How AUTISM Helped Me DEFY the Odds! (PERSONAL)

Featured ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

😲 I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM!!! 😲

I use to consider myself a very introverted person, very shy, and very set in my own closed routines. I was more of a thinker than a doer and more a dreamer than a leader. Can you relate to that? If not, can you think of someone in your life who was like that? 🤔

Being diagnosed with Autism in 7th grade was probably the starting point for me, the point where I confirmed these ideas to myself about who I was: something was ‘wrong’ in my brain. 🧠 “I have Autism. It explains why I feel the way I feel. It’s just something that’s a part of me; I can’t change it.” 🤷‍♂️

But even at the time I remember feeling like I didn’t want to be labeled like this. I saw the label before me with all its negativity, a label I needed to object and rebel from. 👊 I saw the stigmas of this label becoming my reality, and once I started seeing it reflected in other people’s behaviors towards me it frightened me to the core! 😨

I have vivid memories from school where I refused to accept new accommodations because of the new label. I was now being offered additional time on tests, opportunities to leave class to ‘cool down’, and every single time I refused. I was being treated differently. I hadn’t changed, but with my new label I had changed in the eyes of everyone else. 😟 Has someone ever said something about you that you knew wasn’t true? Did you ever feel like you just wanted to jump on the defense and say: “That is absolutely NOT TRUE!” 🤬

With my new label I was constantly reminded about my new-given identity: what I couldn’t do, what my limitations were, and what struggles I’d have the rest of my life. 🔮 Very little was I ever reminded about all my current strengths or what I could do. It was mostly the echoes from a set of diagnostic criteria. 📖

In psychology, the term is referred to as a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy. In sociology, it’s referred to as the Labeling Theory. To put it simply: If a person holds a belief in their mind about someone else’s future expectations, the person will unconsciously help in influencing the other person into fulfilling those expectations. 🤔

So for example, if a parent holds a child to very low expectations the odds are very likely the child won’t ever go past the ones the parent already set for them. They will only achieve the most minimal, the expectations set by the parent. 😲

SO FOR A LONG TIME I USE TO LET OTHERS DICTATE HOW I WAS GOING TO LIVE MY LIFE…😔

But then at one point I finally decided I was going on my own path. These past few years I’ve learned that everything starts with Me: I must take control of my life, how I choose to see it, and how I’m going to live it. 👍

📌 Dale Carnegie explained it through his principles to Win Friends and Influence People.

📌 Stephen Covey said it with his Habit of Being Proactive.

📌 The Stoics taught it through their principles of self-control.

📌 The Existentialists shared it through the creation of meanings.

📌 Individuals like Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr. excelled it through their example.

It’s the power of helping OURSELVES FIRST before we start trying to help the rest of the world. It’s about taking CONTROL over our emotions rather than letting them and our environment control us. It’s about living our lives for a PURPOSE greater than just ourselves. It’s about a “dream”, a vision of a greater future for all of humanity. Most importantly, it’s about YOU DEFINING YOUR LIFE. 🌎

What I’ve come to realize again and again is that my past does not have to equal the future. I’ve realized I am more capable than what any label or diagnosis will dictate. 🙌

Have you ever taken a personality test and it gave you a result you wholeheartedly believed in? “Congrats, you’re an INFJ!” The problem with these tests is they can tell you who you are NOW. But they don’t tell you who you’ll necessarily be in the FUTURE. We can change as well as mentally evolve. It’s a part of who I may be now, but it’s not the final destination! 🛣️

I’ve realized that I ultimately will define Me, not someone else, not a test, and not a set of diagnostic criteria. Otherwise I keep a fixed identity for the rest of my life…nah! 😉

So this year I’ve been on a mission to Transcend Labels. I am showing the world what’s possible, to show others how to look beneath the surface, past the labels, past the stereotypes, and to see each other for who we all are. 👥

I truly believe when we do this we’ll start seeing the humanity within each other, see each other as human beings, and see that we are all more alike than we like to believe. With that not only comes greater understanding for our neighbors but most importantly an unconditional love, because the realization comes: “That person is also Me.” ❤️

