Thursday, December 10, 2015

Discovering My Dad #3: OMG! I have a sister!!!

After Las Vegas we headed to the Grand Canyon and it was time to make the call to Ariana Gardner Herrman! MY SISTER!

I felt the butterflies in my stomach as I pulled up her name to make the call. It's an interesting feeling discovering I have a sister you never knew of, from a father I've never met... 

The moment she picked up, the butterflies just turned to excitement. I am hearing the voice of my bloodline, and there is something to it, I never quite understood before... I felt a sense of connection different than any I have known before, a connection that drew me in and said 'I just need to be near this person, this person is a part of me!'. Her voice made me giggle (not only do I have a sister, but I have a sister with a thick southern accent!!! Yeah!!!) and her enthusiasm matched and exceeded mine. This was a pure moment.

We wasted no time and jumped directly into what she knew about the man I never met. Piece by piece the revelations of my own story were presented to me. The talent, the creativity and the energy of my life today was revealed along side the narcissism and self loathing of my past. As we navigated the many layers that mirrored my own story, one of my deepest fears was revealed in the tragedy that was my father's end. This sent me into an oblivion of tears. Tears of Sorrow, Tears of Gratitude and Tears of Letting Go. 

Although I am not ready to share publicly what that fear is, it is safe to say that my father's playing out of that specific fear is just the healing balm I needed to erase that possibility from my own story. For that I am sincerely grateful.

We ended our time searching for as many possibilities to see each other as possible along this journey. I trusted it will be sooner then later! and sure enough, it is! We will meet in one week!! This is so exciting!

It's been a few days now, and I am still vibrating from my connection with my sister and cannot wait to fill in more of the banks in person very soon...





Sunday, December 6, 2015

The 20 Ways The Ride-sharing services of Lyft and Uber have transformed My life in the USA and how it could possibly do the same for you!

*Right Now Lyft is offering a bonus to take 30 rides in 30 days. (That is about 20 hours) Check it out at https://lyft.com/drivers/daniel16202


MY STORY

When I return back to the United States after spending seven years in India, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, where I lived on a minimal budget and made money performing music, teaching yoga and meditation and facilitated human empowerment work, I didn't know where to put 1 foot in front of the other when I came to stabilizing in the big budget economy of Southern California. I couldn't imagine, though the transformation that I have gone through, working for anyone really. I had established working for myself completely. I searched for solutions as I could see there was something very different emerging in our economy, a rising of a shared economy.

For a year and danced around social reform websites like Task Rabbit and Fiver, but they didn't do the job and sustaining large amounts of sustainable income. Occasionally, I received donations from family members but knew that those resources were coming to an end and it was time to take the next step.

Before I would take that step though, I was invited to Israel to spend time with my beloved family as well as I was invited on an Alaskan cruise to perform musical meditation. We arrived home with some resources from our family and cruise, but we knew that they would be gone very fast.

Before Coming back, I had heard about the Ridesharing services of Lyft and Uber and was very interested, even though I did not have a car. When I returned home from Alaska though, I noticed, For some reason, magically, even though I was gone out of the country for seven years, My credit score was about 750!

Two days after returning home from Vancouver after the Alaskan cruise, I decided to randomly walk into a car dealership. Five hours later I walked out with the Prius V.

The next day, I signed up for Lyft. I was amazed at how quick The process was of getting on the road. So I did, and I did a lot. I made more than $5000 in the first month. Then I signed up for Uber and for the next year these two incredible inventions, which are a sign of our collaborative economy, provided many many opportunities for me to transform my life, my finances, and my businesses (which also changed through the process). These are the many ways that Ride-sharing has completely transformed my life, And, how it could possibly play a part in transforming yours as well ....

THE 20 WAYS RIDE-SHARING TRANSFORMED MY LIFE AND HOW IT COULD YOURS AS WELL.

1. CONNECT TO REAL PEOPLE - we spend so much time nowadays connecting to people virtually. When we do that, we lose that incredible feeling of connection that we experience when and physical contact with another human being. If you're willing to break through possible barriers of intimacy and really take each and every ride I need to never opportunity as an opportunity to connect, this alone will transform the way that you walk in the world and how you operate in the businesses that you pursue. I highly recommend this for every person to just get out there and take a few rides in the driver seat, because it is much different and much more humbling and being in the passengers. And we could all use a little bit more humility :-)

2. RELIEVE SOCIAL AWKWARDNESS - if you are one of those people that is socially awkward with new people, get behind the wheel of your car. It is a one stop shop to relieve that anxiety. It may start of Rocky and awkward but, once you get in the groove, you may find that you just love this socializing and connecting.

3. CREATE NEW CLIENTS - if you were in any type of service business or entraprenuer that depends on clients, customers, or people, well I guess that's just about anyone, then why not get paid to create potential client opportunities. You never know who is going to get in the backseat of your car, well hopefully the front seat, and is going to need what you have to offer. I have 3 long term one-on-one coaching clients that I have met through Ride-Sharing.

4. CREATE COLLABORATOR RELATIONSHIPS - are you a musician, actor, producer, etc. or involved in any type of creative collaborative venture? Well, again, you never know who's going to show up in your car. There are countless stories of people that of come together and created magical things in the world I meeting the ride-sharing.

5. GET TO KNOW AND LOVE YOUR HOME CITY. - now I did my work exclusively in Los Angeles, and I have lived in Los Angeles for most of my life. But the places that this took me, the places that my riders requested to go, so many of them we're hidden gems that made me love this town more than I ever have before. So many pockets, so many parks, so many places, so many people, so much dynamics. Many times I would just stop some random area, find an coffee shop, a park or a hike on a beach or forest and just enjoy a brand-new place. So much to explore right in front of us that most of us never knew about.

