My way of thinking has changed many times over the years in my life.
Life is a constant search for harmony – for when it all comes together with minimal negativity and maximum positivism.
I’ve had some unhealthy mental paths that I would go down, and I’ve put my energy into some unnecessary arguments in my day. Having gone through that, and not being happy with the results I eventually recognized that negative thinking just leaves you feeling like shit. It’s pointless.
I know this sounds all peace, love, and dirty hippy – but I think it’s important to talk about how we all can do better to be cooler to each other. It’s simply just a matter of a shift in the way of thinking and you can be on your way to being a friendlier, happier person.
I will pause here to recognize that the last sentence totally sounded like it was lifted off of a creepy late night infomercial for a cult. If there are any cults out there with writers block that are looking for a new catch slogan, please feel free to use that one.
I really can’t think of any other way to say it to make it seem less sappy, but it really is how I feel, and it’s how I operate my life.
One thing I do all the time is I call people “Brother.” I do it for a reason, and my attitude in doing it is just reaffirming our friendliness with each other. I mean it when I say it, not that like I’m pretending that you’re my brother and we grew up together, but that we’re all just a part of one big thing; humanity the super organism.
I got this way of thinking out of a discussion that I had with my good friend Ari Shaffir about our late friend the hilarious LA comic, Freddy Sotto.
Freddy used to call everyone “brother,” and me and Ari were talking about it one night, and Ari was saying that when Freddy says that to people you can tell he means it, and it makes people feel better. We talked about it, and what a great and funny guy Freddy was, and I’ve been calling people “brother” ever since.
I run into people out there in the real world that read these blog entries all the time, and I always deeply appreciate the fact that people are enjoying them. Before I started writing on this site I never had any writing aspirations at all. I just sort of started it for fun, and because it would be cool to see something that I had written be on a website with these digital pictures that I took. I’m sort of a technology geek, and when I first put up my site I just did it for a goof, because very few people were reading it back then. Now, especially over these last few weeks leading up to the filming of my Spike TV special where I’ve been keeping daily blogs it’s become this always on connection to thousands of people. It’s not something that I take lightly at all.
I ran into a guy in Vegas a couple weeks ago that had read my blog entry, “hello, stranger.” He told me that he had read it, and that it changed the way he thinks about people.
The blog entry is about a psychedelic experience I had on a boat in Hawaii where realized that we human beings are probably all exactly the same energy, but we’re just put into different bodies, different life circumstances, different cultures, and that’s what makes us who we are, but the thought was if I lived every second of your life, I would be you. If I lived in your body, and had your experiences, I would be you.
That “me” is the same thing for everybody, we’re just living this life through different filters.
You really have to read that blog entry to understand what happened, but that’s the short version.
It’s a special blog entry to me, because it accurately resonates the exact moment that a life changing thought entered into my mind when I was at a really open, and positive point in my life awaiting the birth of my daughter. (the people reading this on yardbarker.com will have to go to my site, joerogan.net to read that story)
The guy came up to me at the bar and started telling me how he read what I wrote, and that he started incorporating it into his own life, and that it works. He said he really tries to treat people as if they were himself living another life through another body, and that it’s had an amazingly positive affect on the quality of his life.
It was a really weird moment, because I could tell that he meant what he was saying, and I certainly meant it when I wrote it, so here we are, two dudes that have just met each other, and we’re both just sitting there looking at each other thinking that we’re the same thing inside this different biological vessels. It was pretty fucking trippy, and at least 20% gay.
Thankfully neither one of us panicked during the discussion and started talking about pussy either. Some men can get very sensitive about being sensitive, and if they feel vulnerable at all they be quick with the pussy talk. It’s meaningless, empty pussy talk too, because realistically we both know that no man in that state of distress can even get a hard on.
If you’re so insecure that you’re talking about pussy to send signals that you’re not gay, you’re probably wielding a shaky boner as it is. Thankfully neither this dude, nor I got the gay panic, and in fact it actually wasn’t uncomfortable at all.
I talked to him and his friends for a while, we had a few laughs, we had a drink, and I wished him the best of luck in this crazy life, and I really meant it – seeing as how he’s me.
