Help Bryan Buckley Find Balance and Joy

“I know I’m fine but I’ll have my days

Asking for help might be the only thing that helps me on my way” – Eggy, Burritos El Chavo 2

My name is Bryan C. Buckley and I’m a thirty-six-year-old veteran (U.S. Army, Operation Iraqi Freedom ’08-’09 & Operation New Dawn ’10-’11) who lives alone with his two dogs in Houston, Texas. This has been my living arrangement for the last two and a half years and my first time living by myself, and to say that the transition has been difficult would be an understatement – within the first year I dealt with a separation and subsequent divorce which spurned it on the first place, followed in quick succession by being fired from a job for the first time in my life, the sudden and unexpected passing of my former mother-in-law and a brief but abusive relationship which left me financially, mentally and spiritually drained.

In this time, I have been to some very dark places mentally but one thing which has helped to put me into a positive state of mind has been my favorite band, Pigeons Playing Ping Pong. Since first seeing them October 30th, 2021 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, I’ve been lucky enough to see them thirty-three more times across twelve additional different states of our great country. Not only am I a fan of their music, but also their incredible fan community “The Flock” in which I’ve cultivated numerous deep and meaningful friendships which should last me through the rest of my life. In layman’s terms, think of this like the “Deadheads” who caught the Grateful Dead as often as they could while Jerry Garcia was still living.

Regrettably, this third year of living on my own has been particularly difficult for me and my finances and cash flow are in a particularly bad place for a myriad of reasons. I’ve stubbornly figured that nobody would be sympathetic to my plight (a limiting belief) and I just needed to work more but as it stands that would look like being at my job 7:30 AM-4:30 PM every day, driving Lyft/Uber every weeknight until 11:30 PM, then until bars close on Friday nights and all day Saturdays/Sundays save for bare minimum free time to feed myself, do personal hygiene, take my dogs out and feed them, and meal prep/do various chores around my place, but I don't see that as being sustainable with one of the reasons being burnout.

Your donation, however big or small, would not only help me to achieve a much more normal and beneficial work-life balance, but also the unique opportunity for my thirty-seventh time seeing Pigeons to occur on my thirty-seventh birthday (a date they haven’t played on in the last eight years) surrounded by some of my nearest and dearest Flock friends.

Thank you for taking the time to read this today. If you are unable to donate, I would ask that you share this however you can as even just increasing visibility would be a help to me!