[00:00:01] Luke: Hot damn.

[00:00:02] Alyson: Geez.

[00:00:03] Luke: Geez, girl.

[00:00:04] Alyson: Ready to go.

[00:00:05] Luke: Let's do this 2-0-2-6 in full effect.

[00:00:09] Alyson: Oh, yes. Yes, indeed. Here we are, according to the Gregorian New Year.

[00:00:17] Luke: This is episode 648. The show notes and links and anything we talk about can be found at lukestorey.com/468. Speaking of the fake ass Gregorian calendar, is that what it's called? Gregorian?

[00:00:30] Alyson: I believe so.

[00:00:31] Luke: I have decided that my new year is going to start when the real one starts, whenever that is. I forget. It's later.

[00:00:42] Alyson: There's a lot of different theories on that.

[00:00:44] Luke: In other words, you know the strange relationship I have with time, dates, calendar.

[00:00:50] Alyson: I very much do.

[00:00:51] Luke: It's a struggle, because I'm living in a different reality than 99.999% of the population. I think part of my confusion around this, part of it is probably smoking copious amounts of weed through my whole childhood. Didn't do my brain any favors.

[00:01:08] But the other part is daylight savings, changing the clocks, the fake-ass calendar. January 1st is not when the new year actually starts, but we're psyop-ed into believing it is. So I want to create my own custom calendar, and maybe something like this already exists where I can secretly follow my own calendar in 2026 and then just play along to appease the world that's following the fake calendar.

[00:01:35] Alyson: Okay. I find one huge issue in this exciting goal that you have.

[00:01:40] Luke: What?

[00:01:40] Alyson: Now you are trying to impose upon yourself tracking and following two calendar systems when it is just not what are your top gifts and skillsets to follow along.

[00:01:52] Luke: You have a good point there. If I can't even follow one, how am I going to follow another? I think what got me excited is at one point when I was in the jail-broken backdoor of AI, I was like, "Yo, what's up with the fake ass calendar system?" And it gave me this whole breakdown of the how and the why of the psyop.

[00:02:15] And then at the end of its diatribe, it was like, do you want me to make you your own custom calendar? And I didn't want it to stop and glitch out. So I was like, "No, we'll do it later." And then I never did it.

[00:02:25] Alyson: And also, one of our dear friends, Naba Iritah Shenmira, Dogon High Priest, the Dogon calendar system, they are either the oldest human civilization or one of, and so their calendar system, when he was here and was sharing with us, that resonated as truth, the Dogon calendar system. And it's completely different than the Gregorian one and the one we follow here.

[00:02:57] Luke: Thank you for reminding me of that. I think that's probably when I first became aware of the depth of the calendar psyop, however he broke it down, was it's like the cycles of nature, the moon, the sun, the seasons, etc. So the new year is like the beginning of spring, not the middle of winter.

[00:03:18] Alyson: Yeah. And I could be incorrect, but if I recall, in the Dogon calendar system, I think that their new year is more like September, October. I'd need to do some research, but there is another tradition or calendar system that thinks it's the spring. And so, yes, there are a lot of different theories and feelings and beliefs on this.

[00:03:45] What gets extra strange for me is that my birthday is on New Year's Day in the Gregorian calendar. And so it's just like, I don't know. It's always been funny having my birthday on 1/1, but now that we are to the point where everybody's questioning the calendar system and that's the fake new year, it's like now my birthday's on the fake New Year. It's not even the real New Year.

[00:04:09] Luke: Now, see, with my new idea, we can truly have a dedicated day of celebration for your birthday that isn't overshadowed by the fake New Year. I think the thing about it to me where there's some friction is this idea that when nature and us as part of nature are going into that winter regeneration, shorter days, it gets colder, we're eating warm foods, it's cozier--

[00:04:38] Alyson: You're still in the inner terrain.

[00:04:41] Luke: Exactly. And then that 1/1 hits and it's like, okay, go time. Goals, productive. And I'm never up for that.

[00:04:48] Alyson: And they're like, by the time this episode comes out at the end of January, "Which of your goals have you started to accomplish yet?"

[00:04:56] Luke: Yeah, I don't want to accomplish shit. I want to take naps for most of January and February.

[00:05:01] Alyson: Mm-hmm.

[00:05:02] Luke: We'll start talking, March, mid-March, and then we'll see how it goes from there. I feel like April is a time when spring is starting to happen and that's when I want to spring into action and start getting busy.

[00:05:16] Alyson: Yeah. And that's when the seeds that you've planted in the dark, colder soil, they begin to start to germinate and come more to the surface, and the sun's getting a bit more powerful. So yeah, I hear you. But speaking of things that resonate as truth, that was really emerging as a theme I wanted us to chat about in the start of this year.

[00:05:44] I think that that's going to be one of, if not the most imperative things for us to really focus on in this time, this era of just such swirling energetics and so many things going on. And I'm not labeling all those things going on as negative, and this is absolutely not fear mongering. I'm very optimistic.

[00:06:10] I'm super pumped about this year, year of the fire horse. I feel a lot of really cool electric inspiration energy happening. But amongst all of that and this really deep scape of evolution that we are all in together right now, it's such a conglomeration of things. And in the midst or amongst that conglomeration, our energetics and attempts to pull us away from our inner divine knowing to distract us from our true full divine power and create unnecessary chaos and confusion.

[00:06:50] And so I wanted you and I to talk about what feels like truth to us, and maybe it can inspire those joining us in this episode to think about what feels like truth to them so that they can have that as a compass and a navigation for this year.

[00:07:16] So if they do feel swept up in a tornado of things going on, it's like, "Oh, right." I remember in January I had this list of five things that make me feel most centered and reconnect me back to what I know is true. And so, yes, talking about the Dogon calendar--

[00:07:35] Luke: I think discernment has always been humanity's weak spot because we-- I don't know about all of history. I'm sure indigenous peoples and ancient cultures relied on much more than the intellect to navigate their way through life. But in Western culture, in modern times, we're indoctrinated into scientism and intellectualism where we make decisions and discern truth from falsehood using the intellect, which is, in my experience-- I won't say for everyone, in my experience-- is the least reliable.

[00:08:17] Because the mind has filters of past experience, triggers, unresolved issues, traumas, hurts, pattern recognition. There's all these things that the mind does in an effort to protect us and help us navigate, but it's just not very good at it. So something that I've been really working on over the years to help me be able to feel into more, then think about what's true is just clearing myself of distortion as it comes up.

[00:08:50] Distorted ways of thinking, behaviors, things from my past that need to be addressed, things that I don't want to face today that need to be addressed in relationships, career, whatever it is, to just remove any identifiable distortion so that I can better rely on the inner guidance and that discernment and to use prudence.

[00:09:12] Because to your point, we are in an era of mass, mass deception and propaganda like never before. And there's always been propaganda probably since as long as there've been humans. But now with the digital age, because of the internet, because of our phones, this constant access to information, man, it's really easy to get swept up in drama that is either untrue or really has nothing to do with me and my life.

[00:09:44] It's like I can get sucked into the phone. I noticed this in 2020, 2021. It's like, wow, if I put my phone down, then I'm just chilling with my wife and a dog, and life is beautiful. The phone is a portal to so much information, and I would say the vast majority of that information that's accessible digitally is untrue and is meant to manipulate my attention to get me to buy things, to get me to stay on apps, to get me to fight the wrong enemy, to cause division amongst us people that are, whether we know it or not, we're all on the same team. Part of one big family.

[00:10:23] Alyson: There are so many people that have devoted their lives to, I don't know, figuring out the gaming and gambling systems in Vegas that are then now paid tons of money to figure out how to keep us drooling and hooked on our phones. I even saw something recently.

[00:10:47] He seemed like an expert in this arena, but he could even-- he was like going over something with his son, with how the phone system and these app systems work, and he's like, "Okay, if you just saw an ad, scroll back one, then I guarantee you saw a heartfelt video about a mom deer and a baby deer being hand fed from a lady off her porch.

[00:11:09] And then scroll back another one, I guarantee that's something that's supposed to elicit some sort of fear, anxiety. Scroll back another, and I guarantee it's something that gets this part of your brain activated that's more of the addictive. It's just like the systems at play to scramble the mind and highlight these areas that we most likely don't want to be the areas in our brain that are the most stimulated and activated, it's--

[00:11:41] Luke: Limbic system.

[00:11:42] Alyson: Yeah. And so I do think that it's incredibly important-- again, this is not a fear-based thing. It's just in the broad scope of the web of totality. This is a really important area for us to be aware of and to know this isn't just an idea of like, oh, this might be happening.

[00:12:07] It's pretty established fact that these are the things that go into the tech and our phone and these apps. And so thankfully, I can feel the second that I've been on the phone too long for my system, for my central nervous system, for my mind. I can literally feel this very distinct feeling click into my brain.

[00:12:28] And it's hard for me to describe, but it's like I can almost feel the circuits short circuiting or these areas in my brain getting a touch too scrambled. And I'm just so glad. This is where my sensitivities and attunement really are favorable, because I can feel the second it hits. And I put my phone away right then and there because I can tell it's taking me into that territory of highlighting the areas I don't want running my system.

[00:12:59] Luke: You're fortunate. That like someone who has two glasses of wine and can feel when they've had enough versus someone-- I've known people like this that might have that thought, but it's like, yeah, but three would be better. If three's good, 10 would be better. And it's the same way with anything addictive, anything that's triggering dopamine, that's causing a state change.

[00:13:27] There's a million things, both positive and maybe not so positive that causes state change, but you are very fortunate that you have that. I think sometimes when it comes to my attention being hijacked by tech, I don't notice it so much until I get the hangover from it later on.

[00:13:47] I might wake up feeling pretty good and then I think, oh, I'm just going to check one little thing on Instagram. Next thing you know, 45 minutes disappeared like I was on a fucking UFO or something. Go into lost time phenomenon, I go, "How did that just happen?" And then later that day I'll be like, "I'm a little more irritable or just easily distracted. I lost some of my motivation."

[00:14:10] And so cumulatively I learn like, "Dude, you got to apply some discipline." Because I won't really notice it in the moment. In the moment, it feels good. I'm just like, "Yeah, refresh, refresh, refresh."

[00:14:23] Alyson: Yeah. I can feel the exact thing that you're talking about. Let's say I get that cue in my brain and I want to think in real time. My mind and my brain right now, thank you for that wisdom, communication, and that intelligence. Thank you. Thank you, body. Thank you, mind. Thank you, brain.

[00:14:42] But let's say I feel that, and then I put the phone away, but it's a day where I'm just chilling at home, but let's say I have a few rounds of that in one day. You know what I mean? And a couple of hours later, I'll pick my phone back up. I'll be on it for a while. Then I'll feel the little schism in the brain and I'll put it away.

[00:15:02] I also can tell the next day if I feel what you and I call like the ratty brain. My brain's a little ratty on a day, and I'm like, "Okay." And I'm like, "Ah, yesterday was a heavy phone." And there's no denying how much it can throw your system off, whether it's your vagus nerve, your central nervous system, just the synapses, the neuro pathways in your mind, your brain.

[00:15:28] Yeah, I think it's very important this year that we are all-- do what you want. We're all sovereign and I honor everybody's sovereignty, but I'm just feeling, when I was tuning into some of the things for us to chat about today, like this theme really rose front and center to not be in denial about this stuff that's going on, and really getting clear what feels true, what feels like truth for me, what I know is truth.

[00:15:59] It's pure love, God. It's sacred Earth mother. It's being connected to those places and also my soul doing practices every single day that really get me unified with my soul. It's the fire, sacred grand fire. You know there's not distortion in fire. That's what clears distortion. That's what brings about transmutation and healing and the most ancient, sacred remembrance.

