Off the Spectrum

This is an audio recording of what is Chapter One of the non-fiction work I am writing, tentatively titled, "Murmuration." The term "murmuration" refers to the behavior of birds, specifically, starlings, who change direction as a flock, all at once, without any individual leader. The opening chapter takes place in the setting of a Cacao Ceremony in a teepee warmed by firelight that I attended on the New Moon hosted by Sacred Heart Cacao at Blue River Forest Sanctuary in the Kansas City area. I hope you will take the time to enjoy, perhaps with your headphones before bed. The words, as is my style, are poetic, and I hope you enjoy the meditative quality of the spoken words. They'll help you fall asleep if you listen before bed .... and at the same time, help you wake up. Let's imagine a positive future, a world we all want to live in. This book is in the genre akin to Charles Eisenstein's "The More Beautiful World our Hearts Know is Possible."

Today's topics range from self-talk to motivation, to falling in love with your creator. Today's guest is Allen Little with A Little Motivation, who is a Tedx Motivational Speaker. To open the episode, we talk a bit about Allen's experience giving a Ted Talk in Chicago. His talk topic was self talk. I begin by asking Allen what his own self-talk was like on the plane ride to Chicago to give his Ted talk. He opens up with a touching personal story about his dad offering him a little motivation ....

This is the Inaugural Episode of the "Off the Spectrum" podcast. Our guest is Andy Willmore, a speaker and presenter on autism-related topics. In addition to being an individual on the spectrum, Andy also experiences synesthesia ~ for example, he can see color. Our fascinating conversation today ranges from there into the emotional "baggage" and misconceptions often associated with the diagnosis "Autism" and "Aspergers." We endeavor to get a little closer to what the "heart" of neurodiversity is for those of us who simply experience the world ... differently. We also discuss a wide range of additional topics, and our conversation loops through social norms, the tendency of reductionist thinking to oversimplify and categorize reality, and ... well, I wouldn't want to spoil the rest.... Our conversation meanders in its own natural flow, as I have found is often the way of things when conversing with individuals with remarkable minds. -- A note:Previous episodes in this RSS feed also appear. These are episodes recorded under my Podcast's previous label "Solution Revolution." As the host of this podcast for over 4 years, looking back, I see that all of the themes we've previously covered are very consistent with "Off the Spectrum"s mission: to give a voice to those who see the world differently. Although not explicitly stated, a number of our guests over the years have themselves been on the spectrum, and the topics we have covered often revolve around bringing implied social constructs into question. As such, their content remains more than relevant, and I have chosen to include them as a kind of Archive for "Off the Spectrum," so that the listener has a glimpse into where this show evolved from. And, for any aspiring podcast producers out there, know that this show has been 4 years in the making, and I hope we are getting somewhere closer to sounding more and more professional with each episode. If our content resonates with you, please contact me, Tom via email positiveenabler@gmail.com, or reach out via Facebook, Thomas Tortorich. I would be delighted to hear from you, or have you on as a guest. And thank you to everyone who has the courage to see the world ... differently.

This episode focuses on Global Warming, and makes a comparison between the extinction of all life on Earth that we are facing today, yet not facing up to, with the xenocide of the native peoples that is the subject of the novel "The Last of the Mohicans." Unfortunately, I always seem to sound like an angry preacher! I don't think it's the right tone at all.  But I think the message is right on. I just sound so angry, though! :(  I need a co-host to have conversations with so that it's not just me ranting. Just putting that out there to the Humoverse! :) Cause my co-host can't be a turtle or a duck or a tree.  

I'm a bit embarrassed about this episode because I wax poetic about love and angrily about Global Warming in the same breath. Also, I use the phrase OM fucking G and WT fucking F. Why do I always sound like an angry preacher??

The Heart of this episode is a dramatic reading of an essay by Thich Nhat Hanh from the book "Moral Ground." "Moral Ground will light a righteous fire {under our asses}," Utne Reader. Part II of this episode, I have to admit, is a rant about how Americans, the leading cause of Climate Crisis, really don't seem to care ~ and keep going about business as usual. If you'll be offended by someone ranting about American lifestyles, please, in Tinder speak, swipe left. Otherwise, I beg you, please have ears to hear. Today is Friday, July 26th, and every Friday is "Fridays for Future," the European (and Global) Strike against Climate Change. This doesn't seem to be happening much (or at all) in America. If you know of any schools in America participating, please write in and dispell my ignorance.    In the meantime, today being Friday, I'm going to be out there with my sign. "Strijk for Climatet!" it says, after Greta Thunderg's sign. I have to admit I'm a bit of a zelot. The career I dream of is being booked & PAID to speak about climate change. By who, I don't know, because it doesn't seem like any of the Americans who drive their SUVs to work care at all. if a Climate War breaks out in the 2020s, America is going to find itself on the wrong side. I work as a janitor in a church, and I'm supposed to be at work right now, but anything I can do about the Climate Crisis is more important! So as soon as this episode finished uploading, I'm going to bike to work. To paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, "Priorities, Motherfucker."  

