Deep in the Woods
A podcast like no other—recorded entirely while walking in nature. Each episode follows host Andrew McEntyre and a guest as they explore various topics all guided by a single word chosen by the guest. This unique format invites raw, meaningful conversations shaped by movement, place, and the power of words. Take a walk with us into the woods and uncover the stories that connect us all.
Deep in the Woods
Awakening: Dr. Rick Diamond and the Story Healer's Path
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Dr. Rick Diamond joins me on a sunlit morning walk around Austin's beautiful Mueller Lake Park to explore a concept that fundamentally changes how we move through the world: Awakening.
"We are really asleep a lot of the time," Rick shares as we begin our conversation, explaining how most of us operate from "scripts" we've inherited or created without ever questioning their validity. As a Story Healer, Rick works with individuals and organizations to examine the narratives that drive their lives and find healing through greater self-awareness.
The power of our discussion lies in Rick's accessible approach to awakening—not as some mystical achievement requiring mountain-top meditation, but as simple moments of clarity that happen when we're willing to pause and look inward. He shares a touching example of helping a client transform anger toward his father into compassion through one simple question: "What do you think your father was struggling with?"
Our conversation weaves through the distinction between experiencing emotions versus identifying with them. "We have all these feelings that are in response to our experience, but we're not our feelings," Rick emphasizes. This shift in perspective—from "I am angry" to "I am experiencing anger"—creates liberating space between ourselves and our momentary feelings.
We discuss how modern life's constant stimulation makes this inner work challenging, yet even more essential. The metaphor of "repairing a roller coaster while riding it" perfectly captures the difficulty of examining our programming while still living our busy lives.
Whether you're curious about personal growth, struggling with recurring patterns, or simply feeling there must be more to life than running on autopilot, this conversation offers practical wisdom for anyone seeking to live more consciously. Listen now to discover what might be possible when you recognize yourself as what Rick beautifully describes as "an eternal soul having a human experience."
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Meeting Dr. Rick Diamond
Speaker 1Welcome to Deep in the Woods with Andrew McIntyre , where one word and one walk reveal the stories that connect us all . We continue Season 3 with Dr Rick Diamond , who is a story healer . Rick and I take a deep dive into the word awakening as we walk around Mueller Lake Park in Austin , texas . If you enjoy this conversation , follow the podcast , give it a review and check out the Instagram page for additional content . This episode will also be shared on YouTube , where you can watch our walk and talk around the park . I am so excited to share this conversation , so let's begin with the word awakening .
Speaker 2All right , well , do you want to get started with ?
Speaker 3it Whenever you're ready .
Speaker 2All right , let's do it so well . First , let's say thank you for for doing this . This is I really appreciate it . I said before I I watch every day your videos so let me first start . Let you introduce yourself , uh , dr rick diamond yes , let's , let's hear it .
Speaker 3I'm rick diamond . I live in austin , texas , with my wife , christina wisdom , and I am a story healer . And the and I am a story healer and the idea of being a story healer is everybody's meaning-making comes from the stories they tell themselves , and if we can see what's underneath those stories , we can find healing and make new meaning . And so I get to work with people and groups and I get to lead retreats and I get to work with individual clients and work with companies , and it's all about helping us see ourselves more clearly , and I love it . It's really , really wonderful .
Speaker 2Well , I've enjoyed getting to listen to you . As I mentioned before , I wake up and you put a video out every day on Instagram and lots of wisdom coming from you every day . Oh , thank you . I enjoy that and that's how I connected actually with you is through Instagram , so that's a unique way of finding you , but it was amazing way . What you do each day is so awesome . Oh , thank you . Um , and part of the podcast . We get to pick a place um one walk , so can you tell me a little bit about where
Walking Mueller Lake Park
Speaker 2we're walking ?
Speaker 3yes , we are at mueller , or miller , depending on , uh , how you like to pronounce it park , and this is a trail that goes all through a park here on the east side of austin , and for a long time this part of austin was the old airport .
Speaker 2Oh , really okay .
Speaker 3Yeah , because they came on airport road okay exactly , and it was just all tarmac and nothing had been developed over here . And some developers came a number of years ago and said what if we put in an intentional community with lots of different kinds of housing ? And they built this pretty little park over here and put a lake in it and put some office buildings over here and the Thinkery which is a children's interactive museum and so on . And my wife and I , when we first got married six years ago , we lived in this neighborhood and we love this park and we love walking around , and on the weekends there's a farmer's market and you know , there's just people everywhere and it's a really diverse neighborhood which we really like . And when you said let's find a good place to walk in Austin , this is the first place that came to mind . It's a very peaceful place , yeah , and there's a lot of dogs , so I got to bring my dog , yeah , which is fine with me .
Speaker 2I got to meet Molly today , molly , and what's the funny thing is , we had a conversation . I had a dog named sheba that looked like molly's twin , I cannot get .
Speaker 3Oh , you showed me pictures of your dog , I can't get over it .
