Episode 029 of Living in Response is rooted in yet another inspiring, motivating, healing, exciting, and mind-boggling community experience. The way I see it now is - the future we seek is actually here and now it’s up to us to cultivate it.

Thank you for witnessing this unedited, unfiltered, and unbounded journey into living a life fully in response to the physical sensations from my body (which are from my soul) <3

originally available on Substack

Topics Covered in This Episode:Summarized (mostly) with AI*

1️⃣ The World We Dream Of Is Already HereI reflect on a community cannabis meditation event celebrating the 3 year anniversary of Marijuana Meditations that made me realize: the future I’ve been yearning for isn’t something far away. It’s already here—in the spaces we choose to engage with, the people showing up authentically, and the grassroots communities being created in real-time.

2️⃣ Why I’m Redefining “Visionary” (Again)A few episodes ago, I spoke of visionaries as those urgently needed to shift the world. But after this weekend, I shift my definition. Visionaries aren’t just leading the way forward—they're cultivating the world that's already emerging, right here, right now.

3️⃣ Cannabis as a Conscious Ally in CommunityI share what it was like to participate in a sacred, intentional cannabis circle—how we honored the plant, set intentions, and created a powerful field of collective resonance. It felt like a new template for community: reverent, healing, grounded, and real.

4️⃣ We All Have a Role in the EcosystemThe event reminded me of a psychedelic vision I once had—a web of energy where everyone had a unique place. No one higher, no one lower. Just infinite expressions of the same life force. Community, like nature, is an ecosystem—and we each belong.

5️⃣ On Building Community While ShyI open up about how much fear I’ve had around showing up alone to events—and how much growth it’s taken to walk through those doors anyway. From childhood stories to Twilight metaphors (lol), I explain how I’m learning to be with fear without letting it run the show.

6️⃣ Community Doesn’t Build ItselfThis line dropped in recently—and it’s become a kind of personal mantra. If I want community, I have to choose it. I have to show up. This episode is about honoring the effort it takes to move toward connection, especially when it feels easier to stay home.

7️⃣ From Online Spaces to In-Person VibesI talk about the difference between online community (which served me deeply during COVID) and in-person experiences like this one. There’s something visceral, healing, and affirming about being in a room with people who are all showing up as themselves.

8️⃣ A Moment of Real-Time Self-CorrectionAt the end of the event, I told someone I was a data engineer—and immediately felt in my body that wasn’t the truth I wanted to lead with. When I added, “And I have a podcast,” everything shifted. I share what that taught me about embodiment, self-trust, and leading with what feels most alive.

9️⃣ The Courage to Be Messy (On the Mic + In Life)This podcast is an exercise in flow. I don’t know what I’m going to say. I shift perspectives mid-sentence. I circle back. I forget things. But that’s the point. That’s the practice. Showing up imperfectly is the practice.

🔟 What It Means to Be a Visionary at WorkI explore how being a “visionary” might apply to my current job as a data engineer in pet insurance (yep, really). Could there be a way to integrate energy awareness, pet wellness, and community care into the corporate space? This part gets juicy (AI wrote this last sentence but I’m leaving it because in hindsight, it did feel pretty juicy lol).

1️⃣1️⃣ Pets as Reflections of Our EnergyAfter a meditation download and a Google search rabbit hole, I talk about how our pets might mirror our emotional and energetic states. I explore how our lifestyles impact their health—and whether helping them might be another path to helping ourselves.

1️⃣2️⃣ Living Through the Body, Not the ScriptMore than anything, this episode is about shifting from a life of scripting and control to a life of flow. Where showing up, breathing, sensing, and expressing is enough. Where creativity, healing, and connection come naturally from being in your own energy.

Mentions & Resources🌿 Marijuana Meditations (Sacred Cannabis Use & Community)📘 Sacred Bliss: A Spiritual History of Cannabis by Mark Ferrara (book mentioned re: the history of cannabis) 🌀Article I mentioned about our pets being mirrors of our health by Daphne Miller💫 My Bluesky account (my most personal social media)💡 Visionary Redefined🧘‍♀️ Community as Ecosystem✨ Fear as the Price of Entry

Big shifts are happening all around and in me and I am beyond blessed and grateful for all my teachers and the ancestors who’s enduring wisdom helped me to reconnect with my Self and ultimately the Source.

Mystically,

Belle

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