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Hey Jacob, Hi Scott

Hey Jacob, Hi Scott

By Jacob Nordby Scott Stabile

Writers Jacob Nordby and Scott Stabile sharing their uncut take on living in the world as sensitive people – keeping open hearts, learning, growing, and loving. Tune in and join the conversation.
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Episode 32: If you’re tuned to the rock channel, don’t expect to hear R&B

Hey Jacob, Hi ScottMar 01, 2022

00:00
01:04:07
Episode 55: Influence vs. Control – and how to walk with strength and compassion in a world at war

Episode 55: Influence vs. Control – and how to walk with strength and compassion in a world at war

It’s been a minute! Jacob and Scott are back after a six-month hiatus with the first episode of Season 3. After a fairly brief catch-up, they don’t waste much time before diving into the deep end and discussing the collective response to the war between Israel and Palestine. How do we keep our hearts open, how do we stay connected to compassion and love in the face of such monstrous actions?


The friends talk about how difficult it is to stay centered in love when invitations all around us are calling on us to hate. They discuss how they navigate these waters and what practices help them to remember their hearts. It’s a doozy of an episode after so much time away and highlights the honesty and vulnerability we’ve come to expect from and appreciate about them both.


Don’t forget to get Scott’s new book, Enough as You Are, available everywhere on October 17th! Find it here: https://amzn.to/46sBYE0

 

Here’s the piece of writing by Ori Hanan Weisberg, an Israeli citizen, that Scott began to share: https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=2276492825888934&set=a.122696751268563

 

Here’s the compassion practice Jacob shared: https://www.mindful.org/just-like-me-compassion-practice/

 

Jacob’s retreat in Sayulita in February: https://events.healcreate.org/mexico-yoga-creativity-retreat/

 

Scott’s retreat with David Gandelman in Bali in May: https://www.meditationschool.us/bali-retreat-2024


A Writing Room Collective – a place for writers and those who want to be. https://awritingroom.com/

 

“We're not on our journey to save the world but to save ourselves. But in doing that you save the world. The influence of a vital person vitalizes.” ― Joseph Campbell

Oct 13, 202301:04:46
Episode 54: Poisonous Caterpillars in New Orleans, How to Use the Healing Power of Pleasure, and Developing a Powerful Sense of Safety in Life
Apr 16, 202301:01:01
Episode 53: Triggers, Patterns, Authentic Self Expression, and How Not to Throw Out Your Best Self While Growing and Shedding
Apr 01, 202301:01:54
How to steal joy from uncomfortable situations with a key question
Feb 21, 202301:04:43
Episode 51: Enough light for the next step on the path
Jan 24, 202353:23
Episode 50: Developing meaningful rituals, community, and the truth of "this too shall pass"
Dec 11, 202255:22
Episode 49: Processing the funk when things feel destabilizing and overwhelming

Episode 49: Processing the funk when things feel destabilizing and overwhelming

In this conversation, Scott talks about the funk he’s been in, the loneliness he’s been feeling, and how his mind has had the reins for days and is hellbent on making him miserable. The friends talk about feeling destabilized and how difficult it can be sometimes, even if you’ve got all the tools, to work your way back to a more grounded place. They discuss holding space for life’s many contradictions, and that truth can live in exact opposite perspectives. They talk about how, as teachers, they approach discussing the times they’re struggling: whether to share while you’re in the midst of the struggle or to wait until you have some insights on the other side of it.

Nov 15, 202201:03:50
Episode 48: How to empower ourselves with good questions, choices, and five-minute actions
Oct 24, 202255:42
Episode 47: Living with a scarcity mindset robs you of the life you are meant to live – and what to do about it

Episode 47: Living with a scarcity mindset robs you of the life you are meant to live – and what to do about it

*Note: The previous episode 47 was deleted due to Scott’s audio disappearing at the 10-minute mark. This is the rerecorded episode 47.

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott take a deep dive into creating more abundance in our lives — financial, spiritual, creative, emotional, and every other type of abundance we seek to call forth. They talk about their current experiences doing the daily practices from The Abundance Book, by John Randolph Price, and how beneficial resting in the boundless energy of abundance can be for even five minutes a day. They describe their shared understanding that the Source energy within us all is the foundation and the supply for unlimited abundance, and their belief that this energy is working on our behalf. Though some of the ideas may seem a bit woo-woo, Jacob and Scott bring a clear groundedness to the topic of abundance and offer up practices that can help shift you from a scarcity to an abundant mentality.

Heal + Create Writers' Retreat with Anne Lamott, Julia Cameron, SARK, and other teachers:

https://www.healcreate.org/writer-retreat/ref/5/

Join Scott for Online Breath & Belonging on Wednesday, October 19th: https://yestothebreath.eventbrite.com

Join Scott for Online Breath & Belonging on Thursday, October 20th: https://breathworkrocks.eventbrite.com

Join Scott for a FREE guided breathwork session through Jacob’s Heal + Create community on Sunday, October 23rd: https://www.healcreate.org/event/breathe-your-way-home-a-special-breathwork-session-with-scott-stabile/

Check out The Abundance Book, by John Randolph Price, that Jacob and Scott refer to throughout this episode: https://www.amazon.com/Abundance-Book-John-Randolph-Price/dp/1561703478

Oct 16, 202201:13:46
Episode 46: Shamanic Journeys, the Life-Changing Medicine of Abundance and Gratitude, and more
Sep 21, 202201:03:32
Episode 45: Holding space, owning our private hypocrisies, and centering in our souls to navigate a destabilized human era
Aug 10, 202201:06:53
Episode 44: Breaking out of jail – how self-discovery opens the door to self-acceptance and freedom

Episode 44: Breaking out of jail – how self-discovery opens the door to self-acceptance and freedom

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the difference between trying to fix yourself and working to accept yourself, quirks and all. They discuss how the self-help culture makes it easy to get lost in the desire to change ourselves, when what serves us better is acknowledging who we really are, with compassion and love. They talk about the benefit of teachers, as long as they recognize the power to create healing lives within the students, and dependence upon a teacher or guru is not only unnecessary but likely harmful. The friends dive into the Enneagram a bit (as Scott tries to figure out his type) and acknowledge whether it’s with the Enneagram, astrology, Meyer’s-Briggs, or any other system of understanding oneself, the aim is to create more acceptance and healing around whatever personality traits are yours to work with. Oh, and they talk about envy and the other less desirable aspects of the human mind.

“I was a neurotic for years. I was anxious and depressed and selfish. Everyone kept telling me to change.

I resented them, and I agreed with them, and I wanted to change, but simply couldn't, no matter how hard I tried.

What hurt the most was that, like the others, my best friend kept insisting that I change. So I felt powerless and trapped.

Then, one day, he said to me, "Don't change. I love you just as you are."

Those words were music to my ears: "Don't change. Don't change. Don't change . . . I love you as you are."

I relaxed. I came alive. And suddenly I changed!

Now I know that I couldn't really change until I found someone who would love me whether I changed or not.” - Anthony DeMello

Scott’s Santa Fe workshop this weekend with Ruthie Lindsey: https://loveyourselfwhole.eventbrite.com

Scott’s Detroit Breathwork workshops in August: Saturday, August 20th: https://saturdaybreath.eventbrite.com Sunday, August 21st: https://sundaybreath.eventbrite.com

Jul 23, 202201:02:06
Episode 43: How to live through the apocalypse
Jul 07, 202201:05:08
Episode 42: Living into the experiment of real miracles, weird forms of prayer, and taking care of our whole self parts in difficult times
Jun 09, 202201:05:41
Episode 41: grappling with Uvalde, making the possible changes and working toward what seems impossible but important, and reclaiming moments of sanity
May 27, 202201:05:43
Episode 40: the problem of purpose, the keys to inner sanity are already in your hands, and managing cognitive dissonance
May 19, 202201:09:14
Episode 39: Moving kindly and with humanity through depression; dealing with the inner war; and a guided meditation with Scott at the end
May 12, 202201:06:41
Episode 38: What to do about abortion, our problem of evolving ethics, and antidotes to fear
May 05, 202201:25:43
Episode 37: Balancing empathic reactions, choosing from a clear place, and how breathing will fix anything in your life
Apr 21, 202256:52
Episode 36: What you resist persists, Scott's eating "way too much garbage," and Jacob's preternaturally large head

Episode 36: What you resist persists, Scott's eating "way too much garbage," and Jacob's preternaturally large head

Apr 13, 202201:09:47
Episode 35: The paradox of seeking the highest good in life, plant medicine, breathwork, and more
Apr 05, 202201:09:03
Episode 34: On boundaries and learning to be in relationship with the bumpy, quirky, weird fuckers we all are

Episode 34: On boundaries and learning to be in relationship with the bumpy, quirky, weird fuckers we all are

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott take a deep dive into friendship and relationships in general. As heartbreaking as it can be to part with a close friend, why do we not have any break-up rituals for it? The friends talk a lot about boundaries, what they actually are, and how to enforce them, as well as the need (as difficult as it can be) for honest dialogue within relationships. We hold back the truth for so many reasons, none of which moves a relationship forward in a clear and healthy way. They discuss moving forward after parting ways without closure or having all or any answers as to why things went down the way they did.


By poet, feminist leader Adrienne Rich:

An honorable human relationship — that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word “love” — is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.

It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation.

It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity.

It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.

Mar 18, 202201:11:48
Episode 33: Breathwork, Kundalini Erections, and the Spiraling Nature of Inner Growth
Mar 09, 202258:33
Episode 32: If you’re tuned to the rock channel, don’t expect to hear R&B

Episode 32: If you’re tuned to the rock channel, don’t expect to hear R&B

It’s been a couple of months, but Jacob and Scott are back with their first episode of Season 2. In this conversation, the friends talk about the stories we tell about ourselves, how important it is to become aware of them so we can extract ourselves from them, and the necessity for committed gentleness throughout the process. They discuss how it feels to be guided in our choices, by energy or forces that seem to exist outside of ourselves, and how the practice of being open to guidance, from the natural world as an example, creates more opportunities for guidance to present itself. They invite us to look at where we are forcing versus allowing. The focus is on self-love and offers some basic steps we can take right now to align ourselves with more of it. It’s a joyful and heart-opening launch to the second season!


Click here to visit Scott Stabile's Bigger Love substack page

The Reading: 


"It's one thing to acknowledge how difficult this life can be, but it's another thing to focus on it, to talk about everything that feels wrong all the time, to act like there is only darkness and misery here. In our compulsion not to deny the harsh realities of this unpredictable existence, we often end up denying the extraordinary beauty. We focus our gaze on division and blind ourselves to real connection, we seek out examples of brutality and ignore the many moments of kindness, we bind ourselves to the opinions of others and silence the deep wisdom of our hearts. In our effort to avoid spiritual bypassing we pass right by the endless exhibits of love on this planet, within this humanity, from one to another and another to one. There is so much hardship here, yes, too much, and there is so much beauty too. Where are you looking and what are you looking for?" – Scott Stabile

Mar 01, 202201:04:07
Episode 31: Glow Sticks, Faux-Fur Boots, and High Jumps – Happy New Year

Episode 31: Glow Sticks, Faux-Fur Boots, and High Jumps – Happy New Year

In this New Year’s Eve conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the New Year, and specifically what intentions they hold going into 2022. They discuss remaining fluid as we try new things, not locking ourselves into habitual patterns unless of course, those patterns continue to work for us. They talk about trust, in ourselves, and in life in general, and how the deeper we are able to trust, the more courageous we become in our self-expression. And vice versa. The friends reflect on some listeners’ submissions and invite everyone to enter the new year with an openness to more abundant self-love and the love of others as a guiding force in our lives.

Enroll in Scott's "Imagine It"online intensive: CLICK HERE

Enroll in the Heal + Create virtual retreat: CLICK HERE

Attend Jacob Nordby's open gathering, Creative Healing: the Poems & Poetry of Paul David Shea: CLICK HERE (Jan 5 for live gathering or click to watch the replay!)

From Toko-Pa Turner's book, Belonging: Remembering Ourselves Home

I believe we have more than enough creativity to solve the problems of our times, but we have to make a perilous trek into the wilderness within to reclaim it.

There is a stand of undeveloped jungle within each of us, that can never be domesticated. It is a borderless land, beyond personality and convention, even beyond thought, where pure creativity arises. Like the signature song of a tropical bird, the spiraling of an arbutus tree, the evening scent of a jasmine bush, there is an essence in each of us intended to be expressed. Few make the trek into this creative wild because the path requires great vulnerability. To come into our true originality, we must surrender the layers of numbness we use to protect our hearts.

Dec 31, 202147:21
Episode 30: Practicing New Spells – Language, Feelings, and Aligning with Our Longings

Episode 30: Practicing New Spells – Language, Feelings, and Aligning with Our Longings

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the difference between “I am” and “I feel” when talking about how we’re feeling, and learning to be present with our emotions without becoming them. They talk about not being committed to things playing out the same way they often played out in the past. How can we be intentional about creating different outcomes for holidays or seasons that have proven to be difficult? They discuss opinions versus truth, as well as the limitations created by all of the polarization in our world. When we get locked in our own certainty, we remain closed to new information and ideas. When we stay open to alternative ideas, we are likely to create more bridges of communication and understanding. 

RESPONSE REQUESTED: The friends ask listeners to go to heyjacobhiscott.com and share a desire they’d like to create for this new year, as well as something they want to release.

Scott’s January workshop, Imagine It!: https://imagineit.eventbrite.com

Jacob’s February retreat, Heal + Create: https://healcreate.org/?sld=1

Scott’s Substack newsletter: scottstabile.substack.com

Poem:

Go to the Limits of Your Longing, by Rainer Maria Rilke

God speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.

These are the words we dimly hear:

You, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.

Flare up like a flame
and make big shadows I can move in.

Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
Just keep going. No feeling is final.
Don’t let yourself lose me.

Nearby is the country they call life.
You will know it by its seriousness.

Give me your hand.

Dec 21, 202101:06:27
Episode 29: Practicing the Art of Belonging – to Ourselves
Dec 10, 202101:16:27
Episode 28: Choosing and living into your worth
Dec 03, 202151:00
Episode 27: Amazing wisdom barfed all over you

Episode 27: Amazing wisdom barfed all over you

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the difference between being responsive and reactionary. How can we grow in our truth without needing to turn others into enemies? How can we connect to the humanity in everyone, even those we vehemently disagree with? They discuss using questions as a way of interrupting negative, often self-abusive energy. What happens when you ask yourself, “What is love inviting me to do at this moment?” The friends dive into self-love (as always!) and remind us of the importance of acknowledging the ways in which we are showing up for ourselves in loving ways. Everything is energy, after all. When we focus on how loving we are, we are that much more likely to be that much more loving.

Affirmation from Chani Nicholas: 

“Honoring my lineage sometimes looks like a radical departure from my family system, patterns, and propensities. Showing love to all those that brought me here includes being brave enough to heal what they could not.”

Oct 25, 202101:10:14
Episode 26: Tell me the truth, as long as it’s what I want to hear

Episode 26: Tell me the truth, as long as it’s what I want to hear

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about healthy and unhealthy communication, and the struggle to be as honest as we feel called to be with those we love, and with ourselves. Do we really want the truth, even when it’s something we don’t want to face? They discuss the power of listening without needing to offer an opinion or advice and the power of being heard without needing to be fixed. The friends dive into the differences between heart-centered and ego-centered communication, offering tools to keep us in our hearts more often.

Reading, by Adrienne Rich

An honorable human relationship — that is, one in which two people have the right to use the word “love” — is a process, delicate, violent, often terrifying to both persons involved, a process of refining the truths they can tell each other.

It is important to do this because it breaks down human self-delusion and isolation.

It is important to do this because in doing so we do justice to our own complexity.

It is important to do this because we can count on so few people to go that hard way with us.

Oct 20, 202101:08:01
Episode 25: Psilocybin, Paradoxes, and the Incredible Complexity of Living Through a Renaissance Era

Episode 25: Psilocybin, Paradoxes, and the Incredible Complexity of Living Through a Renaissance Era

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about a recent plant medicine journey Scott took in Austin and the ways in which it opened him up to the expansiveness of his masculine and feminine energies (and everything in between). This led to them discussing sexuality and gender and the growing rapidness with which our world is evolving around these and other realities, and how that can feel exciting and/or destabilizing, depending on one’s perspective. The friends talked a lot about lived experiences, and how important it can be to partake of stories from others who are having different lived experiences than you, how that creates a pathway to understanding and to offering compassion and love for one another.

Reading, from The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle

“Once you have disidentified from your mind, whether you are right or wrong makes no difference to your sense of self at all, so the forcefully compulsive and deeply unconscious need to be right, which is a form of violence, will no longer be there. You can state clearly and firmly how you feel or what you think, but there will be no aggressiveness or defensiveness about it. Your sense of self is then derived from a deeper and truer place within yourself, not from the mind. Watch out for any kind of defensiveness within yourself. What are you defending? An illusory identity, an image in your mind, a fictitious entity. By making this pattern conscious, by witnessing it, you disidentify from it. In the light of your consciousness, the unconscious pattern will then quickly dissolve. This is the end of all arguments and power games, which are so corrosive to relationships. Power over others is weakness disguised as strength. True power is within, and it is available to you now.”

Oct 11, 202101:15:01
Episode 24: Now is the new black

Episode 24: Now is the new black

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about befriending the present moment. The future is an illusion, and the past is no longer, so all we ever have to work with, to be with, is the present. The now. The friends discuss the power of playing witness to your thoughts, remembering that you are the sky and not the weather, that you are no more your mind than you are your arms and legs. Your mind is a part of you, yes, but not the whole of you. When we remember to observe rather than become, we stand to create much more ease and peace in our lives, no matter what is happening in the outside world, or in our minds. They talk about ways to create grounding rituals during destabilizing moments and times, and how the energy of intention adds power to whatever rituals and habits we create. And, Jacob reads from the Mystical Shaman Oracle!

Submit your questions, comments, arguments at www.heyjacobhiscott.com

Reading: The Child, from the Mystical Shaman Oracle deck ( https://amzn.to/3uGToul )

THE ESSENCE:

The Child knows the way to joy and happiness. The Child offers the return of a second innocence, a time born of wisdom and not of naiveté. This card allows you to correct your course and offers you a second chance. It brings you the possibility of redemption and entering heaven while on Earth.

THE INVITATION:

The Child is here to release you from the habit of being yourself, and to help you acquire a beginner’s mind so that you can see life as if for the first time. Remain open to learning and discovery. Who is your spouse or partner today? Can you see them with fresh eyes? Who is looking back at you in the mirror this morning? Become a mystery unto yourself and reconnect with a sense of childlike wonder.

THE MEDICINE:

The Child comes to show you how you can correct the course of your life without being punished. Set yourself free from your conditioning for suffering; you were born unfettered and happy and can be so again if you make the choice right now! The Child will help you climb out of the hole you may have dug yourself into, to recover your sense of play.

Oct 04, 202101:09:44
Episode 23: The Uncomfortable Magic of Uncertainty

Episode 23: The Uncomfortable Magic of Uncertainty

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about cognitive dissonance, the ease with which we disregard information that goes against our ingrained understanding of things, or of ourselves. They talk about the importance of not being so fixed in our ideas, in holding space for openness, in being willing to learn, even when it’s uncomfortable to do so. The friends discuss the importance of being proactive when approaching a new reality, asking good questions, setting oneself up for successful transitions with intentional communication and action. They also talk about our deep connection to the natural world, the endless lessons being provided to us by nature, and the deep truth that it is not nature but humans that need the saving.

Reading, from The Overstory, by Richard Powers

We found that trees could communicate, over the air and through their roots. Common sense hooted us down. We found that trees take care of each other. Collective science dismissed the idea. Outsiders discovered how seeds remember the seasons of their childhood and set buds accordingly. Outsiders discovered that trees sense the presence of other nearby life. That a tree learns to save water. That trees feed their young and synchronize their masts and bank resources and warn kin and send out signals to wasps to come and save them from attacks. “Here’s a little outsider information, and you can wait for it to be confirmed. A forest knows things. They wire themselves up underground. There are brains down there, ones our own brains aren’t shaped to see. Root plasticity, solving problems, and making decisions. Fungal synapses. What else do you want to call it? Link enough trees together, and a forest grows aware.

Sep 23, 202101:02:41
Episode 22: You’re a hypocrite and I am, too

Episode 22: You’re a hypocrite and I am, too

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about hypocrisy, about the ways in which we have a tendency to judge others for doing the very things that we ourselves do. They discuss the importance of being honest with ourselves if we really want to grow, and taking ownership of our hypocrisies when they show themselves. The friends talk about social media, the way in can distort connection and incite people to be aggressive in ways they would likely never be in person. And, with the help of some words from Marianne Williamson, they ponder our capacity to be powerful beyond measure, and that our fears are not always rooted in our inadequacy but in our potential for radiance.

Reading, by Marianne Williamson from her book, A Return to Love:

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Sep 09, 202101:06:09
Episode 21: We're all f*cked so follow your heart

Episode 21: We're all f*cked so follow your heart

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the importance of honoring your soul, despite the fears and insecurities that push you to do otherwise, despite a lifetime of conditioning and the expectations of others, despite the ease with which we can choose to pretend and play small. They talk about developing our capacity to listen — to nature, to our inner-beings, to the mysteries and miracles all around us. The friends reflect on this time in our reality, when they and many across the globe are choosing to honor what’s true for them, as scary and difficult as that can be. They talk about energy and momentum and how much sense things can make when we start paying attention to our choices and noticing what those choices create.



Today’s reading, from Emma Zeck:

hey guys, i wanted to let you know that i checked the news today and Fox and CNN and NPR and the NYT all had one very important announcement to make: everything is absolutely fucked!!!!!!!!

so if we’re gonna be f*cked,

there’s no time for blinking

or thinking

or shrinking!!!!

we must f*ck good and deep and long!

call it a day! call it a life!

there’s only time for buying every jar of parmesan and making cheese candles! i don’t know! sell them!

sneak into every abandoned castle in the city! marry an owl! makeout every day! clap your feet at the concert! wear heelies!

move to Tibet! become a sheep herder!

prank call your ex! spend all your money!

dress in a jellyfish costume for no reason!

decorate your home with parrot feathers!

dazzle your neck with salami links!

speak with a british accent!

convince everyone!

only eat spam for the rest of your life!

lose all your teeth!

go to jail in a foreign country!

become a member of parliament!

Tuesdays are for powdered wigs!

tell someone off! there are 4 million

reasons

we

are

all

totally

f*cked!

so walk around with a unicorn head!

request the pizza be delivered by donkey!

take scuba gear for the bathtub!

rent a clown for the day!

decide you hate your job! quit!

start a business! fail horribly!

embarrass yourself!

go back to the high school!

disguise yourself as the janitor!

put shrimp in the vents!

take up competitive dog grooming!

get your heart broken! cry about it!

then ride off on a horse!

you’re now on the back of a motorcycle in Zimbabwe!

tell the woman she has spinach in her teeth!

wax your nipples in public!

kiss every person on the street!

tell every stranger you love them!

sell your entire wardrobe!

only wear bedazzled hobble skirts!

pierce your buttcheeks!

disappear! change your name to Regina! reappear! wear a tophat!

it’s 90 degrees! wear fur to the beach!

have your own parade! make a victorian float!

invite no one!

wear a lampshade over your head!

run into everyone!

twerk down the boardwalk!

show up to the party naked!

ride a bull! adopt 30 cross eyed cats!

join the circus! backflips every night!

hopscotch every morning!

throw away your phone!

only communicate via pigeon!

flower petals for eyelashes!

live til you’re 120!

retire at 25!

jetpack or unicycle instead of a car!

who cares!

the news says we’re f*cked!

bye!!!!

