Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty is a classic rock album that came out in 1989. It opens with the monster hit "Free Fallin'" and gets your heart pumping with "Won't Back Down" and on and on. One of the most influential rock albums of all time, no doubt. Why? Because it's a guy with shaggy hair singing his heart out and leaving nothing behind. 

As I write this, in a couple of hours, I'll be singing my heart out in own version of "Free-Fallin'" called "Free Ballin.'" I know what you're thinking, it's actually about dogs playing fetch in the park, but I don't mind the allusion. Quite honestly some of the lyrics are a bit risque.

Either way, Camille and I are shooting a commercial for our short series Ruff and Tug Dogwalking. It's a culminating moment too. My six month old beard is going to be the star that disappears. Starting with the full beard and working towards totally clean cheeks, I'm excited and nervous. I haven't seen my full face since May. In that time, I've used beard oil, I've curled my mustache, and I've kissed my girlfriend, Julie, through the curtains of my face. Couple a four inch beard with long hair and I look like the thing from Adamm's Family. I don't mind. It was good thought experiment.

What did I learn with a beard? 

No one cares what you look like. They are much more interested in themselves. Sure, I've shocked my friends and family with it and that's fun. After awhile though, they accept it and move on. It is what it is. I've been to virtual conferences and business meetings with this grotesque beard. Guess what? These business strangers I meet accept me as I am today. No one else. They have no history. They have no foresight. They have the present moment and this is who this Eric Maus character is, so be it. They accept it and move on. Whether they want to do business with me is another thing. Though that would owe to my value add rather than the length of my beard. 

At times, the beard stands out. I've enjoyed that. People's comments on its size and length is fun, no doubt. I look like a whaler in the 1850's. I'll miss it for sure, but at the same time, I won't.

What I'm looking forward to post-beard? Quite simply, clean cheeks, clean kisses, and cleaner appearance. I don't recognize myself right now, which is trippy and the exact mental space I wish to be in. With the Covid-fear real and out there, it was nice donning this natural mask not only to showcase the timeline of this time in my history, but also, to try something new. I've set out on this journey when the pandemic to be the writer I wasn't prior to the quarantine. 

Did I do my job? Yes. I made 10 short videos, wrote a number of blog posts, rewrote two feature-length screenplays, got a better understanding of internet marketing, and set my sights on expanding my writing practice. Sure, it didn't all happen over night and there was a lot of time spent staring a blank page and also, a lot of worrying if anything would happen with the stuff I'm making. 

Now I realize, that yes, what I've done is a form of success. Did it give me the likes and followers I was aiming for? Somewhat. I expanded my social media influence. However, on a grander scale, it gave me a foundation to build from. I believe this Ruff and Tug short series will pay me real money some day. I believe these blog posts are not just cathartic, but someone will read them some day and know me a little better and maybe they'll feel better about trying out something new. It's my job to get paid to write the stuff I love. With the quarantine and everything that's happened since, I'm getting closer and closer to my goals every time I sit down to write and share my experience. Right now, it's not perfect, but I have time to grow. To look ugly, to make mistakes, and to build up the Eric Maus character that so many of my friends admire, but who online strangers don't know very well. If you didn't know, I'm a pretty great guy. 

The beard represents an opportunity to explore sides of myself I never experienced before and look like a person I'd never thought I'd be. In spite of all the hair and all the time, one thing hasn't changed. This is my life and I can do whatever I wish with it. No matter what my external looks like, I am still the same man contending for the prize. That's important. Take me as I am. I say and let the world deal with the repercussions of my decisions.

Today, I clean my face and I'll feel the wind caressing my cheeks. It'll be a pure moment in the sun. That's what I look forward to the most.

Take me as I am.
​
--Eric Maus

Yesterday I mentioned the song my friends and I wrote together back in 2017 and how that was a profound moment. Above you can see it.

As I write this today, I'm listening to "Tea for the Tillerman" by Cat Stevens. I always listen to music when I write and this is one of those albums that easily feeds the air with inspiration and rhythm. I haven't listened to much else by Cat Stevens. However, the "Father and Son" song is one you probably know. I remember back in 2009 on the vinyl player I still have, (a sticker riddled briefcase that is actually a record player). At the time, I was prepping for a trip to Montana for the summer. I was going to be working and living out in Yellowstone. The first time I'd ever done anything like that in my life -- Travel without bounds by my parents. Of course, they disapproved and didn't understand it. In this song in particular, Cat breaks into two separate voices: the father and the son. I love the desperation in the son's voice and the wisdom in the father's. No one is ever right either. I was the son and I went my own way. I haven't been the same since.

