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Stay Sparked #38 - "Wonderfully Weird" image

Stay Sparked #38 - "Wonderfully Weird"

E38 · Stay Sparked
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6 Plays2 years ago

Is "weird" an insult or a compliment? What holds us back from expressing our weirdness? Why is it so important to courageously share our weird?  And how can we support others in their expressions? 


HOSTS

BETSY FINKLEHOO is a healer of massage therapy, CranioSacral and Dharma Coaching. She is an 8 year burner and has spent the last several years seeped in the personal development world, cultivating her passion for transformation and growth. Her recent project, The Power Affirmation Journal and virtual group empowers women to cultivate self awareness and healthy habits so they can live in greater freedom, mind body and spirit.
http://poweraffirmation.com/

Click here to get a FREE affirmation for Stay Sparked Listeners!




HALCYON is full-time Love Ambassador. He is the founder of Hug Nation YouTube channel and daily zoom gratitude circles. He is co-founder of the Pink Heart Burning Man camp and the 1st Saturdays project for people experiencing homelessness. In his free time he coaches individuals on how to live joyfully and authentically. His other podcast is "Hard on the 80's."
http://JohnStyn.com

JANUS REDMOON is a 10-time Burner, and has spent the last several years as an advocate for psychedelic medicine research and treatment. He is the founder and CEO of NuWorld Nutritionals, a nutritional supplement company providing mushroom-based, all-natural products to improve and maintain health for both body and mind.  (Use code "SPARKED" for 10% off)
http://www.nuworldnutritionals.com



MASSIVE Thank you to Dub Sutra for their beautiful opening music. Check out their incredible music catalogue online.
https://dubsutra.com

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Transcript

Introduction to Stay Sparked Podcast

00:00:02
Speaker
Welcome to Stay Sparked.
00:00:04
Speaker
On this show, we explore how to stay inspired in the modern world through the most profound lessons from Burning Man, relationships, entrepreneurship, psychedelics, spirituality, travel, and more.
00:00:17
Speaker
On today's episode, we're going to get wonderfully weird.

Embracing Weirdness and Reducing Judgment

00:00:21
Speaker
We talk about some of our own unique expressions in the world and how we curb some of our judgment of other people's weirdness in the world.
00:00:29
Speaker
Talk about how important it is to listen to our inner truth and let our weirdness shine even when the world's trying to hold you back.
00:00:36
Speaker
Enjoy the episode.
00:00:39
Speaker
Welcome to Stay Sparked.
00:00:41
Speaker
We are three friends who have been sharing conversations and lighting each other up for over a decade.
00:00:47
Speaker
And now we like to have those conversations public and share them with you.
00:00:51
Speaker
If you are liking these conversations, we hope that you will tell your friends and leave us a five-star review.
00:00:57
Speaker
Like this one from San Diegan, who said the hosts are both spiritual and practical, but most of all, they are fun to listen to.
00:01:05
Speaker
They share their life stories and lessons learned in a way that is humble and curious, not preachy.
00:01:11
Speaker
And they center on being grateful for it all.
00:01:13
Speaker
And they're not afraid to laugh at themselves.
00:01:15
Speaker
Thank you, San

Expressing Gratitude and Acts of Kindness

00:01:16
Speaker
Diegan.
00:01:16
Speaker
Please leave us more fun reviews like that.
00:01:19
Speaker
How can we not laugh at ourselves?
00:01:21
Speaker
Have you seen my other two hosts?
00:01:25
Speaker
How dare you?
00:01:27
Speaker
I am Halcyon.
00:01:29
Speaker
And I'm Betsy.
00:01:31
Speaker
And I am Giannis.
00:01:32
Speaker
And we like to start these broadcasts with a little bit of gratitude.
00:01:37
Speaker
Betsy, would you share a little gratitude with us?
00:01:40
Speaker
Yes, I am so grateful today, every day, but especially today because I am filled up from four days with some dear friends, soul family reunion.
00:01:51
Speaker
And my biggest gratitude is for all the littles.
00:01:54
Speaker
It's been so, so wonderful to get to spend time with these young little people that are part of our growing family.
00:02:03
Speaker
So I'm really, really grateful for all the little people in our community.
00:02:08
Speaker
Yeah, I was at the same gathering.
00:02:10
Speaker
And yeah, I have a similar gratitude.
00:02:12
Speaker
Those little people are great.
00:02:13
Speaker
I really got to connect with them.
00:02:14
Speaker
That was a lot of fun.
00:02:15
Speaker
My particular gratitude, though, is for the shelter that my partner and I ended up staying in.
00:02:21
Speaker
I acquired a
00:02:22
Speaker
and idome from idomeshelters.com and uh this thing was amazing it's a hexagonal dome went up in just like eight minutes i think and it was fit a queen-size bed in it it was awesome it was great got to stargaze it's very comfortable for my partner and i and i'm this one of the best purchases i've made in a long time so yeah and i don't check it out people nice
00:02:48
Speaker
I am grateful this week for this practice of shared gratitude that I've been doing and I keep inviting listeners to come join me.
00:02:56
Speaker
This weekend, someone shared, it was a gentleman who is stuck in bed in his home and has been for a very long time.
00:03:03
Speaker
And he shared about a neighbor that heard him mention that he liked tamales.
00:03:08
Speaker
And so the neighbor brought him homemade tamales and the intense gratitude that he felt
00:03:15
Speaker
was so moving and it was such a beautiful reminder that how much we can affect people with little gestures, you know, like we think that we need to, you know, solve world hunger, but sometimes bringing food to a neighbor that is lonely can dramatically change the world.
00:03:34
Speaker
And I'm just super grateful for those kinds of examples.

