Aloha Steemians!

^^^ Me as a baby... I guess I know where my own babies get their adorableness from! ^^^
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After a brief hiatus from posting blog articles, I am now back in the flesh (metaphorically speaking)! Yes - I’ve still been active in my upvoting and commenting on Steemit, but I know it just isn’t the same as dedicating time to write, produce, and (veritably) create an actual article… This one in particular is somewhat lengthy, but there is a method to my madness - so I ask that you please patiently enjoy it with me. ;-)

If you’ve read my awesome introductory post that made over 17¢ - my best earner to date! - then you know a little bit about me, what I am passionate in, and also how I’m pretty damn normal (and humorifically hilarious - important to remember during those times when it's probably best to be taking me lightly).

Anyways! ...For progress in my own life's journey, I sense it’s about time I sit down and relate the story of my quest... This article is the first in a series, and it is my hope that others will find it as entertaining as was my firsthand experience - if not even moreso… Because! I’m going to be very honest and transparent here: I’ve endured trauma (just like most of us have at some point) and I’ve allowed myself to join the crowd (just as most of us have at some point) - blindly accepting the plethora of dysfunctional programming that is so prevalent within our current day society...

^^^ Are you seeing what I'm feeling? What the programming does to us when we accept it for ourselves? ^^^
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So! :-)

Along with the laughs and the cosmic comicality that (literally) inundates my life, there are also darker moments in my past that have left me begging for the mercy of death, simply because I could not cope with the actuality of things as they were.

^^^ ...In my meanderings, I have found the fear of darkness tends to lead our eyes directly into it... ^^^
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See? Normal to the extreme! ;-)

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Anyways! ...Where shall I begin?
Perhaps I should start in the moment and then segway into my backstory… :-)

In this very moment: I am sitting outside in a beautiful garden, surrounded by consciously aware people going about their daily activities, typing away on the chromebook that was a parting gift from my family in Idaho… A family I love so much - a family that is and has always been the priority in my life...

^^^ My brother and I having an excellent friday in Idaho ^^^

And yet... I had to be willing to let them go.

I’ve seen how my mental posture affects not only my life, but the lives of those around me. Even loving my family as I did (and STILL do!), I saw firsthand how my anger and fear poisoned the atmosphere they breathed... And the guilt was crushing. I had to leave them… Where I was at, I was stagnating in a cesspool of my own creation - unable to help myself and unable to accept help from anyone else. The way I was living… was a way of living death. I hated my life, I hated the slavery of debt, and I hated the fact that everything I saw within society and the establishment was completely FUBAR - and how nobody seemed to be doing anything about it...

On some level, I knew that I could be a person who was clear with himself and who was in tune with his own role within Creation... But where I was at in my life wasn't giving me any options - and before I could put the "oxygen-mask" upon my loved ones, I had to put it on myself first...

I could become the person I knew I was capable of becoming. This person - the most loving and powerful version of me that I can possibly become - is one who wouldn’t settle for a fearful life of belittling blame, of loathsome laziness, or of revolting self-degradation (which has been my experience more than I care to admit)...

^^^ Just by attempting to survive with the mental posture that society has programmed into us... what else is there to do at the end (or middle) of the day but collapse from exhaustion and hopelessness? ^^^
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No! This will not be the legacy I leave my children!

...I was an "awakened" individual (to the conspiracies that go on behind closed doors), yet I was still stuck in the mental posture of slavery - and I knew that this would become the "gift" I would unconsciously give to my children... unless I chose to do something about it by changing myself first...

Even if I knew what to do on some level, I also didn't know what to do immediately and I felt stuck in my unknowing... It is truly a soul-crushing place to be mired in - a veritable quicksand of the spirit: the more I struggled to get out, the more it seemed to drag me under... and getting out of such a sticky situation sometimes requires an undertaking of epic proportions…

^^^ Ah... Just like the actual drive from northern Idaho to the DFW area in Texas! ^^^
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So I left behind all that I knew, guided only by my intuition, and left on a pilgrimage to The Garden…

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But hold on a second!!

Aren't you curious about my circumstances leading up to this event? Not so long ago in Idaho??

