Awakening to the Illusions

"UNPLUGGED" - CHAPTER ONE

Six years ago, I started writing a book that would become an all-consuming labor of love and my impetus for creating this website. Back then, while the country was still basking in the glow of Barack Obama’s presidency and Donald Trump was a distant speck on the political radar, I could see our world changing on fundamental levels, in ways that weren’t making sense to me.

I was motivated to write because of an epiphany I had after "unplugging" from the southern California grind and disappearing into the Montana woods, a single thought that haunted me, day in and day out: we don't live in the world we’re told we live in, or the world we think we live in. We live in a world of illusions.

By the time I finished the book a year and a half ago, the changes that had prompted me to “drop out” of my old life were going parabolic. Humanity had entered a time of crisis – which (as any student of history knows) is also a time of opportunity. I sensed that a rare and special window was opening, one that would allow us to make sense of these changes and raise our awareness and understanding of our world in a profound way. But it was an opportunity we could only seize if we summoned the courage to see our leaders, our institutions, and each other through a completely new and different lens: if we allowed ourselves to see beyond the Veil of illusions that cloaks our world.

I fantasized that this book would find its way into the world through traditional channels. I imagined that some spunky editor at a mid-sized publishing house would pick up the manuscript on a lark, read the first few lines, and “get” it; that they would appreciate the timeliness of the message and the importance and urgency of delivering it. I dreamed that the book would resonate with like-minded and open-minded people, spreading by word of mouth and penetrating a critical mass of minds.

Of course, none of that happened. Publishers showed no interest, my life got busier, and so I shelved the project. The time wasn't right, and maybe I just wasn’t ready.

But that’s changed. Because of the speed at which events are unfolding, and because I believe the forces that control the Veil are working harder than ever to keep it in place, delivering this message now, by any means, is more important than ever. That’s why I’ve decided to release “Unplugged: Awakening to a World of Illusions” on this website, in bite-sized installments. I plan to upload a new chapter each week (or more often, if time permits) for my subscribers to enjoy.

I want to make this book available to the world.

With any luck, if what I’ve written resonates with you, there’s a chance you might share it with others. If fate is kind, this book will reach a critical mass and help plant the seeds of change for a new world – a world that might one day liberate humanity from the forces that have controlled it longer than any of us have been alive. I am only one voice among many trying to disseminate these seeds, and I believe the world we dream of us is within our grasp.

I will continue to blog about current events, but I believe that understanding the significance of these events – and how we respond and react to them – will largely depend on which side of the Veil we’re on.

I’m compelled to disseminate this book now, as widely as possible, because I think we’re running out of time. Humanity is fast approaching a fork in the road and a point of no return. I believe we can only create a new and better world if we allow ourselves to see the Veil of illusions that has distorted our collective reality for decades and centuries. Until we’re willing to question everything we’ve been told and everything we’ve wanted to believe in, our world will remain broken in ways we can’t begin to imagine.

In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

— George Orwell

Let’s Stop Pretending

There’s something seriously messed up with the world.

I’m not talking about the obvious stuff we all focus on and hear about in the news. I’m talking about something that’s going wrong on a much deeper level, far below the surface. Out of our sight.

Many of us “feel” this in our gut, but we don’t spend much time thinking about it because we’re too busy or distracted. Going to work. Coming up with money to pay for things that are getting more expensive. Raising our kids. Trying to stay “safe.” Arguing with friends and family about politics, vaccines, and racism. Losing ourselves on social media, binging Netflix or Hulu to escape all of it. We push the nagging sense that our world is messed up on a much more fundamental level to the back of our minds. We pretend that voting for the “right” people and blaming the “wrong” ones will save the train carrying humanity as it careens off the rails.

I used to pretend, too.

And yet I couldn’t help feeling that the things we bitch and moan are all connected in a way that goes beyond who controls Congress or who’s elected president, that transcended racism, sexism, or homophobia. I couldn’t shake the sense that the world was going insane for reasons we don’t talk about, or even allow ourselves to think about. I just couldn't put my finger on it.

Did you ever see The Matrix? Remember how Neo went looking for Morpheus because he had that splinter in his mind telling him that something was “off” in his world? That’s how I've been feeling for years.

And then one day I got tired of pretending. Like Neo, I started digging at the splinter in my mind and went looking for answers, and that set me on a journey. Now I think I have a much better idea why the world is so messed up. Now I look at the world in a completely different way.

Want to know what I found?

Let me show you. We’ll need to go places you may not have thought of venturing ino before, but if you’re willing to take the first step, it’s a journey that could change the way you see the world forever. Are you ready?

If you're not, no worries. It’s okay to close this book and turn back. No one will judge you or know you opted out.