I see lasting change in the world happening through the individual from the inside-out, not the outside-in. I believe that the better we can be for ourselves, the better we can be for others. 🌎

Gandhi said: “Be the change you wish to see in the world”. Everyone has an opinion, but there are fewer people out there who ever set the example. Will we be the next examples?! 👌

I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH AUTISM; AN EXPLANATION, BUT NOT THE DESTINATION! 💪

I hope this resonates with many of you. I would appreciate it if you could share this post with others, whoever you believe will also benefit from these words. If there are any additional areas I can add value to your life as well as in the blogging community, please let me know! 🙂

My areas of expertise include:

👍 Detail-oriented, Thoroughness

👍 Quality-over-quantity Focused

👍 Analytical, Systemic Thinking

👍 Emotional intelligence (plus 10 years in Customer Service)

👍 Social media, Building Engagement

With lots of gratitude,

Donald “Ace” Arteaga ❤️

FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

Patreon: https://bit.ly/2HTZHpF

LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/2RER81M

Facebook: https://bit.ly/2DSebCh

Instagram: https://bit.ly/2t2Kd8A

Holonis: https://bit.ly/2t8Rwvi

Why Conspiracy Theories DEMAND Understanding!

July 31, 2020 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. ⏳

I remember watching the news coverage, the feelings of horror, the shock among the country that such an event happened. 😱

I even remember the news wrongfully attributing the killer’s potential motive to his diagnosis of autism. ❌

It wasn’t easy for many people to comprehend. Who would want to let the feeling sink in that someone was actually capable of committing such horror on innocent lives? 😫

“𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒊𝒕 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕?! 𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒂𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒏 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒏?!”

It was around the same time this event happened that I was browsing YouTube one day and noticed a popular video trending on their home page. The video was over a half hour in length, a video I would not normally take the time to watch. 🖥️

But the title of the video caught my attention: “SANDY HOOK EXPOSED”. 😱

I clicked on it…and for the next half hour I was entranced watching the entire video! 😵

𝐈 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐇𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐲. 👿

I remember watching the lengthy YouTube video and being shown a bunch of chopped-up news clips. I remember the video’s sound being muted, the subtitles of the video feeding me various questions and answers 💭:

“𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒏𝒐 𝒈𝒖𝒏?!” “𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔?!” “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆!” “𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆!”

I remember watching a clip which showed a father whose daughter was killed in Sandy Hook seemingly go from smiling to crying in seconds. Again, the subtitles were ready to tell me what to think: “𝑨 𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒂𝒍 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒐𝒏 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒅𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔!” “𝑰𝒔 𝒉𝒆 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈?!” 💭

I remember another clip which showed the mother of the daughter, but she was smiling and saying words you couldn’t hear because the audio was muted. Again, the subtitles were ready to tell me what to think: “𝑯𝒐𝒘 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒉𝒂𝒑𝒑𝒚 𝒂𝒕 𝒂 𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔?!” “𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒘𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆!” 💭

I also remember the shocking realization I felt watching the video. There was this excitement, this sense of thrill within me that I was learning something the general public was not aware of. Only me and other viewers of this YouTube video were now privy to this private information! 📚

The video brought me to the conclusion it wanted me to come to: that Sandy Hook never happened, that it was a hoax. 😱

…Looking back on this memory in hindsight, I’m glad I watched the video.

⚠️ 𝐍𝐎, 𝐒𝐀𝐍𝐃𝐘 𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐀𝐗! ⚠️

But watching this video helped me learn a valuable lesson early on in my life about how alluring conspiracy theories can be, how attractive they are on the surface, yet how hollow the cynicism lays underneath them. 😠

Thankfully, at the time I watched this video I had enough skepticism to get additional perspectives on the video’s claims.

I quickly learned there was a TON of misinformation in the video. (For information on the video, you can refer to the Snopes article here: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/sandy-hook-exposed/ )

📌 The father who went from crying to smiling? There could be any number of reasons why that happened. 𝑨 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒊𝒏 𝒇𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕 “𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒇” 𝒉𝒆’𝒔 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒏𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆’𝒔 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒈𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒏.

