Good to Meet You: Recent Episodes
Zac Cassel
Good To Meet You is a place for friends, family, love, passions, and the unique experience of being. Turn on, settle in, and enjoy meeting someone new.
I've found many "pressing" matters fall by the wayside as I become a loving father to my beautiful son. This shift has altered so much about the dynamic of time and the nature of participating in life. We often find ourselves driving toward one high or another, the next great meal or satisfying consumption, failing to recognize the innate beauty in front of us. I urge you to be available for all that presents today and love it without wanting more.
As I wrapped up the series finale of The Good Place, I felt compelled to recount the ethical quandaries of our life, how we carry each other through this life, and what it means in the end.
I'm looking to the future, 2023 is one of opportunity for you to rest within your nature. Being insightful about how you feel or view the world is so important, as society seems to buzz by with great haste, you can sit as a patient witness of the reactivity stirring in your life. Start to sit with that and sit with yourself. Reflect on the way you feel about yourself as well as the ideas you conjure up about others and their motivations. Are the circumstances or environments, whether it's work, a relationship, or a state of being really in your best interest? Are you there because it's comfortable or there because it's necessary? Only you can know this and through self-inquiry you do find that centering mechanism in your life.
Blessings to you and all that you hold dear, happy New Year!
I think it's really interesting to examine the context of our existence, from the ways we see the world to the attitudes we hold toward it. Enlightenment doesn't appear to be something we can learn, but something we realize. This is why the Buddha was an enlightened being, he woke up to the conscious reality beyond the person he was to the all-encompassing being that rejects nothing.
Thomas Mearns was the first person I ever considered that I wanted on my podcast outside of Katie. Sometimes we get glimpses into the unique realities that people live in, the highs and the lows that are individual but undeniably relatable. That was my first exposure to Tom, but over time there was more. We as people learn to share experience, live vicariously through others, and grow in each of our lessons. I think that's part of what I see more and more, is the circumstances that you grow from aren't necessarily binding. No matter the external packaging, there is a depth of knowledge that touches the depth of experience, including the shared experience.
Thomas Mearns, it's Good to Meet You.
https://www.instagram.com/thomasmearns
https://www.instagram.com/zaccassel
It's not every day you get to talk to someone that you've watched grow up before your very eyes. Tyson Smith was a football player on a team I coached, who then turned into a leader. But what happens after the games end and the lights go out? We discuss playing football, making friends, catching feelings, and finding who you are in this 40-minute talk. Please enjoy.
Find Tyson on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tyson_2.0
Find Zac on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zaccassel
Email me: gtmyzac@gmail.com
We can enter a clarity within any moment purely from the perspective of set and setting. Cultivating a mindset that is open and receptive offers a wealth of opportunities for you to not only approach any situation with ease but in a receptive nature. Your setting, be it physical or social, plays a major role in how you're influenced in any moment. Be conscious of the circumstances surrounding you, as you may unintentionally be impacted by these outside influences. Finally, when you have the ability to create the setting for others, compassionately recognize how your availability, receptiveness, softness, hardness, and the judgments you carry may impact them. With a light heart you can create a space that is welcoming and ultimately beneficial for to offer the chance for spiritual, mental, and physical growth.
Finding your why in life is so important, it might be the most important reason for doing anything. The things that drive us to pursue the varying avenues presented to us at any one moment go beyond mere desire, but true understanding of self. When I broached the subject in a Wisdom talk, I thought I was going to get a wealth of people stepping up to say what drove them, but I was shocked to find that not many people were quite ready to share. Enter Teri Healy, who shared her story with myself and the listeners. She found herself drawn to helping others in service to her community by taking the stage, a voice to those who in pain and a rallying cry to consciousness.
Find her at http://www.terihealy.com and http://www.instagram.com/teri.healy.
Connect with me at http://www.instagram.com/zaccassel.
