An Sionnach

I noticed on my Facebook that some people answered some Q&A about me, and to be quite honest I haven’t a clue who you are and what you chose, although a bit flattered. Here is results as to what is shown to me.

Do you think that Todd Ricker is cute? Yes

FLATTERED!!! Now who are you and are you cute as well? ~.^  Be at my doorstep tomorrow!!!!!!!!

Do you think that Todd Ricker is smarter than George W. Bush? Yes

Isn’t everyone?

Do you think that Todd Ricker has ever gone to a strip club? Yes

OK yes I have, but only 3x ever. 21st birthday, Bachelor Party, and a coming home, ship you back off party. Believe it or not, that’s it.

Do you think that Todd Ricker has ever played beer pong? Yes

LOL, nope, never did the beer pong thing.

Do you think that Todd Ricker likes chick flicks? Yes

Well of course I like movies with girls in them. =P

Do you think that Todd Ricker cried while watching the Titanic? Yes

Cried or teared up? Really, I had something in my eye, I really did. No, REEEEAAAALLLYYY!!!

Do you think that Todd Ricker would look good in tights? Yes

You have GOT to be kidding me, what drugs are you on, and please give me some.

Do you think Todd Ricker was a Dork in high school? No

LOL, deceived you all. I was a dork, still am, although with a stronger leaning towards geek now. ((o.O))

I started looking back over the past years, and I can’t think of the last time I ACTUALLY celebrated Christmas. I have usually either been working, short of funds, or to far away.

Knowing how something is done, is not the same as knowing how to do something. It takes action to develop a skill, not just knowledge. – Unknown Source

So how is it that people that KNOW, make less than the people that know?

You’d think with this much experience it would warrant a degree…No?

This is no way a complete list, but is evolving. While to today’s society, being so diverse is not the norm, nor accepted, I am rather quite proud of my experiences. While I do greatly miss some specific things, I would not trade my experiences for the world.

OCCUPATIONS (No specific order):

Raphan Carpet: Sales, Warehouse
Friendly’s: Waiter/Dishwasher
HESS: Attendant
Sears: Sales (paint)
Bavarian Inn: Dishwasher
Radio Shack: Ass’t Manager/Sales
Centereach Fire Department: Volunteer FF
Brewer Fire Department: On Call FF, Ladder Truck Driver
Orono Fire Department: On Call FF, Hazmat
Capital Ambulance: EMT/Driver
Front Row Video: Sales
Weathervane Seafood: First Cook/Line Cook/Dishwasher
Bronson Productions: Rigger/Spot Op/Stage Crew/Security
Toys ‘R Us: Sales/Bike Assembly/Stock
Bangor House of Pizza: Cook/ Delivery
Not Just Hair: Stylist
Picasso Hair Salon: Stylist/Colorist
Anthony D’Franco Hair Salon: Chemical/Colorist Apprentice
Town & Country Limousine: Driver/Mechanic
Eckerd Youth Alternatives: Senior Counselor/Teacher
DEC/Digital/Citicorp: Logistics/Migration Engineer/Onsite Helpdesk
Computer Surgeon: Computer Technician
DataPath: Network Technician
Ocean Rock: Lead Climbing Instructor
Road to Emmaus: Web Design/Sales
Charter Communications: Cable Technician
Shiloh House: Treatment Counselor

EXPERIENCES:

USMC
2.5 years living in the woods
Hiked 2167 miles on the Appalachian Trail, Georgia to Maine
Franciscan Friar: 6 years
Mission Trip to Honduras
Started and ran “Loaves & Fishes” Street Food Ministry in NYC and Philadelphia
Chrysalis: Lay Director
Worked at the Avianca plane crash

Cultivate harmony within yourself, and harmony becomes real;
Cultivate harmony within your family, and harmony becomes fertile;
Cultivate harmony within your community, and harmony becomes abundant;
Cultivate harmony within your culture, and harmony becomes enduring;
Cultivate harmony within the world, and harmony becomes ubiquitous.

Live with a person to understand that person;
Live with a family to understand that family;
Live with a community to understand that community;
Live with a culture to understand that culture;
Live with the world to understand the world.

How can I live with the world?
By accepting.

A friend showed me this story a short bit a go. It comes in many versions, but all the same message. For some reason it has always stuck with me.

A confused girl came before a wise Man who adored her. She felt that to give in to him would mean she would open her heart to unbearable pain should he ever leave her. She hungered for him and needed him, but was ready to walk away in panic.