But if you’re ready to stop pretending, then let’s keep going because I’ve got a lot to show you. I'll be your Morpheus.

Heresy

Before we get started, you should know I’m not supposed to say the things I’m about to tell you. Why? Because my income makes me a so-called “Three Percenter,” so speaking out is like biting the hand that feeds me, and I’ll admit I’ve eaten pretty well. I’m also a black woman. And I’m gay, too. Some of the things I’m about to say might surprise you.

But believe it or not, I don’t think these things matter now as much as you might think, and that’s why I’ve decided to speak up. Because I'm just so damn tired of pretending. Pretending I live in the world I’ve been led to believe I live in, pretending I don’t see the things I know I see, and pretending the things I’m told are true. I need to speak up because I feel like I’m being punk’d on a massive scale, every single day of my life.

And I can’t take it anymore.

ONCE UPON A TIME, I saw the world the way you might still see it.

I believed in the American Dream and followed a path that I thought would guarantee it. I attended Princeton University and graduated from Harvard Law School. I was a senior executive at one of the largest media conglomerates in the world and worked with some of the most powerful figures in Hollywood. I did all the right things. I believed what I was told by my government, and I trusted the media to inform me about the world and the people in it in an objective and unbiased manner through a critical lens.

But ten years ago, I disappeared into the Montana woods because I stopped believing all of those things. I realized they were just illusions.

Illusion

By the time I dropped out I was unraveling inside because I was frustrated by sacrifices I was making to achieve the “success” I’d been chasing all my life. Even worse, I no longer recognized the world I lived. Greed and corruption were rampant. Politicians seemed more useless and less trustworthy. I was losing rights I had taken for granted. The economy was teetering on a razor’s edge. Life was becoming harder and more complicated. Nothing seemed stable. Everywhere I looked, people seemed to be losing their minds.

And so I did what humans often do when they’re overwhelmed: I tried to run away from the problem. But I went a step further than most people usually go; I retreated, physically and mentally, into the wilderness. Ten years ago, my partner and I packed up our two-year-old son, two dogs, eight chickens, and all our worldly possessions, and went to live on twenty-acres in northwestern Montana. We craved a fresh start and a chance to live a balanced and sustainable life away from the churn of traffic and busy-ness that were consuming our lives. But I also was looking for something more. I was looking for answers.

I wanted to get that damn splinter out of my mind.

As it turns out, the answers I'd been looking for had been in plain sight all along, like the pieces of a puzzle scattered on the floor. I just hadn’t been able to put them together.

Because I had been too consumed with a job that kept me working ridiculously long hours, devoted to busy-ness I thought would bring “success.”

Because whenever I had spare time, I didn’t use it to think; I used it to escape, seeking solace with my family, numbing myself by binge-watching TV, buying the latest gadgets, or indulging my retail therapy habit.

Because when I tried to “inform” myself, people in government and the media assured me that things were mostly working as they should and that the problems that were getting bigger were being handled; that everything was still more or less “normal,” even though what was now “normal” made no damn sense. More and more, I found myself struggling to reconcile the reality that people I trusted were showing me with the reality I was seeing and touching every day.

But that all changed when I disappeared into the peace and stillness of the woods.

Free from distractions and stress, I found the space to make sense of what I was trying to escape. I was able to assemble the pieces of the puzzle, and the bigger picture came into focus. And even though the world today is even less recognizable to me than it was when I dropped out, I think I have a much better understanding of why it’s as messed up as it is. And more importantly, I can see where things are headed.

I realized that all my life I had been looking through eyes that were wide shut — eyes that were open, but weren’t “seeing” the reality of the world I lived in.

But as my vision began to clear, I finally saw what that had clouded it and kept reality hidden from me for so long.

The Veil

Now I realize it’s always been there, even though I'd never caught sight of it. But now I see it everywhere. It’s so obvious to me that I sometimes wonder, “How in the hell could I have missed this for so long??” But most of us do. We all live behind the Veil, whether we realize it or not.

So what is the Veil?

The Veil hides the world as it truly exists and the forces that control it. The Veil is thin beyond imagination and woven with illusions that distort our reality:

· Illusions that make us think we’re getting ahead when we’re really treading water or falling behind

· Illusions that convince us that nothing matters more than how much money we have in our bank account, how “educated” we are, and who we vote for

· Illusions that make it easy for us to believe what we’re told to believe, to think what we’re told to think, to do what we’re told to do

· Illusions that make it easy for us to accept information — and to never question it— because it comes from trusted or “reliable” sources

· Illusions that make us believe that we’re free when we’re not, that we’re given a voice when we’re being silenced, that we’re given a choice when we’re being led

· Illusions that make it easy for us to rationalize things that don’t feel right or make sense because they’re done by people in positions of power or authority

· Illusions that separate us from those we think — or are told — are “different” from us

· Illusions that keep us ignorant, fearful, and distracted

· Illusions that obscure lies that are peddled as truth by people we’ve been conditioned to trust

· Illusions that keep us from understanding that the most valuable commodity we have now is our MIND and our ability to use it to think and to question everything around us

We are all born behind the Veil and live our entire lives there. But now I realize we don't have to live this way. I know this because once I finally saw the illusions, then the Veil, itself — the fabric that holds all of the illusions in place — began to disappear. That’s when my life changed forever.

