You guys (and girls) are the best!! :D

This is really, really cool.

Perhaps the reason this is so special to me is that it took me a really long time to come to terms with the fact that I am an artist.  I didn’t need to wait for validation from some industry, company, group, individual (or otherwise) to “grant” me the title of artist; I just needed to claim it – make it mine.

Well, that and my cat.  I need my cat to approve.

But I digress…  The fact that other people might be inspired (however big or small) as a result of my endeavors kind of makes this whole thing worth while.  Yes, the whole thing.  w00t!

It also makes a circle (explained in this diagram.)

So, I’m going through my files and emails and discovering some really cool stuff sent to me during the course of the lifecast – and Imma start sharing it with you.

Enjoy!

by Joseph Wade – Age 10

 

by Fernando Douglas a.k.a. Fdart in chat (Can you say, “Wow”?)

Meanwhile, if you’ve seen anything you think I might be overlooking, please point me in that direction by sending me an email, or posting it to the Ning group.

This is too much fun!  More to come.

Earl Thibert – Inspiration and Friend

Meet Earl. 

The last few days, I have been thinking quite a bit about this handsome guy…

I first met Earl when he showed up at my channel on Ustream back in late 2007 as the world’s first handicapable lifecaster.

He is also: one of the wisest individuals that I’ve ever known (virtually, or IRL), an adult with Cerebral Palsy, confined to a wheelchair, and probably the best example of someone who COULD be frustrated with his body, but instead chooses to embrace his idiosyncrasies and utilize them to inspire others – like me.

People always say to me, “Wow. Lifecasting must have been hard.”  Yeah. It was.

The Internetz can be a mean and cruel place.  It possesses something tempting to certain people: the ability to lash out against things (that have no real bearing with where the anger came from in the first place) and it’s relatively anonymous.  Put those together, and it’s an instant recipe for potential hecklers and nay-sayers.

Earl knows how difficult life (and lifecasting) can be – and he has the unique perspective of dealing with a physical challenge while doing it.  And you know what?  He has handled the whole thing with style, grace and a smile on his face.

As I deal with overcoming some of my own physical challenges, it’s become painfully obvious that I am completely invested in the concept that my body will continue to operate perfectly.

Retrospectively, I’m not sure that mindset has served me very well, as it has allowed me to:

push forward when my body tells me to sleep
say hello to a friend when my vocal chords need rest
deprive my body of nutrients because I am forgetful or temporarily out of cash
etc.

These things are all fine and dandy for some people, without repercussions.  But, I’ve never really been one of those people to get away with anything.  It’s some strange cosmic-karma that I have to deal with.

You can hear both parts (of a two part) of a podcast interview Earl gave here and here.

Earl – the coming weeks for me might be incredibly difficult.  But I wanted to let you know that you are not only an inspiration to many – right now you are ‘THE inspiration” to me.

Thank you for reminding me that I am more than my body – I am my contribution.

Thank you also for the inspiration, and the wisdom that we do not always need to seek inspiration but rather, sometimes inspiration finds us.

You are a wise fellow, indeed.

{{{hugs}}} \o/

that is all

I wander through the rooms of my existence

Challenging the things that I’ve protected and kept safe

From the outside world

All while mistreating them myself

They are dusty and cluttered like the window sill

And I have not let the light in for years

The sun burns an image of clarity and transparency

That I am not ready to let collide

With the real world

Where people bustle along at a furious pace

Making snap judgments

Of time and space

Leaving me that one moment

Where I succeed or fail

To be part of the energy

That will carry them forward

Into the void

That we are all so desperately trying to fill

That I have filled with the many trinkets

In the many rooms of my existence

I look at them longingly

Picking up each and every one

Well most of them anyways

Except for the ones I’ve yet to admit I harbor and hold

Mainly because they be the ones that do not what they’re told

Intangible trinkets

With wills of their own

Not just a doll or a book

But real life pictures hung up on walls

Built long ago

As a means to define myself

And hide myself

This is not the picture I had painted

But it is of my design

And it is hanging along with yearning

Ever present in my mind

Ever meaning to do or be the right thing

But not finding the strength to say yes to myself

This is where I sit alone

On the proverbial shelf

That I have built of my own volition

And my own accord

It was the only way I knew

And yet I knew the way to be untrue

There was always more

What was I afraid of?

There were no forests with trolls or witches or wolves at my door

There were no white-winged fairies or wizards on a yellowbrick road

There were no princes and there were no toads

I am on this road alone

And yet alone I have never been

For I would never leave myself

My sacred traveling companion

There were dark times, yes

But I never left

And yet that does not always serve as consolation

Because it is myself that deserves the blows

I am the reason the path has been slow

I am the one that keeps me alone

Below where I stand in the light of my mind

Where I am not forlorn in time

Where I have the courage to step forward and shine

Open the window

Let the air fill the room

Breezes blowing dust off shadows

That without light only grew

Into demons and monsters

And big burly men in trench coats

Ready to defend the existence

Of an energy I never wanted

To know

To let in

But I did

I gave the energy a place to nest

To grow

And rest

To become stronger

And I nurtured it

Fed it

Like I do all my friends

Believing it one day would in turn protect me

But instead led to a false end

A false friend

That never cared for me

Let me love

Then let me down

And the amount of my pain

The sorrow that I would feel

Would be direct

With amount of myself that I gave

For they were always meant to let me down

But just let in a little too long

I can not fight the wind

For it comes from a source that is one with me

I would be fighting myself

And my own direction

So I stand at the bow

Of my vessel

Leaning into the particles

Embracing the way they land on me

With the air and the sun and the freedom and the danger

Filling my lungs

Carrying my spirit toward the light that enfolds me

In me

Of me

And in that one moment

I am