Why You Should Become A Paid Subscriber
By Becoming A Paid Member, You Build A Better World. For You and I.
I just passed the 1,000 subscriber mark here on Substack! First off, thank you all for those who subscribed! This tells me there’s a tremendous value in the ideas conveyed here, so thank you.
That being the case, I’d like to take this time to orient everyone to what this publication is about, but more specifically, why you should become a paid member. There’s a lot of grounds to become one, but I’ll focus on the top three and place the rest of the reasons in the “appendix” of the article if you are still interested in reading. Here are the topics I’d like to touch on:
What this Substack is about.
This is a spiritual business.
The value you will be getting.
Before we dive into the article, I wanted to put forth the paraphrased passage from the 15th-century physician known as Paracelsus The Great:
“Faith is not mere belief, but an unwavering confidence based upon knowing. A faith that can move mountains and throw them into the oceans and to which everything is possible. Faith is a luminous star that leads the honest seeker into the mysteries of Nature. You must seek your point of gravity in God, put your trust in an honest, divine, sincere, and strong faith, and cling to it with your whole heart, soul, sense, and thought - full of love and confidence. If you possess such a faith, God (Wisdom) will not withhold His truth from you, but He will reveal His works to you credibly, visibly, and consolingly.”
Appendix: 4) “If the product is free, you are the product.” 5) In life, there is always an exchange. Nothing in life is free. 6) Spirituality is an intimate topic not reserved for everyone. 7) This is about building a new paradigm.
What this Substack is about
I recently updated my “About Me” page to reflect the who, what, and where of this page1. To provide my elevator pitch:
As the motto states, “exploring the spirituality within material reality,” Unorthodoxy is a publication that provides its readers a unique, spiritual perspective to view reality.
If we only look at events and occurrences from the material view, we only see one side of the story.
But if we can see both sides of reality, material and spiritual, we begin to see things with a new perspective.
This new perspective can offer us insights, thought processes, and ideas from which we can now shape, mold, and create our personal affairs.
The publication Unorthodoxy is built off of my upcoming book, A Unorthodox Truth. The overall premise of my book is that humanity has undergone a cultural shift in the last two hundred years, where we stopped looking at life from the spiritual perspective.
This is damaging for one, we essentially start humanity over instead of relying on the insights of old, but two, we lose the meaning of what it is to be human, what it is to live, and so on.
By reconnecting with our ancient spiritual past but taking advantage of the technologies and advances of our present, we can create a future where everyone can live to their fullest potential.
But we can only obtain this if we see reality from a clear view, which is why we need to see reality from the material view and the spiritual view.
This is a Spiritual Business
After releasing my article on The Fed’s Three-Year Plan to Bring Pain To Americans2, I asked myself, “What would I do to avoid this pain? How can I take control of my life so that other’s plans don’t affect me? How can I be in control?” I had just finished reading “The Personal MBA,” which was incredible timing. I knew I wanted my Substack to be more than a regular business. I wanted it to be successful, which meant income generating. Still, later on, when I came across Taleb’s work on “Antifragile,” I started to see things differently. First, let’s define what a business is:
To roughly paraphrase The Personal MBA, every successful business:
Creates and delivers something of value…
That other people want or need…
At a price they’re willing to pay…
In a way that satisfies the customer’s needs and expectations…
So that the business brings in enough profit to make it worthwhile for the owners to continue operation.
So the business of Unorthodoxy is to:
Provide spiritual insights that you want worth the price you pay, allowing me to continue to provide these insights.
In my article on Esoteric Philosophy, Part Two3, I reference Alex’s work on how money is a spiritual resource created to help humanity move forward. However, it has been corrupted as of recently. It wasn’t until I picked up Antifragile that I saw the spirituality of business.
If money is the tool to help humanity move forward, business is the vehicle in which that money moves forward. It’s how the human species interacts and accounts for so many factors, but ultimately, if done right, business can propel humanity forward.
So, to make this a viable spiritual business, I need to:
Provide you valuable insights that ultimately assist you spiritually.
