Sometimes the weight of the world just

feels completely overwhelming.

Like, there's so much pain out there, there's so much wrong.

How can I do anything to make a positive difference?

How can I maintain hope when everything is falling apart?

Does that sound at all familiar to you?

Because if so, I'm sure that you also know that there is hope and there is light.

And you wanna live a life of joy, purpose, wonder, and connection.

And maybe you're just feeling a bit stuck and you're not sure how to get there,

or no matter how many good things you try to connect with, it always comes

back to the bad news, the bad news on social media, on the tv, the bad news

being shared, how terrible it all is.

But you know, there's something beyond that.

And if so, this episode is for you and listen on for a very good vibe.

Because the really big challenge here is how do we balance it?

How do we feel the pain of living with an open heart?

How do we stay real and true while there is so much that hurts in the world?

And how do we balance that with our joy, our celebration, music, love, connection?

Well in this episode, I am very delighted to reintroduce or

introduce you to my dear friend.

Roaman, who is a self-proclaimed Artivist, an activist artist and

one of my best friends in the world, a truly inspiring man.

And we are gonna share and navigate the journey of creativity, activism, joy,

pain, how to balance them, and how to really show up more fully for the world

and for the transformation and the hope that we all come here to embody.

And my friend Roaman, R-O-A-M-A-N.

He truly is an embodiment and example of living with.

Purpose while straddling, while standing between those two states of joy and pain.

Some of the things that you will learn in this episode is how to be

an open-hearted, creative human, even in a really painful world.

How to turn your pain into purpose through creativity.

Why you need to embrace your unique gifts to make beautiful impact in

the world and really how to stay open to life, even through the biggest of

challenges . So if you're ready to be inspired to transform your pain into

creative good, then you are in the right place in this episode is for you.

I'm your host Nathan Maingard and welcome back to We Are Already Free,

the podcast where misfits from the mainstream stop worrying how bad it all

is out there, and instead get inspired and informed so they can focus on being

the change and finding their tribe and living a beautiful life together.

When you hear the words, we are already free.

What comes up for you?

Multiple Past Guests: Acceptance change to shift in awareness.

Human beings are so powerful, there's so much more.

Everything is love behind it.

Breaking the chains of your own minds, that which remains nature.

Getting outta the matrix.

We're sitting on the treasure and it's already unlocked.

Speaker 5 00:02:57

We are already free.

Speaker 4 00:02:58

You're free.

Speaker 5 00:02:59

You are a walking map.

Speaker 4 00:03:00

Have always been free.

Speaker 5 00:03:01

You are always free.

Speaker 5 00:03:03

Already free.

Speaker 4 00:03:04

We are already free.

And if you are wanting just a very simple, small step on the path

to embodying more of that creativity and balancing that joy and that pain, I have

the five day morning practice challenge, which is a very simple, free challenge

that will help you to overcome that feeling of hopelessness in the morning of.

Oh, just reaching for the phone and scrolling through the chaos and getting

lost in it all, and instead designing and developing a morning practice

that really fits into your life.

Even if you're super busy and don't have time, it'll help you to carve

out that little space so that you can reconnect with your source

and truth and who you really are.

Go to the show notes, alreadyfree.me/ me slash yes is the link to the

challenge or you can just find the link in the show notes.

An important note to you, whether you are a first time listener or one of the

beautiful weirdos who listens to this podcast as a regular part of your life.

Uh, this is the last episode for the year.

I am gonna be taking a break.

We're actually moving house to another part of the country, so time is filled up.

I'm also in the middle at the time of recording.

We're about to launch the 21 day dopamine detox challenge, which is already full.

Uh, I will put a link in it anyway, in the show notes.

You can sign up for the wait list 'cause we'll be launching

again sometime next year.

Anyway, that's a whole other tangent, but that's what I'm focusing on for

the next few weeks as well as moving.

So this is the last episode for the year, which is why I'm coming at you in the

intro here and just letting you know a little more context before we get started.

And yeah, if you do want to connect with me, I would love to hear from you.

This is a very much a one-way street in many ways.

I don't know who you are unless you tell me.

I do have links, you can either send me a voice note, which can be

private, or if you're open, I'll share it on an episode next year for

season four of We Are Already Free.

This is the final episode of season three, and I cannot think of a better

person, a better friend, a better human to share with you on this final episode.

Thank you for being with me on this journey.

And anyway, we're just beginning this episode, so enjoy this inspiring,

uplifting, hopeful conversation with my dear friend, my dear brother Roaman

That's part of the question I ask myself about social media generally

is can we really, you know, like talk about escaping the Matrix and you, I

know that's kind of an extreme term, but you could say it in another way.

You could say like, living a free life.

Living a conscious life.

Living a life connected to the, the values that actually almost, I mean,

everyone I know shares values of wanting to have good quality friends around.

Community, family.

Wanting to feel like we have good quality food and water

and all these wonderful things.

And yet I see so many of us who are even, I'm living in a natural environment and

a beautiful environment, but how much of my time is spent sort of arguing with

other people on the internet and, uh.

And like feeling upset about something that's going on somewhere

else in the world that is going on somewhere else in the world.

But like it's the polar opposite of presence practices.

Like where this morning for example, I was sitting out on my deck and the

sun was just starting to rise and I, like I said, I woke up at two 30 in

the morning for some ridiculous reason and I just couldn't get back to sleep.

So I was like, well, I'll just do a morning practice then.

So I was sitting out and as it was getting lighter and lighter, I

was watching, there was this bent over sort of little flower stems.

And on each stem was a row of dewdrops.

Of raindrops.

Like just along each and so as the sky was lighting up, those dewdrops were lighting

up with this like orange golden glow.

And it was like, it was heaven, it was paradise.

It was Eden, it was God.

It was everything that is so beautiful about reality and, but if I had

checked in and gone, what's happening?

Like what are the bad shit going on in the world?

Which is the easiest way to find bad shit going on in the

world is o open social media.

So

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like, uh, it's like, uh, what, what should I be, what should

I be stressing about right now?

Let me have a look.

Let me have a, let me check in

But you said

see what I should be afraid about.

Exactly.

And I see you struggle with that almost in a way more than I do, I think

because of your deep sense of like your calling is to be an artivist,

you know, like activist artist.

And so I see how hard that is for you at times.

And it's hard for me too.

I think it's hard for everyone at times, but I really see

you like going through it.

And you said to me recently when we were having that chat about like,

where should we put our attention and is it okay that some people, for

example, don't have the bandwidth or the desire to be talking about Palestine?

Whereas in your case and in many others, like that's the only

thing we should be talking about.

And you said about how, you know, this idea of we are all one.

If that's true, then something happening anywhere is happening everywhere.

And it's, it reminds me of the idea of Ubuntu, which is a, an African

term that literally means humans are humans because of humans.

Like we are, because of all of us.

We are together, ourselves as in we are all one.

Basically.

and then I was thinking, I dunno if we chatted, got this far in that chat.

But I was thinking about how that's true and humans are socially only designed

to connect with like 150 people and to hold care and awareness for 150 people.

And when it goes beyond that, we start to struggle to contain that.

And so.

It's this question of like how to find the balance of taking care of what

is actually around me in my sphere of influence and, and acknowledging that

there's always gonna be another really intense thing happening somewhere around

the world that's gonna really be like, bro, you have to pay attention to this.

And so I'm wondering for you, how do you like, 'cause you are very active and

you, you kind of have spoken out about so many of these things as they unfold.

And I'm wondering how do you manage it?

Like how do you, where do you draw the line for yourself of like, I can't

do any more here, so I'm just gonna go watch the dew drops on a flower

for a while and give thanks for life.

that's a good question.

I'm still figuring it out.

I'm still completely figuring it out, and

I think it's a matter of.

If you, if you know someone is, is so inclined, it is a matter of

somehow creating space for both.

Like, just because I focus on social injustice in a, you know, part of

the world that is several, hundreds or thousands of miles away from a

house, it doesn't mean that I can't also go watch a sunset on the beach

and be like, completely present.

Like I return to, um, just being able to hold both, you know, like if I am pushing

something away in order to keep something else closed because that feels better.

Um.

Maybe I'm, I'm, I'm missing out on, on, on some opportunities, on

some lessons, on some ways that I could have a positive impact.

So it's like, I know I, I've been, I've been doing a few podcasts

recently and I've been listening back and I, I'm mentioning Ramdas a lot.

I'm aware of that, but he was just the best, like he, everything

that, that I feel like right now feels important to share.

He addressed at some point, and, and he talks about being, learning

how to keep your heart open in hell.

And I was reflecting, or I've been reflecting on how if you, if you live

with an open heart, either by choice or simply because you know you are, you're

that way and you live with an open heart, that means that your heart will break

every day in some way, shape, or form.

Hmm.

And no one wants that.

Obviously.

I don't want my heart to break every day.

But it's like, you know, the, the two sides of the coin, I, I want

my, my heart to be open so that, you know, I can keep giving out from

my heart and I can keep receiving into my heart as much as possible.

And that comes with, it's like loving a person, you know?

And when you choose to love a person and be in relation with a person, you are

already acknowledging the possibility, maybe the, the in inevitability that

at some point they're gonna hurt you.

