Etienne Charland: "Operation Insomnia"

Just watch.  He explains it all.  Big changes happening. Etienne is doing some amazing things that are largely going unnoticed.

Mother Africa Emotional Healing Meditation

Time to get back the positive and promoting those things I believe in that work for me.  This is a very effective and powerful emotional healing and releasing meditation from Rion Kati/ Freeberg.  I highly recommend you check him out and get yourself his resources. 

Men: Don't #metoo. #BeYou

Yet another “#metoo man” has been busted as a hypocrite and a fraud.  This time slimy loser New York AG Eric Schneiderman.  Just as Donald Trump predicted back in 2013.

This kind of thing should come as a surprise to absolutely nobody with brain cells. #metoo movement has become a complete joke.  It began as a “brave” attempt by women to uncover the obvious – Hollywood power brokers are really, really, really creepy, perverted, disgusting losers.  Anyone who knows anything about Hollywood should be completely un-surprised about revelations about losers like Harvey Weinstein. 

But ok, let’s say for argument’s sake that you’re among the group of people living under a rock who actually look up to people like Weinstein. Then the initial revelations had some value.  But that quickly devolved into a rather pathetic attempt by women to share their old wounds, get attention and embarrass their exes.  In other words, it went the way of pretty much every Internet hashtag, turning into a joke meme.

But then, not to be outdone, men who call themselves “woke” jumped on the bandwagon with their own lame sob stories, or just trying to get attention for themselves and create a false image that they’re “woke.” 

Again, it should be obvious what’s going on here.  Men who try to present a public persona as being virtuous, instead of just, you know, living a virtuous life (which includes humility), are trying to hide the fact they’re scoundrels. Every time.  Every single guy publicly professing himself as “woke” is hiding a black heart.  Because truly good men don’t do that shit.  Because truly good men wouldn’t think of trying to cloak themselves in virtue, that’s not how it works.  The only kind of people who publicly shroud themselves in virtue are people who NEED to do so, because they ARE NOT.

A few people called this out, but a lot more actually APPLAUDED these “men.”  I’ve been saying all the time – just wait, the truth will come out.  And sure enough, it’s coming out.  To the surprise of only the stupid people, the #metoo men are coming out, one by one, and being exposed for the low lives they truly are.

Again, NOBODY who is truly a good person spends time trying to craft an image of being good.  In fact, many good men go to some length to show they are NOT perfectly good.  Nobody wants to be labeled a “goodie two-shoes.”  The good men I know are so far away from the stupid “woke” stuff and virtue signaling it’s not even funny. 

Don’t be fooled.  Image crafting is for scoundrels and liars.  Good people don’t do this.  Good men don’t, anyhow.  Maybe it’s different for women because visual is valued much higher in women.  But in men – no. 

I’m surrounded by a lot of idiots.  I give a lot of thought to simply dropping them, but I don’t.  They have value even though they are annoying and really stupid in a lot of ways.  And because I need to learn to suffer fools more gladly, it’s my weakness. 

Somehow I ended up in the middle of a group of men who imagine themselves “sex gods.”  For a while some of their stupid rubbed off on me, but now I see them as the loveable but crazy family member.  Some of these guys are neck-deep in some messed-up sex communities that are glorified rape cults.  They call themselves “Tantra,” but they seem to have little to do with expanding sensual and spiritual experience and more about gaining easy access to pussy.

Then after a few years in this environment, some of the men begin to develop a conscience – “wow, you know… just because these women are readily available doesn’t mean what I’m doing is okay, maybe I should start considering other people’s feelings instead of just being selfish “spiritual asshole.”  Then they start publicly talking about “consent” and lecturing men on how to not treat women like garbage.

The thing is, these guys, God bless em, think everyone is going through what they’re going through.  Most men AREN’T.  And most women aren’t going through what most “Tantra women” are going through.  The kind of women who would be attracted to “indiscriminate free love” are not in a good place.  They came there because they were already wounded – many experienced sexual abuse and/or drug and alcohol problems and found Tantra to heal.  Taking advantage of wounded women like that is the opposite of evolved.