The Eloquent Civilization is our own. Sure, it has some symptoms that we need to address. An alternative title would be Spirituality in a Scientific Age. In this monologue recording (usually the format is interviews), I discuss things like the nature of consciousness, seeing fractal patters in my life, and the more they align, the more my life aligns. Flow: coming into alignment with all that we think about. Our thoughts move us into alignment like currents on a river. It's like you may have lasso in your kayak. We throw our lasso towards what we think about, and our boat is inexorably drawn towards what we think about. Personal note: I recorded this about 1 1/2 years ago, and I sound really quite happy. There is a reference two I make to a romantic partner I was with at the time, and I can hear in my voice how enthusiastic I was.For me, I have always observed that a healthy romantic relationship brings out the best in me. This is an emotional truth for me, though it seems, as a culture, we have taken Brene Brown's mantra of "I am enough" a bit too literally. I would say, on my own, I am barely enough, or I am just enough. While, with another, I am thriving. Or perhaps Brene's words are completely correct. On my own, I am enough. And yet, I won't settle for being "enough." I want to be excellent, thriving. So there.Remembering how good I sounded 1 1/2 years ago, I'm "focusing on the feeling" Law of Attraction style, and calling that back into my life. 

In October 2018, Non-Violent Protest against Global Warming got its start. The movement that was unintentionally sparked by Greta Thunberg has evolved into Fridays For Future, a weekly million-person non-violent strike for climate change happening throughout Europe and the world. Every Friday. Climate Crisis is a Spiritual Crisis: as we treat each other, so are we treating Mother Earth. This is a recording of a Forum I led at First United Methodist Church in Boulder on Sunday, May 19, 2019. Climate Protectors, like the Water Protectors that arose from the Dakota Pipeline summer, are beginning to take action. The contributions of a faith-based element to this movement is a way to ensure the energy comes from a place of peace, not protest.I see the 2020s being a lot like the 1960s in terms of social movements arising. We have a good chance to make it a peaceful version, with folks like Greta leading the way. The movement has already begun ~ from Dakota's Pipeline, to the Bernie Sanders turnouts, going back further to the Occupy Wall Street folks ~ another stance in this dance is the rise of the Climate Protectors, and Greta Thunberg's Fridays for Future. A Global Change Movement is beginning, has already begun. Can we begin to look towards a positive future?Instead of catastrophizing? What do we WANT the WORLD to be like in 10 years?Not what do we fear, but HOW do we CHANGE?Because as Greta said after the Fire at Notre Dame, "We all need to get into Cathedral Mode and realize we're in a house that's burning down." Greta yelled fire in a crowded theater and began the non-violence against Climate Crisis.Greta was also nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, and gave a no-nonsense talk to the United Nations, "We're here to tell you (global leaders) that change is coming, whether you like it or not."

Christina Lucine Kaplan is our guest today and our topic is Empathy. How do we learn what the emotion of empathy feels like in a culture that seems somewhat .... empty without it?The rough edges of how we have been treating each other have impacted our ability and openness to exploring deeper relationships with each other. Empathy is an emotional muscle ~ we can learn to strengthen it by witnessing others, by learning to listen more deeply to one another, and by taking a deeper step towards a willingness to simply "show up" for one another a little more deeply. To hear how each of us is showing up with deeper wounds than we may realize; and to help soothe those wounds by .... well, doing unto others. The way we treat each other is a mirror of how much we respect ourselves. It's also a mirror for the way we treat the great Goddess Mother Earth. We recorded this episode on the banks of the Boulder Creek in Boulder, CO, with the sounds of the gently flowing water, birds and passing humans creating the ambiance of an expression of the empathy of nature herself. What can we learn from the sounds of nature when it comes to expressing ourselves more fully?

Proud of this short episode with Amanda Awethu Blain Conscious Growth Facilitator Coming in at just over 5 minutes, i like how succinct this episode turned out.We move into Collective Consciousness (vs. Carl Jung's collective unconscious), Intuition is 20/20, and we start with True Mirrors.The discussion is around seeing ourselves and others clearly, and seeing ourselves through the eyes of others and relating to others.When we look in a mirror, we see the inverse of our reflection, the backward image of a photograph, backward from how others see our face, too.Similarly, the way others see us (our personality, who we are) is not who we really are.They are seeing us through their own mirror, whatever that looks like.When 2 mirrors are put at 65 degrees to each other, there is the effect of a double reflection, which un-reverses the image.  This is a lovely physical way of noticing and an analogy for coming to see ourselves for who we are real and not what the world around us is reflecting back. We have to be the True Version of ourselves and walk into the world as a True You, to be stronger than our shadows, and other's reflections.Reflect back to others how you would like to see yourself.~Golden Rule of the Mirror, Mirror on the wall.