You know, maybe, maybe they don't mean to, but it's like love comes with.

Some type of pain and grief.

So it is, to me, it's what I, yeah.

What I keep returning to is I care and I want it, and I want to keep

caring and, and keeping my heart open and, and doing what I can to have

some type of positive impact, whether it's one person or many people.

And in order to do that, I just have to accept that I will feel

pain and that I just kind of learn.

I need to learn how to live with that, with that pain that comes from

being a, a human who feels things that are very human and that, yeah.

Does that make sense?

Yeah.

I mean, I get, I.

I hear you.

I think the open-hearted thing is becoming, I dunno, for me, it

seems in a way, harder and harder.

I, I read in the book, uh, civilized to Death by Chris Ryan, he's, he

talks about being in India and sitting and eating a meal at a

restaurant many, many, many years ago.

And like at this restaurant, just on the outside is like.

A hoard of children starving and holding their hands out to like, please feed us.

And he talks about that moment of realizing like he can't, he had to

close a part of himself off to be able to navigate that experience because

if he wa he was fully open hearted, he would've given too much of himself.

It wouldn't have helped actually as well.

It's like giving so much energy and then they, that's it.

They're hungry.

You fed them for a moment and now they're hungry again.

And it's like this feeling and because it's constant, it's never

ending in, especially in our society.

And uh, I actually had one of the guests on the podcast, Dougald Hines, who

wrote a book, um, at work in the ruins.

And his basic premise is that we're at the end of like thing, it's too late.

He used to be an environmentalist, uh, for many years.

A an activist, an environmentalist.

His whole thing was like.

We've gotta, you know, save the world, save the world, save the planet.

And he's like, I reached a point where I realized we've gone beyond

so many of these markers that were like, we just have to do stop this,

you know, before this, or it's too.

And he's like, we've gone way past.

And the question he was asking was, you know, people keep talking about

saving the world, saving the planet.

He's like, but is, are things worth saving the way that they are now?

And so his focus now is more that we are already in the end of a civilization,

it's happening, it's collapsing.

And then the question he asks is, what is worth doing?

What is worth working on in the ruins?

Like, what is still worthy of care and attention and love?

And I think to what you're saying, it's, it's loving, it's ha staying

with an open heart, loving all of us as we navigate what is in an

incredibly painful ending of times.

Which is obviously also a beginning, but the ending is fucking gnarly.

Like there's no escaping how, how raw and rough it is.

And, uh, and I think your music helps, you know, like it, which is like that, that's

the reality is that the light and the love and the music and the, the messages,

they help to make sense of everything.

I, I get what you mean.

And I agree.

Like I've had this conversation in the past, like maybe the best thing

that can happen is that we, we go extinct, that our society crumbles.

Like we're not, we're not, and we're about to get, we don't have to go here, but we

could get into a massive tangent that.

Borders, like fringe science.

But, um, I was thinking, I was thinking, how weird is it that we're the only

species on planet earth as far as we know, that is unnecessary and almost obsolete.

And if we disappeared, the, the natural world would actually not only, not

end, but be better because of it.

Like if the bees disappear or fucked, if, you know, the little,

this, this one little part stops existing, like there's a domino effect

of like, everything's gonna die.

If we disappear, everything's great.

And we've seen it on like during Covid, like after two weeks of us

being locked in our homes, there were like dolphins in Venice and like

deers and walking around the street.

So, so.

I thought, well, maybe what if, what if we're, again, we're going into fringe

science and, and I'm, I'm aware of it.

These are not things that I believe, these are things that I think about.

'cause I'm very open-minded and very curious.

But I was like, maybe we're not from planet Earth.

If everything that is uh, indigenous to planet Earth is working together

and we're the only ones, not only that we're not working together,

we're just destroying everything.

Like maybe we're not from here.

You know, like just how now there are billionaires that want to go

to Mars and, and colonize Mars.

Maybe there's a history that we've forgotten where at some point we

were like on another planet and we're like, yo, did you see Earth?

Like we found this cool planet that has oceans and mountains.

Let's go to planet Earth.

And then we got to Earth and then we fucked it up and that anyway.

All this to say, why am I saying all of this?

Um, yes, that maybe we've gone too far and maybe, uh, and, and maybe it's too late.

And what I'm saying is maybe that's not a bad thing.

Like we're not as important in the grand scheme of things as we like to believe.

Like obviously I care about the people that I love and, and you

know, it's beautiful that we're on this planet and there are friends

and families and beautiful things.

But in the grand scheme of things, if we are a disease in a way, as a society on

this organic living being called planet Earth, the best that, and you realize,

fuck we're the disease, well maybe we need to, you know, get ourselves out and.

Maybe that's the most loving thing we can do, and I don't want anyone to suffer.

I don't want any post-apocalyptic like shit show.

But I do think about this and parallel.

Yeah, I'm legend and parallel to this.

I, I, when you were speaking, I kept getting the image of someone

living in a really beautiful home, very tidy, very clean.

Everything's in the right place, everything works.

Then you walk outta your house and the entire city is completely trashed,

like just trash and garbage everywhere.

It stinks and it smells.

Now, if you're not aware that the whole town is covered in

trash, well it doesn't matter.

Like you're not aware of it.

You're in your clean, nice little home.

But the moment you become aware of it, I guess you have a choice.

It's like, I can't clean all the trash in the city, but I can

sweep in front of my front door.

You know, I can pick up some plastic even there, or I can.

So, or like the children, when I was in South Africa, in Cape Town, I, I

kept getting, you know, my, my, my heart broken by these little children

that, that would come to ask for money.

I can't feed all of them.

I can't save all of them, but maybe I can feed two or three for one meal.

And so that, and that's again, the learning how to live with

both the pain and the love.

Like a part of me was like, I'm glad that I could offer a little something

that it's not changing this child's life.

But right now he's, he's fed and someone is taking care of him, and there's a

bunch of other children that I wasn't able to feed, but I, but it's just too much.

So it's like a little bit of, a little bit of both.

Well that's, it's interesting you say that because this is.

This is, this almost like illustrates the question here

around what is effective action.

So for example, those children, like we, we've fed lots of those children and

we learned after a while that there's actually syndicates that are running.

So those children aren't just hungry little children.

They're hungry little children who are working for a syndicate

and they will take the money.

And if you buy them food, they've got deals with different shops where

they go and they take the food and they swap it for money, and then they

pay that to their, their overseers.

And they're part of an a syndicate that is making money for,

for the gangsters, basically.

And it's, it's not that those children aren't struggling.

They are, but the better thing in that case would be to pay to one

of the food kitchens because then the children can go and actually

get food from the food kitchen.

And there's, there's a system there.

So, and again, so, so coming at it from the broken heart, like if we

act from a broken heart, but we act with ignorance that can end up being

as harmful as not acting at all.

And so it's this.

This, this is part of what I'm wrestle with is how to, 'cause

that's what I really admire about you, is you take assertive action.

Like where you, you're very courageous to like stand up and say your piece on social

media and trust that what you're saying or hope that what you're saying is gonna

have a positive impact on the other side.

And that's where I feel kind of stuck in a way is especially when it gets out

there into the distance, is asking like, what is the appropriate action here?

How can I really be of service?

And, and what is really worth doing at this time even?

And, and as you say, maybe feeding the kid in that moment,

like giving them the money.

I mean, that's it.

They probably get a little bit of cash from the gangster for like having a score

from the tourist and you know, they get to like fulfill their job for the day.

And, yeah.

It's interesting you talked about Ram Das.

'cause I, I feel like he.

Illustrates this so well in some of the ways he speaks around being in

the most ru rough situations like sitting with terminal cancer patients

and being like completely shattered.

Like just, just heart, just broken, completely brutal experience.

And at the same time feeling completely at peace and in awe and

just like loving the whole thing.

And that's the part that I keep coming back to.

And not to say not take action again, like we've discussed before.

I'm taking action in ways within my community that feels appropriate for me.

But I think it's that feeling of, I, I think what I see you doing

really well is inspiring people to take action on something.

Um, and at least that's what you've done for me, like we've discussed before, is

like I resonate with some things that are just as important to me as currently

Palestine is to you and to many others that are in my mind as brutal and as

rough and as unacknowledged and as real.

And so I can take action on those things.

And that's really what the gift of that lovely conversation we

had recently was that for me.

And so, yeah, I kind of, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this and then

I kind of, I wanna move into, I really want to chat with you about your music

and about this arc that you've been on, because I think that is, it ties

into what we're talking about now.

It's like, what is the action each of us can take as individuals?

Like what is the most important thing for each individual to take action on?

But I'm curious to hear your thoughts on what we've, what I've shared.

Yeah, I, we were joking before we started recording about

how some of the conversations we have privately we should have recorded

'cause they, they're so good.

And the one that you are referring to.

Uh, for context, I posted something on Instagram about using our

voices and taking, you know, actions to create positive change.

And, and Nathan messaged me to share how he felt about it.

And we had a beautiful conversation where there was some, uh.

Polite disagreement, and we were, you know, sharing our,

our different point of views.

