I’m writing at a time when Tony Robbins, the well-known personal development guru is being slammed all over the internet for disparaging the #MeToo movement. A video has gone viral which was taken at one of his events that shows a woman standing up to him on his views. So in this article, I will be examining Tony Robbins, #metoo and asking if this is a new opportunity for compassion.
We don’t know exactly what was said just before the video that started the whole discussion but the clip begins with audience member, Nanine McCool explaining to Robbins that he might have misunderstood what the #metoo movement was all about. Robbins quickly interrupts her and explains what he thinks the movement is all about – people holding onto victimhood and trying to gain significance.
Misunderstanding?
So far in the conversation, you can just about put a case that he hasn’t fully understood what the movement is about and that he is asking people to not hold on to the victimhood mentality as it doesn’t get them anywhere. He does state firmly that he believes some people are using this movement to attack people to gain “a drug called significance to make yourself feel good”.
At one point in the video, Robbins physically pushes McCool back several feet and tells her not to push back to demonstrate his point that pushing back never works. Perhaps he has used this exercise successfully before before but in this context the towering man over the much smaller woman being pushed by him came across as intimidating and in a way demonstrating what the #metoo movement is about: powerful men and women using their physicality to overpower and intimidate women and men who are not as strong as them.
Even so far, you may characterise him as simply misunderstanding everything.
Victim/ Perpetrator Confusion?
Yet if you look at what he says next, there is no doubt that he believes the #metoo movement is bad. He explains that he knows powerful men, dozens of them apparently, who are not hiring well-qualified women over their male, less-qualified counterparts because the women are so attractive that they are seen as too much of a risk.
Amazing! Apart from the fact that he is basically describing illegal, discriminatory practices, he is confirming so much of what women already suspect – that we are judged on our looks and perhaps other factors such as fertility over and above whether or not we can actually do the job.
It is this statement of Robbins that is particularly offensive. It might also suggest that he himself has perpetrated some acts that he may not feel so comfortable with speaking up about. In fact, earlier in the video he tries to get the room on board with him by getting people to raise their hand if they have done something that they feel guilty about. I am personally not aware of any accusations against Robbins of any kind so this is purely a speculation based on his behaviour in this clip.
The Nature of Victimhood
Image: Shutterstock
I have personally never been drawn to his brand of personal development and his courses of any sort, although I did read one of his books years ago. I do recognise that in general, he seems to help a lot of people.
But in this article, I wish to discuss the earlier statements in the viral video with Nanine McCool – that he recommends that we do not stay in victimhood because I think there are many opportunities here to understand how to be more compassionate with each other.
When saying that people, shouldn’t choose victimhood, Robbins is talking about people who are victims of sexual assault and harassment. The woman who stood up to him, McCool, actually made a video on Youtube in which she described how she was sexually abused as a child. In fact, she demonstrates how much she has not stayed in victimhood because she is strong enough to have stood up to him.
But even if she was dwelling on things, does Robbins really suggest that as a person who was molested as a child that she should have immediately brushed it off and moved on? And that nobody should push back against child molesters and rapists because it doesn’t make us any safer?
The Shadow Self of Tony Robbins?
In the backlash against him, he has come out with something interesting that may be the key to not only understanding his behaviour that day but his whole philosophy. He said that he too was also molested as a child.
I think this may be the key to why he behaved in this way. I suddenly see a man in so much pain that he himself cannot process his own emotions. I haven’t said this publicly but part of the reason why I wrote The Genius Groove is that I saw a video with Tony Robbins in which he described how you shouldn’t dwell on your emotions and rise above them. This is the exact opposite of what my message is all about.
Facing the shadow
I have found over the years that unless you face these emotions when you are ready and strong enough to do so, they can have powerful effects on your life. We are actually a fabric of consciousness. I think that below the speed of light this consciousness can have charge and polarity. These are emotions and they are not some extraneous nebulous thing – they are who we are and they make up our very vibration. We all know from the law of attraction and sympathetic vibratory physics that like vibrations attract, so these vibrations are attracting what our lives are made up of.