Exploration of Weirdness and Societal Judgment

00:03:40
Speaker
And I'm also grateful for today's topic.
00:03:44
Speaker
Today, we're going to be talking about being weird.
00:03:48
Speaker
Weird.
00:03:48
Speaker
Weird.
00:03:50
Speaker
Weird.
00:03:50
Speaker
Let's be weird.
00:03:51
Speaker
Let's get weird.
00:03:52
Speaker
Yeah, we're going to get weird.
00:03:53
Speaker
It's time to get weird.
00:03:54
Speaker
So this was inspired.
00:03:55
Speaker
I had a little 11-second video go viral last week where I basically said, when people call me weird, my response is, oh, thank you for noticing.
00:04:07
Speaker
I worked so hard at it.
00:04:09
Speaker
And it hit a nerve with people and the responses, both positive and negative have really gotten the juices thinking about being weird.
00:04:18
Speaker
And what does that mean?
00:04:21
Speaker
And when does it feel good?
00:04:22
Speaker
When does it feel bad?
00:04:23
Speaker
And I'm gonna make an assumption that we all self identify as weird.
00:04:30
Speaker
And so, Betsy, would you share something weird about you?
00:04:35
Speaker
Hmm.
00:04:37
Speaker
Yes.
00:04:38
Speaker
Yeah.
00:04:39
Speaker
I definitely feel weird.
00:04:40
Speaker
There's been a lot of times in my life where I'm like, oh, wow, I really don't fit in.
00:04:44
Speaker
I'm so different.
00:04:45
Speaker
I feel so weird.
00:04:46
Speaker
I don't, I don't know how I'm like, yeah, how am I even here?
00:04:51
Speaker
Um, okay.
00:04:51
Speaker
So I sometimes feel really weird.
00:04:54
Speaker
Um, when I, um,
00:04:59
Speaker
I'm the only person on the beach or in nature that I'm like dancing full out.
00:05:05
Speaker
So I really love dancing.
00:05:08
Speaker
It's such a huge part of my mental health, my physical health.
00:05:12
Speaker
And I've gotten to a place where I just embrace being that weird girl on the beach dancing her butt off.
00:05:20
Speaker
I used to really get shy around doing that.
00:05:23
Speaker
I really wanted to do it.
00:05:24
Speaker
And then I would do it.
00:05:25
Speaker
And then I could see somebody walking kind of down the beach towards me that I would stop because I didn't want to be perceived as weird or judged.
00:05:33
Speaker
And I just wouldn't do it.
00:05:35
Speaker
And then I realized, well, it doesn't really matter.
00:05:39
Speaker
what other people think.
00:05:40
Speaker
And now I have no shame about being that weird girl on the beach who is just like rolling around in the waves, doing yoga, dancing, playing a full adult as acting like a child that might be perceived as weird.
00:05:54
Speaker
And I love being weird in that wave.
00:05:56
Speaker
See, I want to challenge you in that statement that it doesn't matter because it matters in such a wonderful way.
00:06:03
Speaker
Because I think that when we see someone dancing like that, it is this reminder that you're allowed to do that.
00:06:12
Speaker
You know, I think everybody experiences that voice that you used to have, which is being embarrassed.
00:06:17
Speaker
What are people going to think?
00:06:18
Speaker
What are people going to think?
00:06:19
Speaker
And most of us are so limited by that, myself included, that when we see somebody shining and dancing and
00:06:26
Speaker
and, and allowing the world to see their weird, it's a little bit of a liberation.
00:06:33
Speaker
It's like, oh my gosh, they can do that.
00:06:35
Speaker
They can do that.
00:06:37
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:37
Speaker
And you know what?
00:06:38
Speaker
Sometimes people are going to be like making up stories around it.
00:06:41
Speaker
Like that's awesome.
00:06:42
Speaker
Oh, cool.
00:06:42
Speaker
She's totally expressed.
00:06:43
Speaker
And some people might make up other stories around that is really weird.
00:06:46
Speaker
I can't believe that person's doing that.
00:06:48
Speaker
And I love the saying, it's none of my business what other people think.
00:06:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:53
Speaker
Yeah.
00:06:54
Speaker
And it's, I mean, there's kind of a lot to unpack just with that because it's the gamut of reactions that somebody would have to that is, is large where somebody is like, Oh, that's yeah.
00:07:08
Speaker
You're allowed to do that.
00:07:09
Speaker
And then it's like, well, why are we allowed to do that?
00:07:12
Speaker
Should we be allowed to do that?
00:07:13
Speaker
Why?
00:07:14
Speaker
Who wants to see that?
00:07:15
Speaker
And then it reminds people,
00:07:17
Speaker
yes, that that is allowed.
00:07:19
Speaker
And then it can almost like it's, it's, you know, the whole world is like, it reflects us back to ourselves.
00:07:23
Speaker
So when somebody sees somebody, certain people see somebody dancing with wild abandon on the beach, it could also potentially remind them that, yeah, I've, I've wanted to do that, but I haven't done that.
00:07:34
Speaker
So it kind of reminds them of their own, or it could potentially remind them of their own repression and whether that's self repression or societal repression.
00:07:43
Speaker
So there's, there's,
00:07:45
Speaker
know expressing ourselves in this in these being our authentic weird selves brings up a lot for for a lot of people it could potentially bring up a lot so it's there's yeah there's much to uh unpack with that yeah i had a experience after my first couple years at burning man in you know 98 99 and i think in about 2000 i was lamenting to my partner at the time that i wish i could wear fur pants you know year-round because i have so much more fun when i'm wearing fur pants
00:08:15
Speaker
And they looked at me and they're like, and the reason you don't is because.
00:08:21
Speaker
And I'm like, oh, shit, I'm afraid of judgment.
00:08:24
Speaker
I'm afraid of people thinking I'm weird.
00:08:26
Speaker
And that's not a good enough reason if it's really going to bring me joy.
00:08:29
Speaker
And so I started actively wearing fur pants when I went out in downtown and places where it was not considered acceptable.
00:08:38
Speaker
And
00:08:39
Speaker
The reactions, many people were like, right on, right on.
00:08:43
Speaker
Uh-huh.
00:08:43
Speaker
Woo.
00:08:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:08:44
Speaker
Because they're feeling that little bit of like, oh, cool.
00:08:46
Speaker
This is a little bit permission slip.
00:08:48
Speaker
And then there were definitely people who got triggered and would lash out and would attack.
00:08:54
Speaker
And it's a common one would be homophobic responses.
00:09:00
Speaker
And I really thought of it as like, this is my activism.
00:09:04
Speaker
There is an art to inviting these responses.
00:09:10
Speaker
But another part of that was that a good friend of mine said, I don't want to go out with you anymore when you do this because I know that you are welcoming this, but it is so hard for me to witness people being hurtful and mean to you.
00:09:24
Speaker
that I, it's not my, I don't have the strength to be in the presence of that.
00:09:30
Speaker
And I was like, oh, damn.
00:09:33
Speaker
You kept going.
00:09:35
Speaker
Yeah.

