whosaskin

As you may have guessed my name is Christian Askin.  I was born and raised in the desert of Tempe, Arizona, yet unlike the dry place space I grew up in, my mind has always been watered with life and color.  In many cases my life has mirrored the dichotomy between my inner self and outer world.  I am a party animal and book worm, a rebel and a government worker, a world traveler who never moved away from home, a business man and a spiritual seeker, a rapper and a poet, a lover with a broken heart, and I am Christian but I am not Christian.

However it is this ying and yang that has inspired much of my unusual thinking and creative perspective.  From a young age I refused to accept the status quo.  If there was a belief system I questioned it fervently, I argued unabashedly, and I was the devil’s favorite advocate.   At times I found myself in principles offices, handcuffs, and fat lips, but I hold strong and fast to what I believe, and I’m not afraid to say it.  My way of living has found me the greatest friends on Earth, and bitter foes whom I’ve left behind.  However that is the consequence of fully embracing you.

As I became older and grew more comfortable with myself, my beliefs, and my world my rough edges grew softer.  I found a sense of touch .  With the help of some influential teachers and authors I began to articulate myself with greater civility, poise, and empathy.  My innate ability to read others was no longer used to push buttons but to water desires.  I began to see the beauty in forging positive relationships with all others, and now it is my personal belief that everyone is a potential friend.

At 18 I actually became a devil; a Sun Devil.  I spent the next four years studying business at Arizona State University with a stretch of yoga, dash of dance, slice of poetry, and head full of philosophy thrown in.  In these four years I began to develop a sense of spirituality, something that seemed foreign and ridiculous to a younger me.  Being exposed to great minds and the nature of our reality has filled me with so much gratitude and joy it has often times brought me to tears.  Now, I am on a personal quest to discover the essence of things which I expect will be a lifelong journey.

I have been slowly scouring this Earth one country at a time since I was a young boy, and now I have achieved my goal of working abroad.  Currently I am an English teacher at a middle school in the South of France by day, and an avid artist and creator by night.

I have been given the miracle of life and the ability to consciously perceive it, a gift that took billions of years to come to fruition, and somehow here I am stroking keys and talking about myself.  This world is beautiful and wondrous and full of mystery, and I want to drink in every drop of its sweet nectar even if I have to squeeze it out.

If you find something of value here that would make me truly happy.  We all have our gifts to give in this world to give, and I am audacious enough to think perhaps my way with sounds and words is one of them.  So please, explore what’s written, sung, or at times shouted; enlighten me with wisdom of your own, and question every assumption.

Voila, welcome to a slice of my life, and as you explore Who’s Askin, just know, I’m Askin, the same thing.