Joel & Yerasimos Awakening the Creative Self

[Speaker 2] (0:00 - 0:07) You are now listening to the Here for the Truth podcast, hosted by Joel Rafiti and Yerasimos. [Speaker 1] (0:10 - 0:24) All right, everybody, welcome back to the Here for the Truth podcast. I'm Joel Rafiti, got my co-host Yerasimos with me. And today, it's just the two of us. We're dropping the solo episode here. So I guess, first of all, to check in, man, how you doing? [Speaker 2] (0:24 - 1:28) I'm doing pretty well, actually. I spent the morning doing some work outside with my fruit trees. Life's been pretty good overall, man. Obviously, a lot of traveling back and forth to the East Coast. I think anyone who's listening to the podcast or is connected to me knows that my father passed away about almost two months ago. So I was navigating that. And, you know, I actually did an interview yesterday on Unslaved with Michael and David talking about death and purpose and using one of Michael's articles as a foundation for dialogue, The Philosopher of Death. So that was a pretty stimulating conversation. And other than that, man, just living in this wild and crazy world and seeing, you know, what's the best way to use my energy and where I can stay grounded and focused and do the things that matter, that provide value in my life and obviously everything we got going on here. So that's a brief little update, man. [Speaker 3] (1:28 - 1:35) How about you? Where do you feel like that is? Where do you feel like your energy is best used? Like, what are you discovering in that regard? [Speaker 2] (1:36 - 4:06) Man, again, like, you know, we talk about human design often. And as a generator, you know, what lights me up, what excites me? I really, now that spring is here in Los Angeles, you know, we've had some pretty wild winters. And I don't mean that in the sense like, oh, we've had so much snow. So of course, those of you in winter climates, you know, you can make fun of me if you want. But, you know, it's been different. And so now springtime is coming. And I'm feeling just more of a call to like be on my devices less and, you know, be outside more and work with the land and plant more fruit trees and just hear nature, like hear birds chirping, hear the insects, like one of our neighbors, you know, has got like horses and other animals now starting to hear their noises in the background. So, I mean, I am feeling like a desire to be out in nature more, to be honest, and even move into more just physicality, you know, that when it's kind of ended, it kind of makes sense in this like, oh, we're hibernating during the winter. Now we're out. Let's move the body a little bit more. That's on that front. Other than that, man, I love connecting and being with people that share my values. You know, we had the Confluence event recently that some people might be aware of. Sophie and I led two workshops there, one on nervous system health, the other one on human design. And there's really something special about, you know, being in community with people and friends and and being tactile with one another and hugging one another and being in space with them. And, you know, online communities are super, super important, of course, especially in this global world we're in, where we can connect and we have technology and we connect with people and get deep with people all around the world, you know, like everything we have going on in Friends of the Truth. And the in-person stuff is super important, whether it's a more organized event or you're taking it upon yourself to go, hey, listen, like, I don't need to just be a homebody. Who's in my environment? You know, who's out there that I can align with, that I can connect with, that I can learn from where, like, you know, we can like the saying goes, iron sharpens iron. Like, what's your skill? What's my skill? How can we build something? How can we create something together? Or how can we just also just come together and laugh? Doesn't even have to be like something serious. Oh, my God, there's all these things happening in the world. And like, we got to figure out the world's going to end and we got to build these communities. And how about like come together and be silly and laugh and dance and put on some music? You know what I mean? Like, so those are the things that I'm feeling like drawn to right now. [Speaker 1] (4:07 - 7:36) Yeah, I hear you. Like not every interaction needs to be motivated by achievement and by utility and by, you know, ticking a box or kicking a goal or whatever it might be. And I feel like because of everything that we've experienced collectively and particularly within those who are freedom and truth minded, there's just this survival pattern, which seems so present and still working. And particularly now with an election year and the ramping up of the PsyOps and, you know, all the different stuff going on. It feels like people are kind of maybe their nervous systems are regressing back a little bit. So, you know, that experience in that period during this pandemic. So, I think that's super, super important. And one thing that I've noticed and felt myself, I don't know if there's an astrological connection, but I feel like we're moving into a transition of, you know, the things you mentioned, like spending more time in nature, you know, being more connected to the bigger picture, to the whole, to the interconnectedness of all things, you know, relationship with source, universe, God, whatever you want to call it, just a deeper trust in the path and in where we're going. And I think for so long we've been caught up just in the minutiae of doing the things, of getting organized in, you know, being very utilitarian in our approach to how we kind of exercise our energy and use our faculties. And I don't know if this applies to everyone else, but for me, like, it feels like a very, very ripe, fertile, creative period. I'm being called to reconnect to the creative side in a deeper way. Since last November, I've felt very inspired on a musical front. And I've been working on creating a new album, started as a single, and now we're up to 13 songs, which will be released, hopefully before Music and Sky, where I'm going to perform it there. But there's so much joy, so much love, so much fulfillment, so much satisfaction in creating, and in being artistic, and in reconnecting with that side of my world, and in doing something that literally my heart just sings for, as opposed to at the end of this, I'm going to be able to convert this into something of monetary value, or that's going to further me down the road of being able to tick the mundane boxes of life and meeting the needs of my immediate reality, which obviously needs to be done. But I think we can get too caught up and too wrapped up in that left hemisphere, logical, rational, ticking the boxes, focusing, precision side of things, that we can tend to lose the bigger picture and we can lose the connection to the whole, which I think is very important, particularly when we talk about like, why am I feeling discontented? Why am I feeling unfulfilled? Even in this hyper, extroverted, entrepreneurial creator economy where everything's go, go, go, do, do, do, convert, post, whatever it might be, sure, you can reach all the success in the world in that regard. But for those who I speak