The Thickness Between Us

Carmen Studer has spent six and a half years studying narcissism from the inside, and she arrives with a map: four ways it gets in — the slow fall, the false promise, the weak point, the sudden temptation. I arrive with a folder.A narcissist renders a thicker reality than yours. You don't fall for their cruelty, you fall for how they see you — and you want them to own the room, because being owned is the only way you've ever been that beautiful. Then you start owning the folder yourself, and the love bombing stops. Not because they turned. Because you got thick.From there: why the victim is love bombing the narcissist too, why Sam Vaknin is the charlatan of narcissism rather than its ninth level, why a black belt is a fraud, why you take up smoking so you're allowed to be alone, and why the wound that ruins your marriage is the one that makes you an artist. We end on what love might look like when the sovereign individual is strong enough not to need the old arrangement — and on the only advice worth giving: I trust you to fuck this up completely.Chapters00:00 Afternoon land, and hell has levels02:04 The Hall of Mirrors — you can't see the mask you're wearing03:41 Narcissism is a spectrum, not a label06:04 Carmen's six years, and the night the boundaries moved inside07:35 A word from our sponsor: Divorce08:50 Four ways it gets in10:33 The narcissist renders a thicker reality11:51 Innocence that owns the room, and the wish to possess it13:09 Sam Vaknin, the dark triad, and the fourth thing16:20 The slow fall is the overtaking of the folder18:33 The victim is love bombing the narcissist too22:03 Your suffering is a painting, not a testimony27:16 Husbandry — "I am too much of a person to be a husband"30:26 Bamboo dragons: the wound that paid better34:06 Why the love bombing stops38:35 Smoking as a boundary you couldn't hold yourself45:45 Vapors of victimhood, and why a black belt is a fraud47:20 Ignorance, fear, anger — the prana economy underneath52:19 The future of love: sovereignty, matriarchy, clan58:41 There is no greater wisdom than embodied wisdomFind Carmen: ⁨@CarmenSmithStuder⁩ Find @JamesTrueTheme Music by @jarue369https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RkZkJ0F43o

In 2023 Jason broke his back and found out he has near end-stage osteoporosis. Since then he has been making paintings and music from a hospital bed, recording everything on his cell phone. He paints as PowerFOOL ThunderCLOWNS, a name he took from the Heyoka, the sacred fool who walks back into the village in disguise to shake it awake.We talk about pain as a practice rather than a problem: how limitation made the best work of his life, why the best songs are the ones too hard to listen to, and how the blues grew out of the field songs. We get into why unfair pain goes further than fair pain once you alchemize it, and why witnessing someone's pain beats trying to fix it. And maybe bliss is just pain we haven't practiced enough yet.Find Jason as PowerFOOL ThunderCLOWNS. Subscribe to the Dojo Earth podcast on any podcast platform or on the Dojo Earth YouTube channel.**Chapters** (fine-tune after the new transcript)0:00 Intro1:36 A broken back and a hospital-bed studio5:00 The Heyoka and the awakening9:29 What pain looks like in color16:55 Screaming into the void20:13 God as the most intense pain23:44 The blues, field songs and Elvis31:03 Everyone's pain scale is their own35:06 The pain church43:08 Choosing to stay49:03 Christ and unfair pain52:26 A new word for pain58:58 OutroFind Jason El:Substack: https://powerfoolthunderclown.substack.comInsta: https://www.instagram.com/powerfoolthunderclown/Find @JamesTrue on YouTubeTheme Music by @jarue369https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RkZkJ0F43o

Lori spent seven years walking the rainbow, one colour a year, and got stuck on yellow. They taught her the yellow ray was love. She couldn't square it. Isn't the heart love?Maybe not. The heart has the fewest neurons of any organ you own — fewer than the gut, fewer than the retina. Love needs enough mind to grasp that something is precious; without that it's only attraction. So the heart can't quite do it. What the heart has instead is innocence: crucified between a cross of bones, electrocuted every second or so, bleeding for you over and over precisely because it is too simple to remember the last time. That stupidity is a compliment. It's the whole design.And it has never once been noticed by the only thing whose attention would mean anything to it.So: name it. Not as a metaphor. Give your heart, your gut, your lungs, your retina each a name, because the moment you name a thing it knows when it's being spoken to — and that's the first step to finding the levers inside yourself you haven't located yet.Along the way: why there are no green stars, and what a concrete mind has to do with living somewhere lush. Why the locals in a beautiful place get so strange about being local — and why surviving a hurricane makes you instantly native, a geographical trauma bond. Cajun names, a town with no one left in it who shares its name, and a heritage built on exile. The ostrich feather on the scale, and why the grounded bird is the right one to weigh a heart. Why heart transplants shouldn't work and do, and what donors leave behind. Why blue LEDs took three decades longer to invent than red, what plants do when handed blue light, and what an orca sees instead of colour.It ends somewhere neither of us expected: that we learned to value gold, then money, then time — and that what we were actually after the whole way was qualia. Five minutes of the real thing over a hundred years of the other.Find Lori:Substack: https://reclaimbelonging.substack.comWebsite: https://www.reclaimbelonging.comFind @JamesTrue on YouTubeTheme Music by @jarue369https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7RkZkJ0F43o