[00:16:23] It's connecting to the fire. There was even a study I saw recently where if you look down at the fire and you're standing and looking down at it and you see the embers and the fire being really alive, it scientifically is shown that it activates your stem cells.

[00:16:41] And so I go to fire a lot. I go to my drums, my shamanic drums a lot, which I have about six at this point. Some animal hide, some not. But no matter what style size of drum, the drum represents truth for me. Sweetgrass, which I have right here, which I would love to waft around in the air. If you ever need something to bring you to ancient truth instantaneously, I highly recommend-- ah. Oh my gosh. Sweetgrass. I'm going to light it and hand it to you too.

[00:17:20] Luke: I can smell it from here. Yummy.

[00:17:22] Alyson: It's so powerful.

[00:17:24] Luke: I love when you burn sacred things in the house.

[00:17:27] Alyson: Oh my gosh. It's the go-to.

[00:17:30] Luke: Oh my God. Remember when I almost burned the house down last week?

[00:17:33] Alyson: Oh my gosh. Yeah. How could I forget? We called the Fire Department.

[00:17:36] Luke: We have a good PSA, okay. PSA. I've been burning incense, I don't know, most of my life. My mom used to burn incense when I was a kid. I like incense. So the way that I've always done it is I take the stick-- I'm talking the stick incense, little thin piece of wood, like a long toothpick-- and I just put it in a plant, in the soil of a plant and let it burn there.

[00:18:07] Because I've tried the little incense sticks and the freaking ashes get everywhere and just annoys the shit out of me. And then I've had little pots too where I feel it with sand and then I keep the incense in there, and I've never had any problems with fires or any danger like that.

[00:18:21] Alyson: Are you going to give the two important side notes?

[00:18:24] Luke: Yes, I think. Let me keep going. But Alyson is not really a fan of the incense in the plants--

[00:18:33] Alyson: Important note number one.

[00:18:35] Luke: --for her own reasons.

[00:18:36] Alyson: I despise that. I think it's just horrible and it's janky and trashy and not good for the spirit of the plant. I don't like the ashes going into the soil, so that has been known for years.

[00:18:48] Luke: Yeah. So you have the little cone incense and then you have the sticks. Alyson got some beautiful cone incense. I forget where it's from, but it's really lovely. And I had a guest coming over to the house, so I was like, "Ooh." I put on some nice music, light and incense, and I couldn't find the little stand thing that the cone goes on.

[00:19:09] Alyson: Important side note number two, they're everywhere in our home.

[00:19:11] Luke: Yeah. And so I was like, "Alyson's not around, so I'm just going to go put this little cone in the plant, in the living room." And it burns. It smells really nice. I forget about it.

[00:19:22] Alyson: This is when the first red siren should have gone off. Oh, well, Alyson's not around. Alert, alert. Bad idea.

[00:19:30] Luke: Husband's out there will relate, some of them. And then after homie left, which is another great story-- Jan, he's not just a homie. The guy that built this house 25 years ago, we ended up connecting with in a really interesting way. So he leaves and I'm like, "Oh, you know what? I should go check the soil of the plant, make sure everything's kosher."

[00:19:51] I go over there. I look in the dirt. The thing's burned off. Everything's fine. I forget about it until the next day. So later that day, Alyson's like, "It smell like chemicals are on fire. What does that smell? You smell it?" I'm like, "Yeah." Usually she smells things that I can't smell because she has bionic smell senses. And so I actually did. I was like, "What the hell?" And I'm looking all over the house. I'm like, "I can't find anything."

[00:20:17] Alyson: We think maybe the neighbors are burning leaves. So we went outside. We're smelling around.

[00:20:21] Luke: Thought someone had a bonfire and we had our door open for a bit. Anyway, the smell won't go away. And it's mostly centered around one zone downstairs in the house, down there. And eventually Alyson gets concerned because it's not going away, and we opened the doors. We closed the doors, and went for a walk, came back. It's not going away.

[00:20:41] Alyson: No matter what we tried, the smell was only getting stronger.

[00:20:45] Luke: I should have started the story with this and then gave the punchline, which is, it was the incense. But anyway, then eventually she's like, "Dude, you got to do something. I don't feel safe." So I call the Fire Department and they're like, "No, you need to call 911." I'm like, "Nothing's on fire. There's just a weird smell." They're like, "Call 911 right now." So I call them. Fire Department gets here in two seconds. Six big dudes, vets, oh, I've been on the force 20 years.

[00:21:11] Alyson: We got the fire chief at our house.

[00:21:12] Luke: We got the OGs. These guys knew their shit. They're just like, brush me out of the way. "Where's your crawlspace?" It's just chaos. They're like, "I smell smoke. It's a fire. It's a fire."

[00:21:20] Alyson: Yeah.

[00:21:21] Luke: I'm like, "Okay, stay cool." Thankfully I'm pretty good at staying cool even in situations where--

[00:21:25] Alyson: Cookie and I are sitting outside in our driveway.

[00:21:27] Luke: Yeah, it's a whole thing.

[00:21:28] Alyson: It's a whole thing.

[00:21:29] Luke: Dude, these guys, they got all their sensors out, their heat guns, their cameras. They're like on the roof. They're looking in the fireplace.

[00:21:36] Alyson: They put a drone up above our house.

[00:21:39] Luke: They got the heat-seeking drone.

[00:21:41] Alyson: The neighbors were probably very concerned.

[00:21:43] Luke: It was like a military operation in here. And eventually they just put up their hands. They're like, "We can't find a fire in here anywhere. We smell the smell."

[00:21:53] Alyson: Yeah. And also, they were like, "This is the exact smell. When we go into a fire and extinguish the fire, the remaining pungent scent is the scent that's in your home and filling your home right now. And we cannot locate it." One of the OG guys they were asking me, because they knew how sensitive I was, they're like, "Are you feeling okay?"

[00:22:18] And I'm just like, "I'm fine." It's not like I need my vitals checked or anything, but I feel like a really scratchy throat. I do feel bouts of dizziness because the smell is strong enough. And the fireman himself, he was like, "I also have a scratchy throat. There's something going on in here." And nobody knows what it is.

[00:22:34] Luke: And we all agreed that it was really around this one area. So we ended with, it's got to be something in the HVAC because there was no smoke in the crawl space, but there's smoke in the room, which means it has to be coming from one of the vents. So we deduced it to that. I couldn't get ahold of our HVAC people and it just kept going. So anyway, we're just waiting to call 911 again if it doesn't get better.

[00:23:00] Alyson: Yeah. And they said like, "We're right down the street. Just call us if you need us. We'll come back."

[00:23:04] Luke: They also said, when you figure out what it was, please come to the station and tell us because we're baffled. These guys are like--

[00:23:09] Alyson: We've never seen this in 30 years.

[00:23:11] Luke: So anyway, long story short, later on, I think the next morning, I'm walking across the living room and I see this one plant that's very wilted, and I thought, "Oh, that's strange." I'm pretty good with watering the plants. I think I have quite the green thumb if I can humbly claim that.

[00:23:30] Alyson: And it's a brand new hearty plant.

[00:23:32] Luke: Yeah. So it's wilted. I go over there and the whole thing is like a giant flaming ember. All of the soil, it must have been made out of like wood. It's not normal dirt soil. And the whole pot is hot.

[00:23:49] Alyson: It's like a clay oven.

[00:23:50] Luke: It's a clay oven. Exactly. We could have made some biscuits or bricks or something in it. So yeah, that was that. So that's a PSA for anyone who burns things like whether it's something beautiful, sweetgrass or sage or any of the things people burn, palo santo. Public service announcement. Please be careful and know that soil in plants, even though you just watered the goddamn plant and it should be wet and therefore not flammable can still be.

[00:24:21] Alyson: Alert. Yes. That was such an adventure. And just so interesting on a lot of levels. One, entering into the year of the fire horse, and also because everything ended up being okay and everyone was safe in our beautiful sacred home that we spent years renovating was safe, we could have a little bit of a lighter attitude about it.

[00:24:46] And you had also apologized and assured me you would never, ever again do the thing that I said I never liked and didn't want you to do, which is putting incense in the plants. So you were like--

[00:24:56] Luke: You handled it pretty well, I got to say.

[00:24:57] Alyson: Thank you. Yeah, I appreciate that.

[00:25:00] Luke: Especially since I just went completely brain dead--

[00:25:03] Alyson: That's what I was about to talk about.

[00:25:04] Luke: We're all standing in front of the plant with the fire chief.

[00:25:07] Alyson: Literally, there's 10 people. Now, Luke never told me. I had no idea that he put that incense in this plant. He never admitted it the entire time this was going on. And so after this was discovered and he finally came to me and admitted that he did it, he said right away, "I assure you I will never do this again."

[00:25:29] And because everything was okay, I was able to be a little bit light about this, which I was proud of myself for not going into a rage or a meltdown on it. But yeah, I couldn't believe. At one point, you and I plus eight firemen all standing within a two-foot vicinity of the plant that you put the incense in, and at no point did you ever think, maybe I should check that plant again.

[00:25:56] Luke: What's even funnier about it is that I had the wherewithal to go check the plant in question after I had burned the incense. Mere hours later, the whole Fire Department's here. We're all standing around the plant, but it never occurred to me like, "Hey, maybe I should check that plant that I just checked four hours ago."

[00:26:15] Alyson: So strange.

[00:26:17] Luke: I'm never going to make fun of NPCs ever again because it just shows we can all be a non-player character. We can all check out.

[00:26:25] Alyson: Oh my gosh.

[00:26:26] Luke: None of us are impervious to going to completely brain dead.

[00:26:31] Alyson: Oh boy. Yeah, that was quite--

[00:26:34] Luke: That was a good one. I think it's important still that I humble myself and go to the fire department as I told them I would. I have to keep my word.

[00:26:42] Alyson: You haven't done it yet.

[00:26:43] Luke: Yeah. I need to stop by and show them photos. This is what it was. It'll would probably be useful to them if that ever happens.

[00:26:50] Alyson: We have to do it. There's no question.

[00:26:51] Luke: You know what I'm saying? So when they go in, they'd be like, "Hey, do you happen to burn incense?" That can become part of their protocol of questioning.

[00:26:57] Alyson: Yeah, I like how you are turning it into, you've done your civic duty, so it makes your ego feel a little bit better about almost burning the house down.

[00:27:07] Luke: All I did was take one for the team for the community.

[00:27:09] Alyson: Good job, honey. Anything else you want to add to the list or ways that can maybe help spark some light bulb moments of inspiration for people to gather their list of what feels like truth and true to them? For me, it's like food and heirloom seeds is on the list for sure. What else you got?

[00:27:31] Luke: Yeah. Biological signaling of what you put in your body is a really important piece. But I would like to piggyback on your mention of the fire, of the elements. I think about, say I'm getting stressed out with bullshit that's not real, that is actually not true. Things I'm worried about in the future that doesn't exist.

[00:27:57] When the mind takes hold and I can't seem to get clarity around what is true and real, going to the woods, taking a 40-minute walk through the trees, all of a sudden looking at the sun, the clouds, maybe it rains a little bit. Putting my feet in the creek, jumping in the creek if it's safe to do so, and anything like that, seeing some animals going out in the front yard, feeding the deer-- of course, we're feeding them organic. Every time people feed the deer, they're like, "That's not good for them." I'm like, "Do you want them to starve?" We're feeding them peanuts and good stuff.

