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@seeking_brilliance Oh that's beautiful. I will look out for this.

@Alotofquestions Focus on health and strengthening your immune system. Whether it's Covid or a dangerous vaccine you are worried about, don't forget your own power.

@Danioover9000 I can see that being a necessary stepping stone for society. I'd like us to get to a point where self-defense no longer needs to be taught though. Perhaps that's naive but I believe it's possible. How? By solving violence at the root level. People do not just attack or bully other people. If that was the case, that some humans are just crazy animals you have to defend against, then maybe self-defense would be justified. But I don't believe that. I believe violence is the result of trauma and lower spiritual consciousness. If you heal that, then what do you need self-defense for? In Conversations With God, God talks about how violence does not exist in highly evolved societies. And that beings in this society would not defend themselves if they were truly attacked. They don't perceive death or damage as real. Of course, we could say we don't live in such a world. But perhaps the only reason we don't is because we believe we can't. We believe we must defend ourselves, so we create a self-fulfilling prophecy where that becomes true. It's a good question to ask though. I don't think there's any easy answers. Thanks for sharing your perspective.

@Strangeloop If the thought that calmed you down was about being straight rather than gay, then I think it’s pretty obvious what happened. You have a shadow around homosexuality. It doesn’t mean you actually are gay. But see if you can observe all the shame that comes up at the thought that you might be. I never knew I had this shadow until I did psychedelics. I was started feeling a deep sense of love while talking to another guy I was friends with. And it freaked me out BIG. Like wtf, I’m not supposed to feel this way about other men. What does this mean? It made me realize just how much shame there was around this idea for me. I actually feel it’s a common shadow for guys to have too. So much of our identity gets wrapped up in trying to be masculine and good with women that the thought of being gay is really terrifying. Aubrey Marcus once mentioned on a podcast that he wants to make out with a guy just to prove that it’s not a big deal and the world didn’t explode. Sounds funny but I think he has a point. Like who gives a shit who you are attracted to, really.

@Eren Eeager Guru needs to google Wim Hof method

The benefits are that you're actually taking a full breath. If you're just breathing from your chest, you're breathing is extremely shallow. And that is going to subconsciously trigger anxiety / fear/ fight or flight response. When your breathing is deep and full, just the opposite occurs. It signals to the subconscious that you are safe. And you enter into a parasympathetic state, which is associated with creativity, intuition, healing, etc. Try Wim Hof Method. I could never go very deep just doing shamanic breathing. But doing Wim Hof breathing, I've been able to do 45 minutes so far. Same effect as far as I can tell.

That's good. But I'd say it's more about the kind of content you're consuming on the internet in terms of your attention span. If you're reading an ebook, you're probably alright. If you're binge watching shock videos on youtube with jumpcuts every 10 seconds, yeah you might cause some damage. Meditation will help. But it's not a substitute for poor habits outside of it. No. Limiting belief for sure. Yes. So do that.

I wouldn't look at it this way at all. Think about it more like distortion. You already are unconditionally loving, generous, compassionate and all those things we seek doing spiritual work. That's who you are. But there's some distortions to actualizing that for most people. Distortions that comes from trauma, societal programming etc. And ultimately, it's just a game God is playing with itself. So no, you don't have to live with inherent selfishness because you are not inherently selfish. No one is inherently selfish. Our goal is to see that and actualize it.

@The Don Hate to say it, but if you're being awkward you're still anxious. The two go hand in hand. Likely what has happened is just that your anxiety has diminished. It's still somewhat there, but it's become more subtle. Which then makes you act it subtle weird ways. Just spend more time socializing with people and doing the spiritual work. Notice any habits or environmental factors that may be contributing to your anxiety. The awkwardness will continue to diminish over time as you become more in alignment. Right now, it's like you're an instrument that's playing out of time with the rest of the orchestra. So you gotta get back into the flow.

Love it. Dude gives no fucks. And that's exactly the attitude you need for improv. If you start getting in your head about it, it ain't gonna work. You just gotta let go, flow and trust. I really feel it's a spiritual experience.