Authenticity and Self-Expression

00:09:36
Speaker
Exactly.
00:09:36
Speaker
The first time I ever saw you, I was driving down the street of San Diego and I saw this guy with a pink furry bike and pink hair and this beautiful woman who is also dressed in pink.
00:09:49
Speaker
And it was like, whoa, who are those people?
00:09:52
Speaker
They're so magical and wonderful and weird.
00:09:55
Speaker
And I remember that was the first moment I met you.
00:09:58
Speaker
It really drew me to you.
00:09:59
Speaker
And who would have thought like 15 years later, here we are, you know, so there's a lot of positive things that can come out of it, but I'm sure there's a lot of people that maybe drove by you that day and, you know, had their own internal, you know, crunch inside that was really challenging to witness, you know?
00:10:16
Speaker
So thank you for being willing to be one of the outwardly expressed weirdos.
00:10:22
Speaker
It's part of that, you know, I feel this, you know, with great opportunity is great responsibility and that by being exposed to communities where we were allowed to be weird and we're allowed to radically self-express that it would be
00:10:37
Speaker
unfair, it would be almost cowardly to hide that from the rest of the world because I'm afraid of what the responses would be.
00:10:45
Speaker
So that's why I've had, you know, not currently, but had pink hair for most of the last 20 years and why I ride my
00:10:53
Speaker
pink fur, Burning Man bike year round to kind of confront that.
00:10:59
Speaker
And I think that I often think of the hair and the overt pinkness is kind of like, or any type of visible overt weirdness is like a moat.
00:11:10
Speaker
where you're repelling people that don't want it to have anything that aren't ready for it and you invite people in.
00:11:15
Speaker
So the number of people like you, Betsy, they're like, that's interesting.
00:11:20
Speaker
You know, we're connected and the people that are like, who to who, that person is not going to approach me and talk to me.
00:11:28
Speaker
I think there's something that also that the negative response, because I've given it a lot of thought as people drive by in a truck and yell something, and it's almost always a truck, not always, but generally it's a truck when somebody yells something.
00:11:41
Speaker
And
00:11:42
Speaker
I think that there is something about seeing someone who is acting in a way that is outside the box, that triggers people and makes them a little resentful.
00:11:53
Speaker
And it reminds people that they are following the rules.
00:11:56
Speaker
They have made compromises in their life.
00:11:58
Speaker
They go to work on time.
00:12:00
Speaker
They wear the clothes and do the hair, all the things that they're supposed to.
00:12:04
Speaker
And when they're confronted with an example of someone breaking the rules,
00:12:08
Speaker
You have two choices.
00:12:09
Speaker
You can either say, wow, I guess the rules are allowed to be broken.
00:12:14
Speaker
Or you say, fuck that guy.
00:12:17
Speaker
You know, you either have to change your worldview of what's okay or attack that person for threatening the worldview.
00:12:24
Speaker
So I understand.
00:12:25
Speaker
And it's, it's a,
00:12:27
Speaker
but it's it's still it's worth it i think that's why i find it so important to create spaces and find people that support weirdness is because it matters it's helpful yeah and it's not everybody's cup of tea like you said you know you had a you have a friend who was like i i can't be around that negative energy that you sometimes attract because i just i just don't have the strength for that or they just it's just not their preference which is fine but yeah but we that's part of the
00:12:57
Speaker
the weirdness in how we show up, weirdness in how we present ourselves to the world.
00:13:04
Speaker
When it's authentic, that's the gold part of that.
00:13:07
Speaker
Because I think there's a lot of people who
00:13:11
Speaker
want to be weird, quote unquote, for the shock factor of it, because they want to shake people up.
00:13:16
Speaker
It's not because that's, you know, that's just who their authentic self is.
00:13:21
Speaker
Their authentic self wants to shake people up and they're going to do whatever it takes to make that happen.
00:13:26
Speaker
That's fine.
00:13:27
Speaker
If that's your, that's your approach.
00:13:30
Speaker
But I think there's something
00:13:33
Speaker
something to be said for, because I think we all have a weird part of weird side to us that we, sometimes we, we, we only really let that out when the, when the blinds are closed and the doors are, the doors are locked.
00:13:47
Speaker
But other times like being, being that authentic weird self out in the world feels good.
00:13:53
Speaker
And that's part of why we do it.
00:13:55
Speaker
We're not interested in people's response.
00:13:57
Speaker
I mean, if it looks, it's a positive response for people.
00:13:59
Speaker
That's, that's great.
00:13:59
Speaker
That's like a,
00:14:01
Speaker
That's like the icing on the weird cake.
00:14:03
Speaker
But yeah, as long as that's authentic and we are showing up in that.
00:14:09
Speaker
I know that's when I was younger and trying to figure out who I was, I knew there was something weird.
00:14:17
Speaker
But I didn't know what aspect of that was weird.
00:14:19
Speaker
So I would try on weird jewelry or weird clothes.
00:14:23
Speaker
And some things felt okay, but it never really quite felt weird.
00:14:29
Speaker
right until I realized that my weirdness wasn't necessarily connected to fashion.
00:14:34
Speaker
It was connected to worldview.
00:14:36
Speaker
So I became that person who kind of looked normal in my dress, but had weird things to say and had weird things to share.
00:14:45
Speaker
And people would just be like, wow, I never looked at things that way.
00:14:49
Speaker
And I'm like, yeah, it's weird, isn't it?
00:14:51
Speaker
So, but...
00:14:54
Speaker
I remember you saying some very weird things to me when we first met.
00:14:57
Speaker
I was like, this dude's awesome.
00:14:59
Speaker
Dude, it's awesome.
00:15:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:00
Speaker
Thanks.
00:15:00
Speaker
Yeah.
00:15:01
Speaker
And we're keeping it weird ever since.
00:15:03
Speaker
So, yeah.
00:15:03
Speaker
So it's important to kind of like, you know, examine the gamut of weirdness and be like, okay, so yeah, sometimes it's weird.
00:15:10
Speaker
We present as weird and sometimes we speak, you know, we speak out our weirdness and our beliefs are weird.
00:15:17
Speaker
And the same, you know, could have the same result.
00:15:19
Speaker
People are like, oh, I don't buy into that at all.
00:15:21
Speaker
That's weird.
00:15:22
Speaker
you should keep your mouth shut and other people would be like oh that's a that's an interesting way of looking at the world tell me more so yeah you get uh you get both positive and negative no matter how we present the weird can i share one of the memories of a weird conversation we had oh sure sure why was this not too many years ago at least a decade ago and we were talking about relationship to trees
00:15:47
Speaker
And you told me a story about having this tree that you had a relationship with that was like at this being, right?
00:15:57
Speaker
That you kind of fell in love with, that you connected with in this very deep, meaningful, intimate way.
00:16:03
Speaker
And I had never met anybody that had a relationship with a tree like that.
00:16:07
Speaker
And I thought that was so weird and so awesome.
00:16:10
Speaker
And it opened me up actually to connect to this living being
00:16:15
Speaker
there's they're everywhere.
00:16:15
Speaker
They're living beings.
00:16:16
Speaker
Trees are beings.
00:16:18
Speaker
And it was yeah, it was wonderfully weird.
00:16:22
Speaker
Yeah, I dated a I dated a girl briefly whose whose previous boyfriend or whose previous lover was a tree.
00:16:30
Speaker
And that was the first time I'd ever heard about that kind of thing.
00:16:34
Speaker
I heard of tree hugging hippies, but not.
00:16:37
Speaker
Yeah, it's not that level of tree loving of intimacy.
00:16:40
Speaker
And that was that was like, oh, that's weird.
00:16:42
Speaker
But but cool.
00:16:44
Speaker
Yeah.
00:16:44
Speaker
You know, I think what we're speaking about too here is I feel like the people that we surround ourselves with, it's so important, right?
00:16:53
Speaker
To feel that we are spending time with people who celebrate our unique expression, our wild weirdness, our just many different facets of who we are.
00:17:05
Speaker
And the more that we allow ourselves to be expressed in that, then it will filter out the people that don't really support us.
00:17:13
Speaker
Like you were saying, Halcyon, I think that's really powerful to kind of have that moat, to be able to know that there's certain people that I want to spend time with that celebrate my weirdness, that are in support of my many, many layered feelings.
00:17:29
Speaker
expression of who I am and then that helps to make it blossom and grow even more and then it filters out the people that are not in support of that and I know I personally want to spend time with people that that are also wonderfully weird and that's why I love the festival culture you know it is a beautiful playground to express in different ways and I also feel like this conversation of weirdness is access point to our inherent nature to play
00:17:59
Speaker
to be the innocent child-like expression of who we are as adults, right?
00:18:05
Speaker
That can tend to go, you know, in the back.
00:18:09
Speaker
You know, we don't, we forget how to play.
00:18:12
Speaker
And it's a vital part of our wellbeing to be able to find joy and play.
00:18:18
Speaker
And I think weirdness is an access point to play.
00:18:22
Speaker
We can learn so much from children and how weird they are.
00:18:25
Speaker
Totally.
00:18:26
Speaker
Totally.
00:18:27
Speaker
Yeah, I think that, I mean, I was, I'm imagining that each of you, you know, you mentioned having
00:18:32
Speaker
interactions with littles over the weekend, I would imagine that you witnessed some weirdness because there is this authentic expression that is without bounds of cultural supposed tos.

