Lies Between Us - Roger Ray Bird

Elias Snyder is having a day. Maybe it's going to be a good day, maybe a not-so good day, but he's having a day! It is, of course, his day to live, and to love, and to bare himself honestly with the world. Eli shares his very new, and his very critical lessons on recovery, the non-negotiable dynamic of change, and finding the truth abottom of our dysfunction. 

Essential for Eli is being in nature and writing, awhile loving...

Anthony Signorelli, aka Tony, endured the poor mental health of his wife, until her death due to cancer. With two young daughters at home the challenge was beyond the ability to function. Tony shares his story of trying to support and help his wife during this horrific experience, while running a business and keeping the household together. 

Tony also share his experience of being adopted at birth, and his findings of the commonalit...

This topic here feels way too big to even address, dang, it’s huge. Earlier this week I planned a half-hearted attempt to do something about it, but then stopped. With the subject looming overhead, I tried to just move on with my daily activities, you know, staying busy and trying not to think about it. Alas I could not escape, I had no choice. 

A few days ago I started to do something about it, I began planning a public event in Ma...

How do we even begin to define depression? Well, from where I sit it appears to be an unsettled emotional state that crosses over into a physical ailment, brought on by a belief of being held down or pushed aside. 

Under mild conditions we are perhaps agitated, self-loathing, and unhopeful. Advancing then to moderate levels, a helplessness arrives, we seem to seek shelter in the negative, and even our once happy places are...

Without a functional mother that is. 

There is so much adhesive hardship in life, aka trauma. Within this vibrant episode, my dear gal pal Shequila and I discuss substance abuse, poor mental health, and more. Shequila knows the all-consuming grip of addiction too-too well, having witnessed her mother's struggle with abusing heroin and other substances for three decades. She shouldered the role of caregiver to her four younger s...

The complete CHAPTER TWO  audio recording, read by Roger.
CHAPTER ONE can be found in the previous pod episode #23.

Chapter Two excerpt:

(a poem) Mirror-Mirror Why Do You Hate Me So?

Yes I see, yes Mirror I see the glass is clear yes I see…

Yet Mirror, why always same-same the seeing?

 Storm clouds shower thy under-roof’s nest

Sans shelter, sans safety, sans calm

A rare outing, apart thy guardian’s wing

Some sunshi...

Over 100 friends packed the room, and in excess of 250 joined the FB livestream for the live event in Madison Wisconsin, Garver Feed Mill 11/15/23.  

Without discussion, we sit amidst an opioid and fentanyl epidemic. National suicide rates have reached true crisis levels. Alas, addiction and poor mental health casts their anguish upon us all. Eager to transcend the torment, chiefly we lack the comprehension of where or how to begin....

A read-aloud of chapter one from the new book. Partial text:

My scars represent my best lessons…my stumbles hurt me, while teach me. 

Growing into the learned weathering of up’s and downs, aka residing in the middle, this my greatest challenge awhile my greatest opportunity. I try, I really try, I try to remain honest that even when low, an up period is on its way coming to me, fricking always.

With or without placement of m...

Attempting to begin my life anew, I recognized the biggest challenge is overcoming the worst parts of myself. Beginning to claw my way up and out of that shitty hell, I found the need to silence the defeating voice in my head and go, just go.

Dissecting the value of friends in my life, I also share a reading from my new book Daddy Why Were You A Drug Addict: Winning the War Amid My Angel and Devil Within.

I shar...

Coach Sarah and I discuss the might of the written word…and what about the value of our stories shared anyway? Both regarding the writer awhile the reader, we consider the realities of publishing our life’s experiences…personal and professional.

How to do it…self-publish, hybrid publishing, or working with a formal publisher? What happens after writing for weeks or even years, you realize the need to either start over or ...

Stuck? Needing change? Wanting a new life. Well then, how?

Here I get real. Hyper-F'ing real and bare all. I hold back nothing.

Is it possible to get something else out of life...is it possible...is it really?

Could I try something different? Could I even f*cking try to try?

Look for my books on Amazon, my memoir LIES BETWEEN US, and the addict book:
Daddy, Why Were You A Drug Addict?: Winning the War Amid My Angel and Devil W...

Charles won conference three times as a wrestler in high school and went on to wrestle in college. He graduated with a management degree from University of Wisconsin and achieved success in corporate America before getting divorced and experiencing homelessness.

Charles, aka Pops, is an amazing thinker and speaker, explaining how he was always a planner in life but after being twice incarcerated and then living outdoors, he had to l...

This one goes deep and fast: addiction, recovery, overdose, and self-reinvention. 

TJ and I are both addicts and share some of our experiences. 

Comparing ourselves to ourselves, not others. Find our purpose, our personal truths, some blabber about striving, competing, and the balance between inner freedom and gaining acceptance to fuel our dirty ego. 

Keeping up with the Joneses, working towards our true potential versus getting snag...

I am engaged in a battle to make my own life. 

We all are. 

I attempt to live more like I desire, and less like I do not. 

We all do. 

Our frightening memories haunt us, we bleed quarts from past pains. The chain of yesterday is incarcerating, dragging the weight of days gone by with us wherever we go. 

Maybe we are teetering precariously, clinging to the thought of scary and doubtful tomorrows.

Perhaps engulfed, overwhelmed and part-tim...

Matt Halpern, an incredibly savvy and accomplished businessman at the well-versed age of 38, ridiculously focused and disciplined since four years old, and hyper-talented with almost every one of his varied pursuits. 

As legit rockstar drummer with his progressive metal mates in their band Periphery, Matt and I have a deep conversation about his intentional avoidance of drug and alcohol addiction, even while growing up in Baltimore,...

 Episode 15 features JT Frank, on loan from his podcast show “Consequence of Habit”. 

JT challenges us all with his statements, “Is there more to my existence than I’m living right now?” and that we are “Harming ourselves by making ourselves feel good in the short-term”. 

The conversation runs the full spectrum in this episode: 

Shame. Fear. Deception Manipulation. Struggle. Trauma. Pain. Regret. Addiction. Alcohol. Running away. Mili...

Living with truth and intention. Brian Ehrlich and I discuss a multitude of deep life topics during this recent chat on his SOULCRAFT podcast. 

We may miss the opportunity to stay balanced in the middle of our life's struggles, either in conflict against what we think is wrong, or running from what scares us.

We may strive to construct the perfect life, blissful. Other times we sit, defeated, wishing and pray...

This episode is dedicated to my buddy Tyler and my friend JP. Two amazing young men, with endless possibilities but currently struggling to find their way… My heart goes out to you guys and all the guys and girls like you…

It’s hard, it’s always going to be hard. But in between the hardship, there is goodness. 

It’s hard, it might even suck, and we might even feel  like it’s not worth it.

Many of us fear and fight the hard, we hide f...

The River of Life, Episode #12 with co-host Spencer Ploessl.

If you have never listened to our podcast before, I will give a brief overview: my varying co-hosts flip a coin that decides who asks the first question. We then go back and forth and anything goes, the deeper the better. And when I say “our podcast”, I mean it, this is not my show, this show is our show, this show is about all of us. 

In this episode #12 of the Lies Betwee...