Speaker 2Yeah , I'll have to have to share that . Um so , the amazing place , a wonderful view , and the cool thing is , hopefully , when the video field works , they get to see the sun coming over this lake right now , which is really cool . It's really nice , very cool place . Thank you for inviting me . Thank you , so the next part of the podcast , a little kind of drive . The rest of the conversation is we pick one word for our one walk . So I don't know your word . We haven't talked about it .
Speaker 2So , let's hear it . What are we going to talk about today ?
Exploring the Word "Awakening"
Speaker 3I was thinking a lot about your question and the word that you like to have a conversation with people about , and the word that I want to suggest for today is awakening . Okay , that's a great word , important , because I feel like , with the human condition the way it is , and the way so many people operate in the world , that we are really asleep a lot of the time and I don't think that we're in touch with what's really going on in our hearts or in our heads . And when people have an awakening , for me that's when they get more able to make conscious choices Makes sense .
Speaker 2Yeah , recently I did talk about , like when my conversation about time being able to stop for a moment and have that awareness , to think through what is happening , and it is at that moment when you can as you've mentioned earlier the story healer part be able to recognize the stories that exist . Yes , and because so often we're just kind of going going and without that moment and it really fits into what you're saying with the word awakening , I feel like um , and correct me if I'm wrong it's kind of where the direction you're thinking . Maybe it's just like how , our stories , how , how do we , how do we change those stories ? How , how are those moments when , how do we recognize the stories that are already existing ? Hey , good morning , morning , um , and so how , how does awakening fit into that piece of terms of storytelling ?
Speaker 3it's per the the thing that you just observed is perfect , because we are in I mean so much of the time and you know , the mystical traditions talk about this , the , the devotional practices talk about this , the wisdom traditions talk about this that we're in a kind of we are almost always in a default mode .
Speaker 3And if we're able to stop to your point about time , if we're willing to stop and actually look at and pay attention to the decision we're making or even just what we're thinking and feeling , if we're willing to stop and we're willing to look at what's going on within us or around us , then we can make critical decisions about what is this thing that I'm experiencing , rather than just react .
Speaker 3Yes , and the thing that happens so often is I mean , when Carl Jung talks about what's in our shadow , robert Bly has a great book called the Little Book on the Human Shadow and he says that when we're growing up , every time we're told something about ourselves that's bad . We put it in a bag and then we drag the bag behind us and by the time we're graduating from high school , the bag is a mile long and all of us have these things that we don't want to look at or we don't want to think about . And so we're just on default all the time , just moving , moving , moving and reacting , and reacting , and reacting . And all it takes is the willingness to stop and look in the bag and actually look in the bag with compassion for ourselves and for each other and not just be on default . But so much of the time the story that we're following isn't even true , like it's not really accurate . It's
Breaking Free from Default Mode
Speaker 3simply the story or the belief system or the worldview .
Speaker 2It's a construct that we act out of reflex and reaction , and the story is running things , as opposed to saying do I really know what I want ?
Speaker 3Do I really know what I'm thinking ? Do I really know what's important to me ? And that takes time and it takes a willingness to stop , and it takes a willingness to actually pay attention , and most of us are just too distracted and that's where that awakening part comes in yes and I know awakening has this , um , it has almost that eastern mindset many times .
Speaker 2Well , people hear that word and they feel like it's . You know , I , this is my attempt to enlightenment to a nirvana . I'll look , you know , nirvana , and and so I don't , but I don't think , in my perspective , that it has to be so .
Speaker 3Nope , such a foreign concept , no , no it doesn't have to be mystical , it doesn't have to . I don't have to go sit on a mountain in Tibet to have my awakening , I can give . And I was sitting with a man and he was saying I am so angry at my father . And I said I would love to hear about that . Tell me about why you're angry at your father . And all he had to do was sit quietly and with somebody who felt safe In this case it was me .
Speaker 3I was honored to be in that space with him . And he said I'm angry because he and he made his laundry list of the things . And then I said so can you feel ? And it was some of it was about his father's work ethic and being super driven , and he came from an immigrant family and he was pushing his children to succeed . And this man was feeling all this pressure and all this resentment . And I said what do you think your father was struggling with ? And it was as if a light went on in his head and that was an awakening moment for him . It was just a simple oh , my father was struggling with his own fears , and so we got to talk about his sense of understanding his father from a different perspective . And then he just said oh my gosh , I really have compassion for my father and what he was going . I don't need to be this mad at him .
Speaker 2It was not magic and it did not require going to an ashram somewhere , it was just a conversation , but there was space in it for him to just sit and be open and look again and from that perspective , so many times , like the feelings that we are encountering , whether that's anger or sadness , or jealousy , many of those things are like signals being sent to say stop , take a moment , let's see where this is coming from and let's dig through this . And but so many times , as you said earlier , with that , those bags , we just say I don't have time for this , right , this needs to go away , right , I'm going to put you somewhere else for now , right ? And we all know how that ends up no , I mean , it's always going to .
Speaker 3Whatever's in the bag is going to come out , yes , but if we're not willing to do the processing and paying attention , it'll come out sideways , as we know . It'll come out with aggression , it'll come out with jealousy , it'll come out with attachment , like resentment resentment all that stuff .
