S1 E1: Existence

The ShortMerc (00:27)
evaporating. It’s just weird, cause you’re like evaporating and then there’s like this thing that just keeps appearing and then disappears. Like it exists and then it doesn’t exist. Yeah, I know. I know that’s the whole thing. All right, there.

Chris (00:27)
I’m good. I’m just trying to get my speakers set.

Ashley (00:37)
Wow.

Chris (00:38)
for wrestling for today.

Ashley (00:41)
Chris isn’t even planning on saying anything. He’s just gonna keep like going in and out

and just like, this is existence. Whoa. Excellent.

The ShortMerc (00:48)
Look at this guys! Alright, Gilmore… my god, he’s actually doing it. Holy shit.

Chris (00:51)
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

The ShortMerc (00:59)
But yeah, no…

Chris (00:59)
That’s

for the videocast. gotta work our way up to that.

The ShortMerc (01:03)
Yeah, when we all have time and energy and don’t look as haggard as we feel. ⁓

Ashley (01:03)
Yes.

The ShortMerc (01:09)
But yeah, so Gilmore, we’re not affiliated with them, but they did say some cool stuff, so.

Ashley (01:13)
Yes, and I have a tattoo that says reality has no place in my world. it’s, don’t, couldn’t, don’t make me like figure out the episode, but I remember that that quote stuck with me because there’s no like, like we have a shared reality, but our existence is so different and our like experiences and how we view the world and like all of the things that make up who we are now is our reality and our existence in many ways. And so I loved

that quote because it was like, yeah, I can kind of come up with whatever my existence is. could, you know, for the most part, as long as it doesn’t harm other people, it’s like I can just be who I want to be. And my reality is my reality. And I just think that’s such a cool concept.

The ShortMerc (01:51)
Yeah.

Yeah, it’s like, and I like that you said don’t hurt other people because it’s like, there’s really one rule to existence and it’s, it’s a cardinal rule in my book. ⁓ Don’t be a dick. Like you can pretty much get away with just about anything. Just don’t be a dick and you know what it means. It’s like, there’s no need to go jump all over somebody else’s ⁓ perception or reality, especially if it’s got not a damn fucking thing to do with you.

Ashley (02:05)
Yes.

Mm-hmm.

The ShortMerc (02:22)
Like, I feel like not enough people get a chance to explore their existence and what existence actually is and what it means to them because they’re kind of worried about people jumping down their throat. So it’s like, I’ll agree to this particular mindset and just go from there. And if I don’t think about it, then it doesn’t exist and it can’t actually do anything to me or I don’t have control over that. So it’s fine. I can just let it go. I think that’s just a bum way to live, I feel.

Chris (02:49)
I think like I just imagine that most people don’t even consider it even a possibility or have never been introduced to the idea that everyone’s existence is different, know, culturally or at least with like religion, they basically say this is this is your reality. This is everyone’s reality. We’re all sharing the same thing. All the rules apply to everybody. But then

When I started started learning about chakras and stuff and realizing that these things are developed as almost lenses through how you see the world. So like even the way I see the color yellow is not the same way that someone else sees yellow. Like they could see it as what I see is blue. I mean obviously it’s a vibration we’re picking up on the same vibration but the way we’re translating it is completely different which is wild.

The ShortMerc (03:42)
Yeah, it’s it’s like artwork. I mean, that stuff doesn’t really exist. It’s a bunch of squiggles and blotches and waveforms that are just coming through an ocular nerve or a sensational nerve or some nerve bundle. And I mean, everyone’s got different nerve bundles. It’s like if you poke me in the shoulder, I’ll feel it in the bottom of my foot, which is not normal. That is that is a neurological issue. But also, that’s just kind of how I see things. And it’s the same thing, I think, with art and with

allowing yourself to really explore that kind of existence. Like, I think there’s a certain level of not ego death, but ego taming that comes with that. You know, I like you can’t really go explore your existence or anyone else’s if you’re living based off of, yeah, well, I know this is right. And that’s just how it is. You know, that’s, it’s kind of crap.

Chris (04:35)
Yeah, the second you start labeling your existence and not being open to that label changing, I think that’s where the problems come in and you lose all the flexibility and then other people start to bother you because maybe they’re living something that you want to be living, but in your reality, that’s not supposed to exist. So that could be upsetting.

The ShortMerc (04:55)
And usually I feel like it is. There’s probably some insane psychology and behavioral something behind what all of this is. ⁓ I know we could, definitely going to dive more into the philosophy of what’s going on behind that. Cause again, if everybody’s perception is different, ⁓ I don’t know, man, I feel like, especially in this day and age, we’re in a place where we can actually appreciate that everyone’s perception is different and start like, start trying to cultivate less. ⁓

everything that’s going through someone’s head within reason. mean like we shouldn’t be cultivating death bots that are ripping people apart for no for nothing but like yeah hopefully not like as a cartoon that’d be kind of cool but ⁓ I think

Ashley (05:33)
Really.

The ShortMerc (05:39)
I we’re in a state now where it would be in our best interest to stop labeling things as clinically one thing or clinically another thing or like this is just society or that’s just the way it has to be. Like I don’t, I think we’re in a space now where we can all start to explore each other’s version of existence instead of just, no, but this is how it is and this is how it always will be because this is how it’s always been. It’s like, it’s kind of stagnant behavior, yeah?