Cultural Influences on Weirdness

00:18:43
Speaker
And it's in those places that culture starts to label it as weird, but it's really just honest, playful expression.
00:18:51
Speaker
And I love your example of of Janice's tree story because exactly it's it's
00:18:59
Speaker
you know, weirdness can be a hairstyle and it can be an idea.
00:19:04
Speaker
And each of these expressions that is outside of the lines helps other people, if they're open to it, to redraw the lines and to open up the circle of what is acceptable and what is acceptable and what is acceptable.
00:19:19
Speaker
And so that, I mean, even if someone is being, you know, intentionally weird,
00:19:24
Speaker
I think that it's okay for us to just be staying aware of, am I confining my worldview, my acceptable view based on something outside myself?
00:19:40
Speaker
And when anybody is expressing an idea or an appearance or that is outside of that, we get to go, wait a minute, why do I not think this is okay?
00:19:48
Speaker
Why is this something that is bringing up a little judgment in me?
00:19:55
Speaker
Yeah, it's, yeah, it can be, it can be, yeah, it can be, it can be a challenge to, to first realize that you've got this weird part of your, your, yourself that isn't necessarily small.
00:20:09
Speaker
Like, like, it's like, well, there's actually, I'm really mostly weird.
00:20:13
Speaker
All right.
00:20:13
Speaker
So how do I, so now how do I navigate this world?
00:20:16
Speaker
And it's, you know, when you're only just a little weird, like, let's say, let's say you've got a,
00:20:22
Speaker
There's all sorts of people that go to, let's say, fetish clubs or kink clubs.
00:20:26
Speaker
And they don't necessarily walk around wearing a bunch of kink wear to go to Trader Joe's or something.
00:20:31
Speaker
But they've got a big elaborate closet full of stuff, and they bring that out to the clubs.
00:20:36
Speaker
And that's where they get to express that.
00:20:38
Speaker
Or they get to express that at home.
00:20:40
Speaker
Or I've met people, and I think we've all met people unknowingly, that will wear some, let's say, some kink stuff or piercings or whatever underneath their quote-unquote mainstream clothes.
00:20:50
Speaker
And they're just adamant.
00:20:50
Speaker
out in the world being weird unknowingly to people.
00:20:53
Speaker
So, um, so yeah, so it's important to, you know, once you, once you kind of suss out how, just how weird, how weird are you, um, being like, okay, so how do I, what's, what feels, what feels like a comfortable, good and, and importantly safe way to express that.
00:21:10
Speaker
And, uh, sometimes it's just outward and in people's faces and other times it's, you know, more reserved.
00:21:15
Speaker
Um, but you know, it's not a one size fits all, you know, kind of thing, whatever, whatever works for you.
00:21:21
Speaker
Yeah, exactly.
00:21:22
Speaker
And knowing the safe places to be in the full weirdness.
00:21:27
Speaker
I know for me, one of the other things that I feel kind of weird about that I'll share here is, oh,
00:21:35
Speaker
kind of using weird voices sometimes and just wanting to kind of talk really funny and make up words and then go to the medical eyes and it's actually really helpful for me because sometimes I get too serious.
00:21:48
Speaker
I really find there's moments where I'm like, you know, spinning on a story or just getting really serious about a thing.
00:21:57
Speaker
And when I notice that I'm doing that, then I, I don't know.
00:22:12
Speaker
And it's so weird.
00:22:13
Speaker
It's very weird.
00:22:15
Speaker
And I love it because it then helps shake up some of the seriousness in my head or, you know, just the density of whatever I'm going through.
00:22:25
Speaker
And it's like, yeah, it's kind of like one of my weird tools.
00:22:30
Speaker
I love that so much.
00:22:32
Speaker
I love you so much.
00:22:33
Speaker
And see, despite you being you, you are an activist in the world.
00:22:37
Speaker
And I think that that's why this is such an interesting and fascinating topic and such a is that when we start to give ourselves permission to express ourselves in these authentic ways, even if they are weird, they become the examples that people can lean into and
00:22:57
Speaker
find comfort in as their own impulses come up that we have judgment around.
00:23:03
Speaker
And those judgments, they didn't come... We didn't have them when we were kids.
00:23:06
Speaker
We developed these judgments based on cultural pressures.
00:23:10
Speaker
And we become unknowing agents of enforcing these rules on people and ourselves.
00:23:19
Speaker
I keep thinking about this place with the Burning Man principles of radical self-expression and radical inclusion.
00:23:27
Speaker
And that it's the radical inclusion works in the way that everyone is welcome to express themselves in an authentic way.
00:23:38
Speaker
And if you're not willing to accept that, then you're not welcome.
00:23:43
Speaker
Like you will be excluded if you will not radically include people.
00:23:47
Speaker
So meaning that
00:23:51
Speaker
I expect that in a place that is embracing 10 principles or a party, a gathering of people that are, I know that to be in this culture, that if Betsy goes, that everyone is going to either applaud, smile, join her, or say that's fine and walk away without any judgment.
00:24:10
Speaker
And it's that understanding that I don't have to enjoy every expression, but if it's authentic, I respect it.
00:24:17
Speaker
And I'll hold your coat while you do whatever it is you're going to be doing.
00:24:22
Speaker
Aw, thank you, Alcine.
00:24:25
Speaker
Yeah, as long as, you know, with the asterisk or caveat that, you know, the whole do no harm aspect of it, of your weird expression is being adhered to and followed.
00:24:38
Speaker
There is a, I'm going to thread the needle here with a, there was a festival that we were, that we used to go to, um,
00:24:47
Speaker
down in Mexico when it was happening.
00:24:50
Speaker
And there was a group of people whose, whose authentic expression was to fuck with other people.
00:24:55
Speaker
Like that was, that was an active part of their, their, their, how they, how they would show up.

