#goingalone

It’s time for my first live book reading since before going to Japan. This morning, I’ll read the final bits of my book, GoingAlone. #GoingAlone #PrincipleOfPurpose https://www.youtube.com/live/Tpy2zyCmUV0?feature=share (at HB Lifeguard Tower 18) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpXtiaYLV_n/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Join me while I personalize a copy of Going Alone before sending it to a reader in New York City. Evelyn seems an upbeat, optimistic person, and I’ll therefore infuse her copy of Going Alone with lively colors and a bright and cheery sundown in anticipation of tomorrow’s daylight to come. And sand… I will literally add sand to the book—direct from lifeguard tower 18 here in Huntington Beach California, as Evelyn did tell me that sand is rarely seen in New York City. You can get your own signed and hand-illustrated hardcover copy of Going Alone by ordering from my website at https://goingalone.org Be safe… But not too safe. #GoingAlone #TheGoodLife #Purpose LIVE Book Illustration - Going Alone - For Evelyn in New York https://youtu.be/OZfKehFdhm4 (at Huntington Beach, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cm4dleUv9yz/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

One thing I like about our new tiny home, is that wherever we are in the place, Yumiko and our two little dogs always together, which ironically, is the serious message and punchline of my book, Going Alone. #GoingAlone #TheGoodLife https://www.instagram.com/p/CkcS9dur3Ch/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I now have my live stream setup configured to stream up to TEN social media platforms simultaneously. This shotgun broadcast approach is my answer to the modern challenge of book marketing. Next, I’ll build out the PowerPoint content to use with the stream, which content is now both in my head and in my book Going Alone, and needs only be adjusted to use with the medium of live streaming. When all is done, I’ll be well equipped to carry on my life’s work from either 🇺🇸 or 🇯🇵. #GoingAlone #TheGoodLife https://www.instagram.com/p/CkbdyXNv1f3/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Yumiko and I put a few last things out on the street and this woman stopped to take everything. We talked and she told me that her husband had recently died and she didn’t know what to do. She’s a neighbor with an enormous house full of everything she and her deceased husband had collected together over the last thirty years. She told me that she wanted to go someplace new. But then, she quickly changed her mind and said she could never leave. Our things and our habits do that to us, they ground us like deep roots in the soil—even if we want to go, we think about it and then quickly change our minds and say we can’t. And then we die. #GoingAlone (at Menifee, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkTmdE0JG2j/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

I love it when readers send me their pics with Going Alone. Sally-Anne sent me this photo of Going Alone being read on the Spanish island of Lanzarote off the west coast of Africa. Thank you for sharing, Sally-Anne. Be safe… But not too safe. ;-) #GoingAlone https://www.instagram.com/p/CkB5oHRyRfs/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

Starting over… This is literally my new corner of the world, and where, beginning in November I will both work at my job during the day and promote my book, Going Alone at night and on weekends. There’s something about clearing the decks periodically in life, sweeping aside the clutter and baggage of who we were or think we are, in favor of reinvention and new life. This experience—at age 58–makes me fell more like 28, though thankfully without all the mental immaturity and baggage which hobbled me so severely back then. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a very broken and immature man. But I’ve got a clean piece of paper now to write upon in this new space, home, community and life with my partner Yumiko. I’m reminded now a little of the very last line in my father’s journal, penned just days before his sudden death: “Happy endings. New beginnings.” #goingalone (at Huntington Beach, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkB1jY5ydtC/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

It’s interesting how easily we can unburden ourselves of our excess, and how readily others are willing to pile onto themselves what we no longer want. It’s a good thing, I guess. For stuff has it’s uses, especially when raising kids. Stuff does have its place and its time. #goingalone (at Menifee, California) https://www.instagram.com/p/CkBTsqHLgb1/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=