^^^ Of course you are! ^^^
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After honorably leaving a corporate job that was compromising my principles, I had been a stay-at-home father for the last 7 months of my life. The time I was able to spend with my youngest daughter was beyond valuable to me… but as she was growing and developing (so intelligent and strong!), I couldn’t hide from what was truly going on:

^^^ Being unable to walk herself yet, she LOVED to go out for walks ON ME (as you can see)! ^^^

My love for her, while unbreakably strong, was being overshadowed by my fear of the future...

All I had ever known was being another rodent in the rat race of society: running around blindly in the maze of consumerism for the reward of “cheese” that the fat cats dangled in front of the many rows of their sharp pointy teeth... I paid taxes, I had a driver’s license, and overall - I was a compliant slave… By my own example, I was teaching my daughter to live the life I would have never asked anyone to live, let alone myself… and yet, I was still living it!! And by continuing to live it, what I offered her was not a gift, but a curse that she herself would either have to alchemize or pass on to her own children...

In otherwords: I wanted more for her than what I was capable of giving her - and what I wanted to give her was a foundation of experience... I wanted to give her a foundation that would stand the test of time: allowing her to experience TRUE happiness (NOT dependent upon external factors), ACTUAL peace (NOT dependent upon a lack of outer chaos), and REAL faith (NOT dependent upon the validation of others)...

And, simply put, I couldn't give her what I didn't have myself...

Seeing this, I began to settle my affairs… At first, I didn’t know exactly what I was going to do - but I had an inkling: I had always been about living within conscious communities, however my last experience had left me slightly soured on the religious sorts (much too long a story to share within this post). I searched for ones closer to my home, but nothing really stood out to me… Until, following breadcrumbs of synchronicity, a few associates of mine referred me to one particular community that labeled itself as an eco-village…

^^^ Using old tires for gardening beds...?? That's so sustainable AND it looks badass! ^^^

Before this moment, I had never considered living in an eco-village... I was well aware of the horrendously unnecessary waste created by the unconscious corporate consumerism that had infiltrated the entrepreneurial spirit of my beloved country, but either the general vibe of the eco-villages I researched didn’t resonate with me or they appeared very half-hearted in their attempts to actually be one… However, this particular eco-village (the one I had my sights set on) had a very unique founder - one that easily began to earn my respect as I learned more about him and his exploits...

This is where Quinn Eaker ( @quinneaker ) - Founder of the Garden of Eden ( @gardenofeden ) - enters the stage of my attention:

^^^ Quinn with his two daughters... a father who loves his children - just like me... ^^^

Here is a family man (like myself) who is living the life I had only dreamed of… He was well-aware of the Military-Industrial Complex (like myself) but was living in a manner that does not support their system AT ALL (...unlike myself)!! He had secured the means to pay ZERO TAXES on the Garden’s property, drives without a driver’s license (to this day!), uses trash as a resource that would otherwise need to be purchased through the system of slavery and debt, and was still standing even after an incredibly dishonorable SWAT raid upon the community that is also his home...

This got my attention. (O_O)

I began watching videos to learn more about him and what he was like personality-wise… Not only did he seem honest and genuine in LIVING his PRINCIPLES - but he even had a most excellent interview with the Adam Kokesh!!

I personally had been a fan of @adamkokesh for a few years, and I had always considered him to be one of the few public figures that I actually trusted to be genuine in his civil disobedience. When I saw the two of them hitting it off, and with everything else I had learned about Quinn… Let’s just say my choice became incredibly obvious.

^^^ Quinn, Adam, and an enthusiastic resident "hanging out" in The Garden. ^^^

I ended up only corresponding with Quinn a few times over the phone before I booked a bus ticket for Texas... Our conversations were short, but I believe we both understood each other: he was feeling me out to see if I was honorable and genuine, and I was feeling him out to make sure that he was honorable and genuine. All in all, it went well - but we both intuitively knew we’d only get to know each other for real once we met in person… and began living together in close proximity...

Yes!! The True Test of the Humanity!!! Not ONLY living in close proximity to one another - but doing so in harmony!!!

^^^ OMG! So many people under one metaphorical roof - being held accountable!?! Can it be done!?! ^^^

TO BE CONTINUED!

Next episode: The Long Road to Texas

-={ Live Freely - Choose Wisely - until next time! }=-