These guys finally look around and realize “hey, MAYBE I’m being a LITTLE bit of an asshole and should change” and call themselves “woke.”  They surround themselves with other self-deluded, arrogant people who share a certain ideology that caters to that kind of delusion, and they delude themselves into thinking they’re leaders instead of terribly wounded men who should shut up and take care of their problems instead of lecturing others.

I’ve noticed, almost without exception, the men giving free advice about virtue and sexuality are the ones who are the most problematic in their own lives and personal relationships.  It’s to the point where when I see men doing this (as I did myself when I was acting out my wounds instead of healing), I can pinpoint where he is in his healing journey – it’s a form of denial and self-delusion as a form of protection.

Look, we’re not perfect.  We all made mistakes in our lives that we regret.  At some point, we need to own our stuff and really heal.  That doesn’t happen by jumping on #metoo bandwagons, calling yourself “woke,” lecturing others on virtue, or trying to prove to the world you’re some kind of sex god.  Those things are very obvious ways to hide the bad stuff you don’t want people to see.  It’s what bad people (like that AG) do so they can continue doing bad things.

Is that who you are?  Are you a bad person who is creating a mask so he can keep doing bad things?  Are you an immature man who doesn’t want to grow up and so he tells everyone what a sex god he is?  Are you living in pain and self-doubt and want to delude yourself into thinking you’re spiritual by creating an image instead of doing the work?

Or are you just misled?

Guys, drop the woke shit.  Get off the #metoo bandwagon.  Stop giving everyone else your lame unsolicited advice on sex and spirituality.  It’s okay.  Whatever you’re going through, it’s okay.  You don’t have to hide behind bullshit slogans and virtue signaling.  Instead od #metoo just #beyou.

I'm Starting to Like Donald Trump - and Hate The Progressives

I really like what Donald Trump is doing as President.  To say I’m pleasantly surprised by the job he is doing would be an understatement.  I’m elated with the job he’s doing.  In fact, I’m not sure there is a US president in my over-forty-year lifetime who I can say did a better job, certainly not over the period of time that Trump has been President.  It’s been nothing sort of remarkable.

Which means I was very wrong about Trump.  I thought he was a terrible candidate in the primaries, and a just-slightly-better-than-his-opponent candidate in the general election.  I thought he would be a poor President, but at least better than the alternative.  I was wrong.  The Republican primary voters made the best choice and Trump, despite having zero political experience and running the weirdest campaign I’ve ever seen for any office, is turning out to be a very, very good President.

Moreover, I’m finding myself actually warming up to Donald Trump the man.  Yah, despite all his personal flaws on display, I’m finding I actually like the guy.  He’s not perfect, but none of us is.  And the fact that his rough edges are there for everyone to see, and that he keeps going and doesn’t let his imperfections stop him, makes him likable.

 

There, I said it.  I like Donald Trump.  I’ve actually gone all the way from “Never Trump” to a fan of the man and a huge supporter of his presidency.  Not just because he’s conservative, but because he’s actually doing a good job in office.  I was wrong about him. 

And I am wrong about what it takes to be a good US President.  Experience in politics is overrated.  Even policy is secondary. Strength in convictions and the ability to keep fighting and making good decisions is everything in a good US leader, and Trump has those qualities in spades.

Yah, yah.  He has a lot of marriages in his past.  Me too.  He’s been unfaithful to women. I’m not sure that’s even a black mark on a person anymore – I’ve seen too many people who are “faithful” and evil, and who are “unfaithful” and good people that I’ve come to the point that fidelity is a personal lifestyle choice that has almost nothing to do with a person’s character and judgment (apart from their personal relationships). 

He says crude things about women. Problem is, while women “officially” say “oh that’s bad,” the truth is women are very attracted to men who embody those sorts of qualities.  Confidence is sexy.  “Being polite” is actually a hinderance to attraction.  I’ve addressed this contradiction elsewhere, but men who are faithful , loving, attentive, polite and respect a woman’s personal boundaries are at an inherent disadvantage when it comes to attracting women. Because women are a contradiction.  Men too.  Our basic natures are in constant conflict with “civilization,” precisely because “civilization” is specifically designed to mute and repress human nature. 

