When you’re in addiction recovery, relapse is when you start using drugs or alcohol again. So relapse happens because you use drugs or alcohol, right? Not really. Not at all, actually. Going back to using is the definition of relapse, but it starts a lot earlier than that. Some people dance with relapse for days,…
When you need to change, but don’t know what you need
Some days you feel like you can take on the world, and some days you want to smash your own dick with a hammer. Those days where you feel so little patience that severing a limb to escape everything seems a viable tactic. Where nothing is acceptable, and you want to burn every motherfucker that…
At 40, being a new father makes sense
When I say being a new father makes sense, I don’t necessarily mean it’s a great idea. Not for everyone, for sure. But then again, kids aren’t for everyone. What I mean is that at 40, being a new father finally makes sense for me. That doesn’t mean I love and appreciate a child at…
The key to happiness: ACCEPTANCE
I’ll start by saying the name of this post is a lie. Acceptance isn’t the key to happiness, because there is no key to happiness. There’s no magic wand to wave and sprinkle some fuckin pixie dust and you’re all smiles forever. There’s no happiness cheat code. What there is is strategies; actions and plans…
Why gratitude is so important
I feel like this subject gets beaten to death. Not that that’s a bad thing. After all, repetition is a great way to learn, and anything important bears repeating. But do you really understand why gratitude is so important? We live in a consumer-centric culture, and people place a lot of value on possessions. Many…
This Post Has No Pictures
This post doesn’t have any pictures. It won’t have any fancy links, or interesting facts. It doesn’t have formal structure, or much structure at all, really. It’s a minor miracle it groups words into sentences and paragraphs. There is a reason for it, though. I’m writing this post because I don’t write enough. And it…
Sometimes the Bad Guy Wins
Its a shitty statement to even utter, but it’s the truth. Sometimes bad people never get what we think they deserve. It’s tough to process, especially if your personal feelings are involved. Watching someone who you know has trash character be successful is painful. We love a hero story. Literature and film have been telling…
The Tattoo Industry is a Circus
The tattoo industry is a circus. I don’t mean that as a compliment, I mean it as an insult. The circus was cool when I was a kid, with all of the elephants, a life on the road, and clowns. Now it’s just disappointing, with all of the animal abuse, cramped living quarters, and, well,…
You can’t stop bad things from happening
When I was in my early 30’s, I asked my dad when I would get a break. There had been so much difficulty and so many challenges, that I thought I deserved a break. I wanted a run of good things to happen. Hardship was beating me down. He told me there is no break….
Battling Artist’s Block
My brain is a scrapyard. Most of the stuff laying around in there is just waiting for the landfill or furnace. Instead of crushed cars stacked five stories, it’s jettisoned art projects, blurry nights from my 20’s, and all the forgotten cheat codes from GTA3. You don’t always find a lot of useful things in…