📌 That mother who was smiling in the muted video clip? If you got to hear the video clip unmuted, you’d quickly understand she was smiling because she was sharing positive memories about her daughter. 𝑰𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒐𝒂𝒙 𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒐 𝒍𝒆𝒇𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒐 𝒊𝒏, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒅 𝒆𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒆𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒎𝒊𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒅.

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐝 “𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡” 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐲𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲-𝐩𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐮𝐩. 👎

𝐖𝐇𝐀𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐀 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐎𝐑𝐘?!

We can use Merriam-Webster’s definition: “A theory that explains an event or set of circumstances as the result of a secret plot by usually powerful conspirators.” 📖

We can also use Britannica’s definition: “An attempt to explain harmful or tragic events as the result of the actions of a small, powerful group.” 📖

Let’s also add in Dictionary.com’s definition: “A theory that rejects the standard explanation for an event and instead credits a covert group or organization with carrying out a secret plot.” 📖

The reason I wanted to give you all these definitions is there’s also a conspiracy theory online that the CIA created the term “conspiracy theory” to silence people during the JFK assassination. This is False. 👎

(Source: https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/03/16/did-the-cia-invent-the-term-conspiracy-theory/ )

Even more, there’s a conspiracy theory that the source I’ve been citing above, Snopes, has a “leftist propaganda political agenda”. This is again False. 👎

(Sources: https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/jun/19/viral-image/no-factcheckorg-didnt-bust-snopescom/

Snopes

https://www.allsides.com/news-source/snopes )

If you’re starting to notice a pattern, the problem is that 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 can be made into a conspiracy theory. The fact I’m even discussing it right now makes me susceptible to someone accusing me of being a “shill” or a “sheep”. 🤷‍♂️

If you share contrasting information with a conspiracy theorist, they can easily dismiss it as just being part of the conspiracy. They can claim every fact-checking source I cited above as “fake news” simply because it doesn’t fit with their worldview. ❌

🤬 “𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐑𝐄 𝐒𝐎 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆, 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐃! 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐂𝐓 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐏𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐃𝐎𝐍’𝐓 𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐒𝐓!” 🤬

Let me clarify: 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝟏𝟎𝟎% 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞! 💯

📍 I could tell you about Project SUNSHINE in 1956, where the United States Atomic Energy Commission wanted to measure the long-term effects of nuclear radiation on the body. The way they did this included collecting tissue from deceased children’s bodies without permission from grieving families.

📍 I could tell you about Prohibition in the 1920s, where the federal government pressured manufacturers to add poisonous substances to their alcohol to make it undrinkable. Unfortunately this did not stop people, and it is estimated thousands died from drinking this tainted alcohol.

📍 I could tell you about MKULTRA, a CIA-sponsored program which started in the 50s and ended in the 70s, where experiments were done on human test subjects including the use of LSD, hypnosis, and electric shocks to develop methods the government could use for future interrogations.

All of these happened! 💯

It’s not that I don’t believe conspiracies have never happened or that I believe world governments have never done anything shady before. They have! And there’s a lot of classified information we as the general public will never be aware of. 👍

Citing the incidents above, it’s very reasonable for a person to start feeling cynical towards the government or people in authority. They’re the ones we’re supposed to place our trust in, yet knowing these past wrongs makes it a lot harder to, right? 👍

The difference with my perspective is 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞-𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐈’𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲. 👮

It’s important to remember when we demonize “the government” we’re also referring to thousands of people, from the postal service to the armed forces to Congress, each with their own separate positions and functions, each with their own families and set of values, each of them living their own individual lives. 👪

It’s this very problem of overgeneralizing I even have to remember myself! I’m guilty of it too! 🙋‍♂️

I’m aware I have a habit of criticizing what I often call “the media”. I need to continue to remind myself it’s not a singular entity, that it consists of thousands of news outlets and thousands of individual people with different intentions and agendas. 📰

It would be foolish of me to assume the negative actions of 1 or 2 journalists was a reflection of the entire field of journalism, right?! 😅