But human nature in its unvarnished form is sexy.  And deep down, women are powerfully attracted to men who are like Trump.  (In fact there’s been a fair amount of conversation around women who “officially” hate Trump but who are irresistibly attracted to MAGA guys, because those guys are more naturally connected to their masculine sexuality.  This is absolutely the truth – women love “populist conservative” men – men like Trump, not “refined” conservatives like Jeb Bush, and definitely not liberal men – those guys get cheated on, a lot.)

And that may seem off-topic, but it isn’t.  I said I like Trump.  Not just his policies, not just the fact he’s conservative, not just his deal-making, but the man himself (the man supposedly everyone hates).  His brash, unvarnished, confident, unapologetic masculinity is refreshing and inspiring.  This is a man who stands in his power, who fights for what he believes in.  And who fights for the people who I like – the decent people in the “vast middle” of the country who are far away from the politics and culture of the “civilized” big cities (which I hate).

I may personally like drinking wine and craft beer, but I relate to the people who drink Budweiser.  I may personally love Thai and Asian food and be very immersed in other cultures, but I still identify with the small-town people and those who love a good barbequed steak.  I may have a professional job, but I really identify with people who work with their hands.

Even in my connection with Thailand, my “roots” are rural farming and small villages – it’s Thai Trump Country.  Bangkok is nice to visit, but not where my heart is.  I love home cooked meals and don’t like going to restaurants and paying a fortune.  I like a simple life.  I like low taxes, minimal government services and a world where the government largely stays the hell out of everything.  And amazingly, this billionaire from New York is the only US President I’ve ever seen who truly fights for the people I identify with and the things I believe in.

Which is why I’m starting to like him – he’s a lot like me. He’s an urban professional with the heart of a farmer in “flyover country.”  He’s a Thai “Red Shirt” with a Republican Red Hat.  He fights for the people without shoving the government up their ass. 

And he REALLY fights, no matter what.  The media doesn’t get the last word with him.  The “city folks” don’t own him.  I trust him.  Ironically, I trust him.  Because his words might contradict, but his ACTIONS don’t.  I don’t care what someone says – I’m skeptical of polished speakers. I care what they do and his actions as President are the most trustworthy I’ve seen of any President.  He can tell a hundred lies before breakfast, but I have no doubt he will do right by the people I care about.  That’s trustworthiness. 

And the more I grow to like Trump, the more I’m growing to despise his haters.  Because in every way, they are proving to be the opposite of Trump.  Muted, subservient, unsexy masculinity, wimpy, flaky, oppressive, and completely disrespectful of the people I love. 

It’s not even about policy – though I hate their ideology too, but I can live with that.  It’s personal.  The whole conversation around “toxic masculinity.”  Heck, the whole “conversation” bullshit itself.  The “collectivism for everyone but me” attitude.  The smarminess.  The arrogance.  The false sense of intellectual heft (most of the “resistance” who imagines themselves  smart are truly not that intelligent, they just stupidly repeat each others’ talking points like parrots), the inability to cook a meal at home or do their own laundry or any other basic human function, their stubborn attachment to bad sex (even among the supposedly “evolved”) and even worse sexual roles.  Even the way they dress themselves and the drinks they order at Starbuck’s and the bar. Their incessant need to try to tell everyone what to do, how to think, down to every stupid little detail, instead of butting the fuck out and giving people space.  The whole “manspreading” and “mansplaining” bullshit. The motherfucking Yoga classes and attire.  All of it.

It’s gone beyond annoying.  I’m growing to detest these people and lose respect for them as human beings.  Because it’s impossible to really respect people who constantly disrespect themselves and everyone else. 

I grew up around people who disagreed with me politically.  That’s fine.  I like that disagreement.  This is cultural.  “Progressive” culture sucks.  Because the people who created that culture and buy into it fucking suck as people.  I’ve been around the world and seen a lot and Western “progressive culture” is THE WORST.  It ABSOLUTELY.  FUCKING. SUCKS.  Asia doesn’t have this shit.  “Red country” US doesn’t have this shit.  Africa doesn’t have this shit.  South America doesn’t have this shit. Western Europe, US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand urban areas have this shit – and nobody else – and it FUCKING SUCKS.  Western urban progressives are LITERALLY the worst human beings on Planet Earth.

