So... here I am doing the thing I said I was going to do…it’s a lot more difficult than I expected, but nonetheless this is a project I must see through because, for me, I can challenge myself to be better and do better. The purpose is to put my past experiences in a pot with my future dreams and manifest a beautiful dish in the present so you can see some of my phases and connect with me more on a personal level. So, without further ado, let’s walk through the branching paths that have culminated into Ricardo Armando.

Sooooo…what’s the easiest question to answer first? I guess the “easiest” to answer is “Are you (still) a Christian?” 

The answer is no. I am not a Christian and do not associate myself with The Church because, as a whole, Christianity in the US is perverted to fit the narrative of the figurehead vs using the full text to learn and grow. Also, many Christians are selective with the verses they’ll learn from, the people they’ll accept, and the flexibility of the doctrine laid out. I do understand there are Christians out there who don’t follow the holier-than-thou mentality or those who are willing to hide behind false teachings in order to stay in with the majority, but I can’t be apart of the majority and be a small light in a covered room so I've opted out. 

To answer the follow-up question: Yes, I still believe in God, but I’m in search of a broader truth with my spiritual studies. I believe there are kernels of truth in each belief system, but I don’t believe every system wholeheartedly with reckless abandon: I absorb the knowledge and teachings one system and accept it for what it is. For me, God is still the Nexus point from which all things derive from, but I can’t discount that other beings from other systems exist and have a high enough authority to be considered “gods”. A conversation for another time, but that is currently where I stand and probably always have.

Question 2: “Are you straight? What’s your sexuality?” Honestly, I just am and what I mean by that is I’m not sure I’d classify myself into one category or the other. I can say that I find the female body and aura more appealing and most likely would be married to my wife even if I were female born, but there are attractive men out there too and I can’t just skip over them like they don’t exist. I mainly run off vibes so if we connect on an emotional/spiritual level you’ve already got my attention. The features I find most attractive on anyone though are the eyes and the mouth: I truly see the eyes as windows to the soul and you can convey a lot of emotions with just your eyes. There’s an unsung beauty about eyes…one that’s not spoken, but understood. The mouth on the other hand is what can heal and/or hurt someone without touching them. Ideas and thoughts can be shared, stories can be told, and wisdom can be passed on. The way we communicate is so unique and really has that feel of duality (from a certain point of view). I can confidently say I’ve never been attracted to male genitals in my life: It’s just not something I find aesthetically pleasing or sexually enticing…it’s just kinda there…and hopefully proportional and that’s really all I’m willing to say on that.

Question 3: “Why do you connect with writing so heavily?” Personally, writing became my way to escape, entertain, and include my friends in something fun! I really picked up on writing at young age and found myself lost in worlds with spies, robots, Spider-Man, etcetera! What really pushed me into declaring myself a writer was my time with 5 English Teachers: Ms. Fowler my sophomore teacher, Mr. Lutz my junior teacher, Ms. Hardin my senior teacher, Dr. Coffman my poetry club leader, and Dr. Rafalowski my English professor in college. Because each of these teachers encouraged me to write and improve in different ways I found that I actually enjoyed creating worlds with words! I haven’t turned back since and while I’ve been absent for some time I’ve always found myself writing. Now, I’m pushing forward with my blog, being a creative coach, and writing a series of novels! 

Question 4: “While mental health is a key component in overall quality of life, what got you so passionate about discussing mental health, suicide, and other touchy subjects?” I’ve experienced doubt and skepticism when it came to my mental diagnosis of Clinical Depression: ADD and ADHA were just excuses to get kids hooked on pills, depression was nothing more than over exaggeration, and anything “stranger” was left in the crazy bin with serial killers and mass shooters. No one in my growing community really took those kinds of things seriously (including my parents) which made me feel like the crazy outcast so by the time I got to my teenage years I just assumed all of my depressive moments were my fault and over-exaggerated in some way. I never really knew how to truly handle my depression and my home environment was hostile enough for me to always be on subconscious high alert. I did attempt suicide during my sophomore year and was lucky I didn’t follow through with Divine Intervention...intervening. Since then I’ve been building my confidence with the help of amazing friends I’ve considered family and now speak up for those in similar situations.

For those who have known me and my family and/or years I’ll answer the follow-up question: my first toxic relationship was with my father due to a lot of mental/emotional manipulation and some physical reinforcement. Now I’m not going to sit up here and claim to be a perfect being or say I didn’t do anything wrong because that’s not the case: I lied about stupid stuff, I disobeyed my parents, and have broken multiple items by not being careful; The difference between reasonable discipline and excessive “discipline” were obvious though. There would be times where my brother Aiden and I would discuss who was getting the brunt of the force that day simply because if we didn’t everyone was getting hurt so we’d take turns bailing each other out regardless if either one of us actually did anything wrong or not. I had a time where our home alarm system went off late in the night and I was so out of it I didn’t get up from the bed. My dad gets up and shuts it off then comes to our room to ask if either one of us let the system go off to which we both replied no to since we were both practically asleep. Fast forward through a whoopen and being called a liar for about 30-45 mins he tells us to think about it and let him know in the morning. I still to this day don’t remember ever going downstairs, sleep walking or running past the sensor to set off the alarm and let it ring for 10-15 minutes, but I convinced myself that I must have slept ran through this situation (which is unlikely because I have zero sleep walking history and the alarm was way too loud for me to sleep run through and not wake up) so the next morning I reluctantly confessed and was told that this is why no one will believe me. My memory is still just as hazy and part of me still believes I actually ran downstairs, set the alarm off, and didn’t bother to do the logical thing (turn off the damn alarm). There are plenty of other worse scenarios where gaslighting, manipulation, and guilt tripping were used in order to either assert dominance or gain control (especially after the youngest one was born), but between the intense arguments my parents had, the mixed signals given after intense situations, and reinforcing the idea no one would believe us through subliminal actions/words I mainly internalized a lot of my struggles and pain. 