And at the end of it, um, I really liked that the, at, at least for me,

the thing that stood out was, some people might feel not, not everyone, not

everyone is gonna feel as passionately about what I feel passionate about.

So maybe what I can do is not try to encourage or push others to use their

voices for the things that matter to me, to use their voices for something.

Like, as long as whoever you are, whatever you do.

As long as there's, that you're doing something to create some type of

positive impact or positive change in the areas that matter to you.

So for me, again, could be social justice right now, Palestine, Lebanon,

Congo, Sudan, uh, calling out the, the, the, the bullshit with funny songs.

For other people, it could be animal rights.

For other people is the environment for other people is I'm gonna

feed the homeless people in this block that I live on.

Like that, that's all needed, that's all necessary.

So, so it, our conversation helped me reframe also how I do my, my artivism.

'cause I don't want people to feel judged or feel, or feel bad about, you know.

Not doing as much as I think they should be doing about

the things that I care about.

'cause it's completely personal, it's my own perception.

But as long as you're doing something like don't live, don't, don't live in your

own little bubble while like the world is literally and figuratively on fire and

you're just walking around with your like

Sipping water.

Like

Yeah, yeah.

You're carrying all this water and people are literally like in flames.

Um, so yeah, it is

be like that dude, that dude on fire looks like you

need someone to bring him some water.

yeah, exactly.

Like are they being so ob nauseous, screaming while I'm just trying

to have a good time and like.

Dude, it makes me think of the story and I love what you've said

by the way, and I just so enjoy that.

I think this is the, my hope for conscious communication or for real, like.

Sharing love, even if we disagree, which I think has become so rare in

this world today, is that so often when people disagree it becomes an

identity association of like, you think I'm a bad person, therefore fuck you.

And, and I, what I'm loving about our relationship is one of the many things

is that when we do disagree, we can have actually a really epic chat about it.

And I take so much away from it.

I'm hearing you also take away, um, you just reminded me, there was a

story of this dude, I dunno if you ever saw this, but this all, this guy like

basically dug a hole through a mountain.

Like he was in some little village in, I don't know exactly

where, maybe India or something.

And the school kids really struggled to get to the school

that was kind of over the mountain.

And so this guy spent like.

10 years or 15 years, some stupid amounts of time, just him and a little hand

tool digging a path through the, through this like valley or however he did it.

I remember seeing the photos and being like.

And imagine if someone had gone up to that guy when he is halfway through and

being like, you know, you really should be focusing on the Amazon right now.

It's burning and they need you.

And it would just be like, oh shit, dude.

So I, I love what you've shared there.

I think there's such a, there's such an, um, a, a, I feel energized by that

invitation of like, let's all look at what is around us and what is calling

us, what we're passionate about, and just take like fucking act on that dude.

yeah.

I was listening just a short little reel that I stumbled upon yesterday.

And this, this guy was saying, uh, something like an apple

tree doesn't eat apples.

An orange tree just doesn't eat oranges.

And so the idea was our gifts are not for us.

You know, our gifts

Oh man.

us to give and, uh, and so we all have some, some gifts, some talent,

some skills, some calling something.

And I was also thinking about, um.

There's been like that nurse who worked with, uh, people who were dying.

Uh, there have been a few who have recorded the stories of people like, what

really matters at the end of your life when there's, there's no more, there's

no more bullshit, there's no more facade.

Like, it's just a rawest most authentic truth.

And almost everybody was saying, ultimately the moments that mattered or

the things that mattered were not like my salary or big house or awards were

the small mo small moments of connections that I had throughout my life with people.

The, the, the little moments of a kindness that someone sh, you know, sh shared

with me or that I shared with others.

So it really, you know, it could be someone building a little,

little house for a little bird, like it could be anything.

But as long as we keep.

As long, as long as we do something to pass it on and,

and, and making it go around.

Um, and some might have, might be able to have a, a, a, a wider impact.

Some can do very little.

It's the story of the, of the, the hummingbird carrying one droplet of water

to put out the fire and the hummingbird says, well, I'm doing what I can and

that inspires all the other animals to go and get some water to put out the fire.

Like, maybe, maybe all you can do is is pour some water on the fire.

That's something, you know, and it's, it really comes down to that.

It, and I was also thinking about the concept of integrity, which

from this beautiful book I read called The Way of Integrity.

I think the definition is something like when your mind, body,

heart, and soul are in alignment.

So as long as you live in integrity with yourself.

'cause like if you, if you see something and you don't actually care about it, but

you say something because you think it's the right thing, you are not in integrity.

It's almost better that if that you don't say anything.

And in the same way, if you, if you see something and you feel like

you should say something, but you don't, you're not an integrity.

So it's the way that I'm integrity with myself might look different from the

way that your integrity with yourself.

But it's, it's a very personal, it's a very personal thing.

Like, I'd rather someone who doesn't care about social justice, not join

the, the, the movement, so to speak.

Like, what energy are you bringing to it?

Are you doing it because A, you want other people to know

you're one of the good guys.

You are doing it because you think you should No, do, do something else.

You know, because there's so, like, there's so many fires.

There's just fires everywhere.

Little fires, big fires.

Like pick, pick your fire and, and do something.

yeah.

I love that you, you're actually reminding me in terms of that.

That idea of like, the impact we can have is that one of my clients, so when I, when

I have a new client, I always have a, an intake form and, and ask them like, where

are you in terms of living your truth?

You know, outta 10, 10 outta 10 being like, you are fully there, one outta 10.

No, no truth.

And this lovely human came in and she was a two outta 10 when she started.

And, and within, you know, it doesn't always happen this way, but within

six weeks she was at a 10, outta 10.

And I was like, okay, cool.

So what's shifted for you?

And she's like, she had, through the processes that we'd been running, she

had this experience of realizing that she herself, that her authentic self, which

she had kind of done that thing that so many of us have done is like, I'm weird.

It's, I'm, I'm an outsider.

There's something wrong with me.

Like, should I, shouldn't I is if I want to be like this or say that she

had kind of worked through enough of that, that when she would walk down

the street, she would just bring her energy to it, like who she really is.

And through that.

She, people were smiling at her on the street.

People had started smiling at her.

And, and I'm sure anyone listening has had these moments where we, in our zone,

we are in our flow and we just like, it's not about the others, but because

she had started to embody her herself more, she would walk down the street and

meet people's eyes and bring that energy and say hello to the guy on the street

who has, doesn't have a place to live.

And yet, like she's there just meeting him in presence because

of that confidence in herself.

And, and I, that's what I got from what you just said,

is like those little things.

Yes, it might turn into a bigger thing.

Who knows?

She could eventually run a huge homeless shelter in, but the point isn't that, the

point is that she is being the apple tree.

She is offering apples, which only she can do to, and that's what matters.

And so I love what you've just said.

It's like, it's such a, it, it's funny because it's almost like an

addiction of our society to be like.

But what is the impact you're gonna leave on the world?

Like how big is it?

The, you know, you have to, you have to be somebody.

Really, the only person that you're being called to be is yourself.

And, and actually I would like to, well, I again want to hear your thoughts, but I

also then wanna ask you another question.

Well, uh, the, the reflection that was coming up was also, and I think

it's a beautiful thing, that we really never know who we can inspire, encourage,

comfort, uh, with our words and actions.

Like I was thinking last year, I was going through a rough, rough time,

and this woman from Costa Rica.

Living in Costa Rica.

I think she was from London.

Lovely middle-aged woman.

I remember seeing her at a couple of my shows.

She said, I do this kind of like healing or this kind of reading.

I'd be happy to offer it to you if you're open to it.

I said, absolutely, I love that.

So we had the whole session and I remember meeting her at some

point and over the last few years.

And, uh, so we had the whole session and then at the end she said, I

wanted to thank you because 10 years ago I had just moved to London and

I didn't know anybody and I was feeling very lost and very alone.

And I somehow came to one of your shows.

And even though you didn't know me, you gave me a big hug and said, welcome.

And smiled at me.

And I felt like I was, I was home.

I was part of a community.

I don't even remember that moment.

It was one hug 10 years ago.

And somehow this woman remem I get, I get goosebumps.

Like I

Bro, I'm fucking all over.

Everywhere.

Just, oh shit.

I didn't, I, I didn't go out thinking I'm gonna give her

a, a really good hug so that she's gonna feel, no, I just, it was

just me being me and like, welcome.

Big hug.

Big smile.

Like, and that woman remembers that.

And, and so you never know.

You never know.

Just, yeah, just you smiling, walking down the street, just you picking up a piece

of paper and throwing it in the garbage.

Just you, whatever it is, you have no idea the kind of impact you can

have on a complete stranger that in 10 years will be thinking about you.

It's just crazy.

Well, so this, this is actually a great segue into.

This what I want to ask you about, which is that it takes a certain something.

'cause it could have gone either way.

Like you might not have been the person who was there playing that

show, like at that venue ready to give her a hug because you, your start out

wasn't like, you could easily have gone in many different directions.

Like you are the, I think you're the person, only person I know

personally who's a professional musician who started playing guitar.

Was it in your twen like you were 20 or 21

Nine 19.

I was gonna turn 20 that year.

right.

So that, that's like technically late to start a, an instrument you

intend to, or you, you end up being professional and, and I kind of.

