And the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. 

~ Anais Nin

When I lived in France on the Riviera it was often said ‘We’re living the dream people’.

Which in all honesty we were. Days were spent working alongside friends who became family, lounging at the beach – before work, after work, on days off, meeting folk from all over the world, drinking cheap booze together. In your mid 20’s this is living the dream. To be fair, in my 30’s this is still living the dream. Although the cheap booze isn’t ideal any more.

This idea of ‘Living the Dream’ is the driving force behind why we get up in the morning – and stay up. Or at least it should be. The reality of living your heart’s desire is intoxicating. I believe each one of us is here to live the exact opposite of mediocre. To be inspired daily to live our dreams, to access our truth + potential, to be connected to our purpose – this is why we get up and stay up.

To inspire you to live your own version of ‘Living the Dream’ I’m going to be interviewing a bunch of my clients doing just this. My clients (who I have the honour and privilege of working with) commit to their potential, to living consciously, responsibly and spiritually. 

Which is where Kinesiology comes in. This uber powerful therapy helps you get clear on your desires + passions and importantly kicks your subconscious blocks in the butt, forcing you to face your fears and annihilate your anxieties. 

But enough with the alliteration – Kinesiology works and it’s part of the reason these amazing people are living their dream.

So without further adieu… Meet Ben.

Ben Korbel:: Founder of Feeling – conscious idea lab :: 37 years old :: Bondi Beach, Sydney :: Sydney Uni, Bachelor Commerce,
(Economics & Marketing), though my favourite teacher has been the internet – youtube, google, blogs! :: I’m a daily yoga and meditation student – this is an ongoing lifelong course.

You’re living the dream. What does this look like for you? (Describe what you do for a crust). And how long have you been doing it for? 

Living the dream for me is aligning with my passion, and then having the opportunity of empowering others through it.

My love spills across art, science and spirituality (the cosmos) .

For me, living the dream is now the challenge and opportunity of taking all that I love and rolling it together in a way that awakens my heart and mind and at the same time with the intention of having the same effect on others. At some point, creativity for creativity’s sake doesn’t cater for the depths of our needs. We want to create momentum and help shape a better world around us, not for just us but for everyone. We’re told to help people because it’s the right thing to do, but we should also be teaching that helping people makes us happier. It is a mutually beneficial exchange. That is the genius of it.

I’m currently spending my days imagining the ideal world that I want to experience (my parents call it the fantasy world ☺), then researching if it is possible and lastly figuring out how the create it and pay for it. One of my favourite dreams (and I like to think of my ventures and ideas dreams, even when they manifest), is to create films that empower people. The vision is for Feeling to be a movie studio and make entertainment for popular culture, but our measurement of profit is going to be solely based around health and happiness. We’ve been working on a piece of technology that allows us to offer films (for free via online) to specific people who may benefit from them, and to understand the impact the films have on their lives and build an ongoing relationship with those people to aid them in being happier and healthier

We’re currently developing a movie, a feature film, a comedy, that dissolves the stigma around mental illness. And it will be completely free and offered to people who are at risk of suicide, and or suffering from anxiety, depression, schizophrenia etc, to help them better integrate their mental state into their lives (through laughter amongst other things). Think of it like Disney’s recent “Inside Out” but for adults. The vision sees it narrated by Bill Murray and directed by Wes Anderson. It’s called “Wake Up Your Mindfulness” and is a story about a heist involving the Dalai Lama.  It’s the world’s most mindless crime…
We’re also working on an economic model to fund this style of social focuses business ongoing – so that there is a sustainable, strong economy to create new forms of entertainment, not just from Feeling but from any business who wants to explore a new path.

This current road, I’ve been on for really only 12 months though its feels like the productivity of 5 of my slower years. I’ve been working in entertainment, primarily music and events, for 20 years, so its taking a new skew to an old trick. And I’ve been dabbling in the social enterprise space for 5 years or so mostly with small projects til now.

Were you scared to take the leap of faith? How did it happen? Can you describe the feeling you experienced? Your mental state of being? Emotions?

Definitely. I have been wanting to split from the daily grind into this for a couple of years and reasonably unhappy in the process (when I chose not to leave this daily grind). I felt trapped, uninspired and even bitter. But in hindsight, it would not have been possible to create or do what I’m doing now had I jumped ship earlier.

