Aliveness: Technology, love, money, sex, soul, governance

"Understanding is the booby prize!" - Susan Kacvinsky, Mythologist & Writer Susan and I explore how ancient stories about death, rebirth, and the suppression of women's power illuminate today's political chaos. Susan argues that mythology is actively being used to control people through fear and shame, and has been for centuries. At its heart, this is a conversation about finding solid ground...

I am so excited to share my conversation with Kelly Stonelake! Kelly Stonelake is a business operator and technologist with nearly 15 years of experience at Meta, where she held senior roles in product marketing and organizational leadership. During her tenure, she raised concerns about child safety and internal misconduct and faced retaliation after senior leadership chose to conceal risks rather...

I share a schedule change to balance creative purpose with financial stability, driven by new job opportunities. My voice is evolving to equip listeners for the future by addressing governance, economy, and technology through the lens of soul and aliveness. SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACK To receive daily emails visit your Substack profile on a web browser (not the app). From there find Ero...

Alison shares a practical proposal for how readers and creators can stay connected, share meaningful work, and protect their mental health in the age of broken platforms. From dopamine detox to building intentional “email feeds,” this episode lays out a collective blueprint for a more ethical, human, and abundant internet. Timestamp to Jump to the Solution: 9:45 – How to build an intentional “emai...

What it's been like to publish on Substack + podcast every day for 17 days. (With an appearance from Rose). And then (at 9:00) an essay on the serious dangers of ChatGPT for therapeutic/intimate use. Links: Last week,  Altman said he was surprised at the reaction  to his announcement that ChatGPT would now have erotic conversations with adults.  A  widely quoted MIT report &nbs...

Desire can feel dangerous. In this short episode, I speak about the sacredness of sex as one of the strongest forces that can call us into aliveness and connection. I reflect on longing, dignity, and the importance of staying open when the world is burning. SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACK To receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication settings and subscribe to the "Eros for Lif...

Looking beneath the screens and circuits to the element that holds them all: silicon. I trace the history of our relationship to it and connect its ubiquitous power - both geological and technological - to the potential for hope. We are being held and each of us has a deeply intimate relationship with silicon. I hope this episode makes you smile and also inspires you. Links: Captured: The Secrets...

We project our anger onto those in power as if they were our parents constraining our freedom and failing us at every turn. In this short episode, I explore the emotional work of democracy: learning to see our leaders as human, to move from complaint to contribution, from projection to participation. SUBSCRIBE TO EROS FOR LIFE ON SUBSTACK To receive daily emails go to the Eros for Life publication...

This episode asks: how do we stay human inside each of the social media platforms? I trace the ways some of the platforms undermine my values: from Meta and its documented harms, to TikTok’s dopamine machine, to Substack’s conflicted role in the attention economy. I bring in Shoshana Zuboff’s theory of surveillance capitalism, the story of Cambridge Analytica, teen suicides linked to Instagram, an...

Beauty in a Burning World: Taylor Swift and What the Showgirl Can’t Escape A close look at Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl through the lens of archetype, fame, and feminine power. I explore why this album lands as both dissonant and revealing in a world on fire, and what it reveals about how women carry collective desire and projection. I unpack the Ophelia archetype and how Taylor’s “saved...

A candid return at fifty, where I share addiction recovery, the cost of visibility, and a fresh public voice that braids soul, money, tech, and civic life. I came back to the mic after two years, newly fifty and fiercely alive. This episode opens with a simple claim: love can be rational, love can lead, love can think clearly without letting the mind run the show. I walk you through the realities...

Lorie Dechar is an Acupuncturist, Author, Alchemical Healer, Mentor and Artisan of Transformation. Lorie and I talk about "the myth, the math and... something else...." - it's one of the best descriptions of inner work I've heard and Lorie drops it in the first few minutes. Join her Inner Sensing Intensive September 30/October 1 Read her book with Benjamin Fox, The Alchemy of Inner Work Join her c...

