Rising Stars: Meet Opie Macleod of Burbank

Today we’d like to introduce you to Opie Macleod.

Hi Opie, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Beginnings are tricky things. Each start has something that proceeds it. I suppose the easiest answer is that I got my start watching the Star Wars trilogy on the big screen; the re-release in 1997 to be specific. From there a causal discussion between friends turn into a full on search and return to a childhood dream. The pursuit of becoming a Jedi Knight.

That journey takes many turns. Sojourns across the United States. Diving into philosophy in college. Seeking a career in law enforcement. Romance, marriage, lost love, wrong turns, living the idea that Nirvana and Suffering are of the same source and person cannot experience one without knowing the other. All experience is worthwhile the old wisdom says. Somewhere in that messy life experience I made a decision to share the journey and offer what insights I could.

This started as an online endeavor and eventually a request was made for the lessons and lectures to be made offline. So I went around looking for ways to make that happen and settled on the most obvious, self-publishing. What started as a copy-paste book of website and forum lessons grew into something a bit more.

Now there are several books with different flavors and formats out there. The Bathroom Survival Guide for those that left their phone in the other room. A true need to survive the boredom of being stuck on the toilet. There is 365 Jedi, a book of Jedi quotes from Star Wars to offer daily reflection. The Situational Jedi, how do we handle the tough situations in life like the Jedi? What lessons can we take away and what are my own experiences. The Essential Zo. An exploration of an newer (1890-ish) religion looking at what is called the Cycle of Illumination.

A life of exploration and wanting to just have the full experience of life. And somewhere along the lines the idea to share that journey with others. That is the beginning and how I got to be a self-published author with several books to my name.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I don’t think there has ever been a smooth road to chasing dreams. Whether just small hiccups along the way, such as getting a cover to fit properly on Amazon’s designer or noticing huge mistake right at the finish line and needing to go back. Life has a way of testing our resolve as well. Decisions both big and small having a reverberating effect as we seek to obtain our goals. Am I sharing the journey with the right people? Do I keep my current job? At what point do I transition? There are no easy answers and sometimes the choices made in confidence you later find were mistaken. Divorce, career changes, location moves, there have been plenty of challenges along the way. But that is one of the old lessons, sometimes the obstacle is the way. It is by going through it that we find the thing we are searching for. This doesn’t justify the struggle or mean hardship should be praised, merely that when we find ourselves faced with these challenges we have to remember why we are trying to get on the other side of them. Retaining our goal in our mind, reaching the other side, we might find we did gain something of value by the end. Even if it merely a lesson on what not to do in the future.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a Stabling Manager at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center. The job that pays the bills. It is active, varied, and fits with my own philosophy. One day might have me fixing a roof, another creating stall cards, another sitting in an office meeting. Or all of it in one day. I get to stay physically active and mentally engaged throughout the day, walking the 75 acre facility ensuring things are going okay and addressing the many things that might not be. All while having the time to continue my own practices, training, and writing along the way.

The next books are already in the oven. But divided attention will always slow the process. Juggling work, personal, and the dream is a taxing endeavor for the best of us. And for the rest of us, all we can do is chip away one piece at a time. I don’t think there is anything that sets me apart in this balancing act. We all contend with it, each day we can do a little better or a little worse. But as along as we keep inching forward we will get to our goal.

I think the thing I am most proud of is being able to look at the products I have made, that are available, and know those were made under that same pressure. That the book I am most proud of was made while I was working a similar job and the (tedious) routine of trying to find love at the same time. It is a reminder that even when it seems like no progress is being made, when you look back it was the small steps that really got the project done. There is pride in that, in not just surrendering to the whims of society and reaching for something more.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
What was I like growing up? Who can remember these things? I suppose I was not entirely different than I am now. Wiser, slower, more scarred up these days but still the curious, big feels, dreamer, searching for that happily ever after. I was all about experiencing things. I use to ditch school to go to Barnes and Noble and read various books. Philosophy, martial arts, new age, history, and of course the occasional comics. I’d go to CompUSA and explore computers, software, and games. I hung out with taggers and drug dealers, rich kids, gamers and nerds. I played in the streets, in the wash, in the hills, and on the computer (or the original NES when I was younger). I hid in my room reading, listening to music, drawing, dreaming of other worlds. Out on the streets, riding the bike, hiking the hills, getting dirty.

As a kid and as an adult an explorer of many things and a master of none. No favorites, food, color, music, movies, books. Just the experience of them. Judgment not on whether they are good or bad, but on what they made me feel. Is it an experience I want to go through again, something I want to feel again? No? Lesson learned. Yes? Lets explore some more. Of course the answers were rarely that clean cut. A few mistakes had to be made more than once. Bruises turning into scars just to be sure. And then dusting off and trying something new.

Pricing:

• ABC’s of Jediism $10.00USD
• The Essential Zo $10.99 USD
• The Situational Jedi $12.99USD
• 365 Jedi $13.99USD
• Bathroom Survival Guide $9.99USD

Contact Info:

• Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Opie-Macleod/author/B00B9HG7MS?ccs_id=71325a79-d21d-48cb-98c7-c2d23ca1ffcf