What does ‘Shakabuku’ mean?
There are a number of variations and translations of Shakubuku…to set on the right path, to bring to truth, to break and subdue, to lead to correct teaching…etc.
Shakabuku spelled with an ‘a’ is often used in popular culture and was made famous in the cult flick, Gross Point Blank defined as ‘a swift spiritual kick to the head that alters your reality forever’…I like the concept and think we should all get on it! Life is shorter than you realize so Shakabuku NOW 🙂
What does ShakabukuNow mean?
ShakabukuNow is my philosophy to remove suffering and bring happiness to all people by awakening them to their inherent greatness.
”To put it simply, ShakabukuNow is my philosophy of life. Be kind. Forgive fully. Give freely. Love deeply. Live a rich full life and Be grateful for every moment.” -t.l.Bragg
Questions About The Book?
Why didn’t your family know you were missing?
It seems that people are very quick to jump to conclusions and judge some of the best people I have ever known (i.e. my parents). I have an extraordinary family. My mother has a huge heart and a warm loving spirit. My father is a wonderful and kind forever-hippy. My older brother was only 21 at the time and finding his own independence in life and my younger brother was just a nine-year-old boy keeping my mother busy as she juggled a full-time job, parenting, and a failing marriage with my step-father.
My parents had amicably divorced 15-years prior and, living in different states, my time in captivity slipped by unnoticed with my mother believing I was still living in California and my father believing I’d returned home to Colorado.
I was a firey and rebellious teenager with a history of not keeping in touch in an age before cell phones…(sadly, I was unable to snapchat every single play-by-play moment of my life like kids do today 🙂 )
How did you heal?
Questions such as these never have a simple answer. Everyone will process the experiences of their life differently finding a way to integrate the many-colored threads of experience weaving throughout the fabric of our lives.
For me, the journey is long and continuous. To heal and find balance over the years, I’ve tried many variations of therapy, coaching, stimuli emersion and deprivation, mindfulness and meditation, physical training, discipline, family/friends/community, personal accountability and acceptance, forgiveness, and deep gratitude for the many gifts I have in my life.
Why did you finally write No Angels Here?
When hard things happen in our lives we rarely have an opportunity to know why they happened. In fact, I think it’s a completely useless question most of the time. It was 20-ish years after my captivity when it became clear to me why this was such a valuable part of my life experience and such an important story to share.
I don’t believe in a victim mentality and I don’t believe that every challenge you face needs to be shared.
I DO believe that if you can help someone realize that they are not alone, you should. I DO believe that if you can help someone heal in some small way and live a more fulfilled life experience, you should. I DO believe that if you can do good in the world, you should.
I wrote No Angels Here to demonstrate that fear and pain are only one part of our life experience and they don’t define us. We are never alone in the world and we are always stronger than we think we are.
We are not victims of our experiences unless we choose to be. We choose how we let our experiences shape us. We choose the person we want to be going forward. We are accountable for our perspective and choices. So each moment in life is an opportunity to better, and brighter, and kinder, more forgiving, more accepting, and more loving than the moment before. Not only to others…but to ourselves.
What happens in life is not always right, or fair, or just and sometimes it seems to make no sense at all…but you can spend your life broken or lost in trying to answer questions that can never truly be answered, or you can heal, forgive, acknowledge, and grow more grateful for this very breath and this very moment.
I wrote No Angels Here in the hopes that maybe one single person would read it and find a tiny spark of realization that there is a light beyond the darkness…no matter what your darkness is, how deep it goes, or how long it has washed over you…there is always light.
Right now, this very moment is a gift. You choose.