Gathering Data To Make Better Decisions | HFP Weekly
What to do if you feel stuck, and a weekly roundup of resources - including upcoming free classes you can attend inside the School for Living Science.
Dear friends,
Doing something out of the ordinary is a sure way to get new data. And if you ever feel stuck or unsure what to do, then you need new data.
We can’t make intelligent decisions - about our bodies, or relationships, or finances - without intelligent information to base our actions on. Ironically, however, intelligent information is often only accessible to us on the other side of an experience that, in itself, may or may not be intelligent. We won’t know if it is - or isn’t - until the deed is done.
Translation: we have to risk something in order to gain anything of value that we don’t already possess.
(Like wisdom).
Ignorance and humility is the only foundation from which we can become wise. Which means we have to risk feeling foolish, or messing up, in order to grow a little wiser.
What kind of data are we looking for, you might be wondering?
The more the better, honestly. But it depends on the problem.
▶ Are you trying to resolve chronic pain?
▶ Heal a relationship rupture?
▶ Navigate an existential crisis?
▶ Orient properly to the looming global economic or sociopolitical chaos?
The data you need could be physical or intuitive in nature; it could be philosophical, spiritual or intellectual; or it could come in the form of economic or social feedback. Or all of the above.
A word of caution:
Don’t let your tricky subconscious convince you that the data you need can be found inside your own head (right now, or after ruminating for weeks), or that it can be manufactured, or discovered - by you, somewhere in the messy cupboards of your cluttered psyche - before you take action!
That’s a trap.
The subconscious psyche (soul) is constantly attempting to tether us to a fixed subterranean position, regardless of how painful our present condition may be.
But do bear in mind that seeking the New means leaving the Old and the Familiar; it means foregoing the Comfortable; it means venturing into the Terrifying Unknown…because that’s where the New lives.
Did you know that terrifying has its root in medieval Latin for all things ‘earth’?
‘Terra.’
Many centuries ago this root word meant earthly or earthiness, but it was increasingly adapted to describe the unknown in its many manifestations.
Springing from this root we get the words terrain, terrestrial and terrible, which all came into use around 1500 as western European cultures began their obsession with exploring and conquering unknown lands (territory), which would require the people volunteering for those adventures to face innumerable risks, including almost certain death.
We use the word ‘terrific’ to describe surprisingly positive experiences or revelations that seemingly emerge out of Nowhere.
New data comes from taking new actions, and new actions mean new outcomes. But we are never guaranteed a positive outcome. Which is why venturing into the unknown feels so terrible and terrifying (and yet, it also often feels terrific) in the body.
What we are always guaranteed, however, is new information gleaned from those new experiences. And all information is useful. Especially the painful kind; but also what is given to us through unexpected triumph, or grace.
Questions to ponder if you’re struggling with a problem that you don’t know how to solve:
What must you do in order to see this problem from a totally different perspective or vantage point this week?
How can you take the problem itself into a novel context?
ARTICLE SPOTLIGHT
PODCAST SPOTLIGHT
Buddhism, Christ, Demons, God, Self Knowledge, Pain, Freedom | Rev. Jonah Evans
One of my oldest friends joins me for a three part series. This is the first of three, and we meander through Jonah’s journey from Buddhism and a self proclaimed “allergy to Christianity” to his surprising decision to become a Christian Community Priest.
We traverse a diverse landscape of ideas and realities, from demons and psychedelics to Rudolf Steiner’s maxim of freedom and the role that pain plays in our spiritual development.
UPCOMING CLASSES INSIDE THE SCHOOL
Member (re)Orientation Call: learn about living science, upcoming free classes, available courses and come meet us!
Tuesday, October 29th at 10:00 AM Pacific
The School for Living Science is devoted to uniting the facts of existence (earthly realities) with the world of ideas, and of ideals (spiritual realities).
Our aim during these, our founding years, is to apprehend true knowledge of the whole human organism - made of body, soul and spirit - in the context of our whole environment: society, planet and cosmos.
In particular, we are studying the true nature of pain (and how we transform it), and of degeneration (and how we regenerate), and of sickness (and how we heal).
You’re invited to join me, Elisha, and Stefan for this new member orientation call. I will share a bit about what living science actually is, and give you a tour of the resources currently available inside the School. Stefan will offer a tech walk through. And then we will open the call for questions.
✦
The Nature Of Pain And Freedom: Exploring The Physical-Spiritual Laws Governing The Human Organism
Thursday, November 7th at 10AM PST
The cry for freedom only arises in human beings because of pain, whether the pain is physical, social, political, economic or psycho-spiritual. These two mysterious phenomena are intimately linked.
Despite our intellectual and scientific advances the last few hundred years (or perhaps, because of them), we seem to believe that the human organism is governed by the same laws of physics and biology that are so measurable and repeatable in nature.
We are governed by those laws, too, of course. But we are beholden to higher laws also. And it is these that we must learn if we want to understand the true nature of pain and freedom.
Drawing from my own healing journey and 15+ years of experience working with thousands of people in pain, it is my belief that most pain is a catalyst for spiritual transformation. During this class we will explore - from the lens of living science - the seed of potential hidden in every experience of pain.
UPCOMING IN PERSON EVENT IN COLORADO
Apprenticing Pain + Tending To Our Terrain
February 23rd to 28th, 2025 | Longmont, Colorado
Early bird pricing until November 20th
This is a body-based workshop that will use the Kinetix method of partner fascia release and body mapping as a touchstone for our explorations.
Experience a more human and humane vision for healing that is relational, participatory and personally empowering.
We will explore what our senses communicate to us through our bodies about our internal and external terrain.
Our time will include partner fascia release, body based relational practices, guided self inquiry, group discussion, sessions/demos for mapping pain patterns, and meaningful connection.
During this 5 day workshop you will:
▶ Experience your YES and your NO as a felt experience in your body.
▶ Develop an informed and empowered relationship to pain.
▶ Tend the social and ecological terrain you’re embedded in.
▶ Nurture self trust and trust in your body’s innate wisdom.
▶ Build a toolkit for transforming pain.
Thank you for reading and joining me in the mission to develop a culture that honors the free unfolding of every human spirit.
With love,
Elisha