Third Chakra: Sketchpad

2004. I returned home from Vancouver back to my parents' basement. Again. Sorta had to. Ran out of money 9 months in and had to radio home for more. Cashed in my 401k from Iowa, too. Flat broke. Drew a hard line for myself. From here on out, there's just some things I wouldn't do. I can't always end up like this. Once I leave, I have to be gone. I can't get as sick as I was last year, again, either. I wasn't gonna stick around here long. It was up, up, and gone.

Last year's caper should've put me in jail. A cop stop early in the year should've kept me there. Cosmically driven story: Workouts equalled Randhurst equalled reunion equalled Our Town equalled absinthe equalled contraband. Squeaked out cleaner than expected. Met the girl who broke my dry spell through all that. A calendar year to the day, and a Full Moon to boot. In fact, this was my most promiscuous chakra. Only three women, but the quality of sex was par excellance. Two were Wiccan feminists, two were Irish princesses, two were professional intellectuals, two were S&M fethishists. That summer was the teenage rebellion I never had. First started working for corporate coffee. Broke my own rule about relationships at work. What started as an easy catch and a playful fling became the start of a 2-year testament to romantic endurance and a taste of a more privileged life.

Actingwise I was just starting out. Film fans found each other over coffee and American Prophet was born. Rolling Thunder at Roosevelt University. Mid-year I moved downtown and was itching to get my feet wet. An essay by David Mamet and good friends gone by gave birth to Uncle Freddy. Lent my voice to the Mad Hatter and my magic hands to the menorah. Shopping for headshots and searching the web for publicity. None of this stuff pays, just a labor of love.

Spiritually I was all over the map. Spent half of New Years' Eve at an OTO gnostic ceremony. Later I experienced a Wiccan New Moon. A brief stint at Trader Joe's taught me Kai-zen. Actually attended a nearby Buddhist center, an attempt at organized religion. Vancouver infected me with the knowledge of Sacred Geometry. Along with my patchwork mala, I wear a yellow jade one from the Buddhist Temple. My incense, my Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva pendant, my cosmic radio, all remnants of Richmond pilgrimages.

Paris occurred this year. I can't come up with enough flowery words to lavish upon this experience. Most awesomest tour guide ever-est. "Where do you want to go today?" And she took my hand and we went. I'm cogitating verbs in my head while she walks right up and starts conversations. She knows the hidden spots, little cafes and the right times to do when. Something got stolen from the Louvre while we were there, but 'twasn't La Giaconda. Dirty Sanchez on TV and francais-chinois cuisine. The sewer system, carriage ride at Versailles, and Naked and A Sartori in Paris at Shakespeare's. Got myself lost on my Sunday Morning excursion, and she was so wonderful to return to. My sparkly lighter got confiscated on our layover at Georgia. Couldn't replicate that experience with anyone else, ever. Thank you, Tchotchke.

There's lots more for this year, but I'm impatient to get this one out.

The third chakra is yellow, sunny, and located at the solar plexus, the diaphragm. It controls breathing and relaxation, happiness and contentment, center and balance. Its energy can be controlled by the stone Citrine. After the being has considered the consequences of its actions, it must accept its capabilities and shortcomings and learn to see itself as complete and whole. It must harness tolerance, patience, and steady nurturing in order to support the potential which lies inside.


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