Balance and Impact of Authentic Expression

00:25:02
Speaker
And after a couple of years of that, the organizers were like, okay, I appreciate that authentic expression.
00:25:08
Speaker
But it was definitely weird.
00:25:10
Speaker
It had a weird factor to it.
00:25:11
Speaker
But you're harshing other people's vibe.
00:25:13
Speaker
You're harshing other people's mellow.
00:25:15
Speaker
Your weirdness is...
00:25:20
Speaker
is uncomfortable to the point of physically uncomfortable for a large enough amount of people that you guys are not allowed here anymore.
00:25:27
Speaker
And that was, and there are some people that were like, that's not cool.
00:25:30
Speaker
That's not radical acceptance of this, any other thing.
00:25:32
Speaker
It's like, well, that's, that's, this is not that this is a private party actually.
00:25:37
Speaker
So, so yeah, so it's important to, when we are assessing our weirdness, you don't necessarily want to be
00:25:45
Speaker
overly concerned with how it is received in the world, but take, take some time to really drop in and be like, okay, is, is my weirdness?
00:25:53
Speaker
Like, okay, if it's,
00:25:55
Speaker
making somebody uncomfortable but it's not necessarily harming them good people some we all kind of could use a little bit more discomfort in our lives it kind of shakes things up a little bit um that said um as long as it's not threatening um like overtly threatening if people are threatened by betsy going well okay that's that's a them problem but if uh if somebody's feeling threatened because i like to juggle
00:26:19
Speaker
machetes down as I walked down the street.
00:26:21
Speaker
That's, you know, that's a that's a normal thing to be uncomfortable with and should be reassessed.
00:26:26
Speaker
If I'm a machete juggler, I should probably do that out in an empty field.
00:26:30
Speaker
One of the ways that Larry Harvey, the founder of Burning Man, he addressed this because there were camps at one point they were trying to push things so far to try to kind of push this edge.
00:26:41
Speaker
And they said, Is it a gift?
00:26:44
Speaker
because gifting is another principle, you know, if your radical self-expression, if your is, is not a gift and then, then perhaps it shouldn't be theirs.
00:26:53
Speaker
For example, if, if Betsy was going into people's tents, jumping on top of them and, and,
00:27:00
Speaker
making her funny noises and they didn't want it, that is no longer a gift that is now inflicting something upon someone.
00:27:08
Speaker
And yeah, we gotta be aware of that.
00:27:11
Speaker
And I think that to a degree, if I'm gonna wear fur pants someplace, I need to think about that too.
00:27:17
Speaker
Like if I wear fur pants and barge into someone's bar mitzvah and the family is finding this to be
00:27:26
Speaker
disruptive of their ability to experience this in a beautiful way.
00:27:29
Speaker
I'm not an activist of love in that moment.
00:27:32
Speaker
I am disrupting.
00:27:34
Speaker
That's unacceptable.
00:27:36
Speaker
That is not a gift.
00:27:37
Speaker
And so there is limits for sure.
00:27:39
Speaker
Absolutely.
00:27:42
Speaker
I feel like this is a good point.
00:27:44
Speaker
Because we can find our own unique expression of our weirdness and stay mindful around the environment in which that we are sharing that, you know, to be able to like run up to somebody and do something really weird, maybe really invasive, and it can have a negative impact.
00:28:03
Speaker
But to do it in a way that is just for my own self.
00:28:06
Speaker
then it's a very different thing.
00:28:08
Speaker
And one of the things I really love about where this conversation started because of your viral video Halcyon is that the way that you shared that, hundreds and hundreds of people remixed that, right?
00:28:22
Speaker
It was your voice and then they remixed it on Instagram over videos of themselves doing their own weird things.
00:28:29
Speaker
right and it was not harmful to anyone it was actually permission for people to be seen in their weirdness and it was all kinds of things that people were doing one girl was crocheting you know and had a ball gag you know there's like all kinds of just different types of people doing weird things and it was a really beautiful thing it didn't impact anyone else it actually was a celebration
00:28:55
Speaker
of weirdness and going oh okay like we're all unique in our own our own ways you know and it's such a fun kind of time that we live in with social media providing that space for the outside the box creative imaginative expressions of our of our unique selves
00:29:14
Speaker
Yeah.
00:29:14
Speaker
And yeah, to kind of elaborate on that point, that was because that was that was cool.
00:29:20
Speaker
That was my own experience with like watching that video and seeing the remix of people like doing that and doing things like, let's say crocheting, which I think to us three, there's nothing weird about that.
00:29:33
Speaker
It's it's fine.
00:29:34
Speaker
It's cool.
00:29:35
Speaker
But then also realizing like there's a lot of people out there for some reason they look at crocheting is like weird.
00:29:42
Speaker
Like, why is somebody knitting, crocheting?
00:29:45
Speaker
Isn't that like an old person kind of thing?
00:29:47
Speaker
Like a young person being like, this is looked at as weird.
00:29:51
Speaker
I can do this.
00:29:52
Speaker
And that's fine if it's weird.
00:29:53
Speaker
And like we talked about before about the idea of permission engines.
00:29:58
Speaker
And I think that video turned into a massive permission engine for a lot of people to be like, hey, I am weird.
00:30:06
Speaker
That's worth celebrating.
00:30:07
Speaker
Thank you for noticing.
00:30:08
Speaker
It's like they really ran with that.
00:30:09
Speaker
That's why I think that's part of the large reason why it went viral is because so many people have been looked at and labeled as weird for things that really...
00:30:17
Speaker
aren't that weird or even if they are like super weird it's still okay it's still fine to to show up in that because that's their authentic expression and so that's you know that's the reason why i think so it resonated with so many people and um and to see people like remixing it was a lot of fun and and yeah that the idea of a permission engine um you know walking down the street with fur and pink hair
00:30:42
Speaker
I remember early on in my Burning Man life, a bunch of us went to a mainstream, but we went for like a pirate ship outing.
00:30:51
Speaker
And so we were all wearing like crazy burner pirate gear, like pirate hats with fur pants.
00:30:55
Speaker
It's just like a whole mashup of weirdness.
00:30:57
Speaker
And we went to some bar, just regular bar downtown, like about 20 of us.
00:31:02
Speaker
And it was definitely one of those record scratch moments when we walk into the whole place is like, who are these weirdos?
00:31:08
Speaker
Who are these people?
00:31:09
Speaker
But there was...
00:31:11
Speaker
There were two girls who came up and were just fascinated.
00:31:15
Speaker
And they were asking us all sorts of questions.
00:31:18
Speaker
And it was fun.
00:31:19
Speaker
They were definitely like, wow, this is, I never thought that, you know, I thought you guys did that thing elsewhere.
00:31:25
Speaker
The fact that you're here is like, is wild and cool.
00:31:27
Speaker
And I ended up seeing them at a Burning Man function several months later, because this was their introduction to that.
00:31:34
Speaker
And they jumped into it.
00:31:35
Speaker
It's almost like they've been looking for that for a while, or even if they were looking for it without knowing they were looking for it.
00:31:41
Speaker
And then they found, they like found their people and just like went with it.
00:31:44
Speaker
And so that was a really heartwarming moment to see them at a function, like several months down the road and be like, Oh, I remember when they first laid eyes on it.
00:31:52
Speaker
And, uh, and meant, it meant something to them and it changed their world, frankly.
00:31:57
Speaker
So, um, so yeah, it was like you said, with great opportunity comes with opportunity, great opportunity comes great responsibility.
00:32:04
Speaker
So, um, so knowing that we're, we're,
00:32:07
Speaker
You know, we are potentially granting somebody the permission to be weird themselves by us being weird is pretty cool, in my opinion.
00:32:18
Speaker
Yeah, my affirmation is, I embrace my weirdness today.
00:32:23
Speaker
I embrace the wild, weird nature of my unique expression in the world.
00:32:29
Speaker
You know, if you think about it, our fingertips are all different.
00:32:34
Speaker
You know, there's billions of people in the world and every single fingerprint is different, you know, and that is just such a beautiful reminder that we are unique and we're weird.
00:32:49
Speaker
It's this like balance of belonging, but also recognizing that we're all unique in our own ways.
00:32:55
Speaker
Yeah.
00:32:57
Speaker
And it takes a little bit of time, I think, to go

