Kindness in Action | Aaron Ableman
Most of us use kindness and compassion interchangeably, and then wonder why our good intentions never seem to move anything. The two words name different things, and the difference is where everything turns.
"If compassion is the composition of the song," Aaron Ableman offers, "then kindness is actually the lyrics and the performance of it."
One is written. The other is played out loud.
-
Aaron Ableman (00:00)
All I want for my birthday is global
peace and liberation.
Call me what you want. Call me crazy. But this world needs love. The planet's changing.
open ourselves to possibility. I guess that's what I'm kind of inviting. Not for everyone to say I have the answers or I have the right questions even. But the idea that we can see life through many different.
perspectives and that we can see ourselves ultimately and begin to ritualize that and deepen into
inner guidance system.
Jiani Wu (00:43)
Today with us is Aaron Abelman. He is a United Nation award winning storyteller, artist, singer, and impact project producer.
His focus is in bridging the gap between education, entertainment, ecology, and spirituality. He has been leading projects, planting millions of trees, reaching billions of people, collaborating with 70 world leaders to reach critical support
All he's doing is to raise awareness to protect our planet and build a closer relationship between us and Mother Earth.
MAGICademy Podcast (01:34)
Why this particular topic
Aaron Ableman (01:37)
Hmm, well, in a world where it seems to be easier to go to the moon or to Mars than it is just to have a relationship with your neighbor, kindness and the power of kindness, compassion, care, empathy, all of which have their own
different distinct qualities and components, but to me kindness is the action of a benevolent experience. And it's not that it has to be even benevolent, but kindness is what actually sparks and activates life. It is what every mother...
does for their child, not just in the human sphere, but you look at how life is nurtured, whether it's a seed and the care that the soil gives to the seed and the water and the sunlight, that is an act of kindness. And so to me, kindness is the...
active ingredient that we need in order to sustain, to restore, serve and steward life. You know, we're living in the Anthropocene, which is this fancy scientific word that means that the human species is a dominant force on this planet.
and we have fundamentally disrupted, not to say, mean, this planet is billions of years old and it will go on for billions of years. The plan is gonna be fine. Change is inherent to this place we call Earth. But in this chapter that we're in, in this cycle, at least within the last 15,000 years, this is a new
era,
a new epic that we're in. And it is the influence of the human. And the human is complex. We're capable of so much beauty and art and science and mastery and tremendous collective work. And we are also capable of genocide and the worst of the worst.
and not to put it in dualistic form, but yeah, we're living in a duopoly. I don't know that's the right word either, but you know, this is a major time that we're living in. It's an existential time. It is a time where everything is being unraveled and reimagined and changed and...
in some ways chaos is being expressed because of the fundamental influence of humanity and in particular that we built systems that have actually disrupted life in a way. We've built a whole economy based on the opposite of kindness and on the opposite of life. We've built a death economy.
MAGICademy Podcast (04:36)
It's like a machine,
Aaron Ableman (04:37)
And so.
MAGICademy Podcast (04:37)
like non-human machine.
Aaron Ableman (04:42)
Yeah, it's very, it's funny that
we are, we're humans, but we've built a mach, a mechanized machine-based society that is not in so many ways centered in love or care or the very fundamentals to what got us here.
I think it runs best when we operate from kindness, if I could summarize. And who knows, the rest of it, I guess, is just a bunch of words. But to me, kindness is the actual being quality.
that sustains and nurtures life.
MAGICademy Podcast (05:15)
Yeah. And also when you're speaking this word about kindness, another word pops into my mind at the same time, which is compassion. What is the similarities or differences between kindness and compassion, or are they the same or are they different?
Aaron Ableman (05:36)
Yeah, kind of. So I would say that's a great question.
Compassion to me is the inner quality of I feel and see the suffering of others and or the realities of others. It doesn't have to be the suffering. It could be the joy or the suffering. And I
I not only empathize, meaning I can see through their eyes in some ways, but I also yearn to connect and to support and to serve and collaborate with so-called others, with the relationships that I'm focused on in that case.
Kindness is actually the act. It is the act of, it's activating the compassion. It's how it out pictures and it's beautiful to see acts of kindness, especially in a world that tells us that we are so unkind. I would actually argue that the vast majority of us have it innately built into us. Our kindness is, cause that's some of the first
moments that we come into this world or even just in the belly of a mother you know it took the mother's kindness to keep us at our feet is going and to keep us fed and to keep us cared for and so it actually is in so many ways source energy you kindness is very much it is an energetic quality but then how compassion
comes into play, and I don't know if these are official definitions, these are just me riffing on that question in a moment, but the poet in me really sees kindness as the active expression of compassion. So if compassion is the composition of the song, then kindness is actually the lyrics and the performance of it, you know.
the actual, the playing of the music.
MAGICademy Podcast (07:38)
this is beautiful. I like this analogy a lot and it just integrates everything instantaneously.
In your book, you also mentioned there's a sequence like we first practice self kindness, self compassion, and then we can extend the kindness and compassion to the world around us, the people, the communities and the society at large. Why does everything start with self compassion and self kindness? Shouldn't we start with, because when we grow, when like as we
grow up, we all got taught like, be kind to others, serve others and feels like the society is teaching us to put others above or at the first priority. So why do we have to first be kind and compassionate for ourselves? Are we being selfish in that way or?
Aaron Ableman (08:39)
I don't know if I see it in terms of a hierarchy. I see it more as maybe spheres of relationships. And in the center is like when you drop the pebble into the still pond, know, that initial wave is
is the pebble being in relationship with the water, you know, and then it ripples out into how it affects the fish and ultimately how it reaches the shore. And the notion that it does ripple forever is fascinating to me. I... Yeah, I like the framing and the...
intentionality to start with self kindness. The subtitle of the book, rebels of kindness is how loving care transforms self, others and planet. And I liked the the seed being the the self, you know, and then it kind of expands from there because
Ultimately the universe is a mirror and we can't necessarily give from an empty cup. We can't give something that we don't first already know in ourselves. We can't actually activate our gifts and talents if we don't first know our gifts and talents in ourselves. And the same is true with loving kindness or loving care or
you know, anything really, but kindness is very important to know first for yourself. What does that mean for you? And that is, there's a common trope of like turning the finger around, you know, like not where it's pointing, but looking at
yourself.
MAGICademy Podcast (10:34)
Yeah.
Aaron Ableman (10:35)
And I've talked about that before that when we start to, it's not the finger that's where it's pointing to, it's actually who's pointing. And so,
That is an interesting teaching that I know a lot of Zen teachers that have spoken about that, or even part of the Bodhisattva practice is very much about, yes, I'm committed to the liberation of suffering for all people's places and events in all times and forever.
But I first need to know that for myself. The Buddha could not have helped so many had that Siddhartha character not sacrificed everything to first liberate himself under the Bodhi tree, facing every hardship up to that point. And not to say that everyone doesn't have a different path. I mean, everyone does have a different path.
