An interview with Sean Cunningham and Emily Rasowsky of Humans Are Good Foundation.

Sean

One of the things that attracted me to your organization is the idea of expanding human consciousness and coming to a new belief of what is possible, both for humans as individuals, but also for groups, societies and the planet at large. I have had many occasions in my life where I felt constrained. I felt like I was in a place that wasn't where I wanted to be. I knew how I got there. I could see a series of decisions, many of them good, and maybe others I wouldn't make again, that got me to a place. But I didn't feel like that was where I could be or should be or wanted to be. And the main thing that opened my eyes to greater possibilities was recognizing my own limiting beliefs. It was in adherence to sort of rational sounding ideas, or the things that other people believe or the things that people tell you are true, which might be true for them, but don't have to be true for me and for other people. And I got a taste of radical reinvention; a reimagining of where I could be in relationships, or in life, or in my career, and a little bit of courage and a lot of belief in what's possible, was able to move me in a dramatic way, in the direction that I wanted to go. It’s been said, of course, that you see things when you believe them. And I think that is the core belief that we do not have to be constrained by the apparent walls around us. And really, it is our mind, and our heart and our belief in what could be. Those are the key ingredients to making real changes and improvements for people, their families, their countries, and the planet.

Emily

That was so beautiful. Were there things that really solidified that hope for you? What really helped you shift into that space of optimism? 

Sean

I've had a number of them. I had a couple of occasions where my wife and I were looking to buy a house in a very difficult housing market. Every time we found something interesting, we would put an offer, and we were outbid. It felt like time was running out. And I got some advice that the problem was I was looking for houses that were for sale. And of course, that was never going to work because lots of other people were looking as well. And instead, what I should do is look for a house that was not for sale. And when I heard this advice, I thought how is this helpful? But it really shifted our mindset. And not long after that, we saw a house that we liked, and asked the owners, Hey, you know, this is so random. But would you be interested in selling your house? And they were like, No, of course not. We love it here. And the next day sent us an email saying,  but my sister in law wants to sell her house. And it's not on the market yet. And it turned out to be perfect for us. Examples like that, which can seem sort of miraculous -- and by miraculous, I really mean, hard to explain logically -- seem to appear over and over again. And the likelihood of one of those things happening I have observed goes up as your belief in the possible goes up. And that is one example. But I've had several other examples like that, where things that seemed like they couldn't come true or unfold in a certain way. Maybe it was too much to ask or I don't want to be greedy. I don't want to ask for too much. What I have found is that if you can be very clear in your intentions, if you are asking for things in a clear way, I believe the universe wants to satisfy that and will conspire to help make the reality that you want come true.  Perhaps not always, perhaps not for everybody, but that it can happen at all is kind of mind blowing. And I wish that it was an experience that everybody got to taste. I don't see why, why it couldn't be.

Emily 

I totally agree with that statement. So in that vein, where did you first start with it? Was it a friend talking to you in a seminar? Was it a personal experience? What was the first thing?

Sean

I remember doing a course. It was a group course designed to help people expand their consciousness and understand their core beliefs. And it was in my early 20s. And it was the first time I came to believe that the way I see the world wasn't good or bad. But it did create a set of constraints. And that having established positions -- ways of thinking about myself, or my relationships with the world, or the opportunities or health or whatever it might be -- that while those beliefs are useful, they provide continuity, they provide goals, they also are limiting. Almost every belief is limiting. And I built on that to develop an idea that goals were important to me. I couldn't think of a reason to stop trying to learn and grow. And one of the things that I would need to practice was having beliefs but being willing to, to challenge them to consider other possibilities, because by definition, if I couldn't do that, I would forever be stuck. And in whatever my starting place was, and I didn't want that. So this course, while it was really uncomfortable at times, and forced me to confront beliefs that weren't necessarily good for me, didn't serve me well, it really opened my eyes to the beginning possibilities that the world that I live in could be really different from what I experience today.

Emily

With all the work that you've done, you've learned a lot, you've shifted a tremendous amount. Where would you start if you could do it over again? 

