Posts by Michelle Robinson97

Hey, is there any way I could swap my username over to roadieboy?

Anthony Cook8 said:Please, try not to be so hard on others or on yourself. People make mistakes—period. It might actually be better to say that people are simply living life...

If you truly could have done better, you would have...

Both you and the other person are learning from this experience, so please don't view it as a catastrophe.

Regarding the topic: "I'm sorry," "Thank you," and "I love you"... these are such powerful, beautiful words that can truly clear away the darkness.

We can't ever let ourselves forget.

James Lopez11 said:Has anyone here actually reached out to ask for forgiveness? I mean, truly, sincerely? Was it humble, and did the apology actually land when it happened? I’m not sure if this counts as spiritual stuff—this isn't from some self-help book or anything—but I'm in the middle of it right now. I’ve realized how some of my past actions really messed things up for someone else. I can feel the negative energy lingering, but I also feel like if I can find a way to be genuinely sorry deep down, that energy might just heal itself... both in me and in them. What do you guys think about that?

If you truly repent from the heart, you're forgiven. You don't need a middleman or a priest to validate it for you.

It basically means you aren't destined to stay together forever in every single lifetime, right? Instead, you have to actually "work through" this karma that follows you from previous lives. What I mean is, people fall head over heels, feeling like it’s finally THE thing—they feel this intense passion, this connection unlike anything they've ever experienced, like they just recognize each other instantly, yet somehow, despite all that, it remains difficult, if not outright impossible, to make the relationship actually work.

Look, the whole thing sounds lovely, all hearts and flowers and stuff, but honestly, that's just what happens when someone falls hopelessly in love, as the saying goes. Eventually, you wake up and realize it wasn't meant to be. And if it isn't meant to be, then clearly it wasn't supposed to happen. You just have to trust that if some random stranger walking down a street in NYC is meant to be your partner, they will be, sooner or later, even if it feels totally insane at first, regardless of whether they seem like your literal soulmate or whatever.

That's why I say, don't go living in some utopia thinking they're just going to meet now and live happily ever after. Truly happy loves without constant drama and hurdles are incredibly rare. Even with a twin flame.

To me, this whole concept smells like someone found a way to make a killing off some trendy new-age gimmick called "twin flames." I look at the crowd of people chasing this term and I see folks looking for something spiritual while completely ignoring reality right in front of them. Someone convinced you that you absolutely have to find this perfect half out there? Total nonsense.

Karmic connections, especially when you're dealing with that whole twin flame thing, can really push you right to the edge.

So, what's the deal with this?

Robert Diaz2 said:I totally agree with that. I mean, if someone actually stays focused on their own path and goals, they aren't going to be super clingy or emotionally dependent on their partner. But let's be real here, how often does that actually happen? Those high-level, spiritually aligned relationships are incredibly rare. Especially nowadays, when everyone's brain has been basically fried by the media. Every single show on Netflix or TV is just packed with intense emotions, passion, and pure melodrama, so people start thinking that chaos is the norm and try to force that onto their own relationships.

I actually know a couple where both people are pretty spiritual and understand all this stuff, but even then, the girl eventually fell into that pattern of dependency. She’s constantly nagging him whenever he tries to focus on his own hobbies or work, while she just keeps demanding attention. It's so hard to keep your ego in check within a relationship. Like, really tough. Even if you're one of those spiritual types, if you lose your center and your focus, it just goes to show that maintaining that balance is probably only possible for a very small group of people.

The frequency doesn't really matter, honestly; what matters is that these examples exist and prove it's possible. If two people are primarily focused on supporting each other to build their individual lives, where is the room for that "you and me" dynamic, if you catch my drift? At the end of the day, it’s either about the "we," or it’s about the individual. There isn't much middle ground.

Robert Diaz2 said:Since pretty much every spiritual teaching out there hits on the same core idea—that getting too attached to people or things during our temporary time on this earth isn't exactly the move—I really hope you've done enough soul-searching and inner work to make sure you don't end up getting emotionally hooked on anyone.

Personally, I know I’d probably get attached, and honestly, that just leads to nothing but anxiety, stress, and heartache, so maybe it’s just better off being by myself. I actually think it's kind of cool how the English word "alone" can be read as "all one." 🙂

Look, I’ve been around the block enough times to know that you can't really have a connection without some kind of underlying bond—it’s just how things work, trust me, I've put in the hours and tested the theory. It’s like trying to drive down a highway without any lanes marked out; you might think you're making progress, but you're really just drifting aimlessly. There are even those old-school perspectives floating around that suggest it doesn't actually matter who you're rolling with or what kind of grind you're pulling in your day-to-day life, as long as you've got a clear destination in your sights. If you have that one big goal acting as your North Star, everything else—every person you meet and every job you hold—can basically just serve as the wind at your back, helping push you toward that finish line.

People honestly seem to think the other half is just going to swoop in and magically complete them or keep them entertained forever, which—let’s be real—is such a load of crap. Eventually, everyone gets bored, no matter how much spark there was at the start. I mean, you look at why people are constantly blowing up their relationships or walking out on marriages these days, and that kind of unrealistic expectation is definitely one of the big reasons behind it all. It’s like expecting a single meal to keep you full for the rest of your life; eventually, the novelty wears off and you realize you're just hungry again.

