Sharing My Light: ILLUMINATION Introduction
Greetings, fellow ILLUMINATORS! I am so grateful for this community of writers and for what I have already gained during my short time on Medium. It is inspiring to see such a diverse group of individuals sharing their passions and baring their souls. Thank you.
How I Got Here
My relatively recent rediscovery of my love of writing has been inspired by my return to school. After 20+ years of working in construction and manufacturing fields, I was facing severe burnout. During a brief stint of taking prerequisites for a Physical Therapy Assistant Program, I took English Composition I. I wrote five essays for that class and loved every minute of it.
Soon after that semester, I changed my major to journalism. With the support and encouragement of my wife, I have been able to reduce my work schedule so that I can go to school full time. I am currently pursuing an Associate of Arts degree in Journalism at Austin Community College. I intend to transfer to a four-year school to continue my study of journalism and also obtain a degree in religious studies. My ultimate career goal is to write blogs, articles, and books that highlight the unity and efficacy of the world’s religions. I’ve already started writing about my spiritual path and have had one blog published on Be Here Now Network.
Why I Write
Since posting my first article on Medium, I’ve questioned my reasons for writing. Even though I’ve been writing songs for years, writing lengthy pieces of self-expression is a new approach for me. It has been challenging and rewarding. It’s quite intimidating to see articles titled “I write 5,000 words a day and you can too!” That seems… impossible. Maybe 5,000 words a day isn’t possible for me. Maybe obsessing over a word count is missing the point.
After publishing my second Medium article I quickly dove into a spiral of self-doubt. My views and claps were practically nonexistent. Forget about comments. My wife asked, “did you send it to your friends?” I hadn’t. I had only announced the article on the white noise void of social media. So I decided to text the link to a few friends. Within an hour several meaningful conversations had been started. I realized that’s why I want to express myself this way. It isn’t about showing off or yelling “look at me!” I want to create a dialogue. I want to know what you think. Challenge me. Let’s share our thoughts and ideas with humility and let’s listen to one another intently. This isn’t being right or proving a point. It’s about sharing our individual experiences and ideas so that we can grow together.
Identity
Ram Dass said that “any identity is a limiting concept.” Here are a few of my current limiting concepts: husband, dog dad, journalism student, musician, bhakta, and religious pluralist, a part-time hardware store employee.
I’ve been living in the wonderful, quirky city of Austin, Tx for almost ten years. I thought that I was moving here to play music. Instead, I met my wife, found my spiritual path, and started going to college. Who am I to argue?
During my time in Austin, I also got the opportunity to work for Collings Guitars and Mandolins. Although I was never bitten by the luthiery bug, my time at Collings was very impactful. During those six years, I got to work with the most talented group of weirdos I’ve ever met. Some of those weirdos have become great friends. I learned so much about how sound works. Figuring out how to coax the perfect tap tone out of a mandolin top is one of the most rewarding things I’ve ever done. Two Collings guitars followed me home from the shop. Those instruments have done a lot to shape my relationship with music. Not only do I play differently, but the way that I listen to music has also changed. The qualities that I appreciate in a song, live concert, guitar solo, etc. have changed dramatically.
Music has been a huge part of my life for as long as I can remember. I have a vivid memory of being five years old and jumping up and down on the bed yelling “We built this city! We built this city on rock and roll!”
Through my twenties and most of my thirties, I played guitar, sang, and wrote songs in several bands. My main musical expression these days is kirtan which is the recitation of mantra set to music.
Even as I approach forty years old, I still crave new music like I did when I was an angsty teen. If you have a song that you are currently stuck on, please leave it in the comments. I’ve had Jonathan Terrel’s cover of the Mazzy Star classic Fade Into You on repeat lately.
I sincerely thank you for reading and I look forward to growing with you. Let’s connect on Twitter or LinkedIn.
