Thank you to Providence Health, Robin Henderson and Tyler Norris for inviting me to come tell my story and talk about how the Keep Oregon Well movement came to be at the launch of their new, national Institute for Mental Health and Wellness. It is an honor to be creating this new world with all of you!

And thanks to my advocacy partner / chosen sister Sheila Hamilton for always sitting in the front row when I do this public trauma response routine. You can watch her video of me addressing the crowd here:

And here are a handful of photos from our time in the Bay:

I’m turning 37 tomorrow and wrote myself a list of 37 true things I hope I never forget that I’ve already learned about life.

1. No one is going to believe in you all the way except for you. You will have supporters and sales and reviews and boos and applause and every so often other people might even want to take a piece, but the dream is yours and yours alone. People will tell you that you don’t belong or that you shouldn’t believe, but here’s what: You DO and you SHOULD. Nobody puts baby in a corner (but know that literally everyone will try)

2. That pure belief you have inside yourself is made of solid gold. Protect it. It’s the most valuable thing you will ever own.

3. It’s perfectly alright to enjoy being in quiet, dark places by yourself. The world is hard and bright and you are allowed to go inside whenever you damn well please and stay there for as long as you damn well like.

4. The truth is magic. Every good thing that has come to you in your life has been because Read the rest of this entry »

It’s sometimes hard for me to wrap my head around all the change that 2010 brought into my life. Nothing is as it was a year ago (Thank GAWD!) Time is amazing. I feel like the last 3 years in particular have changed me at my core, molding me into who I could and should have been years before had I just been brave enough to open my eyes. Forgiveness around this previous internal blindness is part of my journey as well but that’s a whole separate issue that isn’t ready for the world to hear about just yet. Rest assured: Daddy’s workin’ on it…

In July I made the decision to take a break from touring and proceeded to blow my musical career to bits and released what will be my final word (for now) with my record “I Killed Tomorrow Yesterday“. In retrospect I might have been able to handle things differently but at the time I felt like I needed to break everything in order to get away…so that’s what I did. All in all it was quite the spectacle. I have no regrets about making the decision I made but it’s funny to go back and read how upset I was at the time, knowing that less than half a year later it would all matter very little to me. The only regret I have is not taking steps to fix what was wrong sooner (which, as you can probably tell from the paragraph before this one, is a running theme these days).

When all is said and done I am thankful for this past year. In addition to the professional changes which occurred I was single and lived alone the entire year. For the 1st time since I was a 23 year old moron I took time to be by myself, with myself…to figure out what the hell I was doing and what I needed to do to get to where I ultimately want to be. I’m not sure where this next year will take me but I know it will be on my terms. I figured out what kind of people I’m looking to have in my life and what kind of people I am not. I let painful things go and I did not follow them where they went. They left and I waved at them instead. I sat still in the discomfort of change and let it take over, let it do its thing. Now on the other side I am finding new people, new experiences, new ways of looking at the world. I am closer to free than I have ever been though I am, as ever, a work in progress.

I hope you all have a happy new year! Be who you are and don’t worry about what the world thinks. The world is most likely wrong about you anyhow.

xxLL

P.S. – Speaking of progress, below is a photo of my bald ass without a hat. That’s right. I’m coming out as a 31 year old bald man. Eat it up, popworld. Also: DUH. Why else would I have been wearing a hat in every photo and video ever taken of me since 2000???!!! I’ve been wearing a hat since I was 21 and have been bald this whole fucking time. Deal with it, gays. The shit’s real.

🙂