It’s no secret that the mainstream media is a cesspool for negative and horrific news. You can’t have the news on for more than 10 minutes without being bombarded with the latest scandals and horrific crimes that (may or may not) have occurred. Perhaps there is a heart-warming story sprinkled in here and there, but once that 60 second segment is over, it’s back to the doomsday-esk stories that are happening in our communities and around the world, making many convinced that the apocalypse is among us and drawing near.

Rarely are we shown empowering stories, but why is this?

In this video, I discuss the success of fear-based news, how it relies on our need to know what potential danger is surrounding us, how it’s warping our perception of the world around us, and what we can do shift this and take our power back.

Learn more by clicking HERE!

Designed by prominent architect Henry Richardson, and built in 1880, this building was originally known as the Buffalo Asylum for the Insane. This historic building was the inspiration for a horror-esk video game known as Outlast. In 1986, the building was named a national historic landmark, which is the highest distinction that can be given to a property. Only 2,500 exist in the U.S., this building being just 1 of 8 in Buffalo, NY.

Careful attention was given to every detail of the buildings design, to promote a healthy and therapeutic environment, known as the Kirkbride design. At one point it’s occupancy exceeded by the thousands, until 1974 when patients were transferred to the new Buffalo Psychiatric Center, and the building slowly became abandoned.

It wasn’t until 2017 that it became known as Hotel Henry. About a third of the building is being used and modernized as a hotel. The walls are filled with art from local buffalonians, and you can experience fine dining at their farm to table restaurant 100 acres. This space can also be used for conferences or weddings.

3 friends and I decided to stay overnight and do some paranormal investigating for ourselves. We were open minded but skeptical that we’d find anything. But I truthfully haven’t felt, or seen anything like I did when I stayed overnight there. The current owners of the building want nothing to do with the, at times, graphic history of the Buffalo Asylum for the Insane, or any allegations that the building could be haunted.

If you want to go on a spooky, ghost hunting ride with me, see what we found by clicking HERE!

If you’ve been feeling lost, full of self doubt, wondering if you’re on the right path, feeling like you’ve been left behind, or feeling like you don’t know what directions to go in…you may be experiencing a quarter life crisis.

Many of us were programmed with the idea that we are going to reach a point in our life where we’ve “made it,” we can say we’ve checked off all the goals on our list and live happily ever after. I think people going through a ‘quarter life crisis’ are realizing that isn’t the case. And this can be an extremely uncomfortable and isolating feeling at first, especially if you look around and it seems like all of your peers have it all together. It’s so easy and so common to look at another person and think, “Wow, they have it all together, what’s wrong with me?” Yet we are all constantly growing and failing and learning and evolving at our own pace. The truth is we are always growing, always figuring out what our next best step could be.

In today’s video, I talk about five ways to help you handle your quarter life crisis. As someone who went through the thick of it between 22 and 23, and still experiences some symptoms today, I’m very familiar with all of these feelings and I’ve learned to navigate through them well. Overall, I have found a place of peace and contentment with where I’m at while appreciating the journey.

Want to know what my tips are? Just click HERE!

It was October of 2018, Halloween was approaching, and I was curious to learn more about the paranormal – especially since I was about to embark on an investigation of my own at the ex-insane asylum, now turned luxury hotel known as Hotel Henry.

Who better to talk to than Daniel Klaes, Owner of The Hinsdale House Restoration Project, and CEO of the Greater WNY Paranormal Society.

Daniel has had a lifelong interest in the paranormal field since he was a child. He was raised in a haunted house, which he talks more about in our conversation. In 2012, he co-founded the Greater Western New York Paranormal Society which has been responsible for tackling some of the most challenging paranormal cases in the New York region.

In June of 2015, Daniel realized his lifelong dream. The infamous “Hinsdale House”, a homesite of  mysterious paranormal insect infestation activity and historical structural exorcisms, which has been featured in different books and featured on national network television series, became available for purchase. Wasting no time, he made an offer that was accepted and he became it’s proud owner.

The 1853 “Hinsdale House” is currently staged in its 1970’s period dressing in order to maintain its integrity from that era when the haunting’s began. The home is currently used as a paranormal research location.

In this interview, I learned more about the paranormal, different ways to connect, and some of Daniel’s most memorable investigation stories. Watch it HERE!

There’s something about Toronto. Overall I like cities, but some of them (like NYC) can be too overwhelming and draining for me. For as big of a city as the Six is, I don’t ever get that feeling. I love walking all around the streets exploring and seeing all it has in store. It’s only 2.5 hours away from my homebase, Buffalo NY, so I try to go there as often as I can to get my travel fix since there’s always something new to try there. I usually stay in a hostel in Cabbagetown, and there’s bike renting stations everywhere to help get around the city.