So there's not even necessarily a prescription that you need to, you know, start with.
MAGICademy Podcast (11:37)
Yeah
Aaron Ableman (11:38)
That's not what I'm there. There's no, there's no rule here. It's just.
that when we first taste the nectar, then it's easier to want to share it with others.
MAGICademy Podcast (11:52)
I love it. So it does, it does first. That reminds me of when we are, when we hop on the airplane and heading somewhere and the flight attendant always talk about the oxygen mask and
Aaron Ableman (12:06)
Yeah, put it on yourself first.
MAGICademy Podcast (12:08)
put on yourself
first, if we put on others and that draws back to what you said, the kindness is kind of the birthing energies that mother carries us with this kindness. So kindness itself kind of is like a oxygen for our
Aaron Ableman (12:23)
Yes.
MAGICademy Podcast (12:24)
mind and spirit and soul. And so putting that oxygen mask first on ourselves before we put it on others, I think that is.
one of the analogies that we can draw. Some will say, it's like that you said. Yeah, yeah, I know. You get it. get it.
Aaron Ableman (12:44)
Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (12:46)
Yeah. And in your book, you collected 40 stories about kindness.
We all love stories and if you are open, if you wanted to share one or two stories from this collection, we are all ears.
Aaron Ableman (13:10)
Awesome.
Yeah, well, I'll start
actually by, so I'll share that there are 40 leaders, so to speak, of kindness that we've profiled. they're kind of, yeah, everyday heroes all the way to, you know, so-called icons. And they span, you know, in these three sort of categories that we've acknowledged.
in kindness to self, in kindness to others, and then in kindness to the planet. And each of them has kind of a montage effect, but this is sort of citizen journalism. It's not that we had official interviews with these folks, although I do have a lot of relationships to these kindness heroes that are featured.
I also want to say that some are not living anymore, but most of them are pretty contemporary. yeah, and I wondered with your all ears peeled and your wonderful listener, I was going to start actually with, because in between each of those profiles, we have a mix of poetry and parables.
and very simple kind of science-backed practices where the book can become interactive. But I wanted to start with this poem called Something Amazing, and then I'll share a little bit about some of the different characters. So, Something Amazing. There's always something amazing happening in life, even when we least think so. While you're sleeping, your body is breathing you. When you cry,
Your tears release endorphins and oxytocin. A lover you've never met wants to kiss and hug your pain away. A shaman in the jungle is reviving a lost plant species that will provide enough oxygen for you and your whole family next year. A friend is making you tea and writing you a letter about how much you care. A scientist is solving a major environmental energy crisis.
With ancient symbolism, a mother elephant is stroking her babies. An artist is creating a beautiful painting or piece of music that will ignite a global renaissance of creativity. A worm is being cultivated that can eat and compost plastic. A mushroom is being discovered that can heal depression and clean up toxic waste sites. Your mother is calling you on the old candlestick phone to tell you the secret to true contentment.
is
to smile more despite your problems. Your dad is calling you to apologize, repair, and build a new chapter in your family book. Your ancestors are calling you all the time. If only you'd listen to your dreams. Even now, love is as close as your nostrils breathing, as near as a prayer on your lips. Life is a maze, but it's more than that. Life is amazing.
So that's in the kindness to self section. And there's tons of those. I mean, you could kind of open to any page. I wanted to read a little bit about my mentor and one of my spiritual teachers, an elder here in California who has an extraordinary story.
Dr. Reverend Eloise Oliver, who's now in her 90s. And there's a little quote from each of our featured characters at the profiles in here. And her quote is, in the baseball game of life, you are the referee and you call the shots.
Born dirt poor in the swamps of Florida with grandparents who were slaves, Eloise Oliver taught herself how to read with an old Bible and developed prophetic visions of bringing people together from all walks of life. Spoiler alert, her visions would come true almost 70 years later. She learned to love nature as a child, witnessing how medicinal plants would grow wild with no cultivation.
in the places they were needed most for the ailments of the humans that lived there. The dendalion for example, a liver cleanser grew wild all around the bars where alcoholics ran. Oats straw and St. John's wort best for helping cure addiction and depression would grow around the tobacco shops. After growing up and becoming a nurse, she married a man in the military and lived all over the world rearing seven children. One day,
One of her kids encouraged her to come check out a spiritual community called Science of Mind. The Science of Mind movement, grounded by its church communities around the world called Centers for Spiritual Living, was founded by Ernest Holmes, a mystic in the early Transcendentalist movement with Ralph Waldo Emerson. The philosophy is best summed up by Ernest. Each person
is an individualized center of God-conscious life and divine action. Each is a unique individualization. When people obey the dictates of the inner voice, they find every pathway open before them. This depth of wisdom was a light bulb of inspiration and alchemy for Eloise. She and her son, the Reverend Muata, studied for years in practitioner and ministerial schools
along with master teachers, after decades of study and practice, they became ministers and champions for this perennial philosophy.
So I'll pause there. That's a little sample of the kind of stories that we've been celebrating. And there is actually a practical takeaway at the end of each of the profiles, which is essentially a practice based on the wisdom of each of those folks. And yeah, just one last thing I'll share with this particular
segment is that, you know,
the profiles in here are very interesting. We have everyone from people like Paramahansa Yogananda, Mahavad Ali, folks that you've heard of, all the way to indigenous champions of the rainforest, Celia Sakriaba.
folks that are on the front lines of major issues, Nemonte Nenquimo innovators and major players like Paul Stamets or Dr. Gabor Mate and Maria Ressa who you may know about as well. yeah, it's kind of like a constellation of leaders in
in kindness and again at a time when it does feel as if the world is going the polar opposite direction. You know we have this rise of political corruption, authoritarianism, fascism, the collapse of you know ecosystems and the eco side that's going on.
know, these tipping points that we're, we are transcending or that we are experiencing and hopefully transcending like the, the, the climate crisis or the, coral collapse that that, you know, these are major, major representations of a world out of balance with kindness. And so I hope that as people tune into this,
show and similar shows and books and similar books like this that we remember, you know, the mirror neurons, right? Like what we digest, what we consume, whether it's food, whether it's books, whether it's podcasts or social media, all the different ways in which we've kind of built this consumer society where everyone has this voracious appetite for more and more more consumption. What are you consuming?
And also, how are you then giving back of all the consumption that your Dr. Zach Bush, wonderful physician and kind of visionary mystic thought leader talks about that the human colon is actually one of most...
MAGICademy Podcast (21:47)
Human colon?
Aaron Ableman (21:48)
The human colon is actually one of most...
biodiverse places on earth because we've eaten the world, you know, and so in our bodies we have all of this genetic information from what we've consumed. A lot of us would then say, how are we then, you know, composting to put it in PC terms, all of the, you know, all the shit, like all the shit that we've created or that we've
because all that energy has to go somewhere. So I think it's an imperative for us to be asking these kinds of questions together and challenging each other in
MAGICademy Podcast (22:27)
you
Aaron Ableman (22:28)
how we give back.
