From the Midwest to Hollywood

I have always liked California and its beautiful weather all year round. Being in California always gave me a sense of freedom and being on vacation. I had been visiting Los Angeles for many years before I decided to get an apartment in the LA metro area in 2009.  It seemed like the sensible thing to do since I was to start a Master's in Spiritual Psychology at the University of Santa Monica and had also started working with GATE (Global Alliance for Transformational Entertainment).

I had been living in the Twin Cities (Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota) for many years and was ready for a change. To be totally honest, I have never really moved 100% to Los Angeles. Because I have a business in Minnesota and that is where my source of income is, I have always kept my legal residence there.

We could say I am still a Minnesotan - an "adopted" Minnesotan who loves the lakes, cheers for the Vikings and the Twins... and constantly talks about the weather, especially when winter hits.

The weather is almost always beautiful in California - a real paradise. It is irrefutable that Los Angeles  is different from the midwest, specifically Hollywood and its Entertainment Industry - so different that it could be a different planet.

I remember having lunch with Jason, someone I had recently met at the time. He had been an actor and lived in LA for a long time. He told me he could not take it anymore, that he had to move away. So he did. He happened to be visiting when he and I met. I also remember he looked at me and said with a concerned tone in his voice, "just don't let Hollywood get to you. Don't forget who you are. Don't lose yourself by becoming Hollywood."  I remember not really understanding what he was saying, especially with becoming"Hollywood." Now I know exactly what he meant.

After five years in Los Angeles, the following is a list of some of the things with which I have become involved since I stepped into the "Entertainment Industry."

1) Transformational Entertainment
2) Event Production
3) Public Relations
4) Six movie projects
5) Two talk shows
6) Script development
7) Work with best-seller authors
8) USM (University of Santa Monica)
9) Two lawsuits
10) A Hollywood scandal that came and left - soon forgotten by everyone (but me)
11) TMZ

The last three things mentioned on the list above might not seem like very positive experiences. Some of my friends and acquaintances in Minnesota feel bad for what I have gone through and ask me to go back "home" to Minnesota  ( 100% - full time) and forget about LA.

So Where is My Home Now????

I believe that a "home" is not a dot on a map. While a city might feel like a stable residence at a specific time in my life, in a few years I could be relocating somewhere else.  That does not mean that I have left my "home." After living in many cities and countries, I have learned that our true home remains unaltered because it is within us - it is in our heart. We take our home wherever we go.  We just have to  choose a geographical location where our spirit feels free to expand and evolve.