The Way of the Acorn

Philosophy

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine as children do. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own lights shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”— Coach Carter, originally from Marianne Williamson’s A Return to Love

The Harsh Truth:

Most people across the world are suffering mentally and dying physically. In the United States, 70% are overweight (41% are obese), which leads to 4 of the top 5 causes of death (heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, and chronic lower respiratory disease). 73.5% of all American deaths are preventable (unhealthy diet, obesity, chemical exposure, and sedentary lifestyle). The percent of other animals who die due to preventable disease? 0%. Why are humans different? It is due to dis-ease² of the mind that causes us to make unhealthy choices. It isn’t talked about, but the majority of people are unhappy/depressed, ashamed of who they are, and guilt-ridden.

Dis-ease refers to a state of unease, lack of harmony, or a loss of well-being, as opposed to "disease," which is a medically recognized illness.

What do I know?

What’s up. I’m Jo.

Mental suffering has been all I’ve known since I was 6 years old. I felt things very deeply and had a victim perspective, which led to an intense Depression from such a young age that I had no choice but to fight with everything I had until I escaped. And after spending $110K and 7,000 hours across 9 years with a psychologist, physical therapist, meditation coach, and relentless daily inner work (journaling, spreadsheet daily tracking, meditation, CBT, IFS, exercise, testing every hack, trick, and tactic I came across), I finally overcame the Darkness in 2023.

Afterwards, I continued to make inner work my life for I fell in love with the journey. I believe the journey within is the most important journey a human being can make (and there is so much more once you get past the block of Depression and fear). When someone is Depressed and/or debilitated by crippling fear, guilt, anger, and/or shame (and usually we are dealing with most, if not all, of the above), life is unbearable. Unbearable, as in, each of these is a burden too heavy to carry. What is more important in life than breaking free of these one thousand pound burdens?

I always loved the story of Harriet Tubman.

She escaped slavery… then went back and got 70 more slaves out! The Way of the Acorn follows in her footsteps by helping people escape from the modern day slaver: dis-ease of the body and mind. How much of your time and energy has gone into self-help, YouTube videos, TikTok doomscrolling posing as gathering knowledge, oversleeping because you don’t want to face the day, up late to sabotage your chances of any success tomorrow, etc.? Isn’t that slavery? Where your master is Fear itself?

Fuck. That.

Now is the time to rise up, overcome Fear, and be free to live.

But you’re going to need to earn it like a lion earns its antelope lunch. Fear won’t let you off that easy.

Fortunately for you, I specialize in one thing: overcoming Fear.

I.e.,

Fear of the future (anxiety, fear of outcome)

Fear of past repeating itself (shame, anxiety)

Fear of being real (also shame)

None of this helps you. You can be Fearless. In fact, that’s your default state. But like a computer full of viruses and apps, its default state is hidden and takes some reworking to regain.

That’s what I help with.

Before we get into the philosophy of the Way of the Acorn, I need to tell you some truths:

You are not meant to feel ashamed of who you really are.

You are not meant to feel guilty for wanting to do or not do things that you truly want to do or not do.

You are not meant to be afraid all the time.

You are not meant to stay small, sabotaging yourself every time you start to love yourself.

You are meant to be great. Not greater than others, but your own kind of great. Which is the best kind of great.

Let’s pause for a second…

I want you to feel in your heart if the bolded lines above are true or not.

Place your hand on your heart. And ask like a whisper from your mind to your heart: “Are these true?”

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A word or phrase may have formed in your chest. There’s your answer.

Philosophy of The Way of the Acorn:

Every person has, within them, their own kind of great. Harriet Tubman, Gandhi, Jesus, Mohammed, Bruce Lee, Elon Musk, Picasso, Da Vinci, Amelia Earhart, Steve Jobs, were just a few that capitalized on who they were. The point is not to be famous or rich. The point is to be your true self, the self that comes forth when fear falls away. Money, joy, peace, love. Those are byproducts.

Principles of the Way of the Acorn: