Bristol Baughan
on Healing Heartbreak by being an Inner Astronaut
“Dearest Life Graduates, everything you think you know is about to be ripped to shreds. Congratulations! It’s the best thing that will ever happen to you. Consider yourself a Karate Kid and Life your Sensei. Some may follow their childhood dream into a respectable profession that pleases everyone. A few might join The Hustle of Hard Work to make ends meet. Or you may wander in the direction of your heart, displeasing everyone. The truth, you will eventually discover, is that what you do doesn’t matter at all.”
Bristol Baughan knows this sensation better than anyone!
She is now an author, TED Speaker, founder of Regenerative Media Lab and executive producer of Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated films. But once, she was a dreamer-child in love with movies, “the church” where she first experienced wonder. Her inner Dorothy went to Oz, aka Hollywood, to make films that change the world.
Yet, as David Foster Wallace wrote, “Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And you’d better choose a good spiritual-type, because anything else you worship will eat you alive.” Bristol worshiped Work: “My career was the love of my life. I felt unstoppable. But the ambition that once fueled me began to burn me out.”
Then comes the day when you realize you have no idea who you are or what the hell is going on: “Everything you thought to be true about the world is suddenly up for debate. In the infinite space of the unknown, you’ll float untethered and realize that no one knows what we are doing here, and everyone is pretending to, especially you. You will long for this thing without a name, and try to find it in a partner, a job, a guru, or money. But nothing external will give it to you.”
That’s when the real “Soul Hijacking” began! Bristol divorced her job and went on her own version of Eat, Pray, Love to Asia, heartbroken and in grief: “Healing became an experiment. I learned that I had to feel everything, no matter how messy, to move forward.” She wasn’t WonderWoman, but a sad, lonely, afraid human and that was OK: “Most of us spend our time avoiding pain. Forget all that! Pain is the greatest teacher! When embraced, it will make you come fully in service to the world.”
In her book, "Harnessing Heartbreak", she reflects on how pain is the spaceship we board to explore our inner universe: “If your heart is being broken, let it break wide open. Pain, when truly surrendered to, will guide you home.”
Graduates, you have arrived: “Life, your Sensei, has been working with you all along. You have done everything right, even the screw-ups. No matter how blissful or painful your life has been, she has been guiding you here. Stop playing the game of life as it has been designed. Make the game anew!”
Read Bristol’s answers for Inspirators, take your spacesuit and explore your inner world!
Thank you, Bristol, for being an Inner Astronaut!
#INSPIRATORS QUESTIONNAIRE
Name: Bristol Baughan
Company / Institution: Inner Astronauts & The Regenerative Media Lab
Title: Founder, Author, Executive Coach
Website: https://www.bristolbaughan.com
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bristol-baughan/?originalSubdomain=pt
Country of origin: USA
Country you currently live in: Azores, Portugal
Your definition of Regeneration: Aligning and designing with the conditions conducive to life. Think less pyramid, more circle. Fewer rugged individuals, more individuals in an ecology of relationships. Only taking what is necessary for all to thrive.
A challenge you are currently navigating in your work: The dance between deep despair, sober acceptance, and holding a steadfast faith in what is possible.
Main driver that keeps you going: A stubborn sense of purpose, thanks to 7 generations of Lutheran ministers (I’m not religious). And the desire to get the lessons and avoid unconscious reincarnation. I also have a sense that we are here to play, savor this life, and be of service.
An ancestral teaching or Indigenous worldview that changed how you see life: Outer reality is a reflection of inner reality. I am Love and here to play and co-create. I am interested in discovering who we have to become to live in more regenerative ways of being.
A human or more-than-human Inspirator who shaped who you are today:
· My Mother, Jennifer Baughan
· My Father, David Baughan
· Howard Thurman
· Mount Tamalpais aka Mama Mountain and her Redwoods
The trait you are most proud of in yourself: Authenticity.
The trait you most value in others: Embodiment.
Passions & little things that bring you joy: My dogs Leika and Api, great storytelling, Redwood trees.
A meaningful place to start for those at the beginning of the regeneration journey:
· Designing Regenerative Cultures by Daniel Christian Wahl
· Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
An honest piece of advice for young people who lose hope: You can never know the future, find one thing that makes you come alive and go follow it – what makes you come alive might just be exactly what the world needs.
Must-read books that had a great impact on you:
· Journey of Souls by Michael Newton
· Surrender Experiment by Michael Singer
· Chalice and the Blade by Riane Eisler
Movies or documentaries you love: Being There, What Dreams May Come, Racing Dreams, Amandla!
Websites or podcasts you visit frequently: The Emerald, Invisibilia, REgeneration Rising, Sarah Blondin.
Music that makes you (and your heart) sing: Nina Simone, Indigo Girls, Ayla Nereo, Ayub Ogada.
Places you travelled to that left a mark on you: Amazon Rainforest / Mill Valley / Montana / Sao Miguel, Azores.
Global Regenerative Voices we should follow:
· Jessica Corbin
· Gigi Coyle
· Ela Spalding
Trends in Regeneration we should keep an eye on: Transformative Justice. Psychedelic healing. Listening circles (Gigi Coyle + Pachamama Alliance). Grief Rituals. Matriarchy. Science Fiction Worldbuilding.
Events or gatherings we should attend for inspiration: Pachamama Alliance Listening Circles, HATCH.
Educational resources or courses you recommend:
· Laura Storm’s Regenerators Course
· Warm Data with Nora Bateson
· Gaia Education with Daniel Christian Wahl
Reasons to feel optimistic about our future: The long arc of justice is squiggly, but it arcs nonetheless. An unveiling is happening that is difficult but necessary, and more humans are standing up for life than ever before.
Spiritual maturation is us learning how to hold more paradox, light and dark. It comes down to a spiritual choice to be optimistic about our future. We really have no idea what the future holds, so why not fantasise about a future in which love wins?
Reasons to feel pessimistic about our future: Social media, 24/7 news, and the sloooow arc of squiggly justice.
Regenerative Leadership values much needed today: Personal inquiry, de-centring the human, co-creative collaboration, redefining success, embodiment, transformational justice, and care.
The Inspirator(s) you are endorsing for a future edition:
· Christie George
· Fabrice Guerrier
· Cassandra Vietens
· Erin Heidenreich
· Jessica Corbin
The quote that inspires you:
“God is Change.” (Octavia Butler)
“As we cease to be paralyzed by the fear-driven cycle of separation, scarcity and the struggle, for control and power, we will begin to unfold the potential of a compassionate, empathic and collaborative culture of creativity and shared abundance, driven by biophilia - our innate love for all life.” (Daniel Christian Wahl)
“It is time to retire from the 'saving
the world' narrative. What if the
world is trying to save us?”
(Bayo Akomolafe)
Your quote that will inspire us:
