Welcome to the sixth edition of The Flying Sage Journal. As with all editions, I would like to start off with a direct excerpt from my journal.
Nov.10.2015
“There is an underlying flow of things. A completely over-arching force, that writes the progress of language, culture and information. This force can write one’s experience if allowed. To allow is to let go. To surrender. Religion points to this, to God. God is what you are when you completely surrender. Experience is God and you can be experience. Religion as with any ideology usually blurs the truth. Separate from ideology, belief systems, judgement and symbolism. Empower experience. empower that which you are, in every moment, a witness to. Embrace silence and solitude. This is where it is most easy to realize what you are not. After waking up, intuition and the incommunicable slowly but surely spring forward as your compass… guiding you towards what you are.”
This journal entry one is a very special one for me. It is a passage that I have come back to time and time again. It reminds me of long walks around Deer Lake. It reminds me of me tucking myself in my room and listening to Terence McKenna lectures on YouTube. It reminds me of a time when I was constantly searching for meaning in the everyday.
I am happy that I took my own advice and started to trust my intuition more. I am feeling very grateful for where I am at in my life right now and I don’t think I would do anything to change the trajectory I have been on. So many beautiful connections made along the road to become the person I am today. I am writing this now with gratitude in my heart and reflection on my mind. I thought I would utilize this edition to spend some time highlighting my journey this past year growing The Flying Sage and highlight some things that I am excited about for this year.
Building Community Takes Time
Although so much growth has happened this past year with The Flying Sage, it has only further cemented for me the idea that strong community takes time to build. Sometimes I can get caught up in ideas of where I want things to be with The Flying Sage and forget to enjoy where things are right now. There will never be another moment like this. I will never be travelling through space and time with this exact collection of humans by my side. I find it helpful to remind myself of this and to really appreciate what the current moment carries.
The connections and seeds that I am cultivating now need time to grow. Roots need to deepen if these creations are to blossom. Although the same could be said of creating any business, I think this sentiment takes on extra meaning with community-driven enterprises. Community is defined by the strength of it’s connections whereas many businesses can in theory make a lot of money and be successful without forming deeper connections.
Highlights From Last Year
I have shared this in another general email as well but wanted to reflect once more on some of the milestones from last year. 2022 brought a lot for The Flying Sage. During last year we…
Launched our Community Membership Platform and grown to 92 members (almost 100! 🎉)
Hosted over 33 in-person Integration Circles sponsored by Qi Integrated Health
Launched our plant-medicine ceremony focussed clothing line Haux Wear
Hosted several Expansion Seminars
Hosted our first event in Whistler
Launched a Podcast
Hosted 6 weekly Member Meetups at The Stretch Space sponsored by Conscious Mind Clinic
Hosted several Cannabis Ceremonies
Released a brand new Resources section on our website
Hosted free beach pop-ups every single week in the Summer
Grew our following on Social Media close to 3,500 people and our Signal group to 200 people
These are some really exciting milestones for us as a community which have given us a foundation to move forward with this year.
What Lies Ahead
2023 is going to be about expansion. I feel really grateful that we have taken the time to build a foundation around in-person events here in Vancouver but I am so excited to finally be able to share our community and energy with people all over the world.
For starters, this means we will be launching virtual events for the very first time. Up until now, we have only been focussed on in-person events in Vancouver so for us this is a big deal! I am excited to share that our first virtual offerings will be…
Aside from this, we also intend to host more expansion journeys like the event we hosted for New Year’s. That was our biggest event to date and people expressed that they would really love to see more stacked events like that in the future. You can get a sense of the energy from this video that we captured…
Sage Wisdom 🌀
Confucius was a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher of the Spring and Autumn period of Chinese history. He is the founder of Confucianism and one of the most influential figures in Chinese history. Confucius' teachings focused on creating ethical models of family and public interaction and setting educational standards. He emphasized the importance of education, the development of moral character, and the pursuit of knowledge.
I recently read something of his that I felt resonated well with what I was discussed previously around sustained commitment and building things slow.
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."
- Confucius
Achieving large, seemingly impossible goals often requires taking small, incremental steps and being persistent over time. The key to success is to focus on the small details and to not be discouraged by the enormity of the task at hand. Have faith and keep moving forward.
Farewell Until Next Time
Thanks for making it to the end. I hope you have enjoyed this free edition of The Flying Sage Journal. If you would like to read more things like this, please consider subscribing and sharing this with a friend.
I would LOVE to hear any feedback you have on this newsletter or the opportunity to simply discuss things brought up. Please feel free to reach out to me directly: michael@theflyingsage.ca
With psychedelic love and gratitude,
- Michael 🤍