Hello friends, from the one and only San Francisco! I’ve been back in my old apartment the past few months, after nearly two years of living as a vagabond-nomad, and conditions could not be more different than when I left. This time, I’m on a path of truer purpose and calling. I’m feeling grounded. I’m …
Continue reading An Unlikely Journey: Tech Refugee to Wilderness Therapy Guide to Bodyworker
Dandelion Diaries.... Newsletter from A Garden Weed (Do you like that title? I was playing with the idea of a better personal brand for my online life updates.) I wrote this on September 15th, 2024. Why didn't I post it? Not sure. Maybe I meant to say more. It's outdated but was an honest mental …
Today was the memorial service for my paternal grandfather Ray, who passed on December 10, 2024. It was a beautiful service and reception, which was lovingly put together through the hard work of many people (big shoutout especially to my aunt Sandy and my dad, Ray the 3rd!), and attended by over 200 people. I …
Continue reading Eulogy for my Nanu: Honoring my Grandfather, Ray Arata Jr.
Hi digital friends and family 👋 It’s been longer between updates because I am without a laptop now, and writing this update on my phone. So I will try to keep it short and sweet 🙂 But there is a lot to catch up on! At a glance: I am finishing up my three month …
Hi beautiful souls! This is update #5 from my “digital nomad” journey in Puerto Escondido, Mexico… which turned from a “remote worker digital nomad” story to a “newly funemployed amateur movement artist & wandering creative soul” tale in a matter of weeks. (Feel free to catch up on the story if you missed Updates 1, …
Continue reading Puerto Escondido Update #5: Spiritual Wilderness & Why Write A Blog?
This one is dark but honest. It doesn't represent all of where I'm at, but I'm giving this experience a voice because it has something to say that feels real to me. I'm nervous that this will cause people I love to worry about me. But I don't think that's a good reason to be …
The past few days I've had a shift in awareness of my current life circumstance. I have really struggled internally on-and-off with my current line of work in tech, feeling that it isn't perfectly aligned with my passions and therefore is somehow wrong or bad, or that I'm living a lie by working this career …
Ah, love... that ultimate bliss experience, the moments where we are experiencing the truth of our being, which is a beautiful Oneness. Oneness (Unity) is everywhere at all times. No matter your circumstance, there is always a field of bliss that is accessible to you through your consciousness, through the state of your awareness and …
Continue reading How To Consciously Fall In Love With Where You Are
My head is clear for the first time in months. It's been a journey since the last time I wrote. I got a restraining order. I ran a marathon. I moved out of my house and drove across the country. I visited Sedona... a place of dreams and miracles, to which a piece of …
Continue reading Three Steps to Surviving & Thriving When Sh** Hits The Fan
What is the deal with "safety"? Every part of my safety feels compromised, lately. Real or not, I keep finding myself in situations that seem "unsafe". Unsafe. Unsafe. I keep feeling it. Every day. It's at the heart of the work I'm doing right now, with my eating disorder. A set of behaviors that gets …
Continue reading The things I really want to say about “safety”
Expressions from this side of the here & now 