to, it's like, there's still this discontent which is present. And to me, that's because the right hemisphere of the brain, the creative, the imaginal, the natural, the one that wants to feel connected and see the bigger picture and see the whole, has not really been firing appropriately. So yeah, that's my thoughts. [Speaker 2] (7:37 - 8:58) Yeah, man, I totally get what you're saying. And for anyone listening here, it's like, do you have the time or can you create the time where you could even be more curious about what is this more creative, more right-brained act or behavior that you want to engage in? It doesn't have to be, I'm creating an album of new hip hop or I'm a painter. When was the last time you created an amazing meal? When's the last time you maybe wrote some words on a page? Maybe when you were younger, you wrote poetry. When was the last time you wrote poetry? Did you ever play an instrument growing up? And have you picked it up since then? It could be anything. There's such a creativity. There's so many forms of creativity out there. Even for me, being outside with nature and I went to the nursery earlier and I got a bunch of bags of compost and I'm putting it around the trees and knowing that I'm going to nurse these trees and grow these trees. I enjoy that. Just being with me, being with me away from things, away from the doing, a little bit more of the being. We talk about balance so much. What is balance? I know it's cliche to say, but it's super important to do these things for us and to spend that time and to slow down in a sense. Yeah. [Speaker 1] (8:58 - 9:44) And creation is a process that doesn't necessarily require anyone else. It doesn't require anyone else to receive it. It doesn't require anyone else to whatever. It can be just you and you and that can be a deeply meaningful creative act. I think what you're saying is when's the last time you properly did something slowly and intentionally and did it just for the sake of the act, just for the sake of the process. That can fall under any context, whether it's tending to the garden, whether it's making a beautiful meal, whether it's pouring out something really heartfelt, meaningful, and connected in terms of a piece of writing, a letter, a sub stack article, whatever it might be without that part coming in that's like, but what's at the end of this for me? [Speaker 2] (9:46 - 10:16) What's on the other side of this for me? Yeah. And even while you're doing this, to catch yourself, if you're like, oh, I should take a picture of myself doing this so I can post it to Instagram so everyone knows that I'm doing it. I mean, you can, sure. But again, if we're talking about this duality here, where it's on one side, you're doing things for the creative imaginative element of it. And the other side is more practical and more purposeful. That's just something that you want to do that feeds your spirit. [Speaker 1] (10:16 - 12:14) Yeah, for sure. And it's in doing this and in reconnecting with this side of ourselves, and with the creativity and nourishing that and nurturing that, which actually activates our intuition on a deeper level as well. We enter into deeper communion with the whole, with nature, with ourselves. We see the bigger picture. We see interconnected threads that weave in ways that make up a far larger image than when we're so narrowly focused on simply doing the left hemisphere, precise, rational, immediate thing in front of us. Not to say that's not important. It's very important. I've been speaking about this for a long time. I think people need to be rational, etc. But not at the expense of the right hemisphere, of the creative, of the imaginal. I've even, again, I don't know if there's a connection, but I've been feeling a call to reconnect with tarot and work with the tarot, which is an incredibly deep right brain activation activity. This is all about the imaginal world, all about the archetypal world, all about connecting the dots when you work with this imagery and with this form of divination. When we talk about discontent, and when we talk about where the dictated by the left hemisphere wanting to be in total control and wanting to create the world in its image at the exclusion of the sensitive, of the imaginal, of the intuitive. When we see the bureaucratization happening all around us, the compartmentalization. When we see people so absorbed in their devices, spending more time on their devices than they do not on their devices. When you consider the addition of phone, computer, TV, I guarantee most people are over 12 hours in that regard when it's all accumulated and when it's all added up. [Speaker 2] (12:15 - 13:23) Oh yeah, man. And it's actually something I was going to say before, as an exercise, really tune into yourself. When you're on those days where you're on your devices for seven, eight hours, what do you feel like? What's your thinking like? What's your body feel like? Do you feel connected to this inner knowing that just feels vaster and more connected? And then also, when you go out, and let's say you put your device out and you go for a hike or you go and you walk through a meadow or lay down and look up at the sky and get some sun, where you're just with yourself. You're not being faced with image after image and headline after headline and algorithm controlling things that come in front of you. What's the difference within you? What do you notice? And do you have that awareness? Because it's so different. It's so difficult to really even get in touch with your intuition if you're on devices 10, 12 hours a day, and your consciousness is being flooded with this. There's a natural element to it. [Speaker 1] (13:24 - 13:58) Yeah, totally. And obviously, there's ways to intentionally utilize that time on your devices. And obviously, there can be things that nurture and nourish the creative side when we interact with our devices, when we're intentional, when we're meaningful in how we interact, whether it's sharing something that we've created, putting ourselves out there in the world, expressing ourselves in a new way, recreating how we present in the online world, etc. But in terms of mindlessly, aimlessly scrolling without intention, then yes, that is an issue. [Speaker 2] (13:59 - 15:13) Yeah, but even if we're using technology intentionally, this whole conversation, obviously, we talk about balance and everything, but this conversation is about that. Yeah, sure, use technology intentionally, but also take a break from it. You know what I mean? Like, yes, I think ideally, we shouldn't. I shouldn't. I would recommend that you're not wasting time mindlessly on social media on technology. That's a whole nother issue. Yeah, of course, technology is incredible. I mean, it allows us to do what we do. But even if you're like, oh, yeah, go, go, go, work, work, work, post, post, post, like, this is driving my business. This is like, this is intentional. This is moving things forward. That's all amazing. But in balance, yeah, you know, where is the connection to the more right side, right brain activities, nature, etc. We're becoming more and more disconnected from the natural world. We've said this so many times in our previous podcasts and previous conversations. And every individual has to look in the mirror and has to be really honest