Rebirthday

Clearwater, FL Today’s the 2 year anniversary of my rebirth.  On January 5, 2011, Bank of America called the Chandler Police Department, falsely accusing me of a bomb threat and labeling me a terrorist.  Two months later I discovered the power I wield when I cost the bank billions on Black Monday.  Ever since I realized my potential, I held back…and it took a long journey within to discover why…

I held back because I understand on many levels the damage I’m capable of…

Fear of unleashing my power against the banks left me off-balance, so I’m devoting myself to the study and practice of Ashtanga yoga.  Now that I have a voice in the media, I have no more reason to fear wielding my true power.  My rebirthday reminds me to find my center and nurture my power.  It’s something I feel every person should do, but even now I have a tinge of anxiety thinking about what’s going to happen to the world when I find my balance and begin pushing full force.  All I know for sure is I’m already in the history books, and I’m destined to continue reshaping this world.  I can’t atone for the effects of those changes.  Human history tells me there’s nothing my non-violent revolution can do to stop violence.  I still intend to wield the power of non-violence in today’s class war.  I can only be the change I hope to one day see…

I'm starting a new semester of law classes.  I begin my Mysore practice at White Orchid.  The buzz around Force-Placed Insurance is building.  It was listed by Insurance Journal as one of the biggest stories of 2012, and Law360 is calling it the regulation to watch in 2013.  My 2 years of working for free and watching the world around me drastically change are about to start paying off in actual money.  The most important part is I learned how to define myself as a whistleblower without letting it define me.

In 2012 I struck out with 2 comedy legends (Doug Stanhope and Roseanne Barr), met with regulators across the country, and lobbied for several pieces of legislation.  I consulted on class actions and hearings, helped with political campaigns geared toward enacting actual change in the system (neither candidate won), and told my story to an upcoming filmmaker while meeting one of my personal heroes; Lisa Epstein – The foreclosure nurse who helped me in my darkest hours. 

I moved across the country with a bank employee, hit rock bottom (this time without the nervous breakdown) while couch surfing in Miami, started school while sleeping on a floor in Clearwater, fell in love with a girl, got my heart broke by said girl, appeared in the New York Times and Huffington Post (where I’m now a frequent contributor), all the while working several dead end jobs in order to pay the ever piling bills.  I helped a friend through the death of his father, walked tens of thousands of miles, bought a bike which turned out to be just like riding a bike, and biked a thousand miles, once again became estranged from my mother, left my poor cat with my parents L, and sold pretty much everything I own…

That was last year though…

All I care about for 2013 is my schedule…my goals…my vision board…my bubble…my dream…my world…

I won’t have much free time over the next couple of months.  I’ll be working and going to school full time again.  Whatever time that’s left will be dedicated to sleeping, eating, meditating and yoga, in that order.  I also have foreclosure and LPI cases to read, and I’m facing a waterfall more in the very near future.  There’s a lot on my plate this year, but there’s a lot that’s going to come out of it.

My rage against the insurance and banking machines is coming to a boil.  Attorneys, journalists, activists, and well…yours truly...are anxiously awaiting regulations stemming from my work with Anonymous and Occupy.  I've come a long way, but the battle is far from over.

As my 2^nd rebirthday comes and goes, I remember how far I’ve come and how many people helped me and held me up through the hard times.  I can’t help but smile and bask in the warmth of gratitude for everyone who believed in me and gave me a chance when the majority of the world turned its back on me...

Namaste...

Brian Penny is a former business analyst at Bank of America turned whistleblower who spent the last 2 years helping regulators and attorneys uncover the largest bank and insurance fraud in history. He’s currently in the Tampa Bay area preparing to live in a van and training to be a yogi under Ally Ford.