So if we work on our emotions and truly resolve buried issues, from a vibrational perspective this will change the very fabric of who we are. But if you take Robbins’ advice you are just plastering over the cracks. It may work for a while but after some time your buried emotions will resurface.
Elevation and avoidance
Putting all this together I think perhaps Robbins is working from a place of severe avoidance of his own pain. He is telling everyone not to go into victimhood because he cannot connect to his own victimhood. He has learnt a strategy of not dealing with his emotions but elevating himself and pushing himself harder rather than facing those shadow aspects.
In a way, this reflects his whole career – to make a different ‘choice’, rather than face the shadow. His whole teachings can be seen in a new light of pushing himself into an elevated state in order to escape the pain of his own abuse. That might be why he reacted so badly because facing the true victimisation of people who have been abused and are standing up and discussing it, would be like facing himself and that is too painful. So perhaps that is why he interrupted McCool so quickly.
An opportunity for compassion
Image: Pixabay
In any case, it is a lesson for all of us that we need to truly understand each other. If someone has indeed been the victim of sexual assault, they are indeed a victim (at the 3D level in any case). They have had something done to them which they have no control over. It is up to them how they heal and it is is going to be different for everyone. Nobody can tell them that they need to get out of victimhood if they need more time to heal.
And if, because of our current changing attitudes, that person is emboldened to speak out against the perpetrator who has, after all, committed a crime, then we should support them, not slam the victim. Robbins is actually making the people accused of the assault and even the ones interviewing people for jobs into the victims. The victims of beautiful women trying to get a job and of being caught out for what they have actually done. Don’t forget we are speaking about the perpetrators of crimes here – job discrimination and sexual assault. Yet the actual victims of the crimes he shows no sympathy for in this clip.
I am glad that this has come to light for many reasons. Maybe Robbins will now actually take the time to understand the #metoo movement and has indeed pledged this. He has also modelled for us some of the prevailing attitudes that some people brush incidents of sexual assault under the carpet and blame the victim when they try and stand up.
I suspect also, as I outlined earlier, that due to his own abuse when he was a child he is avoiding facing his shadow emotions about this. Perhaps this is compounded by feeling that, as a man, he is unable to face his emotions about his abuse as many other men also feel unable to do.
The End of Ra Ra?
I think the way to move forward is not to vilify Robbins but to maybe understand where he might be coming from – his own emotional landscape and drives and how he is mirroring certain attitudes in our society. We need to make it safer for men and women to come forward and face when they have been sexually abused otherwise, they may not just want to put a cap on their own emotions but shut up anybody else who might trigger them.
Image: Shutterstock
Exploring emotions are the key to moving forward. So maybe this is the death of the Ra Ra when it means elevating your mood and attitude as an act of denial of emotional shadow. Papering over the cracks of your emotions and pretending they don’t exist is not going to work because, like with Robbins, they will eventually rise up to the surface to be looked at just as his emotional shadow has now.
I know this is a controversial topic and I appreciate respectful comments below.
The recent death of Professor Stephen Hawking has affected many people. Since the success of his best-selling book, A Brief History of Time in the 1980s, Hawking came to symbolise science itself and an archetypical ‘clever person’ with mysterious knowledge of the universe. That he had to overcome great difficulties due to a debilitating illness seemed to add to his charisma.
But it was not his public image that I was interested in but his science. Stephen Hawking had pioneering ideas about black holes that would profoundly affect me. So in the article, I wish to discuss the topic of Stephen Hawking and me.
Public Image vs Science
I never met him and I didn’t particularly wish to either. For me, he didn’t hold the glamour that he did for so many. Of course, I saw him as a courageous person who despite his physical situation, stood up for human rights and used his celebrity to draw attention to various causes and I admired him for that.
The general public saw him as the greatest scientist of our era. In the minds of many scientists, it was a different picture; he was seen a great science writer and communicator but most of what he wrote about in his best-selling books and his TV series was not his own ideas but the prevailing views in science that he elegantly and wittily conveyed to the public. You could argue that his greatest legacy was his substantial wit.