Want to tune in on Wisdom? http://joinwisdom.audio/zaccassel
Don't forget to change! Change your socks, change your opinion, but never forget to change your perspective about the way it is. Change your status on Instagram from Follow to Following: http://www.instagram.com/zaccassel
Five truths about change:
1. Changes will happen whether you like them or not.
2. Embracing change enables you to flow more freely.
3. Flexibility in an everchanging environment creates confidence in yourself.
4. Change helps you recognize how the rest of the world responds.
5. Change is variety and variety creates opportunity.
Under a blossom tree I saw the reflection of the journey our lives take, all the while remembering that we are indeed a part of that cycle. Sit back with me as I ruminate on these simple, approachable recognitions.
Find me on Instagram: www.instagram.com/zaccassel
Sitting down with a new friend is unique and you never really know what will happen in these situations. What seemed to be a casual conversation about the process of knowing yourself turned into a fleshing out of the realities of past trauma. We explored our vulnerabilities, and the way men and women are framed within societies as being not enough. Yet, we are all we need to be in every moment. Really powerful stuff!
We really do have it all. I say it, yet you probably still don't believe me. Look around, look inside, but know that it's true. Everything you've ever gone through, even the hard times, have brought you to this point. You have love, even if you feel like no one loves you or cares. You have patience, enough so that you will sit with your pain. You have compassion for yourself, otherwise you would fail to comprehend the conditions you inhabit that bring you pain. You have pain, but on the other side is gain. What are you gaining? Perspective, flexibility, and persistence in the face of unspeakable odds. So what do you not have? What else could you possibly need but everything you've already got?
I know you've heard it before from me, love everyone and tell the truth. You've probably gotten sick of it, but how much have you actually heard? Explore key tenets, such as compassion, understanding, love, acceptance, patience, contemplation, honesty, truth, fulfillment, and practice. These values are not only applied to what we involve ourselves in, but also why.
We live in a world of surprise, but what happens when we focus too much on the eventuality instead of the reality? Follow me on this journey as I examine the over-complication of what the future may hold, good and bad.
Find me on Instagram: @zaccassel
It's a wild, wild place out there. You don't even know how big this place is either. If you understood the vast nature of the experience we're nestled into, your brain might just pop. Check out this episode to find a little more about what you're missing!
It's hard to be vulnerable amongst strangers. Placing yourself in situations that people could potentially judge you or hurt you is an awful proposition. I happened to be lucky enough to have the right settings for my own version of vulnerability. Was it right? No. Was it safe? Absolutely. I learned a lot from this, about the conditions we are placed in, and the desire to make it safer.
2021 has been a very dynamic year, with changing jobs, states, and coasts. I've gotten engaged and even starting a podcast! What I have appreciated more than anything is how grand it continues to be. The year and the experiences within it have offered up a chance to grow toward a future with clarity. Best wishes to you and your family in 2022.
Franklin (22) is living a life in the Now, formulating his model of the future. He offers a fresh perspective of what it was like growing up without a mother, losing her at the age of 4, then his father at 16. Raised by his extended family, including his grandmother, Franklin demonstrates maturity and mindfulness, expressing his interest to grow into the world and better himself in the process.
Today is a day to be thankful, a time to share the present with the ones we love. Take a moment to value your friends and family, even their quirks! We forget how precious the present is while in search of the next thing. If you're around a table with the people you love, tell them you're thankful for them. There's nothing else to do at gatherings but be with other people.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Sage wisdom stems from a deeper, conscious place. Thankfully, those who have awakened have infinite access to the fountain. Vanessa Zarate brings her own comprehension of this life, our collective journey, and what the path is available for those who want to seek their own understanding about this incarnation.
It's easy for us as social beings to see someone acting outside of what we would expect. How should someone act? How should a dog act in a social situation? When we set expectations or social norms for how a situation should be, we set the stage for some big failures. Surprisingly, the failure stems solely from the individual who's casting those judgments. There's nothing wrong with feeling uncomfortable and wanting to change your environment. I would, given the chance! Unsurprisingly, the environment in which we exist is often dictated by those with very little comprehension of what their impact is. It's up to every individual to grow into that space and be responsible for cultivating compassion.
