Good to Meet You

I've found many "pressing" matters fall by the wayside as I become a loving father to my beautiful son. This shift has altered so much about the dynamic of time and the nature of participating in life. We often find ourselves driving toward one high or another, the next great meal or satisfying consumption, failing to recognize the innate beauty in front of us. I urge you to be available for all that presents today and love it without wanting more. 

As I wrapped up the series finale of The Good Place, I felt compelled to recount the ethical quandaries of our life, how we carry each other through this life, and what it means in the end.

I'm looking to the future, 2023 is one of opportunity for you to rest within your nature. Being insightful about how you feel or view the world is so important, as society seems to buzz by with great haste, you can sit as a patient witness of the reactivity stirring in your life. Start to sit with that and sit with yourself. Reflect on the way you feel about yourself as well as the ideas you conjure up about others and their motivations. Are the circumstances or environments, whether it's work, a relationship, or a state of being really in your best interest? Are you there because it's comfortable or there because it's necessary? Only you can know this and through self-inquiry you do find that centering mechanism in your life. 

Blessings to you and all that you hold dear, happy New Year!

I think it's really interesting to examine the context of our existence, from the ways we see the world to the attitudes we hold toward it. Enlightenment doesn't appear to be something we can learn, but something we realize. This is why the Buddha was an enlightened being, he woke up to the conscious reality beyond the person he was to the all-encompassing being that rejects nothing.

Thomas Mearns was the first person I ever considered that I wanted on my podcast outside of Katie. Sometimes we get glimpses into the unique realities that people live in, the highs and the lows that are individual but undeniably relatable. That was my first exposure to Tom, but over time there was more. We as people learn to share experience, live vicariously through others, and grow in each of our lessons. I think that's part of what I see more and more, is the circumstances that you grow from aren't necessarily binding. No matter the external packaging, there is a depth of knowledge that touches the depth of experience, including the shared experience.

Thomas Mearns, it's Good to Meet You.
https://www.instagram.com/thomasmearns
https://www.instagram.com/zaccassel

It's not every day you get to talk to someone that you've watched grow up before your very eyes. Tyson Smith was a football player on a team I coached, who then turned into a leader. But what happens after the games end and the lights go out? We discuss playing football, making friends, catching feelings, and finding who you are in this 40-minute talk. Please enjoy.

Find Tyson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyson_2.0
Find Zac on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zaccassel
Email me: gtmyzac@gmail.com

We can enter a clarity within any moment purely from the perspective of set and setting. Cultivating a mindset that is open and receptive offers a wealth of opportunities for you to not only approach any situation with ease but in a receptive nature. Your setting, be it physical or social, plays a major role in how you're influenced in any moment. Be conscious of the circumstances surrounding you, as you may unintentionally be impacted by these outside influences. Finally, when you have the ability to create the setting for others, compassionately recognize how your availability, receptiveness, softness, hardness, and the judgments you carry may impact them. With a light heart you can create a space that is welcoming and ultimately beneficial for to offer the chance for spiritual, mental, and physical growth.

Finding your why in life is so important, it might be the most important reason for doing anything. The things that drive us to pursue the varying avenues presented to us at any one moment go beyond mere desire, but true understanding of self. When I broached the subject in a Wisdom talk, I thought I was going to get a wealth of people stepping up to say what drove them, but I was shocked to find that not many people were quite ready to share. Enter Teri Healy, who shared her story with myself and the listeners. She found herself drawn to helping others in service to her community by taking the stage, a voice to those who in pain and a rallying cry to consciousness.
Find her at http://www.terihealy.com and http://www.instagram.com/teri.healy.
Connect with me at http://www.instagram.com/zaccassel.
Want to tune in on Wisdom? http://joinwisdom.audio/zaccassel

Don't forget to change! Change your socks, change your opinion, but never forget to change your perspective about the way it is. Change your status on Instagram from Follow to Following: http://www.instagram.com/zaccassel

Five truths about change:
1. Changes will happen whether you like them or not.
2. Embracing change enables you to flow more freely.
3. Flexibility in an everchanging environment creates confidence in yourself.
4. Change helps you recognize how the rest of the world responds.
5. Change is variety and variety creates opportunity.

Under a blossom tree I saw the reflection of the journey our lives take, all the while remembering that we are indeed a part of that cycle. Sit back with me as I ruminate on these simple, approachable recognitions.
 
Find me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/zaccassel

Sitting down with a new friend is unique and you never really know what will happen in these situations. What seemed to be a casual conversation about the process of knowing yourself turned into a fleshing out of the realities of past trauma. We explored our vulnerabilities, and the way men and women are framed within societies as being not enough. Yet, we are all we need to be in every moment. Really powerful stuff!

We really do have it all. I say it, yet you probably still don't believe me. Look around, look inside, but know that it's true. Everything you've ever gone through, even the hard times, have brought you to this point. You have love, even if you feel like no one loves you or cares. You have patience, enough so that you will sit with your pain. You have compassion for yourself, otherwise you would fail to comprehend the conditions you inhabit that bring you pain. You have pain, but on the other side is gain. What are you gaining? Perspective, flexibility, and persistence in the face of unspeakable odds. So what do you not have? What else could you possibly need but everything you've already got?

I know you've heard it before from me, love everyone and tell the truth. You've probably gotten sick of it, but how much have you actually heard? Explore key tenets, such as compassion, understanding, love, acceptance, patience, contemplation, honesty, truth, fulfillment, and practice. These values are not only applied to what we involve ourselves in, but also why.

We live in a world of surprise, but what happens when we focus too much on the eventuality instead of the reality? Follow me on this journey as I examine the over-complication of what the future may hold, good and bad. 
Find me on Instagram: @zaccassel

It's a wild, wild place out there. You don't even know how big this place is either. If you understood the vast nature of the experience we're nestled into, your brain might just pop. Check out this episode to find a little more about what you're missing!

It's hard to be vulnerable amongst strangers. Placing yourself in situations that people could potentially judge you or hurt you is an awful proposition. I happened to be lucky enough to have the right settings for my own version of vulnerability. Was it right? No. Was it safe? Absolutely. I learned a lot from this, about the conditions we are placed in, and the desire to make it safer.

2021 has been a very dynamic year, with changing jobs, states, and coasts. I've gotten engaged and even starting a podcast! What I have appreciated more than anything is how grand it continues to be. The year and the experiences within it have offered up a chance to grow toward a future with clarity. Best wishes to you and your family in 2022.

Franklin (22) is living a life in the Now, formulating his model of the future. He offers a fresh perspective of what it was like growing up without a mother, losing her at the age of 4, then his father at 16. Raised by his extended family, including his grandmother, Franklin demonstrates maturity and mindfulness, expressing his interest to grow into the world and better himself in the process.

Today is a day to be thankful, a time to share the present with the ones we love. Take a moment to value your friends and family, even their quirks! We forget how precious the present is while in search of the next thing. If you're around a table with the people you love, tell them you're thankful for them. There's nothing else to do at gatherings but be with other people.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sage wisdom stems from a deeper, conscious place. Thankfully, those who have awakened have infinite access to the fountain. Vanessa Zarate brings her own comprehension of this life, our collective journey, and what the path is available for those who want to seek their own understanding about this incarnation.