Double isms in this blog post title. What does that mean??
It means this blog post will be a little deeper than my other ones, depending on how much I can articulate.
First things first, What is Occultism?
Category: Ideas
bookmark_borderBeing Here, Right Now
I often write about wanting things, becoming something, attaining some kind of goal, always wanting more, or wanting less, never satisfied with what actually Is…
bookmark_borderHow To Diversify Your Life
I snagged this infographic from James Altucher’s Twitter. His writings have been resonating with me lately.
Hopefully this will remind me everyday to do something about it, if I really want to break free from my one source of income.
Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate having a job doing what I do best; it’s been a stable and abundant life. It’s actually one of the best jobs I’ve ever had. But something keeps tugging at me, something keeps telling me I am meant for more. And when I am online, I am often drawn to writers & authors who talk about this kind of stuff.
And I can’t explain why.
I typed some of the Infographic for your reading enjoyment. I will come back and type out the rest.
How to Diversify Your Life by James Altucher
The only way to survive, to get off the floor, to build, to have ideas, to create businesses, to have flourishing relationships, is with diversification. And with the greatest invention since the wheel, the internet, it’s easier to do it now than ever before.
01 – Diversify Ideas
People ask me, “When I’m writing my 10 ideas for the day to build my idea muscle, should they all be business ideas, or around one sector?” No! Write ideas about anything you can. Then mate them. Make your brain supple and creative in every area.
02 – Creative Output
Everyone wants to create their “masterpiece”. But you can’t. All you can do is create. Then the world will decide what is a masterpiece. Thomas Edison has 1,093 patents but we remember him today for just one. The point: be prolific.
03 – Diversify The People You Meet
I’m shy. I like to stay home and not answer the phone. But I make myself schedule meetings with 3 or 4 new people each week. I go into the city and schedule them all back-to-back. I always want to be proactive about learning things from new people.
04 – Diversify Your Home
The American Dream dictates you have to own a house. As if your identity is tied up in the wood box you live in. But the world is an enormous and amazing place. Why not live in Airbnb’s and diversify your identity across exotic places around the globe?
05 – Diversify Your Platform
You can’t just blog. You can’t just be on Facebook or Twitter. You can’t just self-publish on Amazon. You have to be everywhere. Don’t wait for the mainstream media to pick you. Go to where the people are and make it happen.
06 – Diversify Your Thoughts
I spent too much of my life worrying about money and women. Meanwhile, there’s 100 billion other fun things to think about each day. Diversification of thoughts is the only way to slow life down, to let the thoughts simmer instead of boil.
07 – Diversify What You Read
Get 4 books: one about your career, one about your top interest or hobby (unrelated to your career), one thriller, and one book about spirituality or history. Read a little from each every day. Just 20 total pages a day equals 36 books a year.
08 – Diversify Your Health
List all of the unhealthy things you do. You don’t need to cut everything at once, but start one at a time. It’s painful to be 90 years old and know if you had done just a few things differently it wouldn’t hurt so much every time you went to the bathroom.
09 – Diversify The Way You Meet People
Adults think once you graduate college you have to go to bars to meet people. Not true. Put yourself in environments where you’re going to meet the kind of people you want to be around. Go to meetings, take classes, join groups, travel.
10 – Start More Than One Business
Start many businesses. Or jobs. Or careers. Start them at the same time. Eventually one will standout and flourish. This will be the one that will make you fabulously wealthy while having fun. But the only way to find it is to try many things.
bookmark_borderWhat Would You Do If You Were Fired Today?
I know what you’re probably thinking – the title of the post is completely unrelated to this image I created. Yes, your observations are correct. But I was in the mood, or better yet in a zone to draw crystals with my Wacom tablet while at work for some reason and attach it to this particular post. The title is still related to what I’m about to write…
What would you do if you were fired today? These are the kinds of thoughts that have been occupying my mind lately.
Continue reading “What Would You Do If You Were Fired Today?”
bookmark_borderRainbow Cobra Drawing from Guided Meditation
Even though I haven’t blogged and I haven’t drawn or made new art, I have been creating. It may not seem like it, but everyday – every hour, every minute, every second we are all creating with our thoughts. And simultaneously, we are also destroying thoughts, ideas and mental patterns that no longer serve us.
Continue reading “Rainbow Cobra Drawing from Guided Meditation”
bookmark_borderDark Fantasies – V1
I’m not going to lie; there is a part of me that really wants my art to sell, but that is definitely not my sole purpose of creating. I make art in hopes that I can push my creative limits and because I just love it. It’s part of who I am, like I’m just wired for it. Even when I don’t create anything for months, I am still drawn to some kind of art or I surround myself with it.