Aug 26, 202101:09:23
Episode 20: Medicine In a World of Pain

Episode 20: Medicine In a World of Pain

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the collective grief and overwhelm so many of us are feeling in the wake of tragedy after tragedy, and how to stay sane in a world mired in insanity. The friends discuss Scott’s past month camping across the country and the many gifts given to us through Nature. They remind us how important it is to pay attention to where we give our energy and make choices from a deeper awareness about what does and does not feel good. They end the episode by guiding listeners through a short meditation to center us back into our hearts, into our connection to divinity, into love.

Aug 18, 202101:01:03
Episode 19: Getting naked, stripping codependence, and talking to shadows

Episode 19: Getting naked, stripping codependence, and talking to shadows

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about feelings of unworthiness, and the importance of distinguishing between what is real and what is true. So often what we believe to be true is in fact a distortion of our mind. They discuss nudism, and conditioning as it relates to what could be considered natural ways of being. How would you be showing up differently in your life if you felt less bound to your conditioning – if you weren’t as concerned with the opinions of others? The friends also respond to a listener’s question about knowing whether to invest in a difficult friendship or to walk away.

“Your task is not to seek for love, but merely to seek and find all the barriers within yourself that you have built against it.”

Rumi


Books Jacob mentioned: 

Co-Dependent No More – Melody Beattie 

Scream Free Parenting – Hal Edward Runkel

Jul 26, 202101:04:24
Episode 18: Life as a dynamic, intuitive jungle dance with the universe

Episode 18: Life as a dynamic, intuitive jungle dance with the universe

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the importance of choosing yourself over the expectations of others, and the challenges of other people’s opinions and projections when you make choices that align with your truth. They discuss the importance of listening and allowing, rather than trying to force certain narratives or feeling bound to old stories. How can we be more fluid than constricted in our day-to-day experiences? What happens when we consciously consider our well-being in all the choices we make, even and especially in environments that don’t naturally consider our well-being? The friends remind us all that when you honor your truth, and trust in its guidance, you will be led to something (many things) beautiful.

Readings:

From Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson

“Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. There is something infinitely healing in the repeated refrains of nature -- the assurance that dawn comes after night, and spring after winter.”

A Little Bit of Everything, by Dawes

With his back against the San Francisco traffic,

On the bridges side that faces towards the jail,

Setting out to join a demographic,

He hoists his first leg up over the rail.

And a phone call is made,

Police cars show up quickly.

The sergeant slams his passenger door.

He says, 'Hey son why don't you talk through this with me,

Just tell me what you're doing it for.’

'Oh, it's a little bit of everything,

It's the mountains,

It's the fog,

It's the news at six o'clock,

It's the death of my first dog,

It's the angels up above me,

It's the song that they don't sing,

It's a little bit of everything.’

An older man stands in a buffet line,

He is smiling and holding out his plate,

And the further he looks back into his timeline,

That hard road always had led him to today,

And making up for when his bright future had left him,

Making up for the fact that his only son is gone,

And letting everything out once, His server asks him,

Have you figured out yet, what it is you want?

I want a little bit of everything,

The biscuits and the beans,

Whatever helps me to forget about

The things that brought me to my knees,

So pile on those mashed potatoes,

And an extra chicken wing,

I'm having a little bit of everything.

Somewhere a pretty girl is writing invitations,

To a wedding she has scheduled for the fall,

Her man says, 'Baby, can I make an observation?

You don't seem to be having any fun at all.'

She said, 'You just worry about your groomsmen and your shirt-size,

And rest assured that this is making me feel good,

I think that love is so much easier than you realize,

If you can give yourself to someone,

Then you should.

'Cause it's a little bit of everything,

The way you choke, the way you ache,

It is waking up before you,

So I can watch you as you wake.

So in the day in late September,

It's not some stupid little ring,

I'm giving a little bit of everything.

Oh, it's a little bit of everything,

It's the matador and the bull,

It's the suggested daily dosage,

It is the red moon when it's full.

All these psychics and these doctors,

They're all right and they're all wrong,

It's like trying to make out every word,

When they should simply hum along,

It's not some message written in the dark,

Or some truth that no one's seen,

It's a little bit of everything.

Jul 22, 202101:06:26
Episode 17: Is it My Intuition or the Voice of Fear?
Jul 08, 202156:41
Episode 16: You Are Not a Machine + Real Life Magic + Surrender Avenue
Jul 01, 202101:11:60
Episode 15: Growing Deep Healthy Relationships

Episode 15: Growing Deep Healthy Relationships

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott dive into the complexities of relationships, and the need in sustainable relationships — whether romantic, platonic or familial — for honest communication and a desire to grow together. The friends draw on their own experiences in past relationships to highlight the healthy and unhealthy ways they’ve shown up with others, and with themselves. They discuss the importance of speaking the things that continue to be left unsaid, and trusting that by doing so, you move a relationship forward, even when forward doesn’t look like you’d expect. Above all, the friends invite us to consider the relationships to which we give our most energy and whether or not that energy is well served.