My point is: don’t let your obsession over a few bad apples spoil the entire bunch. Or as I always say: 𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫. 👶

The other day I watched the Netflix documentary “Behind the Curve” about Flat Earthers, people who believe the world is flat and that this truth is being covered up by NASA. 🚀

I think for many of my friends you’ll be quick to laugh even hearing that such a community exists. But I actually did take a valuable lesson watching the film, and I’ll tell you what…⬇️

Sure, the Flat Earther arguments lack critical thinking. Sure, it’s very easy to disprove their claims with less than five minutes of research online. Funny enough, the Flat Earthers even disprove themselves after they conduct a science experiment in the documentary! 😅

But putting all that aside, there is one valuable lesson I took away from the film: ridicule of Flat Earthers is NOT a helpful solution! 💯

In fact, telling someone they’re wrong can cause them to dig their feet deeper into their beliefs. Showing them contradictory evidence can strengthen their affinity for their beliefs. It is what’s known as the Backfire Effect. ↔️

My point is: we need to apply this same understanding with the people around us. 🌎

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐛𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬.

It’s not to say their ideas don’t lack critical thinking or that these ideas don’t cause harm to others. They do. It’s to say, as the saying goes: “A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still.” You won’t change anyone’s mind by ridiculing them. 🙌

Mick West says the same thing in his book “Escaping the Rabbit Hole”. The former co-founder of Neversoft Entertainment, Mick first became introduced to conspiracy theories when he was studying aviation weather for his pilot’s license. 👨‍✈‍

He was introduced to the Chemtrails conspiracy theory, the belief that condensation trails left by aircrafts are toxic chemicals being sprayed by the government to poison people. 😱

What initially started as a website he created to debunk the theory led him to debunking many more theories. As of today, Mick is the founder of Metabunk and has spent over 10 years debunking conspiracy theories. 😲

But there’s a difference between Mick and many others who just want to prove conspiracy theorists wrong online. 🛑

From his many interviews with current and “former” conspiracy theorists, he advocates for understanding and respectful communication. ❤️

In his book “Escaping the Rabbit Hole”, he argues we’re ALL susceptible to conspiracy theories. Like while I myself personally don’t believe in most conspiracies, even I still at times am prone to feeling cynical towards pharmaceutical companies, to give one example. 💊

𝑾𝒆 𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒑𝒊𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒄𝒂𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒔𝒊𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒆𝒙 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅. 😨

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒘𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒆𝒍 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒓. 😨

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝑪𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑺𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒂𝒓𝒆 “𝒂𝒔𝒍𝒆𝒆𝒑” 𝒕𝒐. 😨

𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒖𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒖𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒅𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒑𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒆, 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒆’𝒓𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒅𝒖𝒂𝒍𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒐 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒏𝒆𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒅. 😨

𝑰𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅𝒗𝒊𝒆𝒘, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏 𝒃𝒆 𝒂 𝒎𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒕. 😨

The unfortunate part is just that some individuals fell deeper down the rabbit hole than most of us ever did. 🕳️

So, Mick’s personal mission with his work is not about shaming conspiracy theorists but rather on helping them climb out of the rabbit hole their cynical minds have become stuck in. 🙋‍♂‍

His biggest piece of advice: be respectful and understanding. Remember: it could’ve just as easily been you under the same circumstances. 👤

𝐎𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭. ❤️

Apart from our susceptibility to conspiracy theories, we all as human beings suffer from what’s known as cognitive biases. They are patterns of thinking which psychologically distort how we view the world. 👀

Some of the most common biases include:

🧠 Negativity Bias. We’re more likely to give attention to negativity than we do to positivity.

🧠 Confirmation Bias. We’re more likely to believe information which reinforces our worldview and more easily dismiss information which goes against it.

🧠 Black-and-White (Dichotomous) Thinking. We’re more likely to see the world in polar opposite extremes. Good versus Evil. Us versus Them.

🧠 Illusory pattern perception. We’re more likely to see patterns among things which have no relation to each other. It’s why in science there’s the principle: “Correlation does not mean causation”.

