I feel that the significance of this event cannot be understated. It is my sincere hope that we are gifted another opportunity to co-create Symbiosis at Pyramid Lake in the future. The land of Pyramid Lake is a true sacred site and a powerful magnetic vortex of magical, timeless energy. I feel that we have been deeply blessed to experience the Symbiosis festival on such holy land, and under such an auspicious astronomical alignment.

To the Production Crew

I just cannot begin to thank you enough. Thank you for all the challenging work of creating such an excellent container; the structures on site were absolutely beautiful and awe-inspiring. And despite the weather & wind difficulties, it seemed as though there was a magical perfection that was omnipresent underneath it all. Thank you for allowing us artists to be gifted to share our offerings with the community, and thank you for choosing such excellent musicians to perform. Everything about this event was wonderful, and despite any difficulties & challenges – I hope that the Production Crew leaves with a wonderful sense of divine accomplishment and empowerment. Your commitment and work has paid off. Thank You.

And I just want to also say Thank You for choosing such a wonderful, awe-inspiring venue of unbelievable proportions. Yes, Pyramid Lake was hot, sunny, dusty and windy… But it was also absolutely perfect. I cannot begin to complain on any level because the land & lake was so filled with timeless, eternal spirit.

To the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe

Thank you for being stewards of such a powerful spot on the Earth. You have every right to protect it and guard it as the special treasure it is. I deeply fell in LOVE with the land at Pyramid Lake and will hold it in my heart forever, and am very grateful for the opportunity to be on your ancestral land. I understand that you may have your grievances for whatever reason about the festival participants, and they may all be totally honorable grievances. I do hope that there was enough respect, reverence and honor incurred in the experience that our festival experience did not leave you with a bitter taste in your mouth.

I spent every day on the land making offerings and prayers to the land. My dances, my songs and my private meditations were always connected to the land and the lake. I gave my whole heart in offering to the land every day. I hope that you, the Paiute tribe and your ancestors, receive the most beneficial & heart-filled offerings in response from our festival of celebration.

It is my sincere hope that this year’s Symbiosis is the first of many and that a relationship has been forged in this year’s festival that will create an honorable and reverent relationship of unity that we may co-weave into the future what we have only just begun.

I also wish to add that I chose to honor the Paiute’s requests, and spent the entire festival completely sober. I did not drink any alcohol, I did not take a single drug, I did not smoke anything – I was completely clean and sober from beginning to end. And my heart soared with my prayers, love and bliss from the land of Pyramid Lake.

To All Symbiosis Co-Creators

Thank you for all the LOVE, dancing, celebration medicine and ceremony. I am so grateful that our Symbiosis community knows how to properly celebrate AND bow our heads in reverence to the higher powers of the universe. I’m grateful for all the ceremony, all the reverence for the land, all the altars and offerings to the land. I’m grateful for all the beauty created & shared. I’m grateful for the equanimity and feeling of unification; that we are all truly equal.

My Gratitude is Truly Infinite.

Thank You. Thank You. Thank You.

Our Deepest Fear is not that we are Inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our Darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented & fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God, your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing Enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us, it is in every one.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Words by MARIANNE WILLIAMSON

Given that there is so much stress, over-consumption and people freaking out about what’s going on in our planet & culture – there is a lot of negative energy to combat to stay sane & healthy. We are living in energetically frazzled times, with the news & facebook feeds serving to support freaking out over everything. Coupled with that, there’s financial losses that are popping up on the radar and I am seeing desperation both locally, close to home, as well as in the distance – on the news. My heart goes out to everybody that is going through it, and I pray that everybody find their inner peace and gratitude for what is, in the process.

Personally, I am grateful that I live in an extremely safe community, in a safe home, living very simply & frugally, and have very little stress in my life. I have no partner / boyfriend, no children, no real job (I freelance) and thus it has gratefully given me a lot of freedom to commit to my own inner work & self-love-healing-cultivation. I know that it’s difficult to commit to yourself and cultivating your tools for self-nurturing when there is so much stress, obligations and overwhelm in your life, but that is when it is even MORE CRUCIAL to have tools to move & clear stressful / negative energy in your field. And instead of actually dealing with the energy by using tools to clear the energetic field and arriving at balance, they instead numb themselves so they don’t have to fully feel or deal with how overwhelmed they feel – this is called addiction. And it does not work to clear or heal underlying issues, it creates less clarity & is a tool of disintegrating the psyche rather than integrating back into wholeness.

