I was reminded the other day of a post I had written for Elephant Journal in 2014, called "The Year of New Traditions." It basically outlined in no uncertain terms that I would not be making resolutions for the New Year, but New Traditions. The new tradition I wrote about was making every unpleasant situation more entertaining.

By way of example, I wrote about getting my hair put up in a beehive and having tons of purple eyeshadow layered on to my face before heading over to the DMV to get my photo took. I did other equally victorious things that year, but generally speaking, that tradition of experiential improvement has held strong, and rest assured, has carried me forward to this very day.

Then came 2016. What a year. What the fuck. So much that I was pretty sure we had was lost. Things like common fucking decency. So I am making 2017 The year of the Revolution. 

My 2017 is going to be chock full of shit I have never done before. Why? Because I am going to die someday and I would like to get there knowing that I did my damndest to improve things before I left. And maybe not with the concern that I might have made shit worse.

On a small scale, I have already learned a new hand skill, and I am once again committing to being trained properly in the fine art of submission. I tell ya, the person who can successfully get me to submit will be quite the strong-willed mother fucker.

On a much larger scale, I have already taken steps to combat the dominant beauty paradigm and replace the patriarchal hierarchy that keep the common woman (and man) down.

What does this mean for you? Why should you care? That is one question I promise never to answer again...as part of my Year of the Revolution. In actuality, I am only hoping to inspire you to do shit this next year that will not only change you, but change the mother fucking world. 

This is in some way a win/win situation in that I really don't have to give you any examples of how much needs changing. There are plenty of examples. Just google 2016 and see what comes up. I am sure you will see a million "top ten shittiest things of 2016" articles pop up. In fact, after I write this, I might just go ahead and throw my hat in the ring and write one of those.

​The other thing The Year of The Revolution will see is that I am going to be standing up for way more people who need it. And A LOT of people need it. I will also be speaking out more against injustice and trying as hard as I can to make the people attempting to oppress and manipulate the masses look like fools. I am thinking it wont take much.

I will be revolutionizing so much shit it will most likely be challenging to keep up, even for me. 

But it must be done. We have lost so much this year, and I can't help but think it is because we needed to make room. Make room for the good shit that we must create to replace it. It is our job, my job, to create more good shit. So as the old ways crumble, as those in power slowly lose their grip on the general populous, I will be there, waiting to fill in the void with love, flowers, butterflies and god damned rainbows. I will be there to replace the wretched stank of greed and corruption with compassion and community. I will be there to bring hope where there was none. I will be the bringer of light.

If you are thinking this sounds crazy, I understand. But consider for just a moment that it may be even crazier for me to sit back and see what happens; crazier for me to do nothing at all about it, or even worse, keep doing what I have always done. 

The crazy is not in the thinking I can change the world. The actual crazy is in the not trying.

So look out, 2017. More good shit, coming right up.

In an effort to complement last week's LOVE FEST, I am going back to my roots and write about why I first got involved in the body positive movement. It is not altruistic. It is not because I saw the way the patriarchal culture was crushing the hopes and dreams of men and women everywhere. No.

It is because I came to the stunning realization that after I became more familiar and comfortable with my body, after I began to cultivate a true curiosity and appreciation for it, my sex life exploded. As in, sex became this whole other thing. And while I am sure, as you are reading this, it seems very logical and obvious to you, it kinda took me by surprise. 

Even though most of my life, I had been extremely athletic, not to mention interested in practicing and perfecting creative hand skills most people would find tedious. For some reason, I saw those as different from sex. But in the end, as is usually the case, they are all very well related. When it comes to your body, the more curious you are about it, the more you are interested in finding out just what it can do, the more you learn. And the more you learn, the more you understand and appreciate. 

Sounds simple, I know. But how many of us actually take the time to see what we can do? How many of us, when working out or participating in any type of physical activity, are doing it from a stand point of curiosity and excitement? When was the last time you went to the gym or on a run, or got on your bike and thought, "what can I have my body do today?" When was the last time you approached sex in this manner?

I will admit, I went a little crazy at first, writing about what I know about sex, how to choose lovers, and how to pick up dudes in bars. I even wrote a post for Elephant Journal about blow jobs!! Those were all very good posts. All entertaining in one way or another. But soon enough, I realized that like any type of spiritual practice, the love that you have for yourself and for your body is sacred. It is vital. It is what can give your life a profound meaning that no other practice can. It can give you a confidence that is practically bullet proof, and when you share it with a community? There really is no end to what you can accompish.

I have come to the fine point in my life's work. It is the journey of truly appreciating and loving yourself and your body, cultivating and committing to a practice to maintain that, building a community of like-minded people around you to reinforce that, then, finally, telling the haters to fuck off. Yes, that is part of this, this self-love, self-actualizing journey, and why it is so important. So many of us are brainwashed, so many of us have been tortured and tormented in to inhuman shapes and sizes to the point that it has affected us psychologically; to where we resent those who would dare to be free without modification or shame. 

If there was no crushing expectation of who you had to be, this work would not be necessary; it would not be vital. But the times, the society now demands it. It is now time to cast off the unrealistic expectations of perfection, of ourselves and each other. It is now time to be curious. It is now time to come to an understanding of what it means to truly be human. To tap into the limitless potential of who we can be as individuals, and who we can be when we work together. It is time to appreciate, to celebrate what it means to be people. I fear, if we do not do this now, we might run out of time to do it at all.

I have been sick. It is horrible. I just want to say that in advance in case this post gets too mushy or emotional. I am hoping to be brief. I think I might need to sleep again soon.

When I am sick, my favorite food to eat is cold fried chicken, chocolate pudding, and Newman's Own Lemonade. I have no idea why. Sadly, I have none of those, but I do have my laptop and have been watching tons of movies, including the Lord of the Rings Trilogy EXTENDED VERSION. I also made the horrible mistake of watching Miss You Already. I knew nothing about it. It had a picture of Drew Barrymore and Toni Collette on the front laughing. I love them both, and thought I could use a laugh. 

This movie is not a comedy. I have been bawling now for twenty minutes. I will not tell you why, except to say, if you need a good tear jerker, watch it. It is a great movie. 

Anyway, the movie got me to thinking about love. What everything else means when stacked up against it. And I have come to the conclusion that nothing is anywhere near as important. Meaningless, really. 

So in that spirit, I would like to end this short sick bed blog with a gentle reminder.

Nothing is more important than loving yourself, loving those around you, and doing everything you can to show love in every act.

It is a lot to ask I know. It is a lot to live up to in a world that sometimes seems so cold and heartless, but I will tell you, though it is hard to love, most challenging to love ourselves I think, we must rise to it. We must. 

The last thing the world needs right now is more hatred, more violence, more greed, more anger, these are killers. No matter who feels it.

And love is life, no matter who feels it. 

​Love is life.