What if being 'weird' is just the first step toward becoming truly individualized? In this deep-dive conversation, I sit down with Joel—a second-generation bagel shop owner from Portland, Maine—to explore the 'sanity fields' we build with others, the profound mechanics of 5-MeO-DMT, and why our triggers might actually be invitations to a higher orbit. We discuss the nature of pain as a tool for localization, the 'doula' for the triggered, and how to vibrate your plate clean of the matrix's residue. Join us for a journey into cellular consciousness, spirit, and the alchemy of finding yourself in a language-based society.

Whether you are angry at the machine or seeking a more sustainable way to thrive within it, this conversation frames our legal system through the lens of biology.We explore the premise that the legal world is a living, logic organism made of behavioral contracts built on molecular chemistry. We examine how we have moved past individual existence into a communal meta-organism:The Pigeon RubiconThe Motor of EnthusiasmEukaryotic cells are legal entitiesChimerism & RNA Contracts

In this episode of Dojo Earth, I'm joined by interior designer Veronica London to explore the deep, often invisible forces that shape the spaces we inhabit. We dive into the "shamanic" role of the designer, the relationship between consciousness and architecture, and how our homes serve as a resonator for our personal "vibe."Whether you're interested in the philosophy of beauty, the psychological impact of geometric shapes, or how to better align your environment with your internal state, this conversation offers a profound look at the alchemy of space

I’m joined by writer and thinker Kameron Primm for a deep exploration into the philosophy of language and the logos. We delve into Plato's Cratylus, discussing the eternal debate between arbitrary custom and the universal logos.From the etymology of "robot" to the "sigils" of scientific equations like E=MC², we examine how language acts as a tool for compression, conservation of energy, and collective sanity. We also challenge the modern definition of "scientism," exploring whether our empirical systems are actually a form of refined religion and how our unique ability to mimic has shaped human consciousness.Key Topics:The Cratylus debate: Hermogenes vs. CratylusWhy science might be the "non-fiction of language"The biological roots of meter and bird calls in speechArtificial Intelligence as a mirror for human neural programmingThe "mimicry" that separates us from other primates

In this episode of Dojo Earth, I’m joined by musician and performer Brad Lacey to explore the profound "magic work" that happens when we step onto a stage. We dive deep into the subtle art of reading the room, the symbiotic relationship between a performer and their audience, and the concept of "energy hecklers"—those subconscious responses we all have to changes in vibration.Brad shares his experiences from the "octagon" of restaurant gigs, where he navigates the delicate balance of providing ambiance while maintaining a centered presence. We also discuss the archetypal roots of stage fright, the true nature of genius, and how enthusiasm is often the ultimate act of rebellion in a society obsessed with staying "cool."

In this conversation, I'm joined by Thomas Silvani to explore the profound practice of Qigong and the transformative power of the "Animal Frolics." We dive deep into the three levels of Chi, the significance of the Dantians, and how mimicking the movements of animals like the Crane, Tiger, and Bear can help us find flow state and restore our natural vibrancy.Thomas shares insights from his book, discussing how these ancient techniques act as an "exit ramp" from the ego and a "meta-flow state" for the modern world. We also touch on the importance of imagination in practice and how simply noticing the breath of those around us can change the way we communicate.In this video, we discuss:The definition of Chi (Qi) and its three levels: Jing, Chi, and Shen.The three Dantians and how to center your energy.The Seven Animal Invocations: Snake, Tiger, Bear, Crane, Dragonfly, Monkey, and Deer.How to use animal archetypes to navigate daily challenges like stress and finances.The connection between Qigong, animism, and finding flow state.Connect with Thomas Silvani: Website: https://qigongonthego.com

In this conversation, I sit down with Jeran Campanella (known to many as Jeranism) to discuss his journey from being a prominent voice in the Flat Earth movement to his current perspective. We dive deep into his recent trip to Antarctica for "The Final Experiment," what he witnessed with his own eyes, and the fallout he has faced from the community he helped build for a decade.Jeran shares his thoughts on the "truth movement," the psychology of belief, and why he feels compelled to speak his truth—even when it means being labeled a heretic.In this video:The Antarctica Trip: What Jeranism saw and what it means.The psychology of the Flat Earth community and the "echo chamber."Why Jeranism is now questioning the Moon Landing and other conspiracies.The personal and financial cost of changing his mind publicly.A debate on Zetetics vs. Flat Earth.