6. SUPPLEMENTAL INCOME - we all can use a little bit of extra cash. Even if you have all your odds and ends taken care of, what's a little extra money? :-)

7. LEARN A LOT OF NEW THINGS - people know things, when you engage in conversation you never know what you're going to learn about them, about life, about yourself. Each time you drive is a A beautiful opportunity to learn something new.

8. MEET FRIENDS FOR LIFE - I have met people over the last year that I know I will share moments with for the rest of my life.

9. STAY ON TOP OF CURRENT EVENTS - want to know what's up with the latest technology? Want to know who's who and what? Want to know what cutting age in the world? People are great resource for that information. It's been a quite amazing way for me to stay on top of everything that's happening in our speedy world!

10. FIND A NEW BUSINESS PARTNER - It has happened .... many times.

11. FEELING OF RUNNING YOUR OWN BUSINESS (YOU ARE THE BOSS). - are you somebody that's thinking about starting your own business but don't know where to start? This could be a great start, as you ARE running your own business. You don't pay taxes upfront, you design your own hours, And you keep up with all the expenses and income. It's a great place to start to get organized into creating a life where YOU ARE THE BOSS.

12. EXTRA MONEY FOR HOLIDAYS- we could all use it and if you sign up today you'll get an extra $100 or even more after your first 20 rides :-)

13. GET OUT OF YOUR OWN HEAD - eight years ago I spent more than a year of my life suicidally depressed. Residue of that still lingers even today and occasionally I will dive down into the rabbit hole. Interestingly enough, many times when I would start to sink into my own self indulgence, My worries, doubts and fears, simply getting behind the wheel of my car and connecting to another human being was all I needed to climb out of that hole. More often then not I would actually have a conversation with somebody and use all the wisdom knowledge that I have learned through all my travels to help that lift them out of a similar situation and that would give me all the answers I needed for myself to lift me out of my situation, thus, getting me out of my own head.

14. CHANGE A LIFE, CHANGE THE WORLD - One of my favorite questions to ask my passengers is "if you had all the resources in your life and all you had to do was serve others, what would you be doing with your life. " most times this question would lead us on a journey of self exploration, and being a proficient mentor and coach, those conversations, have changed many lives, Which, in turn, changes the world.

15. SPARK NEW IDEAS - people are full of ideas and insight and unique ways of looking at the world. They have their own perspective and their own colors to add to the pot of life. Imagine how many ideas of your own can spark in a simple conversation with somebody else who may have a very unique perspective.

16. SEE THE SIGHTS - I have been raised in Los Angeles my whole entire life, excluding the 7 years overseas. During the year that I got behind the wheel of my car I explored so many places that I never would've imagined going to in my life. Many times after a ride would take me to an area and I would stop in a local museum or art gallery, walk down the major streets or even ask somebody what is the best thing to do in town, and then do it. :-)

17. SAVED LIVES - this is just a blatant fact. Ridesharing has saved millions and millions and millions of lives.

18. MAKE PEOPLE SMILE - spread the joy my friend, you and the people around you need it :-)

19. BE A PERPETUAL TRAVELER - being a traveler for A great deal of my life, the one thing that I truly love about it is that I never know where I'm going to go or who I'm going to meet. This keeps his present to life what is going on in the moment.When you flip on that app, and somebody pings on your phone waiting to get picked up, You never know where you're going to go or who you're going to meet., Thus making you a perpetual traveler and someone whom is Present to where the road leads.

20. BECOME A PROFESSIONAL LISTENER - we can all become better listeners in our lives and this helps us in relationships, business and practically everything that we do in our lives. By listening, we are telling another person that we care, that we are here, and that we are human just like them. This creates a sense of love and compassion that humanity is really yearning for this time.

If any of the above mentioned things could at all assist in your journey of life or the journey of life of another person, all I'm suggesting is just to give it a chance. Ridesharing could be the best thing that humanity has ever seen to connect us at a human level,. And there's money in it too :-) and we all know that a little bit of extra money is always a good thing!

Go out and give at least 20 rides, it may just transform your life the way that it did mine!

*If you have any questions or concerns, feel free to email or connect on FB.

Again, PLEASE USE MY CODE WHEN SIGNING UP https://lyft.com/drivers/daniel16202

With my deepest love and gratitude,

Daniel

Friday, December 4, 2015

Discovering My Dad #2: Show me who you married, and I'll tell you who you are :)

Las Vegas was the first stop planned on the #HolidayGratitudeTour. As it happens, it is also the home of the fabulous Heidi Thompson, whom just happens to be my dad's ex-wife... 
And although I have never met my dad, just talking to her on the phone got me thinking, anyone who married such an awesome, dynamic and talented woman has to be a pretty cool guy :)
Heidi invited us into her (Coolest Christmas Decorated) home for some food and conversation. I learned that my dad was a spiritual seeker. He studied Holistic Living, Kinesiology, Acupuncture and dabbled in Scientology amongst other things! Super duper cool!!! heheeh! Never been there myself, but awesome. I also learned that he was a great salesman and was a very charming, likable and playful guy.
She shared pictures, life stories and more and really we just connected, as she and her beloved are just an amazing people! A woman after my own heart :) We connected on love, relationships, music and life. One happy family really. It was super enjoyable. 
When I was looking at the pictures, I noticed that I have seen this man before. I truly felt like he had been in my life. Maybe he did. He lived in cali for a while..Hmmm... 
We left with music, laughter full bellies, full hearts and a few more pieces to the puzzle. I am very grateful for the opportunity to explore!
This is the Video of us first meeting:
And the journey continues...
Oh, and here's a funny video from one of their projects together: Tekno Penguins - Mandroid the Android