Speaker 2So it really is a question of just being willing to stop and really see what's there and feel what's there and be present at that moment and not allow yourself to just say you know , as I mentioned in the last episode , how has my past encounters led me to this ? You can't let that also be a story that drives that next decision . And also , what are my expectations of what I think should be happening ?
Speaker 3all of those things can get mixed in and not allow you to truly see what's what's occurring especially if what we're doing that's such a good point , especially if what we're doing is saying , okay , well , it's been this way , yes , or I've always done it this way , or this is what I've decided about what's happened so far . So , therefore , it must be this yes , that's not freedom , that's not awakening , that's determinism and that's um , that can become just fatalistic , right ?
Speaker 2oh well , just has to be like that , but it doesn't yeah , because we create those stories or this , or sometimes we inherit them or we take them in from what we see . And when we do that , then if we continue to hold on to that , then it's going to continue to drive everything , as you say , in that default .
Speaker 3The thing that happens a lot of the time with people that I work with is that they've come to a juncture , whether it's a crisis or it's a question , or maybe it's a big decision , maybe it's I need to decide what to do about this marriage , or I need to decide what to do about this job , or I'm falling apart . I can't figure out what to do . Or maybe a company is saying we're at a crossroads and we can't figure out which direction to go . The beautiful part about those seeming crises is that they become an opportunity to actually stop and to look at how much of this story that we've believed is driving our behavior and our decisions . And could we pick something else In my book that I'm writing about story healing ? I call that a script . Yeah , okay , I call that a script . Yeah , okay , I like that .
Speaker 3This is a script and you have to follow the script , and here are your lines , and here are the rules , and here are the rules and regulations . Here's what you can and can't do , and all we have to do is say oh , as you were pointing out , this is inherited or I've written this because of these experiences , but it's just a script . Yeah , it's not real .
Speaker 2Yeah , I love that . I mean that whole aspect that these stories aren't real as much as they feel like they have to be Really , we often are the ones who are perpetuating it because we don't take that time to stop and look at it and say , okay , what's going on here ? And I want to jump back a second , because you talked about that shadow . You mentioned young's , um , our shadow self and how he talks about that .
Speaker 2I had a conversation recently with a friend of mine at a coffee shop and we were talking about this exact conversation in terms of that shadow self and the ability to sometimes accept that piece of those things and who it is . And I think that's an important part of that process as well , of that awakening is looking at those pieces that we often maybe , that self-loathing , or the parts of us that are history or past that we are like I don't like that part , you know , or I don't like the fact that I feel angry about this or that , this , I feel jealousy when this occurs , all of those things that are put in that bag that we consider our shadow self . We often want to say that's not me .
Speaker 2That has nothing to do with me , but there's also an acceptance .
Speaker 3Yes , I'm a big fan of shadow work , of saying what is the thing ? I have a men's circle that I have in my house on Tuesday
The Stories We Tell Ourselves
Speaker 3nights and one of the questions that we ask each other often is what is the thing you don't want to tell me ?
Speaker 2Right , that's a good one .
Speaker 3Like what is the thing you're hiding from yourself ? What is the thing that you're feeling ashamed of ? What is the thing that you don't want to admit about yourself ? If I can pull that out and just acknowledge it in a safe space , All right .
Speaker 3Very slowly oh you're good , you're fine . If I can , when I can , pull those things out and look at them and acknowledge them . I mean here's the other thing If you find a safe person or a safe context or a safe enough context , everybody's screwed up , everybody's angry , everybody got hurt , everybody's mad , everybody's sad , everybody's ashamed . That's real life . That is a big part of what it means to be human . So if we can acknowledge that and accept it and even embrace it , there's so much freedom that can come from that , because we can let go of the pretense oh , I don't feel that . Oh , that's not me . Oh , I don't know that I'm not , that there's no freedom in all of those constructed selves .
Speaker 2Yes , yeah , there's like a shame or a guilt that comes over people when they , if they have to , almost show their humanity . Yes , because we all are , as you just said , the people who are prone to fail . You know , prone to make mistakes , which is one of the beautiful parts of our lives . Yes , but we can't accept it so many times because the fear of judgment yes , I think that's a huge part . I'll be honest , I'm many times there .
Speaker 2Many of my decisions at work , at home , often come from me thinking about if I do this or behave this way , how will I be perceived ? How will I be judged by other people ? Yes , way , how will I be perceived ? How will I be judged by other people ? Yes , and that comes so like naturally . That's sometimes . My default mode is that I will almost filter out the thoughts fast thinking okay , somebody's going to think this or they're going to do this . Um , in my last video , I was actually walking around with this in a cemetery and there were people walking around and I could see them looking . What is ? What is he doing ? You know ?
Speaker 3like why is this guy ?
Speaker 2strange guy holding this camera while walking around . And my first thought goes to maybe I should walk away from them , maybe I should just turn this off and start over , because all of my thoughts came into . What are these people's perception of how I look right now ? Do I look foolish ? Yep . Should I be embarrassed ? Yep , but it was all based on stories I've told myself .
Speaker 1Yes .
Speaker 2Yes , and I think that's true for a lot of decisions we do at work . Yes , you know the script comes back we're doing .
