Last week I was looking for some writing I had done a few months back. And once I started poking through my file cabinets and boxes of paper I decided to have some fun and make an evening of sorting through all of it. I went late into the night with this and I really enjoyed it. There was a lot of old writing that reinvigorated me. I didn't find the specific snippet I was looking for. But..... I did find something else that has had a profound effect on me.

It wa this small page of paper torn out of a little spiral bound notebook. And it was tucked in an envelope.

Today, while writing this webpage I am 53 years old. SO, this note is ten years old. I was 43 when I wrote it. It had writing on the front and on the back. The pics above show both sides. Here is what the note says:

What do I want?

I want to quit my job but keep my home.

How can I achieve this?

Work makes me unhappy, absorbs my thinking and energy. I want to free

myself of this. I am 43 years old. And have not seen it. It's like a poison that sets

into you. I can see myself dying and it all coming to naught. There are people who were in my life who are now gone.

-SIDE 2-

What do I think I would enjoy?

Dioramas/Models

Shadowboxes

cuckoo/grandfather clocks

writing

creating a world

Artwork

travel

thinking

Philosophy

The whole thing was like a revelation to me. And it made me think of the Jeff Beck Band "Ten Years After" and the song "I'd love to change the world". While I haven't changed the external win I have dramatically changed my internal world and this little space around me I call my life.

Finding this little piece of paper was a wonderful experience for me because in the past ten years I have done a lot of this. I have changed my life, quit my job, kept my home, written four books, traveled the world, done a lot of artwork, made a whole lot of dioramas and models. and more..... I am left with a tremendous sense of gratitude for the feeling of being dissatisfied and gratitude for you, the curious web visitor who has made all this possible in my life.

I will be writing out another sheet that will outline the next ten years. Be sure to check back in ten years to see what my life has become. (Update below the video)

Well, time is a funny thing. It's now been more ten years since I wrote this little story. (now 2024)

And...

Things have been wonderful and interesting for me. Although it has been a mixed bag with some unexpected turns.

I did accomplish more things that I wanted. I ended up building a small business in my home and for several years I had a couple of part time employees. I traveled more of the world including India, Japan, Ireland, Greece, Egypt and more.

My written book count it up to 15 now and I have spent a whole lot of time fixing cuckoo clocks, making dioramas and shadowboxes; and teaching myself blacksmithing, paper making, and stained glass window making. And I have done volunteer work for Hospice.

Some of my writing has been in the realms of philosophy and the meaning of life.

I also took a full six month drive around America where I visited many of the most beautiful things that America has to offer, musuems, national parks and so much more. It was a leisurely drive of 20,474 miles all around the country. (learn more about this adventure here)

And I lived in Phoenix Arizona for two years. I absolutely love Arizona. And most notably I love the Arizona night sky. (This next picture is one I took of the milky way at the grand canyon.)

And it all came crashing down too. I ended up homeless and I spent eight months living in a homeless shelter for veterans. That was an interesting time for me.

Now, in a few months I will be heading back to Europe to visit Italy, France, and Spain. In Spain I will be walking a 500 mile pilgrimage. After that, when I return to the United States I will be homeless again. But that's okay. I will figure things out. (read about it here)

All of this that has happened to me in these past ten years has been an incredible blessing.

If I hadn't written that little piece of paper and decided to take a big turn in my life it simply would have been another decade working at some job where every day blends into every other day. Instead I ended up with a wonderful richness of experiences in my life.