Jamie Wheal is a leading expert on peak performance and cultural innovation and also the co-author of one of my all-time favourite books; the groundbreaking bestseller “Stealing Fire”
His British, American and South African background combined with an education in neuro-anthropology makes Jamie a most interesting human being. His expertise ranges from mountain guiding to consulting Fortune 500 companies, but his perspectives on resilience technologies come from a very personal place.
Jamie confesses that the mountains was always the place where the world made sense. Learning to live in the city was one of his most difficult life lessons. These difficult times of integration is where most of observations are rooted from and chances are you’ve not heard of anything like this before.
May You Live In Interesting Times
You’ve probably heard the Chinese saying that goes: “May you live in interesting times“. This simple phrase can sound like a blessing, a curse, or maybe even a spell.
The 21st century has most definitely delivered on its promise of being interesting and we are all at the edge of our seats. 🍿
So now that we’re here, how do we stay centred, how do we stay balanced, how do we continue to thrive when so much is spinning around us?
In this interview, Jamie lays out 10 perspectives that are worth exploring and integrating.
Each of the spiritual technologies that Jamie explains in this 40 minute monologue is very likely to restore a sense of emotional buoyancy while simultaneously topping up our internal resources.
What Wheal proposes is quite thought-provoking, so you might want to come back to this article and read it again sometime soon.
Seek Novelty, Make Art, and Help Out
In this interview, Wheal points out three powerful antidotes to feeling stuck and overwhelmed: seek novelty, make art, and help out.
Intermitted reward and novelty is medicine for our state of mind, thank you dopamine.
Stanford’s Robert Sapolsky, it’s “the magic of maybe” – the uncertainty and then the reward is actually far more rewarding than a consistent pattern.
Art is the assembling of matter into coherence. Anything that is more good, more true, more beautiful.
It’s about creating anything that adds more beauty, truth, or goodness to the world. As he says, it’s about “railing against the second law of thermodynamics of entropy and decay over time.”
Once we’ve figured out the first two, then the next step is sharing it. Most especially share it with those that are struggling.
Jamie says that these three activities have saved him from the edges of nihilism, and more than once.
Practice Falling (and Getting Back Up)
Wheal, drawing from his background in adventure sports and martial arts, emphasises the importance of learning how to fall gracefully and, more importantly, how to get back up again. He likens it to Aikido for your life. The point is not to avoid falling, the key is to practice and to learn how to fall properly.
In other words, how to stay centred while falling?
A poignant Ernest Hemingway quote reminds us that:
“The world breaks everyone, and afterwards, many are strong in the broken places. But those that will not break it kill.”
How do change my relationship to tragedy, while not being changed by tragedy?
Balance the Mundane and the Transcendent
The mundane will crush us and the transcendent sacred can burn us.
We need access the full range of this spectrum but we cannot stay or live in any one place for too long. Both extremes are dangerous.
If we focus only on the mundane, we risk being crushed by its weight. But if we seek only the transcendent, we might lose touch with reality.
The answer is to weave in both the mundane and the sacred into our lives at regular and consistent intervals. These consistent intervals are daily (microlevel) and on a more macro level (seasonal and yearly).
The oscillation between the two and the various stages in between keep our feet solidly planted in the ground, eyes full of magic and a radically enthusiastic heart.
Develop a Regular Practice of Renewal
Wheal developed something called the Hedonic Calendar.
- Daily: Micro-practices to deal with everyday stress
- Weekly: Half-day practices for deeper renewal
- Monthly: Full-day practices for significant reset
- Seasonally: Weekend retreats for major renewal
- Annually: Week-long deep dives for transformation
This could involve practices like meditation, breathwork, time in nature, or even psychedelic experiences.
You can also read his latest book “Recapture the Rapture”- Rethinking God, Sex, and Death in a World That’s Lost Its Mind” for more in depth discussion on this and other amazing routines and rituals.
Embrace the Tragic and Find Meaning
Nothing that Wheal suggests fixes, solves or bypasses the tragedy of the modernn day human experience.
Instead, he encourages us to face them head-on and find a deeper sense of purpose. He asks us to consider: What would get you out of bed in the morning if everything else fell away?
Echoing Viktor Frankl, Wheal reminds us that
“Those who have a ‘why’ to live, can bear with almost any ‘how’.”
It’s not about bypassing difficulties, but about standing up in the face of them with a renewed sense of purpose and connection.
Jamie’s entire life’s work has culminated in his designing of efficient, elegant and powerful responses to living in the 21st century.
Cultivate Radical Hope
Jamie invites each of us to look back at our lineage and for a moment try to imagine the efforts executed by our grandparents, our families and our communities to get us here today.
This radical hope is needed to keep the embers of the next generations fire lit.
Wheal emphasises the need for what philosopher Jonathan Lear calls “radical hope” – a commitment to the possibility of a good outcome that we can’t yet see or fully understand.
Wheal points out that none of this is blind optimism. It’s a rooted belief in some fundamentally good outcome that we can’t see from here, but we commit to anyway.
He reminds us of Martin Luther King Jr.’s words: “I refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.” This, Wheal says, is radical hope in action.
Take Action
Action is the antidote to despair.
Let me say that again: action is the antidote to despair.
We are reminded and encouraged to not get stuck in endless analysis or discussion, but rather assess the situation, figure out what’s in our control, take steps to mitigate damage and help others.
Wheal often references Margaret Mead’s famous quote:
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
And by the way, isn’t it a small group of citizen scientists that helped to lift the ban on many psychoactive substances?!
Commit to the Infinite Game
Wheal draws on James Carse’s concept of finite and infinite games to encourage us to commit to the “infinite game” – where the point isn’t to win, but to keep playing and invite as many people to play as possible.
If you’ve never read the book “Finite and Infinite Games”, here’s your chance.
Important disclaimer; it just might change your perspective, on everything!
Embrace Radical Hope in the Face of Uncertainty
Wheal stares into the eyes of the human condition and invites us to do the same, mainly because it’s the only way.
Without denying we are entering an era of unprecedented difficulties. He maintains that radical hope – a commitment to some fundamentally good outcome that we cannot see from here – is what will mobilise us in spite of hardships and setbacks.
Jamie’s life work offers us a roadmap for not just surviving but thriving in these interesting times.
He not only encourages cultivating resilience but actually tells us how. Daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally and yearly.
From this place of emotional buoyancy combined with radical hope; we will somehow find our way through the interesting times ahead.
These hedonic rituals are not ‘nice-to-have spa days’, they are mandatory practices to keep us sane, resilient and enthusiastic.
We can take do the things, stay hydrated and take all supplements in the hopes of restoring our energy levels and clearing brain fog, and some might actually effective.
But ultimately, a change in perspective is the most sustainable approach possible.
Changing our perspective allows us to move through the world differently and therefore trigger a whole new set of experiences.
And if you really want to take it to the next level before 2024 ends, you could implement Wheal’s suggestions above and add some powerful supplements to your daily routine. supplement with some dually extracted high-potency functional mushrooms.
Our Mushroom Essentials Blend combines 4 different functional mushrooms, each dually extracted for high maximum potency.
The combination of these habits and our functional mushrooms will give you a leg up to the next level.
What are you doing to make sure that the last few months of 2024 are your best yet?
Tell me about it in the comments below.
As always,
Shine bright. Do good. Flow strong.
Asha ✨
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