I’m a firm believe that everything is in the right place, always. What we want is not always what we need. I wanted a shortcut into this but it wasn’t what I needed. I couldn’t see the road ahead nor was I meant to at the time. The main roadblocks were my own belief systems about what is possible. Earning money in something “unconventional” is a major story we create for ourselves and I lapped up for quite a time. Sacrifice and compromise are limiting beliefs. Eventually it took until the inspiration for something new and the disinterest in the old world just naturally paved a way for what is now.

Daily yoga, meditation and a fairly intense program of kinesiology allowed me to shake a life of subconscious beliefs that kept me in my old world til now. It’s funny, at first you just don’t think something new and “dreamy” is possible. Then with the likes of kinesiology, you change your beliefs and align to your truth. But even after this, once the path is clear, there is a new layer of fear that “oh my god, I can do this. But what if I’m not good enough”. The stories swim around but the resilience to remain on the new path is much easier than ever before and usually inspiration and passion are a guiding light to move naturally where required without too much thought.

What do you believe made you follow through? What was it that made you move towards your calling? 

I know what it feels like to live from my heart, with passion. The first half of my twenties working in music was this way. Once I lost the feeling, society tells you that life is different when you get older. That we need to settle. I bought into that for a bit but eventually by following the heart, realized that anything less that living with my highest excitement was not enough. I’d be unhappy.

So ultimately just wanting to be happy – that’s the driver behind all of it. It’s a simple, humble pursuit that every human shares and happiness is a human right. I truly believe this and it fuels my life and now my work.

How has Kinesiology + Coaching supported you through this process? How long have you been doing Kinesiology? Why do you keep returning to it? 

I started kinesiology because I saw how it was positively transforming my friends. I’ve been doing kinesiology for two years, usually in bursts of 4-6 sessions spaced out 6 months apart. Honestly I feel the major breakthroughs come through kinesiology and working with someone. In my instance Clare has been my guardian angel. 

Then yoga and meditation are just as important, mostly for integration and then sustaining strength for the new path. Kinesiology is nothing short of transformational and for me is a great bridge between psychology, neuroscience and spirituality – you can look at it from whichever perspective resonates with you but the results are still the same.

We all get off track at times. Fears creep back in. Resistance gets a hold of us. Inspiration doesn’t strike. What do you do to stay on track? What gets you back to centre? Is it people? Things? Philosophies? Yoga? 

Yoga and meditation daily keep me tuned in and strong. Also family and friends for grounding. Music is important for me in opening me up energetically. Fresh air and the sea usually bring sanity when I’m in a cloud of doom. Tuning into the heart rather than the head (stopping the chatter and noise), and being grateful. The science of gratitude is fascinating and powerful – sounds fluffy but it is so important for internal and external good.

Who do you talk to? God/ Universe/ Angels/ Saints/Trees/All of the above? Can you describe your relationship with your spirituality? How does this contribute to you living the dream?

All of the above!!! I’m deeply spiritual though and I believe more and more that separation (of our physical world and spirituality) doesn’t serve us or make us happier. I want to live and breath spiritually in every minute now, rather than when my eyes are closed meditating. The shift for me came when I felt more peace in my spiritual bubble than in the world. But once you merge them as one, life comes alive like never before.

Spirituality for me is key to living the dream. I am my soul and I want to ooze my soul in everything I do and with everyone I meet. And spirituality allows me to know myself on all levels. But spiritually probably needs a new name as it puts people off. Religion and dogma spoiled this. So how about creativity, love, kindness and inspiration – they’re exactly the same thing – they are spirit in action and might allow more people to open up to themselves, their path and be truly happy.

What’s one or two hard truths about taking the risk to blossom. What do people need to be aware of? 

Being self aware and honouring your path is a full time job for a period – facing so many parts of your psychological and emotional makeup that don’t serve you and letting them go. I imagine we do this our whole lives but its been the toughest part for me – sometimes it is so exhausting the stress of it leads me to shut down for a day at a time. That part is nothing short of painful. But the aftermath is liberation on some level, big or small.

What soulful advice do you have for those reading this, who too desire to live a life of purpose + passion?

Quieten your mind. Get to know truly yourself. Discover your passion then live it and infect people with it and empower your world.

***

Connect with Ben via http://itsjustafeeling.com

Everyone’s dream is different. Have an insatiable curiosity about yours.
It’s time to blossom.