Judgment and Personal Well-Being

00:33:00
Speaker
from a subconscious kind of being held by a cultural judgment and then to be confronted and then slowly to recognize, oh, maybe I have weirdness in me that I should let out.
00:33:17
Speaker
It can be a process.
00:33:18
Speaker
I remember meeting someone at a party.
00:33:20
Speaker
who said, they pulled me aside and go, this is so great meeting you because 10 years ago, I saw a picture of you on someone's fridge, just all in pink.
00:33:28
Speaker
And my thought was, who the fuck is this guy?
00:33:31
Speaker
And then five years later, I learned more about Burning Man and I saw another picture of you and I said,
00:33:38
Speaker
Who is this guy?
00:33:39
Speaker
And so then now to meet you is like, oh, it's like this person had to go through this journey.
00:33:44
Speaker
Like initially I was they had an anger response and over time recognize, oh, that's that's not me.
00:33:53
Speaker
That's that there's something programming that is making me resistant to this.
00:34:01
Speaker
Yeah, you know, I feel like the spark that comes up for me around that is around watching our own judgment.
00:34:09
Speaker
know and judgment is a part of being human you know it is it's a part of our ego structure and it can also be very illuminating to the stories that we create within our own self right if i'm judging someone outwardly from a that's like you know bringing something up for me that brings up anger or total like negative judgment i'm the one that's carrying that i'm dealing with the like
00:34:36
Speaker
the tightness that like, and it can spiral into negative thought patterns.
00:34:41
Speaker
Right.
00:34:41
Speaker
And so to be able to self self, um, reflect on that and start to become more aware of my own inner judgment, that is not healthy for me and my own personal system.
00:34:53
Speaker
Then to be able to shift out of that into just witnessing somebody, right.
00:34:58
Speaker
It comes back to the gene keys.
00:35:00
Speaker
That is one of the gene keys.
00:35:01
Speaker
I think it might be 52,
00:35:04
Speaker
or 54, somewhere in there, the shadow element of judgment.
00:35:08
Speaker
And it can be very helpful.
00:35:10
Speaker
It's kind of like a signpost around how do I want to be feeling within my own system, my own body, to be able to see the outward expression of the world reflected back at me.
00:35:25
Speaker
And I know personally, the more that I have gotten to a place of celebrating other people's weirdness or uniqueness,
00:35:33
Speaker
then that helps me to feel much more centered, much more free, much more grateful, much more present, just letting go of the like, ugh, you know, I can't believe that person did that or why is that person doing that?
00:35:51
Speaker
It's uncomfortable to be in a negative judgment of other people.
00:35:55
Speaker
That's my own personal experience.
00:35:56
Speaker
I'm sure you guys have felt that too.
00:35:58
Speaker
You're at a gathering or you're out somewhere.
00:36:01
Speaker
You get hooked on all of that.
00:36:03
Speaker
Like, oh, they shouldn't do that or they should do that.
00:36:05
Speaker
And it's just like, you could even see my face if you're watching this on YouTube.
00:36:09
Speaker
I'm frowning when I'm in judgment.
00:36:12
Speaker
My shoulders start rolling forward.
00:36:14
Speaker
I feel tight and icky.
00:36:15
Speaker
I have this little wrinkle on my forehead.
00:36:18
Speaker
You know, and I don't I don't want to be in that place.
00:36:23
Speaker
I want to feel my lips turned up.
00:36:25
Speaker
I want to feel wide eyed, my heart open.
00:36:28
Speaker
And so I feel like witnessing other people's weirdness from a joyful celebratory place can actually be very healing for and wonderful for our own self.
00:36:39
Speaker
Yeah, certainly.
00:36:41
Speaker
It's definitely a rich place for our growth to be aware of our judgments, you know, like like well.
00:36:49
Speaker
And I think that the
00:36:51
Speaker
the rich place is like, do I really have an issue with this thing?
00:36:57
Speaker
Or at some point, did I learn that this was cool and that wasn't cool?
00:37:03
Speaker
And so I am, without even realizing it, I am becoming an agent of the status quo and finding myself regurgitating a judgment.
00:37:14
Speaker
Now it's possible someone is doing something where you're like, ooh, they are singing in a way that's hurting my ears.
00:37:19
Speaker
But more likely you're saying,
00:37:22
Speaker
I, when I was in grade school, the cool kids tease somebody who did something like that.
00:37:27
Speaker
So I have an association that this thing isn't cool.
00:37:29
Speaker
And so I'm going to also think it's not cool.
00:37:32
Speaker
And I say that I can look back at times in my life when I was judgmental to somebody, or I didn't think they were cool.
00:37:41
Speaker
And I think that that fueled so much of my fear of being uncool for so many years of my life.
00:37:46
Speaker
And even today, you know, I definitely, I don't live in a place of,
00:37:50
Speaker
like absolute self-confidence of all my weirdness.
00:37:53
Speaker
I mean, one of the reasons why I cultivate a practice of weirdness is because it's a practice.
00:37:58
Speaker
And there are times when I feel really rattled when somebody looks at me and rolls their eyes.
00:38:04
Speaker
It doesn't take much to really go like, wait, am I not...
00:38:10
Speaker
And I think that that's why that's what that's that community and support and and finding others that that are going to respect and appreciate.
00:38:20
Speaker
There's something that I think about, which is that, you know, the world, I don't know, is it Buckminster Fuller, I think, or Mark Twain or someone good that said, you know, we can't solve the problems of the world with the thinking that got us here.