The gentle Man knelt her before him and started a tale of love and devotion. As she looked up at him his arms began to widen and open like a large tree stretches its branches to the sky. At that moment the Man appeared rooted to the floor and his impressive size towered above her like a giant tree. Then he began to speak…

I’m here for you… now and always no matter how far time and space takes us… Whether you walk away from me today or you stay with me I will not turn from you. I am as patient as time itself; I will take not from you unless you give freely and completely of yourself, but I give onto you regardless– for what I give is unconditional…

Like the olive tree that can both feed you and shade you, I am there seemingly eternal to your short life on this earth. If you need my fruit to feed your hunger I will give you all the fruit you need. If your skin grows dry and loses its luster, the oil from my fruit will restore it and make it glisten. When you need comfort my leaves will gently caress your face with the slightest breeze. If you just need my shade to protect you from the sun, my branches will shade and protect you. If you need warmth at night my fallen branches will fuel the fire to keep you warm and safe. If you need a refreshing breeze my leaves will fan you and cool you. You are my gardener.

When you come to me, you tend that which keeps me vibrant and full of life. When you kneel under me and till the soil, you give breath to my roots. When you water me, my sap flows strong through me raising my limping Branches. When you soil yourself collecting fertilizer with your bare hands, you strengthen and humble me with your devotion.

Although my life will go on, life would not be the same without you. Your dedication and unconditional care for me will keep me vibrant and nurtures my very core. The sustenance and protection I give you seems little reward for your gift of yourself. Still the gardener serves the tree from her heart and the tree gives to her heart all that he can!

I am planted firmly on the ground and cannot follow you if you walk away from me…. But be assured I will survive. One hundred years later and two of your lifetimes; I will still be there, waiting for you in the same spot to offer you all that I do now.

Stay with me and be my gardener. You cannot get lost in me for we are complementary to each other. I am your devotion, and you give meaning to my existence. Apart we live life and survive; together we bloom eternally!

… As the Man finished his last words the girl cried herself to sleep at his feet. That night, he stood planted there like the Olive tree offering her himself unconditionally his love and protection as she slept. As she would tend to him with her devotion the next day… and everyday thereafter!

Withdraw now from the invisible pounding and weaving of your ingrained ideas. If you want to be rid of this invisible turmoil, you must just sit through it and let go of everything. Attain fulfillment and illuminate thoroughly. Light and shadow altogether forgotten. Drop off your own skin, and the sense-dusts will be fully purified. The eye then readily discerns the brightness.

• Hongzhi Zhengjue (1091–1157)

Standing here on the ocean shore,

with golden sand beneath my feet,

I find myself staring out at the sunlight glistening off the gentle waves as they roll into shore,

but something catches my eye that is far more beautiful and awe-inspiring.

A shell has found it’s way to the shore, and within that shell a pearl.

I can tell this pearl in no ordinary gem, for it has traveled an oceans distance to sit upon these sands in my presence.

I kneel down for a closer look,

and as the water passes over it back into itself, a ray of sunlight reveals it’s true beauty as a myriad of colors burst forth.

Why and how is it me who has been blessed by it’s presence.

How many people have walked along this beach passing it by,

but yet here I sit, astonished, overwhelmed.

Would it be gone tomorrow?

Would the tides wash it away?

But as the moon rises up over the horizon, it remains here… with me.

Turn your mind away from things which are not permanent. – Buddha

Like Rome, Byzantium, Russia the US will have it’s day. Much like those countries and empires the US is focused on Power and Money, and it forgets about the needs of it’s people. You are all probably wondering what brought this up. Well as many of you know I have been on the job hunt for quite a while when I was out in Los Angeles. I was suppose to get a job at Herbalife, which would have brought me a very nice paycheck, somewhere in the 60,000 to 80,000 area.

Due to circumstances I have left LA and am now in Denver and have been looking at counseling opportunities, much like what I did at Eckerd Youth Alternatives. Not to my surprise they are offering $8.75 – $9.54 /hr at Outward Bound. Clearly people don’t do this for the money. When I worked at Eckerd we were paid for each day that we worked, which was a 24/hr day, and we would work anywhere from 5 days to 21 days straight. There was a lot of personal investment put in, and understandably < 10% of counselors would actually complete their 2 year contract. When we figured out the hourly it came out to be less than $3/hr for a new counselor, as a Senior Counselor you made less than $4/hr.

Where the hell are our priorities when we focus more on things like programming, diets, oil, gaming, Internet, TV, Clothing, etc and just toss our youth aside. I think it’s time we re-evaluate our priorities.

The candidate that can do that will get my vote.