Thus it is so important that we all cultivate self-love & self-nurturing, and do our inner work of energetic re-balancing so that we may stay sane & balanced during these transformational times. So, in the name of frugality and economy, I offer you a list of 7 Self-Healing Tools that will always be free. Perhaps you can find 10 minutes in your day to commit to arriving back into stillness. It’s easier than you think; you probably spend 10 minutes a day (or more) on Facebook, reading the news, watching TV or youtube videos, drinking & other distractions from yourself. But it takes commitment to love yourself and bring your attention back within yourself, especially with so much clamboring for our attention from externals.

So here’s my list of 7 (FREE) Self-Healing Tools: 

1) Meditation

Meditation really is the most important tool that any of us have; we can use it anywhere, under any circumstance, and it will always be free. Stillness. Dropping into silence. Allowing external stimuli to quiet. Bringing our attention into our bodies. There are different teachings on how to meditate, but I’ve been really inspired by the teachings of QiGong and Dantien Breathing recently – check out Deborah Davis’s book Women’s Qigong. It’s helping me focus and notice when I’m distracted versus when I have total focus to go deep within. The essence of Dantien Breathing is to sit comfortably upright in a quiet, relaxing environment, keep your tongue attached to the roof of your mouth as you breathe. As you inhale, you let your lower abdominal belly expand, fill and relax. As you exhale, you squeeze your perineum (your kegels), and contract / pull your lower abdominal belly in. Keep your mouth closed and breathe through the nose. I usually put my hands over my lower belly and allow myself to enjoy the warmth from my hands to fill my lower belly, and focus on bringing life force / Qi into my lower belly energy center – the Dantien. I use a singing bowl album by Karma Moffett (Golden Bowls of Compassion) to help me meditate, and the luminous singing bowl vibrations perfectly compliment the work of stillness.

2) Breath

I think of Breathwork as the foundational bedrock of all meditation, self-cultivation, energy work practices. There are seemingly endless teachings, ranging from Fire Breath in Kundalini Yoga to the Vipassana breath practice. What I usually do is just focus on the sensations of the body as the breath moves in and out, rises and falls. Bring the attention into the sensations of the breath, the expansion and relaxation of the lungs, the rising and falling of the abdomen.

3) Mantra

I went to a concert with Deva Premal a few months ago, and was inspired to get into doing a mantra practice based on her album “Mantras for Precarious Times” – Click Here for Album. Over the last few months, I’ve been breaking out my mala beads, sitting in front of my altar (or even out in nature), and reciting mantras 108 times. My favorite is “Om Shree Mahalakshmiyei Namaha”. Once you get used to sitting and chanting a mantra for 10 minutes, the repetitiveness becomes an opportunity for you to totally relax and melt, until you suddenly you have come to the final mala bead.

4) Creative Writing / Poetry

I’ve been writing poetry since I was a child. Writing has been a very important part of my life as long as I can remember. Journals are like time capsules of the Soul. I encourage everyone to spend time alone and let the mind explore itself in its creativity; play with words, no matter how trite or deep.. Just give yourself to the outpouring of your inner expression. My journal is an important part of life and my creative process.

5) Exercise

I’ll be honest, exercise is where I struggle the most. However, it’s obviously one of the most important tools we have for self-healing & transformation. I primarily do QiGong and Yin Yoga right now, and have spent time with Pilates and Yoga over the years. Right now, I’ve decided to focus on not straining the body, and to pay attention to strain in the body when it happens, and focus consciously on relaxing habitual patterns that cause strain. But really, exercise – it’s obvious we all need to do it to feel our best and most vitalized.

6) Chanting / Singing

Chanting & Singing is for the Soul what food is for the body. To me, singing is the highest pleasure, the deepest joy, the ultimate purpose in life. It’s the only thing I want to forever devote myself to, and I know that other vocalists feel the same way. Singing has always been used in every culture around the planet for practices related to spirituality, religion and mysticism. It is the universal expression of the heart and the soul. Open up and tap in to the creative energy of your soul; let your songs be a way to carry your prayers and invocations to the highest.

