As with the other section, “Just for the Curious”, this section is not crucial to the book and it is only included here to satisfy the inquisitive. This section is a very brief story of who I was.

You see, just like a story in a fiction book, my history, everyone’s history, isn’t “real.” Certainly, it was real at one brief moment in “linear” time, then everything changed and what was true in the previous moment was no longer true.  As a result of this fact I can share with you who I was, but I can never say who I am because as soon as I did that it would no longer be true. I am not trying to be difficult or elusive, I just want to be accurate. So, for those seeking and wanting to answer the age old question, “Who am I?” I have great news: you can stop looking right now, grab a glass of wine and relax. In linear time you’ll never be able to answer that question honestly because as soon as you do, you’ll have to start all over again. Ok, Ok, fine, the answer to the previous question is that: you are all that is, all that was and all that will ever be. Now, go get that wine and meet me by the pool.

Still here? Fine, I will share a little bit more. I accept that time, as we know it, is linear and in order for a person to be 40 years old, they had to have been 30 years old and 20 years old etc. I know that if you build a bridge you start with a concept, then a plan and then add some metal and cement. If you go right to the metal and cement part it likely won’t work out too well, at least I wouldn’t want to drive over it. So, while we have a history - a past - and we definitely have the present and, if all goes well, a future, these are merely convenient terms and ideas that make this journey a little more orderly. However, these are just relatives and not absolutes.

In relative terms then, some of my past activities include: volunteering in a hospice, working with a positive, soul-ution (deliberate misspelling)  oriented newspaper in various incarnations (it was originally called Know News is Good News and  later on it was The Phoenix News), I am a founding member of, and worked on, a radio program called News for the Soul, I was one of the original “gurus” (I put that in italics because it was their term, and I don’t care much for it) on a website called Spiritual-Tips-dot-com (a subsidiary of Life-tips-dot-com), I worked on an annual event called Clam Chowder for the Soul, and I have worked with various energy healing modalities (albeit not for some time now).

To me, those are some of the defining moments in his-story. I deliberately did not include the many number of jobs that I have spent time at because, while they are part of my journey, they were just a small part. More importantly, in my present, I am working on a few more book ideas, enjoying my photography, and the big one, trying to live on purpose, with intention. Perhaps I can sum things up this way:

“At the end of the day,
When I’m on my way,
I hope I can say,

I made this place,
A better space,
For the human race”.

I wish you the best always, in all ways, thank you for sharing this moment.
Karl Schmidt