Third Cycle — In the Mycelium — Grounded & Ascending

There are seasons in a life. Some are loud and outward. Some are quiet and subterranean. Both are necessary. I’ve come to recognize a rhythm in my life — a 21-year cycle.

The first 21 years were rooted in the San Fernando & Santa Clarita Valleys. I was often the youngest. I learned to read a room before entering it, to observe before speaking, to listen more than I talked. That cycle was about survival, identity, culture, & expansion beyond the pond I was born into.

At 21, I entered the United States Coast Guard & began another 21-year arc. Structure replaced chaos. Discipline replaced drift. I crossed oceans, learned leadership from the inside out, buried parts of myself, & reclaimed others. That cycle ended in 2019 when I retired at 42. A version of me was laid to rest.

The past seven years have been about healing, molting, & integration.

Education. Music. Artistry. Silence. Reconstruction.

Growth isn’t always visible. Solitude is where I refine. A snake sheds in cover. Mycelium strengthens underground long before anything breaks the surface. That is the season I’ve been in. If you’ve noticed my absence, if I’ve been quiet — it wasn’t drama. That was a personal boundary while I recalibrated.

Photography was never just about taking pictures. It was immersion. Community. Learning an ecosystem from within. I’m grateful to the venues, industry professionals, artists, & festival fam for the connection and opportunity to grow through music, media, culture, & art.

I’m still a photographer. My services remain available, just with clearer boundaries. I also have years of content in my archive that I’m releasing on my own timeline alongside the larger project in development.

I don’t move the same way anymore.

If I’m at a show or festival, I’m there as a guest & observer. I’ll support my people. I’ll be present. If an artist asks me to shoot & it aligns — that’s organic. That’s love. I’m not reaching out to be added to teams or media lists. That chapter became the foundation for Shaman Media Creations.

This third 21-year cycle runs until 2040. It is not about proving anything. It is not about visibility for its own sake. It is about construction and expansion.

Some know me as Rev. Some as Chief. Some as Weasel. Some as the photographer in the pit. Some as Mundo.

All are accurate. None are complete.

My Spirit resonates with the Feathered Serpent — grounded while ascending, shedding while expanding. The work I’m building now requires discipline, solitude, & focus. It requires boundaries. It requires saying no without explanation. It requires periods of being unseen. Isolation is not rejection. Silence is not absence. It is preparation. This isn’t a declaration. It’s an update.

I’m healthy. I’m aligned. I’m exactly where I need to be in the rhythm of my own cycle. If you see me at a show, say what’s up. If you don’t see a camera in my hand, don’t overthink it. If you do, know it’s because I chose to lift it.

Until then, I’ll be in my mycelium — shedding another layer of snake skin to unfold my feathers. -Mundo