Pouring Energy From the Sky into an Old Man
I’ve had a number of you geniuses collaborate with me on Instagram recently around Mr. Vern Luna and what I saw as his desire to share endless stories and teachings from his bed, where his ankylosing spondylitis keeps his range of motion limited to just a few degrees of mobility in his shoulders, elbows, and ankles..
Over a few Instagram posts you all helped us figure out that YouTube, and his own channel, was the direction to head here. I agreed. So did Vern after I read all of your comments to him.
In setting up the channel bio I learned that Vern spent twenty years as a massage therapist, he was a studio lighting photographer for eighteen, an electronic technician for 5 years, ran a graphic arts print shop, he was an illustrator, a jet-engine mechanic, and a lifelong student. He thought about calling his channel “The Horizontal Student” but I told him his idea for “Horizontal Philosopher” was better. He made me laugh, calling himself a “pot and pan technician” instead of a dishwasher as a way he worked his way from being homeless through high school. The old hippie even traveled the world performing fire dances.
If you’re just catching up, Vern is a 77 (if you’re reading this on his birthday, Christmas Eve) year-young-old-man I’ve been slowly working my way into living with in Escondido, CA - about 30 min northish from San Diego.
He placed an advertisement on Craigslist for a live-in caregiver in exchange for rent, hoping to find one that was open to alternative medicine. I found it as part of my quest for meaning in my life.
We met, I felt calm, I moved all my stuff into this awful apartment that was dirty and disgusting and is slowly getting better, and then I couldn’t finish moving in because their was a flood from an upstairs apartment clog that soaked the already-gross carpet in the bedroom I was to live in with Maggie (my dog).
After trying to convince myself that I could still make the move, the mildew-y smell proved too strong, and we’re now waiting for all that flooring to be torn up and out of there so the damage can be remediated and I can stop driving from SD to there to help him out when needed. Thank God I have friends that have been putting up with me this long and don’t seem to mind having me live with them a few weeks longer than planned.
In getting to know Vern, I’ve quickly become aware of how much this motherfr likes to talk. I’m not interested in half of it, but I know some people out there will be. He speaks well and passionately on topics like health (his favorite obsession being the gut), diet, and his experiences with beauracratic systems and caregivers. The man has lived a lot of life from one bed.
He asked me tonight, as we struggled to find his password for his damn google account, “why I was doing this.”
“It’s fun,” I replied. But really I love watching people flourish so very much.
Connecting him to making videos for a YouTube channel is rejuvenating his spirit.
So whether he gets 1 follower or 1,000, the imagination and creation of this channel is sparking new life in him. He’s almost been ready to throw in the towel even over the few weeks I’ve known him.
If you want to check out the first, unedited, messy video we recorded, and which shocked Vern because he hasn’t seen himself in so long (“I’m old!”) - you can check it out and subscribe if you want to come along for the ride.
I am positive he is looking forward to it all.