7) Creating Sacred Space – Altars / Shrines

Clear away funky / stagnant energy in your home, make your house a temple! But begin by creating an altar, use the things that you love and bring you inspiration; whether they are crystals, photographs of beloveds, plants, feathers, animal totems, vases filled with flowers or deities. My altar is my power station; it is the source of my daily practice. I meditate and do all my inner work in front of my Altar every day. I light a candle first thing every morning, light incense, and activate the life force every day. It is the source of creative energy from which emanates the rest of my life and work.

Blessings to you all and I hope that everyone out there feels at peace, centered & relaxed, connected to to their community, and Safe. May these transformational times and winter hibernation months provide the necessary space for everyone’s self-nourishment.

Gratitude to All & Thank you for sharing my offerings & expressions with your friends!!!!

This Latest Video was a collaboration with Nature Dreamweaver (Find Nature on Facebook) - an amazing artist who creates nature installations & visionary mandalas using natural elements local to each environment. Inspired by Andy Goldsworthy, Q’ero Despacho mesas & Tibetan Sand Painting Mandalas, Nature’s Mandalas are a unique, prayerful expression of spirit.

The Background music was provided by Elijah Ray (Find Elijah on Bandcamp) - an Amazing songwriter, vocalist & sound healer from Kauai.

If you would like to download the track – GETTIN LAID BY INSPIRATION – you will have to sign up for the newsletter RIGHT HERE at WahkeenaSitka.com – Sign up in the Sidebar to the left or Below at the bottom of the site. It’s only available via my newsletter.

Gettin Laid by Inspiration, Written by Wahkeena Sitka, 2011 ©

Poem Below:

Creativity is a drug
and I am walking the street
looking for my next fix.

I am a Whore for Song.
If I said – I’m getting Sanged,
It’s my Soul’s way of saying
I’m gettin Laid by Inspiration.

When did you last get laid
by the light of your soul’s
exquisite longing for beauty?

There is no greater throb
than the pulse of poetry
in your veins.

There is no greater penetration
than rhythmic waves of
bass pulsations echoing
in every cellular celebration of life.

There is no greater ecstasy
than the explosion of Yes
as the Heart exposes
its deepest vulnerability..
The orgasmic electricity flowing
from Soul to Soil
as seeds of creation are planted
& bloom in the spring light
of creative fertility.

This Song
This Dance
This Painting
These Photographs
These Words
This Nature
Are but the Muse
Intoxicated with Life
Drunk on Spirit
Inebriated by Song
Gettin Fixed by Funk

There is no Greater Love
Than this perfect moment exposed
in Total Joyful Drunken YES with
Creative Life Force Longing for Expression!

Are You Saying YES?

1) Akara • Extradimensional Ethnography

Akara’s debut album is my favorite of 2011; its cinematic, orchestral, transcendental downtempo electronica breaks genres and creates its own world – unlike anything I’ve heard before. As an artistic statement, the album is completely cohesive and creates a cinematic sonic realm that is at once both totally unique & yet soulfully familiar. I urge you to take a listen to this amazing work of art! My favorite live music performance this year was seeing Akara perform at Beloved festival; it was pure magic. Check out this interview with Joshua Penman!

Find it Here: http://akaraproject.com/

2) Bluetech • Rainforest Reverberations

I’ve been an ecstatically obsessed fan of Bluetech since 2005, and every album he’s put out has been pretty much amazing. His latest release, Rainforest Reverberations, showcases some of my favorite tracks of his yet, and he co-created several tracks with other producers including Kilowatts & Kalya Scintilla, and featured the voices of both Eve LadyApples & Katrina Blackstone. Personally, I’m completely obsessed with the tracks 667 & Emerald Epiphytes, and I adore the poetic invocations of LadyApples that begin & complete the album. Additionally, this album is part of the Critical Beats series, so proceeds of this album go towards supporting the Amazon Rainforest.

