Los Angeles. April 25th, 2019

It’s funny, that I’m writing a post about Los Angeles. Los Angeles is basically my home I would say. This blog is all about my travels, but today I was looking at the city by my pool and felt compelled to write this. I guess it’s more about how I feel now after coming back to LA instead of the city in general. I just got back to LA about a year and a half ago after living in Tai

pei, Taiwan for 2 and a half years.

Many people don’t know that I was born in Pittsburgh, PA and then moved to South Africa as a kid. Then, when I was 8 years old I moved to the valley, in Thousand Oaks. I then went on to move around the valley and then San Diego, Baltimore and then South Florida. After high school, I moved back to CA when I was 18 years old. Long story short, I travelled a lot growing up but I lived in California for about 14 years of my life.

Los Angeles, translated in Spanish, to: Lost Angels. As I travelled around the world and been to all these different countries and cities across the globe, I don’t think that translation could be any more actual to the true vibe of the city. It is a melting pot of Temptation, opportunity, glam, glitz, beauty, pressure, drive, ambition and saturation that gets most lost. Many different cultures, beliefs, ways of living and different classes of societies all wrapped together. You can be at a 10-million-dollar penthouse downtown with some of the most powerful and wealthiest people, then walk downstairs 3 blocks over and be in the middle of Skid row, surrounded by homeless people fighting for a line at the midnight mission.

I think though that most people in LA are “opportunists.” A person who exploits circumstances to gain immediate advantage rather than being guided by consistent principles or plans. We all are looking for a better opportunity to expand and there’s nothing wrong with that. Just at what cost?

Lost angels. What does it mean to be lost? And what does it mean to be an Angel? I think we are all lost in the clouds, when it comes to reality and our dreams, lost about what we truly want and need. We are all dreamers in this town I believe. The old myth of the Hollywood tree, becoming a celebrity and a superstar overnight. The myth of the Holly Wood (what witches make their wands out of) and that can make all dreams possible. It’s not a circumstance, it’s called Hollywood. We could have everything we want and more than we need, but we keep looking for more abundance and more opportunity, to be seen, to be known. When in fact we just end up alone and unhappy, most likely trying to chase perfection, as opposed to living life with devotion and wholeness for what comes our way and what shows us Love, motivation and affirmations that we are valuable and special.

You look at old couples and you think wow, how could they be married for 50 years? When we typically have a relationship attention span of 6 months to 2 years these days. It’s because of our new society and new technology. We are overloaded with Information and options. Which makes us doubt our decisions and our choices because every day we get presented with new choices. We sometimes can’t see the value in just randomly meeting someone at a gym, connecting and sharing valuable times and moments together because we have so many people we interact with and encounter day to day, that things get saturated and overwhelming. Your parents didn’t have Instagram with a bunch of men or women directing messaging offers for dinner, travel, gifts, or “business propositions” like we do now or dating apps.

Our Sacredness is gone, it is Lost. As we all are Angels who start with kind and beautiful hearts but then become lost. Lost from the amounts of temptation we face, and opportunities presented to us every day. We slowly start to sin. We start to see things differently and alter our perception. As a business man and entrepreneur, sinning seems inevitable. Things aren’t always going to be perfect in any industry you work in. One hand rubs the other, you scratch my back, I scratch yours. There is always a little grey. I guess that’s why they call it, 50 shades of grey. In fact, it’s more like 50 million shades of grey.

It’s really funny because I have been all over the world and I feel like LA is the loneliest city I have ever been to. Love is hard to find here and even harder to keep. Because of all the temptation and wealth in this city. Most people want to be a movie star or famous artist etc. So just being a good person with a good heart who is loyal, devoted and smart isn’t good enough. You have to have it all. And even when you do have it all, you are constantly reminded, that there’s someone out there that has more than you do. So, it makes us work harder, aspire for more, and keeps us discontent with our life and our situation.

As an entrepreneur, this is great because it reminds me that I still have a long way to go and that I need to keep working and hustling every day. The problem is that sometimes we can’t separate the business from personal. Honestly, that true devotion, loyalty love and wholeness is all that you need in your personal life and relationships to be happy. Some

one who genuinely has your back and best interests at heart through thick and thin.

But back to LA. The city is beautiful, beaches are amazing and there’s always something to do. The smog sucks, it’s crowded and trendy, diverse, eclectic but I wouldn’t say it’s a wholesome city. I love the city of LA because it made me who I am today. But it’s filled with sin, temptation and people who want to use you and abuse you. You have to be conscious and aware of it or it will chew you up and spit you out. I got a lot of inspiration in this city, music and business wise. It’s a town of hustlers and opportunists, but sometimes you find a needle in a Hay stack. Some days it does get lonely and dark. Even when we have constant sunshine and no rain. There’s a song by Red Hot Chili Peppers, called under the bridge. I think this song goes right on with this blog post. It’s also one of my favorite songs. I have a love, hate relationship with LA, but it is what it is. I dedicate this blog post to Lolo.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lwlogyj7nFE