Because for someone listening right now, they might be going like, well, that's

all well and good, but you know, you're an artist and you've, you've, you know

what you wanna do and dah, dah, dah.

And I kind of want to give them an insight into how different it could

have been for you and what you had to go through back then to break out of the

mold that your life society had said.

Like, okay, Ricardo, this is the mold you get to live in.

And you were like, fuck no.

Uh, there's something else calling me like, what happened?

How did you, how did you work that out?

How did you know, how, how did you go and, and what was your life like before?

And then what was that shift moment?

Very good question.

Um.

Well for context, I was born and raised in Rome from a, you

know, traditional Italian family.

Both parents from the south.

Uh, I was raised in the church.

Um, there were some degree of expectations or desires that I

would follow my father's footsteps.

He's a medical doctor, but he is also the, one of the preachers in the church.

So that I would become another preacher or a doctor or a lawyer.

I graduated in political science 'cause I thought I wanted to be a diplomat.

So it was very much like mainstream, so to speak.

But I always felt like, I remember after high school, even though I had never

surfed in my life after high school, I was like, I just wanna be a surfer.

Because to me surfer meant I am free and I enjoy life and

I live, you know, on a beach.

Um, I.

Then yeah, kind of randomly I fell in love with playing guitar.

I, I dropped out of my first university and I had the summer free, and I

reached out to a good friend of mine who played guitar and said,

you have an old guitar that I can borrow, see if I can figure it out.

Started learning on YouTube.

Quickly fell in love with it.

And, uh, but I, I, there was no thought of like, I'm gonna

be a professional musician.

It was just like, I really enjoy this and I, and I get to write

cheesy love songs for my girlfriend.

And, uh, I'm, I'm a little bit cooler than I was before I started playing guitar.

And, um, and then I realized, no, I really love this.

And at the time I had finished grad, I graduated from my university and

I was, I was offered an internship to keep working at the university.

So from the, let's say from my parents' perspective.

I was winning.

You know, I graduated from an American university.

I was working a job that was paying fairly well, but something inside

of me was like, this is not it.

Like, I'd be sitting in artificial light typing away on this big

chunky keyboard doing something I did not care about in like at all.

And all I can think of was I just, I, this is not it.

So it wasn't even like, I know exactly what I wanna do.

It was like, this is not it.

So it kind of, it all started from a, from a just dissatisfaction and, and,

and, and curiosity of like, what, what can I really, what can life really be?

What can I create?

Um, I think something that played in my favor is that I am.

I either don't care about something or I absolutely obsess over it, which is

not healthy, but that's just how I am.

like I, uh, once I fell in love with music, I was like, I

really want to give this a shot.

So I moved to London with the idea of I'll just be in London for three months

in the summer, see what happens if I spend some time just playing music.

And, and then that trip changed my life.

I ended up living in London for three years, and my life completely changed.

So, to answer your question, it was a mix of a, just feeling this fire inside

of me that I didn't want to surrender to the fact that I was gonna live a life

that I didn't feel passionate about.

I was like, this can't, this cannot be it.

I don't want to like.

This is not it.

I'm not happy, I'm not satisfied.

I'm just kind of like getting by.

So it was a mix of being maybe a little bit crazy, maybe a little bit

courageous, maybe stubborn, and saying, no, I'm gonna try and also meeting

you and the rest of the community in London, which made me feel so supported.

It was the first time in my life that people were not

just saying, oh, you're good.

I enjoy your voice, or I enjoy your songs.

You guys were like, you're amazing.

You can definitely do this.

Like, don't stop doing this.

Because I came from a reality where my parents and society were like, yeah,

you're good, but like, get a job or keep, keep the job or do, do music on the side.

You know, like happiness equals safety.

Get married, get a house, then work for 50 years until you die.

Uh, and I was like, I don't know.

It doesn't sound, doesn't sound great.

And um.

good life.

hashtag good life good life.

Yeah.

So it was, it took a lot of determination to even just leaving

the church when I was 16 or 17.

Like, I had to sit with some of the elders and kind of like tell them why

I wanted to leave and why I didn't resonate with what they were saying.

And um, and you know, feeling like I was disappointing my family.

'cause at first they were just freaking out.

Like, what do you mean you got fired from your internship?

What do you mean you're moving to London?

What do you mean you don't have a place to in London?

You're living on your friend's couch.

What do you mean you are living in a commune?

What do you mean you haven't had any keys for a year?

What do you mean you're playing barefoot in the streets?

What do you mean you don't have a plan?

Like a constant, constant source of, of stress and

disappointment for my poor parents.

Shout out to my parents.

Hmm.

Um, but there was always a voice inside of me that

honestly just said, keep playing.

Just keep playing.

'cause even if it doesn't work out, which was a possibility all along,

even if it doesn't work out, at least you'll know you've really tried.

'cause I, for years, I didn't know if it was working out.

In fact, for years I felt like it wasn't, you know?

But there was always this like, keep playing, keep playing, keep playing.

The more you do it, the better you get at it.

The more you do it, the more you'll find your voice.

The more you do it, the more you find your style, the more you do it, the more

you get the support of people and the more you do it with some degree of self

of selflessness, meaning, I do this.

Yes, because I love it, but also because I see that what I share and how I share

it has a positive impact on people.

That's, that's some serious karma points, you know?

And then life again, you don't do it for that reason, but then you see like in the

physical reality, the fruits of giving.

Because really there are two main energies, the giving and the taking.

You either a giver or a taker, and sometimes we are a

little bit of both, you know?

But doing something with this idea of this is my gift, this is my offering, this is.

I would be doing this anyway because I love doing it, but I choose

to do it and put it out there.

Then life has a way to take care of you and reward you and put you in

the right place at the right time and connect you with the right people.

So I feel like I was lucky enough to find something that I genuinely love

and that I am good at, and that people appreciate and feel inspired by, and that

I just give it a fair shot and somehow.

Things have been working out and now I can't imagine doing anything else.

Um, but yeah, there's, it is a mix of maybe you're crazy, maybe you're

stubborn, maybe you're a dreamer.

People are like, oh, you are a dreamer.

As if that's a bad thing.

Like everything, everything that was ever accomplished or created

or started with an idea and someone dreaming about it, you know?

So I think that answers your question to a degree.

Yeah, I reckon, I reckon, man.

Yeah, it's interesting 'cause I, I think also, 'cause we've been through such

a big journey together as friends and, and, and, you know, working together

back then playing music and, and we've talked about this a lot, but like,

when I went through this dark night of the soul of like, for whatever

reason I can't keep playing music.

And it was such a, it was such a painful process because I was

thinking about this again recently.

I had a very successful Patreon page.

I was a successful independent artist.

I had really amazing people from all around the world who loved what I do.

Were paying 50, $100, $25, $1, like hundreds of people being like.

Here's money every month just to keep being you.

And I was like, I can't keep doing this.

And, and that was such a fucking mind, like mind bending.

Oh my God, this is so like how can I not continue?

And you said something to me a while ago that really touched me.

I didn't, 'cause I didn't know that you'd had that experience, but you

said, 'cause I was kind of saying, I dunno, I felt like I gave up on my music

career and, and this whole thing, even though I know that I didn't, because

I've had a calling to step up and serve people as a transformational guide.

And even saying that now still feels a bit cheesy 'cause

it's such a popular thing now.

Life coaches and transformation and coach this and coach that and money

mindset and all these different things.

But like this calling has been calling me for so many years and

I ignored it 'cause I was like, no, I'm a professional musician.

That's my den.

That's who I am, that's what I do.

And, and I really had to fall the fuck apart to be humble enough to

let go of that identity and, and say, okay, so I'm gonna go into, I'm gonna

start studying some breath work.

I'm gonna start studying a pro coaching certification.

Like I'm gonna surrender to the flow of life that has been calling

me for so long in this direction.

And like you said, it's been these years of, is it, am I doing the right thing?

Am I crazy?

Is this da da da?

But things are flowing and it's clear that there's so much alignment here.

And then I was chatting with you about this a while ago.

I dunno if you remember, but you said you like, dude, I actually like tell people

the story of how courageous you were.

And that really hit me of like,

mm-Hmm,

whoa, that that you, my like my dear friend would actually be,

the vision that you had of me was one of a courageous person who's willing to change.

And that was powerful for me.

So I really thank you for, for seeing that and witnessing that and.

Honoring the, the deep courage and the pain of, of that fucking change of

letting go of what I thought was my life.

Um, yeah.

No, I feel you.

I feel you.

And I stand by that.

And I was just thinking as you were, as you were sharing, just like shortly

before we, we sat down to chat, I was messaging with the, with a friend who

told me that, uh, the person she was with just basically broke up with her.

Really sad as, as she's flying to go see him, he's like, actually

just something really painful.

And, um, I haven't replied properly.

'cause I told her I, I had to do this, but I replied properly.

But when she told me that, a part of me obviously felt her pain, like, that sucks.

You know, that's, that really sucks.

And a part of me got excited for her.

Not to sound cheesy, but I do believe this, every time life says no.

Life is actually saying yes to something else.