I mean, at the end of the day, you really need that other side of things to actually complete the whole picture, whatever that's supposed to look like. 🙂

Honestly, I don’t really feel like I need anyone else in my life, you know? I’m pretty much at peace being my own person and totally content with how things are going solo, but having that other half out there—someone who’s basically just a mirror image of me—that would be the absolute icing on the cake.

Honestly, you’d be much better off running the other way if you’re looking for someone to just act like a fashion accessory or some kind of walking checklist for everything you think you're missing in life. It's like trying to buy a designer handbag thinking it'll actually fix your sense of style, or chasing after someone just to fill a void—it's a losing game, really.

Maybe there’s some truth to the idea that you’ve got to focus on self-actualization first, like, really doing the work on yourself before that whole twin flame connection even shows up—almost like it acts as this cosmic nod or a final stamp of approval once you've actually found yourself. I mean, you can't exactly pull the wool over God's eyes or trick the universe or whatever you want to call that universal mind, right? You can't just force happiness to happen through sheer willpower; everything operates on its own internal clock and timing. But at the same time, that higher intelligence expects us to actually step up and do our part, to cooperate with the process while we're out here navigating the road.

It really all comes down to you, I guess, though obviously there’s a whole mess of other variables floating around in the mix that you can't always control. But if you’re actually out there putting in the work to find your person, then yeah, it'll happen eventually.

mellowsailor95 said:As far as I can tell, the real issue lies in the fact that Masons worship an "Architect" of the world, and to plenty of people, that figure is none other than the Unclean.

On a different note, regarding meditation: it isn't incompatible with Christianity at all, especially Catholicism. In fact, there are extensive writings on the subject by figures like St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross.

Meditation runs through everything written by the foundress of the Discalced Carmelites; she believed it was the only true path to an Encounter with God residing within ourselves. That’s why you have to shut out the external noise, find stillness, and contemplate... which is essentially just what meditation is.

Contemplation and meditation are basically the same thing, just wrapped up in Christian terminology so it doesn't sound too "Eastern." There’s a whole roster of Christian thinkers who dove into this, including Ignatius of Loyola, Meister Eckhart, Thomas à Kempis, and the author of the "Cloud of Unknowing," among others...
That last bit you mentioned, regarding an "Encounter with God" or a "Mystical Marriage"—that’s really just describing the state of Samadhi, if you want to use the Eastern terminology.

Usually, folks who go messing around with manipulating that raw life force or "kundalini" end up in some pretty unenviable, messy situations—Nature isn't exactly a fan of people trying to hack her operating system just for their own gain, let alone using it against someone else. Honestly, the most common side effect of trying to practice channeling like that is that you end up, quite literally, flushed down the drain.

I'm with you there, though I don't think everyone hits rock bottom. From what I can tell, a huge number of people have absolutely no clue how this stuff works or even why they're doing it, so they just start experimenting blindly and end up wrecking everything. Sure, some might finish up on vacation with nothing to show for it but a handful of PEZ candy every day. 😁

Justin Anderson3 said:I honestly think the Bible has been totally misinterpreted... which is probably where all those fears and superstitions regarding God come from.

I wouldn't go that far, even looking back at how things used to be, but I’d say Jesus did a pretty decent job explaining the whole deal—even if he didn't lay out every single detail on who to pray to or the exact mechanics of how to do it. It feels like those New Age crowds just took his core ideas, gave them a little makeover, and rebranded them as this trendy new-age stuff we see everywhere today.

Justin Anderson3 said:If you’ve ever picked up Joseph Murphy’s "Power of Your Subconscious Mind," then you know exactly where I’m going with this.
I actually really liked the book. The core concept—that whatever we imprint on our subconscious through our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs eventually manifests as our reality... it shapes everything we go through. It’s pretty wild when you think about it.
But lately, I’ve been falling down a rabbit hole of reviews, and one particular critique really stuck in my craw. It goes something like this: "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind takes Hermeticism and repackages it as applied psychology, pushing New Age principles that spread like wildfire among Christian readers. Instead of praying to God, his methods suggest you're essentially just praying to your own subconscious"—that's what the priest Josip Blažević wrote in his book, "New Age Prophets."
The thing is, since he uses so many religious texts and keeps bringing up God, it feels like he’s throwing God and the subconscious into the same bucket. I just don't get it... are God and the subconscious supposed to be the same thing? 😕?

Look, any book out there promising to fix your life is going to be a bestseller, including that massive hit "The Secret." Honestly, most of this stuff is just the same old ideas being repackaged over and over again into books, expensive seminars, and online courses... But at its heart, we're talking about visualization. Simply put, the more vividly you can visualize something, the higher the odds you'll actually manifest it. These books tend to mention a method in passing and make it sound like you can achieve anything with minimal effort. In reality, doing this work is incredibly grueling (though you'll always hear those "know-it-all" types claiming it's a breeze), but it truly is possible to pull a specific outcome or event toward you if you play your cards right.

As far as I'm concerned, God and the subconscious are two completely different things.