Man, I love reading your perspective on things. If it were up to me… you’d never go back to part time blogging. I’d still check the site every day if you did slack off though. So please…spare me the disappointment.
Joe, love your postings and outlook on life. What I am having a hard time understanding, is how you are managing your life now with a new daughter and not sure if you live with your wife/girlfriend? It seems to me that you are definitely living “the life” – comedy shows, travel for UFC, media appearances, blogging, time in the tank, smoking, BJJ class, etc. How the hell are you able to do all of this and be a great father to your daughter and supportive husband/boyfriend. I don’t mean get all pussy-like here, but I know that when I had my first kid it rocked my world and the fun “me time” definitely took a hit. Maybe I am a bigger wimp in life than you, but I would love to hear HOW you are managing it all. If you could blog about that, it would be much appreciated. Thanks!
I can tell you this, I’m a super Catholic… and everything you write about and everything you practice in your life has made me a better person and a better Catholic (I guess I’m a “new wave Catholic” or something).
I was just talking to my boyfriend last night, after I made him read four of your latest blogs, ending with the “Altered States” blog; and aside from the fact that we both would love to invest in an isolation tank, we can both seriously say that you are a positive, motivating force in our lives.
I’ve always been more of the optimist in life, and I can pinpoint characteristics in me that lend to what you say about belonging to a singular human energy, but not my boyfriend. Him being such a HUGE fan of yours (he has a 8.5×11 picture of you and him at a Fight Night on his UFC wall, next to an 8.5×11 of him and Dana) has opened him up to thinking that maybe wanting to punch someone in the face isn’t exactly the best thing to do if someone cuts you off in the grocery store. Reading how you have changed and upgraded your standard of being in your own mind has motivated him to being a kinder person to others (he’s great with me, but goes on the whole I HATE THE WORLD trip).
If you have any tips for him on how to get over himself, they’d be greatly appreciated.
And yes, I totally agree with now_what… PLEASE don’t go back to part-time blogging!
All the best,
Laura
Agreed wholeheartedly. The reciprocation of positive energy from those we consider brothers and sisters is a Möbius strip, an infinite loop of circulated respect, admiration and support that builds and builds, giving us more as we in turn give more. The closer the brother/sister is to the heart, the greater the effect. The idea of this reciprocation on a global level would be such an incredible phenomenon; the idea of the world populus establishing this monolithic support structure in which all are brothers and sisters and all are their keepers. The achievement of that on a global scale may be perceived as nothing more than a fantastic ideal, but people like yourself and those of us who hold true to the same tenets of personal and spiritual conduct all have the potential and obligation to extend the radius of that energy and openness, and surely once thoroughly experienced and recognized by others a spiritual domino effect will take place and society as a whole can attain the next level of enlightenment and existence.
To quote (or paraphrase through a haze of bong resin) the late, great Bill Hicks: “Today a young man on acid realized that all matter is merely energy condensed to a low vibration; we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively, there is no death, life is only a dream in which we are the imagination of ourselves. Here’s Tom with the weather.”
Cheers, Joe – continued thanks for your insight and inspiration.
But of course, with every action there is an equal or opposite reaction, right?
With that in mind, you ever go eat somewhere that you have already been, had the same meal and knew it was being cooked by the same person, but then when you took those first few bites it was just awful as opposed to the first time that made your tongue orgasm? Dude is obviously having a bad day and incorporating that energy into the food being prepared.
It’s kind of like the karmatic circle of life, whatever you’re feeling is going to go into whatever you’re doing or saying, that energy flows out of your fingertips like magnetic charges, the words you speak become a tiny particle of the reality around us. It’s very hard to be positive all the time, especially because people love to bring down a happy person; there is a certain glow about a person who makes it a point to wake up and enjoy the random moments in life and with the species that roam the earth, really pisses people off.
My friend loves to give me a hard time about being perfect and how it’s not possible, it’s not perfection I seek; being that perfection is just another word we have created and typically define it as not having any flaws, the true question is what is a flaw? What is anything except in the way you create it?
It’s a random series of moments and energy that we exist in and it’s ultimately up to the person what happens within those moments.