There, I said it.  And I mean every word.  And it took the election of Donald Trump and the emergence of Western Progressives in their full, ugly glory to bring it fully to light.

I can see now what’s going on with the “Resistance.”  This isn’t about getting a flawed man out of the White House.  It’s nothing but a bald-faced attack on “us,” the huge majority of people who are proud to NOT be Western Progressives.  That’s what this is.  It has nothing to do with Trump and everything to do with these pathetic assholes’ disdain for “flyover people,” whether those people are in the US or Thailand or anywhere else. 

And all this crap about “toxic masculinity” isn’t about making us better people.  It’s about neutering powerful men.  And it’s bullshit.  I’d rather live with the “rough edges” of society than submit to the bullshit “civilization” Western Progressives want for us.  And I will fight with every last breath for my side, because it’s becoming clear Progressives aren’t just in polite disagreement with me, they want me dead. 

They want everyone who isn’t them dead.  They’re no different than the “purgers” under Stalin, Hitler, Pol Pot and Mao.  They just give themselves a different name, but their aim is the same – complete hegemony and the destruction of the “other side.”  There is no middle ground.  They’re at war with us.  They’re trying to overturn an election in the US – not because they think Trump is unsuitable, but because they honestly believe his VOTERS are unsuitable.  They believe people like me and the people I love are “unsuitable.”

The “Resistance” loves to compare Trump to Hitler, but that comparison belies a truth in their own nature.  While the people they hate support “mind your own business,” it is the Progressives who actively support Hitleresque policies – “hate speech,” government intervention in every aspect of life, purging opposition, and socialism are all Hitler/ Nazi things.  Saul Alinsky would be right at home in Nazi Germany – his tactics were lifted from Nazi propaganda and power-grabbing tactics.  Abortion – especially selective abortion for things like Downs Syndrome - is 100% a Nazi concept that is a critical part of eugenics.  Anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel is a Progressive thing.  It’s very, very clear who are the Nazis – the ones calling everyone else Nazis. 

But let’s look at the facts.  Harvey Weistein is “theirs,” not “ours.”  The rapists in the Tantra and Yoga communities (and it’s fucking RAMPANT) are “theirs,” not “ours.”  The gangs are all “theirs.”  The homeless encampments are “theirs.”  Bill Cosby is “theirs.”  The massive immigrant underclass is all “theirs.”  Islamic terror is “theirs.”  Don’t believe me?  Whose wearing their fucking SYMBOL of OPPRESSION, the hajib?  Not us.  We spread our legs on the subway and “say mean things,” they’re fucking RAPING and KILLING.

We like home-cooked meals prepared by women who love us.  We adore women who do laundry, clean the house, take good care of our children and love and respect us.  They create fucking RAPE CULTS, they systematically rape aspiring starlets, they support a culture that rapes and beats women.  They lie about the damage abortion causes to women.  But look who their society has made the enemy – those “patriarchal men.” 

Well, fuck them.  Good women are with us. MOST women are with us.  Deep down, most of these “progressive” women would GLADLY stay at home and raise children – and be DELIERIOUSLY HAPPY doing so – with a man who made her feel like a real woman and truly took care of her.  Trump may be a poor husband in his personal life, but he speaks for the men and women who get it and who haven’t bought into the bullshit Progressive culture trap.

So yah.  I like Trump. I’m liking him more and more every day.  And I’m seeing the truth about his enemies.  Because they’re my enemies too. And I won’t ignore that anymore.

Communists Are Losers: Re. People Who Give Up On Life

Communists are losers.

It’s one of the truisms of life, both in my personal experience and in viewing history.  The communists are fucking worthless losers and have been losers their whole life.

I’m not talking about hard-working poor people.  There are very few communists in this group of people.  No, the communists are generally intelligent, educated people who fucking suck at life.  They’re the people who thought they were too smart for school and too smart for the “real world.”  So they either did nothing and became leeches and burdens on society or they found some loser job in teaching or academia where nobody would notice or care that they’re fucking losers.

Or they become artists.  Really crappy artists.  The kind that like to paint murals and never sell any artwork.  Or musicians.  Really crappy musicians who could never book a gig. 

Some of them became loserific “coaches” who of course have no real business to speak of.

