When The Gods Were Half Human (Audio Book)

As you select your donation amount I ask you to keep these things in mind. I do pay for the printing of each book as well as transaction fees to make the "sale". For shipping I do collect a small flat rate fee at checkout to cover at least a portion of that cost. The “market value” for these books- if you want a reference point- is $16 for the soft cover and $25 for the hard cover. I would encourage you to consider these a suggested minimum donation, which in either case gives me about $10 in support after my costs.

If you have a lot and you’re looking for meaningful ways to put it to work in the world, give a lot! I’ll happily receive it. Giving more is not only a way of supporting me but also others who have less to give. If you have a little, give a little. Give what’s comfortable. And know that I’ve been there too. I’ve spent years of my life scraping by with barely two pennies to rub together, asking about “sliding scales” and scholarships to participate in things I couldn't afford. I’m more than happy to pay it forward. If paying nothing is where you’re at, do that.

If you want a little extra love in your book, I give an option above to request a signed copy. Whether we’re paying it forward or vulnerably allowing ourselves to receive the generosity of others…we can all feel warm and fuzzy together.

The choice to let you decide the value of this book is not an insignificant one. Ultimately this is an act of trust. Why would I be trying to build trust, I created a product…shouldn’t I be trying to make money? Yeah...we all know how capitalism works, but honestly, what kind of artist would I be if I just played by the rules? Now I’m not gonna go off on a Marxist rant here, I’m not a communist trying to overthrow the government. I’m a dreamer trying to overthrow a chronic and collective dis-integration of society. My uprising is for Truth and Beauty, which are- as all of life is- expressions of a fundamentally shared experience of reality. My criticism of consumerism isn’t with the existence or the exchange of money, but with how impersonal and transactional it has become, leaving us with the illusion that all people are separate and that all things of value are commodities.

I'm a fan of the concept of profit, but I believe it's generally a bad idea to have a society structured around the primary ideals of growth and accumulation at all costs. When there is unchecked, uninhibited growth in the body we call this cancer...and it kills us. It will do the same to society if we cannot find a way to re-contextualize our relationship to resources within a more nuanced and wholistic set of values. How do humans establish and coordinate values? Art and relationships.

I believe that the essential function of art in the world is a transcendent one. It is to guide us- individually and collectively- in the process of becoming. What some might call personal growth. From a higher level we can call it the evolution and expansion of consciousness…a process that is fundamentally relational.

In short, the existing economic model makes it too easy to sanitize the vulnerability and humanity from the exchange. So I’m choosing to lean in to the fact that- if you engage with my art- you and I are in a relationship…and I’m sure as hell gonna do my best to make it a good one.

Relationships are built on symbiotic need-meeting. Whether it’s the core human needs for belonging, intimate touch and shared experience that galvanize the spousal bond or simply the complimentary needs for inspiration and groceries- inversely exchanged between the artist and their audience- that define a relationship of patronage. But it is a relationship nonetheless.

You need something I have and I need something you have…which is actually quite beautiful. These needs represent an opportunity for meaningful connection. (In the same way that our need for food keeps us in constant relationship with the earth Herself…that we must daily take the holy communion of putting her body into ours to stay alive). It is in the vulnerability of the exchange that what is me and what is you- what is earth and what is body- are perpetually and dynamically trading places. Through this communion we remember (or have the opportunity to learn) that we are all one.

So, returning to the question- Why am I building trust and not just selling my book? I’m building trust because trust is the unit of currency with which we measure (and build) human relationships.

Giving my book by donation is simply me casting a vote for new ways of defining our exchange, bringing the honesty and vulnerability of relating back into the equation. By letting you choose the price, I’m choosing to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is how we build trust, trust is how we build relationship, and relationship is the deepest Truth of our context for life as we know it. We are not alone. We couldn’t be if we wanted to be. All organisms- physical and spiritual, human and divine- thrive and grow in a dynamic interdependence, as a multitude of cells working together to animate a single body. This beautiful interdependence is not just a flowery thing to write about, it’s what I choose to cultivate in my life. In giving my book by donation, I’m putting your money where my mouth is. 🙂

By letting you choose how much my book is worth to you, I’m giving you the opportunity to participate in what I am creating. When you read my poems, my life becomes a part of your life, my story becomes a part of yours…and I become a part of you. When you donate, you are not a consumer, you’re a patron…and as such you become a part of my art, a part of my story, and a part of me.

Blessings.