So, so if, and this is a skill that I think we can develop, is yes, it's

completely appropriate and fair to say, I'm sad that this thing didn't work out,

or I'm bummed that, you know, the door I've been knocking on that's not opening.

And to stay stoked and get curious and excited about what, yes,

life is opening by saying no.

And to me, in her case, for example, was, well, that just means you're

one step closer to meeting the person that will choose you and will love

you the way you wanna be loved.

And for you was, you're not just meant to be a musician, definitely keep

making music, but here's all these other ways that you can integrate

in your offering to have even a bigger and more profound impact.

And and I, and I see that and, and it's not, it's not easy to start again.

That's why I, I have a lot of respect for how devoted and dedicated I know

you are to your, to your offerings and your craft and, and your studies.

And I think it's amazing 'cause you could have been stubborn to the point of

not listening to life being like, have you considered these options as well?

You know, it's like, no, I'm just gonna be a musician.

And maybe that it would've been even more of a struggle and you would've

missed out on all these other ways that you're, that you're helping people.

Yeah, man, I, I think the reason I thought of that story was

around this idea of purpose, because.

I, I think the way that you went about it is so courageous.

Like I, what came up is when you were talking, you were so clear.

You were like, even though you didn't know the way or the how or whatever,

you were just like, I gotta keep playing music and I cannot live that life

that's been like signed up that I've been signed up for without my consent.

I need, there's a different way for me and you stepped into that

courageously and I want to just offer this to anyone listening who's like,

yeah, but I don't know my thing.

It is like, you do have a purpose.

You have a why.

You know, you and I have done that work together of, uh,

Simon Sinek Find Your Why.

I run purpose processes with my coaching clients now.

And for me, that was such a big turning point in that.

'cause at that time I was going through that change and when I did the, the

find my why process that when we were having those beautiful conversations, um.

I was like, oh shit, I don't just have to play music.

That's not the only way it needs to come through.

There's like, my why is beyond what I'm doing.

It's deeper than what I'm doing.

It's that when I'm really being myself, when I'm aligned, there is a result

that happens in the people around me.

That result is my purpose.

And so anyway, I'm just thinking of that and, and offering

that to anyone listening now.

And, and I kind of wanna take it to, to your music dude.

'cause you've put out this beautiful album quite recently and I know how

much love and care and like just pure heart, joy, energy you've put into that.

And, and when you were talking a moment ago, you were like staying

stoked on life when life gives you a no, just listen for the Yes.

That's kind of what I heard you saying and it reminded me of, of

the, the album Stay Open to Life.

And so yeah, I just would love to hear a bit more about that for, for anyone

listening really around this beautiful creative process and your musical offering

that you've just given to the world.

I, I would love to hear a bit more about it.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Thank you for the, for the plug and the opportunity.

Yes.

I released a new album, which is my favorite musical project

to date, and the collection of songs that I'm most proud of.

and, uh, it's really kind of a, a collection of songs that over the

years I wrote for myself to navigate life and, and, you know, being human.

and knowing that so many of us are going through the same thing at different

times with, you know, different circumstances, different names.

Um, one of the pillars of, of, of my music is, is there any way that I can use

this personal experience of this or this personal realization to create something,

maybe alchemize the pain, the confusion to then offer something to others to

help them through their own experience.

And, um.

Which is something that other artists have done for me.

So it's, again, it goes back to passing it on, you know, keep it going around.

there are a lot of powerful reminders, especially for those who may be

struggling, you know, at the moment.

And, um, and there's a lot of things that maybe people already know but they've

forgotten or it, it's, uh, yeah, as the album suggests, stay open to life,

it's just an encouragement, you know?

And then,

yeah, there's just so much pain in the world, you know, there's so much pain

and being aware of how much pain there is, thinking of singing about other

things that maybe don't go as deep feels like a kind of a waste of time.

You know, and, uh, so I feel like, yeah, the album, and it's

hard to speak about the music.

I would just invite people to go, go listen to the album

and, and enjoy the journey.

But it, I guarantee you'll feel better at the end of it.

And if you don't,

totally agree.

you, I'll give you your money back somehow.

Well, like, I'm gonna actually read a few

of the titles of the song.

So the album is Stay Open to Life.

And then we've got What A Beautiful Life is the first song.

Bless This Mess is another one you already know is another one.

Don't be so hard on yourself.

Let that shit go.

Keep my light on affirmantra.

Um, stay open to life, obviously, and there's a bunch more.

But those, even just the titles are like an invitation to remember that each of

them is their own distinct mantra, which is actually one of the things I love

about this podcast is We Are Already Free.

If someone just hears that, they immediately go, oh, I feel better.

And you the, like, the titles of these songs are, are the

same, same kind of vibe.

So I, I definitely highly recommend listening to it.

I, yeah, it's such beau.

It's very catchy.

Just be warned, you will be stuck with these songs in your head

for a very long time afterwards.

Definitely.

Sorry, not sorry.

It's gonna stay in your

not sorry,

but I, I think I wanna circle back to something you just said around what

this, like, there's so many hard, painful things going on and it's hard

to play like happy music 'cause it doesn't feel like it goes as deep

sometimes it's not as deep as the pain.

But I would challenge you on that because it reminds me of sitting in

circle with, um, with the Huni Kuin and with plant medicines and in these

healing spaces where I've had these experiences where I'm literally, I.

In the most pain, like emotionally just sitting there with my head

in a bucket, like purging out just all the pain and feeling like I'm

never gonna come through this.

And then I'll hear one of the shamans either like playing a beautiful

song or say the thing they love to say, which is so alegria which

is means only joy or all is joy.

And they do it.

I know they do it intentionally at those heavy moments because what it gifts me

then is the remembrance that I chose this.

I choose my experience.

No matter the pain.

I feel the pain I'm going through, the pain in the world is what it is.

And I still have a choice around how I meet that.

And so I would really say that your songs and, and the message of joy, the

message of staying open to life is as deep as the pain and the wounding and the

trauma and the anguish that's happening.

It has to be as deep.

Life doesn't work any other way.

So I just wanna like really hold that.

'cause I've heard you say this a few times and I understand where you're

like, I don't know if I should be putting out these happy songs when

there's so much shit in the world.

And I'm like, bro, this is when we need the, we need someone there

being like, so alegria motherfuckers like, only joy, let's go.

So, yeah.

Thank you.

No, I, I feel you.

It's a good reminder.

And, and yeah, I think in a way these songs are the perfect, the songs on

the album are the perfect example.

'cause I, through music, I get to explore themes that would maybe

be or feel quite heavy or dense, but in a, in a joyful light way.

So that's the, the beauty and the alchemy of music.

Like a lot of these songs that people are dancing to and, and, and

singing in their car while they're traveling and having a good time.

They come from a lot of pain.

But the music alchemizes it and then offers something that is both deep

and takes you to a place where you can actually feel these things and reflect on

them, da, da, da, but also uplifts you.

Um, someone, I forget who, someone said it was a perfect mix.

It felt like both a, a meditation and a celebration.

I love that.

I think it's a good snapshot of the album.

That's great.

Well, let's talk about creativity and this idea of transmuting energy because

one of the things that we've both been doing, and actually I was inspired by

you, you, you've been doing it longer than me, but is the songwriting workshops.

And I just love like witnessing and hearing the stories of what

people have experienced through these workshops and then.

I don't know how I got inspired to do it.

I mean, it was definitely through you, but I don't remember what

was the turning point where I was like, oh, I should do that too.

But, um, you've been, it's been so nice to bounce ideas with you and we

each have our own way of, of doing these, but it's become like, people

are inviting me on retreats to do that thing as well as the breath work, ice

baths, transformation, all the things.

They're like, we want you to do that workshop.

So could you tell us, like, the basic thing here is there might be someone

listening right now who's like, I've got stuff that I dunno how to process.

I've got difficult things, or I want to use my voice more, but I dunno how,

so I'd love to hear you just introduce this concept of, of a songwriting

workshop and like, how is it that someone listening could connect even just one

of the tools you use or one of the recommendations of how could someone

start to connect with their voice more and, and bring some words through,

bring some messages through and start transmuting some energy for themselves.

Hmm.

I think the first thing, and this is usually one of the first things

that I say in my workshops or, or like private sessions, is that

there's no wrong way to do it.

There's, there's no wrong way to do it.

You are a unique human being and your expression and your perception is

just as unique and as, and as such.

There's no wrong way for you to feel your feelings and say how you feel,

so it can feel like almost paralyzing.

Like, oh shit, there's no wrong way to do it.

Meaning I can do whatever I want and now I've freeze

'cause I don't know what to do.

But it's supposed to make you want to get closer to, to it because

there's no way you can fail.

Like unless you're writing songs for some big, unless you're writing

songs for Beyonce and they need to be exactly the structure.

Exactly three and a half minutes, exact you do whatever you want.

Um, and, and the process that I guide people through, which is my own

personal process, 75% of it, 70% of it is really just feeling your feelings.

Um, and that's why I call, I talk about the alchemy of, of, of songwriting

in my case, in our case, um, which is really just authenticity, feeling

your feelings and, and expression like what you feel is not going anywhere.

Meaning you can suppress as much as you want.

It's not going anywhere.

