Hi friends.
Here's a short (ish) (depending on your attention span and/or interest) video about this year's wins.
Some wins I didn't mention were giving up illegal graff - a habit and form of escape I've held dear for more than half my life. I went to court for a 2 colour “Hare Kṛṣṇa” piece in Byron Bay whilst visiting to do a mural commission.
It was a blessing in disguise. Actually the judge was very kind. She gave me a fine and a conviction at first but after the proceeding I requested a different consequence as punishment.. I said “your honour, I have something I'd like to say”.
Her “Is there something you didn't understand? I have a lot to do today”.
Me: “I'm a youth worker and I'm about to apply for a job where I could use this craft to help youth who like graffiti to contribute to their communities and this conviction may jeopardise my opportunity to get the job. I'm also the sole income earner in our family and our daughter is in hospital. We can't afford this fine.
Her: “in light of the new data, im revoking the fine send the conviction on the condition I dont see you back year in the next 12 months.
I was shocked. My friend who was there with me was visibly shocked.
Since then I haven't done anything that would land me in court and life honestly hits different. There's something refreshing about good behaviour. Its integrous and allows me to stand tall and look the world in the eye - something I've never been able to do or even interested in doing. Graffiti is anti social in nature. Anyway, I could write a book about my journey with graffiti. I’ve transformed so much and this year has seen the biggest shift. Ive started exploring and practising new art forms like calligraphy and cartooning which have both been on my mind for atleast a decade.
Another cool win is making friends with Padma in sydney. Ive known him for years and now we're working on a new podcast about recovery. Stay tuned if thats interesting to you.
Last but not least I've generally become way less socially anxious. Actually I was socially awkward because of low self esteem and that was probably due to under performing in areas that are important to me. I transformed that by directly addressing my exhaustion. My wife and I were on a walk with the children and it occurred to us we were burnt out from the whole hospital fiasco. We then started a whole lifestyle change cebtered around regulating our nervous systems. That turned into creating an 8 week reset plan for ourselves. We've done it twice. This week is our last week of our second round. We did it twice because we're piloting it to share it through a platform called Skool. Thats a goal for 2026.
So thanks for reading.
Hope you had many wins too and your new year is the best ever.
With love,
Muchukunda
