ALIVENESS
A philosophy and practice for living fully in the awareness that life is finite.
On Wednesday and Thursday this week I ran my first virtual event… and I’m still coming down from it.
Thirty people gave up time to sit with me and do something most of us spend our whole lives avoiding. We looked at the fact that we’re going to die, and how that fact - paradoxically - can be a catalyst to unlocking our fullest potential in life.
We did the Ultimate Meditation, where you look back on your life from its final moments. We wrote letters from our ninety-year-old selves. We then did a Life Audit, an honest look at where the time is actually going. And we talked about the things that usually stay locked away. Grief. Fear. The rituals we’ve lost. The relationships we keep meaning to tend to. The playfulness that goes missing somewhere in adulthood.
We finished with the Aliveness practice itself. A simple daily check-in that keeps you acting on what matters, instead of quietly drifting away from it.
What struck me most, across both days, was how much lighter people seemed by the end. Not because we’d avoided the hard stuff…. because we’d finally turned and faced it. I am grateful for all those who attended. There will be more to come.
A man called Jeremy messaged me right afterwards to say:
“That was a colossal reframing of my existence. I’ve been reading your newsletters, but that was next level … I can now stop doubting that big life decision, and just give myself to it”
Braving The Bright Side Podcast
The same themes ran through a podcast I was lucky enough to be a guest on recently. Daniel Bradley, the charming host of Braving the Bright Side, opened our conversation with these words, and I loved them.
“It’s funny. Every single one of us shares one really shitty habit. At some point on our journey through this weird, beautiful, mystical little planet, we postpone our lives.
We’ll call them tomorrow. We’ll chase that dream once there’s a bit more money. We’ll tell them we love them next time, because it feels kind of weird to say it right now. And somehow, later quietly stretches into years.
I’m wildly guilty of it myself. I’ll put off making a phone call so I can watch the same episode of Parks and Rec or Modern Family for the eighteenth time. Or I’ll wake up to a gorgeous summer day thinking, I should go see my dad, call up some old friends, head to the beach. But then Michael Scott starts his own paper company, and suddenly, well, I’ve got plans.
Maybe the problem isn’t that we don’t know our time is limited. Deep down, we all know that. Maybe the problem is that we keep living like it isn’t.
Because the moment mortality quietly pulls up a chair, it starts asking some uncomfortable questions. Are you spending your time the way you actually want to? Are you becoming the person you hoped you’d be? Are you still waiting for someday?
And strangely enough, that’s where life gets brighter. People matter more. Dreams get louder. Ordinary Tuesdays start feeling a whole lot less, well, ordinary.
Because that series finale is probably a lot closer than we’d like to believe. So maybe it’s time to start releasing some absolute banger episodes of your own life. The kind that’ll leave you with as little regret as possible.”
— Daniel Bradley
Huge gratitude to Daniel for having me on his show. Please click below to watch or listen to the full podcast. I’m afraid the audio quality is not the best for some reason.
Spotify:
Youtube:
Thank you for being here. Make the most of the time you have.
Live happy,
Hoppy
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I am a former CEO, filmmaker, soul midwife and druidic bard. Several times in my life, I realised the life I was living no longer aligned with the person I had become. Each time, I found the courage to make a difficult decision, and each change led me closer to my purpose. I could never have imagined doing the work I do today. I created Aliveness with a dream that it becomes as impactful as Mindfulness: a daily practice that helps people live more bravely, leave fewer regrets and build a more present and generous world.
Thank you, John. Thank you so much for your passion and ability to transfer your experiences about living our life fully by being aware that our life energy is limited and our time is too precious to spend it without trying to introduce CHANGES in our life starting to live it fully. Every person has different ideas how to live its life fully, and your teaching could help to find out what it is.
John thank you again, absolutely awe-inspiring! Whilst listening I reflected on the first time I asked the question about death…I was 8 years old sitting on a bus with my mum and asked her what happens when we die she struggled to give me an answer and soon moved my attention to the scenery outside the bus window. Nature was her way of finding the meaning 🙏🏽
Wow how different our existence would be if we all lived with the awareness of knowing time is finite ♥️