Speaker 3one of the components of the scripts that I talk about in the book is that we have agreements that we've made because of the scripts that I talk about in the book is that we have agreements that we've made because of the scripts , and the agreements , so much of the time are based in exactly what you were just talking about Shame judgment . Will I get in trouble ? Am I going to be accepted ? Am I going to be good enough ? All of those things , hello , all that stuff comes from our culture of origin , from our family of origin , from our training , from our religion of origin whatever .
Speaker 3And some of the things that we get from those beginning settings can be really positive and healthy and uplifting and good and all that stuff . But some of it is just going to be constricting and confining because people are fearful . And one of my clients said recently oh , I see what my mother was doing . She was afraid because of her fear when she was growing up and when she was being a little girl just trying to express herself and got shamed and got in trouble . And she turned around and did the same thing to me and it was really , really liberating for her to be able to see . Oh well , that's why she squelched my creativity , that's why she wanted me to be small , because she was scared .
Speaker 3Well , I mean , we get this stuff very naturally . It is very much part of our programming and our training and our orientation to being in the world . So it just takes time to unwind those old messages and to awaken , to wait a minute . What is this ? Where did this even come from ? That's one of my favorite questions . Where'd this come from ? Who wrote this ? What were they trying to accomplish when they wrote this code or this rule or this law or this custom or whatever ?
Speaker 2I like that word code because that feels like it's a programming . It is yes , yes .
Speaker 3Yes , it's programming .
Speaker 2Yeah .
Speaker 3So , and programming can be changed . It can be , we can .
Speaker 2If we're willing , if we're willing to do the work . As a teacher sometimes I use this phrase because I've supported teachers in the past I've trained them and as a teacher myself . When you're in a classroom , you're going , going , going . Kids are moving , things are happening Right and you're thinking out loud , often like you're going , going , going , kids are moving , things are happening right and you're thinking out loud , often like you're still reflecting as you're doing right . So you're thinking about what you did , how you could do it better .
Speaker 2Even when you're done with that day , you often go back and kind of run back through that oh yeah and say , oh yeah , what's going on . But I often could use the metaphor of teaching him and maybe this is really good for life also is like repairing a roller coaster while riding it , oh my gosh . And so , oh my gosh . So so many times it's like you're trying to fix it , but you're going , going , going and I think sometimes , like we , you have to be able to stop that roller coaster , for a moment I think that's what you're getting back to with awakening .
Speaker 2Yes , um , that that's what it is being being able to . Stop , get off the roller coaster , look at it for a little bit , see how can I can fix or improve or tweak it , and then get back on yes , oh my gosh , that is such a great metaphor .
Speaker 3It's perfect . Because we're scared to um , for whatever reason . Well , I can't slow down because I mean to use the roller coaster analogy . Well , we can't not run the roller coaster because look at all these people waiting to ride on it we'll lose money and blah , blah , blah , blah , blah . All the reasons you have yeah and we have so many reasons .
Speaker 3The flip side of that is that I also believe that , at a deep level , like the thing that's within us , our , our inner wisdom , our intuition , knows when we're going to be ready to close the roller coaster down and do the repairs Okay , and it also knows when we're not ready yet . Do you know what I mean ? Yeah , yeah .
Speaker 2That's kind of like you said , that crossroads , that place , that they okay .
Speaker 3Because we will have resistance along the way , and I'm sure you've experienced this in education . I did too , when I was a teacher for 10 years , a college English teacher from my first career for 10 years . Like , the system likes to stay like it is , yes , and innovation comes slowly because people say , oh , we've tried those things before , or oh , you don't know how it works , or whatever , and we have the same inner resistance within ourselves . Yeah , because the systems that have been in place for a long time like to stay in place because and because change like is ?
Speaker 2it's painful , it's , yes , it's difficult , because it takes a lot of effort and work . Yep , um , it's sometimes easier to stay on those , uh , in default mode or to to keep things the same , because then there's no failure , there's no pain , there's no . Um , all the all the work and process is an effort that comes to going through a change you don't have to go through but the flip side of that is right .
Speaker 3The the trick trick about that is , on the one hand , we're still in our regular mode , we're going through the motions , we're doing the thing we've always done , we're doing it the way we've always done it , so it feels easier . But in fact it's sort of like saying , well , we're making good time , but we're on the wrong road . Oh yeah , that's a good one .
Speaker 2Right .
Finding Space for Self-Reflection
Speaker 3I'm still doing my thing and it's working good enough . Like I'm good , I'm fine , everything's fine , but it's not like . If there's some part of us deep within that knows that that script or that pattern or that default isn't the truth , but it was something that we were simply conditioned to accept , then we will avoid the pain of stopping and doing the work of awakening as long as we can , because we just resist that makes sense .
Speaker 3Because it's hard , because it's work , and at some point the message will come through now I'm not doing this anymore . Yeah , like I'm ready to uh go to the pain of shifting , but it can be really hard .
Speaker 2this is cool this is our spider squirrel . I see that spider sculpture isn't that fun . Yeah , this is awesome . I love all the sculptures around here . Yeah , one thing this is my first time in austin and I got to drive this morning through a little bit , and that's one thing I noticed the most was the art and the sculptures . Yes , it's very prominent . I love that .