Much in the same today, I am not the man I was yesterday or yesteryear. It so often compels me to think of the quote by Whitman, "Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself; (I am large. I contain multitudes)." Every day can be a contradiction and so often in my life it is. I'm noticing the patterns now.

Mainly to say, this music video is a relic much like Tea for the Tillerman is a relic. A memory of an idea. A thought born. Now it's regaining its day in the sun. Why? Because in this fossil, truth that I did not know at the time. I wrote part of this song and I shot the video. Since then, I now play guitar and sing. Everything I am now was here, but only a microcosm. I write videos, I shoot videos, and I make songs. Much like ten years prior, I was first setting out on my own.

Here I am, having spent a better part of the decade away from the place I was born. It's further than most get. It takes courage and dedication. There's many times I've wanted to give up and return to those safe shores of my youth and innocence. Much in the same, they've grown old and lost their luster. To say then, I'd rather be here in the muck mired by the freedom of movement than stuck in the ways of the past that kept me guarded. 

I've given up many great places people hold dear in their hearts-- in love, in family, in friendships, in homes. Often, I recall them. Yet, they only suited me then to make way for now.

Today, I enter into the vast unknown that is this writing career. I write in hopes that I'll be able to touch a chord with you through my creations and our shared experiences. I am armed with tools, knowledge, wisdom, and stories, but it is only I that can take the steps forward. Fear is all around me. But to refuse change means a certain death. Maybe not physical, but absolute in its defeat.

--Eric Maus

Today marks a new vision for my website. After some months of thought without action, I am giving my website a little makeover. In effect, giving myself a little makeover too.

You'll find now a couple new tricks I can do for your benefit.

First, voiceover recording. If you have a commercial or narration, you need a male voice for. Please reach out. I want to the voice of your business.

Second, screenplay consulting. Over many years, my friends come to me for critiques of their work. Whether its a cover letter, short story, or a full-length screenplay, I do my best to inspire ideas for making the piece better. Because of this skill and the success, I've had over the last few years. I offer my eye for detail to you. 

Third, I'm embracing YouTube as the simplest and most time effective tool for sharing my videos. It's just lovely how I have a button to quickly and easily link one of my videos into my website. I'm also excited for the prospect of sharing the work of others. I am a constant hound online for good content, especially in the arts and motivation. My goal this year is to get 50,000 views. 

Fourth, I've added google adsense since hey, hey why not include ads for laser hair removal alongside my face. So it goes. We live in a capitalist society. I want to have millions. If it starts by getting faceless sponsors, I accept it. Click on them as a way to encourage me to make more work. Or you know, just donate.

Fifth, the reason I'm doing the changes now is this. If I am to make it as a full-time writer, I must do what writers do. Write. A lot. Create. And share. Always share. The reason I share less is due to quality control. However, I've had a bit of a dry spell for new work except in collabs, and realized that fear I have of sharing is simple fear for the unknown. Change.

The reason for the photo as the header. I visited DUMBO yesterday as a glorious end to my girlfriend's birthday scavenger hunt, (which Joni (my roommate) and I orchestrated brilliantly). There we set off Chinese lanterns with our wishes on them. I included Moby Dick, a dog, and love. In effect, this was a moment of reflection and an embrace into the change we want to see in our lives.  And it was also there in DUMBO that several years ago I visited for the first time. Kayla, Paul, and I all sang a song together. Made up at Brooklyn Roasting Company just down the way.  Called Down Under the Manhattan Bridge. I shot it on my new Iphone6s. Paul plays ukelele and Kayla sang duet. It marked a change in my life. This same change is hitting me now. Not for a new place geographically, but a new place in society. I've lived in poverty for the better part of three years since moving here. It's incredible to me that it could be done. However, I get sick of walking dogs some times not because of the dogs, but because of the physical ailments. It's a bastard on the knees. Also, it's every day and it's always different. The dogs come in small, medium, and larges sizes. The physical toll can be exhausting.

My wake up call came after the bike accident. In those few milliseconds, suspended in air against my will. I felt the unknown and I lived the fear. What happens if I get hurt? Luckily, I only had a deep bruise in my chest that still keeps me awake at night, but nothing worse. For the longest time, dogwalking has been my insurance plan. It's time now for my words to hoist me up because my body needs a break.

You'll be hearing from me more often. I realize here that I have a lot of stories to tell. It seems every day, I am thrust into the throes of wisdom and I want to share it. I'm tired of keeping everything to myself.

​- Eric Maus