Hey - welcome back to the newsletter.

What if there was nothing to solve?

Sounds like a wild question in today’s state of the world, doesn’t it?

It gets even crazier when you think about our inherent tendency to seek solutions.

But what if we took a step back? What if we zoomed out? 

What if life wasn’t about finding answers - but rather - learning to embrace & live with the big questions?

Could that make things feel a bit lighter?

Perhaps even, make it easier to bear the weight of heavy issues?

The basic idea here is letting go of the need for answers.

As my favorite videographer Max McCoy once shared in a newsletter, 

“The mind will never stop finding problems and puzzles to solve - it's a great tool - but you must be able to set the tool down or else you'll be walking about life with excess weight. Don't bring your toolbelt to the pool party. Lol” 

I dig it. Let’s put the tools down.

This philosophy resurfaced for me this week after a sudden death in the family.

Jillian Ludwig, my extended cousin, was fatally shot in the head during her first semester of college.

While taking a walk in the park, she was struck by a stray bullet, fired by a man who had recently been released for incompetence to stand trial in a separate shooting.

It’s heart-breaking. Even though I’ve never had the chance to met her, the pain reverberates; family is family, and tragedy is tragedy.

Jillian was a creative young woman, with her whole life ahead of her.

No teenager should get gunned down in broad daylight, yet sadly, this continues to happen all over the world.

My heart goes out to her immediate family, as well as everyone who has lost someone close to them due to unnecessary & senseless violence in the world.

In the midst of grappling with this grief, both individually & collectively, the solution-seeker in me continues to look for answers:

How could this happen?

How can we hold all of this?

How does this incident relate to our criminal system and gun control laws?

How does the state of the world relate to money, power, and corruption?

What might we learn?

What are the best ways to respond?

Amidst these questions, however, I’m discovering that sometimes it’s easier to accept without fully understanding than to persist in the relentless pursuit of answers.

Put differently - understanding is not a prerequisite for acceptance.

Rather than struggling for answers, I’ve found solace in sitting with these questions:

• What are the feelings I’m noticing? Where in my body is that emotion located?

• What tools or practices help me stay grounded?

• What feels true? What feels like delusion?

• Where does this connect back to?

• What values or beliefs can guide me in navigating difficult times?

• What might follow?

• How do we want to move through this?

• Where does the focus want to lie?

In the face of such challenging times, perhaps what we can collectively offer is a commitment to letting go of what can’t be answered, supporting one another through the shared weight of grief, sadness, and/or apathy.

Sources of Hope:

Last Saturday, 11/11, Dr. Joe Dispenza hosted a virtual walking meditation.

The “Walk for the World” emphasizes the idea:

demonstrate the change you’d love to see in the world

The first Walk for the World was held on September 23, 2023, and brought together more than 140,000 individuals from 167 countries in a synchronized Walking Meditation. 

Here’s the wild part though.

During that time, Earth's Schumann Resonance, a frequency referred to as the planet's "heartbeat" or "pulse, spiked during the time.

Check out the screenshot below, from this recap video.

Some people believe that changes in the Schumann Resonance may have an impact on human well-being, consciousness, and even psychic experiences.

This is often referred to as “raising the vibration,” or “elevating of consciousness.”

While there’s a lot to this I still don’t understand, the concept feels true to me.

But it’s important to make clear - scientific evidence supporting direct/significant effects of the Schumann Resonance on human health or behavior is very limited.

Nonetheless, Dispenza’s work as a whole, centered around neuro-science & meditation, is supported with scientific proof and results you wouldn’t believe.

Three tenants core to Dispenza’s work are the following:

• Neuroplasticity: through intention & meditation, you can rewire your brain for positive change.

• Mind-Body Connection: your thoughts & emotions can impact your physical body. Positive thoughts & experiences can literally heal your body.

• Placebo Effect: the mind's belief in the effectiveness of a treatment can significantly contribute to its success.

• Heart-Brain Coherence: Getting out of your head and into your body allows you to tap into your heart’s wisdom. When your heart & brain are in sync, that’s where the magic happens.

The Walk for the World wasn't just a momentary event, but the continuation of an ongoing journey toward personal & collective evolution. 

I’m immensely grateful to have taken part in walk, alongside the Philly chapter of Joe Dispensza’s meditation group.

The biggest takeaway I had from the experience ties in nicely with the idea discussed above.

You are the first step in change.

Your only responsibility is to become better suited to sit with what is.

Again, thanks to Max McCoy for that phrase. Too good not to share.

But you get the idea.

As Gandhi said, “in order to change the world, you must first, change yourself.”

Sharing Excess is a Philadelphia-based non-profit dedicated to fostering a more sustainable and equitable food system.

Through partnerships with local grocers, retailers, wholesalers, and farmers, Sharing Excess rescues and redistributes over 400,000 pounds of food every week.

If you’re local to the Philly area, you might recall the memorable “Avogeddon” event, where Sharing Excess distributed free avocados for a two-day period in FDR Park.

What started as a mission to repurpose unused college meals swipes has transformed into a well-established initiative, resulting in the donation of over 8 million pounds of food in 2022 alone.

Now, in partnership with BeastPhilanthropy, led by Mr. Beast (the biggest YouTuber in the world), Sharing Excess is extending its reach into new areas.

This video dives into the details of this influential partnership and highlights the incredible work they are doing.

It’s such a blessing to have heart-centered entrepreneurs like Evan Ehlers & Mr. Beast leading the way towards positive change.

Yes Theory is a popular YouTube series built on the premise of seeking discomfort and building connection through travel.

This Sunday (11/19), one of the co-founders, Matt Dahlia, is set to release a book as his going-away/retirement gift.

Titled, “Don’t Talk to Strangers: The Yes Theory Story,” the book dives into the miraculous journey that four Canadian college friends took together - building a wildly successful media company together.

Matt was recently interviewed by the podcast wizard, Andre Durham.

It provides fascinating insight into Matt’s journey writing the book over the past two years, as well as his decision to step away from YouTube and pave his own path.

The new Yes Theory video is also quite thought-provoking and inspiring. The crew takes a trip to one of the hardest countries to get into, Turkmenistan, and what they find is not what you would expect.

Thank you for Reading

What did you think of this newsletter?

I always love hearing from you, and hope you’re doing well.

With gratitude,

Aidan