Basically if you can imagine a niche where a smart person who completely sucks at life would go to feel good about the fact they’re a complete waste of IQ and oxygen, that’s where the communist losers go.

Che Guivarra was a loser.  The dude never had a job and sponged off Fidel Castro (who himself was pretty much a professional loser).  And he’s the hero of communist losers worldwide.  Marx HIMSELF was a professional loser.

In my own life, I know a few communists.  And they’re all worthless cannon fodder.  One is an English professor – a smart guy but a complete waste of IQ.  A couple are “starving artists,” a nice word for “hobo.”  A few others are in that weird Burning-Man-Coaches-Who-Don’t-actually-do-work-and-think-they-should-be-paid-to-fuck group. They’re the high-IQ but otherwise retarded offspring of the hippie movement from the 60s. They all have one thing in common – they’ve decided they can never be productive members of society, so they’ve created a delusion where the problem is society and not their own ineptitude at basic living skills.

They’re pathetic.  All of them.  Because you have to be a loser in life to find Communism attractive. You have to decide that you suck and you’ll never stop sucking to think that it’s a good idea.  And you have to be the kind of worthless sponge who would never contribute anything close to his fair share to a communal society to believe such a society would be a good idea.

In other words, the Communists I know personally are the kinds of people a Communist society would have to kill in order for that society to have any chance at survival.  Which is pretty much the reason Communism is an epic failure.

But enough about the failure of Communism.  I want to discuss the failure of Communists, and other people who sign up for Loser Causes.

It could be Communism (I suck at being a productive member of society  so I’m giving up).  It could be MGTOW (I suck at attracting women so I’m giving up).  It could be any number of ways people would rather take up permanent residence in Loserville, and force everyone else to live there too, than actually deal with the problems in their lives.

The “dateless men who hate women” is the social equivalent of the Communists.  They’re equally loserific at dating as the Communist are at a honest day’s work that actually provides value to the world.  The dude who ran his van into people in Toronto?  Pathetic loser.  Does it matter much if pathetic loser is Islam Pathetic Loser, or Dateless Wonder Who Hates Women Pathetic Loser, or White Supremacist Loser, or Communist Loser?  Not really.  Losers are losers.  They are only good at destroying things. 

Inevitably their self-hate expands into killing others, because they’ve chosen not to make an effort to function in society.  On a small scale, it’s some loser like in Toronto.  On a large scale, it’s Hitler, Mao or Stalin.  It’s interesting to see the different flavors of loser pointing fingers at each other and saying “here’s the problem.”  “No, here’s the problem.”  Dude, YOU’RE THE PROBLEM, because you’ve chosen to be a worthless waste of oxygen.

Communists, the MGTOW people, the Islamists, the white supremacists, they’re all strong evidence that no, all life is not infinitely valuable – some lives are fucking worthless.  Not because the universe has deprived anyone’s life of value, but because THEY THEMSELVES CHOSE to devalue their lives.  They chose to be worthless, and the universe responded.

The only person who can put you in Hell is you.  If you choose to flush the valuable life you’ve been given down the toilet by giving up, then you’ve made yourself worthless.  And nobody else is going to give you value after you’ve destroyed it in yourself, you just become an empty shell, a waste of oxygen and space, at best, and a destructive evil in the world at worst.

Yes, some people are evil.  Every one of them made that choice by destroying the value of their lives and setting up permanent residence in Loserville.  That’s the choice that will land you in Hell, not the displeasure of sanctimonious religious freaks.  It’s entirely in your hands.

Yes, life is hard.  Sometimes very hard.  Sometimes things don’t go well.  Sometimes a lot of things don’t go well.  But you only lose if you give up.  Then you’re a loser, and deserve nothing but disdain for squandering a gift from the universe.

Cal Sucks: The End of False Hope

Cal sucks.

It’s taken me almost thirty years of fandom to accept this obvious reality.

Cal sucks.  When it comes to major athletics – football and Men’s basketball – Cal simply sucks.  Thoroughly and consistently.  And it’s not going to change.

In the thirty years I’ve actively followed Cal football, Cal has posted losing records in the large majority of those years.  That’s sucking.  And they’ve made the NCAA tournament in men’s basketball just a handful of time.  Again, that’s flat-out sucking.