Today's Episode is something a little bit different in its frequentiallity-ness. The episode evolves today as genuine, organic conversation ~ a practice in authentic relating over a meeting of the minds .... and a pint. Feel like you're transported right into Upslope Brewery in Boulder, CO at the table behind us. Giggle with us :)  Join us in conversation!  Topics range in playfully amusing anecdotes punctuated by harmonious giggles. Although simply humorous and organic, perhaps the deeper take away is simply that .... yes, humans do still talk to each other and have wonderous conversations ~ which help us connect in deeper ways than social media can provide. Stay tuned for news on Digital Detox Retreats co-mingled with Authentic Relating weekends, where we get to just .... be ourselves.And now, Episode 38, Frequently Speaking....   Solution Revolution~Broadcasting from the Mountainous region just a little to the left of the middle part of our country~See you in CO!

The phrase "how to save the world in 6 days" came to me about three years ago. It comes from the Ancient Myth of the world being created in 6 days. Today, we're kind of on the other side of that with this "Rite of Passage" that Humanity is currently undergoing. So I wondered: If we COULD save the WORLD in 6 days, where would we start? 1) Well, for one thing, maybe 6 days is a metaphor for 6 generations and it's not so crazy. 2) So, what are some of the key, deep, tangled, root-ball issues we should really begin to notice? When we notice that so much of what we identify as "problems" are actually just symptoms, can we trace back to 6 (or so) key tangles that are at the ROOT of things? and if so, what might those be? A Fundamental worldview shift.   As Henry FORD said, (he's he guy who invented the cars), "Those are the BEST reasons I've ever heard about why this can't be done. Great work!" He was speaking to a group of engineers he had hired to build the engine for his horseless carriage. "Now, I'm going to pay you again for another week of work. Let's call it 6 days. :) Now that we know all the BEST reasons it can't be done. Like, really, guys, I can't argue with these reasons. You're right. It absolutely cannot be done those ways. Now, go give me equally good reasons for how it can be done." Thank you. I am currently driving a Civic Hybrid, 2008. The HORSELESS CARRIAGE wasn't built in 6 days. But the seed of it took root. What can't we do in 6 generations if we put our minds to it?  Maybe, just maybe, we can help heal mother earth of all her suffering.   Aho, brothers & sisters, and ancient ancestors, and the next 7 generation   "We did not inherit the Earth. We are borrowing it from our children."~The Ancient Peoples of the Northern Hemisphere

Uncovering and recovering from socially traumatic conditioning is the work of our lifetime. And we are undergoing an emotional evolution. Our guest today is Mandy Michelle from Kansas City, a teacher passionate about movement, yoga and dance, and "Akashik Dance" (our next episode). Today, Mandy Michelle and Tom Tortorich discuss solutions to our culture's "root chakra" epidemic. Our topics range today from the systemic roots of sexual shame leading into a cultural discomfort and fear of touch, and the emergency need for "Touch Therapy." Touch deficits are physiologically measurable, and when the parasympathetic nervous system isn't receiving necessary touch, out entire systems go haywire. We are living in a culture that is chronically touch deprived. The emerging field of touch therapy is still in its infancy with new professions for Cuddlists and various forms of "Nurturing Touch Massage." Touch is only just beginning to be recognized as an essential aspect of Holistic Health, especially in a culture which experiencing an epidemic of loneliness. We also talk about our Culture's Rite of Passage, as we are inspired to grapple with our collective shadows, as we look on in disgust at he-who-must-not-be-named and are motivated and inspired deeper than ever to heal our individual and collective trauma that's unavoidably coming to light. These and many more perspective-shifting epiphanies on this special 12/12 episode of the Solution Revolution.   ~~~~   The Root, or "Muladhara Chakra", is the pranic area of the body concerned with the right to exist or belong. When the root chakra is out of balance, we feel like we are losing ground or standing on thin ice. Anxiety surrounding physical safety, living situation, money, or career path can trigger or block the root chakra. First introduced in written form in the Vedas, the word chakra means wheel, and chakras are visualized as circular disks resembling lotus flowers located along the spinal column. The chakras are energetic, rather than physical representations of vital energy centers. In modern day translations, working with the chakras is viewed as a path to self-actualization or spiritual awakening. The Muladhara or root chakra is located at the base of the spine near the perineum in men and the cervix in women. Its primary concern is finding ground and security.    