Chris (06:03)
Yeah, that’s interesting. And like the question for some reason that that pulls up in my head is like, if the way I experience you guys is only through my experience and my lenses, obviously, not only am I experiencing you in a different way than any other person is, but also how can I truly be sure that that

there are other existences outside of myself.

The ShortMerc (06:31)
feel like this is one of those logic questions you get on the SATs, where they like phrase it backwards. But I mean, if I’m hearing what you’re asking correctly, the way I would interpret that is, if you know the only lens is the lens that you have, at some point you have to acknowledge that that lens doesn’t see everything, because there are things that you have learned that you did not know.

Chris (06:51)
That’s okay so right But as soon as you experience it is it become it is you you’re experiencing

The ShortMerc (06:56)
You

Ashley (06:57)
No.

The ShortMerc (07:02)
Great, and then you might have the drive to go learn more or you just go learn more because it has to happen to you.

Ashley (07:09)
I think that was a good way of explaining it because I go, I know the name. I’m not going to remember the name of the theory. suck at it. But I go to like the, like almost nature versus nurture. Like we, but it’s both and everybody’s nature and nurture are different. I mean, just inherently, like no matter what, like you, there’s no two identical nature and nurtures for people. Like biologically and sociologically, we are all very different. And so then

The ShortMerc (07:22)
Mm-hmm.

Ashley (07:37)
I think that awareness or like, bringing that awareness to that fact is then what opens people to recognizing that like, their, their existence is different and there are other ways of doing it. But yeah, if you’re, if you live in a, not to make it, but if you like, there’s the concept of the white bubble, right? So people live just around people that look like them for so many years of their life in, in certain areas and like communities.

Chris (08:03)
Yeah.

Ashley (08:04)
And

like I talked about that with my mom, because like she was raised in a white bubble and then she met a native and she was like, whoa, like this is the whole other world. And just people, you know, that you don’t know necessarily unless you’re either taught it or you like choose to go out and explore or like there’s, there’s, there are ways to kind of stay ignorant to other people’s existences. It’s just, it’s a lot harder now with the internet, but it still exists. There’s still a way to do it.

The ShortMerc (08:11)
Yeah

Yeah, cause, and I mean, in that same vein, here we go guys, it’s all time for the woo woo brain. But in the same vein, that’s always going to have to exist. Those who are averse to the existence of other things. I could say existence a million times, all the keywords. But…

Ashley (08:38)
So we will.

The ShortMerc (08:49)
the perceptions that other people have, I mean, there have to be those who perceive that no other existence exists for existence to create enough friction to keep expanding. and I mean, that’s, that’s even based on, you know, scientific energy principles, which I also suck at remembering the names of things. But, yeah, there’s Google, there’s still Google, there will always be Google. Yeah.

Ashley (09:08)
Great, we got this. You can look it up after.

or encourage other people.

The ShortMerc (09:17)
You guys go look it up. Go figure out what it is.

Ashley (09:18)
Yeah, you’re curious, go look it up.

The ShortMerc (09:21)
But yeah, you’re always going to need those.

odd polarities ⁓ to pull at different strings. Because at the end of the day, let’s say everybody believes existence exists, yeah, it’s going to be great and it’ll keep perpetuating that existence exists, but then eventually that energy will run into something else. It’ll run out. It’ll convert somewhere. It’ll start fostering something you don’t want it to foster, like malaise or the lackadaisical nature of just, well, it’s always there, so it’s always going to be there. I I think that’s our responsibility, too, as things

that persist with consciousness is to always go, hey, there’s something different, we should probably look at that. And we don’t know if a rock is actually thinking that, but we also know that a rock is not going to always stay that same type of rock either. It’s gonna continue to just accept that things are gonna happen to it and it’s gonna rock. Rock is gonna rock, man.

Ashley (10:16)
You

Chris (10:17)
Well, even rocks carry vibrations. They’re very, very slow.

The ShortMerc (10:21)
Yeah, I mean they’d have to. exist with a physical form, which means they’re made of molecules and atoms and those move. Typically. We want them to move. If they don’t move, it’s bad.

Chris (10:24)
Yeah.

So

Ashley (10:32)
Yeah.

Chris (10:32)
that’s another interesting fact, right? So like vibration seems to be kind of an underlying factor of existence. And we are in bodies that have…

a multitude of translators for vibration that experience it differently and one of those ways is physicalness, you know? And it’s proven though that even everything physical is like 90 % empty.

The ShortMerc (11:00)
Yeah, because it has to

Ashley (11:01)
Yes.

The ShortMerc (11:02)
be!

All of those molecules and atoms need a place to bounce around and do things and change and shift and perpetuate motion and continuation. Like, it’s just hard-pressed into everything to just keep going.

Chris (11:14)
Because it’s moving slowly, right?

The ShortMerc (11:15)
Even it doesn’t really matter if it’s moving slowly or quickly or what have you because in the same again I’m gonna play like the paradoxical advocate here for every universe where vibration is the thing there’s another thing where vibration doesn’t exist Because it has to Which is

Chris (11:31)
Right.

The ShortMerc (11:33)
just the beauty of it. I mean, it’s the perpetuation of I’m confused forever and I fucking love it. But also it kind of drives, at least for me, it drives me to keep looking at different viewpoints in different ways, knowing full and damn well that I will never run out of things to learn, which is amazing to me. You know, I will never run out of experiences to have. I will never run out of things to talk about with people. I will always be able to see a reality that exists that may or may not persist here. But I also think

Ashley (11:39)
You

The ShortMerc (12:03)
people don’t fully understand the difference between it exists and it persists in its existence. It’s probably because it’s a lot of is-is-is-ises and it’s really hard to say. Is-dis-is-ises mid-dis-is-ises. Yes. But I guess? This time? Maybe. I don’t know. Sometimes the universe does have like…

Ashley (12:11)
Mm-hmm.

Chris (12:14)
Mr. Thist, Mr. Mr. Thist.

Ashley (12:18)
Exactly.

Chris (12:19)
It’s all about the scissors, right? I think that’s what you’re getting at.

Ashley (12:23)
Thank

The ShortMerc (12:28)
gender technicality but that might only be this universe or it’s all universes except for one it could be a thing but i i don’t really want to jump down that rabbit hole i’ll take you with me if you want that’s like season four of the whole season it’s just parts parts of the same wormhole that would that would be awful we’d just lose

Chris (12:35)
boy.

Ashley (12:38)
Season two episode.

Chris (12:39)
Yes, you do.

Ashley (12:44)
There you go. Yeah, that would be.

Yup.

Chris (12:53)
Do

you think existence always exists? I was listening to this one channel that said the basic premise of existence is that it exists and the basic premise of non-existence is that it does not exist and neither can… existence can never not exist.

The ShortMerc (13:10)
I do, but I also think that there should have been more speak around that. ⁓ How dare you not remember word for word verbatim, verbri-vr-ri-vrational.

Chris (13:15)
Well, I’m sure there was, that was like, you know.

Ashley (13:20)
What’s the matter with you?

Chris (13:20)
Thank

The ShortMerc (13:22)
At you can talk. ⁓ No, think that that’s true. I was actually talking to my therapist about this of what I consider to be ⁓ polarities, because we talk about polarities and seeing other people’s sides and things like that a lot. And I told him, I think for me, it’s just existence and non-existence. Those are the two things that I know will always be there. And that’s not to say that one can’t transition to the other possibly with outside influence or some other type of.

Chris (13:45)
Mm.

The ShortMerc (13:52)
But that is to say that there will always be two pools that must exist, which is existence and non-existence, and then everything else exists or doesn’t exist within those boundaries, I think. And I think sometimes it is up to those that exist with consciousness to pull from that which doesn’t exist to bring it into existence. But…

We should have a game where we figure out how many times justice had existence in this episode.

Ashley (14:21)
Okay,

I’ll say reality 400 times, so how do we punch?

The ShortMerc (14:25)
We need to go find John and him talk about the reality, which is…

Ashley (14:29)
I was just gonna say, don’t

bring John into this or he will keep saying the reality, which is.

The ShortMerc (14:33)
Yeah

have to have ⁓ dinner vouchers from him he’ll just make everybody food for a week because he’ll never stop talking about it. ⁓ Christmas like this seems like a win for me if I just… ⁓ perfect I mean it’s pretty cool when you think about it the different layers of how things come to be I mean comic books the stories inside of comic books existed

Ashley (14:39)
Perfect. no. ⁓

Chris (14:40)
sucks.

Ashley (14:45)
⁓ Excellent.

Chris (14:45)
I exist in that reality.

The ShortMerc (14:58)
long before the books themselves, but the details are different, the perceptions are different, like the way that they get digested is different, everything is just different, but I feel as though the emotions, the feelings, the thought patterns, the mentality that they elicit are still the same. You know, I feel like that spirit wants to exist so much that it’s just continuing to persist. And I’m not going to say the other word.

Ashley (15:22)
Best.

The ShortMerc (15:26)
Exactly. Chris has got

me.

Chris (15:28)
You

Ashley (15:29)
Yeah, no, I. go ahead.

Chris (15:29)
Yeah,

no you go ahead I wasn’t gonna say anything

The ShortMerc (15:33)
I think I broke everybody

Ashley (15:34)
No,

I I don’t I feel like this is what came to mind and I don’t know if it’s actually relevant or if it just was taking us completely off course, but ⁓ It reminds me of my age-old argument when I broke some people’s brains back in the day About how reality doesn’t feel like existent like it doesn’t actually exist like fact facts are facts until we have new facts ⁓

And there’s nothing wrong with that. Like that’s, that’s how science happens, right? Like we, like we believe one thing and then there are, there’s new evidence that suggests otherwise. And then it moves that fact evolved doesn’t necessarily mean that fact depends on the science, like the science and the theory and all the things, but like that doesn’t necessarily mean it wasn’t real and factual then it’s just now we have more information. And I think, huh.

The ShortMerc (16:24)
I-

I- just a quick pause, that is not an excuse to be a dick.

Ashley (16:28)
Well, right. So where I was going with that one, yeah. So like, I think there’s the importance of learning other people’s realities, like the importance of continuing to be curious and ask questions. And like, that’s how that science evolves is like, oh, wait, but but what about this? Or I, don’t understand this part of that. And so like, now I have more questions. And so you’re not like, being an asshole necessarily. I’m sure, you know, there are people that are but like, ideally, they’re

They’re not trying to be an asshole by going, I don’t think that’s true. I think it’s this. They’re saying, ⁓ I’m really curious. Like, I wonder about this. And I think that existence and like our shared reality and how each of our perceptions of reality, need like, that includes being curious about other people and like asking what, are you seeing right now? Like, what are you, how are you seeing this? How are you experiencing it? Like what?

in your worldview, like has brought you to that understanding. So like, I could do a whole nother one on curiosity. But I think that’s a huge part of like existence and how we learn each other’s realities. Like, if I was raised that the sky being taught that the sky was yellow, if my parents were like, the sky is yellow, they don’t necessarily let’s say they gave me no evidence, they just were like,

The ShortMerc (17:46)
You

Ashley (17:46)
Yeah, that’s that’s

yellow. And like, so I have my entire life I go around anything I see that’s, quote unquote, blue, classically blue, like I’m like, that’s yellow, because I was taught that that color that I’m looking at right now is yellow. Like, like, like,

The ShortMerc (17:58)
man. That

Chris (17:58)
you

The ShortMerc (18:00)
reminds me of that that new girl episode where she’s just like, green is whatever I want it to be.