Ensure that these insights are worthwhile.
If I am doing a good job, business will naturally grow.
I’d like to close this section with two of my favorite quotes from Richard Grove that I repeat to myself daily:
“Synchronicity: nature approves of this endeavor.”
“Fortune favors the bold.”
The value you will be getting
To close, ultimately, you will get access to spiritual insights frequently. We’ve used this word often throughout this article, but here’s my experience to paint a picture of what I term spiritual.
I grew up Pentecostal Christian, and once I was mature enough, I had to come to terms with how the bible was manipulated for territorial and empire gain. However, as I began studying the early Christians (gnostic alchemists), I started to see how the early Christians really grew in their understanding of what they called God. When looking at Eastern philosophy and the mythical aspect of the Abrahamic religions (e.g., Kabalah, Sufism), they all say the same thing before the manipulation. I aim to continue the work of the early gnostic alchemists, like Paracelsus, whose quote is the opening passage to this article, and to show how the Divine is in nature and everything we do.
“Although a pious Christian, Paracelsus’s concept of the absolute is not the divine intellect of a paternal God, but the mysterium magnum (“great mystery”), the source from which all things issue and to which all things return…”
With my model, I will publish many free material in all my sections (i.e., professional growth, current events, etc.). However, I’m looking to grow my member-only publications so much more. This includes:
More Note Style Publications based on how and when synchronicity strikes (trust me, this is a lot, and now I have a reason to put them out there for those to see). Shorter articles, right to the point.
Podcasts on the ideas that words simply can’t do justice. Sometimes, trying to elaborate on ideas doesn’t come together well, but orating it is as close to the original thought as possible. This will definitely be member-only as this will be live, raw, unfiltered revelations.
In the past, I used to think that I’d have to write an article to deliver these topics. But by streamlining this information to those looking for it, I could produce more insights with greater efficiency. Ultimately, these can lead to more in-depth analysis of topics being delivered faster than the current idea-to-article process.
Ultimately, the value here is that the insights I discover will resonate with your spirits. And since this is a spiritual reality that we manifest and experience physically, as you get these insights, they will rest within your spirit. And as they align with your spirit, you begin to experience them in your life as they manifest physically.
These insights are practical, not for entertainment purposes.
Suppose I discuss the phenomenon of imagination and how I was able to use imagination to solve or plan for x, y, and z, and I describe to you how I was able to do so. In that case, the hope is that you simply don’t go, “Cool story, bro.” The goal is to look for some time in your day to imagine what problem you’re solving, the idea you’re looking for, etc.
If we all start to go into the divine for real insights and begin to live the holy in all we do, we first start to change. Once we begin to change, then others around us begin to change. Once families are, then we can start to transform communities.
This is how real change occurs from the bottom up.
Recommended Reading: Why We Need To Stop Voting In Presidential Elections
Thank You!
Thanks again for the time and attention. If you haven’t already, I invite you to upgrade to become a paid member. I’ll be releasing my newest member-only article, “How to Use Your Brain,” and I’d be looking for some feedback. Here’s the link to become a paid member.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thank you again, and I hope our paths meet again on this journey of life.
Appendix
If The Product is Free, then You are the Product.
I heard this phrase in the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma.” The background was that all of these social media apps are given to the users for free because the users are ultimately what the social media apps want. They want their location, pictures, and information because they can then take that and sell it.
Within the Personal MBA, and recently again in life, I’ve encountered mental models. Mental models are essentially principles about how the world works. To me, by mixing the professional realm with the spiritual realm, mental models are like parables or old wise sayings. I would argue that this phrase, “If the product is free, then you are the product,” serves as a mental model, a principle of our reality.
If I were to apply that to my substack, though I have over 1000 subscribers, less than 5% are paying members. From a business perspective, this doesn’t provide the financial value, therefore, can’t be sustained. And while yes, I have 1k subscribers, that’s about as tangible as one can say. I can simply tell Substack: “Here’s the product of 1K members I have.”
