So, yesterday I went live with my friend Sam Goldfinch to talk spirituality, sobriety and rule-breaking wisdom. I was quite nervous, palms sweating and all. Blame it on his leonine rockstar mane. Or maybe on some of the topics we touched upon that stirred stuff within me. Or perhaps I just don’t know why I was nervous and I’m making reasons up. Be that as it may, it was a great episode - thanks again to Sam and to everybody who joined live. Now, who’s Sam? Sam is a writer, educator, coach, and a deep explorer of spirituality, transpersonal psychology and addiction. He’s the founder of Rebel Spirituality and co-host of the Present & Sober podcast. Sam and I met years ago through our mutual friend and mentor Jamie Smart, and we’d been meaning to do something together ever since - so this was a long time coming, and maybe that’s why we covered so much ground. Here’s some of what we talked about: * Sobriety is badass: turning an apparent oxymoron into a way of flipping the rebel archetype and redefining the word “sober.” * Sam’s story, unvarnished: drinking from age 12, the years as “the walking, talking spiritual cliché while drugging my way to an early grave,” and the moment at 26 he finally decided to turn his life around. * Fully human, fully divine: why the goal is not to end up in a permanent blissful state of peace, but to be able to bathe in the whole rich, messy human experience. * Plant medicine, and taking heat for speaking your truth: Sam’s nuanced, rules-free take on plant medicines, and why you’ve got to make your own wisdom-based way through life. * The cosmic joke: realizing you were already whole the whole time, that nothing was missing, and that all the seeking was looking outside for something that only lives within. * The ego’s new costume: how the ego hijacks even “being ordinary” and “being spiritual” and turns them into a new way to feel special. * Belonging vs fitting in: why belonging to life is innate, why trying to fit into a tribe (spiritual or otherwise) is something we do innocently, and how to stay yourself inside any community. * Wisdom doesn’t follow rules - one of Sam’s favorite mottos, and how to fully live it (even when that means following the rules). * A final, provocative question from the audience: if given the chance, would you take the blue pill and go back to sleep? And we covered a lot of other topics - like why Sam doesn’t dig the word “alcoholic,” my own abrupt awakening at an ayahuasca ceremony in 2011, my journey of sobriety, and more. And here are the resources mentioned: Sam: * Sam Goldfinch - Sam’s website. * Rebel Spirituality - Sam’s Substack. * Present & Sober podcast - Sam’s podcast on sobriety, co-hosted with Ellie Crowe. * Built for Reality - Sam’s project with his friend Scott, dripping out as a weekly YouTube. Books: * Clarity by Jamie Smart - the book that brought Sam into the inside-out understanding. * Creating the Impossible by Michael Neill. * The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle - the book that started Sam’s seeking at 17. * The End of Your World by Adyashanti - the non-dual book that told him, years early, that he was already whole. * Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch. * Quantum Psychology and Prometheus Rising by Robert Anton Wilson - “more like psychedelic trips than books” (do the exercises). * What’s Wrong with Right Now Unless You Think About It? by Sailor Bob Adamson. * Living Reality: My Extraordinary Summer with “Sailor” Bob Adamson by James Braha - the book about a summer spent with Sailor Bob. Articles & podcast episodes: * The Ego’s New Costume - the piece Sam read from on the live. * “Stripping Back Spiritual BS to See What’s Truly Here” - Sam's Present & Sober conversation with Kat Van Oudheusden. People: * Jamie Smart - author of Clarity and the mutual friend and mentor through whom Sam and I met. * Michael Neill - whose course first introduced Sam to the principles. * Kat Courtney - the plant-medicine teacher Sam mentioned. * Kat Van Oudheusden (website). Substack: Kat (Katrijn) Van Oudheusden - the no-nonsense non-duality teacher Sam mentioned. Teachings: * The Three Principles - the understanding articulated by Sydney Banks. Support the show If you like what I’m doing, please support it by liking, subscribing, sharing or leaving a comment. And thank you, because it really does help. Until next time,Much love,Dario P.S. If you’d like to explore these themes more deeply, you can find out more about me and my work at dariomartinis.com. Thanks for reading On Being Aligned! Subscribe for free to get future updates, deeper dives & support my work This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit dariomartinis.substack.com