with themselves and goes, how am I spending these 24 hours in a day? [Speaker 1] (15:14 - 16:42) Yeah, and not just look in the mirror, but like, go look at nature, you know, go talk to the sky, go talk to the wind, go talk to the tree, go for a walk and just speak out loud, you know, it's whatever echoes back. And very often, we're going to get a clearer reflection, a much clearer reflection from the natural world as to actually where we need to go and what's required of us and how we really feel. Then even in confiding in another person, or dumping on another person, you know, if we can go and enter into deep communion with just what's there, what's present with nature, like all this helps to activate that right side of the brain as well. And so something that, you know, I'm grateful I've kept with me, you know, whether it's talking to the ocean, whether it's going for a stroll on the beach, whether it's just like, you know, literally just at night, once my kids are asleep, once my family's asleep, going outside, looking at the stars, and just pondering and just being with what comes up and what I feel. Even if you feel cold, like listening to a song and just connecting to your emotions, letting out a few tears, you know, just bringing that into the picture and into the fray, as opposed to just the, you know, wake up, do it all again, you know, immerse myself in my work, in the technology, you know, desperate for the day to end. Watch that TV before you go to bed, then go straight to bed, and then wake up and the cycle continues. [Speaker 2] (16:43 - 17:29) Rinse and repeat. Yeah, you brought up something that has served me over the years, and that's the power of music. You know, again, you're connecting to art. And of course, there's music that I think can empower and inspire and connect you more deeply to who you are. And there's other music out there that I think many people would objectively say is shit. But, you know, listening to music for me has always been something that is able to connect me to more vulnerable parts of me. It's allowed me to slow down. It's allowed things to bubble up from the unconscious to be with. And again, to be with consciously, too. You know, what is your relationship to your emotional life? Like, what do you do? What do you do when tears come up? Do you, like, need to wipe them away real quick if you're with another person? Do you need to apologize the fact that you're, like, being vulnerable? [Speaker 1] (17:30 - 17:42) Do you laugh the moment that you feel or say you'll share something deep or something traumatic or something about, you know, how someone hurt you or upset you or how someone died, you know? [Speaker 2] (17:43 - 21:50) It's one of the biggest coping mechanisms that I've seen throughout my life and through the work I do is that a person redirects something uncomfortable into something socially acceptable, which is a laugh, a chuckle, a smile, you know? And again, we talk about self-awareness. We talk about self-knowledge. These are the things that we need to be aware of, you know? How are we coming across? You know, what are we saying? What parts of us are present when we're with ourselves, but when we're with other people and we're in dialogue with other people and we're in relationship with other people? But, you know, the intrapersonal relationship is, I mean, it's at the core, you know? How well do you know yourself? You know, it's such a big piece of our work that we talk about this universe within and we are so caught up with the external over and over and over again. Like, you mentioned the truth and freedom community earlier and, like, it made me think of, you know, people in that community that would mock, like, the more mainstream crowd with the next current thing or the current thing. It's like there's a fucking current thing within, you know, this so-called awake community, which you all know how I feel about the word term awake. And it's like you're giving your energy away to something that ultimately, like, your life, like, it doesn't really matter. Like, you're thinking about things in the grand scheme of things that don't really matter. You're putting your attention on things that don't really matter. You have to ask yourself, how does this impact my day? How does this impact the dreams that I want to accomplish? How does this impact my relationship to my wife, to my husband, to my kids? You know, am I really utilizing this time, again, back to what I was saying, the 24 hours in a day. You know, many of us are working. Many of us have all these responsibilities and maybe you have some leisure time. Like, how are you spending that leisure time getting sucked into the vortex of manufactured, very often manufactured drama that's going on all around the world so you can, what, feel like, oh, I'm in the know and the crowd and I know what's going on and I can post about it on Instagram. Meanwhile, like, the dishes are fucking dirty in your sink. You haven't washed your clothes, you know. You've been telling yourself, oh, you know, I'm going to start, you know, learning this instrument or I'm going to read this book. And then you haven't, you know. And again, I say this, I'm not saying this as someone who is like, oh, I'm so enlightened in all these areas. No, there's times where like, I tell myself there's things that I want to do and I'm not doing it because maybe I'm giving my time to something else or I'm spending more time on my phone. But it's like, collectively, we all know the impact technology has had on us. You know, these amazing tools. Unfortunately, we've seen enough, we've read enough articles and we've seen enough interviews that many people in these tech worlds, these tech executives understand how these social media apps hijack vulnerable elements of the human psyche, you know. And we see how it's playing out. You know, this constant need for that fix of dopamine, you know, to get approval, to get those likes, to be connected to something. What's the new thing? You know what I mean? And it's like, we have to have the self-esteem and the consciousness and the inner strength to go, hey, listen, these are fucking amazing tools, but how do I use them as opposed to being used by them? Yeah. So again, this goes back to the left, right brain thing. Like we are so engulfed in left brain activity. You know, this materialistic, this technocratic world, like you mentioned before, is so left brain. So what is the antidote? To go deeper into the technology, to get sucked into these holes of like, oh my God, this is a new thing that's happening in the Middle East. This is a new thing that's happening, you know, in Europe and in England. And this person was stabbed and that person was stabbed on the other side of the fucking world. And this bomb went off on the other side of the world, you know, like, how does that really serve you? And this isn't spiritual bypass and sticking your head in the sand and that sort of thing. You can be aware of the things that are happening, but then go, where's your energy? How much energy are you giving to it? How much are you focusing on it? What's your inner state like during this process? Do you feel yourself getting more dysregulated? Are your relationships suffering because of this stuff? [Speaker 1] (21:50 - 24:02) But this to me is like, always comes