MAGICademy Podcast (22:31)
I've been thinking about this recently, actually over the years, maybe and only recently do I come to this realization that if we are truly mindful and truly intentional and truly kind and truly compassionate.
instead of consume, we integrate. It's all about intentional, compassionate integration. And because we are all part of this universe and with an intentional being, this being is awakened. So every decision that he or she makes is
in alignment. And when we integrate, become, when we select and when we practice discernment, we are, we are this creator, we are this editor, this reviewer, this writer, and this publisher, some, like all in
Aaron Ableman (23:32)
Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (23:33)
one and trying to select and then integrate.
And I think the duality comes from a lack of integration of us not being able to find, create space for those two or create enough patience for those two to weave and integrate. that is the kind of the original, the deeper truth of the universe is this integration and us by
be intentional integrating through food, through information, like you mentioned, and through books, through podcasts, through TV shows, through experience that we create for ourselves and others, we gradually integrate and align. yeah, beautiful.
Aaron Ableman (24:25)
Beautiful. Yeah, I
love that. So funny that you said that too, because there's a piece in here called, well, yeah, so it's a part of the self kindness section and it asks what starts with what if life is a movie called Muse channeled and written by you, not a spoof. All plot lines are self generated to even the failures of villains you do.
Do you choose change or does change choose you? Every motive hints at the next clue like a whodunit about water don't pollute and do unto others downstream as you would have others upstream do unto you. Every character relationship matters too. Every heart, every current is a million shades of blue. Do you care for what cares for you? Against or with the tide will you swim your inner hero's journey boo boo?
MAGICademy Podcast (25:17)
I love it!
Aaron Ableman (25:17)
So the idea of that we
are integrating, we're graduating, as you said, this just, need to get, get, give me, me, me, I need the billions. Give me power, give me this, give me that, you know. I, I, I, little, I, my little hurt I that's like needs to just destroy my way to some illusion.
illusory end, right? When the universe has no endings, by the way, you know, our lives are by every scientific measurement continuing to play out, be way far beyond our body, you know, this individual identity that is, you know, our bodies do have a beginning and end. So a lot of our story is based in that framework, but
If you really look at science, you see that nature abhors a vacuum that nothing ever dies. It's just constantly transforming. The energy is never extinguished. It's just constantly in a state of alchemy. And so by tuning into the deeper truth that actually even underneath all of that chaos, let's say,
or that change and impermanence, there is this kind of eternal presence that is never in absence, as some of our elders say, that the presence of the eternal exists, almost like if you're at the top of the ocean, you would see all the waves, but then you keep going layers down. And actually, if you get to the bottom, if you go deep enough,
It's completely silent and completely still and nothing is happening. It's you know, complete stillness. And ironically, we know more about outer space than we do about the bottoms of our oceans. So that's another story for another day. But the point I was making...
MAGICademy Podcast (27:22)
I think both
literally and analogically.
Aaron Ableman (27:27)
Yes, yes, exactly.
That's funny. My... When you said the word literally, that's my daughter's favorite word right now. She'll be nine in a month. And so she's very much in a literal phase, literally. But then interestingly, she's speaking into the physics of life. Like, this is what's happening. You know, like...
talking about the taste or the touch or the senses. She actually is talking about these deep universal truths. And sometimes I'm not sure if she knows it. I think she does. But that's another component to this conversation is how do we actually begin to...
how do we begin to not just know this for ourselves, right? That first part of kindness or awareness or consciousness or the conscious evolution process, but then how do we then give that back to the next generations and make our lives about service? And I think that's what naturally happens when we go deep enough into the eternal truth within us.
into the eternal kindness that exists inside each of us.
MAGICademy Podcast (28:39)
have a question.
Aaron Ableman (28:41)
Yes.
MAGICademy Podcast (28:42)
When you mentioned about your daughter talking about this deeper truth, can you share with us an example? I'm so curious because I feel like the kids always know more and we always as we grow up
Aaron Ableman (28:55)
I know.
MAGICademy Podcast (28:55)
we forget a lot. So it will be interesting to hear what she said and that was like, that's the deeper truth.
Aaron Ableman (29:07)
Mm-hmm.
Well...
There's so many examples that are kind of ping ponging. I'm trying to think of something that speaks best to, yeah, well, okay, so the other night I put her to bed. I've been a very, very, probably overly obsessed dad and...
overly present. don't, you can't be overly present, but I've been very, very active in her life and have done my best to be very intentional about just my being a present parent for her because I think presence is the most, is the most important thing. It's not about getting it right.
not about doing it perfect. We're all going to make mistakes. We're all going to F up. That's just the human thing. Cause we can't, we ultimately can't satisfy everything, everyone all the time. There's a, there's a,
MAGICademy Podcast (30:22)
There.
Aaron Ableman (30:23)
there's a comedian. There's a comedian. what was his name? Rest in peace. was his name? Mitch Hedberg. He, he was such a genius.
But he said, what did he say? he said, you know, you can't please all the people all the time. And last night, all those people were at my show. And that to me is kind of a good summary for getting out of this people pleasing dynamic or especially with our family, you know? Because we wanna do, our family is the thing that we love the most. And we wanna show up for our family in ways that...
is impossible to describe. And that's been true for me with my daughter. I caught her, helped deliver her. I was there every day massaging her mom's feet and bringing flowers throughout pregnancy. And then the first year, just 1000 % and following. I'm, you
Not to say that I didn't make a lot of mistakes, you know, that's natural. And parenting is, it's the best and hardest thing that I think we do as humans. No.
MAGICademy Podcast (31:33)
There's no perfect parents.
I once thought there is and life has taught me that no, it's a paradox. There's never gonna be perfect parenting and that's by design for us to be humbled
Aaron Ableman (31:52)
Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (31:53)
and understand that.
There's things that's never gonna be possible and only love, love will be there and there will be a lot
Aaron Ableman (32:02)
Yeah, yeah, that's so true.
MAGICademy Podcast (32:05)
of mistakes.
Aaron Ableman (32:07)
That is so true. And it's important to have that perspective as we navigate because it's very, it's a high demand, the highest demand of our, every part of ourselves. And even the parts of ourselves that we are not present for are also being projected energetically.
You know, so it's all these different layers. Anyway, I didn't mean to get into that whole, that's the backstory. That's the backstory
MAGICademy Podcast (32:31)
That's totally new. Yes, yes.