[00:28:34] Alyson: It's an established deer community out here that for many, many years, this-- I know, but most people listening don't know. And so yeah, when they just see this happening, I don't know what they're thinking, but--

[00:28:48] Luke: They're either going to eat the food we give them or they're going to eat Roundup lawns and atrazine grass from the golf course down the road.

[00:28:55] Alyson: And also because this deer community's been here long before we moved here, this has been what it's been. This is the jam out here.

[00:29:01] Luke: Anyway, I digress. Being in nature with nature, reminding myself that I am nature has an incredible way of diffusing the maya that I was caught in. Just think about, say you get pissed off. You have a confrontation with someone or a disagreement. We intuitively want to go for a walk to refresh your mind, look at the sky.

[00:29:26] Alyson: Move the energy.

[00:29:28] Luke: Yeah, moving the energy and also surrounding myself with what is true and real, which is the natural realm in which I exist and live. It's like, "Oh wow, that oak tree's been here for 300 years. I'm going to go put my hand on that oak tree and just show it some love and appreciation." That's much more real than anything I could ever find on Instagram.

[00:29:50] Alyson: Yeah. Staying as connected to the elements and love, more important than ever, ever, ever, ever.

[00:29:59] Luke: Yeah. the deception is so nonstop. And the funny thing is, when the plandemic happened, the formerly underground truther movement started to emerge and gain some traction because people are sensing, eh, this isn't adding up. This doesn't make sense.

[00:30:20] So people are going to, some of the folks that were censored and now they're on Rumble and these Telegram and alternative sources of media and news, for lack of a better term. And so a lot of the truthers and the political pundits and outliers gained a lot of traction and built audiences.

[00:30:44] And I think many of us started to trust those people on the truther side because the mainstream media was so obviously deceptive. But what I'm starting to see now is like, wow, even a lot of the truth or media space is also totally compromised. So the discernment is more important than ever.

[00:31:08] Because you know, it's straight up lies on the television. So you think, oh, I'm going to go to the Internet and go down some rabbit holes, and I'll find the truth there. And you'll find more truth there, but it takes even more discernment because even within the truther space, there's a lot of compromised people that have an agenda.

[00:31:27] Alyson: When the layers get compounded, that's when there's a very high chance of just feeling like you are absolutely losing your mind. And you start to feel so discombobulated that you don't know up from down. That's when it gets super trippy at times, a bit concerning, and you might start to feel a bit lost.

[00:31:53] It's when the layers that you are trying to discern get compounded. And so, because, to your point, that is happening more and more, that's why I want to say for the 50th time, probably it's more important than ever that we know what is truth for us, that we know what feels like truth to us, that we know what we can go to to reconnect us to what truth is. That's top of list for this year.

[00:32:28] Luke: I think a good barometer for me is if a message-- and I guess I'm thinking more about people we would go to as sources of truth, sources of information, because we want to know what's going on in the world, even though it largely doesn't matter. What matters more is what's going on in your intimate relationships with you and your family and your home and your community.

[00:32:51] Alyson: And trusting yourself and your intuition.

[00:32:53] Luke: But still, some of us want to know what's going on in the world. One of the ways that I discern between someone I trust or don't trust is the degree to which they promote unity amongst people versus division amongst people. And so if you think about radical leftists and liberals, that everyone is like ragging on during the convid era, and then I think even many centrist people leaned more into, I'd say, the right side of things that-- for you that you don't know one's blue and one's red, Alyson.

[00:33:34] Alyson: You'll find me in the field of love.

[00:33:35] Luke: But what I am seeing is like-- and I've never been either of those, so I'm just a refugee, I guess you could say, in terms of my political beliefs because I don't believe in politics at all. So this is not lost on me ever, but the division is so obviously engineered because the enemy, for lack of a better term, exists above and outside of the left and right paradigm.

[00:34:08] So it's like when I see someone who's super right, super left, it's harder for me to trust them because they're either delusional or compromised. It's like if you're othering constantly, and I've done it myself, making fun of NPCs and maskers and whatever, it's like the compassionate, more wise side of me just knows those are people that have succumbed to trauma-based mind control.

[00:34:33] Alyson: And that compassion in you is very alive. That is a very evolved area.

[00:34:39] Luke: I think when I'm judgy or divisive, I'm not really being serious. You know what I mean?

[00:34:46] Alyson: You also aren't making it your platform to--

[00:34:48] Luke: It's not my platform at all, but I think that if someone is a unifying voice and a unifying presence, that that's something really important to pay attention to. And to me, the unity is about humankind coming together with love and compassion and being for love and compassion, equality, all of the things that we value rather than being against each other.

[00:35:21] Because we all want the same things. You could go to the most liberal, leftist, whatever home, and that family unit wants the same thing as your militant, right-wing, armed compound family. You know what I mean? It's like we all just want to be safe, secure, and take care of the people we love.

[00:35:44] It's like everyone wants the same thing. We just have very different views about how we're going to achieve that. And now it's becoming so obvious geopolitically that no one of the political class is really for us. So it's up to us to unify despite our differences and disagreements. To me, that's truth that. That's true.

[00:36:09] I can sit across from you and disagree with you on something and there's no love lost. That feels good to me. That feels true. It doesn't mean I won't stop someone that's trying to do me or someone I love harm. It's not being passive or naive. It's like, man, let's get honest about who the enemy is, and it's not one another.

[00:36:33] Alyson: Absolutely. Yeah. It's more an honoring and respect and veering away from what seems to be such a prevalent, at times mean spiritedness, and more over into the lanes of shared humanity and kindness and empathy and sovereignty. Honoring and respecting everyone's sovereignty.

[00:37:03] Because, yes, we are connected to aspects of God, goddess, but at the end of the day, we are not the creator who sees and devises this grandest divine web. You know what I mean? Anyways, yeah, that's a big rabbit hole. But what you were just sharing elicited another thing that is an important truth to stay connected with for me, and that's prayer, the power of prayer.

[00:37:39] I pray multiple times a day, every day individually. We also do very regular, if not daily family prayer time. And it's fun. Praying is fun. And one of my big prayers is always, may all beings be happy and free, and different versions of that. Depends upon the day.

[00:38:03] May all beings find ease and grace. May all beings know the power of forgiveness. May all beings-- just some version of, again, with that shared humanity and that that oneness energy. I do want for all beings to be able to find their way toward those areas as much as they can.

[00:38:31] Luke: Imagine if we weren't in bodies, how easy it would be to perceive, acknowledge, and know the fact that we are all of the same unified field of consciousness.

[00:38:46] Alyson: If we could just see the energy fields of-- yeah.

[00:38:48] Luke: Yeah. And it's like the gift of being in a body and being in a world of separation, it's the greatest gift ever because it's how we navigate through this world. But it makes it really easy to believe that you can harm or hate someone else, without harming yourself. It's like you're over there. I can be sitting here thinking all kinds of nasty stuff about you.

[00:39:14] Alyson: You look like this. I look like that.

[00:39:15] Luke: You know what I mean?

[00:39:16] Alyson: You dress like this. I dress like that.

[00:39:17] Luke: Yeah. Or just deceiving people, any of that, harming anyone else in any way. If we really could know that we're instantaneously doing it to ourselves, no one would do it. But it's just not the way we're designed. We have to see the cause and effect repercussions of it, and then maybe glean some wisdom from that over time, like, wow, when I'm a jerk, it tends to come back to me. Noted. Let me be less of a jerk.

[00:39:43] Alyson: Mm-hmm.

[00:39:44] Luke: Yeah.

[00:39:46] Alyson: Yeah. Another prayer for me personally is something along the lines of where there was once fear, let there easefully be security. One of the veils that lifted for me last year-- I had varying degrees of awareness of it. Some of the examples I was shown and journeys and meditations or just connecting to my solar inner child, I was shown really detailed examples of past fear-based imprints or fear-based trauma energies that might've got stuck in the energy field or whatever.

[00:40:30] But toward the end of 2025, I just started to see just how much fear I had previously been living in, how much fear had been an operating system. And it was a real eye-opener for me. So starting a number of months ago, one of my prayers, regular prayers started to be where there was once fear imprinted or lodged, allow that to easefully be replaced with truth, with love, with divine security.

[00:41:10] Luke: Have you ever read the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi?

[00:41:14] Alyson: I don't know it by heart, but I feel like if you say it, I will know it.

[00:41:17] Luke: I don't know if I heard it either because it says that and it covers all the bases.

[00:41:26] Alyson: Oh, cool.

[00:41:27] Luke: Yeah, it's really beautiful. It's in one of the 12-step books.

[00:41:32] Alyson: Okay. Yeah.

[00:41:33] Luke: Use it as an example. Yeah.

[00:41:34] Alyson: Another thing that felt really powerful and incredibly monumental and life changing last year that I'm carrying the medicine of it into this year is the medicine of imperfection and the medicine of mistakes.

[00:41:58] Luke: Oh yeah.

[00:41:59] Alyson: So I'd love for use to--

[00:42:00] Luke: I'm not really familiar with that because I don't really make them.

[00:42:05] Alyson: Right, right. It never happens for you.

[00:42:08] Luke: But I empathize with people that make mistakes. It must be rough. But yeah, I just do things right all the time.

[00:42:16] Alyson: We'll find something else to talk about then.

[00:42:18] Luke: No, I want to talk about that. Okay, ready for the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi, the prayer for peace. Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. Where there is injury, pardon. Where there is doubt. faith. Where there is despair, hope. Where there is darkness, light. Where there is sadness, joy. I don't remember that part. That sounds a little hardcore. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console. To be understood as to understand. I love that one.

[00:43:02] Alyson: Mm-hmm.

[00:43:03] Luke: That's really good in marriages, by the way. To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

[00:43:18] Alyson: Hmm. Mm-hmm.

[00:43:20] Luke: Damn, son.

[00:43:21] Alyson: That's really powerful.

[00:43:21] Luke: Not a good one?

[00:43:22] Alyson: I don't know that I've ever heard that actually in full, but yeah, we should print that off and maybe add that to our refrigerator. And that does feel very in line with the theme of the medicines of imperfection and the medicines of mistakes, because over the last couple of years, I really-- and this might not feel brave to a good portion of people listening and joining us today.

[00:43:51] But for me, just based upon my life path and various things it was really deep, brave work for me to really allow myself to enter into the arena of being imperfect and allowing myself to just be a more flawed human.

[00:44:17] Humans make mistakes, and I definitely know I trust myself. If there's ever an error or mistake, I'm the first person to be like, "Oh, I apologize. My bad." And to go right into what's teaching, what's the wisdom, what's the medicine, evolving from it. And so, yeah, just popping the perfectionist mask off and allowing myself to really see that I don't always do things perfectly.

[00:44:54] In full transparency, I think there was a good portion of my life where I did want to view myself as pretty darn perfect. I think it was really scary and terrifying for me to not view myself as that because of certain childhood things where, if I wasn't perfect then that might be the demise of my life, my family, existing.

[00:45:18] And so it felt way too terrifying to let myself acknowledge that I was an imperfect, flawed human. And that's why it was such deep, brave work for me to start to let myself enter into the territories of examining and really seeing and taking those masks off and letting myself seem more and more, and have more awareness of my imperfections.

[00:45:45] And there's just so much medicine in that, one of which is said in that prayer of you can obviously pardon others more gracefully and easefully when you've let yourself take those masks off, perfectionism off, and allow yourself to see your own flaws, your own capabilities of being a flawed human and making mistakes, and pardoning yourself and having self-forgiveness. It then expands you into being able to do that for others more.