A Rebel Idea
But there was something else that in the furore over his celebrity that often gets overlooked. He was one of the first people to say that something could escape the vicinity of a black hole, thus daring to challenge orthodox concepts. He described his discovery in his famous book, A Brief History of Time and how the insight came to him as he was getting ready for bed in the early 1970s.
Back then, the concept of a black hole was fairly new. It was thought that they are dark, guzzling monsters ready to suck in everything in their path. Hawking realised that the quantum vacuum also exists in the vicinity of black holes. Virtual particles cycle from light to matter and antimatter and back again, just as in the rest of the universe.
He postulated that one of the particles may fall in and the other may be radiated out, which contradicted the concept that nothing could escape from black holes. Hawking realised that they weak radiation could escape black holes. This is called Hawking radiation and it was this concept that would provide one of the stepping stones for The Black Hole Principle.
The Path Begins
One day when I was browsing through a Waterstones bookstore in Hampstead, a book dropped off the shelf in front of me. It was called The Nature of Space and Time by Stephen Hawking and Roger Penrose. I bought the book but was unable to understand much of the technical text.
Nevertheless, the incident made me look more into Hawking radiation. Later, when I had the vision which gave me The Black Hole Principle, I knew I was looking at Hawking radiation in action.
I knew, however, it wasn’t due to the destructive nature of black holes (which is a false concept) but their creative properties. At the edge of a black hole, particles of light split into antimatter and matter and are seen as radiation.
This indeed correlates with the data we glean from telescopes – matter and antimatter coming from the centre of galaxies at near light speeds and we measure streams of electrons come from the edge of a black hole. Although this is similar to Hawking radiation, he expected it to be much weaker.
A Lost Opportunity?
Nobel prizes are given once a prediction about the universe has been proven by observation. In my opinion, the evidence for Hawking radiation has been staring us in the face but nobody else has put the pieces together.
For many years I have finished my workshops by saying that we have just won Stephen Hawking the Nobel prize. Sadly I never got to tell him and he never did win the Nobel prize. He leaves this earthly plane not knowing just how right he was.
There he was: an unassuming, humble man telling anyone who would listen about his crystal technology. He even had photographs of the crystals he was growing in his laboratory, but I must admit I did not know whatI was looking at. Little did I know that he was about to change my life.
This was April 2001, in Albuquerque, New Mexico USA at a conference on science and consciousness. He gave me a copy of his article and I packed it in my suitcase along with the signed copies of books by William Tiller, Lawrence Fagg and a then relatively unknown author called David Hatcher Childress.
It was only when I got home and looked at the paper that I realised this unassuming man, who wasn’t even a speaker at the conference, was on to a really big scientific idea. His words resonated with me and made me feel like I was trying to remember something.
The man’s name was John Milewsksi and the concept that got my attention was that light comes out of black holes and creates all the forces of the universe. He called the light, Superlight and explained that there was one source: one force.
Background to Dr Milewski
I later found out some of the background to Dr Milewski. He is a retired Los Alamos National Lab scientist who is an internationally recognized leader in his field of Advanced Materials with more than 42 publications and 30 patents. He has several degrees in Chemical Engineering, a Masters in Metallurgy and a PhD in Ceramic Engineering. He is a former employee at Exxon Research Center and at Thiokol Chemical, Rocket Engine Division.
He is also an entrepreneur who founded his own research company called Superkinetic, Inc. to work on a revolutionary electric light bulb which uses a single-crystal-fibre filament, a permanent exhibit at the Smithsonian American History Museum.
For some years he has been known on the lecture circuit speaking on Ormus which is another area of his expertise and there are several videos online of him apparently making gold in a microwave.
Despite his credentials, I feel he is someone who just isn’t getting the recognition that he should be probably because of his understanding of the spiritual dimensions of the universe and how intrinsic they are to the way the universe works.
I saw him lecturing some years later and told him that his work had inspired me. I have emailed him since, hoping to send him a copy of Punk Science but received no reply. In my mind, he is one of the unsung heroes of science.
The Big Idea
Taking inspiration from the work of William Tiller who realised that the solution to Maxwell’s equations involving imaginary numbers, could have implications for our world. Normally we leave out the solutions that arise from the square root of a negative number which is called imaginary numbers in mathematics.
