Tag: past musings

bookmark_borderWho Am I and What Am I?

Posted on by savethesavages

At this moment I exist in a female human form, living somewhere in the vast metropolis of Los Angeles…

but when I am reminded of what I really am – I am genderless, ambiguous, eternal. I am one with you, yet we are separate.

Although I am not a psychic, a healer, a teacher or coach…

I really like what those people do and the tools they work with interest me very much.

Let’s just say that I am a part of the metaphysical community,

but I’m still figuring out my role.

For now, I intend to experiment with having an ecommerce store selling crystals.

But to where will that take me next, I don’t know.

I’m just going with the flow, the current, the cosmic waves.

I aim to do business from the heart and to not worry about what other people are doing. Or to compare myself to them.

Again, I feel as if I started late. My mind wants to tell me that I should’ve done this a few years ago, because now…EVERYONE is doing it. But truthfully, I wasn’t even in the right mind or heart. I had no knowledge or understanding of having a small business, nor did I even have the desire to start. It sounded complicated and I just wasn’t into it at all. Also, I didn’t know much about crystals the way I do now…and I’m STILL learning! I will always be learning until I die, this is earth school after all.

Everything happens at the perfect time and I trust that.

I intend to have fun, enjoy the process, learn from the challenges and bask in my success…

and I hope that I can help others along the way and also learn from those who already did it as well.

bookmark_borderMetaphysical Vibes – My New Online Rock Shop

Posted on by savethesavages

Talk about rapid manifestation with Aries energy, I didn’t think I would be affected at all but when the time is right, you go for it even if you don’t have it all figured out. So I’ve decided to experiment with building up a new ecommerce business, selling something that I love and appreciate so very much: minerals.

I’m not sure where the idea came from, perhaps going to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Shows inspired me but at the same time I see so many people selling anything and everything online. I figured, well why can’t I do it too? And so here I am, practicing with my own resources. I think it will be a fun learning experience for me.

I was debating whether to go with Shopify or WooCommerce, but ended up with WooCommerce; the price for Shopify (although easier to set up) was just too steep for me. So even though it took a few steps to set everything up for WooCommerce – from buying the domain and hosting, installing WordPress and WooCommerce, connecting my PayPal account and all the tedious steps in between, it was less expensive.

Check it out: https://metaphysicalvibes.com/

bookmark_borderRandom Thoughts | Seven of Cups

Posted on by savethesavages

Our thoughts / opinions about how we live life tend to change quickly, and a lot more often these days it seems.

For example, last year I swore I wanted to buy a house. I really wanted to do it, I was reading up on a bunch of stuff related to buying a house – the homebuying process, mortgages, costs, etc. I even had some money saved along with some other monies that came my way so somehow, it felt like I was in the perfect position to become an actual homeowner. My mom always used to insist that being a homeowner was the best thing you could do for yourself. Especially since my credit is excellent.

But then recently I’ve been reading more blogs about financial freedom and being free – free from debt, free from material attachments, free from the 9 to 5; learning to be happy with less stuff, saving your money and so now, perhaps I really don’t want to have a house.

Maybe I just want to live a simple life. I have told myself over and over that I aim to live a simple life, this has been my mantra for years now.

And yet other people will convince us that we want things, repeatedly over and over again until it finally becomes our own desire. Our friends and family members will try to do this, sometimes on purpose or unintentionally. They’re excited about something and so naturally they want you to experience it too. It never occurred to me until recently that maybe homeownership was and always has been my mom’s dream and she was passing it on to me. It really was never my dream…

On the other hand, I always want to buy more things and I always want to learn and acquire more knowledge. I spend my money on stuff I want – mostly books, crystals/gemstones, tattoos, classes, etc.

How do we free ourselves of wanting more stuff?

You don’t really. Bottom line is, if you enjoy it then go ahead and buy it. And if it means spending money to have enjoyment, then do so.

Just remember that we can’t take any of this stuff when we transition (most people call it ‘death’) to the afterlife or next dimension. We can’t even take our bodies, the same bodies that we obsess about so much.

So think about what is really important to you.

As I was thinking about what image to create to pair up with this blog post, the 7 of Cups from tarot symbolism came to mind.