[00:46:21] Luke: Totally. It diffuses projection. So much of the blame we have on other people is just a projection of the shadow shit within ourselves that we don't want to face or admit. But to your point, acknowledging, admitting my messiness, sloppiness, stupidity, imperfection. The freaking incense story, I think it's hilarious.

[00:46:45] I'm sure I felt dumb and maybe judge myself for a minute, but I'm pretty quick to just know that I'm human. But say I hear someone else doing something as unconscious as that. Now I automatically can be like, "Let's look in the mirror here, Luke. Remember the thing with the incense?"

[00:47:08] Somebody, whatever, the gardener does something stupid that I don't like. Oh, what an idiot. It's like, let's look in the mirror real quick and just know you do "dumb" things all the time, and I can cut myself some slack and get in practice of that. And it makes it much easier to cut other people some slack.

[00:47:27] Alyson: Yeah. And I found there was definitely a equidistant formula happening the more I would test the waters in trusting that I'm always safe no matter what in the grandest scheme of things. Like I'm always safe, truly, no matter what. And I was like, "Okay, that feels like a truth to me."

[00:47:57] So if I'm going to believe in that truth and live by that truth, then that means I should be able to be a human too. Yes, I'm so grateful for these incredibly powerful, God-given gifts I've been given and that we're all given in our own unique ways, but mine tend to be very oracular and shamanic and prophetic.

[00:48:23] And I'm really grateful for those, but I'm also a human. And just because I'm out with my gifts and I might be known to some people for having these gifts, I don't want it to ever become lost on me or anyone else that I'm also a flawed, imperfect human. It's too much of a weight to bear. It's too much of a pressure to carry around to only want to be seen or to only try to let yourself be seen in the lane of the spiritual side and the gifted side.

[00:49:04] And so it just was such powerful terrains and paths for me to let that other side open up. And the more that I was like, "Okay, if you're going to test these terrains and waters and you want to see if you're going to still be alive and still be safe, if you make a mistake, then you got to do it."

[00:49:30] And so then I would make a mistake and I would see that I would still have people in my life that still unconditionally love me and accept me and know my heart and know that I'm an accountability, evolutionary woman. And so it's just like, oh, she said something that was a little funny or did something that was a little awkward, but I guarantee she picked up on that, whatever.

[00:49:58] I noticed that the more I allowed myself to bravely enter into that arena, the more the veil would lift on my own self-awareness of my tendencies and patterns and flawed ways, my imperfect ways. Is this making sense? I was just like, "Oh, wow." And then I would see glimmers of something that I had a tendency of doing that was a little wonky that I've probably been doing for a long time, but I only let myself be privy to that recently.

[00:50:31] And then I would let myself see my imperfection more and then I would bring-- it was this beautiful dance and cadence that started to open up. I'll never forget when we were on one of our sacred pilgrimages, the main message that came through at the sacred temple and communing with these divine beings.

[00:51:05] The message that came through loud and clearer was, "Alyson, leave the pressure at the altar. Leave the pressure here. Leave the pressure at the altar". And it just was repeated over and over and over again. And initially when I was hearing this, I was a little bit surprised and a little caught off guard. I was just like, "Wow, of all infinite possible messages to come through, it's this one over and over again." Leave the pressure at the altar.

[00:51:37] But since that pilgrimage and since those sacred times and communings, I've just, almost on a daily basis, connected more and more dots as to why that was the thing I needed to hear. It's like I'm allowed to be a human. I'm allowed to make a mistake, and I'm allowed to do that and not be crucified or chastised or canceled for that.

[00:52:07] I think there's a difference if you're someone who repeatedly makes mistakes and errors, and you don't take accountability and you are growing the trauma energies on others and the trauma energetics on the planet. But if you're willing to take responsibility, I think there's something important in taking these masks of perfectionism off more and letting us explore different ways to learn and not have so much pressure on ourselves.

[00:52:46] Luke: Yeah. I think that the people that I have the easiest time trusting are people that don't take themselves too seriously. Thinking of spiritual teachers, when spiritual teachers are very serious, I can't trust them. They've got to be able to have a laugh at themselves for me to be able to believe in their perspective.

[00:53:18] Alyson: And they feel down to earth. They've been brought to their knees, I'm sure, and they know how to be humbled.

[00:53:25] Luke: Yeah, totally. It's one thing I always appreciated about Ram Dass. He would always be admitting that he was still neurotic. I remember when I would first hear him talk about that I'd be like, "Him?" That guy has so much wisdom and so much experience, and he's had all these incredible enlightening revelations and has traveled the world, teaching all these people.

[00:53:48] And he is like, "Yeah." Maybe something to the effect, his thing was like, "I'm more spiritually awake, but I'm still just as neurotic as I was as the Richard Albert professor." I was like, "Wow, that's cool." I think he would talk about how he still bites his nails and I was like, "Oh, sweet. I still bite my nails." Totally anxious, nervous, neurotic person.

[00:54:12] And I would beat myself up for that, like, I've been meditating for decades. Why am I biting my nails like a scared little kid or something on a rollercoaster? And it's like, well, life is a rollercoaster and maybe that's one of the ways that I self-soothe and cope. It's gross. I don't like it. But hearing someone that I respect admit to their imperfections gives me more agency to acknowledge mine and love myself despite them.

[00:54:40] Alyson: Yeah. I want to be able to change my mind. I want to be able to do these episodes with you and have a take on something and then maybe after processing it out loud with you in the episode, I don't know, maybe a week later or a year later, I'm like, "You know what? Actually, I've evolved since then."

[00:55:02] I've had experiences that have shaped me differently than I was molded that particular day. And I wouldn't stand by that exact statement. I want to be able to grow and to change and to learn. It's the whole point of us being here. It's like, my good Lord.

[00:55:23] Luke: I think some people get locked into certain perspectives when they build a brand and identity around that. It's like you can't really flip flop because you'll, say you're the keto person or something, or whatever that just came to mind. And then some time goes by and your whole brand is like the keto dude, and then you change your mind.

[00:55:48] You would have to rebuild your whole thing. Especially when there's money attached to, I'm thinking of personal brands, influencers, spiritual teachers, thought leaders, etc., it's like if you've tied your horse to that post and then you decide you want to move the horse and everyone is also very invested in you being tied right there, it's difficult, problematic.

[00:56:14] You got to reinvent yourself. So it seems like a lot of people, I sense, that they put themselves in a lane and then they evolve, but they don't really admit that they've evolved or changed their mind because it would be detrimental to the foundation they've built as a brand or a persona.

[00:56:31] Alyson: Wow, man. That literally like makes me feel so constricted and literally hurts my heart, and makes my breath get tight and short. I'm just so grateful. I've allowed myself to reinvent myself countless times this lifetime. I'm even entering in where I'm finally for the-- my website's been out of date and not edited in five or 10 years, and letting myself get new pictures and come back out in the world again and maybe get a new website template put up. And it's like, I am coming out as a completely different human and different titles to try to describe who I am.

[00:57:14] Luke: Are you still going to go with the trad wife, sourdough mama?

[00:57:17] Alyson: Yeah. Right. And nothing against that. I love sourdough. I love sourdough.

[00:57:23] Luke: Me too. Little too much.

[00:57:25] Alyson: It was interesting when you're talking about other teachers that lean into what we're talking about. I just happened to find the same day that this light bulb went off. I was like, "Oh, I'd love for us to talk about medicine of making mistakes." I think within an hour of that, of noting that, I opened my email and I get these daily Buddhist emails, and this was the one that came in. It said the stumbling-- actually, I'm going to restart that because I loved how they put this. Do you hear the wind howling out there? Wow.

[00:58:00] Luke: Great sound effects. It's a good buildup to your discovery.

[00:58:04] Alyson: It says the stumbling toward enlightenment. That right there. The stumbling toward enlightenment phase of Zen practice is about learning from our blunders, misunderstandings, doubts, and misgivings. The way we stay engaged in the process is by recognizing and radically accepting when we have gone off course.

[00:58:30] And a Zen teacher whose name I probably am not going to pronounce right, Taigen Leighton said, "It's extremely important in practice to make mistakes. Mistakes arise naturally when we embrace don't know mind. Even though we don't know where we are within the process of awakening or where we are going or how to get there, we remain curious."

[00:58:51] Luke: I love that.

[00:58:52] Alyson: "And curiosity is the spark that fires our attention and vitalizes our commitment to the path." There's just so much power and medicine in that.

[00:59:03] Luke: One of my practices that I'm going to be adopting along these lines is being more readily able to just answer questions with, I don't know. I haven't looked into it.

[00:59:16] Alyson: Mm-hmm.

[00:59:17] Luke: Which I learned from Mark Gober the other day. This guy's written seven books on really heavy topics. He's highly intelligent, very well-read, well-studied. He's a big thinker, brilliant guy. And he's funny to interview. And I told him this, so I'm not talking shit about him, but I'll ask him a series of questions and he'll have some great answers and insights, and then I'll get to another question. I'm just like, "Yeah, and what about this thing?" And he's like, "Yeah, I really don't know." And he just goes quiet.

[00:59:44] Alyson: I love that.

[00:59:45] Luke: I go, "That's cool." Very few of us, I think are comfortable in the, I don't know, not only admitting it to ourselves, but in a public forum to just be like, "Yeah, you got me there."

[00:59:59] Alyson: And right there, I trust that guy.

[01:00:02] Luke: Totally, totally.

[01:00:03] Alyson: And it's funny you bring that up because--

[01:00:05] Luke: It's like, I'll admit it. I won't bullshit and like say something I don't believe to be true, but my reflex isn't just go, "Yeah, I don't know." It's to start guessing and dreaming, which is great to feel into things. Well, it might be this. It might be that. I think there's something to be said for that, but there's a real medicine in just saying, "Yeah, I have no idea." And that's the end of your answer. So I'm going to practice doing that more when I'm really at a loss.

[01:00:34] Alyson: I love that you randomly used that as an example because one of the things I enjoyed most about chatting with him, with Mark the other night, he and I just kind of got into a personal one-on-one little deep dive on motherships and planets and extraterrestrial experiences and whatnot, and it veered into other terrains as well.

[01:01:00] But he was asking me quite a lot of questions, and there were a number of times where I was just like, "You know what? I don't know." Or, "I love that you asked me that, and I'm not totally clear on that, but thanks for reminding me that that's a great question. I've been wanting to meditate on that, and I'll have to get back to you on that."

[01:01:20] And one of the things that I took away from enjoying my time with him was that I was able to say to him a number of times, I don't know. So isn't that interesting that? Because he healthily embodies that himself, who knows what the orchestration was going on there? But I didn't know that he did that in your episode.

[01:01:43] Luke: He does it quite a lot.

[01:01:44] Alyson: I have no idea because I never listened to--

[01:01:46] Luke: Which would be less interesting if it was someone that didn't know a lot. But he is the guy that knows a lot about a lot of very interesting topics, and he's the first guy to be like, "Yeah, I can't help you there. Don't know." Wow.

[01:02:00] Alyson: I did not know that he had that quality, and I didn't mention that to you, but yeah, one of my favorite takeaways from my night chatting with him was that I was just able to freely say to him like, "I don't know. I don't have that answer for you." That's really intriguing.

[01:02:13] Luke: You got in the Mark Gober I don't know field. It feels good. I don't know. I'm just drawn to that. Not like plain dumb. I think for me, when I sense that I'm going to make something up, but just feel like I have to contribute something to a topic, idea, conversation, because I want air to come out of my mouth, it's like maybe I could save my words for things about which I am more certain or passionate or both. And when I'm not, to just rest in the awkward silence of, yeah, I don't know.

[01:02:55] Alyson: I love that.