Speaker 3We love art in this town .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's a good place for that . So it's Excuse me , I'd love to jump into the the process now . We've kind of talked a little bit about you know what , what is awakening and sometimes how , how it's a the barriers to get to that point , and you know the , the stories we've told ourselves . So in your work , um , how do you like maybe someone listening ? Now , how do they start to get to that point ? I know you said there's a crossroads , but let's say someone's there , let's say that they've . They've hit that area where they're starting to think these thoughts what's that next step ? What do they do ? Or where and where do you come in at times for this ? So what ?
Speaker 3I so how this works for me is and and this can work in lots of different settings , and I know lots people who , whether they are doing psychotherapy or they're doing coaching , or they're doing spiritual coaching or mentoring or whatever , the thing that happens is that when somebody says this isn't working , or I'm stuck , or I need to make a decision , or I'm in pain or whatever , even if it's just that they have a nudge , some of my clients find me and say , just something is happening , and I'm not even sure what it is , but I want to talk about it or I want to understand it better . It really becomes about going within . So I have questions that I ask people and I have practices that I invite people into which are all about um . Come on , molly , what are you doing , come on which are all about um , sort of checking within and seeing if there's a belief , if there's a pattern , if there is a um , if there's a stuck place , what it keeps repeating , like . I'm very interested in the messages we keep telling ourselves or the patterns that we keep ending up in Cause I don't think that those are accidental , I think they're a product of the script and I think they're a product of the agreements we made and the roles we're playing and the worldview we're following .
Speaker 3The thing that I love the most is helping somebody see that's not you , that's not who you are within . It's a pattern you've been in and it's a practice that you've been in . It's something that you've been repeating , but that's not a determinant of who you are as a person . And when they can see themselves as separate from the thing that keeps happening or the thing they keep choosing , it's almost as if and this is speaking of awakening , this is an awakening moment it's almost as if they can step outside of themselves or their constructed self , or their official self or their you know , public self or whatever , and see , wait a minute , what ? Like what matters to me right now ? Like what do I really really want or need ? So it's about going within . It's about asking some questions . It's about looking at the patterns that keep happening and then just seeing them as being not who you truly are , and that open space .
Speaker 2I love that . I mean I really do . I mean I told this story to someone recently . I love that . I mean I really do . I mean I told this story to someone recently I was reading . I keep bringing him up but it's because I've been reading a lot about Alan White , yes , which I followed for a long time , but I've been reading some of his actual lectures and stories , at least recently , and one day I was sitting there .
Speaker 2I wake up every morning , I get a coffee , I spend a little time reading , and one day it was a Saturday morning I was reading through and he talked a little time reading . And one day it was a Saturday morning , I was reading through and he talked a little bit about life as a performance , the idea that what if this really is just a game we're playing , and it was something about and this is probably what you think when awakening in that terms . For me , when it comes up , it was something about the wording or something about the way it resonated with me that I was like , oh , that's exactly what this is and I thought you know almost like I grew up playing video games , right , and so people think of mario , right .
Speaker 2It was almost like if mario was walking through the video game and all of a sudden stopped and realized oh shoot , I'm just a character in a video , I'm in a game , yeah , yes , and he was . And then , like , the things he was doing were just to fulfill the obligations of the game . But it wasn't . But he realized but I'm not part of it I'm not part of this thing .
Speaker 2You know , that's it , that's totally it . And so it clicked , like it really clicked , and I was like , okay , I get this . And then then I had to decide at that moment okay , I understand that I'm in a game , I understand I'm in this world and that's oftentimes like a performance . There's things I have to do . I have to get up and brush my teeth , I have to go to work , and I'm part of that . But I have to understand that that's what it is . Yes , and so the funny part was I was in this , really felt fuzzy , it felt warm , I was like I get this , does that understand ? And then the next morning , right , I wake up and I was in a mood , right , I was like I felt angry , I felt a little bit agitated . I think my wife woke up , I probably she saw that and she was like I'm going back another direction .
Speaker 3Yeah , I'm going somewhere else .
Speaker 2Yeah , and I stopped for a second and thought wait a minute , Yesterday I had it all figured out .
Speaker 2I'm part of this game and this is all . I'm Mario , right ? Yes . And so then , at that moment , I was able to stop and say I'm a person experiencing a mood and emotion . That's part of me . Yes , and that was when I realized the whole point of this was not that you get to escape emotions or you're always going to feel happy , or you're always going to have it all figured out , right , but the point of this experience was to be able just to stop for a second and realize all of this is still part of it the bad days , the good days , the moment I wake up and I'm in a mood . It doesn't mean those moods go away , it just means I get to recognize that it's a mood I'm experiencing , part of this world and the game , and that's the process , that's it .