back to like, do you have your authentic paths to return to? Are you on the authentic path? Because for me, that's my solace. Sure, I might be able to go down a research thread or a rabbit hole, whatever I might be. But at the end of the day, I'm able to come back to the thing that I'm deeply interested in creating, which is this life, which is this path, which is this creative process. But for those that don't have that, and that are lacking purpose, and are lacking something meaningful that they can return to, to really pour their life force and pour their energy into in a way that serves them, in a way that fills their cup, then they're constantly looking for that external thing, which ultimately is only going to continue to deplete them. And for me, fulfillment is found when we're not doing what we're doing to try and prove something to anyone else. Like, being too absorbed in the crowd, and trying to share everything you think with other people, it actually makes you less human. It makes you less human. Being able to find contentment in doing a thing with yourself, being with yourself, having no one else hear your thoughts, having some things kept private, having some things kept sacred to your internal world, and your inner being. There's so much richness in that as well. Not everything needs to be a constant outpouring, and constantly shared in this constant process. It's like, if you think about this whole concept of death, of course, millions upon millions, millions of people die with huge amounts of regret when it comes to the end of the day, because they never tapped into that wellspring of authenticity, of that authentic part, of falling in love with the process of creating one's life, of knowing who they are, of knowing their gifts, of really cultivating a deep sense of purpose, and being able to cultivate that, and create, and even get recognition for your gifts, and for your wisdom, and for being who you naturally are. Well said, man. [Speaker 2] (24:03 - 25:17) I mean, I feel like this is something that we say so often on this podcast, and it's like, what do you want to do? What are you skilled at? What are you drawn to? What are you excited by? Are you going after that, or are you living out this path that's less than or half, because your mom wanted you to do something, your dad wanted you to do something, or you fell into something that maybe you were good at, and you just kept going with it, even though there's been that knock on the door, and it's like, there's this other path waiting for you. You've always wanted to maybe take off and do this, or you wanted to try that as a career. You wanted to start a business, or you wanted to take off and travel around the world, or whatever the case may be. What is that thing? You know, it's there. It's coming to you in your dreams. It's coming to you before you go to sleep at night. It's probably there right when you wake up, when you open your eyes in the morning, before you have to get on and get on with life, and do the thing that you're not really excited by, you're not really lit up by, that's not really serving you. I just don't know what, to me, that's the ultimate purpose. Find the thing that is who you are, and bring it into the world, however that looks. And it's not one thing. [Speaker 1] (25:18 - 26:24) Yes. No, no, I get it. And it's not one thing. I think we're being called to shatter all formulaic shit, shatter all formulas, shatter all cookie-cutter ways of approaching life and of approaching reality. There's an awesome quote by William Blake. He says, the artist wanders the crooked roads of imagination, not the straight roads of invention. And this is when life is beautiful, is when you can wander those crooked roads of imagination, when your life becomes you entering into a beautiful enchanted forest day in, day out, not knowing what lurks around the corner, not knowing what you're going to encounter, not knowing what you're going to witness, what beauty you're going to come into, as opposed to entering straight and narrow roads of invention, where we see everything has a clean edge. Everything is square, block, or rectangular. Everything is gray, brown, white, black, dull. We're seeing the same people day in, day out, walk into the same office day in, day out. We do the same thing day in, day out. [Speaker 2] (26:26 - 28:57) Yeah, I know, man. I'm going to be 44 in June. 20 plus years ago, I made a decision that I wasn't going to just walk the path that I think was laid out before me. And that was the first of many decisions of just, again, even before I knew human design, on some level, honoring that inner authority, honoring my personal intuition to go, listen, I want to make a left turn here. I want to go right turn here. I want to do this. I want to do that. Friends laughing at me, laughing at me because of the decisions that I made. My parents thinking I was fucking insane for some of the decisions that I made. But this is what happens when you walk the Siddhartha Road. On one level, you're like, I don't give a fuck what other people think because they're not me. They're not walking this path. They have their own path to walk. And they may think they know what's the right path for me to walk. Now, that isn't to say that every time you walk your path, it's just going to be perfect. You're not going to make mistakes. There might be other people out there, mentors, teachers, that may share things with you. But ultimately, you have to walk it. You have to make the decision. Your life up until this point, really, when you look at it, anyone listening to this right now, your life, to some degree, or to a very large degree, is an amalgamation of every single choice that you made up until this point. Sure, the family you're born in and raised in, the country you're born in, and whatever's going on on that level has an impact. But in reality, look at your life now. Personal choices that you've made, that you consented to, that you decided to, things that you decided to undertake, have led you to this moment, with your headphones in your ear or your eyes on the screen, listening to this podcast. Now, the question is, are you happy with where this journey has taken you, or content, at least, or fulfilled, at least? Or are you not? And if you're not, now what? Yeah. Now what? Feel that. You have to start with feeling. You have to start with accepting. You have to start with feeling the pain of your fucking reality, of the fact that, hey, I'm not living the life that I want to live. What does that feel like? Really, what does it feel like? Put down the phone, turn off the porn, stop eating the fucking excessive amounts of food, and feel the reality of your situation. And allow that truth to guide you to what's next. [Speaker 3] (28:58 - 28:58) Yeah. [Speaker 1] (28:58 - 30:00) I mean, this is the journey of individuation. This is when we turn against the status quo, when we turn against the cacophony of bullshit that has told us how to be and how to live our life for so long, and we finally decide to walk our own road. To walk not just the road that less traveled, but the path that's never been trotted, because no one can truly walk it except for you. And it's always waiting for you, and it's always calling you, right? The path appears when you decide to take that step. Eric