[01:02:56] Luke: Because sometimes people also ask leading questions because their mind wants your mind to engage and get in some quasi argument about it too. It's like a psychological baiting that some people do where they know there's like a charged topic that they probably disagree with you on. So they say, "Oh--"

[01:03:17] Alyson: I don't think I've ever done that in my life. Do people do that consciously or unconsciously?

[01:03:21] Luke: I think unconsciously.

[01:03:22] Alyson: Oh, okay.

[01:03:23] Luke: It's the mind doing it. They don't know that the mind's it.

[01:03:25] Alyson: Oh, okay.

[01:03:26] Luke: Yeah. It probably happens in my world more than your world.

[01:03:30] Alyson: Yeah. I'm just like, "What?"

[01:03:31] Luke: It's like, so what do you think about the such and such? And it's like bait to get you to engage in something that would be controversial or something that they want to tussle with. I'm pretty good at spotting that and just go, "Oh, no, thanks. It's not a topic-- yeah, imagine like a situation you're visiting your family back home and you're at a family dinner and you got the one uncle that you don't share a worldview, and they're like, "So what do you think about the new da da da?"

[01:04:02] Alyson: Oh, so it's like a pain body thing almost.

[01:04:04] Luke: Yeah.

[01:04:05] Alyson: Oh, that.

[01:04:06] Luke: So the, I don't know, is also a really good way to bow out of the dance of projection, conflict-baiting, whether it's conscious or not-- which I would argue that it's probably largely unconscious because no one wants to fight consciously.

[01:04:22] Alyson: Now, there is one nuance before we go onto another topic. I want to get your take on this, and this is going to be one of those where, bear with me as I try to explain this. In this theme of the medicine of imperfection and the medicine of making mistakes and taking off those tight, crusty masks of trying to be perfect, what are your thoughts, though, around-- I don't know. Is there such a thing as giving yourself too much leeway to explore this?

[01:04:59] Because you don't want to be going around harming people either. You don't want to be exacerbating, like I referenced before, the trauma energetics and the pain body projection. So it's like, how do we dance with this, where we want to be a free, flawed human who's also been given spectacular God-given gifts?

[01:05:29] We want to have that balance. We want to be in the dance. We don't want to feel like we're this pressured cloak of not being able to be perfect. But also, I would like to think, we also don't want to be going around just hurting and harming people in this quest to allow ourselves to be imperfect.

[01:05:51] Luke: Totally. You alluded to it earlier, and I think you used the word accountability or responsibility. It's like, say, I light the plant on fire and then I just acknowledge, "Yeah, I made a mistake." If I keep doing that, that's a problem. That's a silly example that didn't really hurt anyone, but it could stress you out.

[01:06:17] If I kept doing that, we'd probably have a problem in the house. Luke, you did the goddamn plant thing again with the incense? It's like, okay. So again, very superficial example, but it would never even cross my mind to put an incense in a plant in our home ever again.

[01:06:35] Because I acknowledge the mistake, part of the acknowledging the mistake and forgiving myself and giving myself some grace, even though I might've been a little embarrassed-- will probably be even more embarrassed when I go to the firehouse and admit what happened.

[01:06:48] Alyson: Show them the picture of the plant.

[01:06:49] Luke: But it's the idea of making amends. It's like, oh, I always go back to these base principles. Many people, I think, like I used to think, think making an amends is saying I'm sorry just to get the blame or get someone off my back. Oh, so, so sorry about that. Sorry about that. An amends is actually mending something. It's repair.

[01:07:08] It's fixing something, which for me means that I'm changing. So if you come to me with something, "Hey, honey, when you do this and this, it brings out this feeling that I don't really like. Could we find another way to do that thing?" Amends means I'm going to go within and take personal responsibility and accountability, a, not blame myself or condemn or shame myself

[01:07:32] But then make choices that prevent that thing from happening again. It's like we have to change in order to keep the embracing imperfection going. That's the way I look at it with my own self. It's a personal inventory. It's like just monitoring my own games and shit, whatever I'm up to of just being honest with myself, and being willing to change when I do make mistakes.

[01:08:03] And if one can do that, I would say there are no mistakes. The mistake is when you know and you do the thing again and again and again. I don't use the word sin, but that's how I think of a sin. If you innocently make a mistake, whether it's because of your programming or unresolved shit, whatever it is, your patterns, it's like if you unknowingly do something that harms someone else, there's accountability, responsibility, depending on the nature of the error.

[01:08:34] But say it's something that's relatively insignificant. The sin is knowing that you made the mistake and then just like, eh, I'm going to do what I want. You know what I mean? Just keep doing it.

[01:08:47] If you don't learn from the mistake, then it becomes a mistake. But if it becomes grist for the mill, if it becomes a tool that I can use, like, "Wow, okay, I know what happens when I touch the hot stove now. I'm not going to do that anymore." Then touching it wasn't really a mistake. It was actually a learning point of experience that now I can integrate into my behavior and awareness and not do that anymore.

[01:09:13] Alyson: There's the whole other lane though of the times or people that won't allow themselves to see that they have made a mistake or that they have harmed.

[01:09:27] Luke: Yeah.

[01:09:28] Alyson: So then that gets weird.

[01:09:30] Luke: Yeah, you just got to stay away from those people. I don't hang out with those kind of people. I have. I used to be one. I'm pretty good at spotting that. But yeah, I think when someone's very mind-identified, ego-identified, borderline narcissistic or full-blown narcissistic, they seem to lack the capacity of self-honesty and self-awareness.

[01:09:54] So even if they admit to a mistake and try to get the heat off and apologize, but then they don't change their behavior, that would be an unsafe person to me with whom I would have to establish some level of boundary. And that's how you learn people. Life tests us all, and you can see people around you failing life's test by not learning from the mistakes they're making.

[01:10:25] Alyson: Another thing that I've really been exploring, and yeah, it's also in a very different vein of things, been a very fun adventure realm to peer into and to walk more deeply into is expanding capacities for blank. One thing that I realized coming out of last year, it's like, okay, knowing where my capacity is at for crawling in the darkest cave ever. Very strong capacity, check.

[01:11:07] Knowing what my capacity is for resilience when you think you're losing your mind. Very strong capacity, check. It's like there were a lot of areas in life where I realized, okay, I've put in a lot of deep work here. My capacity for these terrains is hearty, robust, and full. So a lot of check marks got put in place. So then having the awareness of that got me really curious of like, wow, what is my capacity for joy?

[01:11:45] If there's a spectrum of joy, just that one feeling, from very light, minimal joy to just the most full-on, ecstatic, bliss, exploding-level of joy, where am I at from my capacity and threshold for experiencing joy? And I realized that's one thing I'm excited about expanding more into, is growing my capacity for joy.

[01:12:21] And I wanted to know, where are you at in that? And this might also, again, elicit some cool ponderings for the community, joining in this conversation. It's like, oh, they might get curious about what is their capacity they want to expand more into this year.

[01:12:40] Luke: First, I want to say I want to join forces with you this year and expand my capacity for joy. I think we touched on this a little bit in the last episode we did. I was referring to the Gay Hendricks book, The Big Leap. And he talks about the upper limit, where it's like you hit the certain threshold of bliss, joy, happiness, contentment.

[01:13:02] It's like there's a part of the subconscious that won't let us break through to that. And that's something that's definitely been the case in my life. Yeah, it's like, okay, I can put up with a lot of pain. I have a pretty high threshold for mental, emotional pain. Maybe not so much physical.

[01:13:23] I think women tend to be able to handle more physical pain. Maybe it has to do with the capacity for childbirth. But on a side note, I've asked, I don't know, countless numbers of body workers when I'm like, "Ah, it's too much." I ask them, I'm like, "Who's tougher? Men or women?" 100% of the time, they're like, "Oh, women, 1000%. Men are such babies with physical pain."

[01:13:45] So it feels good to be resilient when life just hits you and you can bounce back and dust yourself off and get back up and keep going. I think I have that pretty well down and I also have fewer of those experiences because I'm learning from my mistakes. But I do think I have a lot of work to do in terms of just allowing myself to be happy.

[01:14:12] Alyson: Yeah.

[01:14:12] Luke: Sometimes I'll fill out a questionnaire. I think I did it the other day for the Network Spinal analysis, and it's like, a scale of one to five, multiple choice answer, how happy are you? Should be a five out of five. I'm like, [Inaudible]. I don't remember how I answered, but I was really honest. Generally my whole life I was maybe a three. It's like, why? What is up with that? My life is so blessed, especially from where I came from.

[01:14:43] Alyson: Yeah. Where and why is that governor on your happiness?

[01:14:47] Luke: Exactly. I think that's really, really important that you raise that. Yeah.

[01:14:52] Alyson: It's so funny you brought up the network spinal. Part of what elicited this exploration was because I noticed one of my appointments there at Network Spinal with Dr. Jeannie. Shout out to her. Love her.

[01:15:09] Luke: What's it called? The Hive?

[01:15:10] Alyson: The Hive Chiropractic.

[01:15:12] Luke: The Hive Chiropractic.

[01:15:13] Alyson: Yeah.

[01:15:14] Luke: I've only been once. Alyson goes all the time. I highly recommend based on my initial experience, so we'll put that in the show notes for people that--

[01:15:20] Alyson: But one day I was there for my network spinal appointment and I wasn't-- so at this last-- or no, it wasn't the last appointment I was there, but it was recent. I had not yet gotten onto the table for my treatment, but I was in the building and I was sitting in the couch in the office, and out of nowhere I just had these waves of ecstatic bliss that were starting to open up inside of me, and they wanted to be expressed.

[01:15:58] I could feel them welling up, and I could also feel that the expression of this ecstatic bliss energy wanted to be vocalized. And I stifled it because even though, yes-- if you've ever been to Network Spinal, sometimes you cry, sometimes there are noises that move through you.

[01:16:23] But I stopped myself because I wasn't having my session yet, and I just felt like it would've been so weird if I'm sitting on the couch and I'm sounding like I'm having an orgasm almost. Because ecstatic bliss can sound like an orgasm. And I could tell that what wanted to move through and out of me was probably going to go into that lane.

[01:16:48] And I wasn't feeling anything in my vagina. It wasn't that kind of orgasm, but it was going to sound orgasmic. And I could tell that these waves were wanting to be vocalized and be like, [Inaudible]. I was riding these waves of bliss, and I put a governor on it.

[01:17:15] I stifled it and I suppressed it, and I was just like, "Oh, probably that would be a little weird." But after that, I was like, "You know what? Darn it. I wish I had been courageous enough to just let that move." If there's ever a safe public place to let that energy move, it'd be in the Network Spinal office, and it would be with Dr. Jeannie.

[01:17:38] Maybe, maybe not. She might've looked over at the couch at me, and I just would've been like, "I'm just feeling bliss." Few of us might've had a good laugh, and it might've opened up freedom and permission for the other people there. You know what I mean?

[01:17:53] It's like, ah, but noted. The next time I feel some-- I'm talking to my own self in this moment right now. I'm talking to my own spirit, my own soul, my own body, my own mind, my own emotional system. And please forgive me for putting a governor on that ecstasy, on that bliss, that joy energy, that wanted to be felt and expressed.

[01:18:19] The next time I feel you, I'm going to do an even better job at allowing the full expression of that. And it was just such a perfect example of capacity for joy, capacity for ecstasy, capacity for bliss. It's starting to open up and blossom more in me, and in that particular day and instance, I put a little topper on it. I didn't let it fully move.

[01:18:44] Luke: You handled it imperfectly.

[01:18:47] Alyson: Yeah, yeah. It's all coming together.

