As The World Burns...
a book by Derrick Jensen and Stephanie McMillan
Two of America's most talented activists team up to deliver a bold and hilarious satire of modern environmental policy in this fully illustrated graphic novel. As the World Burns will inspire you to do whatever it takes to stop ecocide before it's too late.
9 Signs You Are Not Sleepwalking Through Life
It is my belief that our collective universal purpose in life is to raise consciousness to ever higher levels. Expanding consciousness has been a concern of mystics, philosophers, and shamans for millennia. But today more “common” people are being called to this task.
There is a fairly clear distinction between people that live their lives consciously and awake and those that are “sleepwalkers.” In my own consulting practice, I have uncovered some signs that help myself and others continually seek more presence. Here are some signs that will help you gauge where you are on the Sleepwalker Scale:
#1 – Ability to Observe & Reflect
I believe that the ability to stop and observe ourselves is a major tipping point to increasing consciousness. Sleepwalkers react to situations without missing a beat. When encountering a situation, they immediately slip into well-grooved emotional patterns without giving it a thought.
Those that are awake are able to pull back and look at a relationship or situation without attachment and emotion. They can see the bigger picture in how events unfold and the interactions that got them to this place. They can see the dynamics at play. As was in the book the Celestine Prophecy, they can see the power (energy) struggle between people and once they “see” that they are in a position to think, act, and behave differently.
#2 – Taking Responsibility
Sleepwalkers experience their life as a victim. It’s because of x, y and z that they are not loved, not successful, not happy, etc. They do not see how they manifested the life they are in.
People that are awake realize they have all the control yet none of the control at the same time. They realize that they have complete control of their inner world. They take responsibility for what they do – their thoughts, actions and behavior. They also realize that external forces are completely out of their control so they don’t expend their energy trying to control others or situations. They focus their energy on how they can create contribute to the most positive outcome.
#3 – Being Present
Sleepwalkers tend to be prisoners of their past or worriers over the future. They react to situations as they always have without being fully present in the here and now. They make decisions based on fear of what will come. People that are awake consider the details of the current situation and are not encumbered by past or future experience.
#4 – Having an Open Mind
Sleepwalkers are closed-minded. They are skeptical of new ideas and follow the masses. People that are awake consider new ideas and are not afraid to appear different. They have the courage and conviction to stand by their ideas.
#5 – Being Compassionate
As a major component of all world religions, compassion is critical in reaching higher levels of consciousness. “Compassion is the response to the suffering of others that motivates a desire to help.”² Most people experience a level of compassion in their lives, but some experience it more frequently and often act on it.
#6 – Looking for Signs
Sleepwalkers experience the physical reality as the only reality. They are not aware that there is an underlying web of connection embracing everything in the universe. Awakened people recognize that web of connection and see that everything that occurs can be viewed as a sign from the universe to help guide them. Daily life has a richness that sleepwalkers do not experience.
#7 – Being Lighthearted
Sleepwalkers are entrenched in drama most of their day. Drama over minor concerns to mega concerns, they have little time to feel joy in their lives. People that are awake in their lives find joy around every corner. They laugh hard and often. (Think: Dalai Lama).
#8 – Tending Toward the Positive
Sleepwalkers are often pessimists, have low, dense vibrations and therefore they attract negative, low energy into their lives. Those awake have an optimistic 'setpoint'. It doesn’t mean your life is perfect, but it’s your general perspective on life. And this leads me to…
#9 – Viewing Challenges as Opportunities to Grow
When bad things happen to sleepwalkers they complain and blame. When bad things happen to those awake, they tend to view these challenges as opportunities to grow.
Given all this, I want to be sure that you understand that I do not mean that “awakened” people never slip back to lower-energy ways. Our consciousness is dynamic, not static. We move throughout levels during the course of every day.
We all dip into anger, frustration, and fear. We all have times of guilt, apathy, and shame. However, these episodes are temporary for those that are awake. They are more resilient and bounce back after a period of time to their current “set point.”
This is not an exhaustive list of values associated with higher consciousness. And many of these signs overlap and are contingent upon each other. This list comes from my experience and I hope that it is helpful to you.
Want more? Here is a good blog post I found on “sleepwalking” that was my inspiration: personalexcellence.co/blog/sleepwalking/
Un-Zombie Experiments
SLOW DOWN
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.01
In all the zombie movies I've watched (there aren't that many), the zombies move exceptionally slowly. Perhaps it's related to the fact that they no longer have a connection to the emotional, energetic, intellectual and archetypal body, but the physical body alone acts. Without anger, fear, sadness or joy from the emotional body, a zombie can change its speed badly. It runs towards its target like a dead machine.
