Hello beautiful people. It’s time to dive in on our September Expansive Capacity exploration!
ADMIN NOTE: Please scroll to the bottom of this page for information about our live interactive mastermind meeting via Zoom. Once the meeting has taken place, its recording will live down there for you to review as well.
So.
Here I am, facing the page in the wee hours of a day MANY DAYS AFTER the time at which I would normally be facing the monthly Expansive Capacity page. Y’all already got word this was going up late. Twice. Once from Keith before the end of August; more recently from me a week into September. So, we all already knew this was gonna be an off-kilter experience from the timing we’re used to, each month.
And yet I feel the need to lay out a little story about how SNAKEBIT this whole thing has gotten. Perhaps this will be what we end up talking about during our Zoom. I’m agendaless at this point. Maybe you will be too, after you read this. (Hell, maybe you’re already agendaless and this story will have been unnecessary. Who knows?)
During our convo last month, I mentioned a book my mind-body specialist was telling me about and how cool the whole SYSTEM 1/SYSTEM 2 brain situation is. How it’s not left brain/right brain; it’s not primal brain/executive function brain either. It’s actually how the whole brain goes about routing every bit of data we consume into whichever part of the brain will then be in charge of what happens next. That seemed interesting enough that this became the (planned) topic for September. Yay!
So, I began been writing up my notes from what — of the book — I had experienced prior to our August Zoom. And as I filled up one page and then another page and then wound up rewriting one section of my notes into a different flow and then regrouped some of the stuff I wanted to use… I kept getting SO SO SO fatigued. It didn’t make sense.
Well… let me be sure to run a highlighter over one way in which it all made sense even before I was experiencing it: THE WOO WEATHER WAS SPECIFICALLY HEADED TOWARD SOME STUFF THAT WOULD/COULD MAKE THINGS MORE DIFFICULT THAN USUAL FOR ME. Of course, I don’t let my love of astrology turn into a recipe for anything other than “the conditions are available for things to feel X” and then I can show up to those conditions any way that I choose to. Just like with weather-weather, I can choose to bring an umbrella when the conditions are available for rain.
Okay, so putting that aside as “the reason for my fatigue” at doing the analysis of this book and this concept, I then had the a-ha moment that my analysis of this book and this concept was HUGELY taxing on SYSTEM 2 in particular. That I was forcing myself to stay in the most “expensive” part of the brain (where brain chemicals are concerned) for extended periods of time and that’s not what the brain is designed to have us do!
Ah! So, there’s another reason I’m exhausted. Got it. I’ll go more slowly. I’ll take more time with this. I’ll put more space into the doing of it, specifically so that I have time to recover from the expensive brain chemical depletion. I make that decision, stop rewriting one of my pages of notes, and go to bed early.
Then I wake up sick as a dog. You know that feeling? Like, “WTF happened?!? All I did was SLEEP! How am I waking up so fucking sick?” (This was Friday morning, the 30th, BTW.) Turns out, I was so sick on that day that I stayed on the sofa aaaaallllllllllll day, sleeping, trusting I would knock it out (whatever “it” was) and then still have the 31st to get everything ready for y’all. Yay!
And then, nope. Sicker still on the 31st, even with all that sleep. So, I took a COVID test because — even though I never leave the house — you never know (or so they say). Negative. I’m just sick. Okay… have Keith send an email because we now know for sure this is gonna mean EC is not going up by midnight.
I figure, okay, well at least it’s a holiday weekend for most and that means even if it’s not ’til Monday I get the page up, that’s still cute. It’s okay. Everyone is so understanding and wonderful and we’ll be good to go; I’ve already done so much work on this topic… just get it on the page.
And y’all… I swear, every time I sat up and faced the screen, I would get hit by a wave of what can only be explained as WOO WEATHER + BRAIN CHEMISTRY knocking me out. Such a bizarre combination, but I guess it’s possible. I mean, I know it’s possible because I’m freakin’ living it. “Okay, Bon. Just drink it in. Stop judging the experience. Stop trying to mine it for material. No teachable moments here. Just rest. There will be a day when ding-ding-ding everything just WORKS and it’ll all be done and that’ll be that!”
