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If being assertive is part of your shadow, then learning to accept yourself would include learning to be assertive. Most of the time when guys complain about being "too nice" and that it "doesn't work", what is really happening is that they're just unconscious of how manipulative they are and how much remains in their shadow. You've acknowledged that you have some of this going on, so I'd start with some shadow questions. What's the scariest part about being assertive? What bad thing will happen if you're dominant? What's the worst part about being an asshole? Remember that owning our shadow does not mean we become it. If I have a shadow about being a racist, healing that would not involve me becoming a racist. And so the end goal here is not to turn you into some Stage Red warlord. Our shadow manifests in unhealthy ways because it's unconscious and repressed. Bring it into the light of conscious and it will transform into it's highest form.

I don't see the conflict? Why do you feel you can't do both? I'd disagree, music can be extremely healing. There are sound healers who make entire careers out of it.

Happy birthday @Natasha! And thank you @DrewNows for letting us know.

@blankisomeone I think it's possible. We're still pretty far from that point as it seems even our most conscious politicians resort to violent communication. But things are shifting, I wouldn't rule it out.

Some of them I actually do think will give it up. Technically they are the "winners" in this game we are describing. But I think the game itself is flawed, in which case even the "winners" are not winners. In other words, are those bankers really happy hoarding their billions? Or do they maybe long to be more generous, but are incentivized not to be? I think it's the latter. They're not evil people. My sister worked for one of those large banks for many years, and she's one of the kindest people you'll ever meet. She's just playing into what she is financially incentivized to do, as we all are to some degree. It gives her security. But we all want to share. We all want to be generous. We all want to be loving. But those natural impulses can get quite distorted by beliefs, systems and general unconsciousness. And yes, some will fight it tooth and nail. There's always people who resist change. But I believe new systems would benefit everyone in the long run, which is why I feel so strongly about it.

Of course you don't think it's a belief. That's what it means to believe something. You believe that it's truth. But it is not truth. It's simply associations your mind made in the past. You are seeing the past, not what is.

@Hotaka Grace is such a perfect word to describe the divine. That's exactly how it feels to me. Where are these quotes from?

Actually breatharianism seems to be a real thing. It's beyond me but apparently it is possible. So I wouldn't be so sure . Regardless, your limitations are PART of the illusion. You are God, imagining themselves to be a human with limitations. That's part of what you wanted to experience. Limitations aren't bad. They're only "bad" when they're unconscious and no longer serve. You do. That's what "you create your own reality" and "manifestation" means. Don't intellectualize it too much. Stick on your spiritual practice.

It's a huge problem but that artificial scarcity is what is currently driving the economy. Shifting out of it is going to require some intelligent system moves.

Well I think we found what you need to focus on . How might this belief be holding you back? How might it be serving you?

@zenjen I think this thread highlights a lot of important points. We can criticize and boycott Amazon, and I'd support that. But at the same time, we've become dependent on it. This is why I believe the incentives in our systems are backwards. You are incentivized to buy from Amazon, even if what you really want is to support your local community. And that's a problem. Really it should be the opposite. You desire to support your local community and you are incentivized to do so via systems, such as local currency. But because we are in such a scarcity mentality around time and resources, we don't value community. We value maximum efficiency (or what appears to be efficient on the surface) and consumption. And then we create systems that reinforce and reflect that.

I've never been divorced but my parents are. It's one of the hardest things you can go through. First, I'd ask if you're ready to release those feelings? It's understandable you'd feel that way. Those feelings aren't bad and can serve a purpose. If you are ready, there's many healing modalities out there that can assist you with that. Second, I'd focus on coming back better than ever before. You can't change the past but you can move forward using the lessons you've learned.

It certainly shouldn't feel forced. If you're happy doing what you're doing, great. The problem I find is that if you don't consciously define your life purpose, someone else will. In other words, your purpose is either conscious or unconscious. But you always are moving towards some kind of end goal. It just so happens that most of the default purposes set up by society are really not working anymore. So people have to wake up and start carving out what they actually want. For instance, a woman could unconsciously attach herself to the default programming of "my purpose is to be a mother". But is that all she wants? Could there be more? What's good about it? What problems are there? Why does it exist at all? These are the kind of questions people have to ask, lest they get sucked into something they don't actually want. If life purpose sounds too stressful, consider asking yourself what living a truly authentic life FOR YOU means. And keep asking it until you really know.

I'd consider it as part of the shift away from commoditization and towards gift economy / community. Probably some mix of green / yellow. I'm mostly concerned with what the next phase of business is going to look like. We need green before we can start thinking about turquoise. Right back at ya

I love being in nature. But if you can’t find the divine in interactions with other people, you haven’t found the divine. This is your trauma speaking.

The real problem is that our financial system is built on artificial scarcity and endless growth. You can't have conscious capitalism when money is created at interest by privately owned banks. Or when people are incentivized to horde money rather than be generous. Capitalism vs socialism is a debate that doesn't go deep enough.

Yes I'd argue it is. Strips clubs and brothels are shadow forms of sexuality / intimacy and generally not conscious activities. Try it and see

That's one of the main reasons people do it. Undoubtedly that could happen. But sex can be a legitimate spiritual path for people. When you're having sex and it feels so good, that's because divine energy is freely flowing through you. You are high on God. It's not just chemicals in the brain like many scientists would tell you. So sex, in its most conscious form, is literally about connecting to God. You're opening all the chakras and surrendering the ego.

Because you need consciousness to even realize that these things are important. For instance, if you're unconscious, you don't want a candidate with the highest level of consciousness. You want the one that is best going to serve your small bubble of what you consider "I". So it's a bit a strange loop we are in. In order to raise our consciousness, we need a higher level of consciousness.

I'd consider a career in academia then. There's lots of lower consciousness ideas in the field of economics that need to be exposed. What about a PhD instead of a Masters?

I really liked Slow Sex by Diana Richardson. She’s been in this field forever and has written a several books. For guys, The Multi-Orgasmic Male by Mantak Chia is a great start. Also check out Nic Warner.

He got in some trouble recently but I still vibe with a lot of his music.

@jj40 Jacob, It's a common thing for people to be experiencing right now. First thing I would ask is do you have a spiritual practice? As in meditation, yoga, breathwork etc. Without that, it can be difficult to tap into our deeper intuitions about what direction we should head.

I find it becomes obvious. Anyone who is alive is still in a process of learning. But if you've put in enough work, you'll quickly see that you have answers / skills other people don't have and could benefit from. At the same time, I've found it's not like God reaches down from the heavens with a scroll that says "YOU ARE READY". If that has happened to you, DM me, I'd love to hear about it. At some point you just have to appoint yourself as ready. And trust that you don't have to have all the answers, just let God do the talking.

@Natasha Great question. I find the biggest factor is to have a non-judgmental attitude. Even if no words have been exchanged, I believe people can intuitive feel if they will be judged for opening up around you. It's in your energy. As long as people know they'll still be accepted, they generally feel safe to say or do just about anything.