Reading: Pema Chödrön

“The only reason we don't open our hearts and minds to other people is that they trigger confusion in us that we don't feel brave enough or sane enough to deal with. To the degree that we look clearly and compassionately at ourselves, we feel confident and fearless about looking into someone else's eyes. ”

Jun 22, 202101:13:30
Episode 14: The Power of Yes

Episode 14: The Power of Yes

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the ways in which we can curate our choices to create more peace, or joy, or meaning in our lives. They discuss the importance of giving yourself over to the energy of YES when it comes to your relationship with yourself, and thereby inviting in your imagination to create new possibilities in your day-to-day. The friends invite us all to look at where we’re centering our focus and how we feel by doing so, and to remember that the more we allow for thoughts, words and actions that feel empowering, the more empowered we naturally become. Rather than a reading, they end this episode with a guided visualization that carries us away to one of Scott’s favorite places on the planet.

Jun 15, 202101:06:56
Episode 13: Crooked Teeth and Hairy Backs

Episode 13: Crooked Teeth and Hairy Backs

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about body image, and their personal relationships with their bodies. They reflect on how we’ve all been conditioned to see only certain bodies as beautiful, and how difficult (seemingly impossible) it can be to transcend this harmful conditioning. Especially for women, because the conditioning is that much more intense. Both share deep-seated insecurities they carry and how their relationships with these insecurities have and have not changed. As they explore the body-positivity movement, they also look at our excessively triggered society and realize they are triggered by how triggered people can be. This is one of their most revealing conversations to date.

Readings: Anne Lamott

“Oh my God, what if you wake up someday, and you're 65, or 75, and you never got your memoir or novel written, or you didn't go swimming in those warm pools and oceans all those years because your thighs were jiggly and you had a nice big comfortable tummy; or you were just so strung out on perfectionism and people-pleasing that you forgot to have a big juicy creative life, of imagination and radical silliness and staring off into space like when you were a kid? It's going to break your heart. Don't let this happen.”

“Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor, the enemy of the people. It will keep you cramped and insane your whole life, and it is the main obstacle between you and a shitty first draft. I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it.”

Jun 08, 202101:07:55
Episode 12: Creativity, Commerce, Success, and a Radical Reorientation to the Inner Voice

Episode 12: Creativity, Commerce, Success, and a Radical Reorientation to the Inner Voice

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about the many aspects of sharing oneself, either creatively, spiritually, or from a healing perspective. They look at the need to focus on the specific gifts you feel called to share, rather than on how many people respond to those gifts, or how they respond, or how much money your specific offerings generate. The friends talk about money dynamics and hone in on our energetic relationship with money (and all things) and the possibility and benefit of realigning ourselves in healthier ways to money (and all things). They discuss establishing an aware yet friendly relationship with our egos, and the beautiful possibilities that come with allowing the heart to lead and the mind to act as support staff. Embedded in much of this discussion, as always, is a call to get honest with ourselves, and to trust in what that honesty, when aligned with love, can create in our lives.

Books mentioned:
The Gift by Lewis Hyde

Sacred Economics by George Eisenstein

The Soul of Money by Lynne Twist

Reading: Tosha Silver

Divine Beloved,

Allow me to give with complete ease and abundance,

knowing You are the unlimited Source of All.

Let me be an easy open conduit for Your prosperity.

Let me trust that all of my own needs are

always met in amazing ways

and it is safe to give freely as my heart guides me.

And equally, allow me to feel wildly open to receiving.

May I know my own value, beauty and

worthiness without question.

Let me allow others the supreme pleasure of giving to me.

Let me feel worthy to receive in every possible way.

Change me into One who can fully love, forgive

and accept myself so I may carry your Light

without restriction.

Let everything that needs to go, go.

Let everything that needs to come, come.

I am utterly Your own.

You are Me.

I am You.

We are One.

All is well.

Jun 01, 202101:05:59
Episode 11: To Forgive or Not To Forgive

Episode 11: To Forgive or Not To Forgive

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott take a deep dive into forgiveness. Does everyone deserve forgiveness? Is it a necessary part of healing? How do we (if we even want to) forgive the unforgivable? Scott shares his process of finding forgiveness for the man who killed his parents, and by doing so relieving himself of years of rage, hatred and blame. The friends talk about the path to forgiveness, the unhealthy pressure to forgive, fake forgiveness, and self-forgiveness. It’s an incredibly powerful episode focused on one of the most provocative and important subjects out there.

Here’s what Scott read, by Mark Nepo:

I have seen myself doing what was done to me, 

never as cruel or as harsh. 

