What happens when we compare Barbie's journey out of Barbie Land with Neo's escape from the Matrix? In this exploration I dive into how these starkly different films both challenge us to question the manufactured realities we live within—and consider how me might transcend them.

Both characters face a pivotal choice—Barbie between the high heel and the Birkenstock, Neo between the red pill and blue pill—representing the decision between comfortable illusion and uncomfortable truth. Their journeys mirror our own potential awakening to systems that may be designed to extract our energy, attention, and labor while keeping us distracted and compliant.

Movies themselves present an interesting paradox - can these manufactured realities actually help us wake up from our own matrix? When Barbie first experiences anxiety and sadness in the real world, she's encountering emotions many of us take for granted. These human capacities - feeling deeply, empathizing, thinking critically, using intuition - are powers we often overlook but which connect us to our authentic selves.

The most striking parallel between these films is their examination of human potential. Both suggest we have extraordinary capacities that remain largely untapped because we accept artificial limitations as natural laws. In our screen-dominated world, we've become so distracted that perhaps we need our distractions themselves to show us we're distracted - constantly choosing the blue pill without pausing long enough to consider the red one.

Whether you're drawn to the philosophical depth of The Matrix or the surprisingly thoughtful commentary of Barbie, both films remind us that questioning what we accept as real is fundamental to waking up. Listen in and reconsider what veils might be covering your eyes - you might just find there's much more to reality than you've been led to believe.

Lorin Peters shares his 50-year journey as a physicist, teacher, and lifelong activist for nonviolence and peace, from his transformative experience in the Peace Corps to his work with Christian Peacemaker Teams in Palestine.

• How a death threat and a prophetic dream in Thailand launched Lorin's commitment to nonviolence
• The connection between Gospel nonviolence and Gandhian nonviolence through "the law of redemptive suffering"
• Why meditation became essential to Lorin's practice of nonviolence after 9/11
• The Beatitudes as a practical recipe for creating "heaven on earth" that many churches overlook
• How unarmed civilian peacekeeping works to protect vulnerable populations in conflict zones
• The devastating reality of moral injury among veterans, with suicide rates double the national average
• Practical approaches to nonviolent economics through socially responsible investing
• The importance of questioning both external authority and our own internal narratives

To connect with Lorin Peters or to share information about socially screened investments, email him at [email protected] and mention you heard him on the Wake Up, Human podcast.

I talk with Lorin Peters, a physicist, teacher, and lifelong activist for nonviolence and peace. Our conversation centers on themes of war, peace, and religion, and some of the ways in which nonviolence can wake us up as a spiritually and socially transformative power. It's inspiration for questioning the status quo.

In this episode we'll explore the modern-day worry about 'wasting time," question cultural narratives around success that don’t serve us, and reclaim our own definition of what is worth pursuing in life.

Have you ever looked back at years spent in a soul-sucking corporate job (or other seemingly dead-end pursuit) and thought, "I wasted so much time"?

We often convince ourselves we've wasted time in corporate careers or chasing someone else's definition of success, but every choice we make teaches us what we need to know to find our authentic path. Exploring the idea of "wasted time" through the story of a Beijing woman who left her prestigious career

• Learning that action brings clarity—we can only know what doesn't work by experiencing it
• Comparing two paths: the corporate "success" track versus the soul-aligned but financially unstable path
• Using the metaphor of filling your gas tank (stability) versus hitting the open road (following your passion)
• Recognizing how capitalism and hustle culture have distorted our relationship with time
• Finding balance between practical needs and living a meaningful, authentic life
• Understanding that past choices weren't mistakes but necessary steps to your current wisdom

I'll be back soon with more episodes including an interview with Lorin Peters on the power of nonviolence, coming up next. Connect with me at shannonwills.com to share your thoughts on this off-the-cuff episode format.

I talk with Rose De Dan: animal communicator, Reiki Master Teacher, shamanic energy healer, and author. We'll explore our ancient relationship to animals, and their power to teach, heal, and transform us.

What if the wisdom we're seeking has been speaking to us all along, but we've forgotten how to listen?

Rose de Dan's journey from disconnection to animal communication began during what she calls her "black and white Kansas" period – a time of feeling lost and questioning life's purpose. Through a profound Reiki experience, she awakened to dormant aspects of herself, transitioning into what she describes as the "technicolor world of Oz" where everything became alive with meaning and connection.

This episode explores how modern humans have become disconnected from an ancient birthright – the ability to communicate with the non-human world. Rose shares powerful personal stories, including a transformative encounter with a bobcat spirit guide and a heart-opening moment with a cat in the woods that appeared precisely when she needed connection most. These experiences demonstrate how shifting from head-centered to heart-centered awareness opens doorways to deeper relationships with animals and nature.

Rose challenges us to reconsider our approach to global crises like climate change. Rather than relying solely on technological solutions – products of the same head-centered thinking that created these problems – she suggests collaborating with the more-than-human world. "It isn't a matter of us protecting them," Rose explains. "It's a matter of they're going to need to work with us, because together we are strong."

Perhaps most importantly, Rose reveals how personal healing and ecological healing are inseparable journeys. The more we heal our own wounds and release what no longer serves us, the more clearly we can hear the wisdom of the natural world. As Rose powerfully states, "With the help of all my relations, your shamanic allies, and holding space in balance with a foot in both worlds, you are not powerless, you are power with."

Ready to reconnect with the wild wisdom all around you? Listen now and discover how dropping from your head into your heart might just change everything.

In this episode I have the pleasure of talking with Mr. Jack Roberts, an independent researcher and publisher on the landscape, mythology, and sacred sites of Ireland.

What if the ancient sites of our ancestors still held living wisdom that could reconnect us with our forgotten heritage? Ireland stands as perhaps the last repository in Europe where this connection remains unbroken, where stone circles and fairy mounds aren't silent relics but continue to speak through mythology preserved across millennia.

In this captivating conversation, independent researcher Jack Roberts shares why Ireland's ancient sites matter profoundly to our modern world. Born in England but living in Ireland since the 1970s, Jack has spent decades documenting the megalithic monuments, stone circles, and sacred landscapes of his adopted homeland. His passion for these sites goes far beyond archaeology—he reveals how they embody a continuous spiritual tradition that predates Christianity yet survives alongside it.

We journey first to Newgrange, Ireland's most famous Neolithic monument, where Jack explains how mythology gives voice to this 5,500-year-old structure in ways that Stonehenge, standing "mute" in England, cannot match. We explore the concept of "the Shee"—not the diminutive fairies of Victorian imagination but powerful earth spirits representing Ireland's original belief system. Jack shares fascinating insights about Ireland's unique experience with Christianity, brought not by outside missionaries but by knowledge-seeking Druids who created a distinctive blend of pagan and Christian traditions.

Most compelling is Jack's perspective on what these ancient sites teach us about collective consciousness. "You do not build a massive monument like Newgrange on your own," he explains. "You do it as part of a massive consciousness, and that's what we've lost in the modern day." This disconnection from our ancestral roots affects our ability to love ourselves, each other, and the natural world.

Whether you have Irish ancestry or simply seek to understand how ancient wisdom might address modern alienation, this episode offers a profound journey into a landscape where the past remains present. Listen now and discover why, as Jack passionately declares, Ireland is "bloody important" for understanding our place in the human story.