Episode 128: Charles Eisenstein - The Space Between Stories

"I’m not the guy who has got it all figured out. During the Covid pandemic, I had the opportunity once again to face an inner and outer unraveling. For months at a time, I experienced a paralyzing despondency borne of the calamity I saw overtaking society: the very Age of Separation I had been proclaiming, for years, to be nearing an end. Instead, it was reaching new extremes. At the same time, my critiques of the social response to the pandemic brought intense criticism, denunciation, and canceling, including from people whom I’d considered to be deep, trusted allies. Maybe, I thought, it is I who has gone mad, not the world. This is the question, the doubt that paralyzed me. I tell the story of these years in my most recent book, The Coronation.

I know that my books and other work come from a deep, inspired source, but that source is not me! It is more like I’m connecting to a field of knowledge or to a story that wants to be told. This knowledge is as much my teacher as it is anyone else’s. I’m kind of ordinary, compared to some of the amazing people I keep meeting. I’m just as much in the learning as anyone else, wandering as best I can toward “the more beautiful world my heart knows is possible,” encumbered by the programming and the wounds of our civilization."

I always say that the Universe has a wonderful sense of humor, and if it’s true that we create our own reality, then I’m so glad my reality includes neighbors like Charles Eisenstein and his wife, Stella.

I had been following Charles's work for a couple of years and more intensely when the pandemic happened because so much of what he was speaking about made so much sense to me. Then I saw him publicly denounced and canceled by the same community that once embraced and celebrated him, and I thought, surely I must be losing my mind.

At the height of my despondency, I also suffered detox symptoms from recently having mercury removed from my mouth. A dear friend suggested I see a woman named Stella, who had recently moved to the area. I began seeing Stella at her home office, and we seemed to develop an effortless friendship in just a few sessions. While I knew she lived there with her husband and child, I was unaware for several more weeks that I was actually in the home of the very person whose work I was immersed in and sharing with as many people as I thought might listen. Amazing, right?

I had sent my same friend who had referred me to Stella a recent essay from a series by Charles called The Coronation , knowing she would appreciate his mind and heart. It wasn’t until I saw this friend a few days later that she alerted me to the synchronicity, revealing that I had been treated for the mercury detox by his wife!

Flabbergasted, I returned to Stellas for an appointment and told her the story, only to have Charles walk through the door and extend his hand in a warm greeting.

Mind. Blown. Well-played, Universe. Well-played.

“We do not create our destiny; we participate in its unfolding. Synchronicity works as a catalyst toward the working out of that destiny.” -David Richo

In this episode, you’ll get a glimpse of why I am such a fan of Charles and his work. In addition to being incredibly accessible, his revelations are filled with humanity, humility, and love.

You’ll hear about this time in human civilization from another perspective as we shift and transform toward creating a new story. At this time, we are in what Charles calls “the space between stories,” and humanity has an opportunity to reimagine the world - the more beautiful world our hearts know is possible.

• Why our definition of progress has changed and where we are now.
• Gain deeper insight into the cultural stories we have been living in and why these are not sustainable.
• Listen as Charles explores the potential of “the unknowing” and invites us to embrace its opportunities for creating something new.
• What would it be to dare to imagine a new story based on beauty and serving life?
• Why we need to look closely at our money culture and remember what is sacred.
• The utility of masculine and feminine energies for what we are creating now.
• The emerging story of Interbeing.
• Cancel culture, mob mentality, and the curse of binary thinking and us vs. them.
• What it was like to be canceled by culture and how Charles processed it.
• Bringing back the gift economy and healing our relationship with money.
• Community over morality and morality as a tool of separation- how can we do better?
• How we disrupt the old story by revealing our truest and most vulnerable selves as we create the new story.

*Charles Eisenstein is an American public speaker, author, and essayist. *

His work covers a wide range of topics, including the history of human civilization, economics, spirituality, and the ecology movement. Key themes explored include anti-consumerism, interdependence, and how myth and narrative influence culture. According to Eisenstein, global culture is immersed in a destructive "story of separation," and one of the main goals of his work is to present an alternative "story of interbeing." Much of his work draws on ideas from Eastern philosophy and the spiritual teachings of various indigenous peoples. Eisenstein has been involved in the Occupy, New Economy, and permaculture movements. His new book is coming out this summer: The Coronation.

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Links:

• Website: Charles Eisenstein
• Substack - Charles Eisenstein
• Book: The Coronation
• Courses | Courses
• Donate & Support - Charles Eisenstein
• Community - A New and Ancient Story
• YouTube: Charles Eisenstein
• A Gathering of the Tribe | POWERFUL Short Film by Charles Eisenstein w/ Jon Hopkins & Aubrey Marcus
• Short Film:And the Music Played the Band Charles Eisenstein/Ben Stewart mini-doc