Chris (18:05)
You

Ashley (18:05)
Right? Yes. Like, it’s

because it’s what it’s what we’re taught and it’s how we are. And then it starts with what we’re taught like that you don’t always that doesn’t mean stick with just what you were taught. Like ideally, you know, you, you, you grow and you change and you learn and you explore and you get curious and explore another future episode. But ⁓ ideally, you’re doing that so that you can continue to evolve your perception of reality of your reality.

The ShortMerc (18:24)
Yes

Ashley (18:34)
⁓ But sometimes for the first like several years or like if nobody ever taught you something different like how are you supposed to know like that? like that isn’t there like a hashtag of ⁓ Like I just learned today. What’s that hashtag like ⁓ I’m today years old. Yes

The ShortMerc (18:49)
I was this many years old. Yeah. Yeah.

That’s entirely true. mean, likewise, you still have to have some type of tolerance in there as well to understand that that’s not how it always is supposed to go. ⁓ You know, sometimes you have to be pushed outside and sometimes those outside forces will reach into your bubble and grab you and just yank you the fuck out of there. I mean, and then listen, man.

Ashley (18:59)
Mm-hmm.

Chris (19:11)
make you do that. Yeah. That’s what Jeff does.

Ashley (19:13)
Mm-hmm.

The ShortMerc (19:18)
Sometimes that is my job. Give- I’m just in a giant

Chris (19:20)
My bubble. Leave my bubble alone.

The ShortMerc (19:24)
like cactus suit running at you for a hug. Yes. Make sure it’s not a glass bubble, I’ll just push you off a cliff. Yeah.

Chris (19:26)
Yeah, I need a better bubble around my bubble skill needs to be a little bit better

Ashley (19:28)
you

no. It’s a whole different reality.

The ShortMerc (19:42)
Yeah, and I mean, like, it’s kind of cool to just, like, start thinking about not pushing Chris off of a cliff. Don’t push your friends off cliffs. It’s not nice. ⁓ Yes, mental cliffs, that’s fine. But yeah, that’s the whole thing you were talking about, Ashley. That’s the…

Chris (19:50)
metaphorical cliff.

The ShortMerc (19:59)
hypothesis. It’s the beginning of the scientific method. It’s just like, well, this is how I’ve always been taught that it is. But what if, I’m going to pontificate, it goes this way, just because or because I went to something that goes just an iota against what it is that I was taught. And that is a curious notion to follow. You know, it’s the beginning of all things science, all things spiritual, all things period. This is how it was. But what if it wasn’t?

Ashley (20:26)
Hmm.

Chris (20:27)
That’s

Ashley (20:27)
Which one?

Chris (20:28)
yeah, that makes me think of a bunch of different things. One being that like the brain is just designed to truncate information. So like once your brain knows what it needs to know about a tree, you no longer see the tree. Your brain just says tree. Like it just puts a label on the thing. That’s not really the thing, which is why psychedelics are are interesting because they break that sort of connection and everything kind of

loses the labeling system. And I don’t know if Jess agrees with me or not right here, but that’s how I understand it. But also, the care, I’m glad you said curiosity a bunch too, Ashley, because it makes me think that curiosity might be the best skill for people to learn or for, for, to teach kids, just like being open to exploring and, wondering. I always found curiosity.

That kind of like, changed art for me when I was listening to Elizabeth Gilbert, who wrote Eat, Pray, Love, but she also wrote a book called Big Magic. And she talks a lot about curiosity and how curiosity is a better word than passion, because passion is like this big, huge thing. And like, if you don’t feel like a huge draw to something, then you’re not passionate.

but you can feel a little bit of curiosity and still follow that thread.

The ShortMerc (21:52)
just gonna rip all of that to pieces. Unless Ashley you want to first.

Chris (21:54)
Please do, please do.

Ashley (21:57)
Nope,

I’m going to file real quick while you talk, so.

The ShortMerc (22:00)
Oh, fantastic. You get them nails, No, so I don’t think we should keep putting so much weight on any word or anything or or labeling something as typical, especially being non-typical in my existence. Being, again, a multiple and a plural system. You guys are going to hear me say that a lot because it’s it’s the new way I’ve learned to explain this. But.

I think you can have passion. Passion doesn’t have to be a huge thing. I mean, that tells me a little bit about what she’s gone through, the way that she’s perceiving it. So I see that as somebody said, you’re curious about the thing, but you don’t have a passion about it, and that’s just not right, and that stuck with her for some reason. And then she had to find an out to get herself out of it. I think curiosity can be as big or as little as it needs to be.

And I think passion can be as big or as little as it needs to be. I think this notion of everything needing to be this big fucking sweeping notion, huge gesture.