Fromm here says, the vast majority of people in our culture are well-adjusted because they have given up the battle for independence sooner and more radically than the neurotic person. They have accepted the judgment of the majority so completely that they have been spared the sharp pain of conflict which the neurotic person goes through. While they are healthy from the standpoint of adjustment, they are more sick than the neurotic person from the standpoint of the realization of their aims as human beings. [Speaker 2] (30:01 - 30:43) And this brings up the concept of illegitimate suffering too. This neurotic, the way I think Eric Fromm is describing it, is someone who is grappling with reality. Feeling their pain. Feeling the pain, grappling with what's going on, with the choices they've made in life. And also that question like, what the fuck is all this? Who am I? Why am I here? What's going on? Whereas I would say the person who's the opposite is just like, la-da-la-da-la. It's like the people in the Truman Show. That just came to me for some reason in that movie. It's just like, what are they dealing with? What are they contemplating? They're just kind of going along to get along. This is the NPC. [Speaker 3] (30:44 - 30:45) Yeah. [Speaker 1] (30:45 - 31:02) Right? This is the person who is completely spiritually dead at this point. That spiritual principle has become completely inactive. Yeah. Walking corpses, walking shells. And then this, this is the left brain dominated world. [Speaker 2] (31:03 - 32:11) Yeah. And I want to highlight too, this also does not equate to like, someone in the truth and freedom community is automatically on the side of the person who's dealing with legitimate suffering. No, people probably fucking did not know what the hell's going on in the last four years, but they're on a certain path and they're doing the thing they're doing, they're creative life and they're feeding that. So it doesn't automatically mean like, oh, okay. Like the NPC in my mind is just someone who is completely unaware of the things going on in the world. So it's like, I've said this before. There are many people who are not on the same page as me of the last, with what happened since 2020 that I'd rather spend time with than some of these people that I see online and in social media. I think they know everything that's going on, the next PSYOP, the next conspiracy, you know, whether or not they're right or not. It's like how they're living their life, how they come across, how they communicate. I'm like, yeah, no, I'll pass on that. Yeah. So, but the legitimate suffering is the piece and this is it. Are you allowing yourself to feel reality within yourself? [Speaker 1] (32:12 - 37:00) And not, not just because, you know, you, you, you feeling reality and going through legitimate suffering is like a process that's completely negative, but because there's, there's, there's this deep beauty and deep, profound wisdom to be, to be gained by, by experiencing that, by, by meeting reality where it is, by refining and cultivating our sensitive attunement to what reality is speaking to us. And not just reality, what, what your body is saying to you, what your heart is saying to you, what the sky is saying to you, what the stars are saying to you. Like you're, you're constantly being, being guided and being informed as to where you've gone astray as, as to where you're fostering inauthenticity, you know, like I've, I've, I've kind of brought back the terror and I've restarted, you know, doing terror readings with, with individuals, which people can contact me for. But it's like, honestly, man, before I even go to these cards, when I answer these sessions and, you know, and communicate with these people and about what they're looking to address, it's like, they already know the answers, man. They, they, they already know the answers. You know, sure. Confirmation is beautiful. Confirmation is extremely, is extremely helpful and solidifying and fortifying. But like, before I turn to the cards and we have a conversation, like, they know what they want. They, they, they, they, they know what they've been avoiding. They, they know where they've kind of, you know, gone, gone, gone astray, so to speak. And it's like, this inner oracle is available to all of us. All the archetypes, all the stars, all the constellations, right? This is just indicative and reflective of a universe inside of you. And you know how beautiful that is? You know how profound that is? You know how much peace that brings you when you realize that you have this unlimited, well of perfect guidance available to you constantly. If only you would listen. If only you would develop proper attunement to it. If only you would give it the time and space to be heard and to, and to, and to communicate and to feel comfortable leading and having a voice and having a clear say in your life. Like, we've been sold a fucking lie. We've been sold a fucking lie. We've been dwelling in this pit of powerlessness where we feel as though everything needs to come with some, with some level of sacrifice. Where no matter what we do, every decision is going to come with like a cost that we can't bear. It's like, no, like, what if you can create a life? And what if you can make decisions that can lead you to a reality that is so much more magnificent and beautiful and profound and lights you up than you could ever possibly imagine? Like, why isn't that real? Why don't you think that's possible? Why can't you do amazing, creative, passionate work that fills and nourishes your cup and feeds your body and sustains your family, right? But I think very often also, we think we need so much more than we actually do. It's never enough. It's never enough. This scarcity wound just runs so deep. It's like a, it's like a, it's like a, an endless pit, an endless hole that can't be filled. We always need more. And even when we're perfectly fed and we're perfectly nourished, our families are supportive, when there's roofs over their heads and everyone's comfortable, it's still, what is that emptiness where it's like, I don't have a fuck, I don't have enough. Am I going to be okay next month? Did I get enough sales? Did I work long enough? Like, when are you going to chill? When are you going to start cultivating the value of your inner world, of the beauty that resides within, of the beauty that once you connect to it, may never leave you and isn't supposed to leave you. Ralph Waldo Emerson, though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not. It doesn't matter your experience. It's never really out there. To the artist, to the sage, they can be wherever. They can be anywhere in the world. They could be in a prison cell or they could be on top of a mountain in Switzerland. They could have that experience. [Speaker 2] (37:02 - 37:07) Yeah, man. Well said. I mean, I agree with that statement. [Speaker 1] (37:12 - 39:41) You're a miracle. You are a walking a miracle. What if you're having the pinnacle of the universal experience already? What if we're so generationally programmed to believe that something is constantly amiss, that something's constantly wrong, that there's just this underlying pain of imperfection, that somehow there's always this percentage of victim mentality that we carry with us, that I'm struggling, that