Soul Gum

Feel like you’re meant for something more but can’t put your finger on what that “more” is? This episode is here to help. The bad news is: finding your purpose in a world full of distractions and expectations is hard. Like, super hard. The good news is: we’ve been struggling with this since the dawn of humanity, so lots of extremely smart people have piped up about it.Clues to your purpose are hiding in unexpected places. Today, we’ll explore 8 of those clues, as proposed by some of humanity’s greatest minds. Consider this episode a field guide out of your existential crisis. Brought to you by me: your friendly neighborhood lawyer-turned-creative, fresh out of the trenches of living someone else’s life. SHOW OUTLINE: 00:00 Intro 03:14 If you're looking for your purpose, look for... 03:42 1. What you loved as a kid (Nietzsche)06:31 2. What makes you jealous (Nietzsche)10:15 3. What puts you into flow state (Csikszentmihalyi)13:00 Break 15:56 4. What you see everywhere16:32 The Invisible Gorilla Experiment17:30 The Cocktail Party Effect 18:34 Attention as Devotion (Mary Oliver and Simone Weil)19:00 5. What makes you uncomfortable (Carl Jung) 20:56 6. What connects you to the world (Bhagavad Gita)23:30 7. What you want your purpose to be (Albert Camus) 26:36 8. Here and now (Alan Watts)30:07 Lightning Round SummaryMY LINKS:​⁠⁠Preorder my poetry book MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow to get a free poem print and a personalized signed copy⁠⁠​⁠⁠Preorder MAKE BELIEVE from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and more! ⁠⁠​⁠⁠Join me in Bali June 1-7! ⁠⁠​⁠⁠Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram⁠⁠​⁠⁠Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok⁠

So you have a dream, huh? You're in the right place. You've probably heard this quote from the brilliant Brianna Wiest: Your new life will cost you your old one. Today we're diving into it. As someone who walked away from an old life for a new one this year, let me tell you - there are costs. In the past year, I have completely flipped my life on its head. I walked away from my job as an attorney to dive into the murky waters of creative work. This episode will discuss 10 things your new life will cost you. SHOW LINKS: Your Dreams Are For People Like You - listen to the episode of Shawna Krueger's podcast, Leadership and Yoga Mind Magic: The Neuroscience of Manifestation, by James Doty, M.D. Visual representation of Plato's Cave Allegory MY LINKS: ⁠Preorder my poetry book MAKE BELIEVE from Blue Willow to get a free poem print and a personalized signed copy⁠ ⁠Preorder MAKE BELIEVE from Amazon, Target, Barnes & Noble, and more! ⁠ ⁠Join me in Bali June 1-7! ⁠ ⁠Find me @thedailyvictorian on Instagram⁠ ⁠Find me @thedailyvictorian on TikTok⁠

The floating rock mentality—nihilism with rose-colored glasses—is quickly becoming the zeitgeist of spiritually deconstructed young people. What is it? How did we get here? Cosmologically speaking, are we really just insignificant creatures on an insignificant floating rock? Is life meaningless? What are the pros and cons of believing that it is? Is optimistic nihilism going to turn you into Tyler Durden or Jobu Tupaki? What can we learn from Nietzsche, Albert Camus and Sisyphus? How do we find value in a potentially meaningless universe? Are spirituality and rationality mutually exclusive on this floating rock in space? JUMP AROUND I. intro II. disclaimers (2:37) III. floating rock mentality (6:48) a. what is it? (6:48) b. how did we get here? (9:37) c. is it true, literally & cosmologically speaking? (11:41) (ad break) IV. nietzsche and nihilist philosophy (21:24) a. sad early life (22:19) b. sad love life (23:58) c. nietzsche’s philosophical model (24:47) V. the pros of purposelessness (29:45) VI. the cons (35:27) a. will you turn into tyler durden/jobu tupaki? (36:57) b. volatile valuation of your own life (40:50) (ad break) V. finding value in a (possibly) meaningless universe (43:06) a. sisyphus (44:13) b. albert camus on sisyphus (absurdism) (44:47) VI. how does god fit into all of this? (50:25) a. pascal’s wager (51:22) b. choosing between purposelessness & spirituality (58:09) c. redefining spirituality (1:00:06) SOURCES & REFERENCES re: rise in disaffiliation from organized religion among Gen-Z and millennials: https://tinyurl.com/2p9d5474 re: size of the universe, super habitable planets, SETI Luyten B communications: https://tinyurl.com/3kmyy5av; https://tinyurl.com/3hdc8u8m; https://www.seti.org “Important” by Ian McConnell: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRGqbRHa/ Rhett McLoughlin spiritual deconstruction podcast episode: https://tinyurl.com/yytywu4c Re: biographical info about Nietzsche: https://tinyurl.com/ye28xbxe; https://tinyurl.com/2za4nsc4 Nietzsche referenced works: Human, All-too-Human (1878), The Gay Science (1882, second expanded edition 1887), On the Genealogy of Morality (1887) re: Lou Salome, Nietzsche’s love interest: https://tinyurl.com/5bvdymd7; https://tinyurl.com/5598dycu Fight Club (1999) directed by David Fincher; starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022) directed by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert; starring Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Stephanie Hsu The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus Pascal’s Wager: https://tinyurl.com/ftrrssth; https://tinyurl.com/7nkhw79b

Let’s talk about death, baby. Today we’re asking: Why are we so afraid to die? Are we 21st century humans any different than Gilgamesh (remember Gilgamesh)? Who’s the most afraid of death: baby boomers, millennials or Gen-Z? Should you freeze your brain in case future humans figure out how not to die? What’s death meditation? Can Victoria talk about her spiritual breakthrough without sounding unbearably woo woo? How do we get less afraid to die??? JUMP AROUND: I. disclaimers 0:37 II. what is death anxiety? 5:19 III. the paradox of being human (ernest becker) 8:09 IV. trying not to die across history (from gilgamesh to cryonics) 12:50 V. afterlife beliefs: then and now 17:13 ad break (are you proud of me or annoyed or both??) VI. demographic differences in fear of death 20:03 a. nationality 20:49 b. religion 24:15 c. age 26:27 VII. my experiences with death anxiety 30:37 a. fear of being buried alive 33:53 b. false memories related to death 37:22 c. fear of oblivion 39:02 d. spiritual crisis 41:51 ad break VIII. my experiences with death meditation 43:38 IX. my ego nap 51:44 SOURCES: definition of death anxiety: https://tinyurl.com/death-anxiety  Collett-Lester Fear Of Death Scale (CL-FODS): Cuniah M, Bréchon G, Bailly N. Validation of the Revised Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale in a French Population. https://tinyurl.com/4sp6rh5k re: the paradox of being human: The Denial of Death by Ernest Becker re: trying not to die across history: The Epic of Gilgamesh; cryonics (https://tinyurl.com/yckp6jsf); monkey testicle transplant (https://tinyurl.com/3w3svbtm) re: gen Z attitudes towards death: https://tinyurl.com/bdf2u9yx re: nationality and religious divides in attitudes towards death https://tinyurl.com/m6f9mepx; the Multidimensional Fear of Death Scale (MFODS; Hoelter, 1979; Neimeyer & Moore, 1994), DePaola, Griffin, Young, and Neimeyer (2003); Duff and Hong (1995); Alvarado, Templer, Bresler, & Thomson-Dobson, 1995)