Chris (22:56)
Well, that’s the hustle culture, right? I think that like we’re in a weird place right now where everything should look big

The ShortMerc (22:59)
Partially.

But what if I told you it doesn’t have to be that way? And not even just you either, like everybody, like it doesn’t have to be that way. Like when you’re asleep at night, there’s not some giant symphony of like sound happening inside of your cell. Your cells are tiny things quietly doing their fucking job. They’re not looking for you to praise them. They’re looking for you to feed them when they ask you to.

Chris (23:08)
No, no, and it hasn’t always been that way. Right.

The ShortMerc (23:28)
but they’re not looking for you to praise them. They’re like, cool, body’s not moving, gonna just be quiet, do our job, let the brain go, make pretty pictures in the head or let them rest and then just keep at it. And I mean, you can be curious about that and have a passion for the human body and still not be a doctor.

Chris (23:44)
It reminds me of like native cultures and how like a big showy thing that could have could have been like a big showy thing is like, let’s go watch the shaman do a rain dance. But that’s that was never the case. Like they went away. Like it wasn’t a show. It was like they did what they needed to do in quiet in solitude. And that’s how they kind of they almost needed the quiet to to settle down and get in tune with.

the rest of things. Does that make sense?

The ShortMerc (24:16)
It does. Are you back?

Ashley (24:18)
No, you didn’t.

Chris (24:22)
My train of thought went away, but I guess I was trying to get at was that the big act of that sort of activity was actually tuning into the smaller and more subtle aspects of existence.

The ShortMerc (24:37)
I mean, I think so. think I’m not indigenous native at all. I am a mutt in full. And ⁓ for me, at least, that makes sense. mean, even practicing spiritual practices, grounding practices, getting in touch with nature, it’s not…

this huge, let me go do this ceremony and ritual and call down all of these things. It’s like, no, let me go get a cup of coffee till the world to go fuck itself. And then I’m going to go do my thing. And then I’m going to come back. And then if I’m ready to rejoin, then I’m ready. And if I’m not ready, well, then I’m not going to.

I mean, at least that’s me and that could be incredibly simplifying and everybody I hope knows I mean no disrespect anywhere. I am just a very direct and abrasive individual.

Chris (25:25)
Well, speaking of existence and like how everything just needs to exist for a reason and maybe it’s polarity wise, but like, what do you think that big like showboating energy got to get stuff done? You know, a lot of people will say you got to be a human being instead of a human doing. ⁓ there’s a, there’s a huge emphasis on that whole thing these days. ⁓ but obviously it shouldn’t not exist because it does exist, but.

It doesn’t resonate with me in particular. And I know a lot of people it doesn’t, but I am also have a tendency to want to go in that direction, even though deep down that’s like a very uncomfortable place for me to be. There’s still a desire for me to be a part of that for some reason. So there must be some sort of.

need or like existential need or even cultural need that that plays a role for.

The ShortMerc (26:23)
I mean it could also just be a micro need like it could just be a Chris need you know maybe there’s a lesson over there that you need to learn and you don’t have to agree with a lot of it I mean like there’s a lot of shit I don’t agree with but I sit through it because I know at the end of the day I gotta learn something from this one way or another or it’s just gonna keep fucking happening so

So it’s one of the, see that smile over there. You, you over there, with your nails and stuff. Beautiful. But.

Ashley (26:55)
No, they’re ruined. Anyway.

The ShortMerc (26:58)
But yeah, it’s fine, it’ll get better. But yeah, no, I don’t know, man. I’m also losing my train of thought. just derailed myself almost on purpose. ⁓ lessons, there we go, I came back.

came back around. But no, I think there’s always a lesson ⁓ that you can take out of something. And if it’s something that you keep gravitating towards and you know that it’s not for you, that could just be something inside of you going, listen, we need to have a conversation about this thing. So let’s go explore it and then get icky and then come back and go, why’d we get icky? And then move on.

Chris (27:30)
Right.

Feels icky. Go get icky. Don’t ignore the ick. That’s the lesson of this whole podcast. If your existence has ick in it, don’t try to run away because it’s going to get you.

The ShortMerc (27:38)
Shit gets weird, man.

It will catch you

every foot. It’s like it’s like the which shell is that the blue shell? The blue turtle shell yeah Like life is just going out whatever speed it’s gonna go at and it’s got an infinite amount of those blue fucking shells And it’s like I’m gonna throw some things at you Don’t avoid them

Ashley (27:47)
to be there.

Chris (27:52)
The what?

Ashley (27:52)
Yeah,

the blue shell.

The ShortMerc (28:04)
You’re gonna avoid them? Alright, well you can’t avoid this. Here’s a blue shell. Here’s another blue shell. Here’s another blue shell. Here’s the same blue shell, but six times larger. And you’re s- It’s ⁓ go ahead. We hit the button.

Chris (28:06)
This is bigger.

What’s this blue shell thing? I’m not familiar with it.

A

what?

Ashley (28:19)
I’m referring, I pulled it back, Mario Kart. You’ve played Mario Kart, right? Yeah, so if you’re in first place, and if you’re in one of the last places, can, yeah, if you get a blue shell, it targets the person in very first place, and you cannot avoid it. You can block it with, if you’ve got, ⁓ I’m gonna stop. There are ways to block it, but you can’t avoid it. It’s gonna slow you down.

Chris (28:23)
Yeah, yeah,

You’re the one targeted.

bananas.

All right.