But it’s so much worse than that.  Over those thirty years (far more if one goes into history), Cal has had THREE football seasons that would be considered “good” (10 win seasons).  And in each of those 10-win seasons, that’s ALL the wins they got. Even the few years Cal is good, they suck.  Over those thirty years Cal has made it to the Sweet Sixteen TWICE, losing handily both times once they got there. 

Of the football seasons where Cal had a winning season (not many), the huge majority of those season were BARELY winning season – 8 wins or less.  So top to bottom, the football team sucks.

The teams land talent.  The NFL is full of players who went to Cal – some doing quite well, and a lot better than they ever did at Cal.  The NBA has former Cal players. Yet even with talent, Cal football and men’s basketball programs – just suck.  It’s cultural, it’s in the programs’ DNA.  And it’ll never change.

Now, this is fine if one accepts the obvious historical realities and enjoys the programs for what they are – mildly entertaining but never going to win many games.  They’re loveable losers, and only loveable if a fan fully accepts that the teams are and always will be losers. 

Cal had Jason Kidd on the basketball team and won exactly TWO NCAA tourney games during his entire career.  Cal had Aaron Rodgers as QB and Marshawn Lynch as RB – ON THE SAME TEAM - and had ONE 10-win season, where they lost to Texas Tech in a middling bowl game, during that time.  Those players had far more success at the professional level than the collegiate level because CAL SUCKS.

Jared Goff was a Cal QB who went #1 in the draft – after a 14-23 career at Cal.  In other words, the NFL has COMPLETELY DISCOUNTED the fact that Cal football just FLAT-OUT-SUCKS, no matter what kind of talent is on the team.  (And this has proven to be justified, as Goff has gone on to do well in the NFL, while Cal football… continues to suck.)

And it’s just the way it is.  Thirty years is a more than adequate sample size – lots of different Chancellors, Athletic Directors, coaches, even a new stadium.  Guess what stayed the same?  The suck. 

I don’t bring this up to pile on Cal.  Okay, maybe a little.  Cal has been losing at football and men’s basketball for over sixty years.  (Yes, Cal got one NCAA tourney championship – under a coach who promptly left and did the same thing at a neighboring school which also sucks at basketball.)  Even the one year in the 50s when Cal got to the Rose Bowl they sucked – it just so happened all the good teams were hit with sanctions at the same time, so Cal backed in – and then got their asses kicked in the Rose Bowl.  Because even back then, they sucked.

This is a school that insists on keeping a mascot that looks like a carpet sample the dog used as a diarrhea toilet for thirty years, because it’s “tradition.” And whose fans think said mascot is cool enough that they can disparage Stanford’s tree mascot.  In truth, Stanford has a hideous mascot, but when our mascot looks and smells like a turd with a sweater and clown shoes, we Cal fans should really be quiet when it comes to mascots.  Colorado, Air Force, Texas have AWESOME mascots Cal fan complain about while Cal has a walking rape practice dummy dragged in from People's Park.  And when our major teams play like said smelly turds in good years, and said rape dummies in the other years (hello, Wyking Jones and Sonny Dykes), we Cal fans shouldn’t be disparaging anyone about, well, anything.

All of this is a long way of saying I’ve been a stupid, delusional person when it’s come to Cal football and basketball.  A stupid, delusional person who for thirty years (well, a little less) believed THINGS WOULD CHANGE.  All the years of losing, of mediocre wins, of just plain sucking, and I’d believe a bright future was just around the corner. 

Every winning season was just a ripple in a sea of losing.  But THIS winning season would be different.  THIS YEAR would be different.  That’s not Cal, that’s me.  As much as Cal has sucked, I’ve sucked worse.

Well, I’m done sucking.  I’m doing what I should have done years ago – giving up on Cal.  That is, giving up on my delusional fantasy that Cal would ever be anything other than… Cal.  Cal will always be Cal.  And as such, Cal will always suck.  History doesn’t lie.  Reality doesn’t lie.  Self-delusion and false hope lies all day long. 

I regret the energy I put into something so stupid that sucked so badly for so long.  Really regret it.  I was an idiot.  It’s a testament to the power of hope, but also a cautionary tale about the power of self-delusion.