Like you're just storing it.

You're becoming in the words of, I think his name is Sad, sad

Simone, or something like that.

There's a guy on Instagram and I remember seeing this, this reel, which

I thought was quite dramatic, and he's just laying on this like deck somewhere

tropical and it's pouring rain, and he is just laying in the rain sobbing.

I was like, fuck.

You know, that feels very dramatic, but the, the caption said something

like, I refuse to become like a storage unit for my un, for my repressed

emotions, or something like that.

And I thought it was powerful, like the, the willingness to feel.

Because a, it's not going anywhere.

It's, it's, it's, it physically becomes stored, stored like

energetically in your body.

And I've, and I've experienced this firsthand in the, in the ceremony medicine

journey that we did together in, in February in South Africa, where I went

through probably seven or eight hours of the most intense physical somatic

release when I thought my medicine journey was gonna be something different.

I'm gonna have visions, I'm gonna have epiphanies, I'm gonna have, and

the medicine, I was like, no, you need to clear out all the shit that

you've been carrying in your body.

'cause yes, you've done a lot of work and yes, you've processed a lot

but a lot of this you've processed in your mind intellectually.

Have you released the energy, the grief, the confusion and, and so

the stuff that we feel that we don't allow ourselves to feel, we don't

allow ourselves to express, we don't allow ourselves to, to work through.

It's not going anywhere.

And you think you're fine, and then one day you go home and your partner

makes you some pasta and it put, she puts too much salt and next thing you

know, you're screaming at her even though she's done nothing wrong because

you have this like, I mean, yeah.

Anyway, I was gonna talk about the thing that we said we wouldn't talk

about, but people sometimes explode.

I've had this happen to me, and I'm not going to, you know, say,

give any names, but I've had this

Speak it, bro.

Speak it.

no, it's simply like people that I was very close to and that I thought

would be in my life forever, that one day just exploded, like, like a volcano

and, and told me all these terrible things that they thought and felt about

me, which I was completely unaware of.

And, and it's because a lot of these things were not voiced, we're not

expressed, we're not put on the table.

So everything's fine, everything's fine, everything's fine, everything's fine.

And then one day you're shouting because everything is not fine because

you haven't felt your emotions.

And so, so the artistic process of feeling and expressing is I.

If nothing else, even if you have no desire or intention to share your

songs or your poetry or whatever your, you know, art form is, even if you

don't wanna share with anybody, and it's just for you, do it for yourself.

Because it, it, it allows you to work through what you're

feeling in a, in a way.

Um, where, where you keep the energy flowing through you from an experience

to an emotion, to a feeling, to a song.

To a and, and it's not as heavy and painful as just kinda

like sitting in bed miserable.

Just, just thinking about just rumination.

It's like, no, actually get in touch with what you're feeling, what happened,

why it happened, and then the process in songwriting specifically of carefully

selecting the words to express, like you really have to sit with it.

How do I feel?

I feel like this.

And I only have a certain amount of lines and a certain

amount of words to express this.

So I, I, I better be really careful, you know?

'cause you, you, you choose another word, it means a different thing.

So again, there's no wrong way to do it.

Um, which means you have complete freedom and agency on how you express yourself.

And expression is a healing practice.

Um, which knowing how powerful it has been for me and how powerful I know

it's for you and many other artists.

Knowing and seeing how many people don't have an artistic output

or outlet because they think they're not artistically inclined.

Or they, or someone at some point has told them like, you shouldn't sing, or

That's a waste of time, or whatever.

Whatever, whatever we have believed.

That that cut us from our creative self is a lie, is a lie.

It was someone else's projection.

Like you might not be a great singer, that's fine.

You can still write a song, you can still sing for yourself.

Like this is not to be famous or successful.

This is simply a tool to feel your feelings and express them.

And if you do choose to share to potentially inspire comfort, uplift

others through your own experience.

Um, and and that's why I share it.

'cause I really love it.

It has changed my life and I see the positive impact that it has on

others who maybe didn't think that they could until someone shows them

like, this is how you do it and this is why you do it, and you can't fail.

And, and you know, I give them the tools and then they go home and

do with them whatever they want.

But it's been really beautiful to have people sometimes within the same day

that I give a workshop or the day after, then coming to me, say I'm at a festival

and saying, I just wrote my first song.

Or I just finished a song that I started six months ago.

Or I've had, I've had photographer, I had a, a photographer come into one

of my workshops and, and saying, that thing that you said about that other

thing really inspired me and I'm going to change the way that I edit photos.

I didn't say anything about photos, but you know, somehow

she took, so we're, we're all artists in some way, shape or form.

And um, and it's a shame that our society has led us to believe that we're not.

And so it's also some type of like rebellious act.

It's like, oh, you want me to be a machine?

I'm gonna make art.

Fuck you.

Yeah, dude, I love that.

I mean, it's, you're speaking to, I think, one of the true acts of

deep inner revolution that every one of us has access to right now.

Like, I just got off a retreat last week with a bunch of really lovely dudes and

like really so enjoyed them as people.

And they come from corporate backgrounds.

Like these dudes are, they, they, they're heavy hitters, big business owners, like.

Businesses that make millions of dollars a year.

Like really, they operate at a, a level that is out of my world, I have

no familiarity with, and I took them into this workshop and I've done it

enough times now that I know when they get that nervous look in their eyes

of like, oh God, I'm not a writer.

I don't know how to do this.

I, you know, I write like I can draw stick men and I write at that level of writing.

You know, that's one of the things I heard someone say.

And next thing.

I think even that same guy, dude, he was done with the

song that he wanted to write.

'cause I guide them through, it's quite a, it's a transformational process.

So we use the hero's journey and it's like, I'm, I've got a particular

kind of aim that I've got for them.

And I hadn't even finished talking.

And he's like, I'm done.

I was like, well, you what?

And he, and he showed, and I went and checked it out.

He, 'cause I say to people, they go off and they spend, you know, some time

just writing alone once I've given them all the prompts and kind of the setup.

And I said, if anyone wants to talk to me, you know, call me out.

And he, he called me over.

He said, I just want you to see, you know, I read.

And he's like, what do you think?

And I, and I read through it.

I was like, dude, you, you, you did it.

There's I, there's nothing else.

And again, exactly.

I echoed what you said.

I was like, he's like, is it good?

And I said, that's not my, I don't get to say that.

Like, that's not my.

You've written something that is true.

I can see that.

That's what I'm interested in.

You've written a true thing, bro.

When we turned that into music later in the process, I have such intense

goosebumps talking about this right now.

Like we all, it was like spirit stepped in and it came through and this song,

like we all, and I looked up and there's this man just with tears pouring down

his face, just being like, he's like, I don't know what just happened.

Like, he's like, I don't cry.

And he's just got these like lines of just, bro.

So yeah, I just.

I think what you said is so important.

We are all artists.

We are all creators, and so many of us have this little child inside locked

away, this creative little being that's just like, I want to, I've got

stuff to say, I've got things to draw.

And that child is like, no, no, no, no, no, no.

We don't do that here.

That's, uh, that's not allowed that, yeah.

I, I, I really encourage anyone listening to check out your website, I'll put a

obviously link in the show notes and they can, they can get a private session

with you if, if they like or, uh, come to one of your workshops, et cetera.

And I just so encourage that.

Like, so encourage it.

And you know, if someone doesn't feel drawn to songwriting

or writing in general, then dance.

And if you don't wanna dance, then paint Like I'm a songwriter and I later

in life, I realize how much I love to dance and how sometimes I feel even

more free when I dance because I have an associated, uh, a role or a job or

a, or, um, a persona with, with like, I'm a musician, I'm a singer songwriter.

I need to be good now.

People are looking at me.

But when I dance, no one gives, no, no one cares that I'm dancing.

So I can be as weird and as like, give me, give me a djembe, like the other

day we went to the beach and there was this drum circle here in Ibiza.

I was just dancing and it felt good.

And I'm not trying to, you know, the beautiful speech by Alan Watts, like the

point of the, the dance is not to get anywhere on the dance floor, just dancing.

So do whatever it is.

Do do something and, and maybe it's not songwriting, but like find your way.

Maybe just wanna throw black pain at a canvas and scream, do that.

That sounds great.

I want to do that.

You know, as long as you're not just holding it in and pretending that you're

not feeling, 'cause it's like at some point you're gonna explode and you might.

Like, do it for others because you might say something or do something to hurt

someone you love because you didn't take care of the shit that you're carrying.

So it's not just for you, it's also a kindness that you show to others.

Like I want, I.

Again, we go back to Ram Das.

The only thing I can do for you is work with myself.

And this is a part of it.

Mm

You know, making sure that I don't become a storage unit for unre,

for, for unexpressed and repressed emotions because I don't want to

live on the edge where you just move something in a way that I don't like it.

And now I'm, now I'm mad at you, but really I'm not mad at you.

I'm just mad at something that happened seven years ago that I've never processed.

And another thing was, and this may sound super obvious, but when you were talking

just now, I had this like epiphany.

Generally speaking, men struggle with feeling and women struggle

with expressing, and I say this from my own personal experience.

Like men sometimes really don't know how to feel.

