Returning from the Drift Back to the Draft

It’s probably been about 14 years since I wrote my last blog entry. Some of you might remember the old blog I kept while living in Slovakia; it was an emotional, sometimes humorous, sometimes dark exploration of a recent college grad navigating the Great Recession living and volunteering in an unfamiliar world with unfamiliar words. It was a place to document and process the work I was doing, the mission I was called to, and the lessons in humility and grace I was learning along the way. Days working alongside impoverished and marginalized young men who opened their hearts to a complete outsider. Quiet nights of homesickness, despair and loneliness spent clinging to a radiator. Scattered thoughts written in the moonlight reflected off the Tatra mountains. The kind of moments that are challenging, but profoundly meaningful to the soul-- moments that only appear once you embrace the discomfort of otherness.

After my return to the States, life became something else entirely: careers of frustration, unstable relationships founded in superficiality, battles with depression, and the inevitable fog of internal growth at the expense of seemingly-constant loss. Somewhere along the way, I stopped writing. But recently, friends, followers, and curious strangers encouraged me to start again. So, after 14 years, I'm back at my desk at 5AM on a foggy morning, matcha in-hand, carefully measuring how much I want to divulge to the beats of hypnagogic pop (仮想夢プラザ - 永​遠​の​視​線 [Virtual Dream Plaza] -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suQeuWnJ668 - morning caffeine + existential introspection set the vibe). The last 14 years were also a reflection of another transit; whether or not you buy into astrology, Neptune has been moving through Pisces (fact). As a Pisces myself, reflecting back on that time all felt like living inside a slow, confusing and immersive dream-- like driving a car through fog. Neptune magnified everything: intuition, imagination, fear, longing, and yes, the chaos of excess. For me, this period included some of the heaviest years of my life — divorce, depression, and substance abuse. Between 2016 and 2021, I was drinking to cope with narcissistic abuse, regrets about leaving Europe, and the constant maceration of my ego in the face of relentless loss. It wasn’t until the passing of my paternal grandfather in 2021 that the weight of legacy settled around me, and I felt the quiet yet insistent call to reclaim my life.

That period also marked the beginning of sobriety, self-reclamation, and ultimately, the emergence of Dirt Farmer Industries. My work serves as an outlet for creativity, legacy, and intention — a bridge from the meaningless void I felt into the creative flow of meaning and purpose. Neptune in Pisces amplified both the lows and the highs, teaching me about surrender, introspection, and the subtle art of letting the universe shape me while I shape my craft.

As we move from one era into another, I feel a strangely bittersweet melancholy. It’s a period of “liminal hangover” — grieving an unconscious, analog past that was as perilous as it was profound, while trying to read the room on a digital future charged with innovation, bold action, and impulsivity — both exhilarating and terrifying. Moving from the reflective, immersive energy of Neptune in Pisces into the visionary, pioneering drive of Neptune in Aries, it feels more important than ever to nurture authentic creativity for its own sake and genuine human connections that keep us grounded. Neptune leaving Pisces is a farewell to a chapter of deep spiritual immersion — a call to carry its lessons forward into the next era of action, innovation, and conscious creation. This is where I’ll start writing again — documenting, reflecting, and crafting. Dirt Farmer Industries isn’t just a company, a brand, or a person; like anything in our shop, it’s a tool — an ever-evolving expression of creativity, curiosity, and the emergence of self. This blog is part of that expression: a space to explore, reflect, and make sense of both the work and the lives that shape it. I don’t expect everyone will enjoy what I write here, and that’s fine — most people don’t have the attention spans after TikTok. But if you’ve read this far, I hope you’ve found something that resonates — not just in following our journey, but in inspiring you to express yourself more fully in your own way. If nothing else, consider this a gentle reminder to make something messy and wonderful and authentically "you" today. And for the newbies to my writing style: don’t worry, I won’t always be this deep—or this astrologically inclined.

-- Sepp