Aaron Ableman (32:34)
to your question. Just to say that, so I've been putting her to bed most of her life and I love it. And you know, I'm not as good of a morning person. So her mom does the mornings. That's been a perfect kind of yin and yang journey for us. And not that.
there's not tons of exceptions all the time. But that being said, the other night, so she's obsessed with graphic novels right now and she's obsessed with books and just wants to hear stories. And every night she would, for years before she even got in really deep, deep into books, she would ask me, Dada,
What's tonight's consequence story? And a consequence story is where I made a flub or a mistake or did something stupid or maybe something happened and somehow I made it through. And she just was obsessed with these stories as part of like an evening theater ritual that I very much am deep in.
in all of the arts. I have had a deep study in theater and all these different things. Anyways, I love and music, I'm trained musician and a rapper and all these different, and then comedy is such a big part of my life. So when I was thinking of how to kind of transition into dream time, I think one night she was just kicking and screaming because, you know,
Kids experience a lot during the day. They go off to school if they do go to school and there's all these influences and the things that they eat and the, know, and then they come home and all of this universe that happened during the day has to be in some ways synthesized and reconciled so that
one can then enter the parasympathetic and go into the other brainwave states and actually drift off into restful sleep. And when I would do these just simple activities with her, like storytelling or otherwise, it just made sense. The other night she asked me, what'd she say she said?
Dada, do I know every one of the stories that you've ever lived in your life? And I go, well, then you would have had to have lived for all the years and minutes and seconds of my life in order to have experienced all the stories of my life. And she goes, yeah, you're right. But you have told me at least four years of stories every night. And so does that mean that...
Does that mean that, how did she say it? It was just so unbelievable the way she said it. I wish I could do it fully justice because you have to imagine somebody very cute and adorable in their little bed, like with just pure innocence in this moment of, does that mean that I have a window into your heart? And the way she said it was just like, it just.
It was like, are my heart. When she was born, her mom and I have joked, it was literally like, my heart went out of my body and now is running around in the world. So I grew another heart and now it's running around in the world. And so then for her to ask me, does that mean I have a window in your heart? was kind of like, yeah, you are my heart, know? Literally and figuratively.
MAGICademy Podcast (36:11)
It's so beautiful. My goodness. I'm trying to place myself in that scene and
Aaron Ableman (36:19)
You
MAGICademy Podcast (36:21)
get a feeling. It's just so beautiful.
Like when you have a kid and you take care of them, yes, there's a lot of challenges, but like before night things, just a moment like that will remember forever as long as our memory supports and it's beautiful. And that reminds me of your service to the world. After this book, the...
on the kindness rebelled sorry i got a little carried away i'm still trapped in that moment when you're yeah
Aaron Ableman (36:54)
That's okay. Yeah, absolute rebels of kindness. No, they... Yeah,
sorry. Go ahead.
MAGICademy Podcast (37:00)
So after you wrote this book, Rebels of Kindness, and you started, you've been always kind of fulfilling and exploring your Dharma, your service to the world through all kinds of creative, expressive medium and environment and community. And now you are developing, or you have developed and continuously iterating this game called the Gaia's
games for kids to help them develop a deeper sense of kindness, not only toward themselves, but toward nature, toward elements that are non-human. And also in your readings, I was like, because I really enjoy closing my eyes because that just shuts off all the distractions that I can really kind of tuning into your voices and your messages. And in there, you mentioned, I get a sense that nature is kind too, because
you were talking about there are dandelions like growing to treat the diseases that's commonly happening for the people living around that area. So in just in that one sentence, I do feel the kindness of the nature as well. And now you are helping kids and younger generations to get connected with this beautiful nature. So tell us, tell us just a little bit of that, like your service as of now, among many others.
Aaron Ableman (38:19)
Yeah.
Yeah. Well, thank you. I actually did. So we started with the book called Gaia's Game, which I'm holding up. The subtitle of the book is The Game of Life is Ancient and Wise. Will we rise to claim the prize? And this was a book that I actually co-authored with the renowned polymath Robert Edward Grant.
And we collaborated on a story, a modern myth, a mythological adventure series that's actually exploring the wisdom traditions of the world, which are very much rooted in kindness. You're absolutely correct. When we decode ancient wisdom, it's actually delivering universal truths about the physical and metaphysical
realities of our universe and what principles are best to put to use in making our lives better. you know, in this project, Gaia's Game, which you can visit gaia'sgame.org, that's G-A-I-A-S-G-A-M-E.org, encouraging everybody to check it out. It's the first book in the series, follows four orphan children.
from different conflict zones that are actually on a wild journey of discovery. And the story goes that on their 10th birthday, they each receive a mysterious package with ancestral gifts inside the package delivered by a bird to their adopted homes. So there's also inside this package a letter and the letter,
calls them to embark on a mission that could actually change the world. And so they, you know, as the story unfolds, the characters set out and they find each other and join a global earth school, essentially, which goes on missions and needs to decode, you know, mysteries and challenges, you know,
sacred sites that are under threat from oil and gas industry, from war, from just collapse, you know, and they have to go and kind of save the day all before snack time, of course. And so,
MAGICademy Podcast (40:41)
Nice.
Aaron Ableman (40:42)
and what's revealed, I won't give away the epilogue at the end, but there is an interesting revelation at the end.
And yeah, so this story is a continuation of my life thesis, which is that if we transform consciousness, we transform culture. If we transform culture, we transform our systems. And the transformation that I want to make, that I'm calling forth is...
One, it's an ethical transformation. It's a transformation to take responsibility, radical responsibility for your own consciousness and your sphere of influence in the great kind of telephone game of life. But also a shift from individualism to community, from divisiveness.
divide and conquer as Machiavelli used, every empire has used since Rome to divide us from that into interdependence, into a deep sense of how we are
all intrinsically interwoven in a common fabric of destiny, I think is what Dr. Martin Luther King said. And so this story, Gaia's Game, and all four books I've done,
but also the different other formats of work that I've, in the music world, the music industry, to speak, even though I don't think it's an industry, it's, anyway, that's another topic. But in the different places where I've expressed myself as best possible through the crafts that I've cultivated, I've sought to really lift up,
a pop culture of ethics, pop culture of collective liberation, know, that when, you know, rising tide lifts all boats. This idea that that we can have just as good of a business model, we can all make our money if that's what your priority is. We can all still make money without putting out
toxic culture that is degrading women, say degrading, you know, other races or other identities or destroying the planet. We actually have a business model that can far transcend the current one that is life honoring and life stewarding. So that's kind of like the larger thesis at play.
MAGICademy Podcast (43:29)
Mmm.
