Hello. My Name Is...

Greetings All

The answer to any introduction at a party of “Hi, what do you do?” is usually followed by a job title. Not me...

I’m commonly known as Paul Shepherd (or Shep to my old schoolmates from last century). I popped out of the womb in Hanover, Germany in 1961 while my father was serving his military obligation in the British Army.

But really, I originate from the UK and carry a British passport so I am able to access the rest of the planet without too much hindrance.

Otherwise I don’t identify with a ‘nationality’ or ‘job.’ This wasn’t always the case though. I had achieved society's spoon-fed dream: house, wife, two sons, two cars, motorcycle, well paid IT job that I enjoyed and well on the way to paying off the mortgage… and my life was complete, at least for a couple of years until February 2005.

And then “Boom!” It all fell apart with an out of the blue phrase from my wife “I don’t love you any more, I want a divorce!”

I was devastated. The vision of all of I had and all to come, gone in an instant.

In a nutshell, there was no saving it. I ended up leaving my home and lodging near my job a hundred miles away. Waking up for work every morning on a deflating air bed, nursing a broken heart and empty future that needed filling with some worthwhile reason for living.

A couple of years later, I had recovered pretty well and bought an apartment then “Boom!” I lost my job along with thousands of others flooding the job market due to the credit crunch.

When my savings dried up and the credit card bills started piling up. When my new mortgage, acquired at the peak or the housing bubble, and child support payments were building pressure. That’s when I started to feel the weight of the monetary system and the harassment from its agents.

I’d never felt so chronically frightened and worthless. But, looking back, this is just what I needed… a defining moment in my personal evolution.

I got an email from a friend with a link to a website about how to get out of debt free, which exposed how loans were unlawful contracts since the bank do not lend funds, they create them out of nothing but your signature, and debt collectors buy the debts at pennies on the dollar and do not have a lawful claim since they are a third party interloper not named in the original agreement.

This was unbelievable to me at first but I could see no other choice out of this situation but to give it a go. So I used the web site’s template letters, learning as I went, and asked the individuals behind these faceless corporations for the contracts signed by both parties, the record of the accounting plus proof of claim and their responses were evasive. Astoundingly, this process seemed to work and debts were traded from one collector to another with me repeating the process until the debt claims faded away. There was never any court action because I was following legal process and the law myself.

This process was truly a life-saver. I could see no other way out of that corner with the pressure of the debt building every day...

In the process, I discovered a sense of self-empowerment and self-trust. I came to the view that our ‘civilised’ system was an indoctrinated illusion that kept us all in a state of financial slavery and so I opened my mind to a new journey into freedom and self-discovery, which started right there and then in that moment of decision.

I cut my expenses to the bone, de-cluttered and let my apartment go, bought a stealth-camper and travelled around the UK around the coast and between friends and family. I lived with a new lover for a couple of years and we travelled together. I delivered narrowboats around the canal system for new owners. I wrote a guide for men about surviving separation and divorce. I learned to sail in the Mediterranean, I occasionally crew on sail-boats.

Which pretty much brings me up to date of where I am now. Losing the love of my life eventually taught me to love myself and accept life as it comes and so I find myself anchored with my old sail-boat in Sint Maarten lagoon in the Caribbean. Living off grid with solar and wind power, creating wood carvings, writing poetry, articles and social media posts, playing guitar, meditating, hiking in the hills, helping out others as and when. What’s next? Nobody knows, which is part of the magic of living.

Employment servitude is now history for me. I'm now open to anything, depending on needs and desires; mine and others.

I used to worry about money and try to accumulate as much as I could to try to ease my ‘fear of lack.’ That never worked. These days, I live off a series of small diverse incomes which come and go. I find if I don’t worry about money and focus on the value I bring to the world then money or resources present themselves when needed. All I have to do is remind myself that the value is in the people, not the currency, and that the fear of lack is only a thought and then to simply let that thought go…

I’ve had money. I’ve lost money. I’ve been busy. I’ve been idle. I’ve known love. I’ve known solitude. I’ve experienced financial servitude, I’ve experienced freedom. None of these things alone bring lasting happiness yet it is our purpose as humans to “feel good.” And the best route to that is first to ‘choose’ to feel good and then be open to serve others with the talents you already have.

Sharing your innate talents feels good. Do that!

I'm glad to be a part of Steemit. Thank you.

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