Find it Here: http://criticalbeats.bandcamp.com/album/bluetech-rainforest-reverberation

3) Lady Gaga • Born This Way

The current Queen of Pop has obviously completely won my heart, and her latest album – Born This Way – is her best album to date (and hopefully a sign of her future artistic direction). This is what pop should be: emotional, inspiring, soul-stirring, ecstatic, liberatory, freakish, sexy & booty shaking. The electronic production work for every song is produced & mastered to perfection. Gaga’s videos for Born This Way have been among her best too, with the video for Marry the Night taking the cake for her most epic & powerful music video to date. Even if you don’t get pop music, or have some sort of judgment against Gaga due to your superficial understanding of her, there is no arguing that she is the planet’s current reigning princess of pop. Her music is laden with so many deeply infectious grooves, it’s a pity you’re not loving on Gaga. Have an open mind and step into her Electric Chapel.

Find it Here: Lady Gaga – Born This Way @ Amazon.com

4) Ishq • And Awake

Ahhhh, finally! The follow-up to the most mesmerizing ambient downtempo album ever, Orchid, put out by UK artist Ishq. The new album, And Awake, is similarly transcendental, but takes us to a new plane – possibly even more expansive and nectarlicious than its predecessor. The ocean of sonic expanse is euphoric, blissful, heart-opening and deeply relaxing. An amazing, celestial listen. Dive in!

Find it Here: http://interchill.bandcamp.com/releases

5) PJ Harvey • Let England Shake

As a long time PJ Harvey fan, I was really excited to discover Harvey’s latest album, Let England Shake. It really is her best album in 10 years, and marks a significantly new direction for Ms. Polly Jean. This album is possibly her most emotionally raw, her highest vibe, her most transcendental. I immediately fell in love with this album and put it on repeated listens for weeks. Her vocal styling and her songwriting have dramatically evolved from the years of Dry & To Bring You My Love – and Let England Shake is among her finest albums to date.

Find it Here: PJ Harvey – Let England Shake @ Amazon.com

6) Kaminanda • Year of the Golden Tiger

Ummmmm, can we say Holy Shit, this wins the sexiest electronica album of the year award? Stephen Kaminanda won my heart & my bootay this year at Beloved, and this album is really juicy. I’ve listened to this on repeat for months and only grown more comfortable with the sick polyrhythms and layers of psychedelica. This is music to listen to if you want to float into the ethers of mind-blown ecstasy, which apparently I want to float there all the time!!! Funky, sexy, hot.

Find it Here: http://kaminanda.bandcamp.com/album/year-of-the-golden-tiger

8 ) Kyrstyn Pixton • Embyrs

I randomly met Kyrstyn Pixton in 2002 in Ann Arbor, MI – she was just dropping out of the U of M’s music program and preparing to migrate to Portland, OR. Little did I know that over the years I would run into her hither & thither all around Portland, in different circles & parties. But nothing prepared me for what I witnessed when I saw her perform at Emrg’n'See in 2009 with a keyboard, a looping pedal and an amp on a wheelbarrow. She fucking blew my mind. Kyrstyn is one of the most creative vocalists & innovative pop-electronica artists on the West Coast scene currently. Her debut album, Embyrs, is truly beautiful and features some great collaborations with Auditory Canvas, Lynx, & Eve LadyApples. She is an honest & emotional songwriter, a soulfully luminous vocalist, and a really great live performer. She is up & coming, and I swear she will get BIG. Pay attention now, you’ll be stoked to say you knew her when.

Find it Here: http://kyrstynsong.com/

9) Deya Dova • Remixed

Futuristic Tribal Electronic Dance Music infused with Primordial Ecstatic Chant; perfect for the Dance Dlub or an underground Electronic Rave. This album features the voice of Deya Dova, with her unique celestial tribal polyrhythmic style. Her 2009 album, Burst, has been remixed by a handfull of amazing electronic producers including: Kalya Scintilla, Adham Shaikh, Desert Dwellers, An-ten-nae, & Juno Reactor. This is an album to break out if you want to crack open your Booty Chakra and Bust a move!

Find it Here: http://music.deyadova.com/

9) Azam Ali • From Night to the Edge of Day

Azam Ali has been one of my favorite vocalists for years, and I pretty much own every album she’s released since Vas. Azam’s latest album is perhaps her most meditative to date. Her signature modern Persian fusion album is showcased her in an otherworldly ambient form that is both sedating & uplifting. As a vocalist, she is one of my highest inspirations.