That doesn’t mean I can’t enjoy watching a game.  College football is fun.  Just don’t expect anything.  Because whether they win or lose that game, Cal will still suck.  No point in fighting it.

I can’t take back all the energy and stress wasted over something so stupid that amounted to nothing.  Even investing that much energy in a team that regularly wins is stupid, but at least USC fans can point to a tradition of winning to justify a meaningless existence.  I just have time and energy I’ll never get back.

I also have a lesson.  A lesson in both the power and danger of hope.  Hope can keep one going a long time.  It can keep one’s spirits up when things are bad.  And that’s a good thing.  But hope can also keep one from changing.  I look at the energy I wasted on Cal football and think “what if I had come to this place earlier in life?” 

I would have had to look at my time and find better things to do.  Which would have led me to look at a lot of other unhealthy things I was doing that I was ignoring while I obsessed over sucky sports teams.  It took me a long time to find a good place, and most of the big positive changes I made came after I began to accept that my hope in Cal athletics was misplaced and it was time to take action in my life. 

Optimism is great, but false hope is nothing but a drug.  Clear vision is important.  See what is working well, what needs work and what just flat-out sucks.  And determine what can be improved and what can’t.  And if you can’t improve it, cut out the things that suck.  Even if you’ve been holding on to them for years.  Especially if you have.

Because a tradition of holding on to things that suck that you cannot change… well, it sucks.  Cal sucks.

Some Basic "Spiritual Ground Rules"

Some people might be confused by my Twitter posts.  I like to troll.  Not mean-spirited trolling, just adding to the silliness of the “news” that’s out there.

Truth is, politics doesn’t bother me.  It’s amusing, it’s annoying, but it’s largely irrelevant from my daily life and completely irrelevant from my higher purpose.  All this “discussion” about feminism, #metoo, Black Lives Matter, it’s all just mindless entertainment.  None of it matters in the higher scheme of things.

That being said, I sometimes feel the need to put warning labels out there, lest people who follow me get the wrong impression or drink the poison.  So let me put this out there clearly – ego-based stuff only leads to problems.  You cannot resolve your ego problems with more ego, they can only be resolved at a higher energy source.

In other words, arguing over politics and pointless social theories will not bring you an ounce of happiness, much less guide you to your higher purpose.

There.  You’ve been warned.

For me this is such an essential element of my life that I forget this is a truth where few people live. And thus my Tweets could be dangerously misleading instead of mindless entertainment or education-through-shock-value.  I engage in political debate as a social exercise.  Yes, I have opinions.  No, they don’t mean anything, but sometimes they can be a way to connect and interact with people I would not otherwise meet.  Which can be interesting, or at least diverting.

It’s not who I am.  It’s not my mission.

In fact, I’ve made a point of disavowing “self-help leaders” who have strayed from spiritual truth into the ego of politics and social controversies.  Destin Gerek used to be one of the most embodied, spiritually-based “self-help” people I knew.  Deep down I believe he still is.  But there’s no denying his public message and coaching modality has shifted into the ego-based.  He sees the media and claims these are real problems – he’s internalizing things that aren’t his to internalize.  He’s engaging in very base ego-based argument and social media mob stuff.

That isn’t embodied growth.  It’s ego-based bullshit. It wouldn’t matter if it was just My Buddy Destin, one of many guys who say some things I agree and disagree with.  But in the past he’s helped men to resolve their ego-based problems with identity and connection at a higher level – which is why I supported him.  Now, he’s lost in the ego stuff and I have to wait for him to either come back to the higher level or not on his own time.

This is one example.  It seems the election of Donald Trump has thrown many people who were struggling to operate above the ego right back into the pit of egoic patterns.  This is what happens when catalysts come along – people who have weak spiritual grounding come crashing down.

But I’ve gone on and on enough about people who are falling or the chaos caused by the increase in the vibrational energy (of which Trump is just a symptom).  I want to step back and set out some basic truths, the basic warnings and guideposts you need to get through all this.  Then maybe you’ll understand where my silly Tweets and political trolling posts come from.  And more importantly, where you need to be going in all this.

Bottom line, the essence of our spiritual journey is a simple question:  Am I serving Source, or Self?

