My main focus in sobriety has been to replace fear with faith or love.
What brings you closer to God is being in service to others. I think any religion or spiritual way of life will indicate that service to others will lead to a connection with a higher power.
I have been really enjoying making a project out of seeking out an extremely healthy diet of raw, organic, vegan foods - and I plan on continuing to do so.
The first thought that I had about really trying to get sober was, 'Man, I could do a lot of good in the world. I can lead by example and just be this heroic recovery guy.' And that's just a bad reason to get sober. You can't get sober for anybody's benefit, let alone the world at large. You really got to do it for yourself.
Being a vegan just helps me build up my self-esteem. I feel good about it every time I eat a meal.
Rather than wait to be discovered, discover yourself. Whatever it is that you intend to do later, start doing it now, get good at it, and show people what you've done. Actions speak louder than words.
I felt like it was inevitable that I was going to fail in life and die young. So I was frantically scrambling to document my stunts and pack my message into a bottle. I thought maybe I could be discovered after I'd died, like Van Gogh.
My first call is always to my dad. It's really rad. What had initially drove my dad and me apart - all my stunts and antics - has brought us together, closer than we've ever been. My dad's been a huge part of my team.
The psychiatric ward was a really creepy place and, hindsight being 20/20, the creepiest thing about it was that I truly belonged there.
Abuse yourself all you want - just leave animals out of it. Don't wear fur.
I don't go around lecturing people and telling them they shouldn't eat meat. I just don't think that's terribly effective. I just try to tell people how I have personally benefitted from the vegan lifestyle.
I'm definitely a ham for the paparazzi.
I have a rescue dog named Walter, and Walter and I are such fans of the 'Jersey Shore' that we changed his name to DJ Wally D.
Almost as soon as I went vegan, people started telling me that my skin looked great, and that I appeared younger, slimmer, and healthier. I'm convinced that of all the changes I've made to my lifestyle, it's the adoption of a vegan diet that has been best for me - physically, mentally, and certainly spiritually.
There's definitely some parallels between me and Joaquin Phoenix, I think. The line gets so blurry. My rap career wasn't a hoax, but it was absolutely intended to be a joke. The problem was that I really was on a quest to somehow be a Caucasian Ol' Dirty Bastard.
When I was fifteen years old, my dad won a video camera in a corporate golf tournament. I snatched it from his closet and began filming skateboard videos with my friends.
At this point, I've really failed at a lot of things. It's nice to be able to say that, in a way. I've failed at music. I've failed at dance. And acting - there have been times when I went out and read lines to audition for acting parts. I believe that if anybody wrangled together those audition tapes, it would be pretty hysterically funny.
I don't care if people think I'm boring.
I have a tough stomach, and I've put myself through a lot. But when I first found out what happens to animals on modern factory farms and in today's slaughterhouses, I wanted to throw up - I literally couldn't believe it.
When I was a kid, I loved a heavy metal band called Motley Crue. I was thirteen when they came to my city, and I called every hotel in the Yellow Pages asking for a room by the name of their manager in hopes of meeting the band. After two or three hours of calling hotels, I got through, and the manager's brother answered the phone.