But it has been enough to make me tremble at how easy it is 

to be cruel when afraid, and how difficult it is to accept 

that we are all capable of terrible things, 

and how cleansing it is to realize that 

true kindness breathes just beneath this acceptance.

May 25, 202101:11:57
Episode 10: You have a right to be here

Episode 10: You have a right to be here

In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about dealing with loneliness and disconnection, particularly during this time in our world where there is such uncertainty and so many calls for separation and divisiveness. They reflect on core questions like “Who am I?” and “Why am I here?” and the importance of being able to answer these questions from a practical as well as spiritual level. They also dive into conditioning, specifically around the compulsive need to be productive. Both Jacob and Scott share, with openness and vulnerability, their current struggles and how they’re currently navigating through some of life’s less pleasant waters. This is perhaps the deepest and most expansive episode to date.

Here’s the poem Jacob read: 

Desiderata by Max Ehrmann

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,

and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible without surrender

be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly;

and listen to others,

even the dull and the ignorant;

they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,

they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,

you may become vain and bitter;

for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;

it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs;

for the world is full of trickery.

But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;

many persons strive for high ideals;

and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.

Especially, do not feign affection.

Neither be cynical about love;

for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment

it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,

gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.

But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.

Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,

be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,

no less than the trees and the stars;

you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,

no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,

whatever you conceive Him to be,

and whatever your labors and aspirations,

in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,

it is still a beautiful world.

Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

May 18, 202101:07:36
Episode 9: Finding Courage at the Crossroads

Episode 9: Finding Courage at the Crossroads

*This episode was recorded at cabins in the woods on both ends! There was a tech glitch near the end but we cleaned that up as well as we could, you'll just miss the usual sign-offs. 


In this conversation, Jacob and Scott talk about…

* the rollercoaster of thoughts that play through our minds

* remembering our humanity within whatever we’re feeling

* the intensity of these current times and the many uncertainties

* making time for nature, no matter where you are (plants!)

* the power of visualizing nature through meditation

* not “shoulding” our thoughts away, not even the hard ones

* the fears and insecurities we feel at major crossroads

* how we stay in miserable situations just to avoid the fear of change

* our soul’s desire for evolution, not comfort

* Jacob’s decision process in ending his marriage

* the importance of focusing on the potential benefits of a change, especially because our minds will always focus on the negatives

* the ability within each of us to call on our courage, to be willing to be courageous

* distinguishing between an intuitive impulse and an ego-driven impulse

* taking small steps when making big changes

* the willingness to consider our comfort, especially in uncomfortable situations

* our inherent intuitive gifts

* Jacob’s experience doing the exercises he recommended in his own book

Here’s the poem Scott read today, by e.e. cummings:

I thank You God for most this amazing day

For the leaping greenly spirits of trees

And a blue true dream of sky

And for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes

I who have died am alive again today

And this is the sun's birthday

This is the birth day of life and of love and wings

And of the gay great happening illimitably earth

How should tasting, touching, hearing, seeing, breathing any

Lifted from the no of all nothing

Human merely being doubt unimaginable You?

Now the ears of my ears awake

And now the eyes of my eyes are opened

May 11, 202157:44
Episode 8: Cabin Fever
May 03, 202101:04:38
Episode7: Yes, rest for the weary

Episode7: Yes, rest for the weary

In this episode, Jacob and Scott talk about the importance of rest in a world bent on productivity, as well as their respective understandings of what God is, and how the divine manifests in our beings and in our world. Happy Full SuperMoon in Scorpio!

Here’s what Scott read today, from Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer:

Even a wounded world is feeding us. 

Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy. 

I choose joy over despair. 

Not because I have my head in the sand, 

but because joy is what the earth gives me daily and I must return the gift.

Apr 26, 202101:04:56
Episode 6: The Powerful Space Between Stimulus and Response

Episode 6: The Powerful Space Between Stimulus and Response

In this episode, Jacob and Scott talk about…

* the teachers we choose and the expectations we place on them

* the shift away from the guru/disciple paradigm

* their respective experiences in their cults

* our proclivity to put our teachers on pedestals as better than

* the inherent pull of cult-like behavior in most of us

* the difference between belief and knowing

* the importance of getting in touch with our own inner truth and knowing

* the parallels between cult and culture

* the human compulsion for safety and certainty

* how fear directs our responses to one another

* the power of teachers who act as guides rather than gurus

* the difference between doubt and fear where our knowing is concerned

* tools, like meditation, walking, and journaling, to create more peace in our lives

* the power of being intentional with our choices

* the importance of micro-practices for creating a more centered reality

* the gap between stimulus and response as a place of power

Books mentioned:

Inner Gold: Understanding Psychological Projection by Robert A. Johnson

Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl

Here’s what Jacob read today:

I wish I could show you, when you are lonely or in your darkness, the astonishing light of your own being. - Hafiz

Apr 20, 202158:07