That’s basically it.  Eckart Tolle talks about dissolving Ego to get rid of pain and feel better.  Because, from a spiritual standing, Tolle is full of shit.  This isn’t about “feeling better,” that’s an ego-based outcome.

So let me back up and give you another fundamental foundational truth:

Your problems can only be resolved at levels above the problem.

What this means is all your ego-based problems cannot be resolved through more ego.  You can’t argue your way out of your problems, or analyze your way out, or self-pleasure your way out.  More money, more things, more ego-based connections, more pleasurable diversions, these will not resolve the fundamental sufferings of the ego.  They’ll only add to them.

However, Tolle is right in that letting go of the ego from a higher level WILL resolve the ego problems.  But doing so to simply “get rid of suffering” will only bring you right back into suffering.  “YAY, my ego is dissolved – OH CRAP! It came back.”  And you’ll be on that up-and-down ride forever.

Another foundational truth:  

People who are on their spiritual path are fundamentally happy, precisely because they are pursuing something above the level of happiness.  

Happiness is not joy, it’s not a state of being, it’s a lifestyle choice.  It comes when one has moved past ego-based living and is living at a higher level.  And at that level, happiness comes naturally.

If all you care about is pursuing joy through experiences, you will find some joy and long periods of longing for joy.  That’s ego.  If you are dead-set on avoiding pain, you’ll experience some non-pain and long periods of pain.  This is how desire works.  The absence of ego means the absence of that kind of desire.  You’ll still experience joy, pain, pleasure, sadness and everything in between, but without the judgment or longing for things to be a certain way.  You accept your temporal states of being as such in the present moment, and can do so with an underlying sense of calm and higher purpose.  And that underlying sense is what I refer to as “happiness.”

Happiness is really just a higher state of living, above the ego state.  It’s a requirement for those on serious spiritual paths.  You’ll notice all the more evolved spiritual people are naturally happy, even in their suffering.  Because they’re living outside their ego.

From this place, ego-based arguments and such (everything on Twitter) is irrelevant to one’s life.  The news media means nothing.  Politics – meh.  It’s entertainment, it’s a diversion. It’s annoying at times.  It also is an access point to see the truer nature of people it serves to “unmask” people who hide under masks.

And that hiding under masks is something a lot of coaches do.  I don’t mean to pick on Destin, but seeing him fall back into ego patterns has me question whether his “higher coaching self” was just a mask that I bought into so heavily I made it a reality for me.  I don’t think so, but time will tell.

The thing is, wherever you are in your spiritual journey, the ego is still going to snare you from time to time.  Sometimes I feel tired and stressed.  Sometimes I feel lonely.  Sometimes I feel angry, or sick, or experience physical pain.  Sometimes I’m enjoying sensory experiences and lose presence.  Sometimes I fall into habit or argue or whatever.  We all do. 

The difference for me is I’ve trained myself to operate at higher levels.  So I know how to get myself back there.  I catch myself and can do things to realign my energy.  But I’ve had years and years of training and practice at pretty high levels – something most people haven’t had.

That’s not me being prideful, it’s just the reality.  An untrained person seeking spiritual development might find some of the things I say and do to be downright unhelpful or dangerous.  So again, always go back to the basic question: “Am I serving Source or Self?”  

Also learn muscle testing or pendulum testing to ascertain the higher truth of things. 

Never take anyone’s word on things ever.  Because even the most well-meaning people operating at the highest levels slip up, and you don’t want to get snagged in their net.

I’ve pointed out a lot of the BS out there, and I’ll continue to do so.  Consider this the very basic ground rules for spiritual development. And keep in mind your service to Source is going to look far different than mine or anyone else’s.  (Take a gander at Etienne’s blog and what he’s being called to do – it’s pretty “out there” compared to what most of us are being asked to do.)  I think it’s important to keep in mind, as much BS as I point out, there’s plenty of it right here coming from me or anyone else. 

In the immortal words of Bob Dylan, “Don’t follow leaders.”  

If you’re serious about spiritual development, you need to step up and be your own spiritual leader or you’ll end up back in the bucket with the other crabs “searching” for the rest of your life, and who knows how many lives after that.

Hope this helps, and don’t take my Tweets too seriously.  I don’t.