Find it Here: Azam Ali – From Night to the Edge of Day @ Amazon.com

10) Rafe Pearlman • Random Cuts, Unfinished Demos

Possibly one of the most transcendental live music moments of my last year was the first five minutes of Rafe Pearlman’s set at Beloved Festival this summer. His soaring, sweepingly cinematic voice eclipsed everything all at once. Nearly everyone had to drop what they were doing to come sit down and listen to this vocalist explode his visionary soundscapes across the airwaves. We sat there with our jaws dropped and hearts melting. His bandcamp release of “Random Cuts & Unfinished Demos” isn’t a coherent album, but there are some sincerely magical gems & exquisite songs worth melting to – and his voice reminds me of Antony & the Johnsons. Listen to “Morninglight”, “Fly My Sadness” & “Aramaic Prayer”. Looking forward to his new album due out next year.

Find it Here: http://music.rafepearlman.com/

I am launching a series of Videos on my Youtube Channel, sharing my stories about Entheogenic / Psychedelic experiences.. Most of these stories are not recent at all, but took place between 2003-2006.. I do not advocate the use of entheogens, but am simply sharing my personal, intimate & deeply subjective experiences.

Check Out VISIONARY STORIES on Youtube!

Download “Total Permission – to Say Yes to Life” @ Bandcamp for FREE ::::

Click READ MORE to read the Lyrics & More

Written by Wahkeena Sitka, 2011

I give myself TOTAL PERMISSION TO FOLLOW MY HEART
to listen to my desires
to love myself completely
to make myself happy & joyful
to be deeply fulfilled
and live in purposeful ecstasy.

My body is an Open & Receptive temple for Divinity, Joy, Bliss, Fulfillment & Soulful Purpose to embody within.

I give myself COMPLETE PERMISSION to turn myself on
to bathe in love
& to embody the grace & wisdom of feminine divinity.

I am an activated Goddess overflowing with an abundance of Love, Joy, Bliss, Self-Love, Wisdom, Life Force Energy & Soulful Healing Creativity.

I say YES to Fulfillment
I say YES to Heart Wisdom
I say YES to Authentic Desire
I say YES to Joy
I say YES to Creativity
I say YES to Sensuality
I say YES to My Soul’s Purpose
I say YES to Sexuality
I say YES to Abundance
I say YES to Freedom & Liberation
I say YES to LIFE.

The Great Quilt • A Special Unreleased Track • by Kembwe

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE MP3 of THE GREAT QUILT FOR FREE

Click Read More to View Lyrics

Lyrics Written in 2007 – Song recorded in 2008

Lyrics:

The Great Quilt

by Wahkeena Sitka

Our souls are the fabric of woven memory

Weaving dreams into the hemlines

of the stories

that skirt our ankles

Where our feet tip-toe through meadows

where once a flock of thunder buffalo

laid waste to an ocean of sweetgrass standing

beneath the grey sky looming

over the warp and weft

of a tribe and its land

Burying their hearts in ashes

& smoke of a mass grave

Stinking and rotting

like two thousand corpses

Spread out like pick up sticks

that once picked up their villages;

tipi poles, blankets & horses -

moving yet again

to another barren land

where children die of starvation,

typhoid or forced Christian education -

to become what we are now..

A people without memories -

walking amnesiacs -

a plague of zombie locusts.

Without a land our ancestors cherished

Without stories of myth & meaning

Without dreams because we can’t sleep -

a million zombie insomniacs

Who never take responsibility

for the hordes of lives stripped short

of purpose, community, myth & ancestral land.

We are the souls enslaved by four walls

four walls per person

enthroned in our solitude

Forgetting our wounded knees

and crippled wrists..

Buying the myth of greed

Seduced by unquenchable thirst of more,

enslaved by accumulation..

Entombed in acculturated myths of self-glorification,

ego-pampering, intoxicated snacking..

Lacking who we are…

Lacking who we are,

Lacking wholeness

We need more distractions

to remind us of what we don’t own:

our Power

Our Power to Love

Our Power to Care for Community

Our Power to CHERISH THE LAND

like our ancestors once did..

To cherish the Life Force Land

The blood that runs in our veins land

the water and earth in our hearts land,

that entire tribal nations fought to cherish

Because they worshipped that which nourished them.

The Life Force Spirit

That which Nourished them..

The Life Force Spirit

That which Unites all things,

Binds all things in reality

in a webwork of woven threads..