In tarot, the 7 of Cups represents fantasy, illusions, dreams.

bookmark_borderToday I Will Write Something

Posted on by savethesavages

Not should, not try to…just do.

This article by James Altucher inspired me right now: The Penultimate Rules On Being More Creative

Granted I didn’t read all of it (I skimmed it actually), but I will definitely revisit in a bit.

For now, let me just write this.

Continue reading “Today I Will Write Something”

bookmark_borderWhat Does the Term ‘Occult’ Mean to You?

Posted on by savethesavages

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_borderGoodbye to My Dark Colored Website

Posted on by savethesavages

Hello dark type on white background! I’ve been resisting this for quite sometime now, I just really, really prefer white type on black background. I don’t just like black, I LOVE IT. I feel protected when I wear black, vulnerable & exposed when I wear white (like I just know I’m going to get some kind of food stain on me & I’ll be upset for the rest of the time); not sure how I can relate that to website readability & color but anyways! Just seems like every freakin website I visit now is a template or has a white background; don’t get me wrong – it’s nice & clean, but everything looks the same.

But from reading a few things online a lot of people say that most prefer to read on a white background, especially if it’s text heavy. Something to do with astigmatism too.

Luckily with this WP theme along with my CSS skills I was able to compromise – my logo up top sits on a black background, it looks more striking that way. That’s enough for me & makes me happy.

Yup, if you are an artist/designer like me, you would get nitpicky and obsessive about this kind of stuff too.

If you are having a hard time deciding, this old article on The Do’s and Don’ts of Dark Web Design might help you decide.

p.s. I am aware that comments aren’t working right now. I’ve been trying to figure it out so bare with me. Thanks for reading!

bookmark_borderSHERMGRAFIK

Posted on by savethesavages

So I decided over the weekend to put up my old website and it’s domain, shermgrafik.com back online.

It will serve as an archive of my old work. And if I am attempting to do the art thing yet again, then it’s important for people to understand my background.

The site was redirecting to Save the Savages, but decided to make them separate.

What is the reason for this? I believe that if I did have an audience, they wouldn’t like every part of me jumbled together into one, confusing mass…

so even though we are one and the same individual – I am creating the illusion of separateness.

Our human brains like to categorize things, and so does the internet.

So those who like my old graffiti & art stuff can go over there. Those who like the stuff I do now can stay here.

bookmark_borderHiking Around Los Angeles, CA

Posted on by savethesavages

[At the time this was written] I was forced to make a lifestyle change 4 months ago – I went and got a physical and was told that I was prediabetic and had high blood pressure too. Fuckin a, bummer. Being Filipino doesn’t help, either.

If I was still a few years younger, I would’ve probably ignored it and kept on eating the way I did (I did ignore my first warning actually). But this time around, it was different. I paid attention this time and commited myself to reversing this.

So long story short, I’ve been eating better. I’ve also been exercising and exploring LA like I never have before. I am learning to appreciate nature a whole lot more. Admittedly I’ve lived in LA for a long time now, but never explored it’s natural environment.

Here is a list of places I have hiked at so far, this list is just for my own record.

Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook

Cahuenga Peak

Coldwater Canyon Park

Eaton Canyon

O’Melveny Park

Runyon Canyon

Stough Canyon Nature Center

Temescal Canyon Gateway Park

Wildwood Canyon Park

Stough Canyon Nature Center

Wilacre Park

bookmark_borderFemme9 & Sherm – 2015

Posted on by savethesavages

This is the last thing I painted with my good friend, Femme9. She came to LA for a work trip, so we made time to paint.

I don’t have much of an interest in painting graffiti these days, but I still admire it.

As one gets older, priorities definitely change.

More photos here on my Flickr

bookmark_borderSherm Dragon – Paint Louis 2000

Posted on by savethesavages

Here is the full production with ATLAS, VOX and MYSELF

2000

This post was first published on Feb 29, 2016

Tue 2/17/2026 edit: the year was 2000 and this piece was painted in St. Louis, MO with my crew at the time. I was 22 years old, had my first fulltime ‘real’ job working as an Ad Production Artist (for newspaper ads, remember those?) so I had money to travel, get a hotel & rental car, buy paint and actually paint. This was the biggest piece I’ve ever painted and I still didn’t feel like it was big enough to fill up the space.

I have to find a photo of myself standing against the wall.