But Professor Tiller realised this could be describing a different type of radiation; whereas normal light is electromagnetic radiation then there is another solution that gives magneto-electric radiation or Superlight.
Superlight has a strong magnetic component and travels at the speed of light squared.
Milewski theorised that black holes are a source of Superlight radiation. He believes that Superlight is the singularity and the source of all forces in physics including gravity.
This is a quote from his paper on Gravity.
Gravity is not an attraction! It is the result of a universal pressure, exerted by SuperLight as it rains in from infinity, from all directions, onto every object.
When I had the vision that gave me The Black Hole Principle, my ideas diverged from that of Milewski’s in that I think the singularity of transcendent light is beyond that of the c2 but his concept of the one source: one force is true for the black hole principle too.
I think for me he is one of the unsung heroes of science because he correctly deduced that light comes out of black holes and creates all the forces of physics.
He definitely helped to inspire me. Who do you think are the unsung heroes and heroines of science? Please comment below and let me know. I may just feature them in a future article.
You probably can’t help but notice that in the last decade or so there has been a rise in what is called The Digital Nomad. This is when a person has a lifestyle that is location independent. People work from a laptop whilst travelling the world.
It is all about freedom and I have indeed geared my own life towards location independence myself. I have also been observing others who are living the digital nomad lifestyle and have come to understand a few things in relation to The Genius Groove so in this article we shall look at Digital Nomad vs The Genius Groove.
1. Travel in of itself is not your Genius Groove.
First, let’s get this out of the way. Travel can be wonderful; I would never tell anyone not to travel. It is one of the best ways to really transform who you are as you experience different cultures. This is especially true if you never left your country of origin whilst you were a child. So travelling can be a form of personal development in itself.
Some people thrive on constant travel. But do I think travel of itself is a Genius Groove? No, I don’t. The Genius Groove is about bringing through your unique creativity and although aspects of travelling constantly may be very creative, as an activity, travelling in of itself probably doesn’t lead to much creativity.
It could enable something creative – maybe you write better on a beach in Bali or love to compose music on a plane, but I don’t think the act of travelling is a person’s main Genius Groove, although it is very important. You are not creating, as such, just by moving your physical body from one place to another.
2. The Constant Search vs The Genius Groove.
It is said that to perfect any skill you need at least 10,000 hours of practice. I have discussed in the book The Genius Groove at length of how those who feel connected to the field in a particular activity are more likely to actually put in those hours.
To really be in your Genius Groove is actually quite focused. From having a wide range of activities suddenly someone may do one or two activities a day. And they are happy to be that way because they have found their joy. It is this that keeps people going even when the going gets tough.
But what I have sometimes witnessed of digital nomadism is the opposite – a constant experimenting with many different activities. And while that is absolutely wonderful and a type of creativity in itself, I get the sense that the people doing this are actually searching for a connection to something.
So they are trying on lots of hats to see what will fit, which is great and it is so wonderful that they can do this but it is not The Genius Groove. Being in The Genus Groove is often about practising a few activities for long periods of time. By doing this, the connection builds up to the point where the activity seems effortless.
I know in my own life, initially when I did talks I would feel a flutter of excitement and nervousness. Now I know that when I get talking – something kicks in and I am in the zone. It is through sheer years of practice and focus that my connection to the field has becomes so strong that I know I can just speak and something will come.
That deep practice for years to hone my art is the opposite of the experimentation that can accompany digital nomadism. Again there is nothing wrong with it at all – I am simply saying that this is not necessarily the same as being in your Genius Groove.
A Groovy Nomad?
So is there a way that you can be in your Genius Groove and be a Digital Nomad? Of course, you can be location independent and have a Genius Groove that you can do on the road and that pays money enough to sustain this lifestyle – even if that means a few hundred dollars a month because you’re living in Bangkok.
But just because someone is a digital nomad, it does not mean they have found nirvana and know who they truly are. Also just because someone is in their Genius Groove and remain close to their collection of grand pianos because this is where they feel joy, it doesn’t make them less than someone who travels.