I'm dependent. If it's not dependent on my government, then I'm dependent on my God. If I'm not dependent on my God, then I'm dependent on the aliens or the oversoul or the galactic whatever it might be. Yeah. Why can't you live that heavenly experience now? Why can't you have that paradisiacal experience now? Who's to say that you didn't choose to come here and experience the height of it all? You're not separate from nature. This is the problem. In our minds, we've adopted this philosophy that somehow we are separate from nature. We come from another place, that we're disconnected on a fundamental level. But no, just like Alan Watts said, in the same way that the apple tree produces apples, the apple tree apples, the earth humans, you are over this experience. You're not separate from it. Look at what we do to the world. Look what we do to each other. Look what we do to culture, to societies, to the environment. As a result of this separation that we feel can never be healed. I love what you're saying, man. Keep flowing. This is the process. As an individual, how do you reconnect to the source? This is what we're talking about. How do you reconnect to the All-Mother and to the All-Father and to know that you were always supported? You were always nourished. You were always looked after. Your cup is always full. If only you would realize it. If only you would drop the pretense that it's a constant fucking struggle. Life is difficult. I'm not saying life is not difficult, but there's beauty in it. What if the imperfection is part of the perfection? [Speaker 2] (39:42 - 40:03) Well, I was just going to say, the perfection is the imperfection in that regards. How well does a human being navigate between these opposites? If you don't experience the pain and the suffering and the struggles of life, how can you truly experience and feel the beauty and the joy and understand that? [Speaker 1] (40:05 - 41:20) William Blake, when the doors of perception are cleansed, everything appears to men as it is, infinite. Then to Syrian, in Disciples of Mysteria, breaking down this quote, he says, what William Blake means is that in order to see the infinite, we must ourselves be infinite. To see the truth, we must first be true. We must be selves if we are to know anything or anyone. And to arrive at selfhood, we must first be psychically sane or sanitized. We must be all too familiar with the deconstructive process and apophatic techniques. We must know how to see through illusion and discern falsity. We must have zero tolerance for the lie and will to overcome every obstacle standing in the way of self-knowledge. It's not about fixing the world out there. It's not about dispelling all the illusions out there. It's about dispelling the illusions within. It's about cleansing your perception within. It's about coming to clarity within, meeting the infinite within. You want to heal the world, go heal yourself as an individual in that way and on that level. [Speaker 2] (41:22 - 41:46) I mean, ultimately, that's the only thing that's sustainable, you know, is you can't ignore yourself and get lost in the crowd and get lost into, you know, the group thing. And it's like, start at home. Charity starts at home. Take care of yourself, your mind, your body, your spirit, you know. Yeah. And your community, you know. I'm going to solve all the world's problems. But you know what that is? [Speaker 1] (41:46 - 43:16) All that's saying to you is that you are dependent on stimuli and sensation from the external world to experience yourself, to experience liveliness, which is false. You have all that stimuli, all that sensation that can be found within. And when that's activated, you enter into such a deep, profound relationship with everything around you. Everything becomes beautiful. Wake up. And like Michael says, welcome the light. Welcome the light as a brother. When's the last time you welcomed the light as a brother? When's the last time you kissed the wind? And even beyond nature, you can do this with inanimate objects. You can ponder, you can ponder them. You can connect with them. You're in relationship with every single thing around you. You cannot exist otherwise. There is no self that's independent of the world. There is no self that's independent from your environment. They need each other. Nature wants to know itself through you just as you want to know yourself through nature, through objects, through the world around you. [Speaker 2] (43:19 - 43:42) Talking, you're just making me think of, I know Michael's always talked about, I think it's the existential trinity. I give up the wealth, you know, this interplay between the I, the you, knowing yourself, society, you know, world out there, nature. And what's that, what does that dance look like? You know, what does that relationship look like? Yep. You know? [Speaker 3] (43:43 - 43:43) Yep. [Speaker 2] (43:44 - 43:45) You're on fire today, bro. [Speaker 3] (43:47 - 43:49) Must be all the tarot that you're doing. [Speaker 1] (43:49 - 44:58) It's, I don't know, man. There's this, I just can't express enough how much more satisfaction, peace, contentment, and fulfillment can come when we appropriately nurture the imaginal world. You know, when we can spend appropriate time with ourselves, just contemplating, just pondering, you know, just engaging with the endless qualities and attributes and threads and interwovenness of all things. But I don't know, it's always been the case, like, whatever I'm experiencing as an individual, whatever I'm transitioning through, you know, like, to me, that's just a microscope of what's happening on a larger scale. And this is what I've always spoken into, like, even when I share timely, like, posts on social media, and like, thousands of people resonate and agree, I'm just tapping into the same thing that's happening, you know? It's like, even with astrology, you don't need to constantly be studying the stars. You don't need to constantly be looking at an astromath. If you're finely attuned enough, you know what's going on. You know what you're being called. You know what energies are present. But you gotta trust. [Speaker 2] (45:00 - 46:50) Yeah, that's the biggest thing there is, and I think that's the difference between how, why a person ends up maybe accomplishing certain things in their life, like, how much trust do they have in themselves, or are they choosing to give their power away to someone else, other system. Again, doesn't mean you can't learn from the external world and people out there, but ultimately, it comes back to you at home, you know? I mean, we love these systems, you know, whether it's numerology, whether it's human design, whether it's the source cards, whether it's tarot, you know, these things guide us. Like, everything I think that you and I talk about, everything that we focus on, even in Rise Above the Herd, and everything that we chat about, so much of it is, like, go back to yourself. You are the guru of your life. You don't need these other people telling you what to do. Receive inspiration, receive some knowledge, ultimately explore, investigate for yourself, tune in, understand your unique way of dancing with this world, dancing with the people in your life, and choosing what you know deep inside is right for you. Again, outside of a lot of the