Sean

You know, I think what I’d say is, begin by daring to dream. Give yourself permission to imagine a future that allows you to be the best expression of you that you can imagine. Like dream really big. Where would you be? And what would you be? And what would you be doing? If you were just shining as brightly as you can shine? What would that look like? What are you doing every day? Who are you around? What are your relationships like? Where does abundance come from? How do you live? What do you eat? And write it down. I believe very much in the power of writing down your dreams in order to manifest them. Right in the beginning of my journey, I didn't see the point because I couldn't logically see how to get from my present state to the dream state. And somewhere along the way, I learned that I have to work hard, I have to believe. I've got to be a good person. But I'm not responsible for connecting all those dots. There are other things that happen that seem to come out of nowhere, sort of like the real estate story, that will help connect the major dots in a way that couldn't reasonably be anticipated. And I think it's some combination of good intentions, a clear set of goals. I believe that the universe wants to reward people that do good in the universe that are kind and help others. I want to believe that. And I also think there's a bit of “Get out of the way of the flow”. Like if you're trying to control everything or you're trying to maybe connect every dot yourself, there's things you can't see, or I can't see. I can't see how to connect them. So I can either be frustrated and keep trying to connect things up various ways, or I can kind of step back and let the universe play its part as well. That has worked better for me.

Emily

I love that, was there something in your life that allowed you to keep that vision big? Some people think maybe it's not for them, or they don't think they can achieve big things because of XYZ.

Sean

I think like a lot of people I was raised “safely”. Taught that the world can be a magical place. But for safety, we're going to teach you that the safe course is this: stay in school and get a college degree and go get a job and work for the people because that's how most people go through life. And so it ought to be good for you as well. 

And I did those things. And it wasn't bad advice. But I wasn't fulfilled, and I didn't feel like I was achieving my potential. And I think I just started to ask a lot of questions. And, I like advice from others, and I seek people out that seem to be more in the flow than me. They seem to have the kind of joy or the kind of experience of life, maybe just in one area, maybe it's just one little thing. And I seek them out. And I ask them questions, and just try to keep my mind as open as possible to whatever they're saying. Just holding the possibility that they might have incredible pearls, even if I cannot understand or relate to them in that moment. I also try to do the same for others and pass that on. 

Emily

If there is one tool that you would like to only have access to for the rest of all the tools you can have access to in your life, what would be the one tool?

Sean

I think the ability to tap into empathy for other people. There are all kinds of catalysts and tools, ideas, chemicals. There's all kinds of stuff that can contribute to expanded understanding and propelling human capability forward. But the thing that seems to put the brakes on harder than anything else, is when people become very insular, very self-centered, very focused on their own experience. Sometimes they're driven there by pain or by hurt or by just an inability to see past their noses. I think there can be lots of reasons and I don't think people always choose to be that way. Once they're there, empathy is the only thing that can bridge those gaps. An African proverb frequently quoted, if you want to go fast, go alone if you want to go far go with others. I think empathy is the key requirement.

Emily

What is your vision for the world? If you could paint something that inspires you, makes you excited for humans, the planet, whatever. What would that world look like?

Sean

That’s hard to wrap your mind around from 2021. One element would be that the amount of human capability that is devoted to understanding human capability goes up significantly. So much time and energy goes into just putting food in our mouths or keeping a roof over our head or trying to stay healthy. These are problems that I think can be solved on a bigger scale. But today, so much of the world is every person for themselves or small groups, or I'll take care of me and, and my family and a few others, but all the rest of you lot are on your own. And I have to believe in a future for humans where people are able to operate closer to their highest and best use in terms of advancing our understanding of ourselves, of the world of other planets. I think so much energy is lost in competition with people instead of cooperation with people.

Emily

Anything else you want to leave folks with? 

Sean

The only other thing that comes up for me is this concept of teaching safety. And I understand, right? I've got a 13 year old and a 16 year old. And it's hard, right? Because you want to teach him about the risks in the world, and how to be safe and how to protect themselves. And yet if too much of the conversation is around safety or following everyone else's path, it doesn't fit. It doesn't work. And it's almost instilling limiting beliefs in them. My wife and I are really conscious of trying to strike a balance between giving them the information that they need, but also saying, and your world can be really different. And you don't have to stay in a particular path or what worked for me doesn't have to be what you do. And I don't know that every society is as thoughtful as it could be. I think every parent is trying to do their best. And I think parenting is the greatest honor. And one of the biggest, most challenging things somebody could experience. I only hope we get more right than we get wrong. But just encouraging these little angels to expand their minds from an early age and believe in these possibilities that they