[01:18:50] Luke: That's cool. I want to give you full agency to express whatever and however you ever need to--

[01:18:59] Alyson: Well, I do with you. I'm around here squeaking and honking and making weird noises, and I'm fully expressed with you in the house.

[01:19:06] Luke: You are the best soundtrack ever.

[01:19:08] Alyson: But I think it's more maybe in the public arena, like wanting to find more of that freedom there. And who cares? I don't know if anybody looks over. It's just like, I'm just having a wave of bliss. Fuck it. Who cares? I don't know. So what capacities are you looking to expand more into?

[01:19:30] Luke: This year, definitely that. That would be my number one, which I didn't know until you just elucidated it. And I agree because I feel like as much work as I've done on myself and dredged in the shadows of my being, that what's underneath that work is freedom and joy and all the things that you described.

[01:20:01] So that for sure, I would say. In alignment with that and in support of that would be putting in some more effort to connect with people. And I think that's part of just being in such a isolated creative process for so long now that I'm feeling that need is wanting to be fulfilled.

[01:20:30] And it's not going to fulfill itself. No one's going to just show up at the door and be like, "Hey, I feel like you need some company, Luke. All the homies are here." It's like I have to be proactive about that.

[01:20:42] Alyson: That's like when I was calling in my partner and I would never leave my apartment in Brooklyn. I'm like, "Hopefully [Inaudible] come and knock on my apartment door." And I was like, "Ah, I got to get myself out there."

[01:20:53] Luke: Exactly. So yeah, I feel like-- you're not going to find me at any big loud parties or anything like that in the near future, but I have felt very insulated for some time now and thank-- and it's easy to do that with you too because we have so much fun.

[01:21:08] Alyson: Cozy up.

[01:21:09] Luke: Yeah, we enjoy each other's company. It really never gets old, to be honest. So a lot of those needs are fulfilled just because that's how we roll. But I think specifically with men, it's important for me to connect with men, and those bonds are supportive in a different way.

[01:21:31] And along with that is also something I've been missing for a long time, just because the way my career and life have been situated and that is seeking out more opportunities to be of service, to just be there for people and help people in a more meaningful way. I'm there if someone needs me, but my relationships now are very peer to peer. It's like we support each other, but I'm not like mentoring anyone or coaching anyone.

[01:22:06] Alyson: You have coach-itis

[01:22:08] Luke: Yeah. I'm probably the only guy in Austin that doesn't coach people, which is great. I support that. I've had many mentors and coaches and stuff.

[01:22:17] Alyson: Oh, you're sharing? Let me tell you five ways that you could do that better in your life.

[01:22:20] Luke: Yeah. That's something I learned pretty quick here also, is like, when I want to open up to someone, it's important that we've established that it's peer to peer and that I'm not asking them to coach me. The unsolicited advice thing is pretty prevalent here. So I grok that early on.

[01:22:41] Alyson: The unsolicited counsel is, whew.

[01:22:43] Luke: Which is a little isolating because I'm also just a transparent, authentic person. At least I think I am and I aspire to be. Last night we went to an event and I was having a tough afternoon. My tinnitus was acting up. I wasn't feeling particularly social.

[01:23:02] And I remember driving over there and I was like, "Okay, if someone asked me how I'm doing, I'm just telling them like, yeah, I'm off today. I just had a rough afternoon." By the time I got there, I was in a really good mood and I was happy to see people.

[01:23:14] So when people ask me, "How are you? How have you been?" I was like, "I'm awesome." Because I was by then. But I would be a little bit discerning about how honest I would be based on someone's capacity to just be present with me and not try to fix me or coach me, or to have like their ego hijack them and be like, "Ooh, here's an opportunity for me to talk down to him."

[01:23:41] Alyson: And to prove how smart I am and the wisdom that I carry too.

[01:23:44] Luke: Yeah, that kind of thing. But I've also navigated my friendships and my close guy friends don't do that. There's an unspoken rule about unsolicited advice.

[01:23:58] Alyson: Maybe we should remind people though that sometimes when people share, it's just to connect and have a human bond. You're just sharing for common ground. Just because someone's sharing doesn't mean that they're seeking advice or help or support or counsel.

[01:24:16] Luke: Absolutely.

[01:24:16] Alyson: Oh my gosh.

[01:24:17] Luke: That's an important distinction, especially for any men listening or watching that are in a relationship with a female. That's a really important part of holding space and the glue and stability of a relationship, is-- I think especially with the feminine, most of the time, in my experience, it's just being present and attentive, and allowing whatever needs to move through to move through, even if it's joy and ecstasy.

[01:24:48] So what I do, not just in our relationship, but in other relationships, say it's a homie and he is like, "Oh man, I'm going through this financial stress, or this or that," is I do my best just to listen.

[01:25:00] And then if I feel like I have some intuition or wisdom or solution coming to mind, I'll just ask them like, "Hey, do you want some feedback on that? Or do you want any ideas?" And I ask for permission, in other words, rather than proselytizing or preaching to someone, just because I don't like when people do that to me.

[01:25:20] Alyson: I can't stand it.

[01:25:21] Luke: When that happens to me, then I'm like, "Okay, I can't go to that person and share my experience because they can't resist trying to coach me."

[01:25:31] Alyson: Yeah.

[01:25:32] Luke: So I'm just like, "Okay, I'm just going to always tell them like, oh, I'm doing great."

[01:25:34] Alyson: Totally. It's like I'm not looking to get parented. I do a very good job attending to my own inner child, reparenting myself. I trust my own wisdom counsel within. I'm sharing just to share.

[01:25:48] Luke: I'm sure also sometimes, I like to think a lot of the time, it's coming from a place of care and love. They're like, "Ooh, I sense a struggle. I want to help solve your problem."

[01:25:58] Alyson: But again, to our previous discussion, when the person isn't aware that every time you're going and sharing, that they're having that reaction or response and there's never a light bulb that goes off after you leave the conversation, they aren't thinking to themselves, "Oh, you know what? When Alyson was sharing, she was probably just wanting us to have a beautiful connective time together as women. She wasn't seeking my counsel. Noted."

[01:26:26] Then next time. Because it is exactly what you're saying. Then you note to yourself every time I go, that person's not getting the clue that I'm just talking to share with them. I'm not looking for their advice.

[01:26:41] Luke: Another preemptive thing that I do sometimes is if I have something that I want to share and just work through, and sometimes just verbalizing, articulating something that I'm struggling with, I arrive at the solution from just not withholding it. And the loneliness, which is a huge topic that I'm very immersed in for the past couple of years with the book and everything is, I don't want feel alone and I don't want to be inauthentic.

[01:27:08] So sometimes what I'll do is say, "Yeah, you want to hear what's going on?" They're like, "Yeah, what's going on with you?" I go, "Okay, I'll share with you, but I'm not looking for any advice."

[01:27:18] Alyson: I say that too.

[01:27:19] Luke: I respect your wisdom, but is it okay if I just share and just share so I can kind of unpack what I'm going through without getting feedback? I think most people would be like, "Oh God. Yeah." It's a polite way to say, "Hey, this is the dynamic that I would like to establish in this moment right now.

[01:27:36] And then sometimes once I get through that, then I'm like, "Actually, do you have any feedback? Do you have any experience with this particular issue?" And then I'll open it up a lot. I think a lot of this social dynamics are just about communication and just being willing to be brutally honest and just state my needs and honor other people's needs.

[01:27:58] It's a lot of it is just communication, is just getting you and your intimate group of people used to a certain rhythm and formula for how you like to relate. And we all have a right to relate how we want to, and there's going to be people that don't like to relate like that. And God bless them. I'm going to find someone else that likes to relate on the level that I appreciate.

[01:28:23] Alyson: Amen.

[01:28:25] Luke: Can I add one more thing about the imperfection?

[01:28:27] Alyson: Yeah. And then I want to add one more thing and get back to the capacity for joy.

[01:28:30] Luke: Yeah. Okay, perfect. Going back to the imperfection thing, something that came to mind was accepting and embracing my own imperfection and making mistakes. We talked about how it helps me have empathy and compassion for other people when they make mistakes, provided they're putting some effort into evolving so they don't keep making the same mistake, especially if it involves me.

[01:28:56] But what I've noticed in your leaning into this is your adaptation energy is going up where not only with, say, I make a mistake, or you make a mistake within yourself or someone out there, but just situationally. And I have a great example of that. The people watching and listening won't know this, but this is our third try at this podcast today because our audio failed.

[01:29:21] So we went about 30, 40 minutes and Jarrod's like, "The audio's not working." We went back and looked and we only got the first 10 minutes, which means we have to start over. So we rearranged. We update the software. We're like, "Oh goddammit, it's not going to be spontaneous if we say the same shit we just said.

[01:29:39] And then it happened a second time. Thankfully we were only 10 minutes in and then we had to pull the plug and change all the gear and stuff like that. But I was just observing you. Okay, is Alyson going to get weird right here? Because it's like--

[01:29:53] Alyson: Full diva mode. Throw the mic.

[01:29:55] Luke: Yeah. Because I have a pretty easy time just surrendering to those little inconveniences and just trusting that it happened that way for a reason. And I think sometimes you'll get caught up on things like that. And I was observing you. I was like, "Damn, that's pretty cool. She's just rolling with this."

[01:30:12] And what's even cooler is that, I think when we started the third time, we were warmed up and it was a bit more lively, just objectively. I think if we had done the first one, it started out a little bit flat just because, I don't know, our energy. We come over. What do you want to talk about? I don't know.

[01:30:33] I could feel it when we started. It was a little less passionate. And then by the third time I was like, "All right, let's do this shit. If we're going to do this, let's try and offer some value to the people listening."

[01:30:44] So it's just another one of those examples of how acceptance, surrender, accepting the imperfection of even just life circumstances as it unfolds. There's a trust in that if it's happening, this is the way it's supposed to be. We were supposed to have the third take be the take today.

[01:31:00] Alyson: Sure. And I've lived by that way of surrender for decades now, or at least more than one decade. And thank you for the compliment. I received that.

[01:31:21] Luke: Also, I'm going to add to the compliment. I think why I was clocking it was because you requested that we start these conversations at 12:00 for a number of reasons. And so today I was like, "Don't be late, Luke. You agreed 12:00." I was maybe up here at 12:03, 12:05. I was a little late, but pretty good, ready to go.

[01:31:39] Alyson: I didn't even notice that.

[01:31:40] Luke: Because I really appreciate you taking your time to share these conversations with me. I need someone to talk to. I can't just sit here and do a solo cast where I'm looking at the camera.

[01:31:51] Alyson: Well, you used to.

[01:31:52] Luke: I can't do it. It's too awkward. But the funny thing is we ended up starting at the old time.

[01:31:59] Alyson: That's what I was about to say.

[01:32:00] Luke: I was like, "She's rolling with it. Cool."

[01:32:02] Alyson: Yeah. It's like the both and thing. Yes, I fully trust. It's like, who knows? There was something one of us said in the first take that was whatever, weird, would've been a pain in the ass. Who knows? Who knows why it was all mapping out that way, that take one and take two or fails?

[01:32:23] I trust in that wholeheartedly, and just in a more earthly construct of things, yes, the only little bit of constriction I might have had was the fact that I don't tend to like to go as long in these episodes as you do. We had just "wasted" an hour of recording and energy.

[01:32:48] And as Cookie is doing right now, staring at Jarrod, wanting food, one of the main reasons that we started an hour earlier is so that she doesn't start to go into dinner freakout mode, which is super distracting, not just for us, but for Jarrod too.

