The best investments of late:

 

+ $2.35 < 100 yards of dental floss

+ $156.00 < Fender ukulele

+ $.50 < 'Walden' & Civil Disobedience' by Henry David Thoreau

It's all happening.

+ started a band with my brother.

+ learning Spanish.

+ learning to ride a horse bareback style.

+ working for Kingfisher Painting services (check em' out).

+ doing restoration jobs for fun and money.

+ still writing my book.

+ still discovering Vancouver Island.

Lesson Learned

I traded 10 dollars for 10 mangoes.

Because I love mangoes more than money.

Thoughts on the Past / Realizations in the Present / Thirst for the Future.

Baseball.

It was one of my first loves. Very boring to most people, but for me the game seemed more noble than any other sport. There was a lot more happening on the field than the eyes could see. It was mental and at times, spiritual. And besides all that, I just loved to throw. I played baseball for years, until eventually I reached the threshold of an opportunity to play at a very competitive level. And suddenly it wasn't just for fun anymore. It was the first of many crossroads in my life; Get serious or get outta here.

I remember my Dad telling me a story about a kid who loved the game so much that he threw one ball, hundreds of times every day, at a painted target on a brick wall. If he hit the target right on, the ball would come back to him. If not, he had to chase it down. Yeah, there's a metaphor in there somewhere.

The kid evolved into a phenom of his sport simply by repetition, experience and overall pure love for what he was doing. For him, it wasn't work. It was desire.

I'm not sorry to say that I didn't make it in Baseball. I obviously didn't want it enough. I had access to a ball and a brick wall and a can of spray paint. And honestly I didn't even really consider going for it. I chose my friends and the freedom of summer over committing myself to Baseball. It was an easy choice for a young dude. But I can't say that I didn't look back, because I did. I look back on other crossroads I've come to in life as well. I realize I've made some minor, not-well-thought-out decisions for sure, but when it comes to the big life decisions, I feel dignified with every direction I chose at every set of crossroads I've come across thus far. One of them was what lead me here to this moment, writing this.

I left Canada over three years ago. Before I boarded the plane I wrote a message to everyone stating that I wasn't coming back until I had really figured myself out and “found a career that I love as much as everything else that I love.” When I finally returned in August of last year I was sure of one thing:

My hobby, my sport, my career, my desire, my love is LIFE.

Family & friends, music, film, photography, cookin', drinkin', tokin', creating, painting, sharing, sweet hot loving, trading, playing, learning, teaching, and traveling.... these are the wonderful necessities I have to enjoy it successfully. And I feel beyond blessed to have all that I do.

Five n' a half months spent in Ontario provided me with an interesting review of who I was when I left and who I am now. I was able to see where I had been and what I had done abroad through the eyes of the people I cared about most. I had never felt so at home before being away from it. And the best part was the alleviation of my concern that my family wouldn't fully understand or support my decision to keep on traveling. Because of all the life decisions I've made, this was perhaps the easiest. It was easy because I know now what I'm here to do. Whether or not you believe in past lives, destinies or any of that, doesn't matter. I believe that this time I have here is all that I get and as far as destiny goes, this is it: Writing my story as I live it. So naturally, I'm gonna make it an epic one.

The year 2013 is still fresh and new. I'm thirty years young and officially into the next chapter of my life, which is shaping up to be the best one yet.

Another crossroads is waiting on the horizon. I can't hardly wait for it. I'm doing all the things I love to do and sometimes I even get paid. But if I'm not working for money, I'm working for me. When I'm working for both, I'm living the dream.

Lesson Learned

The more people I meet (whether I connect with them or completely oppose them) and the farther I go (both geographically and mentally), the more confidently I believe in myself and love everything else.

 

I'm beginning to jam on the ukulele in the same way that I like to explore a woman's body. In those moments after a sexual escapade where we are both so satisfied and floating comfortably. That's where it's at. I dig those more than the romp itself sometimes. I cover a lot of the body-map with my nose and kisses. I connect the dots on moles and beauty marks. I look for those dimples in the small of the back, and if they're there, I stay a while. I do a lot of other stuff too but I don't wanna give it all up.

Restless now. 

I started writing this because I was playin' around on the uke and I realized how familiar it's becoming to me and how I'm beginning to see it up close now. I feel like I'm right down there, wandering through each fret, jumping curiously from string to string. It's a fucking great feeling. But if a woman was beside me right now we'd really be making music.

Best Part o' My Day

November 30, 2012

Today is the last day of the "Best Part o' My Day" month-long posting project.
Reflecting on the best part of my day is something that I will continue to do for as long as I live. It's such an easy thing to do and it's a testament to prove that even the darkest, shittiest days contain a moment worth highlighting.

Once again, I got a lot of writing and editing done today, which I'm really proud of. But I gotta give it up to Jessica Patterson a second time because this simple idea may not have happened if not for her. I've enjoyed writing these daily doses of 'best' and every time I sit down to do it I think of her, like I'm doing right now.

 

 J.P.

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