Aaron Ableman (43:30)
And Gaia's game is a beautiful story. Yeah, it's a global story. These four orphan children are from four corners of the world. You know, have Ade from the Congo in Africa. You have Priya from the slums in Delhi in India. You have Taylor, who's from Appalachia, poor, know, poor coal mining town in the U.S. You know, and then you have Musa.
from Gaza, from Rafa. And each of them represent kind of the four elements and the four studies of the quadrivium, which then became the liberal arts study, the quadrivium, astronomy, music, geometry and arithmetic. Each of them represent the four pole stars that the earth is following through the sky.
as we change through each Yuga cycle in the Indian astrological understanding. So they are archetypes and symbols for humanity's journey from orphanhood and separation into global cosmic citizenry. And that's what I hope to do in terms of advancing the project to the next phase. It was a best seller in two categories on Amazon.
this summer and it's in over 60 countries. It's in now almost five languages and we're doing, you know, we're gonna do like soccer balls and card decks and all sorts of different games around it that are kind of built
MAGICademy Podcast (45:02)
That's cool.
Aaron Ableman (45:03)
upon the mythology of the story. ultimately it's, you know, and hopefully eventually it will go into a larger format content, you know, where,
everybody's
watching, so to speak, because I think these kind of stories, they're like the Moana's of the world or Coco or those kinds of stories that, yeah, that
MAGICademy Podcast (45:22)
I love Moana.
Aaron Ableman (45:24)
are empowering ultimately, as opposed to just some of the pop culture stories that are out there. like, it's no wonder that our world is so messed up is because we're
digesting all of these broken family archetypes and broken narratives.
MAGICademy Podcast (45:44)
Yeah.
And I would think it's not just for kids. I think when kids play, the parents will be there. So I think it's for the adults too.
Aaron Ableman (45:56)
I like how you think. Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (45:59)
And yeah, I think collectively both kids and adults will have a good chance of creating shifts. We're always creating changes. We're always creating shifts. And I think this time hopefully we'll be more in deeper alignment to a global mind, a global mind that
Aaron Ableman (46:21)
Mmm.
MAGICademy Podcast (46:22)
sees no boundaries
but have healthy boundaries psychologically and have interdependence and have kindness for ourselves and for our neighbors.
And the kindness does not come from a place of lack, but coming from a place of pure abundance and, with no attachments. cause sometimes we can be trying to be kind, but depleting our own and we will get very angry and sad at the end. So I think the boundary is very healthy here as well as we, practice kindness and compassion.
in that context
Aaron Ableman (47:02)
Thanks
MAGICademy Podcast (47:03)
and Gaia's game and our audiences if you have kids or if you're a big kid yourself and
Aaron Ableman (47:10)
Yeah,
we've been getting a lot of great
response from from adults and teenagers and the book is written for eight and up eight to 108 and and if you're older than 108 give me a call because I want to know you and I want to know your secrets.
MAGICademy Podcast (47:25)
Love it. Me too. That would be another podcast.
That's like a life well lived. Yeah. Well living. Nice.
Aaron Ableman (47:30)
Yes. Yeah, my grandmother
is 98, so she's not too far behind. Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (47:38)
So you already have
some wisdoms from her.
Aaron Ableman (47:40)
Yes,
she says keep a good sense of humor.
MAGICademy Podcast (47:44)
That's so important.
hmm and the humor for ourselves sometimes when we did something when we face
Aaron Ableman (47:52)
I'm
MAGICademy Podcast (47:53)
things and give ourselves a a wrap like a good rub and say and then just laugh it out i think that that's the the best medicine we can ever have fast and joyful
Aaron Ableman (48:06)
Yeah
Yeah, it's
MAGICademy Podcast (48:10)
Mmm, yeah.
Aaron Ableman (48:12)
just moving the energy, know, it's instead of getting stuck in this I need to be so serious. Everything is so Fearful and scary and serious and I need to you know that creates block blockage of energy flow it creates a blockage in the body and Can can actually become disease if we're not careful?
or
toxic relationships and yeah, I wish that more politicians had a better sense of humor. And it's one of the reasons I actually really weirdly, you know, really trust our comedians more than I do our politicians, you know, because I think that we need more of that in public life.
weighing more of that kind of energy weighing in on the most important issues in our world. But yeah, coming back to Gaia's game, I feel so excited that we get to create an invitation for children and families all over the world to play our way into a
into a more beautiful and fulfilling life and uncover the ancient wisdom, which sounds so fancy and mysterious, but it's really in each of us. It's actually
MAGICademy Podcast (49:30)
Yeah.
Aaron Ableman (49:33)
nearer than our breath. It's literally in us.
MAGICademy Podcast (49:37)
deep waters, deep ocean
waters right there.
Aaron Ableman (49:42)
Yes, yes,
exactly. That image coming back is so important. Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (49:47)
Yeah, that's
beautiful. And as we conclude this conversation, it's
Aaron Ableman (49:50)
No.
MAGICademy Podcast (49:52)
almost an hour and that's beautiful.
As we move to the magic portion of it, we're gonna ask about your magic and before that, do you think we covered most of the topics so far? Are we missing anything important that you feel like the space needs to hold?
Aaron Ableman (50:15)
I'll just share this one piece from Gaia's game, just briefly.
MAGICademy Podcast (50:18)
Okay.
Aaron Ableman (50:19)
Welcome to the Quantum Field. Can we kick it? Yes we can. And though this is just the first of many missions by land, by water, by air, by wisdom traditions, like the children of light and dark, is there ever separation in the cosmic match between earthlings and the Galactic Federation?
Who loses now may win later, who screams later right now just moans. And if we can remember then forget, then remember like a Cohen. We hide the things we seek like squirrels or gnomes. So one day we just might feel at home in our skin, in our bones and proud to attend life's mystery school, abroad or at home.
MAGICademy Podcast (51:03)
That's so beautiful. We hide what we seek. That's so true.
Aaron Ableman (51:09)
No, no,
Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (51:14)
So true. So simple and so true.
So may we realize that we hide what we seek and stop hiding.
Aaron Ableman (51:33)
Yes,
someone said that the universe wants a drama. So that's why we have this hide and seek going on. We're constantly creating a drama so then we can resolve it. Let's create a new problem so then we can come up with a new solution. It's kind of just this, yeah, yeah, I don't know. It's a dance of light and dark going on somehow.
MAGICademy Podcast (51:57)
Yeah. And I think maybe the ultimate purpose is integration and compassion and kindness, because without these things broken apart, taking away far, far away and seek and hide, then we wouldn't know. We wouldn't feel, we wouldn't see. And.
When we see, then we know, then we develop compassion, then we practice compassion through kindness, then we know, then we are home.
a process of alchemy or distillation or weaving, don't know, integration, transference, transcendence. Yeah, maybe that is
Aaron Ableman (52:46)
you
MAGICademy Podcast (52:47)
it. The drama is means to an end.
Aaron Ableman (52:52)
Yes, yeah. Yeah, and I would say that it's, you know, the question as to whether or not the drama is a comedy or a tragedy is ultimately...
I don't know, I guess it's anybody's interpretation, right? As humans, are meaning-making beings. We make meaning out of everything. And so we get to choose to some extent, personally and collectively, whether or not we want this life to be tragic or comedic. Not comedic in the sense of like the Shakespearean comic.
framework which is not just haha funny comedy but it's the kind of triumph of levity and light and consciousness in a way.
