Saturday evening and I sit facing a computer screen.. 2, actually (dual monitors – nerdbrag) with my back facing the vibrant Plymouth Waterfront. My headphones are on, pumping some Tool via a spotify playlist, trying to drown out the waterfront shenanigans – Harley’s cruising up and down the street (think South Park reference…), friends having their first drink of the night, and pre-gamed patrons lining up for the next Memorial Hall event.

My back being turned is a metaphor, I guess. In the past, I would have been at full mast to run outside, chase women from bar to bar, eat terrible food, and get as rowdy as possible while emptying my wallet. Today, and for a while now, excitement lies before me in what I can do with the future. It’s not in excessive alcohol consumption (key word, excessive, I still love me a couple drinky-poos) or chasing women (a man can converse without being as persistent and annoying as a horsefly until he gets a taste), or being a ridiculously rambunctious Randy… but it CAN lie in creating and building.

Each day, putting something together. A table, a skillset, a website (😁)… it relieves a sense of pressure to do something. It’s like taking the teakettle off the burner and pouring some of the water into a cup – the longer I let it sit there, the louder that motherfucker gets. The louder that teakettle SCREAMS, the less I can hear the rest of the world: nature, beauty, my body and breath. They’re all drowned out in the same persistent and alarming noise of steam. The same steam of the water I planned on using for coffee, tea… or even a Hot Toddy in those cold winter months.

Now I could just turn up the music, bang my hands on the desk, turn on a flashy movie to drown out the teakettle, but that alarm won’t stop whistling that way.

Personally, I’ve found that action must be taken… and that the action I take should be something to better MYSELF first.

Hear me out peoples. If I clean my room, bathroom, do the dishes I tend to be a much calmer person. If I’m a much more relaxed and calm person, I’m not a dick when we talk. You’re now more chill since my verbiage was more chill. Chill vibes all around. Here you go, 5 nuggets of Chill Vibes. Less screaming teakettle. You’re welcome.

Wow, Kris. So like, the language we use with other people can affect them too? Yeah, dude. It’s wild, I know.

Now…practicing your breathing and quieting the teakettle on a daily basis can help you handle someone else’s bullshit too. There are dicks out there, you need to make sure your dick-reflection game is strong. They’ll tear you down because misery loves company, it’s lonely down there. But… remember –

“Everyone’s fighting a battle you know nothing about.” – Someone way more intelligent and profound than us

Let me wrap up here, my first post shouldn’t be my longest, although this is becoming record setting. If you’ve made it this far then we just became best friends. Do you want to do Karate in the basement? I got the watermelons.

People: Check yourself daily so you can handle your shit, build something to share with the world, and BREATHE. Think of negativity as a super-massive blackhole that ANYONE can slip into…as easily as Donald slipping on Goofy’s banana peel *inaudible Donald cursing with cliche fist waving*. On the other hand, posivity is like being higher on the climb to the top of Happy Mountain while pulling up the people below you, but also pushing the people above you up even higher.

Some people may not want a helping hand up, but we continue to offer because we once got a helping hand, and when they’re ready… they’ll accept. We understand it and they’re still struggling. Help your fellow man, woman, he, she, xe, ze.. whatever fucking pronoun they want to identify as. That’s a whole other issue I don’t understand. I’m not ready for that one just yet.

Keep Climbing and keep helping.

-Kris