But one of the biggest culprits, especially being illuminated now in our culture, is:

🧠 The Dunning-Kruger Effect. We’re more likely to overestimate our ability at something we’re actually really bad at. The unintelligent individual is more likely to overestimate his intelligence, while the intelligent individual is more likely to underestimate his intelligence.

Or as philosopher Bertrand Russell put it back in 1933 as a response to the rise of Nazi Germany: “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒃𝒍𝒆𝒎 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒏 𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒍𝒅 𝒊𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒖𝒑𝒊𝒅 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒄𝒌𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒊𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒇 𝒅𝒐𝒖𝒃𝒕.”🤦‍♂‍

Again, we ALL suffer from these biases, some of us worse than others. They are not limited to conspiracy theorists, although they may be more greatly illuminated through their example. 🗣️

But the reason I’m sharing this all with you today is because during times of stress and anxiety, especially during these times of COVID-19, conspiracy theories are far more prevalent and far more likely to be embraced as truth. 👍

Conspiracy theories increased after 9/11. They increased after Sandy Hook. They increased after the 2017 Las Vegas Shooting. And they are now increasing during COVID-19. I’m sure you’ve already seen the 5G conspiracy being shared. 📡

More than ever, it’s going to be easy to fall into these cognitive traps so I want to remind us all to be extra mindful of this. 🧘‍♂‍

This is NOT a “conspiracy” problem; it’s a human problem, deeply rooted in cynicism, distrust, and paranoia. 😨

As Dale Carnegie reminds us: “𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆, 𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒘𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒏𝒐𝒕 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒍𝒐𝒈𝒊𝒄. 𝑾𝒆 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏, 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒓𝒆𝒋𝒖𝒅𝒊𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒗𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚.”

🤬 “𝐘𝐎𝐔’𝐑𝐄 𝐁𝐈𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐓 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐓𝐇, 𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐃! 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏!”🤬

The questions I challenge everyone to ask themselves:

🤔 Do you possess your beliefs? Or do your beliefs possess you?

🤔 Are you able to step outside your own ideology and understand your critic’s points of view?

🤔 Are you able to steelman your opponent’s arguments and understand their position thoroughly before dismissing them completely?

In addition, I challenge you:

💪 To get sources from multiple points of view, including information that may go against your beliefs. Not all information is created equal.

💪 Stay aware of your cognitive biases and genuinely seek to understand other people’s points of view. See if you can steelman their argument.

💪 Give others who disagree with you the benefit of the doubt. Don’t automatically assume malicious intent. Perhaps you may learn something from them you didn’t know before.

This is not just a reminder for you all, but also for me! I need to hear these reminders at times too! Again, I’m not immune to a lack of self-awareness. It’s an ongoing process! 🙋‍♂️

WE’RE IN THIS TOGETHER! ❤️

Below, I am providing resources which have greatly helped me develop my critical thinking skills! ⬇️

𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐒

📘 “Escaping the Rabbit Hole: How to Debunk Conspiracy Theories Using Facts, Logic, and Respect” by Mick West – https://amzn.to/3hKPnNS

📙 “Mistakes Were Made (But Not By Me): Why We Justify Foolish Beliefs, Bad Decisions, and Hurtful Acts” by Carol Tavris & Elliott Aronson – https://amzn.to/2X7QFuj

📕 “How to Think – A Survival Guide for a World at Odds” by Alan Jacobs https://amzn.to/39DdBXr

📗 “Thinking, Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman – https://amzn.to/30UV4lG

📙 “You Are Not So Smart: Why You Have Too Many Friends on Facebook, Why Your Memory is Mostly Fiction, and 46 Other Ways You’re Deluding Yourself” by David McRaney – https://amzn.to/3hLuQbV

📘 “The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark” by Carl Sagan – https://amzn.to/3jR8Oq8

📕 “The Righteous Mind: Why Good People are Divided by Politics and Religion” by Jonathan Haidt – https://amzn.to/2P2Ddna

𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐒

📼 CrashCourse Navigating Digital Information – A 10-episode series dedicated to teaching critical thinking skills for browsing the Internet. https://bit.ly/2EnmatQ