Speaker 3That's absolutely it . That's the process , that's it . That's absolutely it . That leads to what a lot of teachers about this kind of work call self-mastery . It doesn't mean that life is going to be perfect or easy . That's not even a thing , that doesn't even count . If we went and sat on a mountain in Tibet and got rid of everybody around us , everything that's within us , we would still take with us . And if I prayed and if I meditated and if I got super serene , and what I'm thinking , what I'm feeling , what my body's telling me , what's going on around me , we have all these thoughts , but we're not our thoughts , but we think we are . We have all these feelings that are in response to our experience , but we're not our feelings . But we say I'm mad or I'm sad or I'm upset Not our feelings . But we say I'm mad or I'm sad or I'm upset or I'm whatever . And that's not the truth . We're having an emotional experience , we're having anger . So in the work that I do , I say what are you carrying right now ?
Speaker 2That's good , I like that yeah .
Speaker 3Right , Like I have agitation right now but I'm not agitated agitation right now but I'm not agitated . Like the thing that is within me is peaceful and loving and made of love and made of goodness and all that kind of stuff . So to the point that you were just making about being aware that this is the thing that I'm experiencing , when we can have that little remove really short , I mean , it might take a second If we can remove ourselves from the immediacy of our thoughts and our feelings , then it's almost as if we become free , Like we find freedom
Awakening in Religious Contexts
Speaker 3from the tyranny of the moment . Yes , Whatever the moment is .
Speaker 2And it's not like it happens . I've heard a lot of people say this too . Um , I know the great guru , jim carrey yeah , well , you know , I hear him talk a lot of things but he said that he had a moment similar to that , and then he he spent all this time thinking that it was going to continue and that he was going to have to come back to that . But the one thing that he learned was that it was always a kind of a pursuit to remind himself and get himself to that thought process , but it was not like it . It's not like that default mode or the things in your life . Just all of a sudden , you're separated and you now are you just all of us . You're always in that state , you're . That's not true either . It's not a thing .
Speaker 3Like that's not really an option . Yeah , and I know that through like I meditate every morning and I have practices that I use to process my feelings and try and do that in a healthy way and my thoughts and try and do that in a healthy way , and I'm much less reactive than I was 10 years ago or 20 years ago . But the but the idea that I'm going to , that any of us will be able to somehow purge ourselves of the humanness , is actually a disservice . I agree , yeah , like our humanness is the thing that we're here to experience Exactly . Yeah , to be able to just say this thing , that I'm feeling this thing , that I'm thinking this thing , that I'm experiencing this thing , that I'm worrying about this thing that's going on around me , what's happening within me and how do I want to respond .
Speaker 2Yes , that moment where you can just stop and get off the roller coaster , yeah .
Speaker 3And you know what , if a bear came running out of those trees over there and started to run at us , I might not take that extra second to evaluate what I'm feeling . I might just run . Yes , that's okay too .
Speaker 2There's a part of those that need that part too . That's important the instinct , the habits , the things that are auto-programmed ?
Speaker 3Yes , those are good . But what's happened with our culture is that there's so much scarcity in the script and there's so much fear built into the script and there's so much judgment built into the script that we're on high alert all the time , which explains the anxieties we feel , the fears , the stresses , when you're living always in a state of what is that Gosh ?
Speaker 2the fight or flight .
Speaker 3Yes , yes , yes , yes we have . We have been so conditioned by school and religion and advertising and everything else and the pace of this life that's so , you know , fulfilling and big and has so many goodies for us underneath . It is such a message in the script of fear and scarcity that we think that when that lady sends me that email and it makes me scared , it's the same thing as a bear running out of the trees to kill me . That's it , but it's not . We are just programmed and conditioned to be afraid that we're in danger because of scarcity and fear and judgment .
Speaker 2Yeah , because the same chemicals and the same emotions that come through in both situations , your body can't distinguish between the two Right , right , and so it feels the same .
Speaker 3So a big part of my personal practice is to be in silence , to be in reflection , to listen to peaceful music , to meditate , and it's a way for me to sort of practice helping my body be regulated in the midst of , and my nervous system be regulated in the midst of all of the stimulus of this life that we're in and the TV and the social media and the computer and the traffic and everything else , and it's just the practice of going within and saying we're okay , we're okay , everybody , we're okay . When I first started getting in touch with anger in my 40s and 50s in a men's circle , I was so scared of my own feelings of anger because I'd been in good boy mode and I was afraid of being judged and afraid of messing things up . And to be able to just feel sadness and anger and then not die was really good reprogramming . So I'm a big fan of helping people . Just again , look in the bag , you're not going to die , you're okay .
Speaker 3Yeah , but I'm really sad . Okay , well , just be sad . Is it okay to be sad right now ? Is it okay to be sad right now ?
Speaker 2And then we just sit with it yeah and we figure it out yeah , so we'll have them going ahead . But yeah , that was um , that was probably a state that , uh , I think it's . It's . It's difficult too . I think one thing you mentioned a second ago about all the stimuli that we put our bodies through the internet and the tvs and the um you know , the foods we eat , all those things I think are a component , because I think many of those things will um give to or increase the amount of difficulty it is to reach that moment in a healthy way . Yeah , um as well , because it's . If you spend , you know , 90 of your time on social media looking at things that you know , or you're watching , constantly watching um , when you get home , the first thing you do is you turn on the tv and you look at the news or all of those kinds of things . That makes it very difficult too to be able to stop , because your brain's not even having an opportunity Right To to connect with yourself Right .
