Align Your Orbit: You Don't Need a Sword to Slay

Align Your Orbit is a monthly series of philosophical and somatic experiments to guide you toward intentionality and impact in your daily life. These are games to inspire intuition, so please adapt the offerings to fit you and find delight in how you engage.

Revolution doesn’t immediately mean bloody battlefields. In fact, the battles often take place within us as we fight internalized social pressures while nurturing our own healing.

Remember that all press is good press. Rather than give power to the systems that we know aren’t working, let’s shake them with our own disbelief in their success. Play big and live small even and especially if it frustrates the capitalistic mob.

Want to experience this month’s offerings as a Spotify playlist?

*phrase lifted from the song “F*ck a Bomb” by Hey Steve

Experiments for September

1.      Big Magic – If you find yourself holding back from using your most potent objects, spells, energies, and efforts, what are you waiting for? Identity what would be important enough to spend that energy and make sure you don’t miss those opportunities. Determine the thresholds that beg for your energetic savings account. 

Challenge Mode: While big magic is exciting, small daily magics that manifest in your everyday choices accumulate to dramatic change. More often than not, your day-to-day magics create lasting transformation. Find a way to balance both cosmic and microcosmic experiences this month.

2.      Position and Amplify – Identify methods of access others have to you, whether that’s professionally or personally. Which of those methods are working for you? Which need some massaging to function properly? While you draw lines to avoid specific types of contact, don’t completely wall off. Where would you miss the mess?

Challenge Mode: When certain skillsets come easily for you, it’s tempting to offer your abilities to the rest of the world for free. What comes naturally is often your most valuable magic. While accessibility is an important consideration, you may also want to timebox help you are able and willing to offer. In what ways does stating the possible need for a future boundary make it easier to set one?

3.      Realms of Belief – What worlds are there for you beyond the world of literal human consensus reality? Determine how you believe those worlds ripple through each other and where they are inaccessible. Draw a diagram of those realms and write out your access to each. What do you think is beyond worlds you feel you know?

Challenge Mode: If you can travel from one realm of belief to another (perhaps between the literal and the metaphorical), analyze when this ability is most helpful for you. When do you need to disbelieve? When do you travel with others? Explore the ways you can source comfort and sanctuary in the realm of the literal.

4.      Shrink – If you start feeling frustrated, full of despair, or envious of what everyone else seems to have, escape those destructive cycles of thought by seeking out something that makes you feel small. Whether you find yourself in a large forest, at the top of a mountain, or underneath a sky scraper, remember that humanity is only a small piece of what makes the world go round. And if you want a fun and theatrical philosophical pondering on envy, check out this Contrapoints video.

Challenge Mode: While it is beneficial to find physical experiences that make you feel small, you can also seek conceptual expansion from your couch. Instead of asking algorithms to give you something you like, go deeper in a direction not even Facebook ads could anticipate. Grab hold of something far from your comfort zone.

Please tell us how these experiments are working for you!

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Andra’s Recap of August’s Experiments

The offerings for August included shaking social pressures, alchemizing relationships, rediscovering fears, and acknowledging evolution.

I did some intense reevaluation of the ways in which I’ve internalized social expectations around socializing, gender identity, and what is “normal.” Though it’s still a struggle, I faced my own fears around being too different, too weird, and made sure that I was prioritizing my own comfort. I also really appreciated the ways that Philosophy Tube covered a number of these topics in her video on Food, Beauty, and Mind.

One of the most potent ways that I took care of myself this month happened while camping out with a group of friends in one friend’s backyard. When the conversation did not feel nourishing to me, I chose to read a book, stretch, do yoga, or retreat exactly when I needed to. While I worried what this might make people think about me, I shrugged that sensation off and felt better for doing so.

In contemplating the ingredients that go into relationships, I honestly found myself discouraged by how difficult it is to feel comfortable showing up to new friendships as “damaged goods.” It’s difficult to remember that everyone is coming to an interaction with baggage when I require more support than usual. It’s something I’m still working on. However, I was able to interact with the people I trust and respect in my friend group and seek out advice and life stories from them in ways that will continue to support my own growth. I felt that this practice deepened those relationships in profound ways.

In terms of facing my fears, I continued working with my arachnophobia and traveled down paths I would have otherwise avoided. I also worked on my fear of letting people down when I decided I shouldn’t go to a wedding because I would be driving 10 hours on very little sleep. Though my cousin was disappointed, I think it worked out for the best.

I also read Dawn by Octavia Butler, which spends the first five chapters talking about how the main character needs to get over her biological fear of an alien race. It was an amazing experience, and I highly recommend the book.

In continuing the process of healing the trauma in my body, I have set important boundaries with family members and chosen to break cycles of toxic parenting as I work toward having a baby with my girlfriend. We have enjoyed identifying traits we absolutely do not want to pass on and nurturing those we do. It is some of the most important work we can do as individuals.

We hope you enjoy September’s experiments!