Have we forgotten what it's like to be human? We work, we coexist, but when did you last look at a stranger and recognize that they are living their lives completely independent of you and your influence. While they go through life they struggle against the resistances to who they are or how they are supposed to perceive the world. Your experience, just like theirs is beyond reproach and doesn't need to be comprehended. Compassion peers through the reality of illusion, past your assumptions, and into the heart of another. Thanks for listening and I can't wait to check in soon!
The YouTube channel is live right here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQJCg6VVR70ovuKFX7hUdVA
Thank you for supporting the podcast to this point and I can't wait for you to join me over there as well. Shoot a comment and let me know where you're from. It's a joy to produce these things for you and I will continue to strive for excellence in everything I touch.
Welcome to the podcast. Connect with new friends in this intimate conversation between family and new friends.
It's easy to notice external things as large or spacious. The Grand Canyon is spacious, Mt. Everest is large, but you too have the ability to encompass the depth and heights of all things. We're more than capable of touching that part of our understanding that connects to the plane of existence that lingers between form and formless.
It's easy to get caught up in doing something, accomplishing an objective because you have to get it done. Even down time can feel active, a necessary struggle for production. Finding the headspace to come down from that place of driven activity can be difficult. We've been conditioned to work toward something rather than being content with where we are.
When I get a moment to unload my mind, find my center, it's being at ease with whatever is available. Non-judging, the witness of all things.
It's a fine line, being yourself and being what you have to be for others. What I love is that there's a place that knows, like Eckhart Tolle says in his book The Power of Now. Every day we flirt with that little light in our lives, the reality of who you are and what you know. You know the truth because when you hear something that confirms your suspicions it echoes out. You are great the way you are and the progression toward what you do will reflect your purity, striving forward in unrelenting beauty.
The mind is a tool, what are you using it for? Are you using it or is it using you? Seeing the reality of the mind's game and perceiving what's really happening within your space. You're in control when you become fully aware of the process silently occurring between your ears.
No one can do it like you. YOU are so strong it's almost intolerable and for everyone that finds their strength and wields it without remorse there are hundreds and thousands who don't emerge.
It is a challenge to live with an open heart. The pushing and pulling of what it is to be an unjudging witness to the souls we encounter. But we can ask questions, discover guidance, and gain new comprehension about what it is to love openly.
It's tricky to grow into the self that you're supposed to be. Not the person you are to other people but that real genuine self. It's all ripe for the picking if you're ready to receive it.
Sitting down with a friend is a treat. Sitting with a friend who enhances your growth and wants to share in the process is a blessing. Check out Kenny on instagram: Freshstreet.
There are nearly 8 billion people in the world today, some which are exceptional musicians or skilled doctors. Those talents, those refined skills were cultivated. Similarly, you contain talents that any one individual could never conceive of doing. You are gifted in some way! Just like comparing a giraffe to an elephant, it isn't an elephant, so why try to describe it as such? You as an individual contain so much raw skill that you haven't recognized, so don't compare yourself to those who have refined their technique. Utilize what you know and help others with it.
Being you as a person can be a lot of work, full of contemplation and work. We can't become free from the clinging of this life until we reflect on what we've got going on here. Sit back and reflect on the work you've done to this point, think about how we can continue to grow as individuals and what comes next in our journey together.
It's an avenue some strive for while others live in the space. When you unlock the reality of what it is to live without clinging to your perceptions and open yourself to the possibility of what is, all things are possible. In today's episode I explore the reality of the beginner's mind and how you too can expand your perception of the here and now.
The love of my life joins me on the show. We talk about the future move to Richmond, Virginia, our plans, love, and her amazing rescue dog Evie.
A quick introduction to myself, including my insane love affair with the present! Sit back for 10 minutes and enjoy the vibe I put down.