For some time now I’ve been thinking of how to disseminate actualism and actual freedom to those who might be interested in it more widely.
I think it would be good to start small and do a blog or put some articles online on a platform like Medium. Is anyone keen on writing some pieces, with the understanding that they would be some (not heavy handed) editorial oversight from myself? l I think trying to communicate actualism to an audience with no experience in it would be a great way to further your own understanding of actualism - similar to how teaching anything increases one grasp and insight into a subject. @henryyyyyyyyyy benefited from just helping me proof-read for typos and grammar on Simple Actualism for example.
Also any advice on what would be a good blogging platform? I was thinking of just using Blogger which would allow me to embed into the current Simple Actualism website.
Podcasting might also be an option in the future. I’m not keen on de-anonymising myself on video for now, but from what I understand @geoffrey has no problems and will do something in that space in the future.
I like the idea. Maybe I’ll try my hand at one… what’s a good first topic?
About platforms… I don’t have any experience at all with blogging platforms, so no strong recommendations. As an option, https://actualism.online/ is set up with WordPress , and is same domain as the forum. Medium might offer some more of people stumbling across it… Embedding with existing Simple Actualism site seems good too.
I often think about making videos, of a more poetic/avant-garde nature, that have an actualist bend but are more about asking the bigger questions in life (Who am I, what am I, where did I come from, etc). Something that would get someone questioning and curious and introduce the human condition as a concept worth consideration.
I think the podcast medium is great too. Video is nice, but often audio is more than sufficient. Can we get a podcast w/ you and @geoffrey? Maybe you can be an anonymous guest.
Might be nice to have a post about why someone might be interested in getting into actualism using your journey as an example. You’ve already written about that in one of your posts which was very good, so perhaps you can incorporate some of that into a post? Our target audience are probably seekers of some stripe who have dabbled in meditation and other spiritual practices, but found that it wasn’t for them.
Fantastic idea to use actualism.online. I didn’t think of it. Can you set it up as a blog? We can then have several contributors writing into it.
@edzd that sounds great. Yeah, I’m open to doing a podcast with Geoffrey. As to when it will happen, who knows
Cool! I think so yeah. There looks to be a “new post” button on the admin console. I added you aS an admin If you want to check it out. Looks like we can add people work different permission levels also if we desire that eventually.
I like the idea of first post. Why Actualism? Whenever I get into a nice social setting with people it eventually leads to conversations about what it’s all about, how the world can be better, etc… my impression is people are ready for it.
My two (overheard on the internet) cents; blogs are essentially dead right now as a medium for dissemination, whereas pods are the thing. I think cross-posting to Medium is a good choice regardless.
I really like the initiative.
Edit: thinking a bit further on the podcast thing, is this something we as a (tiny) forum could consider? Just a longform discussion podcast with a couple of members could be a thing. Personal details could be edited out in postproduction and people could stay on a first name basis.
I’m in the mountains with very intermittent internet access atm. So I’ll get back to you next week. Quickly: I’m indeed gonna start making videos soon, and I’d also be cool with hosting a podcast.
Please do this soon. I’m tired of watching the same old ‘zoom video’ over and over again.
Also in this video you say that: “There’s no motivation but things are being done.” Well it’s been almost a year now since this last content of yours - things are being done? I guess things move slower in the actual world.
The group I mentioned I was in after my PCE devolved into an ASC years ago had an interesting way of getting the word out.
The author of ‘the books’ would say that in order to connect more effectively to pure intent, it is necessary to actively get the word out. What the crew would do is spend at least 30 minutes a day pasting relevant or general quotes with a link on random and sometimes targeted (lots of depression/anxiety related videos) YouTube video comments sections.
You won’t believe how effective it was. And participants would half self immolation (or their version of it) at the forefront of their minds as a result as well as get more people at least acquainted with the new perspective.
The anxious and depressed are easy pickin’s for the spiritually inclined
I’m not sure that that is the best target audience per se. Although I myself certainly suffered from anxiety and possibly depression. But it took me many years to start applying the actualism method.
Part of that is the times - it seems something has ‘opened up’ recently and a lot more people are getting the method and having a lot of success with it. This is in no small part, or perhaps entirely, due to Craig, Geoffrey, and Srinath’s successes. But part of it perhaps is that being anxious or depressed, you are more deeply mired in the human condition than those who aren’t. This does make you want to be free from it more, but also makes it a lot harder to start.
At the time of writing this it seems the lowest-hanging fruit would be those who doing relatively well emotionally - which is still awful compared to even basic feeling good all the time - and who are already searching for the optimum, and just haven’t come across actualism yet. Someone who is already generally sincere and perhaps even a bit naive, where the approach will instantly resonate. And who doesn’t have strong beliefs and convictions about what they’re currently doing. A hard-core devoted spiritualist will have a hard time getting out of that, while someone who has already tried it and found it wanting - or any other number of things like veganism, community work, art, etc. - would be open to something new.
I think far better than going for the ‘harder’ cases like anxiety and depression, is to go for the ‘easier’ cases like these ^. This could open up a floodgate of successful actualists, which will then have so much more momentum for anyone else coming to take a look.
Which isn’t to say to exclude anyone… anyone is welcome on the forum of course. But thinking in terms of the target audience at this point…
Work in progress… but I am pretty pleased with it so far!
Why Actualism?
Welcome to actualism.online. As an introductory post it seemed fitting to get a bit into one might pursue actualism in one’s own life, as opposed to the other approaches to life one may find.
The whole point of Actualism is to find and experience the meaning of life on an ongoing basis. As you can easily see for yourself, though the past did happen and the future will happen, they are not happening now. As only now is ever happening - and it is therefore always now - then the only “place” that the meaning of life can be found is now. Thus there is nowhere and nowhen else to look but now.
As now is readily available for any human being on this planet - regardless of sex, gender, race, nationality, age, creed or anything else - then there are no prerequisites. It is completely equitable and freely available to anyone who is interested in it. And indeed, how could it be any other way?
As it’s freely available for everyone, there’s also no requirement, duty, responsibility or pressure to pursue it in your own life. If it’s something that is appealing to you and you want to find out more, then read on. But if you are already completely satisfied in your own life, or you aren’t fully satisfied but have resigned yourself that it is as good as it will get, then you need read no further. Actualism is not for you. But if you are intrigued then read on…
I think I would leave aside the meaning of life as a central point of Actualism. It has historically lent itself to confusions, discussions and various interpretations among readers depending on their backgrounds (even among actualists, so…).
I think with exactly the same schema you could paraphrase something like Richard’s: “The whole point of actualism is the direct experience of actuality” with something like his explanation about why this experience does not usually happen: there is a distinction between “this flesh and blood body only what one is (what not ‘who’)” and “a psychological/psychic entity” (the so-called identity) which “is forever cut-off from the actual … from the world as-it-is” (Mailing List 'AF' Respondent No. 44).
And/Or the meaning of life could be replaced with something like Vineeto’s: “enjoying this moment of being alive, which is after all the point of actualism”
I thought of this also because your proposal ends up referring to the reader’s level of life satisfaction:
So it would seem to me more coherent and concrete at the same time (to avoid being misunderstood: I am not saying not to refer to the meaning of life at all, but to avoid making it the whole point of Actualism).
Ahaha, I got quite excited about the videos and podcast, but than I thought @geoffrey is out in the mountains, literally having a perfect time, quite possibly skiing, and here I am - waiting to be saved by “magical” videos. So I decided to feel good instead, and I did
Good to hear.