The ShortMerc (28:45)
Life will get you. Like your lessons will get you.

Ashley (28:48)
Yes.

Chris (28:49)
That’s a cool polarity thing, It’s

last place trying to get closer to first place.

Ashley (28:55)
That’s me.

The ShortMerc (28:56)
Maybe not,

because you don’t have to be in last place to use it, you just aren’t first.

Ashley (29:00)
It’s in like the last three or four places that you can usually get it.

Chris (29:03)
okay.

Doesn’t the last place have some crazy power that they get, like the bullet bill or something?

Ashley (29:11)
That’s also the last like four like places. Yeah, four, three, four, five, something like that. The blue shell, I think is the last three.

The ShortMerc (29:11)
I

Chris (29:14)
it’s last four. OK.

The ShortMerc (29:20)
The last half of the people. Being first is not always a good thing. I was listening to Neil deGrasse Tyson and he was saying if you’re exploring a new dimension or something, bring a coin with you and throw that in first and if it dissolves, don’t go there. It’s like, yeah, sometimes being first is not the best.

Ashley (29:22)
Correct, yes. Exactly.

Smart! He was a smart man.

Chris (29:41)
Great! That’s great!

Yup, like,

The ShortMerc (29:47)
Naming…

naming rights… now worth it.

Chris (29:48)
that’s one of my favorite sayings is, every mushroom is edible once, at least once.

The ShortMerc (29:54)
Yep, yep, we should have played that too.

Ashley (29:55)
A good one.

Chris (29:58)
You don’t want to be

the first guy to discover that.

The ShortMerc (30:01)
No, no, no, I would imagine that’s the same as like a bad, bad weed strain. First person to put all the super high weed strains together and just smoke them. All that sativa. No, they walk through another dimension. They are no longer the coin. They are the blue shell. ⁓ Yeah, but yeah, I think I like.

Ashley (30:12)
Not for this.

Chris (30:14)
Yeah, they never came back probably. Different existence.

Ashley (30:21)
That’s right. ⁓

The ShortMerc (30:29)
where this is going. think that more folks should have this kind of an open conversation too. And you’re going to hear me say that a lot throughout this because I think the conversations have gotten really stagnant, especially around, you know, it’s like, Hey, have you read this one person’s theory on this one thing? And it’s like, yes, we all have a hundred fucking times. How about we all go out and go get our own theories and then bring them back? I know we suck at group projects, but can we like rocket this one? Of all the group

Chris (30:57)
Get our own theories.

The ShortMerc (30:58)
Yeah, like of all the group projects, let’s not shit the bed on this one. Like, like let’s just go out and explore the way we’re going to explore. Still be respectful because I feel like everybody and everything deserves respect regardless. Like, like that should just be a default state. It’d solve a lot of problems. But then just go out, learn your shit, come back, talk about the things that were the same, were different, would be cool if make your own theories.

Ashley (31:17)
Yeah.

The ShortMerc (31:26)
then get up, go do more of it. Go do more of the thing, even if that’s just sitting on your ass, pontificating your own mind. Brains are wild things, Let me just say, brains are fucking insane. If you don’t have anything else to do, just think about your own thoughts.

See you have other stuff to do clearly but like if you’re ever just sitting there not knowing what to do Just just think about what’s going on in your head not how it’s making you feel not what I should be doing not what’s the logic just like literally the thought is a thought but thought

Ashley (31:46)
No.

Chris (32:05)
I like the what if thoughts. Like a while ago, I kind of came to this conclusion that like, ultimately, I’m not really going to know what’s out there. Like, that’s just not my place. It’s not my place as a human to figure that out. But what that allows me is the ability to just fucking make it up. when I think about what is out there, sometimes my thoughts are, well, what if it’s this?

Ashley (32:19)
Thanks

The ShortMerc (32:26)
You

Ashley (32:26)
Mm-hmm.

Chris (32:33)
And if that’s something that I’m like, yeah, that would be awesome if that was true. That’s what I’m going to hold onto until I find something to the contrary, because it makes me have a better life now. And it makes me more excited about the future, which is fun. Instead of that I’m going to hell because I sin a bunch.

The ShortMerc (32:52)
I like, that’s fine, there are many hells. And honestly the Nordic hell seems pretty chill, mean you just keep doing more of what you do. Just don’t be a prick or they will hurt you. ⁓ It’s just continuation of ecosystems and it’s another existence engine. Yeah, just keep doing existing.

Chris (33:08)
Yeah. That’s the law, right? It’s like a, it’s going to be a lot anywhere you go.

Ashley (33:17)
Yeah, well, and I think that why is it? What’s really intense?

Chris (33:17)
plus I hear angels are really intense.

The ShortMerc (33:19)
Go ahead, Ashley.

Chris (33:21)
Angels.

The ShortMerc (33:23)
Listen,

Eric Kripke taught us that angels are dicks. And I’m inclined to believe him.

Ashley (33:27)
That’s true.

Chris (33:30)
Thank

Ashley (33:31)
Speaking of Eric, no, that will kind of, ⁓ but that’s your point, Chris, like, who’s to say that there aren’t multiple of those? What if like, who’s to say like, there? I mean, there are so many different cultures who believe in so many different things and, and who use the world in so many different ways that like, why? Why is there just have to be one? I mean, that doesn’t like that’s very limiting. Yeah.

The ShortMerc (33:34)
Yeah

Chris (33:42)
Right.

Yeah, there’s no way there can be.