In some ways, the chronic stress our culture puts itself through seems on par with how we felt running away from lions thousands of years ago. Why are we stuck in our fight-or-flight nervous system most of our lives?The psychological threats to survival in our culture are both real and imagined. But we seem to be stuck in a chronic state of fear and anxiety about the general state of things. Kate Ziesenheim, psychiatric physician assistant is our guest for this episode. Topics range from techniques for calming the parasympathetic nervous system to Dan Siegel's work, "Mindsight" (artwork for this episode). Let's calm down before we carry on.

  I'm looking for artists/authors to collaborate with on this concept of Wake Up Stories. That's the subject of the TEDx talk I'm developing, and the focus of this episode, an interview I did for "The Galavan," (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6p5npsjyOB0iRsuRtdbMBw) We begin with a short discussion of one of my most potent influences, Charles Eisenstein's work, "The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible." Wake Up Stories" instead of Bedtime stories is a series of both illustrated kids books as well as short stories for adults. I believe as a culture, a very good goal to set at this time in the evolution of our culture is to raise our children without the repressive forms of conditioned thinking that have been influencing our civilization for so long. I believe the human mind has a far more incredible potential for creative thinking (solution-oriented thinking) than we believe. One thing holding us back is the type of deep conditioning we keep "infecting" each other with. How would an un-influenced mind see/address the global challenges we have created for ourselves? How would a childlike mind reframe the way we see the world? I believe we have as much (or more) to learn from our children as they have to learn from us. How can we raise the next generation to positively affect the problems we have so unfortunately, created for them?"Problems cannot be solved from the same level of consciousness that created them," ~ Albert EinsteinWhat does the evolution of consciousness look like? How can we encourage it to develop and thrive in future generations? I believe one initial step is to offer our kids a sincere apology for what we have done. And encourage appreciation for all that we have created, too. And to be honest with them. About how much of a mess we're leaving them to clean up. Because, honestly, we don't really know how to. They can. If we can begin teaching how to think for themselves, and not believe all the toxic things we have been believing. I'm looking for other folks who this makes sense to. Please reach out. Looking for you.

Join us with Becky Schade living the#vanlife, a burgeoning movement in America that's speaking to more and more people looking for ways to say no to the old way of doing things. This is Episode II of the #vanlife series on the SolutionRevolution.And what's more, she's a damn good writer, and leverages her craft on her blog & is actively supporting her lifestyle with the support of readers and followers via her Patreon account. Go Becky! From Becky's Blog: Encouraging WanderlustSince 2011 If the journey is just as important to you as the destination, you've come to the right place. Here at Interstellar Orchard (IO), you'll find: Informational articles on how to go RVing full-time Travelogues of my adventures to inspire future nomads and armchair travelers alike Philosophical posts on how to live a happier, more fulfilling life Ready to get started?   Becky's page is: https://interstellarorchard.com

#vanlife is a burgeoning movement in America that's speaking to more and more people looking for ways to say no to the old way of doing things. It seems we are in a world where everything is changing rapidly, and creative free spirits are finding ways to adopt lifestyles that are radically different from the mainstream culture. Meet Joni, a 50-something who has adopted such a lifestyle after leaving a successful career in the "real world." This is Episode I of the #vanlife series on the SolutionRevolution.Joni's page is: http://www.thegalavan.com/There seem to be as many different ways to do vanlife and there are people doing it. This is one way. Her way. 

Lucid Living is a term I came up with to describe the phenomenon commonly referred to as "manifestation." What is it? How does it work in a practical way? Is there any practical evidence that's scientifically verifiable? That's what this class I taught at Lost Valley is all about. The complete audio recordings are available on my podcast, Solution Revolution: https://positiveenabler.podbean.com/

"Quantum Principles beneath the Law of Attraction" is a class I taught at Lost Valley Education Center near Eugene, OR, as part of their 12-week Holistic Sustainability Semester. Social and cultural worldviews are the main areas I teach in. I often include spiritual, philosophical and practical exercises for helping cultivate and explore alternative worldviews. This course was on the practical ways that Law of Attraction / Power of Intention can show up in our daily lives. My intention in this class was to bypass some of the more woo-woo spirituality that makes some of these concepts seem too esoteric.A video excerpt from this class is also available on my YouTube channel, and on Facebook. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1tMSNOhAss&feature=youtu.be

Carly, Jake & Tom on the Solution Revolution. Topics range from wonder & awe, the press secretary mind (bypassing the default mode network), traveling abroad and kinky sex.