Our connection to the universe occurs from within our own souls and that can happen from anywhere in the world (or universe). Our spirituality is truly location independent! So the digital nomad trend, although fantastic, is also a stepping stone for us to transition to a life where everybody is in their creativity and Genius Groove and living the way they want to.
What is it that happens when we step into our creativity? In this article, we shall look at embracing your creative journey actually creates a new way of living that is like tapping into a Bigger Magic from before the dawn of time.
Elizabeth Gilbert’s interesting assertion
As you may have seen me discuss before, Elizabeth Gilbert has released an amazing book called ‘Big Magic’ which brilliantly describes the creative process. Although the book does not provide any scientific mechanism for how the creative process works, the way she describes creativity very much fits The Genius Groove.
She has personally discovered that creative ideas sit outside of the self and partner with us in order to be birthed into the world. She also said something else that made me realise perhaps there is bigger magic at play in the world that she may not know about.
During the book, she clearly says that you should not ask for your creativity to financially support you to pay the bills. If it ends up doing so, as in her case, then fine but she believes that she is an exception, not the rule. In other words, she asks you to not follow your passion as your career which is the opposite of the advice of many others.
Stepping onto my true path
This was very interesting to me. Those of you who have read The Genius Groove will know that I was catapulted onto my current career path, after a series of events which ended with me leaving a career in medicine. I did not intend to suddenly leave the medical profession in that way. My ex-husband and my parents made a case to the General Medical Council that I was not mentally fit after I separated from my husband, citing my multidimensional abilities as evidence.
I myself would have liked to have carried on working part-time in General Practice whilst writing on the side. Hand on heart though, I know I would not have been able to fully commit to the new book and a new way of living had I stayed in such a fear-based paradigm as medicine. The whole setup is to fix people who are ill therefore this is a paradigm that says that illness is a problem, not a learning experience and that it should be eliminated rather than understood.
Dipping in and out of this paradigm on a regular basis would realistically have meant that Punk Science would have been written in a very different way, if it had been written at all. But back in 2002, my immediate question was, how would my creativity support me? Well the answer is, I somehow did get supported. Partly through my repentant ex-husband when I moved back into my house after the loss of my job. I paid my personal expenses through healing clients and talks and it was always just enough to keep me going, whilst he paid the mortgage.
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The Road to Abundance
Eventually, I met my current partner, James who has in fact invested a lot of time and money into supporting my career because he believed in what I was doing. For me, the situation has been less than ideal as I would have preferred to have fully supported myself, but I have realised that somehow, yet again my creativity has been supported. I noticed that bigs shifts came when I started really believeing in myself and what I had to say in the world.
So I somehow have managed to survive what should have been a catastrophic loss for many years now. I have also lived an incredible life by following my creativity. I have been flown around the world to speak at conferences and met many wonderful people. It seemed the more I let go of, the more wonderful experiences came my way. So the very thing that should not have supported me has in fact brought me great abundance in terms of experiences and enough financially to carry on doing what I am doing.
Living the New Paradigm
I have found that other people too are stepping onto this path. They are leaving conventional professional careers and are somehow managing in a way that they could not have imagined whilst still in the straight-jacketed career and dependent on the monthly paycheck.
Very few are earning enough to retire to the Bahamas, but that isn’t what a lot of them want anyway. Usually, they just want to earn enough to cover their basic bills and expenses so that that are free to be creative and to follow their mission. In the book, The Genius Groove I call this way of life New Paradigm Living but really it does defy explanation or rules.
What is interesting is that this way of living does exist and it seems to unfold once a person has really committed to their creative path and their spirituality. It is almost as if people slip through the cracks of the rules of 3-dimensional life whilst still living within it, tapping into a bigger magic from before the dawn of time!
Another thing I have noticed is that when people flounce out of their previous lives saying they are going to ‘make art’, they do not necessarily enter this state of New Paradigm Living. It seems to be entered into in a centred way, when the way is made clear, rather than when the ego self wants it to happen.
Conclusion and further information
So Elizabeth Gilbert I disagree with you. Sometimes by committing to your path and your authenticity in a centred way, a different path opens up. The universe can show you a different dimension, a slip door in the back of the wardrobe: the bigger magic from before the dawn of time.
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