Steve and Erin - Outside of the curve or Ahead of it?

[Athena]

Many of Steve's ideas are firey and independent.

He has strong energy, and in this phase of his life, when he is also connected to the higher source of energy and truth, his fire energy is shooting far ahead of the mass of society, in all dimensions of life.


Although Steve sees many of these ideas as 'outside of the mainstream',
I think they are more accurately termed as ahead of the mainstream.

Steve is more of a leader
than a hippie.


Because these ideas are strongly connected to truth and higher energy, it is certain that society will adopt these ideas with time. The truth of these ideas and connection to higher energies, expands to benefit and clarify many other dimensions of individual life and society as a whole.



There is also a natural progression of ideas, from the independent thinkers, innovators and leaders (Aries!) to niche boutique adopters (forums, small communities, etc), and is eventually communicated to, structures provided, and adopted by the mainstream and society.

Certain people in a population are calibrated (as in natural set point of thinking) at a certain place among the whole. A select few in a population are leaders, deriving energy from higher sources, values, principles, and independent thinking. Others are open to it, and filter these ideas down to the mainstream. Most people, the mass of the population, are content following others, and what is easy to do, when society accepts it and has the structures to accommodate it.

Those ideas that are connected to truth and higher energy, also have an expansion of benefit, and when the structures of thought and society can accommodate it, they become more widely accepted and become the standard of society as a whole.


So, Steve is not outside of a rigid society and mainstream, but ahead of a society that moves, sometimes slowly, towards truth in thought, action and being.

[Plato]

Steve isn't the only influential person around, and you can bet that not all influential people think the same things.

Take veganism as an example of one of Steve's life style choices. If the model of society you presented is true it's unlikely that veganism will ever become mainstream because there is so much advertising for meat and meat based products. Darkworkers have money invested in people buying meat... they aren't going to let that stop. Darkworkers have tactics that are very effective on people who don't think for themselves.

What's more, a funny tendency of independent thought is that it leads to independent, and often conflicting conclusions.

Either way, there's no guarantee that the life-style choices of Steve will become mainstream.

This is convenient because Steve's goal, as far as I know, is not to be a trend setter. It's to help people think for themselves and do what's right for them.

[jawillie]

I have to disagree. I do not see anything unique in Steve and Erin, they are just "out there" more than others who may live a more quiet, private life.

I also don't see that living "mainstream" ways means one is not "enlightened." For instance, my husband and I CONSCIOUSLY choose monogamy. Just because we choose monagamy does not mean we are "sleepwalking" and blindly following "social norms." It is a myth that you have to live differently from others to be "enlightened," IMO.

I do not have to be vegan to be enlightened.
I do not have to be raw to be enlightened.
I do not have to have many lovers to be enlightened.

Part of "being enlightened" is realizing nothing is outside of you anyway, isn't it?

Think for yourself always.

Do not believe everything Steve says. Do not believe everything I say. Heck, even the Buddha himself says not to believe what he says either. What do YOU say? That is where your truth is.... we don't need to follow other people's rules. That's the beauty of life and the freedom that is ours!!

[Wildside]

Originally Posted by jawillie

I have to disagree. I do not see anything unique in Steve and Erin, they are just "out there" more than others who may live a more quiet, private life.

I also don't see that living "mainstream" ways means one is not "enlightened." For instance, my husband and I CONSCIOUSLY choose monogamy. Just because we choose monagamy does not mean we are "sleepwalking" and blindly following "social norms." It is a myth that you have to live differently from others to be "enlightened," IMO.

I do not have to be vegan to be enlightened.
I do not have to be raw to be enlightened.
I do not have to have many lovers to be enlightened.

Part of "being enlightened" is realizing nothing is outside of you anyway, isn't it?

Think for yourself always.

Do not believe everything Steve says. Do not believe everything I say. Heck, even the Buddha himself says not to believe what he says either. What do YOU say? That is where your truth is.... we don't need to follow other people's rules. That's the beauty of life and the freedom that is ours!!

Word!

[Subscreet]

I have to disagree, too. While Steve is very successful and an excellent writer, Not much of what he writes about is very original or even relatively new. That's not to say that he doesn't have any original ideas, but much of his material is recycled and influenced by other material and he acknowledges that. His lightworker/darkworker dichotomy is one example of an idea that's been around.

I really don't see him as representative of any sort of paradigm shift, he's just managed to cultivated a pretty dedicated following and a large readership. His life may not be considered %100 mainstream by most, but in my experience there are very visible new-age, vegetarian/vegan/raw cultures and a communities surrounding them, but they're fairly well accepted.

Steve's not quite a revolutionary. There are certainly people who write better, make more money, eat better, and have been far more influential in the course of history. He does what he does extremely well, but I wouldn't necessarily say he's ahead of the curve on anything except blogging and making money from personal development.