mental chatter that's out there, outside of this, the dysregulation that exists within you. And this is where you have to, first of all, have the self-knowledge, oh, shit, like, I'm getting overwhelmed, really overwhelmed emotionally. Why is that? What do I need to do? Okay, sure, yes, pick up a book, work with a practitioner, but you're there, you're bringing you there with you, but you have to have the awareness to go, hey, listen, things aren't what maybe I want them to be. Why is that? How many people have been asking themselves that question? They're sitting there going, you know what, it's my mom's fault, it's my dad's fault, it's my boss's fault, my best friend's fault. Whatever, shit fucking happens. Like you said earlier, it's not about not suffering, but now what? You're with yourself right now. What's going on? What's happening internally? [Speaker 1] (46:52 - 48:28) Do you know what's happening? Yeah, and you're constantly being informed of how to course correct. But the problem is that the more you ignore that information and that voice, in terms of the balance that's required to cultivate, the more lopsided you become and the harder it becomes then to recalibrate, to rebalance, and the more painful it's going to become to find that. Obviously, we live in this, everything has a dualistic nature, and your brain is the same thing. We've been talking about the left and right hemispheres of the brain today, but these ultimately are complementary forces. These are not opposing forces. These are complementary forces trying to get you to see a clearer picture, to have a clearer view of reality, which is only possible when our interest and our goal is balanced. So when we feel the pains of reality, when we feel the consequences of a decision, it's not an enemy, it's an instructor, it's an ally, it's guiding you. It's correcting your path. It's wind in your sails. Because we live in such a pain-adverse culture, any time that we're faced with the consequences, poor me, woe is me, why is life doing this to me? Why is this occurring to me? No. What is it teaching you? What is it instructing you? What is my sensei asking of me? [Speaker 2] (48:29 - 49:41) This is where language really comes into play and thought forms and how we speak to ourselves and what words we use. I know we had Dani Katz on the podcast. She talks a lot about this. And it's like, you feel pain or you're going through something difficult in your life. What does that mean? How are you speaking to yourself around it? Like you said, oh, this sucks. Oh, this pain is bad. But what if it was good? What if you're like, wow, this is amazing? And this brings us back to our talks very often on health. We're students and advocates of Germany medicine and Dr. Homer's system. We really understand when the body's going through a painful situation or symptomatic for the most part, our body's healing. What a different reframe. My body's healing. It's getting stronger. Not, oh, I'm sick. I'm sick. This is horrible. This is bad. I need to take things, something external to stop this thing, this pain, this sickness. As opposed to, can I trust? Can I trust the wisdom of nature, the wisdom of my body to do it? [Speaker 1] (49:42 - 50:13) And then this is the beautiful interconnection and the bridge between the left and right hemispheres. Because what your asthma is saying here is not to bypass the pain. And if something's really painful and you feel like shit, it's not to sit there and say, this is amazing. It's a matter of being able to focus on the minutia and realize that, yes, this hurts. Yes, in the momentary, this sucks. This is painful. And have the right brain hold bigger picture that, and this is happening for a reason. And this is serving to benefit the whole. [Speaker 2] (50:14 - 51:53) I remember it was almost 10 years ago. I went through a breakup. I had been off all substances. I had just been like, I'm going through it. It was super painful. I think most people that are listening go breakups are like a death. They can be some of the most painful things you experience. But I had this part of me that loved it. I had this part of me that was so grateful that I was experiencing this. And I was like, that this part of me that would talk to me and go, listen, you'll get through this. This is going to serve your evolution and you're going to be a better man. You know, and I'm fortunate that one of the, one of my favorite roomie quotes that I've talked about often, which is you have to keep breaking your heart. So it could open that was there. This is good. This is going to make you a better partner in the future. It's going to make you, make you more grounded, more accepting, but it fucking sucked. And I felt the suck. I didn't get away. I didn't try to fuck it away. I didn't try to, I just was with it. You know, you know, this is the thing. Like, can you hold both? Can you allow yourself to feel the pain of your reality, not get sucked into victim state and go, there's a purpose for this. There's a reason for this. This is certainly, that's the, it's not about flopping and being over-identified with one side. It's about sweating. It's about feeling the tension of these opposing complimentary forces within you. This yin and the yang that dance with one another that are a part of you that are part of the fabric of this fucking universe. Yeah. How do you navigate that? [Speaker 1] (51:54 - 51:56) Yeah. Yeah, man. [Speaker 2] (51:58 - 52:09) That's right. And this is the great work that people talk about, you know, it's not out there in the world. It's internal. It's within. [Speaker 1] (52:10 - 54:22) Yeah, like when a relationship shatters or when we're faced with a massive health crisis, you know, like, what is that saying about the overall picture? What is that saying about the whole thing? You know, like everyone in the tower, like, fears the tower card, right? And like a relationship ending, you know, a massive health crisis looming, like these can fall under, you know, someone pulling that card in a reading. It's like these are the rites of passage. This is you having avoided that inner voice and having not heeded the direction of one's unconscious to the point where there is a massive course correction that's required and where what's going to arise on the surface of your conscious reality is something which needs to get your attention. Right. And we as human beings, like we have a compass. There's a self-calibrating mechanism. Now, I do believe that people can go so far off the rails that they fucking shatter that completely. I do believe that. I think I've seen that in certain individuals. But I think for the vast, vast, vast majority, we can always reattune to that. And we can always give that, you know, nourishment, nurturance, and make it more prominent in our lives so that the big things don't have to come along and knock us across the head in order to teach us the lesson. We're able to be attuned enough to the little mishaps, to the struggles within a relationship before it becomes the ending and the shattering all to our health and to our bodies and to the rest of it. You know, there's a sensitivity that's present where we can course correct on the minutiae before it becomes the big slap across the head. [Speaker 2] (54:23 - 56:00) Just about being attuned to reality and what's