Ashley (33:56)
So, I mean, I think, I don’t know why this made me think about it, but Chris will feel like he’ll appreciate it. There’s this mushroom that, and I can’t remember the name of it, but I remember reading about it, that basically has, has no, science has, so far, has not been able to find any psychedelic properties, like any properties that say that you will, like, that you should be like hallucinating or anything like that.

but literally everyone across multiple cultures and multiple languages, when they eat this mushroom, they see little people like, like almost like fairies, like say like little teeny tiny people just moving about their world. And they haven’t been able to make a connection as to why that is. I’m like, so maybe that’s a different reality. We get into dimensions and other experiences, but like, right? Like why, who’s to say there’s not stuff happening around us that we don’t know? And like, I mean, I believe there is, but like there’s…

Chris (34:40)
Yeah.

Ashley (34:46)
There are all kinds of very interesting experiences that people have. Yeah.

Chris (34:50)
Yeah, that’s like the same thing with DMT

is like when people people always report these machine elves, they call them. And it’s always a very, very specific entity that are like doing work and like noticing the person that is kind of ⁓ invading their realm almost. And for the most part, they’re like, look at this cool thing that like we’ve made. And it’s like, obviously, they say that it’s a weird abstract.

thing that are multiple colors that don’t even exist in reality. But eventually I just watched a video of this guy that said he’s done a bunch of it and eventually they get mad at you and stop letting you come to visit.

The ShortMerc (35:31)
It’s cause you gotta bring them stuff, You can’t just be like, yo, let me see what you got going on. It’s just like if I roll up into your house, knowing that full damn well you kids, your wife are there, you’re having like a family get together and I’m like, hey, go pour me a drink. Like, fuck kind of shit is that? Right, right. ⁓ right. And then put it on a plate in front of you. It’s like the old Fay thing where you have to have.

Chris (35:33)
You

Ha

Ashley (35:40)
you

Respect, right?

Chris (35:50)
Before you smoke, make lasagna.

Ashley (35:53)
Thank

The ShortMerc (35:57)
sweet cream, it on the windowsill at night, leave the window just slightly ajar, DON’T NOT DO THIS, and leave like a fresh piece of bread next to it and you’ll gain the favor of the fae.

Ashley (36:08)
Mm-hmm.

Chris (36:08)
⁓

that’s why, okay.

The ShortMerc (36:10)
Yeah, don’t go jumping around in the fairy circles though, they will fuck you up. Yeah, but like there’s also a theory and I don’t remember which physics structure it is, so excuse me all scientists out there, but that two things can occupy the same space if the frequency is indeed different, which would be a different vibrational pattern. And since solid matter isn’t 100 % solid, can you imagine the density? It be like a nibbler shit from Futurama.

Chris (36:16)
Those things are cool.

Ashley (36:40)
Also no affiliation.

The ShortMerc (36:40)
yeah nope

we’re not getting sponsored by any of these people we’re just nerds who like these things but yeah so like like to think about the fact that if you’re in an altered state then you’re probably going to be moving at a different vibration of a different frequency at least some part of you is and that could be just be the conscious mind but what have you

Ashley (36:47)
Right.

Chris (36:58)
Yeah.

The ShortMerc (37:03)
And you could very well be seeing things that also exist in the same exact world, but just on a different frequency. It’s one of those what ifs. And I mean, look at some of the artwork that comes out in the world, even like TV shows, ⁓ books, ⁓ like fine art paintings, crazy fucking junkyard art. Like I’ve seen some awesome junk car statues and I’m like, what, who, where, how, what this? Like I am an artist and I’m like,

This amazing what you do this thing how teach like I want to know

Chris (37:36)
Yeah,

I’ve seen those like sculptures that people make out of junk and like you look at it from one angle and it’s one thing and then you look at it from another and it’s something completely different. That’s a cool way of ⁓ experiencing like perception. It’s like, it’s the same stuff. You’re looking at the same stuff.

The ShortMerc (37:45)
Yeah. Yeah.

Ashley (37:55)
Mm-hmm.

The ShortMerc (37:55)
same thing.

Ashley (37:58)
Yep.

The ShortMerc (37:59)
It’s just different, different viewpoints, different, you know, experiences behind it, because even still, like somebody with a lazy eye, it’s not going to see things the same way that somebody with like normal, I have chameleon eyes now thanks COVID. But they go all in weird different directions. And I see things very much so differently. And like the

they one move slower than the other but I’m still like calculating what one that one is still seeing while it’s seeing something different so I kind of have fish vision forever which is wild to me but like now I see things like some of the pictures I can take on my phone my camera lenses can’t even catch up with it so I have to kind of finagle things around so that it can see exactly what I’m seeing it’s wild dude

It’s awesome. It kind of sucks when I’m driving sometimes. I mean, I’m not blind or anything, but it’s just like. I’m just going to drive a little slower. Hold on, make sure I don’t hit that. But yeah, man.

Ashley (38:50)
You

Yeah, that’s fair.

Chris (38:57)
Yeah,

Ashley (39:00)
Thank

Chris (39:02)
I’ve got a question that I’ve always been curious, like for a lot of things, if I contemplate things, I’m like, okay, I can find some sort of answer or explanation that makes some sort of sense. The one thing, not the one thing, but like one of the big things that I contemplate that I just cannot wrap my head around or not necessarily figure out, but.

The ShortMerc (39:03)
Ash is it.

