First Nine Chapters - Rest Stop Enlightenment

At this point I had enough chapters that this was something significant. I felt my first surge of positivity, like I was making a life change that would matter. I still had no idea what would happen in the next six months leading up to my birthday, but I had a book to write.

I knew it would be sixty-four chapters and that I had to keep at it in order to maintain my sanity. I remember the actual bagel in this chapter, the experience of eating something out of hunger and being aware of the experience in a very consciously somatic manner. It was also the confrontation with tollbooths, and the dread of returning back to my normal life I'd feel every time I'd cross over New York City and hit the BQE out to Long Island when on my way back from another comic convention.

This is the last of the chapters that I consider the internal maelstrom of writing a semi-fictional version of yourself with no real idea of what the hell to even start talking about. The first 9 chapters address my isolation, desperation for connection, anxiety, and how just removing yourself from your environment stirs up all the change you need to make a go of it.

THE TOWER OF BRAHMA: Chapter 9 - The Ride Home (edit)

03/15/04