[01:33:02] And so, yeah, my only moments when I was realizing an hour had gone by with nothing really to utilize and we decided we just wanted to start over from scratch for the take three were these earthly components of things. So I always fully trust and live fully in devotion to surrender. That, I've got on lock. It's more just like the smaller details of things that tend to get me a little glitchy of just like, [Inaudible], but the dog, my energy level, things like that.

[01:33:42] Luke: For me, surrender is a big umbrella. It's just acknowledging that consciousness knows much more than I do. God is running this shit, and I'm just playing along. So in terms of my dad dying or big things happening, it's easier for me to accept them because I've surrendered to the whole plan and just acknowledged my small role in my life.

[01:34:15] But there's a ladder that goes both ways from the big macro surrender to acceptance of the day-to-day shit, like the gear not working right. To me, that's not surrender. It's more like accepting what is. It's acceptance.

[01:34:30] Alyson: Yes. Yeah, that's a good point.

[01:34:31] Luke: And so it's like the adaptation energy of the big surrender trickles down where I find it's easier for me to accept life's movements that are relatively insignificant because I'm in a constant state as you are, as you just said, of surrendering the big picture. So it's like, I'm surrendering to the context of reality, it's much easier to accept the fluctuations in the content within the reality.

[01:35:01] Alyson: That's a great point.

[01:35:03] Luke: That's what I'm noticing in you, is just like, "Oh, wow, this is a little more. ebb and flow, I think." Not like you weren't that way, but I just notice it.

[01:35:12] Alyson: It's growing.

[01:35:13] Luke: Yeah, it's cool. It's cool.

[01:35:15] Alyson: Cookie, no bites, sweetie. Yeah, mama watch. I know, sweetheart. Look at her. But we're not going to get away from the focus of expanding capacity for joy. So in wrapping this area up, what is the happiest thing in your life right now? What is the warmest thing? What is the thing that elicits the warmest feelings, the most joyful feelings in your life right now?

[01:35:45] Luke: On a day-to-day basis, it's just hanging out with you and Cookie. That's the most fun. It's just the most simple aspects of life are the ones that I find the most fulfilling.

[01:36:04] Alyson: And what is the happiest experience you've ever had in life where your happiness on the happiness charts was almost off the charts?

[01:36:15] Luke: Oh, I know exactly when it was. A few years ago when we were in Yosemite, we rented Lacy Phillips' cabin up there. And most of us ate a little bit of mushrooms, and I was feeling pretty good. So I kept eating more mushrooms. I was feeling even better, so I ate some more and ate some more.

[01:36:37] Took a lot of mushrooms without-- there was a container in the sense that we set intentions. It wasn't just like, oh, let's eat mushrooms just for the fuck of it. It was planned out.

[01:36:50] Alyson: I also didn't participate. I was just holding space.

[01:36:52] Luke: Oh, really? Okay. I always include you in on these and you're like, "Ah, no. I didn't."

[01:36:56] Alyson: I do not ever really ingest mushrooms.

[01:36:58] Luke: You're not a mushroom girl.

[01:36:59.] Alyson: No.

[01:37:00] Luke: But I wish I could say that it just happened on the natch. The most fun and blissful day of my life was absolutely that day. Even as a teenager, when I was using mushrooms without any intentionality and consciousness, I had some gut-cramp laughing spells as mushrooms tend to do. But I think because I was with you, my brothers, Elliot, Brie--

[01:37:28] Alyson: In the forest.

[01:37:29] Luke: Yeah, and we're in the forest. I was with people that I really loved deeply and trusted and felt like I could totally just be my imperfect, nutty self that ate way more mushrooms than everyone else. Everyone else, "oh, let's go inside and get something to eat." And I'm like, "Ugh." I'm just out on the land just going absolutely ham.

[01:37:50] But that was such good medicine for me because what I realized was it was a purging of the suppressed joy. And it was such a good teacher for me because I thought, "Why is today the day that I'm feeling this depth of just humor and joy and laughter? Why doesn't this happen for me more often?"

[01:38:14] What is the governor, the word you used, that's keeping me from this experience. And that day, mushrooms just happened to be the tool that unlocked something that was already within me. It's not like the mushrooms were making me laugh and have so much fun.

[01:38:32] The laughter and the fun is within my being. They were just a biochemical key that unlocked something. So that begged the curiosity of why can't I have access to that more often and without a biochemical key. But that day, for sure.

[01:38:52] Alyson: You laughed hysterically for hours and hours and hours. Just cry laughing. Just [Inaudible] for hours, It brought me so much joy to see you in that state for such a prolonged amount.

[01:39:07] Luke: I could not stop laughing.

[01:39:11] Alyson: And I remember I would just do-- I would just be my normal self because I was totally sober, but everything I did, "Honey, you're hilarious."

[01:39:23] Luke: Oh my God. That's right.

[01:39:25] Alyson: I would go on that platform and sing a medicine song with my drum or do a little dance up there. You are just the funniest. Oh my God. Everything I did, it was so funny to you.

[01:39:38] Luke: Every single thing you did from breathing to walking across the property was the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life.

[01:39:46] Alyson: It was so great. It was a great day.

[01:39:48] Luke: Yeah, yeah. And that also had something to do with, I guess I won't say the friend that formulated those particular chocolate truffles, but that particular blend also elicits that kind of experience.

[01:40:06] Alyson: Mm-hmm.

[01:40:07] Luke: When I microdose, if I'm going to be around people, that's the blend that I take because however he formulates it, it's like the happy vibe.

[01:40:17] Alyson: Last note is I think what is also allows for these experiences to open up more is knowing you're in a safe space.

[01:40:27] Luke: Yes.

[01:40:27] Alyson: Because that was the same thing with being in the Network Spinal office. It's like, wow, if there was ever a public arena where that energy could feel safe to blossom, bloom, express, it'd be in a Network Spinal office. And just how I already said, I'm always in full safe expression here at the home because I'm here at home with you.

[01:40:51] And same that you just said. You were in the forest with the closest people in your life. And so I think if people are wanting to get curious for exploring their own capacities for things in this year, it's like also tuning into like who are the people that your system would feel safe in you expanding that capacity with and the environments.

[01:41:17] Luke: Imagining if I had been at that rental house with six people that I'd never met and we all just met for a mushroom ceremony, I think I would've been much more controlled in my expression.

[01:41:34] Alyson: Yeah.

[01:41:35] Luke: Yeah. Also, something that's been really fun with you is when we were just friends there for a couple of years, I saw you in mostly professional settings when you're on.

[01:41:54] Alyson: Give and toss. Yeah.

[01:41:55] Luke: Yeah. You're doing your thing. You're in your zone of genius. I had no idea you were as goofy and silly and just as spastic as you are. So you are so funny and just silly. The little sounds you make around the house, your mannerisms, I hope more people in the world get to experience your goofiness.

[01:42:20] Alyson: Thank you.

[01:42:21] Luke: I think I was maybe intimidated by your beauty and I couldn't see past that part. And just seeing you give talks and the way that you articulated your message, I was just like, "Whoa, this chick's serious." Not like you acted serious, but I just saw that side of you. And then as we became a couple and moved in together, I was like, "Oh my God, she's like a goofy chick from Indiana. This girl is so silly and just real, authentic, and unpretentious."

[01:42:50] Alyson: Thanks for bringing that up, because that has always been at the heart and core and soul of my true fabric and nature. And so you bringing that up, maybe I'll add that to my list of divine intentions for expanding capacity of it's-- I don't know why. If that's not expressing or coming through or showing through in more public-facing spaces, these episodes we do being one prime example, if that true nature in me isn't feeling the safe capacity to express or bloom through, why?

[01:43:33] Luke: I see you expressing that around our friends.

[01:43:37] Alyson: Around our friends, but let's just take this for example. Maybe there is an unpacking of, if there is an unconscious edit happening, or if that silliness and goofiness isn't shining through as much naturally here as it does at home with you or with our friends, why? And maybe I want to add that to the list for, I want to expand my capacity for my true, goofy, silly divine nature to be expressed publicly.

[01:44:14] Luke: I have a good idea.

[01:44:16] Alyson: Okay.

[01:44:16] Luke: The next time we do one of these episodes, you can wear the blue Carbogenetics CO2 suit.

[01:44:23] Alyson: Right, right.

[01:44:24] Luke: All right. So before we wrap up, I want to give our mutual friend, Peyton Callahan, a shout out. Oh, actually, before I do that, Jarrod, would you do me a favor and put the Donny Epstein episode in the show notes? He is the wizard that invented, as she's been referring to it, Network Spinal Analysis.

[01:44:51] Really incredible modality that I've used off and on over the years. Alyson's really taken to it. And so for people, when she mentioned that, if you didn't know what she was talking about, we'll link to that episode and you can hear it from the horse's mouth. But it's a really beautiful modality.

[01:45:07] So Peyton and Cal, two great friends of ours here. Peyton, which I didn't know the depth of her wisdom, but she's been a doula for a long time, and she educates men and women on female cycles. And so we went to a presentation. There's a private thing for her and some of our friends the other night, and now we have this-- You know what? I want to tell her it would be awesome if she made this magnetic, made magnets of these.

[01:45:33] So those watching the video, we have a little female wisdom cycle here that is beautifully designed. I knew a bit about this, but as a man, of course, there's always more to learn. But it was such a great education in understanding how you move through your cycle, how you move with the moon, and how men move with the sun every 24 hours, and you're on the 28, 29-day thing.

[01:46:02] And so we have this on the fridge, and it's super cool because I can now look at this and get some sense of your needs, your vibe at any given time of the month, which is super cool. So we're only in the first week of it, which it is coming out of one phase. But that was one of the recent things that was really exciting to me because I want to always improve the way we relate.

[01:46:29] And to go back to the prayer of St. Francis, rather than to be understood, to understand, to understand what makes you tick. And why I wanted to bring that up was because now I'm starting to think like, "Oh, if we're going to take a trip or plan a party, or even doing these podcasts--," after learning that wisdom from Peyton.

[01:46:49] I'm like, "Maybe if we're going to book these conversations, we could book them according to when you feel the most awesome. You know what I mean? When you're feeling like gregarious and social.

[01:46:59] Alyson: That's a great idea. I'd like to think I have-- thank you first for caring, for being a man who actually takes any interest in learning our wildly potent and ever shifting inner landscapes of we women. And yeah, it was so nice. I love Peyton so much, and she's got a treasure trove of varying wisdoms to share, and she's putting them out to the world more and more.

[01:47:33] And I'm so pumped about that. And it was fun to take that class, sitting next to you. And I had tons of light bulbs go off for me too. I was just like, "Oh my gosh, that's why that." And, "Oh, now that I'm about to be 47, I bet that those things she listed on that slide, I think that's what's been going on."

[01:47:49] So yeah, lots of breakthroughs, and thank you for loving me the way you do and for caring. And also, I think it's great to keep in mind, and I love having that on the fridge, but I don't know. I'm talking out loud and I'm thinking at the same time, real time. I'm game for exploring a new way of living.

[01:48:12] But I've never lived my life according to-- when I was a college athlete, it didn't matter. Whether you were on your cycle or not, training twice a day. Freaking doesn't matter if you have cramps. I sometimes hear stories of people are just like, "Oh, I'm not going to work out this week because I'm on my moon."

[01:48:37] I'm just like, "Oh shit. I don't know that reality." I've never dictated my life, my day according to my womanly 28-day cycle. So I'd like to think I don't need to do that, but in talking this out in real time, I don't know. Maybe that's a new fun adventure to explore maybe living a bit more in accordance to that. I've never done it that way, and have thrived, but maybe I'd thrive even more if we did. So you know what? All right, I'll explore it.

