Dear Blue Mango community,
I am super excited to share with you the podcast I am recording to accompany my articles here. The episodes will go into more depth on the same topics I write about, so that you can explore them further with me. It will be structured more like a conversation, where I share my experiences and perspectives and also inspire you to think about your unique views on the topic. I will make sure to respond to your questions and comments as well, whether you post them here or send them to me directly.
The goal of this whole project is to take a journey with you towards greater self-understanding, so I hope to make it as two-sided as possible. The topics we will explore are not the kind that can be understood simply by listening or reading. We each have to experience them for ourselves to grasp their true meaning. All of your thoughts, questions, reflections, and life stories are welcome and indeed are deeply important and valuable in moving us forward.
Some questions to inspire reflection and conversation will always accompany the new episodes. Youcanusetheseinajournalingpractice, which is itself a powerful tool for self-discovery. Of course, you can respond to them directly here as well.
Reflect on your life story up to now. What stands out as most important in bringing you here to seek a deeper understanding of yourself and the world?
What would you most like to change in yourself and the world? How are the two connected?
What makes growth and change difficult for you?
How could a community support you in reaching your highest potential, and how could you support it in doing the same for others?

"Live like the world is ours" Episode 1 - by Devan Reid Musser

Meditation ain't complicated...

In this episode, I go into more detail about how meditation is the first step towards freedom, and I dispel some of the common misconceptions people have about meditation.  You don’t have to be “spiritual” to meditate, you don’t have to sit or breathe any special way, and even doing it for a short time every day has a powerful effect.  In the beginning, the most important thing is simply to build the daily habit, because it’s the daily repetition that gives meditation its transformative effect.  Gradually you will start to experience the freedom it brings into every moment. I end the talk with some pointers to help you find a meditation teacher.   If you’d like to learn more about the school where I study meditation, you can check it out at bluethroatyoga.com.  Of course, you can post any questions here too. 

Journaling and Discussion Prompts:

What benefits do you think meditation can bring to your life?  To your friends, family, and others?  

What else would you like to learn about meditation?  

How interested would you be in joining a meditation group that meets regularly to help you build a practice?

What doubts do you have that hold you back from starting a practice?

"Live like the world is ours" Episode 2 - by Devan Reid Musser

In this episode, we explore how the freedom we cultivate in meditation naturally flows into our relationships.  In the same way, we become less reactive to inner thoughts and feelings, we become less reactive to people and situations outside of us.  This opens new ways we can treat others, even in stressful or painful interactions.  We can then replace negative patterns with kinder, more supportive, more loving behaviors that enrich and strengthen our relationships.  Our negative patterns often stem from fundamental fears about our place in the world, but only reinforce those insecurities by pitting us against each other.  Breaking these old patterns frees ourselves and others from their control.  With that freedom, we can choose to relate to each other in new ways that support, or inspire, or show compassion.  Ultimately, this is what it means to authentically love each other, and it comes from this place of freedom. 

After listening, reflect on some of these questions: 

What negative patterns of behaviors do you notice in your close relationships?
How would it change things if you were less reactive to, less triggered by, your loved ones?
What does authentic love look and feel like to you?  How can you practice and express it more fully to those most important to you?

"Live like the world is ours" Episode 3 - by Devan Reid Musser

In this episode, we dive deeper into how meditation starts to expand freedom in our extended networks by empowering us to bridge divides.  With greater self-awareness and inner equanimity, we can connect with people that disagree with us (even in horrifying ways) and still relate to them in ways that are mutually supportive.  We will never have a world where everyone agrees, and we probably shouldn’t want one.  This means the future of our communities, and whether they will flourish, rests on the question: Even though we disagree, what can we still do? 

I also give examples in the episode of how I apply the conversation approach outlined in the PDF attached to the Bridging Divides post.  My cousins are on the other end of the political spectrum, but with this approach, we were able to have a great conversation.  We learned from each other, shared inspiration, and felt closer at the end.  You can experience this in your life.  It takes practice and a commitment to working on ourselves, but the reward is more meaningful lives and communities that flourish.

"Live like the world is ours" Episode 4 - by Devan Reid Musser

Social Freedom and Basic Income		

This week we connect individual freedom to the largest global social institutions (government, religion, media, science, arts, etc) that influence and shape our lives.  While we always experience their influence, we don’t always participate in the process that shapes the institutions themselves.  That power is not distributed equally but concentrated in socially dominant groups (e.g. white, male, euro-centric).  Our freedom is therefore directly constrained by this unequal power dynamic.

One way we can start to right that balance is by providing all people an unconditional basic income as a human right.  This frees all people from the binding power of poverty, which forces people into lives of little choice where survival and necessity rule.   By guaranteeing basic human needs, UBI frees people to pursue lives of meaning and to participate more in the process of shaping social institutions.  This is just one of many solutions that we need to move towards a world where all people are equally recognized as worthy of freedom and dignity. 

I address two main objections to UBI: that it’s not feasible (too expensive) and that it rewards laziness.  Neither of these are supported by the data and the experience of UBI programs that have been tested around the world and the similar cash support programs implemented during this pandemic.  For more on this, check out this recent article from FutureProof (a collaboration between HuffPost and Unearthed, Greenpeace UK’s journalism unit).

"Live like the world is ours" Episode 5 - by Devan Reid Musser

Blue Mango..... bet it's not the mango you were expecting, right?! Sometimes you have to look at things in a more creative way,  from a different perspective – an angle we did not consider or even think of before. But it's time to step outside the box and find greatness in the unexpected. With Blue Mango, we inspire and motivate young people to use the powerful tool of language.

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