Like, uh, I think I was reading something by my friend Nick Warner,

who's a great, great man, great coach.

I don't know if he prefers the word coach, but he's a real one.

Shout out to Nick and, um,

and he'll say, if you ask a man how he feels, he might not know what to say.

If you ask him, what do you think?

He'll have an answer.

So, so the, so the job or the calling is for men to really learn how to feel and

for women to learn how to express, and I'm not saying this in, in, in a judgmental

way, in any way, shape or form, but so much of my friends and my sisters, um,

their struggle is using their voice.

And it's painful because society has made them feel that way.

Shut up.

You're just a woman.

You, your opinion doesn't matter.

You don't know what

be hysterical

Don't be hysterical.

Why are you so emotional?

Like, whatever it is.

And so it's a shame 'cause on one side you have people that dunno how to feel.

And on the other you have people that feel, but dunno how to express.

So we're all wounded in our own way.

And uh, and I do believe that art in any form is a very healing tool

that we should give more space to as individuals and as a society.

Dude,

I, and I need to, I, I need to plug in my laptop just a second.

Oh, shit.

Okay.

I'm still here, but hold.

Yeah.

Well I was gonna say, uh, because you can still hear me and the

people listening can still hear me.

There's a, the point of this idea of it being revolution or a rebellion, I think

is that it has a real, it's not just, yes, it helps us to process and release

the things we're holding onto, but also then once we've cleared the channels

and, and like the darkness has come out.

'cause often that's for me anyway, and I speak for myself, but I know for a

lot of us, when we are holding onto that shit, it's gotta come out like

it has to, the pain has to come out and we gotta let the pain out until we

are ready to return to joy, basically.

And so.

And, and for some people their, their music is, is always gonna be a bit

sad, but in that sadness is also joy.

And what you made me think of, and I think I'm, we've spoken about this

before, but was this guy Mark Henson's Art, the, um, the paintbrush warrior?

I've actually brought it up.

I wanna see if I can screen share it with you and, uh, tell me if this works.

And so anyone who's watching this on a video on YouTube

would be able to then see this.

Can you see that?

Not yet, but my laptop is a little bit slow 'cause it was dying.

Oh, something is happening.

done.

So basically you've got this for

Oh yeah.

listening to the audio.

Yeah, so for those listening to the audio, there's a basically a, a man with

a paintbrush and a, a palette in his hand, and behind him is just like nature and

birds and beauty and colors and rainbows.

And he's pushing his paintbrush across the canvas that he's standing on.

And where his paintbrush hasn't been yet is like skulls and prisons

and guns and war and handcuffs and pain and, and destruction.

And it's this idea that.

Being a, being a paintbrush warrior, being an artist is not just a nice to have.

It's how we imagineer a different reality.

Even when we're living in a really shitty one, which in many ways, our

society is a shitty society right now.

It really is.

But how do we, how do we keep hope?

How do we keep getting outta bed and taking action, helping to feed the people

on our block if we don't see anything other than what is currently around us?

And that's what art can do, is it can show us a dream and show us a vision of, so

that there is a different way possible.

And to me, that is such a key part that any of us can choose.

And that's what I think for me, the, the, the workshops I'm doing

with people is to support them in owning their hero's journey.

Not just focusing on the hard stuff, but how does the hard stuff help you

to be stronger, more resilient, more open-hearted, and use that to create, to

push that paintbrush across that that.

Painting across that canvas so that you can create a different way.

And so, yeah, that, that's kind of what you were sharing around being

a rebel, being that this act of rebellion, I think it is so deep and

so important that we do all learn how to imagine a different way of being.

And again, just so appreciative for, for the work you're doing with all of that.

Hmm.

Thank you.

Yeah.

I love the, the, the concept that artists, I guess, are people who

allow themselves or push themselves sometimes to see a different reality.

Maybe a reality that is not real right now.

Like if you look out and you see Yeah, pain, war destruction.

Like if you, if you only, if you're able to only see that reality,

you, you won't even get outta bid.

Like, what's, what's the point?

Everything's fucked.

You know?

Uh, but, uh, but, but being able to, to, to have a glimpse of, of hope or

to see whether it's a silver lining or just a possibility, like there's

an element of, of, of delusion.

Some artists are also delusional, but like in a positive way.

John Lennon singing, imagine all the people living life in peace.

Totally delusional.

That will never happen.

And at that, just the nature of reality, like it's the, is the duality.

You know, there will always be people that want peace.

There will always be people that want war.

But he changed the world in his own way with that song.

So, and I was also just now thinking about Michelangelo, the,

the sculptor, the famous, I mean, he was more than just a sculptor.

But, and there's a story, I dunno exactly how it goes, but he was walking

around with his students and at some point he stopped and he pointed at, uh,

I think it was just a block of marble.

And he said, wow, look at that.

Look at that beautiful angel.

And his students looked at just this block of marble and they were

like, what are you talking about?

It's just a block of marble.

He could see what the block of marble was gonna turn into after

he had, you know, done his work.

And so he took that block of marble and brought it into his

studio and carved out a beautiful angel from the block of marble.

So I feel like in a way, that's also what the artist does.

You see something, it's just a block of marble.

It's just another politician lying.

It is just a, another section of the ocean being poisoned.

Is just another whatever.

But you see what it could be and you see what it can turn into.

You see what it can become, and, and art is the vehicle to, to get there.

Because otherwise life can is just so grim.

You know, if there's, if there's, if there's no art, if everybody was just in

line doing what they're told and like, let's all jump off a cliff together.

There's no point being around.

It's just so, so grim.

So yes, please.

More artists needed.

Yeah, I think even, uh, the Dalai Lama said that the world

does not need more successful people, and I think he was meaning successful in

the way that our society views success.

He said it needs more artists, healers, teachers, creators, poets,

and so, and I believe that fully.

Absolutely.

Cool, man.

Well, I, I would love to ask, and you've been asked this before 'cause

you've been on the podcast, but whatever comes up for you when you

hear the words, We, Are, Already, Free.

Oh, okay.

We, Are, Already, Free.

All comes up is just a lot of joy.

Really, the way you phrase it is, it's like there's a, it's

almost, it's an inescapable fact.

Like you didn't say we are going to be free after we do all these things.

It's like We, Are, Already, Free.

It is like the most powerful reminder.

makes me think of that story of Ramana Maharshi when he says, you know, man

is like someone who's sitting in the shade being all like, nice, cool shade

gets up, goes and sit in the scorching sun, and then starts stressing out about

the fact that he's too hot and tries to find his way back to the shadow when he

was in the shade all along, you know?

And, uh, it makes me think a little bit of that.

So it's, um.

It's a powerful reminder that points me back to that, that part

of my, my, my being that has always been free and is always free.

If it wasn't maybe for the stories that I tell myself and that I believe and that I

have an emotional reaction to, but the, at least the, the, the purest, most authentic

part of who I am is, uh, is free.

It's free.

And there are stories of people, who I think now of people who, who

were in jail, like Nelson Mandela, 27 years, or some of the people

that are like in prison for life.

In for life.

You spend your life in prison.

And I don't know the name now of this man, and I'm sure

he's just one of many, but he.

This man who is in, I think he's been on death row in the States for like

his whole life, and he will die in prison who had an awakening in prison.

And he's now writing inspirational motivational books to help people

find that freedom within themselves.

And he's most definitely not free.

Like he's in a, in a, in a penitentiary.

And somehow that man has access to his inner freedom and is now helping others.

This is obviously an extreme example, but it's a, it's a powerful one because our,

our si is doing so much to make us think, feel, and believe that we're not free.

'cause you know, a a, a human being who's, who's aware of the fact

that he's free is a dangerous one.

You know, and in good way

one.

it's a not, yeah, not, it's not a profitable as it is a

dangerous being someone who is free and acts from that freedom and an and

empowerment that comes with, with, yeah.

I'm a free human being and I have full agency on how I live my life.

And you know, if everybody was like, you know what, we don't need to go to work.

Let's all come together and that I meet you in that open field and

we're gonna figure out how we're gonna do it together from now on.

Outside of the so-called Matrix, that's not good for them.

You know, whoever's running the show, they, they don't want that.

So, We, Are, Already, Free.

Yeah.

It's powerful reminder of.

Un unchanging and unchangeable truth that lives behind and beyond this

dream and illusion that we keep, keep entertaining ourselves with.

I dunno if anyone's told you this, but you have a way with words.

I, I do.

I do like words.

I know a couple.

You word good.

It's interesting we were talking about like, even the, the titles

of your album, I think of them as like they're mini mantras.

Um, and for me, I often think of We, Are, Already, Free as that, as that.

It's one of those, it's like the paintbrush being pushed across the

canvas because in many measurable, real ways, we are practically not

free, like on practical logical level.

But We, Are, Already, Free, like you've just said, it's, it's a calling into

that inner place of like, I speak a mantra because I want to embody

more of that mantra in my life.

want to om shanti ti like, I wanna be in peace.

I want to be at peace.

So I chant that mantra.

And for me, We, Are, Already, Free is that same thing in the same way that

stay open to life is like, that's mantra because it goes immediately

into the part of like, have a choice.

No matter what is happening externally, I can stay open to this experience.