Weirdness and Innovation

00:38:36
Speaker
And he was Einstein.
00:38:38
Speaker
I don't know.
00:38:38
Speaker
Somebody really smart said that idea.
00:38:40
Speaker
And so that if we are going to figure out solutions to what's going on in this planet, it has to come through weird thinkers.
00:38:50
Speaker
It has to come through people who are willing to have the ideas live the way, express themselves in ways that the cultural pressures are going to say, you shouldn't be doing that.
00:39:01
Speaker
You shouldn't be doing that.
00:39:03
Speaker
And so even if it's something as silly as an outfit, the more that we can train ourselves to allow our authentic expressions to come out, allow our weirdness to be, I think it's a critical part of the healing of our planet.
00:39:22
Speaker
that contributes to evolution like thomas edison was such a weirdo yeah all kinds of weird stuff but he contributed greatly to the evolution of our experience you know that's that we have light because of his out of the box thinking yeah and we are i i don't think it's hyperbole to say but we're we're getting to a a
00:39:46
Speaker
a critical point in our human evolution that it's going to take, we're going to have to get weird in order to, in order to continue to thrive as a, as a human race on this planet.
00:40:00
Speaker
Like we're going to have to get into some weird thinking and in order to keep things going, because, because what we're doing is not working.
00:40:08
Speaker
I think it's, it's all getting pretty clear.
00:40:10
Speaker
We're getting pretty clear about that.
00:40:11
Speaker
And there's certainly some people who are,
00:40:13
Speaker
in denial of that and be like, No, we got to be must maintain the status quo.
00:40:16
Speaker
It's fine.
00:40:17
Speaker
It's like, you know, keep keep doing what we are doing.
00:40:20
Speaker
And yeah, that's not going to cut it.
00:40:23
Speaker
So yeah, so we're gonna have to get weird as a as a species.
00:40:27
Speaker
in order to... And wonderfully weird.
00:40:29
Speaker
Wonderfully weird, yes.
00:40:30
Speaker
And wonderfully open weird spaces.
00:40:33
Speaker
And I think it's also worth saying to bring it back down to a personal level.
00:40:37
Speaker
There is nothing wrong and like, quote unquote, wrong with kind of keeping our weirdness to ourselves.
00:40:44
Speaker
If that's what feels appropriate,
00:40:47
Speaker
by all means um i prefer you know i can i can go out in suit and tie and i like to wear you know women's clothing at at home or whatever if that's if that's my thing and it brings up too much for me or brings up the wrong kind of attention for me to go out wearing the things that i really enjoy wearing
00:41:10
Speaker
There's nothing wrong with being weird in a safe space.
00:41:13
Speaker
If you are comfortable taking it out into the world, by all means, that is awesome and that should be celebrated.
00:41:19
Speaker
But if it feels better to kind of like keep this container of weirdness to yourself and maybe a handful of loved ones or again, no one at all, that's fine too.
00:41:28
Speaker
There's nothing wrong with that.
00:41:30
Speaker
There's no right way to be weird.
00:41:34
Speaker
So it's important to acknowledge that.
00:41:35
Speaker
Love, love.
00:41:37
Speaker
And I think that that's another thing that you can, there's no weirdness is being authentic.
00:41:46
Speaker
And so if your life looks pretty mundane and you crochet and live a life that looks not weird by the definition of somebody who is doing some crazy thing, you're not doing anything wrong.
00:42:00
Speaker
As long as you are a genuine being genuine in who you are, the point is to be authentic.
00:42:06
Speaker
driven by your internal truth.
00:42:10
Speaker
And if that is, we embrace weirdness because we don't want our culture to pressure us from the outside.
00:42:19
Speaker
I remember, you know, after people often when they go into Burning Man, they'll say like, for the first time, like, well, where can I buy Burning Man clothes?
00:42:30
Speaker
And it's like, no, no, no, no.
00:42:32
Speaker
You're missing the point.
00:42:33
Speaker
There's not a correct way to look weird for Burning Man.
00:42:38
Speaker
You're allowed to do whatever you want.
00:42:41
Speaker
And it can take some... If your authentic self is a suit and tie and you feel like, man, this is my power place.
00:42:48
Speaker
I feel totally me.
00:42:50
Speaker
There's nothing wrong with leaving the pink fur pants to me.
00:42:59
Speaker
And sometimes being weird might mean staying home all the time.
00:43:06
Speaker
That's totally fine, too.
00:43:08
Speaker
Yeah, we find our own authentic expression of who we are.
00:43:11
Speaker
And really, I think what we're talking about is letting go of our self judgment.
00:43:16
Speaker
You know, we were talking about the title of this is proud, a proud weirdo.
00:43:21
Speaker
I'm proud to be weird in my own way, whatever that is.
00:43:25
Speaker
That's just saying that we're unique in who we are.
00:43:28
Speaker
And I love who I am in my weirdness, whether that is outwardly expressed wearing pink, pink fur pants and
00:43:36
Speaker
speaking gibberish out in public or on this podcast or getting really quiet and not talking to anyone for a really long time.
00:43:43
Speaker
You know, that's weird too.
00:43:45
Speaker
And that's totally fine to be able to come back to that place of loving ourselves and loving each other for our uniqueness.

Embracing Uniqueness in Relationships

00:43:52
Speaker
We need more love in the world.
00:43:53
Speaker
We need more love and acceptance of each other.
00:43:56
Speaker
And that really creates a safety of our nervous systems.
00:43:59
Speaker
It's such a beautiful gift that we can give each other.
00:44:04
Speaker
And the weirdness is a reflection of its environment, so to speak.
00:44:10
Speaker
So like, for example, if you show up in a...
00:44:14
Speaker
you know, wearing your tennis whites at a golf club, that's you're the weird person there.
00:44:21
Speaker
Like that's not that because everybody else is wearing the black and the latex and the leather and all that.
00:44:25
Speaker
And you're showing up wearing like a weird Wimbledon outfits.
00:44:28
Speaker
Like that makes you the weird one.
00:44:30
Speaker
Whereas like that outfit was going to be perceived pretty normal at a lot of different places.
00:44:34
Speaker
So it's all, it's all in the eye of the beholder.
00:44:37
Speaker
So this thing that, you know,
00:44:39
Speaker
I don't want to be perceived as weird.
00:44:40
Speaker
It's like, or I am weird, but I don't know how I feel about being weird.
00:44:44
Speaker
It's like, it's, it's all a, you know, it's all in the eye of the beholder.
00:44:48
Speaker
It's, and you know, it all depends on where you hang out essentially.
00:44:51
Speaker
So, so yeah.
00:44:53
Speaker
So I think on a, on a personal level, I think we've all three have had, like we've either,
00:44:59
Speaker
like explicitly mentioned it, like when it comes to relationships, for example, I think it's, it's kind of understood.
00:45:04
Speaker
Like somebody we're going to get into a relationship with somebody, then it's like, okay, just so you know, it's going to get weird over here.
00:45:10
Speaker
If you're going to, you're going to be hanging, if you're going to be hanging out with me, if we're going to hang out together, it's going to get weird at some point and kind of, kind of loving that or getting excited by that.
00:45:20
Speaker
That's where they I mean, it's a lot of it's a lot of fun on the weird side.
00:45:25
Speaker
It's it definitely sparks a lot of great conversations.
00:45:28
Speaker
It sparks a lot of like I'm always open to get my worldview kind of expanded.
00:45:33
Speaker
And just because it's frankly because it's fun.
00:45:36
Speaker
It's fun.
00:45:36
Speaker
It's fun to be weird.
00:45:37
Speaker
It's fun to be around weird people for me.
00:45:40
Speaker
So I think it's yeah, there's a lot.
00:45:42
Speaker
There's a lot of goodness to be found there.
00:45:44
Speaker
Well, it's fun, but it also can be scary.
00:45:48
Speaker
You know, if you follow the rules of the culture, it's not, there's no vulnerability.
00:45:54
Speaker
You know what people consider as acceptable.
00:45:57
Speaker
And if you stay in the box, it is a safe place.
00:46:00
Speaker
That being said, if you can find a community or the strength in yourself for self-love and to say, I'm going to figure out what my weird is and I'm going to express it in the world, it is super scary and it is the most exciting journey that a human being can have.
00:46:19
Speaker
And that's why we got to support each other when we do that.
00:46:23
Speaker
Absolutely!
00:46:25
Speaker
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:46:26
Speaker
I love how weird you guys are.
00:46:28
Speaker
Thank you for this conversation.
00:46:30
Speaker
Thank you!
00:46:31
Speaker
Oh, if you guys want to close it up with something weird, what's your closing sparks?
00:46:41
Speaker
I want to close with some of the thoughts upon witnessing the comments from this video as it went viral and all these people and how they responded to this kind of proud weirdness.
00:47:00
Speaker
And that I find it so encouraging that there's so many people out there that
00:47:08
Speaker
want to be the supporters of weird and want to be the expressors of weird.
00:47:13
Speaker
And that knowing that I think we can go through the world with that feeling that we're not so alone.
00:47:18
Speaker
It's so easy to listen to the news and hear things on the internet and maybe pass by a neighbor.
00:47:25
Speaker
And suddenly you start to think like, holy crap, this is a cold, dark judging world.
00:47:29
Speaker
And I got to keep my weirdness in, but that's
00:47:33
Speaker
The opposite is also true.
00:47:34
Speaker
This world is filled with wonderful weirdos.
00:47:37
Speaker
And when we are those weirdos, we help each one of us to shine a little brighter.
00:47:45
Speaker
Yeah, I feel that we've touched on this before in several episodes, but I feel it's worth repeating and getting into that when we bring our weirdness out into the world,
00:48:00
Speaker
It's more fun to do it together.
00:48:03
Speaker
It's more fun to be in community.
00:48:05
Speaker
We can be weird by ourselves, but to be weird with other people who are weird like us is so fun.
00:48:12
Speaker
It feels so good.
00:48:13
Speaker
It's why things like, you know, Burning Man is such a fantastic thing to experience or just festival.
00:48:19
Speaker
Whatever your weird thing is, there's a whole bunch of other people out there who are weird in very similar ways.
00:48:26
Speaker
And so, yeah, so it's good to...
00:48:27
Speaker
It's good to take our weirdness on the road and get weird out in the world.
00:48:33
Speaker
It's a lot of fun out there.
00:48:36
Speaker
Social media, the internet is great for finding those like-minded weirdos to hang out with.
00:48:42
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:43
Speaker
So yeah.
00:48:43
Speaker
So true.
00:48:45
Speaker
Yeah.
00:48:45
Speaker
You know, my closing spark is very much about how we can snap ourselves out of the hamster wheel or the neural pathways that are just running on repeat and how weirdness or thinking differently or doing things differently can actually shake things up because that is what is really helpful for us to continue to shift perspectives.