Speaker 3That inner place that gets further and further , it feels further and further away . It's not . It feels harder and harder to access because we're not practicing being in the moment . We're in , we're looking at TV . We're looking at TV . We're looking at something else . We're thinking about the future , we're thinking about the past , we're worrying about what's going to happen . All of which is as you said , it's just part of the stimuli that are being brought in all the time , and you're a teacher a teacher , I mean . I think about how hard it must be amidst the for kids , amidst the hustle and buffalo of all of the stimulus and and the information and the pressures and all that stuff that they're feeling , that to create a space for them to be able to get regulated and get healthy and get centered must be really challenging .
Speaker 2Well , I mean , I mean because , even in the chemical sense , so many of the things that we're doing , one thing I've learned through school and I work with three to four-year-olds , so many of them I hear parents are already saying , oh , they spent only four or five hours on their device , wow , and I'm like whoa , hold on now . Wow , and when that happens , your brain is getting rebalanced to the amount of the chemicals that are being sent through because of that situation , and so when you're not on those devices , it's actually saying wait a minute , I need more , I need , I need something , I need something . And then at that point you can't even handle boredom , you can't handle the thoughts that are going through your head , right , because when the when that occurs , you start to feel panicked . You feel like I need something more , need more stimulation , I need a hit .
Speaker 2Yeah , it's a drug , and so it's when , when you can't go moments without feeling the need for that same level of stimulation , there's no way you can stop for a moment and actually start to think about you know what's happening and being present and actually be able to do it . And it's even difficult for me . I mean , we all have been , we've all been programmed gosh , yes , and so it's . It's something we all can work on , but it's it's important to be able to find a balance to all of that .
Speaker 3Well , it takes um a willingness to invest in myself , yes , and it's not productive . Do you know what I mean ? Like the argument could be made well , I'm being lazy right now . I'm sitting , I'm being still , I'm meditating , I'm reading , I'm listening to peaceful music , I'm thinking about what's going on inside my heart . Like , none of that is particularly helpful for the bottom line or for the return on investment or for the you know all that stuff , that the way the world measures our productivity and our value . But that's again all based on a script that we've been conditioned to follow and it's not the truth , because it's not what is meaningful for any of us , from three to four year olds , all the way up so well , I'm actually going to finish up here in a moment , but I have one or two quick questions .
Speaker 2Sure , um , that kind of go along with this , but just maybe a slightly different direction . Um , a lot of my family and a lot of people I listen , listen to the podcast . Um , because when you first created a podcast , your first audience of the people you know which are in your community Um .
Speaker 2I mean , I grew up in in a um a church , and you know that that world can be , has many positive elements and many things , as we mentioned earlier , that can come along with it the . We talked about this in our episode before , about the fears and the guilts and that and so forth , but some of these ideas we talked about today will seem very foreign or almost feel , like we said , mystical . So what do you say ? Because I think you have a background in the religious world I believe I do , I do . What would be your message to someone who comes from that world , whether they feel the weight of that religion or they are fully committed , which is neither I'm judging Sure . How can something like awakening apply to ?
Speaker 3them a great question , and I get this a lot because so many people that I work with come from a more traditional , uh , religious or spiritual context and , um , I am a big fan of people like father richard roar and others who are connecting the mystical tradition and the contemplative tradition with the language of sort of traditional Christendom and Christianity . The thing that happens in any religious system that can happen in any religious system is that we can confuse the container for the thing itself , and the thing itself is always , always , always , connection to the transcendent , to the divine within us , to the divine around us , to spirit , to whatever language that you want to use for it . For me , when people get really uptight about or attached to , well , it needs to look like this . That's sort of like saying , well , there's only one cup I'll ever drink coffee out of . This is my cup and I like this cup . Well , I have a favorite cup . But if what the objective is to experience a good , delicious cup of coffee in the morning , it might not really matter all that much which cup I'm drinking it out of . What matters is that I have the experience of that cup of coffee . So for me , the trick is always to ask what is at the heart of this particular practice , this particular question . What is it that I'm really trying to get at ? What is it that I'm trying to get to ?
Speaker 3And for people who come from a traditional religious framework , awakening is absolutely what the Jewish scriptures are talking about , what the Jewish prophets are talking about , it's what Jesus is talking about , it's what John the Baptist is talking about , it's what the apostle Paul in his letters is talking about .
Speaker 3It's not necessarily the language that we use in the traditional biblical sense , but it's the same concept , which is how do I look within , how do I see what's going on within me , without judgment , which may be hard , without condemnation , without deciding whether something is good or bad , but simply to say what is here , what's within , and then how do I move forward ?
Speaker 3Believing that Spirit , god , the universe , source , all of it is helping me , like I really do believe that , and so , for me , I'm not really very far from the tradition I came from . It's just that my language is less specifically tied to the model that I experienced in the church world , and so for me it then becomes expansive , so that I can have a conversation with somebody who has a completely different viewpoint from me and we're talking about the same things . One of the men this weekend at the men's meditative retreat I was at is a devout Hindu . Another man who was there is a devout Muslim . Another man is a completely ex-Christian , who has no use for any Christian jargon , but he was able to go within and connect to the same thing that everybody else was connecting to , which is what I believe that all Scripture is always talking about and what all practice is leading us to .