Filaments of stars, sinews of sunlight,

Yarn of Stone, Hair of Water,

Dyes of Cedar and Oak.

Song of You & I & Every Friend

The magic maker sits looming

over time & space

weaving memories, stories & songs

into the essence of every soul

and We are a Patchwork Quilt

Sewn together by Pachamama’s breath…

And each patch in the Great Quilt

is our Heart Song

Dyed with the colour of our essence

Sharing the Splendor of our Dancing Thread

Sewn into the edges of our neighbors

Our Heart spills over

into the perimeter of our community

We are the Tribe Renewed by OUR LOVE

Walking the Pilgrimage route

Back to the Land

Where our children will cherish

The ecosystem quilt

We are all wrapped up in;

Sharing Pachamama

This year at Beloved Festival, on Sunday morning we were blessed to experience the first full orchestral performance by Akara to date. They played the entire album from beginning to end, with live orchestral instrumentation. The entire night had been an unbelievable journey of ecstasy, but when Akara went on at 5:30 in the morning, while some of us sat huddled together in blankets staying warm and others danced, we were collectively bathed in transcendentally celestial music that lifted us all to a state of blissful rapture.

Honestly, witnessing Akara live at Beloved was one of my favorite musical moments of the last year, and for most that was present – it was a moment to treasure forever. I immediately bought the then unreleased album and listened to it on repeat for days when I returned home. I soaked up that blissful transcendence and stored it in my cells to return to every day since then.

After repeated listens, I can honestly say that this is one of my favorite albums to come out in 2011, and it deserves to receive the attention and recognition by as many people as possible. 

The tracks on Extradimensional Ethnography are soaring, gently rhythmic celestial odes to love, bliss and peace. The album is meditative, yet permeated with an uplifting joy that is totally soulful. Joshua Penman, the primary visionary and songwriter of the album, spent 9 years dreaming up this album – it was his life dream to birth this album. In fact, it was his ecstatic dream come true to present his first live orchestral performance at Beloved; a festival devoted to sacred music and unity consciousness.

On a practical level, this is a brilliant downtempo electronica album filled with gorgeous instrumentation, exquisite non-linguistic vocals, soaring melodies and meditative moments to savor in stillness. Yet the feeling that I receive from this unique album is that it is sourced in the peace and heart-felt bliss of unity consciousness.

I highly encourage any & all to preview this album on Bandcamp and download the album. Support Independent Artists & Get This Album! It is a Must Have!!

One of the things that keeps coming back to my mind is the idea that the people who own the banks, who own the big multi-national corporations and the people who own the government are like selfish children who forgot how to play nice and share with others. These are humans who have forgotten how to be human and have forgotten what a responsibility it is to gather massive resources. These people have fallen under the idea-spell that the purpose of life is to gain wealth, and that gaining wealth is to acquire more and more, to endlessly hoarde that wealth and keep living in an isolated bubble of wealth and elitist aristocracy far away from the real lives of down to earth working class people everywhere. These people have billions and trillions of dollars worth of assets that they are holding onto, whilst countless others around the planet are struggling to survive. It is truly on their conscience and it is their responsibility to start giving back to the rest of humanity, beyond feel-good donations to charities. It is time that they develop a conscience & compassion and level the playing field and give back to their fellow citizens and show how truly selflessly they can give and share.

I am not naive, and I know that these people have no intention of sharing with others or releasing their insatiable hunger to hoard more wealth and resources. And I know that these people probably think they are above the law and can get away with anything they want; that’s what bribing the NYPD with 4.6 million dollars is for. At this point, the pyramid scheme of the American Government & Financial Sector is so transparent that it’s beyond fake, and the tipping point in American consciousness is nearly arriving. My only hope is that more and more people drop their skepticism and really look at the truth with wide open eyes and see the clouds for the rain.

One of the biggest challenges, however, to this shifting of consciousness in America is that we are all collectively inspired and programmed to be successful according to an image of affluence that is unrealistic, unsustainable & inspired by the wealthy elite. The problem with that, is that in order to attain that level of affluence that we are programmed to aspire to, we must become so detached from other humans and our impact on the environment that we lose touch with what it means to be really human. Instead, we become just another elitist marching along with the social programming enforced upon us by the pyramid scheme of the top 1%.