Chris (39:27)
that just doesn’t make any sense to me is how if I am an energy embodying a body that is Chris and possibly I have done this in the past or maybe there’s no even past maybe I’m simultaneously embodying other bodies just to have different experiences then why do I remember right now

instead of everything else. And what happens after Chris?

The ShortMerc (40:03)
Well for starters, it’s not and there’s actually also again the argument that time only exists per planet. Yeah, that like how gravity is actually altering our perception of time and like time and space is very different than time is here because it’s different physical properties. But the one thing that you said there that was really fascinating is the body is Chris and Chris is the body. You’re not your body.

Ashley (40:03)
This time is it linear. Sorry.

Chris (40:05)
Right.

her planet?

All right, yeah, I’ve heard that.

Right, right, right, but the way I experience life is through my body right now. Okay.

The ShortMerc (40:29)
Nope.

some of it

if you really think about it like your thoughts are not just your brain making electricity.

Chris (40:39)
Okay, yep, yep.

The ShortMerc (40:40)
So it’s kind of like you are this consciousness who is the permanent operator of this vehicle that you’re in. So yeah, you’re experiencing some of it, but I think that there’s a division that a lot of people don’t quite.

Chris (40:47)
Okay, okay, yeah.

The ShortMerc (40:54)
because division is scary for a lot of folks. It’s like, my God, I’m going to be lesser than. Let me tell you, this is not how it works. Once the thing is outside of the capsule, it just expands until it doesn’t expand anymore. And then it gets outside of that capsule and does the same thing and does the same thing. It does it forever. So I think in that vein, what comes after is probably the same that came before, but what will continue to be, you know, it’s kind of that hermetic principle of as above, so below.

Chris (41:22)
Yeah, it’s probably just taking off a costume, still that does not answer my whole…

The ShortMerc (41:27)
You’re never gonna get an answer until you do it. But that’s the thing is you have to go through it. You’ll know when you get your answer, which I know is a bullshit fucking answer. I feel like the first two years in therapy where I’m a therapist is like radical acceptance, extreme acceptance. I’m gonna strangle you in a minute.

Chris (41:29)
I know and it’s…

Yeah.

I like

that. That’s a nice little kind of segue into talking about existence in a different way and not like fighting what is.

The ShortMerc (41:57)
Yeah, it’s okay to not know. In fact, you shouldn’t know all the things because what would be the point of all the other things? All the things should know the things that things know and aspire to know more things or involve themselves in more things or just thing that the way they’re going to think. Like all versions of existence are acceptable, I feel.

Chris (42:03)
Right, what a good point, yeah.

The ShortMerc (42:18)
as long as there’s a respect, like the end, even then there’s going to be like, well, if you’re going to say as long as there’s respect, has to be disrespect, right? Because we’re always going to need to fight a thing. But there’s also a gleam of respect behind the disrespectful, if that makes sense.

Chris (42:31)
Hmm.

The ShortMerc (42:33)
Like, it’s the dichotomy of both must be true.

Chris (42:37)
Reminds me of that that idea that like all things are morally neutral

The ShortMerc (42:41)
Yeah, because morality is a construct. It’s a popularity contest. Which is why I like ethics. Ethics are awesome. It’s like my moral compass is non-existent, my ethics are pretty on point.

Chris (42:43)
Right.

Ethics are cool.

Ashley (43:02)
That’s good, at least.

The ShortMerc (43:03)
like y’all know what I’m

talking about.

Chris (43:05)
That’s a

weird way to put it, but yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

The ShortMerc (43:08)
I’d straight down the middle good ethics, moral wise…

Chris (43:12)
Which

is important because your moral compass would just not be great to live by.

The ShortMerc (43:15)
Hey

No. No, we just had to throw that out.

Chris (43:24)
I like that. You know, developing your own code of ethics, though, is a really cool way to live in existence, right? And it kind of ties back to what I was saying before, is like, just come up with whatever makes the most sense to you right now, but also be aware that that might not be true and that might change over time.

The ShortMerc (43:25)
That was…

It’s destined to change over time. feel like that’s when people talk that this is another season two issue. And I say issue because I’m going to have to cram a little shit into season two. you just shit, dude. I forgot what you said. Brain went season two and just it’s gone. But it exists somewhere in the ether. We’ll get back there one day.

Chris (43:45)
Yeah.

Ashley (43:54)
you

Chris (44:00)
Yeah, I know.

That’s fine. I think this

is for the listeners to think about on their own.

The ShortMerc (44:10)
That’s true, that’s true.

Ashley (44:11)
There you

go.

The ShortMerc (44:12)
Yeah, all five of you, go think about this.

Ashley (44:15)
No.

The ShortMerc (44:16)
You

Chris (44:16)
Well,

I mean, I’m going to listen to it and then you are and then you are and my wife will too. So that’s at least four.

The ShortMerc (44:20)
Yep.

Okay cool.

Ashley (44:23)
Look at that!

The ShortMerc (44:24)
Cool and then Spence and ⁓ John. And probably at least two others. So eight, all eight of you. There you go.

Ashley (44:27)
Bye.

Chris (44:28)
Yeah.

And then

in the future, my kids will probably listen to it.

The ShortMerc (44:33)
Yeah, then they’ll be like, who is that nice young man? And then you’ll be like, that’s Jess. ⁓ Justin is not with us today. Thank you very much.

Ashley (44:33)
Thank

Yeah.

Chris (44:41)
You don’t remember Justin?

Ashley (44:47)
Neither one.