room for happiness

image credit...domenico cennamo

I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed...........Michael Jordan

2012 has been a series of big crazy issues. death, loss, grief, frustration seem to have over-seasoned my life's buffet. in the few short weeks that have passed thus far,  i have found myself feeling plucked and pooped most of the time. and i have also realized that i have been overeating, watching too much tv, and toggling to porn mindlessly while online. it's  certainly embarrassing and not the direction i would like my life to be headed.

please don't panic.... change is in the works. with the onset of sobriety and a spiritual program, the behaviors and reactions to life that used to hurl me into chaos and darkness don't land me out of bounds any longer. i find i still  drift to numbing out, but it's manageable and detectable and i can work with it. 

this perspective is indeed a shift in perception for my life. a miracle. it's not about hating myself because i have ruined my life and made a fool of myself. instead, a sober mind and a spiritual connection has offered me a time out with the skills of acceptance and forgiveness. 

image credit.... domenico cennamo

i deliberated quite awhile for a song to play with this short post. i came to rest on the idea of 1973 by james blunt. that was a tumultuous year for me. it was my 1st and 2nd year in high school. i had already moved twice and changed schools twice. my home life was rife with a very unhappy parent who was medicating heavily with sex and alcohol. i had become accustomed to feeling responsible for their unhappiness and so it came naturally that i blamed myself. i had engaged in sexual activity with an 18 year old from the 1st school who made it his business to tell as many people about it. the shame of being queer ate me inside like cancer. leaving home seemed the only relief giving solution. i left in august of 74, but began my search for a landing pad in 1973. i used some fake id's and frequented a bath house in chicago called man's country. it was rich with distraction  and acceptance for me.  i wasn't the only queer. i wasn't the only freak.  i just learned a different type of shame being around older gay men.

anyway- that was when the drug use started to climb. and the ability to face life got put on the back shelf. i ran from my life. and kept going for almost 30 years. 1973 was a pivotal period. my emotional life got put on hold for decades. here i am 40 years later- still learning new skills to help me stay in the game. 

and as an addendum, i am adding another tune. this one hails from clubland and which brings the post to the present. kaskade collaborates with skylar grey and the lyrics are a bit frothy and both music and words strike a chord with me. the add is to represent the daily reminder that i must give myself that i need to make room for happiness in my life and my heart.

Kaskade – Room For Happiness Lyrics (Feat. Skylar Grey)

Sometimes I wish I never felt the influence of you

‘Cuz now I feel a disconnect, like an open wound

Where you once were, there’s now a space that runs as deep as hell

But every morning when I wake I tell myself

Don’t be fooled by your emptiness, there’s so much more room for happiness

Don’t be fooled by your emptiness, there’s so much more room for happiness