So, the next thing I know, it’s 95ºF. Yep. 95. Here. At the beach. Where it’s always in the 70s. The living room’s thermostat says it’s 86ºF even at 7:30pm! Yikes! And because I get heat-sick, here I go into the studio (where the window A/C unit exists), and all I can do is sleep and keep up with a private coaching client here and a group Zoom there… and MAYBE some of the admin of running my empire… and hopefully a quick hello now and then at Discord or in the texting app… OMG, I’m exhausted even typing all this.
Finally. FINALLY tonight — after the debate — the weather “broke” and I’m able to move back to the space from which I prefer to work. I’m not sick or overheated or even that much in the woo weather that had been pushing against me. Yay! I’m energized and eager and ready to do this damn thing!!! YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY!
And then I get to the place where I start writing about all my notes and I go, “No. I don’t want to do this.”
*blink* *blink* *blink*
Okay… I don’t want to do this? Really?
I mean, I guess YEAH. I guess that’s what I mean because I simply cannot — will not — pull all of this together. I kind of want to talk it all out. I even contemplated a few days back doing something like shooting a vid for y’all and uploading the transcript too in case the written version of me talking about the book would be something you’d like to have.
And as I’d approach the process of being at the keyboard, facing the screen, all my notes at the ready… here I go yawning again. My tummy flips. My head cracks with a piercing pain. Nope. I’m stuck. And I’m just NOT gonna get this shit done!
So.
Why have I devoted 1100 words to telling you how very certainly I am NOT getting any of the expected content put in place for you? I have no idea. I actually said to myself — once I realized I am simply NOT getting this done — just publish the nearly-empty page so at least everyone has the September space to show up to. The comments area to connect in. The September Aligned Hustle Calendar (even though that’s been on your EC Welcome page since our August Zoom). JUST PUBLISH THE DAMN PAGE, GILLESPIE.
And still I sit, looking at the screen and trying to will myself enough energy to even do that.
So I decided to share — in true word-vomit style — what’s in my head in case it helps me get to the point at which I’m able to hit publish on this page! Not yet. If anything, I’m even less interested in hitting that button after having put all these incredibly boring words all over it.
And I’m gonna make myself hit publish anyway.
Because I finally hit the word that makes all of this worth sharing: SNAKEBIT.
I’m forgiving myself for not having spotted sooner that this month’s topic — and the “typical” presentation style of it, specifically — had become snakebit. Because once I know something is snakebit, it’s time to move on to ANYTHING ELSE.
No, that wouldn’t have “fixed” the woo-weather, the weather-weather, or my mystery illness and allllll the fatigue that went with all of that, but it would’ve gotten a page up for you. A page without this ridiculously long, boring-ass story. (Still, maybe/hopefully I was able to provide a wee bit of wisdom to mine from it somewhere.) 😉
Okay.
With all that nonsense shared, I’m hitting publish and sending y’all a quick email to let you know the page is finally UP.
When we meet up on the 20th, maybe we’ll talk about when stuff gets snakebit. Maybe we’ll talk about THINKING FAST AND SLOW. Maybe we’ll do more work with the tools! That’s always fun. More than anything, connecting with y’all is what’s always fun!
Ooh, I’m very much looking forward to that.
So so so much love flowing your way,
Aligned Hustle Calendar
Here comes eclipse season! And this one on the 17th is actually an important one, as it previews the eclipse signature we’ll have all through 2025 and into 2026! Really pay attention to what you experience from the Virgo-Pisces axis at this intense and sensitive time. Notice your dreams. Notice your nervous system’s signals. Do some journaling.
Also… Mars has moved into Cancer, where he’ll be (very uncomfortable) for 2 months, then he’ll get into Leo for a bit… then retrograde BACK into Cancer (by now, super-duper uncomfortable) for the first few months of 2025. Ugh. Remember when Mars is in Cancer, we can pop off at anyone about anything with very little provocation. AND we can find our motivation lacking. What a lovely combo! (Can you feel my eyes rolling?)
Beyond all that, we’re now in the midst of the FINISH HIM transit, which I wrote (and livestreamed) about here. Enjoy! It’s about to get so… “hold my beer” out there.
This month’s Expansive Capacity meeting is happening at this Zoom link at 11am PDT on Friday, September 20th (translate that to your time zone here).
You are welcome to go on camera for this mastermind session, or simply unmute yourself to participate live audio-only. Yes, we will be recording the meeting and putting its replay up here for you to consume within 24 hours of the meeting. Hooray!
