Living Soulfully in Light of Modernity
An invitation to rescue your precious life from the mechanical forces trying to strip mine your soul, and live with more joy, connection and wholeness.
Our Souls have been colonized.
We don't feel ourselves as we should, alive, whole, joyful, connected. Instead, we're compromised, stressed, tired, hollow, and desaturated.
For all the good modernity has brought us, it has also robbed us of very valuable things.
The convenience and power of technology has robbed us of a regular sense of joyful connection with ourselves and our people.
The social forces of the technocracy have robbed us of meaningful engagement with a community.
And the pristine, pitiless rigor of rationality is a scalpel that as well as carving away thick layers of bullshit, has also carved away the vital nutrients of wonder and enchantment.
And things are not getting easier on any of these fronts.
This course is a an opportunity for us to reverse some of these currents in our own lives. To create more space for what matters, to practice connection with our most valued depths, and to expand our view of the world to include more than just the grinding mechanics of material reality.
Hi. Thanks for being here. I'm going to ask you to do something. This is not going to be a normal, passive reading experience. I want to start with an exercise.
Good? Please, actually do the exercise. It will take less than a minute, and then you can go back into "consuming information" mode.
Ok. I want you to pause your reading, and let a memory come to you of a time when you felt especially yourself, especially present, especially connected to life, and where your life felt meaningful. It might be a moment, or a whole period of time. But let the memory come, and just breathe a few breaths and feel what it feels like to remember that. Ok, close your eyes and begin.
Back?
Thank you! Most of us have had experiences where we it is easier to access joy, aliveness, a sense of meaning. It's the feeling that: this is it. This is my life. Not some fantasized future, longed for past, or alternative reality. But now, this, right here, right now, is where you are supposed to be, and you are being the person who is supposed to be here.
And notice, it doesn't have anything to do with the circumstances of your life. It's actually completely distinct from the circumstances.
Have you ever been in a situation that was hard. Maybe a loss, a breakup, a failure. And in the middle of the situation, you felt a grace appear. Suddenly, the sadness was a meaningful sadness. You were THERE in your life, and the moment was alive.
And conversely, have you ever been in a great situation in your life. Whether it's a relationship, career, home, money, all of the above, and not felt that meaning? Not felt that wholeness and connection?
Yes, the circumstances do matter for the quality of your life. But your circumstances actually cannot connect you with your soul, and equally they cannot disconnect you from your soul.
This is enormously good news! It means you don't have to wait for the right circumstances to reconnect with that sense of wholeness, connection, and meaning.
You can do it right now!
About The Course
Living Soulfully in Light of Modernity is a five week course to support you in doing just that.
It's part philosophical exploration, part community practice group, part accountability support for digital detox, with practices, readings, audio recordings, and weekly zoom calls to tie it all together.
You'll get
A weekly zoom call, where we'll explore the philosophy of the soul, and practices to live that philosophy in your daily life
Support and accountability for reducing your time spent with devices
Audio lessons on important concepts, including Deconstructing Metaphysics
Rich questions to practice with like minded explorers
Questions? You can message me here on Substack. Click my profile picture (the lion) at the top of this page and then the “Message“ button on the following page.
The Digital Detox
It's pretty crazy out there right now. Both the world, and its fevered mirror on social media. Given that, I think it is especially important for us to be disciplined in the information we take in, what, when, and how much. This course doesn't have a one-size fits all approach for managing technology use, rather it will support you in designing, and sticking, to a strategy that works for you.
Details
The synchronous part of the course will run over 5 video calls, each 75 - 90 minutes long, on Tuesday evenings at 6pm Mountain Time
Dates
Apr 15th, 6pm MT
Apr 22nd, 6pm MT
Apr 29th, 6pm MT
May 6th, 6pm MT
May 13th, 6pm MT
Tuition
$275
Reduced to $225 if you sign up before midnight MT on March 31st, or if you're a paid subscriber of this substack.
This Course is not for you if
You don't have 3 hours a week to dedicate to exploring this question (This time includes the weekly 90 minute calls)
You're not willing/able to reduce your screen time by any amount. It doesn't have to be a dramatic amount, but part of the program does include reducing your screen time. If you're already under an hour a day of screen time across all devices, this doesn't apply to you.
You want a self-study program with no interactions. While self-study can be enormously valuable, I believe that part of the practice of living soulfully is most supported by connecting with others engaged in the same practice. We lift each other up, and can see clearer and further by combining our lights.
You like concrete, fixed, definitive answers, and reproducible, mechanical processes, to lifes biggest questions