Indeed, the very nature of perceiving without any prejudice may very well be impossible in my lifetime. However, the obvious tendency of my tenderness to recoil from the light of the perceived social commentary, proves me no better at reaching out to you than to anything or anyone else.
Ever since I can remember, I have been in possession of an avid curiosity of how my mind works in relation to the social contract, which is inherent in all aspects of living. It will almost certainly lead to my downfall. You see, our individual concepts of life and of death are colored by the tendencies of our minds to decipher the collective reality. Each of our personal spiderwebs of sensing relative intellectual, physical, and emotional connections... they affect everything and everybody existing around each of us, much as with the concept of the butterfly effect. Supposedly belonging to all, it is that which is infinitely interlocking with everyone's contributions to a collective consciousness, accessible to every last one of us. Three-pronged manifestations (emotional, physical, and mental entities communicated into existence), and their measured scale, expand and contract dependent upon the amount of information being present. Also, I tend to notice its presence (the 3-pronged manifestation) when I don't feel conscious of my humanity. That is, it begins when I don't feel my heart and soul's presence within my chest, when my breathing is erratic, when my mind is racing, and when my anger has welled up with an inability to shake off the overwhelming sense of foreboding. This preoccupation involves solving the mentally, emotionally, and physically taxing matter at hand. That problem and my preoccupation with solving it, feed off of each other, causing the 3-pronged manifestation to grow exponentially and without bounds. It is imperative to remember that all three of them are measured internally (to define and communicate a quantified factual statement), and measured externally (to associate proportion in degrees relative to one another). Without the two associations, it becomes impossible to communicate relevance in all things. Everything is measured in quantifiable, relative degrees. It's important to realize that all things in life and death are relative to one another in varying degrees. Spirituality, science, philosophy, emotion, intellect, nature, music, prayer, birth, death, sexuality... everything can be quantified and laid out in definitive measurement. I can't stress it enough: everything is associative in varying, relative degrees. Keep the complex nature of the inner workings within you. Allow yourself to feel their totality in every fiber of your being. Be replenished and fulfilled. Know what you know; don't know what you don't know, and move on. Now, in this moment... let it all go. “The first gulp from the glass of natural sciences will turn you into an atheist, but at the bottom of the glass, God is waiting for you.” -- Werner Heisenberg 
Bear with me... I'm sharing something that I feel is important, and so it may help somebody else out with what they are going through, also.
Pain grounds us in humility, reminds us of our humanity and our mortality. It allows us to feel, to develop a sense of empathy. It helps us because we feel our soul again, destroying the ego, preparing us for better things. In the complexity of all things being considered, I have found from now and again, a vital untying of the mind. It allows for more moments of inspiration, when simplicity is revealed for that which was once beyond our comprehension. Everything just clicks... falls into place. And so, we develop a deepening appreciation for all that is beautiful in this existence, and for that which is to come in the hereafter. That's all that I have to say for now. I hope that somebody who needed that small revelation, was helped by it. It may have saddened you a bit, but you'll understand the significance of things once you are grounded again, capable of putting aside little things in order to grapple with what ails you. Thank you for your time and consideration. Best wishes for you and yours. -- Me 
Yesterday, I spent rummaging through old emails and journal entries. This piece didn't fit either of those, but it was through the process of revisiting those emails and journal entries that I rediscovered an older piece of writing. After some redevelopment and reworking, this is the rough framework for a narrative chapter in "Glass Mountain Spirit".
I'm going on with trying to put into words, well… sometimes it intrigues me. The first thing that comes into my head is my infatuation with keeping a relationship going... two people who are together, we do everything that we can think of... working through problems to their resolutions. I have long been hopelessly dedicated to that cause. It's been my firm belief that there is always a new way, one more thing... never stop working. Relationships can always be improved. Sure, I had my 20's... years of aimlessly wandering within the confines of random nights, of lost and found souls with similar, brilliantly dark interests. Still... most of us shared in the notion of a common brotherhood. Pride, no matter how untrue it may be in practice, gave me a sense of accomplishment and of being wanted. It's a very dangerous thing, this pride. Wars are started because of pride. In the end, there's you holding a rainbow flag in the bitter, freezing breeze. Your beauty has faded, and the train has left you on the platform: forsaken, forlorn, and finally... forgotten. I remember the Asian man who told me that he'd been in a relationship with his partner for 11 years, until his partner passed on. Even still, when the two of us were done for the night... he had the uncanny sense to tell me that I shouldn't have sex with every guy who takes an interest in me, and is nice to me. Sort of like he was nice to me, and took an interest in the backpack that I carried around everywhere that I wandered. It was my security blanket in a way, filled with notebooks of drawings, poetry, prose, and journal entries… and out the door it and I went. In a matter of a few hours, my supposed new brother in arms had lost all interest in me. So in the regretted end, my tried and true brother wanderlust picked me up and dusted me off. Then he said, full of confidence: "whatever happens will be. Here, I want to show you something." 
This is a big deal.
I can't talk anyone into or away from experimentation with psychedelic substances. If you've given this a great deal of thought, and still feel that you absolutely need to try walking down that path, please heed these rules. Stick to the natural kind .To put a fine point on it, because of our flawed nature, man-made psychedelics are imperfect, have more negative side-effects, and do more damage to our body and mind. I say this with nearly 100% certainty... 3 reasons: I am a flawed human being; nothing is statistically absolute; and for the undeniable truth that no two people have exactly the same sort of experience. To put this another way, our individuality is the keystone. That is the crux of the matter at hand. Finally, your experience will affect you immensely, will affect your perception of the nature of consciousness, for the rest of your existence. I highly recommend that you do this with a close friend whom has experience with natural psychedelics. That way, he or she can guide you through the experience. Next, seek out that good friend afterward. Talk through what happened during your journey. Recount everything with as great of detail as you can. Then have he or she recount their journey. Finally, compare the two journeys in as much depth as is humanly possible. That is all that I can say, other than do some of your own research before the journey. That is imperative, so that you don't go into the experience blindly, with your mind completely overwhelmed from being unprepared. Treat it with a great amount of humility; it deserves your full attention and your upmost respect. Such is its nature. 
“The Bending of the Light”
– Hobbes Deutsch, Jr. There’s one certainty that I have. I know I love you. Never doubt that. Everything else changes with time. Thank you, to the bending of the light. Every day, every sunrise and twilight colors the blue day and the black night. Full of perfect, fractured time-space Inspires cherishing the day and each place Thank you, to the bending of the light. Upon each sacred dusk and breaking dawn The hopes and dreams of our youth are drawn. With years we change, never winning our fight. Our rage against the dying of who’s right. Whether life in good graces, or hiding behind faces The universe shifts with the bending of the light. So argue with me about the way the wind blows. The sweat of mankind toiling in bitter blizzard snows. Whatever happens will become for each of us Passing phases of the moon, spreading magic dust. All praises live on within the bending of the light. 
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