My life has been full of ups and downs, today I have more peace and contentment than ever before. Nothing is worth my peace today, I seldom ever get angry, I’m 100% non-violent and I’ve had to take some time for introspection to figure out and sort my life out. I’ve done and have been a lot of things in my past, some I’m proud of, others I abhor today, and so I had to take stock of my existence, what’s important to me aside from those I love. 

One thing I’d given up, at least for the time being, is martial arts, due to my giving up my life of violence and adopting a pacifist lifestyle. I’m getting older (I’ll be 44 in July 2022) and as such, things have gotten more difficult to keep up with for me, so I had to consolidate my life and daily goings on. I broke my life down, starting with time with my family, then adding creativity, spirituality, health, and fitness, and finally decompression. 

I’ll start with the obvious first, spirituality, and for me, that is Judaism. Prayer, Kaballah, reading, and study, this is the principal portion of what makes up my spiritual life. Then celebrating Shabbat at synagogue, Torah study, taking classes, teaching my kids, and more accompany my daily practices. This all encompasses a large portion of my life, from the time I wake up, until the time I close my eyes for the night. 

I work out to maintain my mobility and lose weight, which has fluctuated wildly over the years. I ride a stationary bike, I use our total gym, an exercise band setup, dumbbells, and a kettlebell currently. Our kids work out with us and love it, it’s a good bonding time, as well as teaching them the value of taking care of their bodies. 

Creativity plays a huge role in my life also, it’s my profession and hobby, it’s my meditation, and my means to focus and clear my head. It’s my outward expression of the inner me and thus, I engage in many forms of creative outlet. I write fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, I paint and draw, I practice, write, and play music, as well as record songs. Music-wise, I play bass guitar, drums, program midi and synth, Cajon, keyboards, write lyrics and sing, and am learning to play guitar. 

In art, I paint and have sold over 200 pieces of art around the globe, and practice sketching, I even do adult coloring books. Writing-wise, I have written and been featured in magazines, and websites, I have 6 books that have been published independently and self-published. 

Gaming for me is decompression, it lets me forget about deadlines, work, and life for a little while. I play PC, Nintendo Switch, and Meta Quest 2 VR (My preferred). I’ve been a gamer since I was five years old, starting with the old Atari systems and moving up as new technology prevailed. Gaming just helps to unwind and destress, so I try to get some gaming in at least a few times a week to blow off steam.