So I’m posting this because this is an example of me pushing my creativity. My friend & local art dealer Alfie is currently curating a comic book themed art show and this is what I came up with.
bookmark_borderIf Your Hobby Became Your Job…
If what you are really passionate about became your job, would you still love it?
Would you still feel the creative fire, or would it be replaced with feelings of obligation? Feeling stagnant and uninspired will also likely soon to follow.
bookmark_borderWhat Does the Term ‘Occult’ Mean to You?
The term ‘occult’ seems to have a bad rep (depending on how you perceive it I suppose) – do a quick Google image search and you’ll see mostly dark, visual interpretations of the word. Different people interpret it in so many ways and that’s fine, everybody’s entitled to their own creative vision. In movies however, the occult has often been mostly portrayed as something weird, dark and scary. Synonymous with black magic, it’s become a permanent image in people’s subconscious that it’s an evil thing that can call in demons, vampires, witches, ghosts and otherworldy beings that can harm you.
The occult has also been tied to government conspiracies, the illuminati, the Knights Templar, Freemasonry, etc.
I admit that I was initially attracted to the occult by way of dark, strange imagery on the internet. I didn’t understand what the symbols meant, but I was drawn to it and knew that I liked it. It makes for great subject matter for when you’re creating something in the horror, cult, supernatural, sacrilegious, weird genres. One’s imagination can conjure up all sorts of imagery from the term. And it just looks damn cool.
Over time though I realized that the occult didn’t just encompass the dark, but also the light. My interest in the occult eventually led me to healing and learning about myself. The light and dark are One Thing. Duality only exists in our human minds, I believe it’s how we make sense of the chaos that is our earthly existence on this dimension.
The word occult simply means hidden from view; something mysterious, a secret. When I close my eyes and visualize the word, I imagine a beautiful shining light, hidden deep within my being and yours; something that you search for that’s really been there all along. This light has been dimmed by layers of programming throughout our human existence by negative beliefs and other mental junk and is just waiting to be rediscovered, awakened by our true selves.
All the things I have been spending time learning about these last 4 years – tarot, crystals, Qabalah, magick, meditation, metaphysics, mysticism, comparative religion, etc…all are part of the occult.
I hope this (sort of) clears up some misconceptions about that word. I’m sure someone out there can better clarify what I’m trying to say here but hopefully this will do for now. Feel free to add to this or expand what I’m trying to say.
On an unrelated note: the watercolor painting above was done when I was emulating the bold, traditional tattoo style of tattooing that I really like. I was trying to get into tattooing at some point and so my artistic style had that feel for a few years.
bookmark_borderInfographic: 10 Reasons to Blog (even if no one reads it)
I love this simple and well-designed infographic. I never get tired of seeing it – it’s just a really good reminder for me to keep at it with this blog, even if no one reads it. It’s good practice to blog or write – it exercises your brain, fleshes out ideas, makes you a better blogger/writer. I know my writing skills aren’t up there, but I’m doing my best.
It would be easier for me to fill up this blog with random images that I liked (like i used to in past versions), but now I’d rather stretch my mind by writing.
For helpful insights into marketing, social media, blogging and more – check out Mark Schaefer at: www.businessgrow.com
bookmark_borderTaking Part in Your Community
It would be easier to say ‘fuck LA, it’s gentrified. I’m moving the fuck out.’
Yes, easy right?
But much harder and more of a challenge to actually stick around and take up space in your own community.
Let’s be real here, do you really want to move; especially if you’ve lived in LA for so long? I’ve thought about the logistics of getting a house that I can actually afford…in the desert, but financially it would still cost the same. And besides, why the hell should you move just because some out-of-towners are taking over your neighborhood. Fight back!
So the question is, how do you fight back, then?
By supporting local businesses, supporting your friends who are all grown up now and have started opening up their own businesses; supporting small mom and pop shops who have become a fixture in the neighborhood. Support them by buying something, don’t ask for free stuff; understand that they have to make money and have bills to pay too.
Fight back by taking up space, why not start your own small business if you have an idea that you think people would love? This is your city, too!
Most of us have gone beyond the self-centered mentality – when you were young all you cared about was yourself. It’s understandable, you had to build yourself up first in order to survive. There was a time when it served you well.
Now is the time to give back and help out.
I hope this puts things into perspective a little bit. Here is an excellent read: 9 Tried & True Methods for Fighting Back Against Gentrification