MAGICademy Podcast (53:44)
Magic. So when you were nine years old, 11 years old, what did you enjoy playing or creating so much that time disappeared for you?
Aaron Ableman (54:00)
Well,
I was raised on a small farm in the central coast of California. And the farm up until I was about nine years old, interestingly, was mainly surrounded by nature. The fourth corner of this 12 acre farm was a library and a public library. And
the farm grew mainly lemons, avocados, then fruit trees. But then when, you know, as we, over the years, we diversified the land through my father's agrarian genius. But the whole neighborhood, when I was about eight and a half, was
bulldozed and all around us became with almost within a year the whole neighborhood turned into tract homes and 22 fast food restaurants in a two mile distance and it was just kind of mind-blowing the the impacts of development in in a
pretty idyllic, mostly rural, agrarian valley where we were. And of course, there was the earlier generation of development that happened with the arrival of non-native peoples on those lands and colonization and all of the waves and histories of that land that even go
further back than the humans, you know? But I grew up deeply inspired by and in awe of the natural world and would, you know, be constantly playing games in and around the trees and constantly just
exploring all the magic of the land and the land as the original playground. And so, you know, climbing avocado trees, being very careful not to knock over any fruit, because
MAGICademy Podcast (56:05)
you
Aaron Ableman (56:07)
if you knocked over a fruit, then you slept outside that night. But just joking. The fruit was probably more valuable than I was. So.
MAGICademy Podcast (56:12)
you
Aaron Ableman (56:16)
We grew up, that's kind of my context and I always wish for more children to have a deep relationship with the natural world. I think that nature itself is the greatest teacher and the greatest playground and the greatest adventure we could ever take is just a treat.
you know there's nothing better than a tree in the whole world and that was my my first real master teachers you know were were in that context and and I think you know when you see the evolution of a tree throughout a year or throughout years of time and you have a relationship with a tree you see it go through you know
the storms of the winter and whether if it's deciduous, it loses its leaves or otherwise, but it goes through the storms of winter and then the blossoms of spring and then the fruits of summer and the harvests of the fall and every part of the cycle is like, it's some kind of magic, you know? And I think, yeah, the ultimate magic trick is
is life itself, know, just like the miracle of life. And so I always encourage people just to kind of sometimes just it's so freaking cheesy to say stop and smell the roses, but it really is that simple sometimes just to stop and appreciate a flower or a bug or whatever it is. Like, don't be, you know, you be as cheesy as you want, but
There's a reason why cheesy is actually good. that's
MAGICademy Podcast (58:06)
you
Aaron Ableman (58:07)
kind of, yeah, that's my experience of magic as a child. I owe everything to the land and to my parents who kind of, and also as my friend said, well, you chose your parents too, you know? So also to myself, I feel grateful that I've had this journey.
and
had such a beautiful childhood that now I want to give that back to millions and millions of children. want every child to come into this world and be poured into with the full magic and miracle of life because there's so much beauty and so much purpose and it's all here for you.
MAGICademy Podcast (58:54)
That's so beautiful. I would remember I would take a walk in the neighborhood and
I would, when I see flowers, they're like a few household. do really good gardening and, and sometimes it just so difficult to not pause and take a deeper look at it because they're just so beautiful. And when you're really looking at it, everything seems to stop and it's just you and the flower and you, you see the patterns, the patterns are always very mesmerizing.
It's all like beautiful
Aaron Ableman (59:31)
you
MAGICademy Podcast (59:33)
geometries and in circles and like the colors, like it's so light
Aaron Ableman (59:38)
Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (59:40)
and so gentle and everything looks just so beautiful at the same time, so delicate. And you have this deep gratitude
Aaron Ableman (59:46)
and
MAGICademy Podcast (59:50)
of, life is like that. It's like beautiful and it's...
delicate and I'm glad that I'm spending this moment, I'm investing this moment with this beautiful flower.
Aaron Ableman (1:00:04)
Beautiful. I
had an image too in my head of a beautiful fragrant flower when you were describing that.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:00:12)
Yeah. And sometimes you will see some bumblebee working busy, busy with the work and
Aaron Ableman (1:00:16)
Yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:00:19)
taking that and putting it their pocket.
Aaron Ableman (1:00:23)
or
two.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:00:24)
So beautiful. How, how do you think this sense of wonder and awe and this deep sense of appreciation of the nature, impact you as, as a,
world called grown-up professionals in your space.
Aaron Ableman (1:00:42)
Don't insult me like that.
Yeah, I think it's again, it's kind of coming back to this sense of humor and levity and just a deep, just a very, very deep appreciation for
the simple things in life. I'm not as much driven by
money, power, fame in my life and I'm grateful for that even though I've experienced some elements of that world. And I just, I think my motivation is different. My motivation is more rooted in...
everyday miracles, everyday magic, everyday service, expressions of love in the little things. And a lot of that happens when the microphone is not taping and when the cameras are not on. In fact, most of life happens when nobody is watching.
you know, maybe, okay, everybody's watching, whatever. There's, but my point in saying that is,
when we invest in the small things in our lives, we actually begin to really transform reality because then it's not a performative tactic or there's not a... It's coming into an authentic resonance with life.
and everybody may define that differently, but I guess how I'm wording it now is...
my authentic resonance with life is very much, know, it's again, it's how I communicate and express presence with my daughter. It's how I, you know, take the time to be intentional about my morning and evening rituals. It's...
It's the little things, know, it's how I water the garden. It's how I, yeah, it's how I write songs. It's so many different forms, I guess. But I don't even remember the question, actually.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:03:01)
how...
I think you answered it. Yes, the question is how
Aaron Ableman (1:03:04)
Did I? I hope so.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:03:06)
the sense of wonder... Because we got carried away about this like grown-up thing.
Aaron Ableman (1:03:12)
yeah.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:03:13)
it's how does the awe and wonder and ability to appreciate small moments impact...
may impact you as you are fulfilling your Dharma and doing your service. And what I'm hearing and feeling and resonating and is that it's basically you being.
Yes, we take a levity view of what we call as life sometimes, which can feel very heavy in its total kind of concept wise when we think about life, it's big and massive and can be ups and downs, but
I think coming from your perspective
Aaron Ableman (1:03:53)
What?
MAGICademy Podcast (1:03:54)
is let's actually take what we thought is heavy light, such as the topic of life, but take what is light heavy, such as a small moment
Aaron Ableman (1:04:06)
Thanks.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:04:06)
in the morning as we are doing our, as our aligning intentionally.
in this moment. I like how you say you, you communicate and you express your presence. I think that is the core because we, the whole life is made is consists of small moments like this. We communicate and share our presence and we do it a lot of seconds and then that's life. So, so we are really kind of
paying a lot of attention and, and care and kindness and compassion back to this fleeting moment, no matter how small, actually the smaller, the better, it is, is life.