Lisa and I talk about collective change and what the release of Barbie may or may not represent. It's a fun and fiery conversation!! Follow Lisa on Instagram at @brnnlisa Listen to Juicy Stories: 16 women have joined together to share their stories about spirituality in all its forms. https://alison-crosthwait.lpages.co/juicy-stories-series/ — JOIN THE EMAIL LIST TO RECEIVE NON-OBVIOUS THINKING AB...

True freedom comes from letting go of grasping and opening our hearts.  But those two things can be so challenging for us to embody in our modern world.  Alison and guest, Stephen Cope, best-selling author and scholar, delve into the relationship between the Eastern contemplative traditions and Western depth psychology and how connecting the two can support you in navigating the modern w...

Surrender is a daily devotion. It unlocks our energy and creates a ripple effect of a positive change in ourselves. But surrender can be one of the most challenging things we can do because it requires that we face our pain.  In this episode, Alison shares her recent work with a local medicine man in a ceremony to show how we have to build our capacity to surrender, and how often times, it’s...

Society ravels us all so tightly. We’re raveled in the “shoulds” and what’s “right.” We are raveled in the judgments of others, the definition of success, and the expectations others put on us. This raveling puts us into patterns that keep us stuck — out of alignment with our life force energy. To allow life to flow, we must unravel. “Often our intentions are about business, money, health, life, l...

We live in such a “fix me” culture, often looking outside ourselves for the answers — or offering our answers to our friends and family members when they’re experiencing pain.  But to truly support our own healing and the healing of others, we have to surrender to these painful moments and move through the process in our own time in our own way.  Here, Alison shares the complexities of p...

What's the difference between submission and surrender? Both of these terms hold the essence of letting go, but there’s a fine line between the two of them. Surrender can be an embodied state that supports our ability to create our desires and experience life as it is, while submission can be where we fall into the false idea that “it is what it is.”  In this episode, Alison shares the nuance...

Julie McIntyre, author and Earth Ceremonialist, shares how by developing a personal relationship with our bodies and trusting their wisdom, we can navigate life with more authenticity — which she describes as a wildness that embraces the sacredness of all life forms.  Julie takes us on a personal journey, at the age of 10 when she discovered a magical place in a corner of her family’s farm wh...

When our sexual energy is blocked, it can be challenging to create what we want in the world — whether that’s to create a thriving business or simply how we want to engage with our family in a healthy way.  Freedom of expression is a practice that can unlock this energy that’s needed to create the life you desire in all aspects of your life.  Here Alison shares how she needed to reclaim...

Challenges in the area of desire tend to call us towards interpersonal dynamics.  We think it is a relationship problem.  I believe this is a misdirection of attention.  Experiencing a lack of desire in your relationship isn’t necessarily a sign that there’s something “wrong” with your relationship.  All sexual desire starts with you, even when you’re in a partnership.  Fe...

How can we not only become okay with suffering but welcome it, love it, and appreciate it?  That’s the question that unfolds in this episode with Heather Vesey, a Wisdom Mentor.  Through this emotional and profound conversation, you’ll receive a beautiful call to cultivate your relationship with the Divine and with love itself.   Alison has been supported through Heather’s Wisd...

There are so many healing practices and therapy modalities that can support you with on your healing journey, so how do you choose what type of healing and therapy is right for you? In this episode, Alison shares both her perspective from her personal experience as well as research that highlights the most important consideration when choosing who to work with and why it matters so much on your he...

This is a follow-up to episode 16, “The Two Stages of Healing.” If you haven’t already tuned into that episode, start there and then come back to this episode. This episode is filled with insight that will shape your understanding and open your mind on the deep work that needs to happen to change our state of being in the world.  Here, Alison explores what the third stage of healing is, how y...

What does it look like to thrive in all five aspects of your health — physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and sexual?  This episode is intended to serve as a North Star on your healing journey. Alison shares a few of the most important qualities we’re working toward embodying in order to thrive in each of these aspects.  Sharing what a healthy state of each of these five aspects...