On this trip in particular, I went to my first huge pride parade outside of Buffalo. And Toronto does not take Pride month lightly. Their parade is massive, passionate and full of energy. I was just returning from my two week stay in Kauai, so the contrast between the calm island and the energetic city was stark and a bit shocking at first. It was ultimately a good grounding period before heading back to Buffalo.

If you want to watch my first time experiencing Toronto pride, click here!

Ah, Kauai, Hawaii. This island truly stole a piece of my heart. This was my first solo-travel experience. I had traveled alone before, but I always at least met up with someone I knew once I arrived. Not this time! I stayed in a quaint hostel that was right off the beach, and instantly connected with people from all over the world who were doing the same thing as me. I made friends with people who were coming from Israel, Australia, Canada, Germany, and all over the States. So although I went alone, if I wanted to go hiking or go to a beach with company, I always had the option to do so.

The beauty of this island is almost indescribable. It truly feels like heaven on earth. I’ve heard of people having epiphanies and spiritual experiences while visiting the islands of Hawai’i, even if they previously did not consider themselves spiritual. Kauai, specifically, is considered the most ancient island of them all. I could feel the deep wisdom that surrounded me and felt in awe daily. There wasn’t much of a night life, much of the island is asleep by 11PM, and the best way to get around is with a car rental since there were only a handful of Uber drivers on the entire island. Going here is the absolute best way to unplug and reinvigorate.

Between the powerful energy of Kauai, and traveling there alone, I left this trip feeling connected to myself on an entirely new level than ever before. In just two weeks I discovered so much about the truth of who I am, and I feel confident now that I can manifest anything I want (like we all can). I felt so incredibly blessed to have been able to experience this at 23, and will take the connections made and lessons learned on this island with me for a lifetime. Many people asked how I was able to afford such a trip, but it ultimately came down to travel hacking, which I will be making a video about soon.

Want to experience Kauai with me? Sit back, relax, and be swept away to this beautiful island HERE.

Last Summer, I took a month long journey traveling to three locations: Seattle, Washington, the island of Kauai, Hawaii and lastly to Toronto, Ontario. My friend kindly let me stay with her while in Seattle and showed me around as much as she could in just 5 days. One of my favorite parts about traveling and exploring new areas is how each place has it’s own unique, distinct “vibe” to it.

Seattle was beautiful, with plenty of options for hiking and nature walks not far from the cityscape. I feel like I got the best of both worlds while visiting this lovely area. I went to an underground punk show downtown, saw the infamous ‘gum wall’, went to the Museum of Pop Culture, and explored Seattle’s forests and beaches on numerous hikes.

Want to come on my Seattle adventure with me? Just click here!

On August 4th, 2018 – The Alix Rice Peace Park was officially opened to the public in honor of a beautiful life cut too short. This was a small victory for Tammy Schueler, who lost her daughter Alix to a drunk driver back in 2011. James Corasanti was involved in the accident that killed 18-year-old Alexandria “Alix” Rice. Corasanti, who is a doctor in Western New York, was driving his BMW late at night on Heim Road in Getzville when he struck her.

According to NYSDWI.com, Alix was skateboarding on her way home from her night job at a pizzeria. Skateboarding was something she was extremely passionate about, and her presence meant so much to the community around her. Corasanti was sent to jail for the DWI conviction but he was found not guilty for some of the other more serious charges, including manslaughter. He was sentenced to one year imprisonment, but was released from custody after eight months, serving two-thirds of his sentence. After his release, he resumed his medical practice in WNY.

To see more of the Alix Rice Peace Park, watch Curious Rabbit Media’s coverage of the grand opening HERE

You can watch the video version of this article HERE

Illegal immigration has been the biggest issue Trump promises to tackle during his presidency, and it was his vehement commitment to building a wall along the border that gained him so many supporters during his campaign. It seems like a simple solution to a problem that has been central to so many on the right, and the President has not backed down from his promise to build The Wall. Trump has already signed two executive orders directing the construction to begin along the U.S-Mexico border. There is a plethora of information floating around the Internet about the still contentious Wall, and I’m here to help answer your questions about the future of our southern border.

Why?