[01:49:19] Luke: I'm just trying to get her off the [Inaudible].

[01:49:24] Alyson: I know.

[01:49:24] Luke: I think that you rally and you show up and do what you want to and need to do regardless. And obviously you were doing that as an athlete. And also there's the placebo, nocebo thing. It's like if you believe in something too strongly--

[01:49:42] So it's like if you were not following your own womanly intuition, you're like, "Oh, what mood am I supposed to be in today? Oh yeah, I'm supposed to be this." To me, that would be difficult too, but I think it's just a useful general tool. Not like let's start performing our whole lives around this.

[01:50:01] But for me as a man, we're not taught any of this shit. We have no idea. We know a general idea of when a woman might get pregnant, when she might be a little more moody and hormonal, if she is going to get cramps or want to take more naps. But we're fucking clueless.

[01:50:18] Alyson: That, as you just said, when you might be more moody, according to Peyton's teachings, that's not really the right lens to be looking at it.

[01:50:26] Luke: That's what I'm saying. What I'm seeing is that as men in general, myself and most guys I know, that's all we know. Literally we're not taught about this in school or by our parents, so we're just like totally in the dark. And I think that's why it was inspiring to me because it's like, oh wow, if I better understood this, I would be able to put myself in your shoes more and just understand you better. You know what I mean?

[01:50:53] Alyson: Yeah. Because how did she describe it during the class? It was an a word. Oh, it's going to drive me absolutely nuts. I'd really like your help on this.

[01:51:04] Luke: Accommodating.

[01:51:05] Alyson: Yes. It's not that we're like, oh, we're just fucking raging bitches and, and more moody during that time. There's less capacity for us to be fucking accommodating. We're more straight shooters. We're more to the point.

[01:51:26] As I think she referenced in that class, is probably things that we've said over and over and over again. But because we were in more of an accommodating part of our cycle before we might've said it a little bit lighter.

[01:51:39] When we're in our period moon phase, there's less accommodation for that. And so we're just more direct, or there's just more of an emphasis on things because we just don't have the capacity or the energy or the desire to put it nicely that week.

[01:51:56] Luke: Yeah, totally.

[01:51:57] Alyson: Yeah, I just love that reframe. It's like that one reframe can change the freaking world. Because it's not that we're just bitches and cunts and moody. It's true.

[01:52:10] Luke: Language. Geez. Kids listen to this show.

[01:52:13] Alyson: Yeah, right. Anyways, maybe I'm on my cycle. I'm less accommodating.

[01:52:21] Luke: Your swearing filter. I swore a little earlier. I try not to not because I think there's something wrong with it, but sometimes parents reach out and they're like, "Dude." I said, "That's why we mark it explicit." You just never know.

[01:52:33] Alyson: You can also edit this.

[01:52:36] Luke: No, it's fine. Do you.

[01:52:41] Alyson: And I'm on the last day of my cycle, so you can either view this experience I'm having right now as, oh, she's being a moody B word, or I'm just less accommodating to trying to explain this. I'm just being clearer about it.

[01:52:58] Luke: Totally. It's beautiful. One of the guys asked that night about-- he was asking Peyton something about-- it might've even been Cal. Like, is there a time in the cycle where you say things you don't mean kind of thing? And Peyton's like, "No. Never said anything I don't mean.

[01:53:18] And it was around this capacity to be accommodating where it's like if a woman is in a higher capacity stage of being accommodating, might say something in a more gentle way or just have more patience, or yeah, just let things go. Just have water off a duck's back, like, eh, it's not worth bringing up.

[01:53:38] But when the phase has less capacity for accommodation, then something will be said and it might seem to the partner like, oh, she can't mean that. No, she really means it. She's just not been saying it because she's been in a more chill phase.

[01:53:52] This is hella good information. Who wants a relationship with conflict? Why? You going to have a little push and pull, but that's one of the things I love about our relationship, is there's just no drama. When things come up, we work through it, and we also work to understand one another better, which for me, this is a big key. You understand 7:00, 8:00 in the morning, not a good time to sit down and have a serious talk with me.

[01:54:21] Alyson: I would try here and there just because I'm so pumped up at that time of day. But yes, I learned very quickly that's not your jam.

[01:54:28] Luke: Yeah. Okay, sweetheart.

[01:54:30] Alyson: Did you want to pull a card for 2026 or do we--

[01:54:33] Luke: No, let's do it. Yeah, let's do it.

[01:54:35] Alyson: Peanut, can you wait four more minutes? We hear you loud and clear. Almost time. All right, so let's see. I'll pull one and you can pull one. Let's just see what my Animal Power card deck says about this year here coming up.

[01:54:54] So yeah, I'm going to tune in. I'm going to clear the energy on the deck. I usually knock on it three times to do that. And I'm setting the intention for the power animal ally who most wants to be a guide in teacher to expand our capacity for joy and for ecstasy and bliss.

[01:55:20] Which power animal most wants to support us on that quest for this year? I think I'm going to pull two actually, and then I'll hand it to you. It doesn't feel right. I'm going to keep shuffling. I just use my deck intuitively. Usually shuffle. It's a little hard with this mic in front of me right now, but that one feels pretty good.

[01:55:42] And so then you can pull one for whatever intention for 2026 that you want. It can just be the main power animal for the year, or there can be a more detailed area like I did.

[01:55:55] Luke: I'm gunning for one. If I get that one, I am going to trip.

[01:56:03] Alyson: When we did this for last year, we pulled the snake card and it was the year of the snake. So we'll see.

[01:56:11] Luke: I'm not saying I'm attached to pulling the one, but it is related to my intention. She just helped me. Okay, I've got it. Do I look at it yet?

[01:56:25] Alyson: Oh, Interesting.

[01:56:27] Luke: That's not the one.

[01:56:28] Alyson: It's not the horse. It's not the horse. So for the two animals who will best support us in the empowerment of our expanding our capacity for joy and ecstasy and bliss, the turtle and the roadrunner. And the roadrunner is all about transforming-- I hear you, Peanut. Two more minutes.

[01:56:51] The roadrunner's all about transforming your energy, and the turtle is evoking ancient, grounded power. So being grounded and in our safety and our connection to sacred Earth Mother, I think is going to provide that foundation. It's about creating that safe space that we talked about.

[01:57:13] When we are in that safe, grounded, energetic space that signals to that area inside of us that's wanting to evolve that blossom and that bloom and that capacity for joy. It gives it the green light for all systems go to open that up. Transforming your energy, I'm going to go to the book and the deck to dive more deeply into that. And the animal for 2026--

[01:57:41] Luke: The swan, the swan.

[01:57:43] Alyson: Beautiful.

[01:57:45] Luke: Awaken artistic spirit.

[01:57:48] Alyson: I love that because in being on the quest for awakening our artistic spirit, I can't think of a better way to keep us connected to that truth, energy and those things that we were talking about the top of the hour that are vitally important than creation, creativity, art, artistic expression.

[01:58:14] Because in order to do that, we're tapping into our intuition, our inner landscape. We're letting our soul express through us. I'm very distracted by our dog. She's hitting me on the leg every five seconds. It's very hard to tune into this reading with her doing that at the same time. Can you help me? Can you maybe pull over? It's very, very distracting.

[01:58:41] To be in the channel of creation, you're in that channel connected with love and with God. And so, to me, that feels very fitting that the swan is coming through for this year. Do you have any thoughts on it?

[01:59:00] Luke: It's funny because my vision for this year is all about creativity already. It's like getting through the sometimes grueling process of writing a book for a very long time, and this year is about the finishing touches on that and actually putting that creative work out into the world, which will happen in November of this year.

[01:59:28] So it's like, yeah. So now I'm thinking, okay, I have kind of the bulk of that process out of the way. The creativity around, what do I do with that piece of art that I've created, and how can I share it with people in creative ways? And now what space is going to open up for other ventures?

[01:59:51] I'm not trying to jump into another book or something at the moment, but it's like a lot of my creative energy-- not a lot. I would say like 99% of it has been going directly into one thing. And now I feel like it's fanning out into other possibilities that aren't so narrowly focused.

[02:00:12] Alyson: Mm-hmm.

[02:00:13] Luke: Yeah.

[02:00:13] Alyson: Yeah. I feel like the swan and the horse pair very well together. The fact that we've already got photoshoot booked. And I am in process of making a new website and getting out in the world and deeply in prayer with who I am now, what are the offerings for me? It's like a blend of the horse energies of new adventures and freedom and the artistic expression that comes through the swan.

[02:00:53] To wrap it up, so this is so perfect with the roadrunner and transforming your energy. Now keep in mind, this is the one expanding your capacity for joy, bliss, ecstasy. In the book, it says, to work with roadrunner medicine, close your eyes and take off into the cosmos, letting your mind explore the infinite space surrounding you.

[02:01:11] Journey farther and farther out into the void, simply exploring the open forever space. So right then and there, we're already tuning into that, expanding your capacity for energy. While you're exploring the cosmos, consider what new emotion you'd like to experience in order to feel less stuck.

[02:01:30] And what new emotion do you want to feel more of? Well, we've said it. We want to feel more joy, ecstasy, and bliss. Now imagine locating that emotion on your exploration and see how it transforms your energy. Once those feelings land in your body, open your eyes.

[02:01:48] And the invocation to activate the roadrunner medicine is-- and if you feel called, you can repeat this after me-- Sacred Roadrunner Friend, when I am stuck in a cycle of suffering or low energy, remind me of my infinite nature and my ability to quickly take off. Empower me to find my way out of ruts so that I can confidently and swiftly move toward my dreams.

[02:02:18] So that just feels like the perfect ally to have in expanding that capacity for. So thank you so much roadrunner, turtle, and swan, and Horse. You can find Animal Power deck and Animal Power book anywhere books are sold. Amazon, Target, all those, Barnes and Noble.

[02:02:40] But if you do get the book and you want to go more deeply into this, on my website you can take a free guided shamanic drumming journey that I facilitate, and learn to commune and converse with these animals more deeply. That's alysoncharles.com.

[02:02:59] And the other one that I'm working with a lot for 2026 is the one on this mug that you have, the macaw. It's celebrating the power of expression. I've been doing a lot of rebirthing and reclaiming my throat and voice and expressing myself just more uninhibitedly. Case in point, using the C word about five minutes ago.

[02:03:22] But yeah, it's like I want to be more free again. I'm tired of self-censoring. I'm tired of foreshadowing edits so that it doesn't ruffle this person's feathers and doesn't make this person mad. And it's just like I might make some mistakes along the way. I might be imperfect.

[02:03:40] But I need to give myself the room and the freedom and the space and the grace to explore it and find my way to homeostasis and find that equanimity balance point where I'm being authentically, fully expressed.

[02:03:57] And the macaw is the perfect power animal guide for that. So we've got a great crew. We've got a winged one. We've got the turtle. We've got swan who can navigate various elements and terrains, and then the horse with that horsepower. So coming in hot 2026.

[02:04:18] Luke: Epic.

[02:04:18] Alyson: Woo-hoo. Rattle to that. Thanks for having me. Apologies if you didn't like the C word, but I also don't want to be word-policed, and I want to be a free human that can say and express how I want.

[02:04:30] Luke: This is an uncensored show for the time being, so you can say whatever you want, sweetheart. Thanks for joining me. Thanks for joining us, you guys. We'll put everything we talked about in the show notes for the show description, including Alyson's website and her beautiful book and card deck. And happy New Year.

[02:04:50] Alyson: Yeah. Here's to a beautiful New Year.