A Personal Update Post
Emerging from my book writing cave
If you like my writing, feel free to click the ❤️ or 🔄 button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack 🙏
It’s been a minute since I’ve written here outside of posts about new podcasts.
I enjoy highlighting the wisdom from new guests, but it also feels much less personal and intimate relative to when I was writing essays regularly.
I wanted to share some more personal updates on what’s been going on with me.
Book
In December 2022, what was supposed to be a casual catch up lunch with a friend turned into a deeply vulnerable and healing conversation. We “went there” on many of the parts of our lives that usually go undiscussed. At the end of our lunch he told me it was one of the more meaningful conversations he could remember.
Later that day, I was in the shower and started to receive very clear downloads that I needed to write a book. I liked writing, but never seriously considered a book. I guess I didn’t know what I’d write about.
The downloads came through as a very loud and direct voice in my awareness. Part of the role of the book was to give others permission to share and express more of themselves. The other part was intended to highlight a more integrated approach to consciousness evolution which just happened to be my own story.
I started writing the next day and have been working on it since with varying intensity. The book has evolved quite a bit over time, but the thrust of it is how you can bring your desire to grow spiritually and live a materially fulfilling life together, so that they work synergistically.
This dual pursuit was very confusing for me at various points in my journey. It kind of feels like I’ve been writing the book I wish I had 4-5 years ago. I guess that’s how these things work.
In February 2023, I started working with an editor and I just finished my 4th revision last weekend. The process has been a beast. It’s why I haven’t been writing here as much because most of that energy has been channeled to creating something that I hope will stand the test of time.
It’s been a ton of work, but I’m really thrilled how it’s shaping up. In my last round of beta reading one reader told me it was one of the most helpful books they’ve ever read. Another told me their mind chatter has rapidly diminished since applying the information. Someone else created a screensaver for themselves depicting quotes and concepts related to trust. Given the effort that's gone into it, it’s really exciting to get this type of feedback. It feels good to have some confidence that what I’m creating will help others.
I’ve learned a lot about writing a book and will definitely write more about this someday. The main piece of advice I have is that you probably shouldn’t write a book, unless you can’t not write it. That’s how mine felt. It just needed to come out of me. This natural force is what keeps you going on the many days you’re staring at a blank page or the massive wall of text you need to revise.
Continuing Studies
Over the past year, I’ve invested in much more training. This feels like a natural development for me. It’s been nearly 6 years of pretty intense, continuous inner work that is now being channeled in a way that can more directly help others.
I’m about to complete my level 1 RenXue teacher training. The training covers an immense amount of ground in the realm of consciousness, Qigong, and transformation. On a practical level, it’s intended to help you teach Qigong and facilitate Qi healing.
One thing that has become clear to me is that learning about metaphysical concepts and practically applying them are two very different things. Knowing everything is composed of energy (Qi) is cool, but doesn’t really do much to change your life. You need to take the steps to learn the underlying mechanics of how Qi works and its relationship to your consciousness’s unrealized capacities to really begin applying it. Overall this training has been phenomenal.
I have also been taking Aletheia’s level 1 training. The founder of Aletheia Steve March was a former podcast guest. What compelled me to take the training was that the Aletheia method so closely mirrored something I noticed in my experience. I’d collected a variety of inner work tools over the years and would find myself dynamically toggling between them depending upon what presented itself in my practice.
Steve created what he calls a depth ontology that acknowledges this development and shows you how can dynamically work with a series of practices based on what’s unfolding.
The training has been very thorough and mainly focuses on teaching you to facilitate parts work and process work. Process work is similar to focusing and forms of somatic experiencing.
I also just finished the Art of Accomplishment master class. I first learned about Joe Hudson’s work late last year. It immediately resonated with me because so much of my journey has been recognizing the relationship between self awareness, realizing my purpose, and empowering me to be more resourced to live into it.
This view of spiritual development that is directly integrated with your everyday life in a way that empowers it has been my path. It’s quite different than the historically compartmentalized way many people treat spirituality which is one of the reasons I was excited to discover Joe’s work.
Overall the master class experience was great. Relative to every other online learning experience I’ve been a part of, this was by far the most immersive and dynamic. One thing I appreciated about the course is that it approached self awareness from different angles than I’m used to. This helped me discover and confront subconscious patterns about myself that I might have otherwise missed. One of the ways it did this was conducting exercises in a group container which is a different dimension than the primary focus of my regular practices.
I admire Joe and what he and his team are creating. I definitely recommend Master Class and his other courses!
Personal Life
My daughter Anastacia (Stassi) just turned 1! Everyone around me has been saying wow, I can’t believe how the time has flown, but to me the sense of time feels just right.
I love being a parent. I can honestly say there hasn’t really been a moment where I’ve felt like it's been any sort of burden or cramp on my style. If anything, my simple family lifestyle feels cozy and more authentic.
Relative to the rhetoric I heard about parenting, this seems like a minority view. I got so many “enjoy the freedom while you can” warnings etc. This doesn’t resonate with me at all. My current lifestyle just feels like an evolution into greater meaning and new experiences that align to what I care about.
To all the aspiring parents out there, parenting can be awesome (even if you have a lot going on.)! This is especially true when you treat every moment that you’re disturbed as your next opportunity for consciousness evolution.
This year has been a travel fest.
The first half of the year we did a relocation exploration. I currently reside in Austin Texas. We spent 2 months in Costa Rica and 6 weeks in South Florida closer to family. The idea was to explore places that felt more aligned/supportive from an energy and health standpoint, as well try living closer to family now that we have a daughter. We also went to Greece for 6 weeks this summer to see extended family and escape the Austin heat. Here’s a picture of Stassi and me goofing around in Crete.
