*Originally Posted 2020*
Apparently, you savages like it when I get personal and dish out the goods. Fine. I’ll tell my Live in the Moment story and that will be it for the “Woo-Woo” stuff for a while and I’ll get back to ninjaing.
It’s pretty wild how when you start paying attention to ‘signs’ they begin showing up in abundance. Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs. The Universe is trying to tell you something, so pay attention! For me, they are internal and external and the message is simply: “Live in the Moment.”
“Screw the Universe you say?” Easy there, Jesse and Chester. Don’t come crawling to me when a super-hot giant alien attacks your town and you need our collective mind bullets to defeat it.
A handful of years ago, out of nowhere, I started getting super anxious of the future and what comes next. At some points, this anxiety/stress would become crippling and I knew something had to be done to tame this beast.
The first sign was literally fancy artwork that sits on top of this post. My wife and I went to see Justin Willman (Comedian/Magician) randomly one night a few months after our Daughter was born. We were both exhausted new parents and had a chance for a sitter. While thought of the mother-in-law keeping an eye on the lil’ one while we slept in the other room was mighty appealing, we chose to go to Comedy Works and check out a show instead. There were only a few last-minute tickets left, so we snatched em up and headed out. Even though we were late, we were seated right up front and instantly became nervous as front row audience members usually become material (for better or worse) and used at the comics disposal. To our fortunate delight, my sexy wiff and I were both channeled at different parts of the routine. Wiff was pulled up on stage for the grand finale. I cannot remember the details of said finale, but it ended with the reveal of a paper bearing the message: “Live in the Moment.” Now, this message could have been pulled from thin air, a sealed bottle, or my balloon knot for all I know, but it resonated with everything we did that night to leading up to that moment. We got to meet Justin after the show and he signed the paper which we later framed and hung on our bedroom wall as a reminder. We asked him how he performed this trick to which he replied: “Illusion, Jeff. A trick is something a whore does for money.” Now, he didn’t really say that, but it woulda been a lot cooler if he did.
Shortly after, in which I thought was an unrelated incident, I decided to get a new a tattoo. I had some work done around my left forearm that would remind me to slow down and simply enjoy life every time it caught my eye. This new ink was a treble clef to remind me that music contains the divine power to change the world. What’s that you say? Music can’t change the world? Just look at how the US gov’t blared “Welcome to the Jungle” non-stop to get Manuel Noriega to surrender- That’s probably not the best example but that’s what happens in the Schnoz blog- The notes on my arm following the clef are from a video game I used to play that would slow down the time of the game so you could accomplish more actions before time ran out. Little did I know at the time, these were related. The need to slow down and LIVE IN THE NOW was apparent to me, it just needed more attention and fine tuning
The more I started to meditate and research the art for myself and these posts, the “Live in the Moment” themes screams loud and clear. After all, per my last post, Living in the moment is what mediation is all about.
This next part of took a little longer but what’s a few years in the span of the Universe? My anxiety would kick it up a notch after every time I sipped the booze. The day after I would drink, the anxiety would grow something fierce until I got home from work and dumped more wine on top of it. Lather, rinse, repeat. I finally gave up the booze 11 months ago (more on that later) as the mental toll the next day severely outweighed the benefits of the nighttime buzz.
What stared off as a random night to see a comedian, started the slow roll to self-healing and awareness. If I would’ve paid more attention to the signs I was receiving, I could’ve gotten here sooner. I still have a long way to go but hey, better late than never, they say!
I started this whole site to hold myself accountable for getting into shape. Little did I know the added benefits that would come along with it. Through digging deeper with exercise, meditation and dropping the booze I was able to find the beginnings to manage a huge flaw in my mental well-being. Hopefully, I am inspiring others to do the same (or at least laugh at me).
There it is…I hope you’re happy!
Adios!
