So onto the New Year (I wrote this post as part of this one, but it got too long).
To start, a little music for the mood:
Auld Lang Syne performed by Tatiana Moroz
Tatiana Moroz singing “Auld Lang Syne” (the New Years Song) for the Holidays. Will Hensley on bg vocals, guitar, mandolin, tracking, engineering, and produc…
In 2018, I want to commit myself to taking better care of myself. A lot of my time is spent on activism and trying to help others. It’s my passion and it drives me, it feeds my soul. However, I can’t keep running on empty, and I have to prioritize my long-term health. Apparently, this youth thing isn’t forever.
So I boil it down to:
Meditation/Mental/Spiritual-
This is probably the most important thing to cultivate in order to stay present and enjoy life fully. A friend of mine taught me a lot about this.
Ross Ulbricht is someone who I spend a lot of time raising awareness about. He is currently serving a double life plus 40 year sentence in a maximum security prison as a first time offender for all non violent crimes. His mom, Lyn Ulbricht and I, tour and speak about it a lot, and I even have a song “The Silk Road” on the new album “Keep the Faith” this year. Fun fact: Ross drew the album cover art from prison of a picture by Judd Weiss- a birthday gift to me with the ultimate regifting- to you guys! 🙂
The trials he continues to endure (appeal is with the US Supreme Court now) have not dampened the soul of my good friend. He has turned his adversity into one of the most beautiful examples of humanity I have ever seen. He is kind, compassionate, and cares for others in a way that has become old fashioned, to our society’s great peril.
Even though he lives in literal hell, on another level, he knows inner peace and happiness that most of us never realize. Obviously, he has pain, but he doesn’t choose suffering. He chooses to free his mind and heart, even though his body is there. It’s something I rarely talk about because I think words are inadequate to express the marvel of his positive attitude. I have learned to appreciate what I have in a whole new way, and am a better person for it. This is one of my favorite things he has ever written, and it has been a source of inspiration.
His meditation is one of his saving graces (in addition to some natural aptitude for being cool- his fam raised him well). Trying to learn a lesson from this, I have been meditating in dribs and drabs. This year, I am going to add a daily mediation practice to my routine.
As an aside, I also appreciate everything I have learned about the millions of other drug war victims worldwide because of this case. It makes me a better person and advocate for freedom, and I hope to give a voice to those who have none. I hope to dedicate more of my efforts to this battle.
Exercise/Physical
I have been working out more, but really going for it consistently is challenging with travel. I want to create more discipline, but I don’t know how. Tips are welcome!
So, I am joining the UFC gym (hopefully won’t get punched in the face). I think some classes would be fun and they have regular workout equipment so it serves 2 purposes. I would like it better if they had yoga, but locally, couldn’t find any gyms that were that versatile… so I guess I’m gonna kick some a- – , and take some names (for real).
Will try to find a yoga routine, my friend Stephanie Murphy is a great teacher and has already given me a 10 min one that seems doable (in case you don’t have the pleasure yet of knowing her, she is awesome voice actress and her podcast SexandScienceHour.com is on point). I think a daily practice would be best.
Musical Improvement
I haven’t been able to sing properly for 5 years. This has been one of the greatest challenges of my life. Seems to be acid reflux, something that’s been suggested to me repeatedly by doctors, but my dumb hippie “against the system” a– refused to take the medicine cause I read that I would have to be on it forever. Au contraire mon frère! Apparently, you can take it for a while and then you get better, which is what I am doing now. Still not perfect, but I am getting there!
Obviously late night cheese, wine, and chocolate is not great for this, so no wonder every conference on earth makes me lose my voice. This is just a big fat duh.
Glad it’s better though, and I can’t wait to get back into the studio with my friend and producer Will Hensley. He makes me feel so comfortable, it’s going to be fun unpacking a bunch of songs I have from the past few years and putting a new album out. The last record was so easy, I can’t wait for this one. I hope it will be in 2018 (pretty sure it will be, but no promises)!
In the meantime, I can’t wait to cut some tracks with Ari Raskin, who is the master at catching me in the moment with our acoustic one takes. He helped me set up my Protools at my apartment recently, and I hope he will help me remember the skills I lost from the 2000’s so I can actually use it. I made him buy Bitcoin earlier this year, I feel like I can call that in if he resists teaching me, but he’s so helpful, I don’t think it will be too hard to get some pointers <3
Additionally, I am getting a keyboard to try to write songs on, getting guitar lessons, and voice lessons (to make sure I don’t do any damage). Practice will be key in this, so I think setting up a routine would be helpful and will work on that today or tomorrow.
Education- What do I want to learn about?
Well, since I am pretty busy, I don’t want to add 500 things to this category, but I think I will take Tom Woods’ Liberty Classroom finally. I suck at remembering history and I want to be a better debater, so I hope this class will help 😉 Any debate tips? I hear the socratic method is good for convincing people, but I don’t know about that really.
Also, Spanish. Yes, Italian is nicer, and I know it better, but Spanish is way more useful. It’s really fun to use it on my travels, but I think my limited vocab of 10 words can be upped to about 100. I don’t know how I will approach this learning process, but will keep you guys posted on my “progreso” (progress in Spanish- see? I am learning already!) Any tips/books/etc welcome!
Professional Goals
Now, maybe this should be first, but seriously, work for survival has been a priority for years and I need to stop and enjoy things more.
My company Crypto Media Hub has experienced a ton of growth this year. I am so happy to have a great team, and especially Cally (Ross’s sister) has been so helpful in helping me manage everything. I feel really lucky to create a company with a culture I curate, and the ability to pay people to do cool work that has an impact. We are adding new people to the team, and the website is being updated, so more on that another time.
We had some great clients last year, and I am especially excited to bring Zencash to the masses. They are such a cool team, and the project is desperately needed in the age of surveillance (Zencash lets you send money, messages, and media anywhere in the world securely and privately).
My podcast The Tatiana Show is going to get an upgrade, and I have a TON of incredible people I have met along the way that I want to have on. Joshua Scigala from Vaultoro is a killer co-host, and maybe we can even do a Berlin episode this summer. HINT: Euro Tour coming soon!
Romance
The tinder apocalypse is upon us my friends, but this is no reason to despair. I hope to maintain an open heart this year. I will avoid games, even if it risks getting hurt, and try to be genuine as that’s the only way to be. I want to be smarter too, choose more wisely, but that’s not always easy. Also, people can be confusing and have their own issues that reflect back on you which is good to keep in mind.
Regardless, I want to make time to help create genuine love with mutual respect and kindness. Different things have become more important, and I want my actions to align with those values, so there’s a certain amount of personal responsibility I want to use to empower my life 🙂
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I wasn’t sure I wanted to share this with anyone, as it feels too personal (and it’s 17 pages long haha). But part of being alive IS being personal. If I won’t be real with my own audience, as an artist, then who am I?
I hope you guys related to some of this. Do you have any cool resolutions? Or anyone that you lost and maybe wanted to talk about (see part 1)? Would love to hear from y’all.
I wish everyone the happiest of years in 2018, and many more. We are all so LUCKY to be here. Thank you for all the beauty you bring to my life, I hope I do the same for you.