Now granted, this is simply looking at this view from a spiritual lens (so don’t unsubscribe!), but I hope this drives the point I want to make. I will always make free content because I want others to view my work and pique their interest. But ultimately, to continue to do this, to push me spiritually, and to grow you, the reader, spiritually, there needs to be an exchange.
In life, there is always an exchange. Nothing is free.
I imagine we’ve heard the quote that energy is neither created nor destroyed, only transferred. This mental model contains a universal truth to it. First, I must show my deepest gratitude to everyone for giving their time and attention. As I’ve written, that alone is immensely valuable, especially on the spiritual plane.
But since we operate in this physical plane, this is where the value of money comes from.
Money is the physical exchange of time, value, and attention rolled into one, which is a precious gift. And so with that, I now have an obligation to take that current or currency and make with it something that I can now return to you that enriches you. The cycle continues as Nature intended it.
One of the lessons I’ve learned as I’ve studied the great mystery schools of antiquity is that this exchange was also needed back then. Time and attention were required of the disciples, monks, students, etc., to gain an understanding of reality. Such valuable knowledge should not be given freely because it ultimately dilutes the product. However, this should be reserved for those who “pay” for it (e.g., time, attention, money, etc.)
By exploring all of the free content within my site, one will get a fair understanding of the spiritual realm. However, there is a time factor, which I have paid within the past couple of years. The value of currency exchanges that.
Spirituality is an intimate topic not reserved for everyone.
If I were to sum up my spiritual belief practice (I dislike using the word “belief”), I would say this:
In this reality, we are all part of the divine and have unique experiences of reality. However, we are all connected divinely and spiritually.
This means that when we sit down and go deep inside, 1) we’re all the same source, and 2) the illumination we individually get from the divine benefits us all.
For example, suppose I’m going about my day and have a synchronistic moment leading to an insightful revelation. I take time to capture that insight into an article and share that with you. The exact circumstances in which the event happened to me may not apply to you; however, the spiritual insight you gained enlightens your experience of the divine.
Essentially, as I experience reality more and more and as I’m able to see the divine in reality more and more, my goal is to take these lessons and capture the essence of them and deliver it to you all so that those same spiritual gold enriches your experience within this reality.
As you can imagine, what will be written will be incredibly intimate and personal (not that intimate), but:
These topics and insights are only reserved for those who take part in these matters (e.g., growing spiritually) seriously and
These will be applicable and illuminating insights, but only for those who value them.
I would argue that this is what the mystery schools of the past were founded upon. The mysteries of the universe are for everyone; however, 1) everyone must pay the price, and 2) everyone’s experience of the divine will be incredibly intimate but somehow enriching to everyone else, connecting us spiritually and divinely.
This is what the price of admission will entail.
This is about building a new Paradigm.
Having accomplished much success in this “traditional” way of thinking (i.e., climbing the corporate ladder, acquiring “assets,” etc.), I see where the traditional way of living is set up to go. I see the benefits, but unfortunately, since this reality’s foundation has been wrong from the start (i.e., based on a greed-backed system), it won’t be heading in the right direction.
However, we can take the lessons that worked really well in the old paradigm and look to apply them into this new spiritual paradigm.
We’ve seen corporations rise from the bottom, acquiring resources and displaying market value (read my article on unfair advantage4). We know how to build sustainable businesses, and we understand how to deliver on profits. But what if we did the same thing spiritually? What if we began to create paradigms that produced financial results but also allowed for the growth of spiritual ideas? I have an article on how substack might just be that, but they’re just one example. Imagine taking this model to our healthcare fields, technology, and banking? This is a whole new way to view reality.
And that is what Unorthodoxy aims to build.
This isn’t like other platforms, where we’re about “how to live better, mediate better, etc.,” or tell you alternative facts, even though those are byproducts of what we do here. This is ultimately about how we grow better spirituality, no matter what race, religion, or credence we come from. How do we attain a touch from the divine, and how do we bring that down to our everyday lives, making a heaven on earth?
This is possible, and Unorhtoodxy is here as the test pilot.
About Me: https://unorthodoxy.substack.com/about