there in the moment and accepting what's there within yourself, within a partnership, you know, within any relationship. And like you said, course correcting. But, you know, you have to know yourself. You have to connect to your intuitive faculties, you know. You all know I'm a student, a teacher of human design. Like, these are systems that can support you to know yourself on a deeper level that bring you back to you, this differentiated you amongst the sea of other people. Like, one of one. There's no one like you. There's no one that has been you. There's no one that will be you. That's it. What do you do with it? This miracle that is you, you know. And so, it's like, learn about your tendencies. Learn about the ideal ways for you to make decisions. Learn about how, you know, you're being impacted by conditioning in this world, by your environment, by the people, you know, in your life, you know. How is the mind being conditioned? You know, how are your emotions being conditioned? How are certain people's fears impacting you? How are you being influenced to think about things? And the grand scheme of things are bullshit, you know. Where in your life do you feel this insecurity where you have to be certain? And you have to tell everyone that you're certain. You have to convince everyone that you're certain. You know, where is the rigidity? Where can you create more space for nuance, for something else, for uncertainty? For not knowing, for the mystery. [Speaker 1] (56:01 - 56:25) And you can never be absolutely certain about what's going to unfold, you know. So, learning to proceed without absolute certainty is so fundamental to your evolution. Doesn't matter how experienced you are, how many thresholds you've crossed, how old you are. You know, if you're on, if you're truly on that authentic path, you're going to constantly be met with moments of uncertainty where you're going to be called to take a leap. [Speaker 3] (56:26 - 56:26) Yeah. [Speaker 2] (56:26 - 57:49) And this is the scarcity thing that we started with too. Like, you're never going to know everything. You're never going to have all the skills. You're never going to have every single foundation set for you to do the thing that you want to do, you know. I always bring this back to my life as someone who loved knowledge, who loved investigating, who loved learning. Like, for so long, I wanted to be a hoarder of knowledge. I'm not ready yet. I don't know everything. I'm not like the people I look up to, you know. I'm never going to know as much as the people that have educated me or taught me. So, because of that, I'm not going to really do the thing I want to do. And I went, one day I was like, fuck that. These people aren't me. They don't have what I have. They may have other things that I don't have. They don't have what I have. And I have plenty of knowledge. And there's plenty of people out there that I can support and inspire and help in that regards. And so, again, like, think about where you're keeping yourself back, where you're staying small, where you think like, oh, I don't know enough. You know, like, at some point, fuck it. Do the thing. Yeah. And then, course correct. Do the thing. Course correct. Do the thing. Course correct. Taking data from your environment. Shift. You have to start, you know. Fortune favors the bold. You got to begin. There you go. And begin. And continue. And continue. And tweak. And continue. [Speaker 1] (57:50 - 58:39) There's no other way. There's no other way. You can't learn otherwise. You can only learn through experience. And if you're not experiencing, you're not learning and you're not growing. So, like, every step ultimately is an imperfect step. You know, that's just simply the reality. So, you have to have that courage. You have to have that fortitude. You have to be willing to upset some people. And it's crazy. The more and more people I talk to, you know, the people that... People fear expressing themselves most because of the people closest to them. It's not the strangers. It's not the masses. It's not the larger crowd. It's, what if my sister sees this? What if my cousin sees this? What if my uncle is going to think about this, right? And that's... They're the chains. [Speaker 2] (58:40 - 58:56) They're your chains right there. Yeah. And sometimes it's not even, like, the closest person. It's, like, the person you went to, like, high school with that's on your Facebook feed that you know of each other. Like, oh, what are they going to say? It's like, you haven't fucking talked to them in 20 years. What the hell do you give a fuck what they think, you know? [Speaker 1] (58:57 - 59:16) Yeah, it's the people that, for one reason or another, you know, we've handed psychic bandwidth over to, you know, on some level, we've decided that, you know, their judgment and their perception is meaningful when, in reality, it's actually stifling. [Speaker 2] (59:17 - 59:50) If you love yourself, if you know yourself, if you're on this path doing the things you want to do, if you're a high self-esteem individual, like, ultimately, you're going to walk that path and you don't really care what other people think. Now, again, of course, you're mindful. There's discernment. You're not just walking along like an asshole, a bunch of people in the face, but you're just like, I don't care. Like, I'm doing what I'm doing. I'm creating what I'm creating. I'm building what I'm building. I'm expressing who I am. And there are people out there that are drawn to that. There are people out there that want to, you know, be associated, that want to learn, that want to connect, and the other people fall away. [Speaker 1] (59:51 - 1:00:02) And so, it's a muscle. You just have to go out there and exercise it, you know? Everyone's got to start somewhere and exercise that muscle, you know? Eventually, it doesn't even matter. Yeah. [Speaker 2] (1:00:05 - 1:00:06) I don't know how long we were going today. [Speaker 1] (1:00:06 - 1:01:21) We're just chatting. No, we're good. This feels like a nice place to end it. Thank you so much for listening. I hope you've gotten value out of this conversation. We appreciate it. As I mentioned throughout the podcast, I have opened one-on-one tarot readings. Again, these are like tarot readings plus intuitive counsel. You know, hang with me for 75 to 90 minutes. You know, receive clarity on blockages. If you want clarity on decisions, get clear on purpose. You know, when I do a tarot reading, it's just you're unconscious. Speaking to yourself. So, if that's something that calls to you, I guess we'll put a link in the brief or you can access it through the coaching office section on our website. Pretty sure Erasmus is going to be opening one-on-one HD readings shortly as well. So, keep an eye out for that as well. But yeah, guys, there's pathways available. There's help available, you know? You don't have to do it all alone. If you feel stuck, you know, guidance has helped me along my journey. And sometimes it's just what's necessary to push us forward. But yeah, I hope my message was clear and our message was clear throughout this episode. What can I say? [Speaker 2] (1:01:23 - 1:01:33) That's it. We appreciate you. Thanks for the support. Thanks for listening. Thanks for, you know, continuing to walk your path. And yeah, much love y'all.