REBEL WRITE UP RUFF DRAFT

[Master Blackhawke]

This is what I plan on posting with my character when I get signed up on our Level Up sight; I thought it best to post it here first to see how it reads.

 

NAME: Kerena Hyler    AGE: 46 (AND PROUD OF IT!)

HOMETOWN: Salem, OR, USA   DAY JOB: Billing/Pricing

ALTER EGO: The Traveler/Traveler K   CLASS: Adventurer

 

BACKSTORY:

A Star Wars/1970's Battlestar Galactica addict from the get-go, I could quote the movies line for line. I also drew elves, read sci-fi and fantasy, and devoured Tolkien. I was an active kid, always wanting to be the Jedi in the story. Obi Wan was my hero - still is.

 

After a very brief stint in college I ended up with an insurance company - not what I wanted, but it was a job and they were willing to pay for me to get a Master's Degree in claims adjusting. I actually liked my job for a while, but when a new boss came in and made things more hostile at work I found myself a very unhappy 20-something being held down by employers who valued a 'bulldog mentality' over kindness. I overcompensated by eating too much and going out to local brew pubs and I went from a svelte athletic size 8 to a 20+ size by comforting my unhappiness by grazing on salty foods. (I am a umami and salt taste craver. Hand over the cheese and nobody gets hurt!)

 

When my job got downsized and I was laid off I quickly got a position with an excellent local family-run company where I still am today. They encourage you and treat you like family here. I was still down, still depressed, but I started coming alive and remembering to smile and laugh again. Then a few years ago a customer came in to talk about his bill and I helped him. All he could remember was that it was a 'fat girl' when he came back in and someone else tried to help him. I went home that night and I bawled once I saw what I had done to myself. When my father died of 'complications due to obesity' I got a second kick in my tail feathers to do something for myself.

That started me on a path of eating better, hitting the gym and walking to work, encouraging my spiritual growth (I'm ordained as a Unitarian chaplain in a multi-faith international ministry), and exploring my longtime interest in ghosts (I love ghost hunting). I've learned rune casting, Reiki, energy medicine and more metaphysical stuff than I can begin to describe and I can't help but want to learn more. I've lost at least 60 pounds and I have another 50 to go - and I know that I can do it.

 

I have found a support group here with our Rebellion, one I wasn't getting from family who show love with comfort food and friends who had given up and weren't doing anything about their overweight/obese condition (aside from getting militant about it). Some family have started coming around once they have seen the changes I've made, and coworkers have stepped forward now too. Changes are being made here at work, one step at a time. A group of us are signed up to do a 5K walk for heart disease in August and whenever sweets are offered we say 'no thanks, I'm in training' and we stick to it.

 

Blessings to All - And May Your Adventures Be Many!

Traveler K

 

** That's a rough draft, anyway. **