Becoming "One of Those People"
A mini lesson on service, trust, personal power, and context
Oh man, am I really becoming one of these people!?
I've been experimenting with creating a lot of short form content both in video form on TikTok, Youtube shorts, and Instagram as well as Twitter. If you like my work and are on those platforms I encourage you to check it out using the links above.
**But promoting my stuff is not what this post is about.**
I'm going to be honest, I was quite hesitant to spend time on this stuff. Like does the world really need another talking head trying to become important? It's why I've largely not participated in social media for the past few years.
However, against my own resistance I kept getting guidance to try it out when my mind was quiet.
No thanks, I’m good! I’ll take a hard pass on having lots of people grasp at you for your time and attention which is what having an audience really feels like. I’m content just working on my evolution and being an under the radar entrepreneur while I start a family.
And then this pull would come up again and again in my awareness or the clues that reality would show me. At times, it kind of felt like Michael Singer being guided to start a spiritual community against his will when all he wanted to do is hang out and meditate in the woods. It turns out this is what the start of service often looks like.
Over the past few weeks, I finally gave it a whirl and it turns out that I really enjoy all this short form content stuff. One of my favorite things is to be in the spontaneous creative flow where ideas and connections just explode out of me.
There's something about short form media and video specifically, that bring forth that feeling of spontaneous flow that I love so much. I feel very alive and connected when I am in front of a camera. Kind of like writing, I don’t really rehearse, outline, or plan much besides the topic and things just flow in the moment. It’s a wonderful experience.
Inspiring and entertaining people has always been something I've loved since I was a little kid, but for a long time the conflicts of low self-esteem and more recently, a perception that these activities would hinder my spiritual growth prevented me from stepping into them. The dude setting up an iphone camera stand that takes himself seriously was literally the last person I wanted to be! 🤣
To get over the egoist perception of this activity, I really had to sit with what my intention was because I had such an aversion to what is driving a lot of creators or "influencers" on these platforms which is inflation of the ego. I'm trying to do the opposite!
Having spent a lot of time with this, I am very comfortable with my motive and intent which is to feel the creative joy of my dharma and as Jesus said, "spread the good news!"
Since the Troops exit, everyday it increasingly feels like a creative straight jacket has been lifted off of my shoulders and I can really create unabashedly. What you eventually realize is that the highest service to others is to do the things that make you feel alive and your heart sing. It is certainly not just doing what society’s programming tells you, you “should do” to be a good person.
You serve a lot more people by moving through the world with aligned energy and joy then begrudgingly volunteering on the weekend or mindlessly donating to things. Though, those are fine too.
My friend Pranab articulated this concept so well one night during a Satsang at my home that I wrote it down:
“Work is play is service”
This is your highest expression and biggest potential to help others. But to get there, you often need remove the impediments which are mostly patterns in your consciousness and learn to trust & prioritize your inner guidance.
This experience I just described is a great example of content vs. context. To advance spiritually, it is not the activity or content itself that must be investigated, but the motive and meaning behind it that matters. I wrote about this more in this post on Creator Consciousness and my assimilation of David Hawkins’ work. For anyone that is going really going for it spiritually, I really encourage you to get familiar with this concept. It is important to grasp if you truly want to transcend the artificial barriers that culture has created for you so that you can step into your love and personal power to become a “loving-powerful” force for good. Without the power part, life can steamroll you and your expression & impact will never reach its highest potential.
No doubt there will be the typical temptations the ego loves in this new endeavor with all the dopamine mechanics built into these platforms. But I feel quite prepared to move through it harmoniously…and what a wonderful growth opportunity!
I’m in Miami for the next 2 months and had fun making this video in my backyard. Turns out TikTok is actually pretty cool and there’s a lot of great content on spirituality and entrepreneurship on there.
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A “loving-powerful force”. Yes please. I have also been wrestling with the same thoughts. Should I start a Substack? What is my motivation?
Thank you for sharing your journey.
Big things to come 🙏