Aaron Ableman (1:04:51)
Yeah, small is
big or small is beautiful. Yeah, and I think that there's, you know, it's definitely a motivational shift for us to look at what our priorities are and to look at where we place most value.
Because
in this society we're so motivated by the external stamp of approval, how many likes, how many followers, how much money, how much success. It's just honestly, I think it's an expression of like a toxic masculinity that doesn't actually have... It's not in balance.
I'm not saying don't be celebrated, don't be successful. That's not at all what I'm saying. I think it's just how we share and uplift and center the community as opposed to oneself is the bigger question for me in the air.
in terms of how
MAGICademy Podcast (1:06:03)
Mm.
Aaron Ableman (1:06:03)
I orient my life. And that starts with focusing on the small things in my life, the things that often are ignored in terms of like what's reported on or what's newsworthy or what's gonna make money sometimes. Sometimes I have to prioritize the quality over the quantity in a way. And it's not easy.
because we all have bills and we have, no matter how evolved you are, to some extent we all have ego. It's a natural part of our psyche and our yearning to be appreciated and to feel like we belong to something.
as well, would say, yeah, just, you know, how this society is oriented, you know, so my hope is just as we kind of bring these things into question, that each of our listeners can have a little bit of insight into themselves, you know, to ask of themselves, what does that look like for you? Because it's not
It's not really even for me.
It's not even really like the way what I'm speaking of is not even really for me, you know, even though I feel more fulfilled when I care for the invisible, when I, you know, when I do these
MAGICademy Podcast (1:07:24)
Hmm.
Aaron Ableman (1:07:25)
kinds of small rich, when I ritualize my life or when I focus on the qualities of my life. And again, we all have shadow, we all have make mistakes, we're all going to struggle.
That just seems to be a part of the reality of life that we came into embodiment to experience emotions and ups and downs and heartbreak and violations and injustice and all of these things going on. And some of them even that we participate in knowingly or unknowingly. Sometimes we...
we F up. I think it's important to be able to acknowledge that because otherwise we can't actually evolve. You we can't move forward. have to just stay with that humility. And then, you know, we, begin to advance, in a direction, maybe that's, that's more nurturing or life affirming.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:08:31)
Yeah. And I feel like, evolution is a natural course. And sometimes the evolution is easy and feels like natural and there's not, it's just like in flow mode. Sometimes the evolution takes a lot of deep reflection, dive deeper into this inner ocean and, and, and, and find the still
ness that we've been hiding that has been creating so much drama and trauma and in harmony and so that could be painful and that could take years to walk out and graduate and I think I think
I think overall it needs to be, and I think it's designed to be a joyful experience, even though, yes, there are sad moments and yes, sometimes it's tough, but I think it's just us being human and if we see this as
an absolutely necessary experience and with the levity that you've levity and humor that that and kindness and compassion that we've we've we've touched upon then it's pretty pretty good it's like a like
Aaron Ableman (1:09:53)
I don't know.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:09:54)
a could be a bad drama but in the end it's like not bad it's like at least there's some something at least there's some
Change.
Aaron Ableman (1:10:05)
Yeah.
Yeah. I love that. And it's beautiful when you look at it almost as if you're watching your life on a stage, you know, and you're in the audience watching yourself, but you're also writing the different parts for yourself as they speak. It's kind of like your higher self is dancing with this experience of all of these emotional
ups and downs and then, but.
Yeah, I I really pray that more of us just, we open ourselves to possibility. I guess that's what I'm kind of inviting. Not for everyone to say I have the answers or I have the right questions even. But the idea that we can see life through many different.
perspectives and that we can see ourselves ultimately and begin to ritualize that and deepen into our inner guidance system.
What
would that somebody said that's a IGS instead of a is it an inner guidance system, you
MAGICademy Podcast (1:11:18)
I like that.
Aaron Ableman (1:11:20)
Yeah, I don't know that maybe I just made that up I don't know I didn't make up anything. We're all just tuning into the
MAGICademy Podcast (1:11:23)
I like it.
Aaron Ableman (1:11:26)
What is it the universal antenna that just information coming in based on our? Aligning our aligning must have been that
MAGICademy Podcast (1:11:32)
the bigger library out there.
Aaron Ableman (1:11:35)
that that light meditation that you
that you brought us into the center of the earth before the podcast.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:11:41)
That's cool. I love it.
Aaron Ableman (1:11:45)
Yeah, I'm so grateful that we were able to have this exploration together and to be able to share a little bit of my journey with the audience here or with the fellow players in this theater of life that
MAGICademy Podcast (1:12:00)
You
Aaron Ableman (1:12:00)
we're playing together.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:12:02)
That's beautiful. And thank you, Aaron, for sharing your wisdoms and your kindness, your levity, your reflection, your stories, your collective stories, your micro yet vital moments throughout life. And I hope our audiences are able to connect with you and your information is in the show note below. So we will definitely encourage the community
to get connected and that's our way to create and weave in and integrate new stories into this new paradigm. And I'm just so happy and I'm happy for our audience to be able to tune in.
Aaron Ableman (1:12:42)
Me too, me
too. May I offer a closing prayer song?
MAGICademy Podcast (1:12:50)
Yes, please.
Aaron Ableman (1:12:51)
Hmm.
So just closing our eyes if you have that available to you or just taking a breath through the nose and tuning into this universal beauty, this universe of magic, this miraculous, magical journey through the stars.
as stars expressing as light sound, fundamental energy source vibration, quantum field. From all directions and all times and places, I invoke the holy names, the holy energy of the divine that flows through each and every one of us with such potency, such power, such love, such poetry.
such comedy that each of us may somehow, someway, no matter what we're going through, whether it's hardship or tragedy, whether it's joyousness or anything on the spectrum of the human experience and beyond, we bless this moment as a fractal of all moments that it ripples throughout space-time with love, with
with with alchemy, with kindness, with the alchemical power of loving kindness. And that we may move forward in great gratitude for the truth and the knowingness that our lives are bizarrely blessed. That the more that we elevate and uplift and choose this consciousness, this consciousness of
gratitude, of kindness, of love, of creativity, of mythology, that we become expressions of consciousness, of evolutionary consciousness, and we are a healing presence, a force for love and liberation on this planet at this moment and for all times. And for this and so much more than words could ever say.
I just give thanks, I release this word knowing that it's already done and done well into the fabric of space-time, into the heart of the universe. I know it's done. And so it is. Amen. Ashey, aho, alhamdulillah. Ahomethaku yassin.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:15:27)
Namaste! you!
Aaron Ableman (1:15:28)
Namaste. Sheshe.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:15:32)
my god, this is so beautiful. Thank you, Aaron, for sealing the space for us.
Aaron Ableman (1:15:40)
You know what mean.
