Welcome to Iowa

I had made it...

The sweet serenity of flatlands and cornfields greeted me as the plane descended into Des Moines. Was this real or am I dreaming?

Turns out it was the real deal...Do or die time.I was ready for a new adventure and simultaneously scared shitless...

I had just left my entire life to start fresh and pull myself out of the depths of the hell I'd created. This was my opportunity to turn things around.

I had to make this work or risk going back to the life I was living...Which wasn't really much of a life at all.

I'd love to tell you that everything went smooth and hunky dory from that point on, but that wouldn't be accurate and it sure as shit wouldn't make a great story.

The truth is that I was still pretty wrecked.

• Emotionally wrecked

• Physically wrecked

• Spiritually wrecked.

After settling in a bit, lesser versions of my patterns continued to rear their ugly heads.I had managed to get off of the really hard drugs, but was still hanging on to being able to drink alcohol and smoke weed.

I was better...Not perfect, but better.

The town that I lived in was Fairfield, Iowa. It was a little town of about 15,000 people. There was a college campus filled with an eclectic group of New Age Hippies, Spiritualists and International Students from around the world.All of them were there looking for something different. Many of the international students were sent there by their parents. Others were there for spiritual practice. And still others (like me) were there looking to escape their past and find their bearings.

To top it all off, half of the town was filled with good ol' guys and gals born and raised in the heartland. It was quite the melting pot.

This mixture of different humans equaled pizza/burger joints paired with vegan/vegetarian restaurants sprinkled throughout the town square.

The corn fed locals liked to make fun of the meditation community. They called us "Ru's". Short for gurus.

Having grown up in a small town, I was able to relate to locals as well as the meditation crowd that I was fascinated with. I've always been like that. It's easy for me to find a way to relate to just about anyone.

If you're ever passing through Iowa, I'd recommend checking out Fairfield. It's quite a site to behold. Definitely the most unique place I've encountered to date. Don't miss the giant gold meditation domes on campus!

A lot happened while I was there. Some pleasant things and some not so pleasant things. As I look back now all of the following events were working for me. Particularly the not so pleasant ones.

Here's a quick rundown of the highlights...

The Sweet stuff:

I learned yoga and meditation, got healthier, met some interesting folks, experienced another profound spiritual awakening, had some paranormal experiences and started to put the pieces of my life back together.

The harsh stuff:

I got caught selling weed and kicked out of college, became the outcast of the community, went to jail and was put on probation.You might be thinking, how did the second list end up working for you?

Well, this is the part about listening and paying attention to the signals that our lives give us.

I listened to that internal guidance to some extent by moving there and getting away from the darkest parts of my experience, but I hadn't listened all the way. So, Life set things up in a harsh way that forced me to listen.

It gave me the tools to change and simultaneously the experiences I NEEDED to wake the fuck up. Which in this case happened to be a universal smack down of challenging situations that I GOT MYSELF into.And when I say Life, feel free to use that interchangeably with: God, Spirit, Universe, Allah, Yahweh or whatever you call the infinite intelligence that underpins all of reality.

I spent almost a year in Iowa. It was a major turning point in my journey. I still had more listening to do when I came back home and lots of twists and turns to get where I'm at today.

The Iowa saga will stand as a pivotal point in my life where I decided to live instead of give up and die. I thank God for the harsh experiences that I had to endure in order to receive the message and make those changes. I don't know where'd I'd be without that experience.

I'm sure that many of you can relate to the hardest things, being ultimately some of the best things that Life ever did for you yeah?

Anyhow...

Next up!

Back to the Pacific Northwest. Time to turn it all around.

With Gratitude,

Cole " The Colemination" Blackburn

P.S. I just started this newsletter about a week and a half ago so I'm creating these as you read them. It'll be a "my story" series so if you don't happen to get the whole succession of emails in a row (or you receive some of them twice) it's because I'm still building them out and figuring this whole newsletter schtick out. Bear with me.

Check my website below if you don't receive the whole series to continue reading. I'll leave them up there for a couple of months. :)