Speaker 2I completely agree . I think , coming from that world I was I've you don't have to throw everything out to be able to hold onto these concepts we've talked about today because they're still relevant to how we exist as humans in this world , experiencing it . Um , and that's the lead to my last thing . Every day , you start your videos with a phrase um , I'll let you , if you don't mind , saying you can , but also um , where does that come from ? Where did that ? How did that come to be ?
Speaker 2kind of I wouldn't say like a catchphrase but it was a way I think it's been . It resonates with people , which is why so many people have connected to what when you have to say but um , I'll let you go ahead and go from there I always say something to the effect of hello , good morning , you know , greetings , whatever .
Speaker 3You beautiful , powerful , gorgeous , amazing , eternal soul having a human experience .
Speaker 3And for me , where that came from was this specific thing that we've been talking about today about awakening and about seeing ourselves and our programming as being not who
The Soul Having a Human Experience
Speaker 3we truly , truly , truly are .
Speaker 3You know , this Christian tradition talks about the soul . The Islamic tradition has different language , the Hindu tradition has different language , the Jewish tradition has different language , but in every case , the idea is that there is this part of us , within us , which , in the Jewish tradition , it says , is created in the image of God . That's different for me from the everyday stuff that's happening in our bodies and in our thoughts and our emotions , because those things come and go , like our thoughts just flit around , come and go , come and go , come and go , come and go . That's not who we are , it's what we're experiencing . So for me , it's really helpful to frame the work that I'm inviting people into by saying you are an eternal soul , you're having this particular human experience , in which case we can just look at the human experience but not get so swept up , swept away in it that we forget who we truly are .
Speaker 2I love that . Yeah , thank you so much . Yeah , that's that again , that that phrase and so much of that thing , is what connects people to what you have to say , but , um , it also connects them to themselves . Um , that they're able to say , okay , I'm this human having this experience , but I'm just a soul , this eternal soul also , uh , that has to realize that I'm not always and I'm not the game , I'm not , I'm a part of this .
Speaker 2Yes and so , as we've said many times today , that it's that opportunity to step back , yep and and to um , connect to yourself and then to really , I would say , to be part of this performance and know that you're part of it , and then being able to still enjoy it and experience it the goods , the bads , those emotions , the moment I'm angry , being able to say , oh look , I'm this human having this experience of anger . Look at that , Isn't that interesting ? Yeah , you know . And I think that ability to say that life is beautiful , even in the goods , the bads , I mean , I think so many times we look at the world right now , we hear it online , we hear it in the news and so often it seems it's such a negative , horrible world and so many things that are happening are very traumatic and horrible , but it's the game , the performance , the world that we're experiencing , all of it , you know it has this , this ability to watch , to notice , to see it happening and to say , oh look , that thing is happening , I'm part of it .
Speaker 2The whole , all of us are part of this , and that , to me , is the point the point of the game .
Speaker 3We get to experience it , then we have freedom and then we can decide how we want to respond .
Speaker 2Yeah , yeah . So last thing , and thanks again for doing this , my pleasure . What's the next step for you ? What's the world looking like ?
Speaker 3Finish my book on story healing that I'm co-writing with my wife , christina , who is a genius and brilliant , and she's been helping me build this practice for the last three years and we're doing it together and um and then share that book with the world and work with more people . I'm also , in August , going to be leading a retreat on story healing at ghost ranch in Northern New Mexico , so I'm super excited about that and that's on my website .
Speaker 2Awesome , all right , and then they can find you on Instagram if they want to see your stuff . I recommend watching them every morning .
Speaker 3Usually release the videos .
Speaker 2What About ? What time do you ? Like them 6.30 or 7 am , yeah , so I usually get to work and I'll look through different things . And there you are every morning , so I can't help it .
Speaker 3I can't help it . No , I it's awesome .
Speaker 2It's a great way to start a day for people , and it's a reminder often to stop and think and reflect , so I appreciate you doing that Well , thank you so much for inviting me out here , and Austin is a beautiful city and it's part of , I told you , this podcast is a chance to travel and see new places , and this has been amazing , so thank you for doing this .
Speaker 3You're so welcome , all right .
Speaker 1Thank you All right . Thank you All
Closing Thoughts and Gratitude
Speaker 1right . Thank you for listening to Dr Rick Diamond's story . I'll leave you with a quote from Ram Dass the final awakening is the embracing of the darkness into the light . That means embracing our humanity as well as our divinity . What we go from is being born into our humanity , sleepwalking for a long time until we awaken and start to taste our divinity , and then we want to finally get free . I want to say thank you to Dr Rick for taking this walk with me and sharing his wisdom . Please take the time to follow his journey . I also want to thank Ryan Cherry for the music in this podcast . Thank you again for listening and I hope you walk with me again next time on Deep in the Woods . Thank you , you .