So this experiment is about turning down the speed completely for a whole day.
Do everything very slowly and calmly and quietly that day. Even if you are not a zombie and have connection to your feelings and energetic body, turn down the speed a lot. Even in the morning in bed, open your eyelids very slowly and get up slowly. Speak slowly too, stretching words out like chewing gum. How far can you push this until fear arises? What reactions do you get from those around you? Who speaks to you? Observe where in your body the greatest resistance to slowness is. Is it your legs? Your speech? Is it in your interactions with others that you have the most difficulty? Try thinking slower, too. Imagine thoughts slowly trickling down like a stone through thick honey.
The point here is not to slip into the zombie role like an actor. It's about exploring slowness. What's happening in your emotional body? Maybe one of the four feelings benefits from slowness? How fast is sadness compared to anxiety?
At night, write in your BEEP!Book what happened in your emotional body. Describe this individually for each feeling and emotion. What did you observe, is there a feeling that became more present in the slowness?
Also write out the effects on your 5 bodies. What did you notice in the physical, intellectual, emotional, energetic and archetypal bodies?After completing this experiment, please register Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.01 in your free account at StartOver.xyz.
This Experiment is worth 1 Matrix Point.
BECOME FASTER
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.02
Just because you're faster than a zombie doesn't mean you're not a zombie.
I definitely recommend doing the previous experiment first (Slow Down) before doing this one.
Because you'll probably feel a double effect if you go in both directions on the speed scale.
The experiment is about doing everything much faster than you normally would. Faster than your feelings, faster than your thoughts, faster than the people around you, faster than expected, faster than yesterday.
So get up right away in the morning and do everything at high speed. Also speak faster than usual, shorten the pauses between sentences and words in a sentence.
How do your decisions change when you don't spend minutes, hours or days thinking about what to do. What do you order when you don't spend 20 minutes thinking about it and reading up and down the menu. What does your day look like when you're moving so fast that your feelings can't keep up. And anyway, which of the 4 feelings is as fast as you are that day? Which feeling do you notice and when? Write this down in your BEEP!Book. Describe your experience for each of the 4 feelings.
Also write out the effects on your 5 bodies. What did you notice in the physical, intellectual, emotional, energetic and archetypal bodies?After completing this experiment, please register Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.02 in your free account at StartOver.xyz.
This Experiment is worth 1 Matrix Point.
GO WITH THE FLOW
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.03
To do this experiment, you need to be in a place with a lot of people. For example, a crowded subway station during rush hour is ideal.
Start by standing at the edge of the large crowds and observing what the currents of movement are. For example, in a crowded subway station, there is the moment when a full train pulls in, the doors open, and large crowds pour out of the doors of the subway onto the platform and to the escalators. In a crowded soccer station, there is the moment after the final whistle when all the people stream simultaneously to the exits to leave the stadium.
The experiment is to swim along in such a stream of people. So get right in there and walk at the same pace as everyone else in exactly the same direction. Don't make eye contact with the other people, don't worry about where the destination is, just go with the flow. Keep doing this until you feel the flow going away and dissipating.
What do you feel? What are you thinking? How is your energetic body doing? Immediately make notes in your BEEP!Book. Then, if you have a chance, go back to the beginning and wait for the next subway. Swim out with the current once more. What is there to observe now? Do the experiment three times if you are in a place where this is possible.After completing this experiment, please register Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.03 in your free account at StartOver.xyz.
This Experiment is worth 1 Matrix Point.
CROSS THE STREAM
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.04
To do this experiment, you need to be in a place with a lot of people. For example, a crowded subway station during rush hour is ideal.
Start by staying at the edge of the large crowds and observing what streams of movement there are. For example, in a crowded subway station, there is the moment when a full train pulls in, the doors open, and large crowds pour out of the doors of the subway onto the platform and to the escalators. In a crowded soccer station, there is the moment after the final whistle when all the people stream to the exits at the same time to leave the stadium.
Once you have clarity on how the flows are going, walk into a flow of people from the side. Do this very slowly. The experiment is to walk across the stream of people once at your own slow pace. How can anger help you, what exactly do you need your anger for here? And how can fear help you here? What are qualities of your sadness that you can use in this? Where is your joy, where do you perceive it, and what can it do for you here?
Once you've gone across, stop in a safe place for a moment and take three deep breaths. How alive are you right now? What is circulating within you? What feelings are circulating within you? Do the experiment three times when you are in a place where this is possible.After completing this experiment, please register Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.04 in your free account at StartOver.xyz.