@Fran11 I have left behind several friend groups myself. It's not easy but it can become necessary. The good news is that then you'll have created space for people who are more in alignment with your values to show up.

@Striving for more You start to attract them the more you believe in yourself . More practically, you have to look for them. Entrepreneur masterminds, meetups, charity events, etc. Get creative with it.

@Lyubov You definitely can. But often someone ends up trying to make the situation more than platonic, usually the guy. If you really want to have female friends as a guy, you gotta be okay with letting go of that.

I love this I play with the trees all the time.

@Peo I would like to see a move towards decriminalization at least. Criminalizing drugs has not proven effective at stopping people from doing them, its just made it more shady. And if someone is addicted to a drug like cocaine, that's a mental health issue. I find throwing people in prison for that absurd. Really the whole justice system needs to change.

@keenemind There's no easy answer here. It sounds like you can't yet afford to live on your own. So you're going to have to make this environment work for you while you simultaneously plan to get out. I would also stick up to your father. Assuming he's not going to throw you on the streets, let him know that this business is what you're doing and he needs to adjust himself accordingly as a loving father. Beyond that, continue your meditation practice. Get grounded in your truth every morning before you see your father.

@Meditationdude Stream of consciousness journaling is excellent. You can practice what Julia Cameron calls The Morning Pages. Basically you just write two-three pages of whatever comes to mind, no stopping.

@Beginner Mind I have intuitive abilities. What are you seeking a psychic for?

@73809 You want to start with observing your thoughts. That's because at this point, your thoughts are deeply unconscious and automatic. So you have to bring awareness to that. Eventually, your mind will start to silence. You'll think a lot less and when you do think, it will feel more intentional.

No it wasn't. I've had panic attacks like this several times. Didn't start until I started doing spiritual work. Take some time to relax. Start the work when you're ready again.

Yeah that sounds excellent. There are smart villages, regen villages, ecovillages, transition towns, intentional communities and probably many others. A lot of crossover between them. My understanding is that this individualistic way of living arose simultaneously with our current economic / financial system. The very basis of capitalism is that we are individual economic agents. You have your own bank account, your own career, your own bills, your own private property, etc. Sometimes these individuals team up, as in the case of a business, but at the end of the day your well being is largely still separate from others. My co-worker can get fired while at the same time I get a raise. You can fail to pay your rent while your next door neighbor is thriving. I find this to be highly unnatural. In a tribal situation, the difference between your well being and the rest of the tribe is essentially non-existent. This excessive individualism born from stage orange is destructive. And it also reflects a lower level of consciousness where we can even believe that individualism is possible. What this means for the future of the cities / suburbs model, I don't know. But we are already seeing people flee the cities in big numbers right now. My thinking is that "small" and "local" is going to become the new normal, while at the same time integrating some of the good that has come from globalization.

@SamC There's probably a way to fuse both of them, you're gonna have to get creative. Or you can just keep music more as a hobby and less as a career. Have you done a lot of public speaking? How did you come to the conclusion that public speaking was your LP?

@ColeMC01 There's a certain amount of truth in what you're saying. But I would add a lot more nuance to it. The problem "nice guys" typically have is that they're not in their power. But that doesn't mean the other extreme of toxic masculinity is any better. I wouldn't focus on trying to be either an asshole or nice. Don't "try" to be anything. You need to find what is you and own it.

Follow your interests. If "finding your purpose" seems too daunting, and it definitely can be, just pay attention to what feels genuinely good. The good news is that while your job might be soul sucking, you'll be able to use that money to fund whatever your next project is. That's a big deal.

@LordFall I'm with you on this. I absolutely loved the community feel in college of living amongst everyone you knew. It seems so strange to me that as soon as we become adults we immediately isolate ourselves into own boxes. Of course, people should live whatever lifestyle brings them the most happiness. But I do question that if it wasn't a societal norm, how many people would really choose that life? This is also why I'm so interested in ecovillages these days. Beyond the environmental benefits, there seems to be immense social and community benefits to that lifestyle. You might also want to look into ecovillages. There isn't a whole lot of traveling together but you would be living and working together.