Rob06

Thanks! I don't believe energy levels drop that much though when maintaining a healthy life style. I'm 30 now, and have actually never felt more energetic in life. Just asked my wife who's 35, she doesn't feel less energetic then 10 years ago. Eat your veggies.

Interesting! I didn't really come across those on my own journey, but makes sense that those kinds of types are out there. This kind of stuff can easily be misused

Doing something you're passionate about in your career Going to the gym Book: 7 Pillars of Self Esteem Book: Way of the Superior Man Basic success oriented Self Help Workshops/exercises where you improve your presentation/communication/interaction skills

Seems to me that you can pretty much build yourself from the ground up, and create an identity you like. Although you may also just have a "natural" way of being, as an ego, in relationship to the world and others. Who were you as an ego before you deconstructed your ego? I remember from the book Enlightenment, The Damnedest Thing from McKenna that he just picked up the shell of his ego again after having deconstructed it and just going with that, even though he knew it was an illusion.

Love is a universal language my friend. Namaste.

@Brittany lol I'll share this info with my wife

Agreed, although I do think a focus on quality and skill is still the most important aspect to focus on if you care about long-term sustainable success, in any career path really. I heard several anecdotes about artists that had their major hit early on as a lucky shot. Then they went on tour and were forgotten about soon after, because even though they were talented, after their big success, they didn't have the time to really dive in and become a master of their craft. They didn't have the momentum that regular practice brings. But yes, networking is extremely important, and you don't have to practice in the shed for 5 years before going out there. It can be combined.

It was mentioned already, but this is absolutely my fav jazz fusion solo ever. Perfect combo between nice blues lines, and than going all the way into hyper-space-mode, while staying perfectly in that groovy vibe

I thought this was pretty funny....

John Wick got out of Stage Red, but get's sucked back into it.

Yeah definitely agree. My meditation and reading habits suffered severely over the last three years because of spending so much time building skills, networking, marketing, contacting people, etc. It's worth it if you can get material success doing what you love, and if you are then in a secure position to get back to "higher" pursuits like enlightenment work.

I guess somewhere outside of this solar system probably

That's a bummer that you can't find holotropic breath work sessions in your region/country! Green/Orange is still higher than where a lot of other countries in the world are these days. A lot of countries are still in red/blue/early orange.

Yes, changing those beliefs and mindsets is important. On a more practical note: making friends and making money can be combined. There are people at jobs, and those people can be befriended, while your job pays the bills. Two birds with one stone.

@Eph75 Thank you, that's a refreshing perspective. My partner and I are both designing our work in such a way that we can work a lot from home. Hypothetically a baby could just chill by my side while I work, even though I do realize that would give a lot of distraction. I like what you say about things (or children) being seen as unwanted. Lately I notice that I do a lot of that in my life. I relate to quite some things as my life as unwanted, but am starting to see that I can just as well relate to those things as stuff to be grateful for, stuff to love, stuff to learn from. So that's really a mindset thing. Thanks!

@Realms of Wonder Cool life purpose! Working in a studio is nice, but those jobs are quite popular, and I'm not sure if they pay very well. The good news is, you don't necessarily need a professional studio anymore to make it in music. Great skills and a decent laptop work wonders. Skills can be acquired through the internet (yay!). Depending on where you live, you might be able to afford not to have a full time job. I worked a shit job as a customer service guy for about two years while building my freelance music business. After that I transitioned into a music teaching job, and am now a fulltime freelancer in music. I also found some people online along the way that I started working for. I guess what I'm trying to say is, it would be awesome to get the kind of job you described, but it might not be realistic/practical, but that doesn't really matter, because you can still get a lot of stuff done life purpose wise in a 3-year time span, while paying the bills with something else. Good luck!

@Thought Art When I was injured at age 25 and couldn't make music any more, I pretty much thought my musical life was over. I was dramatizing that shit way too much . When I started again at age 27 I had the feeling I was to old to make it, but that was not the case. Sort out your finances, find a job that pais the bills, and chip away at your art. Great things can happen!

@anaj Haha I love it, love spreading machines, if programmed correctly . Thanks for sharing.

Thanks for sharing, awesome!

@Adodd Thanks, yes from most parents I spoke to, they say it gets easier after the first two years. I'm planning on doing an ayahuasca ceremony together with my partner. Maybe it will reveal something about my true desires in this matter.

@Danioover9000 I only read the first view pages of this thread so far. Interesting stuff! My first thought was you must have some kind of mental disorder (no disrespect). But then I just started thinking of an experience I had when I was about 3 - 5 years old of some kind of entity talking to me in the middle of the night. I still get shivers when I think of this because I have never been able to make sense of this experience. Maybe it was a dream (even though I have the memory that I was awake), maybe it was just my childish imagination, maybe it was something else, who knows. Some experiences with ayahuasca have made me way more open to paranormal stuff. I'm looking forward to hear more about your adventures with Cristy, whatever she is...

@Thought Art I also have tinitus sometimes btw, which sucks. Many professional musicians do, comes with the territory, but is also preventable. I don't know if it can be cured. I'm doing an acupuncture treatment for it now, and might share my results in the future.

@Thought Art Fellow music maker here, I sympathize with a lot of what you say. About the busking: many "successful" musicians have to do these kinds of things all their life on the side, next to doing their "real" art. Was it Beethoven who basically made his main income teaching piano? (It was one of those composers, or maybe even many). I was also struggling with the choice between music or another career about 5 years ago. The Life Purpose Course made me realize that I could not really be happy in my life/work if I wouldn't spend a good chunk of my time creating music, so I decided to go for that. I'm not saying you should go for music yourself. If it is going to become Qigong, that's awesome! Just saying that the Life Purpose Course, or some similar process/course could help you make a decision (but judging from your last post, it seems like you already made your decision). Making a living from music is not easy, and the chances of becoming a millionaire in music as an artist will be smaller than in a lot of other industries. I've been at it for three years now and can sustain myself with 2/3 music creation and 1/3 music teaching now, which I'm very grateful for. I found a niche where I'm starting to see small successes that will make it possible to create a 6-figure income, and maaaaybe, just maybe, a 7-figure income. But I will have to work full time on this for at least 3 to 5 to maybe even 10 more years. My business is stabilizing in terms of income in 2022. So, if you really have that need to make music, you can make a living doing what you love. I also believe your Qigong and music passions can live next to each other and maybe even complement each other in a career. Maybe Qigong and music festival concert kinds of things with awesome music and Qigong exercises? I don't know, it would probably make for a fun video clip. With every passion, you will get disheartened at some points, but the trick is to soldier on, and stay connected to your higher vision of why you do it, which could be just sheer love or joy you get while doing it. Not being able to pay for courses and equipment sucks! I worked a boring job for 24 hours a week for the first 2,5 years of setting up my music business, which was necessary. Hope this helps. Go for it!

I felt nihilistic in my work in the past. Why was that? Because I hated the work I did. It was completely meaningless to me, the only benefit it had was being able to pay the bills. Now that I make a living doing what I love, you don't hear me complain about nihilism in my work, even though it is still completely meaningless. It just brings me (and hopefully others) joy. Remember that any form of nihilism is just being bummed out about things not having meaning, which is a negative meaning assigned to something that inherently doesn't have meaning. Yeah, that's probably a good idea! And maybe just go with the values that come to you easily while doing the exercises. Your values will change over time, they aren't set in stone once you did the exercises.

@Someone here Start small! Do something you've alsways wanted to do, but which doesn't mean you have to completely change your life in one day. What will it be? Going out to a club? Sky diving? Visiting a concert? Doing an ice bath? Whatever you like, and is just outside of your comfort zone.