This Experiment is worth 1 Matrix Point.
SWIM AGAINST THE CURRENT
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.05
To do this experiment, you need to be in a place with a lot of people. For example, a crowded subway station during rush hour is ideal.
Start by standing at the edge of the large crowds and observing what the currents of movement are. For example, in a crowded subway station, there is the moment when a full train pulls in, the doors open, and large crowds pour out of the doors of the subway onto the platform and to the escalators. In a crowded soccer station, there is the moment after the final whistle when all the people stream to the exits at the same time to leave the stadium.
When you have noticed how the main stream of people is going, slowly walk into it from the side and then start walking exactly in the opposite direction. Try to stay in the middle of the stream and not swim to the edge. The point is to do the exact opposite of what everyone else is doing in the middle of the stream.
Keep looking for eye contact with people walking toward and past you. What do you see in people's eyes? Is there contact with the physical bodies of others? If so, what is the contact like? What do you hear? What do you smell? How do you perceive your own physical body? Where is your attention? How is your emotional body responding? What do you feel? What feeling(s) do you need to start this experiment?
Finally, stop in a safe place for a moment and take three deep breaths. How alive are you right now? What is circulating within you? What feelings are circulating within you? Do the experiment three times when you are in a place where this is possible.After completing this experiment, please register Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.05 in your free account at StartOver.xyz.
This Experiment is worth 1 Matrix Point.
CONSCIOUSLY GO ANOTHER WAY
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.06
There are ways you don't think about anymore. You go them again and again. You take this way because it is the shortest way. This is the fastest way to reach your destination. It's obvious! Why would you choose a longer way?
Do you know this? You drive your car home from work. You've driven this route a hundred times before. Suddenly you are at home and you can't even remember the route. You drove automatically, as if by remote control. Automatically and remote-controlled like a zombie. Has that ever happened to you in a city you didn't know and where you just got lost? Without a navigation system? Probably not. In such a moment, all your senses are wide awake, you perceive everything and are right here. Right now.
Here I give you a few possibilities how you can experiment with it:
- If you usually drive to work, take public transportation for a week.
- If you usually take public transportation to work, ride your bike or walk for a few days.
- Completely change your eating habits. Eat only red things for a week. Or eat only things you've prepared yourself.
- Change your clothing style to a stark opposite for a week. If you're a jeans and t-shirt guy, wear only a suit and tie. Wear hats.
- Invite a dangerous person over for a cup of tea every day for a week.
- Sleep on the floor for a week.
- Learn to play the piano.
- Talk to the spider in the corner of your room for a week. Make an agreement with her under what conditions she may stay in the corner of your room. Also listen to what conditions it has.After completing this experiment, please register Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.06 in your free account at StartOver.xyz.
This Experiment is worth 1 Matrix Point.
PAUSE AND PERCEIVE
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.07
Take a walk in nature. For example, if you are in a forest, leave the forest path and walk on the forest floor among the trees.
Stop at one spot and then slowly turn around. Can you still see exactly where you were walking? Maybe there is a small plant on the ground that you just stood on with the sole of your shoe and your whole body weight.
Squat down and take a closer look at the forest floor. Yes, just that little piece of your last 3 or 4 steps. What is actually down there? What animals are out and about? Ants, little bugs, flies, worms, spiders, elephants? And where are these little animals going? Follow their path as long as you can. How do they move? Do they make any sounds? Do they emit a smell? Are they all alive or are there dead animals lying around? What plants are growing there in that spot? Touch them gently with your fingers. How do they feel? How warm or cold? How soft, hairy, or rough are they? Do they smell? Do they taste? What do they taste like? Observe how you can use the qualities of your sadness to get in contact with the beings here. How can you, your being in the here and now, get in touch with the beings of the forest? Stay in contact with your sadness. Your sadness is the lover, the quality to connect you with what is there.After completing this experiment, please register Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.07 in your free account at StartOver.xyz.
This Experiment is worth 1 Matrix Point.
MAKE A JOURNEY INTO THE EARTH
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.08
Do it so that you have an experience of everything being connected, that there is not only matter, that there is not only this world that you see, that there is not only the physical body. Do it so that you have an experience of all your bodies, the physical, the emotional, the energetic, the intellectual and the archetypal.
https://goldenerschluessel.mystrikingly.com/
After completing this experiment, please register Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.08 in your free account at StartOver.xyz.
This Experiment is worth 1 Matrix Point.
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.00
Matrix Code ZOMBIESx.00