Now, are you ready to see it?

RED PILL OR BLUE PILL?

A word of warning before we get started: what you’re about to read might make you uncomfortable. It may even make you squirm.

These are completely normal reactions when venturing into uncharted territory. Like any explorer, you may be tempted to turn back and find your way to a familiar place. But I hope you stick it out because I believe there’s a great deal at stake for us all now. So all I ask is that you think twice before turning around. Be bold and keep your mind open.

I’m not going to lie to you. Having the courage to see the Veil – and beyond it – isn’t easy.

Seeing the “real” world as the illusions are stripped away can be a real mind f**k. It took me years to do this, but I’ve written this book to help you do it a whole lot faster, because we’re running out of time.

What I’m offering you is food for thought based on my experiences, perspectives, and research. You’re obviously free to believe what you want, but I would invite you to clear your mental palette and take a bite of what I’m sharing with you, savor the ideas, then decide if what I’m saying makes sense. If it doesn’t, then hurl it from your mind like a cheap meal at a bad Chinese restaurant.

But if what I’m saying resonates with you, then I would encourage you to take another bite and wait for other thoughts that might come. Because they might prompt you to ask other questions, think about things a different way, or consider things that may not have been on your radar before.

I wrote this book because over the years I’ve talked to more people who seem to be catching sight of the Veil but aren’t exactly sure what they’re seeing. Sometimes, if I meet someone who seems curious, I’ll chat with them and take them for a quick dip onto the “other side” of the Veil. The reaction I get from everyone is almost always the same:

“Huh…that’s kinda wild. I never looked at things that way. Have you thought about writing a book?”

So after hearing this more times than I can count, that’s what I decided to do.

Much of what you’ll find in this book isn’t “new," per se. I've gathered pieces of the puzzle you may have picked up here and there but never bothered to put together because you didn’t think they were connected. My goal is to pull these pieces together to give you a new way of looking at things you might not give a second thought because they seemed unrelated, irrelevant to your life, too complicated to think through, or because you were just too busy or distracted to consider them.

What I'm trying to do is help you see a bigger picture that is often so easy to miss.

This book could be a lot longer, but since we live in a world where time is now one of our most valuable commodities, I’ve decided to work in broad strokes to paint the bigger picture. I’m not trivializing any of the issues presented here; I’m just trying to tie a lot of loose threads together as succinctly as possible because I have an urgent sense that if we don’t collectively pull focus ASAP, we’re going to be in trouble. Time is of the freaking essence, friends.

Throughout this book, I cite sources that I found useful as I began to glimpse the Veil. Please understand that what I’m sharing with you is just the beginning of a much longer and much deeper journey that some of you may eventually take, so my goal here is to at least leave you with the tools to continue your quest. Keep in mind that seeing the Veil, and looking beyond it, isn’t an event; it’s a process.

Because I started writing this book nearly a decade ago, when the world looked different than it does now, some of the references to people and events may seem dated. But I think this context is necessary to show how I evolved and why I discovered what I did. You may find yourself recalling the same experiences and having similar epiphanies. In many ways, we've all been on the same journey. We've all had the opportunity to see the Veil; some of us have seen it sooner than others simply because we peered more closely.

This book is politically agnostic. It doesn’t aim to support the Left, the Right or the so-called “Center,” because once I moved beyond the Veil, I realized that political persuasion — like most of the “differences” that separate us — is and always has been a distinction without a practical difference. Regardless of the labels we wear or the ones others put on us, the pronouns we use to describe ourselves, the color of our skin, the shape of our gonads, where we live or who we sleep with, what language we speak, what kind of job we have or how much money we make, whether we have a PhD or never graduated from high school, whether we believe in God or have called off the search for a higher power, whether we support the right to own guns, a woman’s right to choose, or same-sex marriage, we all have one thing in common.

We all live behind the Veil.

Lastly, my goal isn’t to convince you of anything. My greatest hope is to convince you of the need to do something far more important: to think for yourself.

Now let’s get started. But before we begin, you’ll need to do one thing: be willing to open your eyes — wide. But don’t just use them to see what’s right in front of you; use them to look all around you and through what you’ve been led to see.

I think you’ll be surprised by what you find.