Upcoming In-Person Event: The Magical Guide to Surviving the Holidays
@ The Alembic in Berkeley, CA. Register here.​

The root cause of all the issues, all the challenges, all the problems in the world, all the political madness, all of it, is spiritual disconnection. That's a hill I'll die on.

Now, do not mishear me. I have said nothing about religion. I have said nothing about temple, church, synagogue, mosque, nothing like that. If you have any of those things in your life, that's fantastic, and I mean that. But if you don't, and even if you don't believe in anything, I promise you that you have your own version of spiritual connection if you have ever thought about your purpose, the meaning of life at large, and your role in your community or the world. To me, that's spiritual connection.

I'm just talking about the fact that there's, like, eight billion of us riding around on this tiny little rock in the middle of space, floating around super fast. How is that not mind-boggling? And why are we here, and what are we here to do?

So what does this have to do with spiritual disconnection being the root cause of all the economic and sociopolitical problems on Earth? If you trace back all of the problems we're having, you come back to an individual, or a set of individuals, trying to find meaning in a very dysfunctional way.

Case in point: I live in the Bay Area, so Silicon Valley is down the street. I'm not gonna name names 'cause it's unnecessary. You all know who they are. None of these guys ('cause they're all guys) are really in tune with their own lives, and they're seeking externally what they're never gonna find outside of themselves. No matter how much money they spend on technology, on rockets, on invading countries, on moving to the Southern Hemisphere, whatever it is they're doing, they're never gonna be able to find what's only found within, and that's spiritual connection.

The problem, of course, is that the people who need it the most seek it the least. All of these folks are on a mission to just do stuff bigger, faster, better, and there are quotes from some of them saying they do zero introspection, that it's a waste of time. You believe thinking about this incredible experience we're having on Earth is a waste of time? Oh, man, I don't know what to tell you. This is why we can't have nice things.

I had lunch with a friend recently who's not very religious at all (agnostic, at least), and I asked him, "So what's your practice? Basically, how do you stay sane?" And he said, "Cooking. I make the best steak ever. I play music. I teach my kids about music." So he has all these creative outlets, and we had this beautiful conversation about how creativity is a way of connecting spiritually, because there's something very abstract about expressing ourselves.

It's like there's this life force keeping us in these bodies, and we're transforming it into an expression: a beautiful, delicious meal our family and friends are totally gonna enjoy, or music that gives us that sense of being in flow, or that really moves the people listening to it. There's something of the mystery in that.

So again, this has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with what it means to be human. When I say spiritual disconnection, I mean disconnection from what you, individually, think it means to be a human being.

If you spend any time thinking and feeling into what we're here to do, what it means to be human, you're not gonna be searching outside of yourself for validation. You're not gonna be getting fancy cars to overcompensate for how little you feel inside, and you're not gonna be trashing the place.

I work in social change and have my whole life, meaning I try to contribute to cultural, political, and social movements that are fighting for rights for all, or creating avenues for a new way of being to emerge. And when I say a new way of being, I mean something different from the neoliberal capitalist system that's benefiting, like, five guys and screwing everybody else.

I do this work because it's what gives my life meaning. I wanna be on Earth dancing on the beach at sunset. I wanna be on Earth having really good food. I wanna be spending time with my friends and my family, just enjoying myself, reading books, and listening to music, and I want everybody else to have the chance to do those things too, their own version of that, whatever it is for them.

And I also do spiritual work, because without it, it wouldn't occur to me that that kind of work would give my life meaning. I'm not saying we all need to do that kind of work. I truly believe your work can be anything. And I don't mean a job when I say work. I mean what you're spending your days on this earth doing. Whatever that is, it's your own thing, and it's unique to you, because there's no other intersection of heaven and Earth that is just like you.

I don't think most people need to call their sense of meaning, or purpose, or reflection, or values a spiritual connection. But I do think there's a lot of overlap, and I use it as a shortcut. So whatever you wanna call it, that's your job to do for yourself, so you don't end up becoming one of those people leaking your BS all over the place, unconsciously, unbeknownst to you.

We know the people who most need spiritual connection are the ones least likely to look for it. And so those of us who are really walking this path have a ton of influence. We really do, because we get to model that instead of searching for more, more, more, being connected with ourselves and with the world around us is totally enough. It's a happy way to live, and we get a little bit closer to the world where everybody gets their own version of dancing on the beach at sunset.

I have a friend who always says the meaning of life is to live it. It sounds dumb, but it's actually super profound, and I think what she means is that nobody freaking knows, and who cares? Just freaking live it. So go live it, to the best of your ability, in the most meaningful, purposeful way you can find.

Courage, truth, and infinite love,

P.S. If you are in the Bay Area the week of Thanksgiving, I will be hosting an in person ritual at The Alembic in Berkeley on Monday, November 23 at 7:00 PM Pacific: The Magical Guide to Surviving the Holidays: A Grounding Ritual for the Holiday Season.

Magic is not a belief system, it’s a practice that works. Don’t believe me? Come try it out. If it doesn’t work, you lose nothing. But if it does… your dream life is about to begin! About Me →

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