Internalization became a way of life because it kept me out of a lot of painful situations, but there were still others that didn’t involve me but happened in front of me so by the time I was 20 I was eager to leave the toxic environment. Now, while there are a lot of traits I was just born with I also was molded by the environment I grew up in hence why I can engage a lot of situations with compassion and empathy. My whole childhood wasn’t bad, but I am to show others they are worth being listened to and respected because I understand where they’re coming from. I want to support others and be as encouraging as possible because I understand what it’s like to not have that support from people you’re supposed to look up to and rely on more than just a paycheck or a roof over your head or food on the table. All in all, my fire to support those who’ve had suicidal thoughts, those who struggle with mental illness, and understand others who believe differently than I do stems from my environment and my growth after slowly finding myself once again.

Question 5: “You’ve been talking about dōTERRA for a while now; what’s got you so hooked to dōTERRA and why should I hop in?” For me, I’ve had quite a few oil experiences which have greatly improved my mental and creative health (both of which are very important to me), I didn’t understand the power behind the oils and the intention until I had someone (my mentor and friend Mckynna) show me how these items were more than products: they’re a guiding tool  to truly support me and my mission. You see, my truth is that I am powerful, I am creative, and I can accomplish my dreams through hard work and intention. My mission is to help you and our community see the power within and use it to support the next person, especially creatives who live here in Jackson, TN. There’s no reason why we should feel like we have to leave Jackson in order to be successful when the potential to do great things and support our families lies within our community! Will I one day move close to a beach? Hell yeah because beaches are awesome and I want to jog, write, and relax in tropical temperatures. Do I think we should feel free to succeed in Jackson by our own means? Yes! We deserve to chase our dreams and we should be able to support the community we live so it can grow and thrive for the next generation to do the same! Creatives have such a beautiful mindset and so often they’re passed over in places where music, writing, acting, etc aren’t the bread winners and I aim to change that through dōTERRA because dōTERRA provides a beautiful way to support whatever you’re doing and becoming financially independent. But even if you’re not looking to build, dōTERRA is great to have to fully support your health in all aspects of life. This isn’t a Walmart/Amazon purchase: This is a self investment into your life in which the return always doubles with the right intention and support! I have a sister site specifically for dōTERRA ready now (my.doterra.com/pvricardoarmando), but if you want to start your journey today all you have to do is reach out via the comment section, email, or Facebook DM!

Question 6: “Why do you call yourself a Creative Coach?” Simply put, this falls into my support system in dōTERRA and Point of Vision, however I call myself a Creative Coach because when it comes to stories I can tell pretty quickly whether or not the story is muddled, too difficult to understand, or way too wordy due to my research and studying on this topic for my own novel series. I’ve found that it’s easy to get wrapped up in your own work and notice these mistakes (mainly because I’ve thrown away thousands of words due to the story going nowhere AFTER rereading my story months later), but as I learn and grow I’m able to catch myself and fix the issues right then and there vs getting to chapter 8, page 250 and realizing you’ve been info dumping for 8 chapters… 

My goal is to educate and support writers by reviewing their stories and coming up with exciting ways to write a scene, chapter, and book, hence why I call myself a Creative Coach instead of an editor who’s main focus is to review grammar and page structure which is important, but not where my passion blooms.

Currently, I’m not where I want to be weight wise and there’s still a lot I have to learn spiritually, but I’m excited to jump forward with you guys and see where our paths lead us! I have a lot of goals I’m tired of neglecting and a beautiful community I want to give back to as I find myself and support you guys. I want to speak on tough topics to be a space of positive discussion/debate; I want to support your health because you are worth the time and space you live in; I want to continue reaching for the stars so I can be the best writer I can be and be the best me I can be! I am Ricardo Armando and as I transition from one last name to the other in an effort to grow I want encourage you to speak out on injustices no matter how close to home they are, to always seek yourself out so you can grow, and support others who are working to get to a better place in their lives. 

*************************************************************************************************************************

If you’ve read this far, I thank you for reading and thank you for your support. Check out my patreon to support me and our community, hit me up when you’re ready to start your journey with dōTERRA, and tell me what other topics you want me to speak on in the future!

As always, Thank You for your time and…Until Next Time…

Go Forth in Peace & Love.