Let Them Feed

Now let’s talk about my new blog at LifeisaStorm.com.

After writing all of my books — which are essentially memoirs told and examined through different lenses — I realized they were a form of venting. They were releasing what needed to be released. Toxins out. Something executed, and pressure released. 

I never set out to write a book, much less ten of them. And now, with the recent publication of Grief First Aid Kit, that makes eleven.

You can find my books here: My Author Page.

The eleventh book was different. It wasn’t meant to be a memoir. It was meant to serve a purpose — not only to help myself, but to help others standing where I was and still am. 

After my mother passed, I used a pamphlet-style piece of literature to stabilize myself, and that’s where the idea for the grief kit came from.

The other ten books were releases of what had been building inside me. I published them because… why not? 

Life is short. Complete missions. Create journeys. Check off bucket lists. Do things you normally wouldn’t do but wish you could. For a lot of people, writing a book sits somewhere on that list. 

Maybe it was buried in the back of my mind for me too. Regardless of how big or small that desire was, it’s now been executed eleven times over.

There’s also the aspect of honoring the people in my life — past and present. Those who are gone and those still here with me. That mattered to me. Honoring my loved ones mattered.

Then there’s keeping a record of my journey. Telling my story while breaking it down and analyzing it in real time. Making sense of everything as I go. And beyond that, leaving something behind — something I can look back on, something others can see, something that remains after I’m gone.

The blog came about to accompany that process. To promote the work, yes, but also to continue the recording and the venting. It’s an ongoing flow that has helped me and continues to help me.

Which brings me to privacy.

My life is largely aired out. I don’t carry much hidden weight. I’m transparent with myself, with others, and with God. There’s a saying you’ll see in the feature image of this entry: Privacy is power. What people don’t know, they can’t ruin.

I’ve thought a lot about that. Sure, some aspects of privacy matter. Some things should stay quiet for security and sanity. However, I do not give a shit. I’m not interested in living behind a curtain. The amount of privacy they wish you have is up to thier own discretion. To each their own.

I’m an open book. I’ll give it to you straight.

Everyone on this earth is important and special — that matters. But my transparency is ultimately between me and God. If I’m transparent before God, that’s what counts. Everyone else just gets a preview. 

If you don’t like what you see, the exit is right there. You’re entitled to your opinion. Leave. Go. No hard feelings. Shoo! Go on, shoo!

If you’re entertained, fine. If you get something meaningful from it, that’s a bonus. I’m glad for that. But understand something clearly: this is for me. The byproduct happens to reach you.

I’m going to promote my creative projects and share my art at my gallery: reach.gallery/los. I’m going to talk about my life. I’m going to say what I feel. This is my space to live out loud. No one dictates how I exist in it. I am who I am, and there’s no substitute version of me waiting backstage.

And to those living behind masks — you know how heavy that mask gets. Stop pretending otherwise. Stop gaslighting people. It’s exhausting and it’s unnecessary.

No one gets to tell me how to act, what to say, or how to say it. I’m a Christian, yes, but I’m not a saint, and I don’t need your judgments. No one is perfect. As it is written: “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone.” — John 8:7.

There was only one who ever lived perfectly, and He chose to die for us: “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth… He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross.” — 1 Peter 2:22–24.

My point is simple: you’re getting the unfiltered version of me. I’ll keep refining myself until the end, trying to be a better man and a better human being. 

I’m not competing with anyone except myself and time. And time is limited.

Stop judging others. Go live your life.

And before I close this, understand something clearly. My personal life is my personal life, and I can say whatever the hell I want to about it — whether it’s work related, emotional related, anything. Do you see any mention of anyone in particular when I say anything negative? Any person or entity? No. 

And if you’re a creeper and eager to start digging, maybe you think you can figure out who, what, and where I’m talking about when I don’t flat-out say it. That’s on you. That says more about you then it does about me. So, there's that.

But on that note, if you think you can break me, you won’t. I’ve already been broken. The worst. Anything after that is nothing.

I’ll take the B-Rabbit approach. I’ll put everything on the table myself. When it’s already all out there, you have no leverage, no control. Dismantled.

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