Projects Promoting Self-Growth and Community

00:49:12
Speaker
and so you know finding different ways every day and new ways to find a little thread of something that's gonna shift how can i do things differently how can i be a little more expressed today how can i maybe be a little weirder in my my dress or my vocabulary or you know just to kind of support the evolution and growth of who we are and who we're becoming
00:49:38
Speaker
I think that that's my closing spark and also just want to highlight something that you said, Yanis, about, you know, doing things differently to continue to evolve as a species on this planet.
00:49:48
Speaker
We've got to start doing things differently.
00:49:50
Speaker
And there's a lot of wonderful new inventions and new things that are coming out that are
00:49:57
Speaker
helping us to evolve, you know, thinking outside the box to create new systems, new structures, and allowing our unique expression to contribute to this amazing time that we're in on this beautiful planet.
00:50:10
Speaker
Well said.
00:50:12
Speaker
Well said.
00:50:13
Speaker
I want to add an additional, it's not so much a spark, but a correction.
00:50:18
Speaker
It was Einstein that said that quote.
00:50:20
Speaker
So if you're getting ready to write me an email, it was Einstein that said that quote that I said earlier about we can't solve the problems.
00:50:27
Speaker
with the same thinking that we use to create them.
00:50:30
Speaker
And with that new thinking, I would love for us to share how we can find us in the world.
00:50:37
Speaker
Betsy, how can people find you?
00:50:38
Speaker
And what are you doing in the world?
00:50:41
Speaker
I love getting to help people shift their programs and thinking with my project called power affirmation.
00:50:47
Speaker
You can find it power affirmation.com started with a journal that helps to reprogram limiting beliefs and get in touch with the belief systems that we have, um, using affirmations and gratitude, self-reflection.
00:51:00
Speaker
Um, I also have some other wonderful products that go along with the power affirmation project.
00:51:05
Speaker
Um, we plant trees and,
00:51:06
Speaker
with Eden Reforestation.
00:51:08
Speaker
And I also work with clients one-on-one doing mind-body-spirit transformation with body work and sound healing and intuitive coaching.
00:51:17
Speaker
So you can find me on my website as well, finkelwho.com.
00:51:22
Speaker
Beautiful.
00:51:24
Speaker
And many testimonial for your Power Affirmations project.
00:51:30
Speaker
My partner has dove into that over the last year and I've witnessed the results of it.
00:51:37
Speaker
It has changed her life and has therefore changed my life all for the better.
00:51:41
Speaker
It has been a world shift and in no small part due to your Power Affirmations project.
00:51:50
Speaker
So I want to thank you for that.
00:51:51
Speaker
It's been great.
00:51:52
Speaker
If people are unfamiliar, they should definitely check it out.
00:51:55
Speaker
So also worth checking out is my offering.
00:52:00
Speaker
I have a nutritional supplement company called new world nutritionals spelled NU world nutritionals.com.
00:52:06
Speaker
And we have some nutritional supplements that are designed to elevate your state of mind, improve your state of mind, help deal with symptoms of anxiety, depression, depression,
00:52:16
Speaker
ADHD helps your focus, your memory, your learning, just put you in a positive mental attitude to get through your day and your life.
00:52:25
Speaker
It's a really good product, getting a lot of good results for a lot of people.
00:52:29
Speaker
So check it out, newworldnutritionals.com.
00:52:31
Speaker
You can use the code SPARKED for 10% off of all of our products.
00:52:36
Speaker
And I'd like to endorse your product and say that if you are showing and working on the courage in your life to have to try new things and express your weirdness, this product is incredible at helping with your neuroplasticity.
00:52:50
Speaker
So you can really, it benefits the new grooves in your brain.
00:52:54
Speaker
And as you're going to show, if you're going to put out the courage to make changes, this product helps you to stick with those changes and change your life.
00:53:05
Speaker
And if you're looking for me online, I'm at johnstinn.com.
00:53:10
Speaker
And one of the practices that I do that I would like to invite you to is I have a morning 9am
00:53:16
Speaker
Pacific Time live broadcast.
00:53:18
Speaker
And one of the purposes is to find this supportive community of pro-weirdness and gratitude and acceptance and strengthen one another, kind of like a little bullpen at the beginning of the day to rub each other's shoulders and recognize that there is so many of us out there.
00:53:39
Speaker
So as we go into the world, we can just remember that we're not alone.
00:53:42
Speaker
So you can join me any day at 9 a.m.
00:53:44
Speaker
And johnstinn.com will get you there and to other projects of mine as well.
00:53:50
Speaker
And before we go off and spread our weirdness in the world, can you anchor us with some affirmations, Betsy?
00:54:00
Speaker
Yes, I would be happy to close this out with an affirmation.
00:54:04
Speaker
So welcome to close your eyes, place your hands on your body and your heart, your belly, wherever feels good to you.
00:54:12
Speaker
And just...
00:54:13
Speaker
repeat after me I embrace my unique expression in the world I embrace my unique expression in the world I embrace my unique expression in the world I am wonderfully weird I am wonderfully weird I am wonderfully weird I
00:54:33
Speaker
Love who I am.
00:54:35
Speaker
I love who I am.
00:54:36
Speaker
And I love other people for being so wonderfully weird too.
00:54:40
Speaker
I love who I am.
00:54:41
Speaker
And I love other people for the wonderful weirdness of who they are.
00:54:46
Speaker
Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
00:54:48
Speaker
Let's keep celebrating ourselves.
00:54:50
Speaker
Let's keep celebrating each other.
00:54:52
Speaker
Let's keep thinking outside the box.
00:54:54
Speaker
Keep coming back into that deep place of self-love and acceptance for being a proud weirdo.
00:55:00
Speaker
You guys.
00:55:02
Speaker
Thank you, Betsy.
00:55:02
Speaker
Stay smart, people.