The reasons vary about why we need a wall, from protecting internal wealth, to keeping out criminals and terrorists, to reducing drug imports. There is a general feeling, mostly from the Right, that the current immigration laws simply aren’t strict enough. Many believe the border isn’t nearly as secure as it should be. But a lot of these reasons stem from a place of fear. The fear that our jobs are being taken, the fear that we’re letting in too many criminals, the fear that those coming over are unmotivated and will be a burden to U.S citizens. It’s a fear that has been repeated throughout history, dating back to 1882 when Chester A. Arthur signed the Chinese Exclusion Act. This was the first real immigration law enacted nationally in America, in hopes to protect the jobs that Chinese laborers were willing to do for less. Trump honed in on this fear and made it the main piece of his platform, convincing his audience that a wall separating the two countries could solve many of our problems. But the fact is, unauthorized U.S immigrants account for only 3.5% of the nation’s population, and only 23% of the population view a Wall as vitally important to U.S immigration policy. Despite this, it seems that Trump is planning on keeping his promise to build, so the next question is…

How?

In order to complete this wall, it will have to cover nearly 2,000 miles of land from California, Arizona, New Mexico, to Texas. That’s a lot of land to be covered, much of which is private property. Eminent domain would have to be used to buy this land and force the land owners off of their property, which is typically something Republicans have been against. There is currently fencing covering roughly 40% of the border due to President W. Bush signing the Secure Fence Act back in ’06. Trump has cited the Secure Fence Act as the legal grounds to build a wall. The estimates of how much this wall will cost vary greatly, from $8 billion according Trump, to a whopping $40 billion according to a study published by MIT technology review. $15 billion alone would need to go to labor costs. And speaking of labor, you may be wondering who is going to build this wall, considering finding enough legal, properly documented workers is going to prove difficult to do. About half of Texas’ construction workers are undocumented, and 14% nationwide lack proper authorization. Roughly two thirds of construction firms are having difficulty finding legal workers because of this. It’s become a profession that many younger people in America find unappealing and tend to avoid, leaving a huge deficit in construction laborers.

Who will foot the bill?

President Trump has repeatedly said that Mexico will be paying for this wall, and he is confident despite President Peña Nieto consistently denying this. Republicans are not clear as to how this will happen, but Paul Ryan is sure that if the U.S fronts the money for the Wall, “there are a lot of different ways of getting Mexico to pay for it.” One example of this would be to put a 20% tax on Mexican imports, which gives the U.S the upper-hand since 80% of Mexican exports come into America. This would potentially bring in 10 billion dollars a year and could be a bipartisan agreement to assure that the U.S taxpayer won’t be affected by the cost of the Great Wall. However, this tax would inevitably lead to a surge of prices, ultimately making the American consumer pay in a roundabout way.

How will this affect U.S-Mexico relations?

If the Wall ends up being completed, it’s important to have it guarded from both sides in order to be the most effective it can be. It has taken years to build a cooperative relationship between the two countries, but particularly since 9/11, Mexico has had a cooperative border relationship with America in efforts to stop drug cartels, although migration is still a sensitive topic. Regardless of how the current Mexican President responds to Trump, the upcoming nominees for the general election in Mexico are much less likely to cooperate with Trump in order to gain favor with their voters. A strain on this relationship may only take the U.S back further in it’s effort for a more secure border.

How will this affect the environment? 

Another factor to remember about potentially building a wall is it’s affect on the delicate ecosystem of the U.S-Mexico border. Man-made infrastructure of all kind effects these ecosystems, including the many roads that will be needed to be built for workers to access the areas. The caliber of the Wall, however, could destroy habitats, affect the way these animals migrate, and potentially cause extinction. Many species, including the North American Jaguar, bighorn sheep and black bears, depend on movement between the u.s and mexico to maintain genetic diversity. Human barriers can also disrupt pollination and disturb watersheds and waterways, which can lead to flooding.

The consequences of human barriers is unpredictable, and building a wall still won’t guarantee security or safety for the American people. We need to ask if this is truly necessary for our country (which, as stated earlier, 23% agree it is not.) There are many other ways to improve immigration policy, many Americans care much more about people overstaying their visas or whether or not illegal immigrants are receiving government benefits than they do about building a wall. The potential $40 billion could be spent on our education system, on housing veterans, or perhaps on cleaning up the water in Flint, Michigan. We have to ask what our priorities are. Do we want to be represented by The Wall or The Statue of Liberty?

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After the rising tension between civilians and police officers across the United States, Buffalo is living up to its name as “the city of good neighbors” by hosting a memorial, not only to mourn and respect all of the lives that have been lost in recent events, but to truly bring people together and start authentic conversation about how to heal our nation. I had the pleasure of going down to Niagara Square to listen in and partake in these encouraging and inspiring conversations, and it was nothing short of moving. Regardless of race, profession, or political preference, everyone was there with the common ground of wanting to heal and grow beyond all of the violence that has gained so much recent attention. Many agreed that the way mainstream media has been reporting on these events only continues to divide us rather than bring us together.

Watch the interviews HERE