To the angels of mercy....

I'm not sure what exactly started this but I have had an overwhelming feeling that has set itself at the forefront of my mind today. It is a reminder to be grateful. A moment of self reflection and realization. We all know that much of who we are is made up of the people we are surrounded by. They play an integral part in helping us find a definition of ourselves so that when we are asked...."who are you?" or "what do you believe in?" we can give an answer and feel that sense of identity. As my mind started to wander today...as it frequently does...I started to contemplate who I was and what I wanted to do and all of those rather large questions of life that we spend so much time trying to figure out, (in reality i am finding that I am defined more by how I become something that what it is I become) I found myself paralyzed in a thought. I know that I want to be a force for good in this world. A force of change where necessary, a voice to a story that has not been told, to perhaps be a catalyst for growth in all I touch. A healer, a storyteller, and a leader. Some would dare say I aim to be a superhero. This is not a new discovery to me. It was the thought that followed after that has brought me to write this now. These desires or drives or whatever you want to call them came from somewhere. While I do believe in a certain predisposition from a previous to mortal state, I have to attribute much of who I am to those who have been the framework around me as I have grown. As we all have...I have grown throught life experience...been molded, shaped, beaten and battered...even broken at times. Anytime I have been growing, when i have been broken, when i have been truly alive there has always been a framework of amazing people around me. I would be a disgusting, pathetic creature if I did not take a moment to say with all my heart "Thank you." I cannot find words strong enough to convey my thanks to each of you who have been part of the Master's sculpting hand as he has continued to work on me. If nothing else I thank you for caring, supporting, and trusting me. I believe that there is much ahead for me to do (as there is for all of us) and I cannot take one more step forward toward expanding myself without pausing and seeing the foundation which brought me here and has made me who I am today. Thank you all for the gift of your life and your love.

God bless,

Ryan Bruckman