If it’s possible that you’ve never Zoomed before, for sure we recommend you get all set up *before* our meeting. Zoom is free, and there’s info on how to get going here.
Here is the replay of our September 20th deep dive. Enjoy!
Your always superfab chat is here. Yay!
Y’all.
I love us so much. The whole SWIRL of us — going from idea to idea, from emotion to emotion — it’s all just so YUMMY! Thank you for inviting in the openness of “let’s find out!”
Goodies to Play with ’til Next Time:
^^^ This interview with Dr. Kyra Bobinet — on Mayim Bialik’s BREAKDOWN podcast — is essentially about how we shift into the headspace for using the tools in our Expansive Capacity Toolbox. Watch to the 15-minute mark, if nothing else (but it’s all delicious). If you’re really into Bobinet’s vibe, here’s her book — Unstoppable Brain.
~ Continue to notice where the System 1 vs. System 2 experience shows up in your life. Just do a little dispassionate labeling about it ’til you’re curious enough (and ready) to move more deeply into challenging yourself with questions that activate System 2 more easily. Again, Thinking, Fast and Slow is fine to go out and buy, but there are approximately a bajilliondy images, infographics, slides, and graphic notes from lectures out there in a Google image search.
~ Play with layering System 1 and System 2 — with intention. Get yourself doing things that busy your System 1 brain and then prompt yourself to solve a problem, riddle, logic puzzle, etc., using System 2. This is going to be challenging because System 1 REALLY resists letting System 2 do things. This is the “OMG, I can figure out this math problem if I just write things down” moment. MAKE YOURSELF write things down so you can engage System 2 about it all… especially while System 1 is busy taking a shower or doing dishes or doing crafts. Consider how spelling bee champions are often using a finger to “write down” the words they’re being challenged to spell. This is them using the more-open-to-problem-solving part of the brain BY FORCE. You can bet there’s a part of each kid’s brain (System 1) screaming, “You don’t even have a pen! Stop pretending to write things down!”
(This ^^^ is how we’re busying System 1 to the point that it doesn’t notice us actually working on some System 2 goodness.)
~ Look for opportunities to use iteration to gradually — and quite unsexily — create change in your life. Try my “Make the good things you do better than the bad things you do and make the good things happen more often than the bad things happen” tactic. Or maybe try my “Make one little change every 10 days” method. Come up with your own non-glamorous system and play with it, make tweaks, experiment, and share what that experimentation is teaching you. Keep the comments flowing below. I’ll put… something… up on the October page by October 1st. 😉 Promise! Thanks for your loving and lovely openness for things to be different and still welcomed. That helps my Energetic Load more than you know.
Your Aligned Hustle Calendar for October 2024 will be on the WELCOME page at some point over the weekend. Reminder: It is currently retrograde season AND eclipse season. And October starts off bumpy as all get-out. I know I keep saying it, but again, we’re still in the thick of the FINISH HIM transit, so review (especially the first half of) my recent livestream to get some support for weathering it all.
As always, you are a treasure and I’m so very lucky to have you in my life. THANK YOU for sharing this work with me. So much love flowing your way!
❤️
I feel the love, Judy! Thank you!
I booked a role in a film and the shoot day is the 20th for my scene so I’ll be so sad to miss you all. Love you all so much! <3
Yayayayayayayayay YOU for the booking and YAY THEM for getting you and BOO us for missing you but YAY us for being so excited for you!!!!!!!!!! Love you tons!
Congrats, Kellye!!! So thrilled for you!!!
Congrats Kellye sounds spectacular! ❤️
Thank you Judy! Hope you’re doing well-miss seeing your sweet face! <3
Sending hugs, Bon!
RECEIVED. Thank you, sweet Aaron. You’re wonderful.
Heads up, y’all: This is unrelated to any EC stuff, but important to ping. LinkedIn is getting into AI shenanigans. There’s a new setting allowing them to use all your data for generative AI training… and it’s automatically turned on. Here’s a walkthrough to turn it off: https://www.vopreneur.com/blog/are-you-training-linkedins-ai
As always, big thanks for the share!
They changed my shoot day so I am suddenly available tomorrow–yay!! See y’all then!
YAY! It was so great to see you!