I can remember that I'm already free/ that changes everything else.

yeah brother, just so appreciate you.

And is there anything else that you want to share or leave people with or ask of

people or just like bring into the space?

'cause I'm feeling stoked with, this has been epic.

definitely go listen to my album if you haven't already for sure.

And, um, I think right now the thing that's coming up.

Feels really, which feels really relevant today, which is the day the

world has found out that Donald Trump is the next president of the United

States, which in itself is like,

I did not even know that.

yeah, Donald Trump officially the, I think, 47th

president of the United States.

Um, and I don't, this is, I don't wanna make this political at all, but the thing

that was coming up is don't lose hope.

There are.

So if you, if you look for evidence that the situation is hopeless, you'll find it.

Um, but at the same time, if you look for evidence that there is hope,

you, you'll also find that, um, yeah, thing that, the thing that that's

coming up now is just don't lose hope.

Keep as the song by this incredible singer songwriter that goes by the

name Roaman goes, keep your light on,

keep your light on in the face of all this mess.

Keep your light on 'cause you're still so very blessed.

Hmm.

Beautiful brother.

I appreciate that.

Yeah.

As I heard you speaking there, I'm like, whether you.

Think Trump is the worst thing that's ever happened, or whether

you like, thank God he's in.

Stay, keep the hope because no matter who's in power right now,

you're gonna be disappointed.

There's that's my perspective on it.

There's this idea that some politicians gonna come in and make it all better.

So like what?

Wherever you are on this spectrum right now, and you're listening

to this being like, no, this is a good, I've, of course this is the

best thing that's ever happened.

Be like, I'm here when you need a hug.

When you realize that he's not gonna fix any of the things you're

hoping he's And it would've been the same with the other person as well.

So I, I just wish us all.

What you've just said, which is stay hopeful.

Keep get your creation happening.

Mm

voice into the world, share what need share.

Listen to this man's music.

It will give you that charge, that energy, that, that, um, as we say in

South Africa, gees um, is that like power.

It'll give you that power to, to stay in hope and stay, stay

responsible, stay active, stay joyful.

So, yeah, thank you brother.

It's such a pleasure to have you on the podcast and to be your brother,

to be your friend in this life.

It's a fucking joy.

Thank you.

Thanks, man.

The, the feeling is entirely mutual.

And, and if anything, I hope that from these dark, dense, challenging times,

I was thinking about the, the yin yang symbol, the little white dot in the,

in the dark half, that the white dot that is gonna come out of this time

is that people more and more will wake up and realize that the real changes

that we seek won't come from the top.

Not from this politician, not from this party.

Like, I don't know where I read it, but I completely agree with it.

The system is not broken.

The system was designed to work this way.

And so if anything.

That from the disappointment that we feel and, and all these, yeah, the

heaviness and the whatever that we're gonna realize if anything is gonna

change for the better is because we come together, like we, the people that

we're alreadyfree.me/ and we always, the power has always been in our hands.

And the power comes when we unite and when we come together and when we

have a common vision and, and goal and intention for what we're trying to create.

And we stop believing that we're powerless.

Because those who benefit from us believing that we're powerless, do

everything they can to make us believe that we're powerless because they

know that we're actually powerful.

And if we, everybody, everybody went, actually, no, at the game, there's a

beautiful poem by, um, climbing poetry.

Poetry tree spelled like tree, TREE, climbing poetry.

The poem is called awakening and, and at some point they have a line

that says, uh, the game doesn't exist if we don't play by its rules,

which I think is great.

Beautiful.

Beautiful.

Well thank you.

And I will definitely put links to your music, your website, your Spotify,

et cetera, in the show notes so people can get quick and easy access.

And yeah, just thank you for being on.

I'm sure we'll have you on again sometime over the, the years.

It's, it's such a pleasure.

And yeah, just keep shining your light man.

Keep your light on.

It's uh, it's fucking awesome.

I love you.

Thank you, brother.

Love you too.

And same to you.

Speaker 2 01:28:01

Thank you for joining us for this episode.

Speaker 2 01:28:03

Thank you as always, Ricardo Roaman, I fricking love you, man.

Speaker 2 01:28:07

Your music, your vibe, what a great journey we're on together.

Speaker 2 01:28:11

Please do find Roaman's music.

Speaker 2 01:28:12

You can find it on any streaming platform, R-O-A-M-A-N.

Speaker 2 01:28:17

You can also find him on Instagram, Roaman music, or just go to

Speaker 2 01:28:21

the links in the show notes.

Speaker 2 01:28:22

Makes it super easy for you.

Speaker 2 01:28:23

In today's episode, we have covered how to stay open to life, even in

Speaker 2 01:28:27

life's big struggles and challenges, how to balance pain and joy, how to

Speaker 2 01:28:32

use our creativity to bring through our purpose, and how to process our feelings

Speaker 2 01:28:37

and become more truly who we are.

Speaker 2 01:28:39

One of the most common things that I see in my clients is this struggle to

Speaker 2 01:28:43

really embody their authentic selves.

Speaker 2 01:28:45

And I think this episode has been such a gorgeous example of someone who has chosen

Speaker 2 01:28:51

the hard path of getting uncomfortable, staying uncomfortable, stepping out of

Speaker 2 01:28:55

his comfort zone so that he can truly embody who he is and look at the result,

Speaker 2 01:29:00

look at what it's bringing into the world.

Speaker 2 01:29:01

And I promise if you haven't heard his music yet.

Speaker 2 01:29:04

You're gonna love it.

Speaker 2 01:29:04

It's gonna really shift some vibe for you.

Speaker 2 01:29:07

There's some hilarious music, some serious music, some deep music, some

Speaker 2 01:29:10

spiritual music and everything in between.

Speaker 2 01:29:12

It really is a holistic musical offering for all of us who are here to

Speaker 2 01:29:17

embody more of our authentic selves.

Speaker 2 01:29:19

If you'd like a little more support on this path of personal transformation

Speaker 2 01:29:23

and just taking those one or two little steps that are gonna really help you to

Speaker 2 01:29:26

make shifts in your life, then check out the five Day Morning Practice Challenge.

Speaker 2 01:29:30

As I said before, it is a free challenge.

Speaker 2 01:29:32

You can sign up at alreadyfree.me/ me slash yes or.

Speaker 2 01:29:35

The link is in the show notes, and this really is an opportunity

Speaker 2 01:29:39

for you to choose yourself.

Speaker 2 01:29:41

So often we're projecting out there into the world, oh, it's so bad out

Speaker 2 01:29:44

there, over there, off in the distance.

Speaker 2 01:29:46

If only those people would change, if only they'd listen to me, et cetera, et cetera.

Speaker 2 01:29:50

The reality is, you are the one having the experience.

Speaker 2 01:29:53

Turn your gaze inward.

Speaker 2 01:29:55

Give yourself even just a few minutes, even one minute a day.

Speaker 2 01:29:58

as a way to honor the gift that you are, the gift that you're here to bring.

Speaker 2 01:30:03

It's a free challenge and it has a really positive impact

Speaker 2 01:30:06

on those people who take it.

Speaker 2 01:30:07

So go to the show notes or just go to alreadyfree.me/ me slash

Speaker 2 01:30:10

Yes, As I mentioned in the intro, this is the last episode of 2024.

Speaker 2 01:30:15

I am about to move cities with my dear wife, and we've got lots of other

Speaker 2 01:30:19

things on the go, so we're gonna just take a bit of a break for a while.

Speaker 2 01:30:23

I will be back with season four.

Speaker 2 01:30:25

Can you believe that this is season four coming up of We Are?

Speaker 2 01:30:28

Already Free.

Speaker 2 01:30:30

If you haven't already, please make sure to follow this podcast.

Speaker 2 01:30:33

Subscribe to it wherever you're listening right now.

Speaker 2 01:30:36

And if you really want to go far, leave a testimonial.

Speaker 2 01:30:39

A testimonial.

Speaker 2 01:30:40

What do I mean?

Speaker 2 01:30:40

A review on Apple Podcasts, or tap the five star rating on Spotify,

Speaker 2 01:30:46

or make the effort to go to the show notes and send me a message.

Speaker 2 01:30:49

How has this podcast impacted you?

Speaker 2 01:30:51

What's your biggest takeaway from the year?

Speaker 2 01:30:52

What does this mean for you?

Speaker 2 01:30:54

Like, I wanna know.

Speaker 2 01:30:55

I mean, I put this out there.

Speaker 2 01:30:56

I love doing it, and I know a bunch of you are listening, but I don't know

Speaker 2 01:31:00

who you are unless you tell me so.

Speaker 2 01:31:02

Take that action.

Speaker 2 01:31:03

Even if you're driving in your car right now, you know, at your next

Speaker 2 01:31:06

stop, pull over, and come say, hello.

Speaker 2 01:31:09

Come.

Speaker 2 01:31:09

Let's connect.

Speaker 2 01:31:09

Let's get to know each other.

Speaker 2 01:31:10

I would love to know you more and thank you for being on this journey with me.

Speaker 2 01:31:15

I will see you in the new year.

Speaker 2 01:31:17

And as always, please remember We Are Already Free.