📼 CrashCourse Philosophy – A 46-episode series dedicated to teaching philosophical ideas, which in turn practices your critical thinking skills. https://bit.ly/3faLlwH

📼 CrashCourse Media Literacy – A 12-episode series dedicated to teaching the history and psychology of media. https://bit.ly/3f3YuYg

📄 A Systemic Review and Meta-Analysis of Psychological Research on Conspiracy Beliefs: Field Characteristics, Measurement Instruments, and Associations with Personality Traits – https://bit.ly/30WLrCR

𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎𝐒

📼 Wisecrack – What Makes REAL Science? – https://bit.ly/3hR3pxz

📼 Wisecrack – How Conspiracies Changed & The Decline of Expertise (Flat Earth, Anti-Vaxxers) – https://bit.ly/335qcl1

📼 Wisecrack – How Fake Science (Pseudoscience) Can Fool You! – https://bit.ly/330Puki

📼 Wisecrack – The Internet was a Mistake – https://bit.ly/39EfzqC

📼 SciShow – The Science of Anti-Vaccination – https://bit.ly/2X6IQ8i

📼 SciShow Psych – Why Do So Many People Believe in Conspiracy Theories? – https://bit.ly/3gmdPEM

📼 Late Night with John Oliver – Coronavirus Conspiracy Theories – https://bit.ly/3fbTjWj

Why EMBRACE Change!

July 9, 2020 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

Last year I was in Glasgow visiting the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum. It was such a beautiful museum, I spent nearly 3 hours looking at EVERY nook and cranny! 😍

If you ever want to be reminded of how VAST our world and its history is, take a trip sometime to a museum! 🖼️

At one point, I had entered the section with an ENTIRE wall dedicated to Charles Darwin and his Theory of Evolution! 🦷

Before Darwin, our world had a much MORE simplified explanation as to how our world’s inhabitants came to be. 😅

Contrary to popular belief at the time, Earth is in fact WAY MORE than 6000 years old! 😱

Not only going against conventional understanding, Darwin changed the paradigm of BOTH the religious AND scientific beliefs of his time! 😱

He showed us there was a world FAR MORE complex than what was once thought, presenting ideas which later laid the foundation for MANY subjects we study today including Biology. 🧫

But why do I share this post with you? 🤔

Because there was one KEEN observation Darwin noticed during his studies. Verbatim, I saw this written on the museum wall: ✍️

🌟 “𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 – 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞.” 🌟

With COVID and everything happening in 2020, I find this quote stretches FAR BEYOND Darwin to our modern world today. Our world is constantly changing, perhaps too fast for many people’s comfort. ⌛

But with this finding from Darwin, I challenge us to take on the this opportunity to continue adapting to whatever comes our way. Because we are greater than our circumstances! 💪

“Change is inevitable. Growth is optional.” ❤️

How Beliefs POSSESS Us!

July 5, 2020 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

📌 The Optimist believes in the best for the future. Therefore their mind likes to focus on hope and faith.

📌 The Pessimist believes in the worst for the future. Therefore their mind likes to focus on what’s wrong with the world.

📌 The Realist believes in seeing things as they are, not better or worse. Therefore their mind likes to focus on facts, not the emotional stories about the facts.

📌 The Cynic believes in the selfishness of others. Therefore their mind likes to focus on distrusting other people’s “good” or “virtuous” intentions.

What do all these categories have in common? 🤔

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. They aren’t “right” or “wrong” necessarily, just ways of seeing the world around you. 👀

𝐄𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐞 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞. 🙌

🌟 Our beliefs constantly color and shape how we see life. 🌟

Take an example of people who get into a car accident…

📌 The Optimist expects most of the people in the accident will be okay.

📌 The Pessimist expects most, if not every person in the accident will die.

📌 The Realist measures the probability the people in the accident will live or die based on the facts.

📌 The Cynic assumes the people in the accident were careless and intentionally caused it to collect insurance money.