My great honor to be together today. Thank you for, yeah, just being such a...
beautiful spirit on the path, you know, that we can kind of, yeah, you know, bump up against each other. Yeah, just kindred spirits say, yeah, keep going, keep
MAGICademy Podcast (1:15:58)
Kindred spirit
Aaron Ableman (1:16:02)
going. You know, we get to cheerlead a little bit for each other and speak some positivity and reflect a little bit and continue to refine our loving, you know, that's why I'm here.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:16:14)
That's so beautiful. I resonate and I'm feeling the vibes. hope our audiences
Aaron Ableman (1:16:18)
Hey
MAGICademy Podcast (1:16:20)
and communities are feeling the vibes as well and channeling this beautiful magical blessings in every smallest moment in your life. And that's how we find wonder. That's how we be kind. That's how we...
change the world through one single
Aaron Ableman (1:16:41)
EEEE
MAGICademy Podcast (1:16:43)
moment at a time.
Aaron Ableman (1:16:46)
Hmm.
I have this
MAGICademy Podcast (1:16:51)
Hmm.
Aaron Ableman (1:16:52)
new song that just dropped called All I Want for My Birthday is Global Peace. And it's out on all the streaming platforms, whatever. It's featuring Hilla the Earth, but the chorus is really fun and perfect for it. I'm just feeling called to share because here we are blabbing away on the mic. And then I promise I'll let our audiences back to their.
their day. All I want for my birthday is global peace and liberation. Call me what you want. Call me crazy. But this world needs love. The planet's changing.
So can tune into the actual proper version but you get a little acapella flavor. yeah, stay in touch with me everybody. Check out my music and books and some of the organizations that I serve and the movements that I serve. Yeah, feeling really grateful to be here. You can check out AaronAbelman.com and GaiasGame.org
and let's connect further. This is a co-creative journey we're on.
MAGICademy Podcast (1:18:14)
That's so beautiful and Aaron thank you so much for creating this space, co-creating this space for everyone, you, me, everyone.
I will take a pause.
Compassion is the seeing
Compassion is interior. It is "the inner quality of I feel and see the suffering of others and or the realities of others," and crucially, "it doesn't have to be the suffering. It could be the joy." It is perception, plus a yearning to connect with what has been perceived.
That capacity is cultivated somewhere. Usually by a place. For Aaron it was a twelve-acre farm on California's central coast, lemons and avocados, a public library on the fourth corner of the property. "There's nothing better than a tree in the whole world." Then, in the span of about a year, the valley was bulldozed into tract homes and "22 fast food restaurants in a two mile distance."
That compression, a living system converted into an efficient one at speed, is not a local story. It is how the era is organized. "We are humans, but we've built a mechanized machine-based society that is not in so many ways centered in love or care." Put more plainly: "We've built a whole economy based on the opposite of kindness and on the opposite of life. We've built a death economy."
Kindness is the act
If compassion is the composition, kindness is what actually gets played. Aaron calls it "the active ingredient that we need in order to sustain, to restore, serve and steward life": the soil's care for a seed, a mother's care for a child, the unglamorous work by which anything at all stays alive. And it is not rare. "The vast majority of us have it innately built into us."
It begins close in, not out of self-absorption but out of physics. "We can't necessarily give from an empty cup." The oxygen mask goes on first. And the reason isn't obligation. "When we first taste the nectar, then it's easier to want to share it with others."
From there it ripples. A woman born dirt poor in the swamps of Florida, grandparents enslaved, teaches herself to read from an old Bible and lives to see her visions of gathering people arrive seventy years later. Her rule, as Aaron records it: "In the baseball game of life, you are the referee and you call the shots."
And it works at the smallest scale as readily as the largest. Aaron has told his daughter a bedtime "consequence story" nearly every night, an account of one of his own mistakes, for four years running, until she asked: "Does that mean that I have a window into your heart?" What made that possible wasn't skill. "Presence is the most important thing. It's not about getting it right."
What interrupts the act
Three things keep the song from being played.
The first is consumption without reciprocity. We have cultivated an appetite with no corresponding exhale: food, media, feeds, everything. The question is simply, "What are you consuming?" And then the harder one, because "all that energy has to go somewhere."
The second is the scoreboard. "We're so motivated by the external stamp of approval, how many likes, how many followers, how much money, how much success." This is not an argument against being celebrated. It's a question of whether the self or the community sits at the center of the frame.
The third is seriousness itself. When "everything is so fearful and scary and serious," it "creates blockage of energy flow, it creates a blockage in the body, and can actually become disease if we're not careful." Which is a genuine argument for humor as a form of health, and for trusting comedians over politicians (;P). It is also the only advice his 98-year-old grandmother offers: "Keep a good sense of humor."
What restores it
Tend what's small. "Most of life happens when nobody is watching," and "when we invest in the small things in our lives, we actually begin to really transform reality," because at that scale nothing is performative. There's no audience to play to. Small is big, or small is beautiful.
And then one reframe changes the shape of everything above. What if, done with real intention, we don't consume at all? Instead of consuming, we integrate: intentional, compassionate integration. Not intake, but selection, discernment, weaving, until what came in belongs to us and can go back out changed.
How does it relate to Regenerative Vitality
This is what regenerative vitality actually implies. Sustaining holds a system where it is. Regenerating returns more than it took. Nature already works this way. "Nothing ever dies. It's just constantly transforming. The energy is never extinguished." A death economy extracts and leaves the ledger short. A living one composts what it takes in back into fertility, which is why Aaron insists a business model can "far transcend the current one" and still be "life honoring and life stewarding." Kindness is that metabolism, running at human scale.
Which is what makes the rest possible: "If we transform consciousness, we transform culture. If we transform culture, we transform our systems."
The song was already written. Somebody has to sing it out loud.
⭐ Aaron & MAGIC
Aaron Ableman is a United Nations award-winning multimedia storyteller, artist/rapper, and impact producer whose work bridges entertainment, education, ecology, and spirituality. As the author of three acclaimed books — his 4th is co-authored with Robert as a bestselling mythological children’s series called Gaia’s Game — Ableman continues to inspire revolutionary hope. When asked what he played at nine years old until time disappeared, Aaron doesn't name a game. He names the land: climbing avocado trees, careful not to knock a fruit loose, on a farm tended by a father he calls an agrarian genius and a mother who worked as a public health nurse. Growing things and healing people, the two halves of the argument he has been making ever since. He has since studied with indigenous elders and spiritual teachers, and he still locates the source in that same valley, in one tree moving through winter storms, spring blossoms, summer fruit, and fall harvest, until "every part of the cycle is like, it's some kind of magic." That is his answer. "The ultimate magic trick is life itself."
Creative Process (non-linear): Develop + Iterate Outlines & Drafts (Human + ai) ~Guest Alignment Feedback~Final Alignment by MAGICommons