At this point, I feel traveled out.
Even though Austin is 100 degrees right now, it feels good to be in the comfort of my home. As for the future, I signed a 6 month lease in Costa Rica next year. The intention is to more deeply explore what living a more nature-connected lifestyle feels like. I wrote a bit more about some of the reasons I liked it down there here.
One thing I’d share is that I noticed a lot of underlying consciousness patterns related to all this moving around. These ranged from relocating to avoid discomfort to getting ahead of danger. Both point to an underlying lack of safety. I am grateful I was able to finally see these clearly and work on healing them. I’m interested in how these shifts impact my perspectives on living outside the U.S. next year.
New Projects and Inspiration
In addition to the book, there’s a few other things I have been putting energy into which include the EvolutionFM podcast and a community.
For the past 2 years, I’ve basically just followed my creative energy by doing the things I naturally felt pulled towards. After so many years of prioritizing activities based on some means to an end, living this way has been incredibly enriching. I know a lot of people will read this and think that it seems unrealistic for them. It must be nice Scott that you can do this after selling a startup to a big company!
I feel incredibly grateful that some of the things that have happened professionally in my life have created a financial cushion. However, I assert that the reason most people don’t live this way is because of the information in their consciousness. They hold unconscious beliefs and patterns that make them perceive prioritizing the things that make them feel good each day as an unsafe an ineffective strategy. This is just a concept, and my own experience leads me to believe it’s not a very good one. What if inspiration was an underlying intelligence that created better outcomes?
Consciousness patterns are the real blocker that prevent people from living a more creative, intuitive, and trusting lifestyle. It’s why I'm so passionate about evangelizing consciousness evolution relative to other uses of energy that never really create true freedom.
As I’ve written about before, it doesn't matter how much money you have if you’re just a subject to unconscious patterns. In fact, a lot of the wealthiest people I know seem to be most beholden to their patterns around keeping money or needing to make more of it. Some money may be able to help you move around the confines of the box you see the world through a bit more easily, but you’re still living inside a little box that was thrust upon you by your conditioning.
What ironically feels like a growth edge for me is starting to take more intentional authorship to the projects I work on. After many years of tightly shaping and gripping whatever I’ve worked on, I’ve kind of tilted to the opposite end of the pendulum and been entirely in flow with what’s emerging.
This has been useful in a lot of ways, including realizing this is actually very safe and effective. However, I’m starting to feel a greater desire to bring more intentional shaping to the things I work on. This feeling coincides with a more authentic confidence that has been blossoming over the past 6 months. I will write more about this development at some point, but TLDR it’s easy to be confident when everything is going your way. Try being confident when nothing goes your way.
There’s situational confidence dictated by what’s happening in the world around you and then there’s unconditional confidence. Developing confidence with less conditionality often occurs through a stripping down process that can happen in spiritual evolution. It’s through this process that you can become aware of the subconscious blockers that stand in the way of a more authentic inner trust and autonomy. It feels like I am starting to emerge on the other side of that in a more meaningful way and it feels great.
With that being said, I’ve been thinking about the form factor of this newsletter and ways to improve it. One thing I was curious about is how you like getting emailed about new podcasts. Let me know in the survey below:
If you have other suggestions for the podcast, let me know in the comments. I love doing it and want to make it as useful as it can be.
As for what’s next, it feels damn good to get a bit of a breather from writing the book. I’m excited to have the headspace and bandwidth to bring more intention to some other things I’ve been working on. These include the podcast, community building, and exploring a new business that I am pretty jazzed about. I also feel excited to have the juice to write more here and on other platforms.
As far as the book goes, I will definitely keep you apprised on developments there. After this next round of editing, I’m hoping I can start to move towards the production process to create a real book, but we’ll see!
Much love,
-Scott
If you like my writing, feel free to click the ❤️ or 🔄 button on this post so more people can discover it on Substack 🙏
Coming here via the Surrender posts, which are wonderful. The topic of your upcoming book seems so relevant to most people. Because for every 'just so' story of a Michael Singer, there are for better or worse countless others who fail to pursue their dream or find tragedy. What about the people that play video games all day and live at home? Most of them will not found spiritual empires.
Since you do such a great job answering comments (thanks for that, and for writing!), there are two questions at the top of my mind:
1) We'd likely agree that central to existence at all is a notion of "God" or "The Tao" or whatever you'd personally like to call it, in our lived experience. But then how to hear the voice of God if you've never heard it before and don't have it speaking to you directly in your daily life?
2) What do you think about evil? Do you believe it exists and can lead conscious beings away from truth? If it does, should it then be resisted and not surrendered to?
They say, Light attracts Light and this post found me when I am exactly at the juncture of all you have described. I am blessed too that my previous professional life cushioned my journey from the financials and skills I could use in my creative work presently. I have been shown to also write a book but now, I am stuck still. The split focus is not serving me well, in fact my anxiety level shot up as I stare into the blank paper. I had too may topics to narrow from. Is it going to be a consciousness book, or stories from my past, or a satire to the clown world i see outside of me, man so many! But a beautiful download as i took my early morning walk washes me (again information is Light) surrendering to not knowing is where the downloads enter. Somehow I was given this experiences to clear my old limiting beliefs to give way of all the new packets of data that i can now use as my muse. Thank you brother. All the Best in ALL you do! As we heal, we grow. Om Shanti :)