🌟 𝐖𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬. 𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞. 🌟

Carl Jung talked about how ideas can possess people, rather than people possessing ideas. And when a belief possesses a person, the person is no longer in control. The belief speaks through the person. 🗣️

I must add: beliefs aren’t intrinsically bad. We all have them and need them in order to function. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟-𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐟𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦. 👍

So how can we check if our beliefs possess us?

📍 Acknowledge most of our beliefs are not even our own. We didn’t carry them from birth. We’ve picked them up over time and embraced them as our own.

📍 Challenge our beliefs. Question how they could be flawed or wrong. Question our ego’s need to hold onto them.

📍 Seek other points of view that challenge our beliefs. Don’t surround ourselves in echo chambers. It doesn’t mean we have to agree with those who disagree with us, but to nevertheless keep an open mind to a different perspective.

If we’re unable to do any of these…we may already have our answer. 🙌

Why Your Shadow MATTERS!

June 28, 2020 ~ Donald "Nugget" Arteaga ~ Leave a comment

💬 “𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥’𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬. 𝐀𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥-𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬.” ~ 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐥 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐠 💬

The Shadow is the parts of ourselves we reject, the primal emotions we suppress for the sake of societal approval, the parts we deny out of a personal desire to deny they exist. ❌

You could also think of the Shadow like “the devil on your shoulder”. The Shadow includes the thoughts that come up in your mind you’d never tell anyone else you thought. 👿

Think of an individual who is so kind, so loving, and so quiet. But one day you hear about an incident where they lost their temper, and you think to yourself: “NO! That is NOT the person I know! That is NOT who they are!” 🛑

Or think of the priest who vocally condemns homosexuality in his church but is eventually found to have participated in homosexual acts. 😲

➡️ These are examples of the Shadow at play. ⬅️

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬. 🔨

𝐖𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐣𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦: “𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥!” 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐬. 🎭

It’s why there’s so many people with emotional issues. It’s why we have many immature adults, ones who’ve never taken the opportunity to be better in touch with themselves. 😔

Instead, many have unfortunately had to settle for cultural expectations of possessing certain personality traits while suppressing others. 😩

A man needs to always be masculine and suppress his femininity (“Boys don’t cry”), while a female needs to always be feminine and suppress her masculinity (“Girls, know your place”). ↕️

𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰. 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐰𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭. 💯

In some circles like self-help and spirituality, the idea of the Shadow can be frowned upon. “Let go of the things which don’t serve you.” “If you focus on it, the more energy you give to it.” 👎

I understand those perspectives, however I take Carl Jung’s perspective: “I’d rather be whole than good.” I’d rather accept every part of me, the good and the bad, the gentle and the aggressive, than suppress it. 👤

🤔 So, how does one integrate their Shadow? 🤔

The first step is acknowledgment of its existence. Whatever your Shadow is will differ from person to person. 🙌

This DOESN’T mean you have to start expressing your Shadow or have to start identifying with it. It’s simply about acknowledging it, you making a personal commitment to being brutally honest of seeing every part of yourself, whether you are “proud” it or not. 💯

📍 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧.

📍 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

📍 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐛𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬.

📍 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐫. 𝐉𝐞𝐤𝐲𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐫. 𝐇𝐲𝐝𝐞.

We acknowledge our capacity for evil while simultaneously choosing to be good. 🎭

As written in The Gulag Archipelago 📖: “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠.” 👤

So, with this acknowledgement and acceptance of our Shadows, we can then take action! 😄

𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐥 𝐮𝐬, 𝐰𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦! 💪

“𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘢 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥, 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴. 😠

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴?” 🤔

What are some ways you could use your Shadow energy of anger and aggression for more constructive means?

⚽️ You could take up a competitive sport.

🏋️ You could use this energy in your workouts.

💨 You could use it to get your work done faster.

🙌 You could use it in situations which legitimately call for you to become more aggressive.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐈𝐍 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐋. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲! 😄

It’s what I mean when I tell people “don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater”. 👶

Integrating our Shadow can be VERY useful. But we always need to make sure we’re in control and using it for a healthy means. 😊

𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰, 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮? 😈

LET ME KNOW IF YOU FOUND THIS USEFUL! ⬇️