Hey Joe,
I always enjoy running into you at events and half to say you have to be one of the nicest guys around!Also I think one of the smartest as well.So Columbus will mark the first time I see your comedy show live and can’t wait!!Got front row on the right side.Again you and Eddie are great to talk with at events so just wanted to say thanks Bro!!
Matt
Oh and I heard you are doing a contest now if people can get u in a pic with out your friend in it so here it is!!LOL
[IMG]http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll256/dunnle/Picture043-1.jpg[/IMG]
Joe,
This has nothing to do with this blog, but it relates to your Open Letter to Kellogg’s. I found this on Digg….http://stopthedrugwar.org/chronicle_blog/kelloggstock and it says that Kellogg’s stock is down! =)
I figure you will come across this, but just in case….
PS-You are amazingly talented.
JOE
I was the guy you met at the club in vegas. I remember meeting you, and I remember talking about some stuff…but to be honest, I don’t remember much after that, I was pretty drunk…my friends filled me in on the rest. I’m very happy to read that our conversation not only made sense, but was actually very memorable! I sent you a comment a few weeks ago (i’ve pasted it below) just saying thanks and it was cool to meet you. My friends and I will come see your show when you you are in Vancouver. We should hang out again.
” captaincombover said on: February 8th, 2009 at 9:24pm
joe…i think i owe you an apology
i was the obnoxiously drunk guy in the club in vegas the friday night before the fight. don’t remember much, but met you and eddie bravo, and alex jones and joey. anyways, apparently i was really pestering you and kept tapping your shoulder saying ‘hey? hey! hey? hey!’…so if that’s the case, sorry for being annoying.
on a lighter note, i had one of the best weekends of my life. it was my first live mma experience and i was like a kid in a candy store. i can’t think of any other major sport where the athletes are so accessible and, almost without exception, so down to earth and approachable. from kid yamamoto to phil baroni to martin kampfmann. just one of the things that makes this sport so awesome. it was a great night of fights and an experience that i won’t soon forget.
anyway, not sure if this is the right forum for this message. if you ever find yourself in vancouver, canada, let me know…it would be nice to have a (sober) conversation.
peace “
I really enjoy reading your blog man. You writing style makes it as if your standing in front of me, talking with enthusiasm and hand movements heh heh.
Love the positive energy you give, from you to me, from me to someone else. It’s amazing how many people one person can effect. The crazy part is, that we have no clue to where our energy goes. Ex. I hang out with my buddy, I make him laugh, and give him some of my positive energy. He goes home in a good mood, cleans up the house a bit, & does the dishes. His mom comes home from a shit day at work, to see that her son cleaned up a bit, forcing a smile on her tired face.
Hey Joe,
Dude you nailed it on the head on what/who were are according to a 6000 year old spiritual tradition. I always told my wife that you were one of people I admire the most in the world. Not for being the funniest and smartest comedian, or the most entertaining UFC color commentator ( yeah Frank Mir, and Trig are the shit, but no one can interview and comment on the fighters like you my man), its your view on life and how you question every funking thing that normal people take as normal, but how the simplest things are awe-inspiring!
allow me to add my crazy thoughts to this post –
Our uniqueness is not entirely defined biologically, we are a sum of our parts, more specifically a sum of our experiences.
so lets say i cloned you, at age 30, the moment the lights were turned on for your clone, he would be a unique individual from you. because his experience is now different than yours.
sure he would have your memories (if we had that technology) up to age 30, but after that he now has his own.
as a baby it’s all hard wired biology, it’s all reflexive. but as the synapses start to grow and make connections the human will begin to remember there experiences, and it could just be staring at the ceiling, but EVERYTHING is an experience, from picking your nose to tripping balls on DMT.
so while the whole “universal consciousness” is a neat idea, you have to be careful not to place to much importance on humans.. we are just not that fucking important.
no matter how bad people want to think we are.
we are no more special than the ants we step on as we walk down the street. (in the grand scheme of things / universally speaking – of course on this planet we are top dog, but what goes down on earth, means nothing to the rest of the universe)
Congrats on your baby girl.. it’s an experience I’m having and it does change you as a person..
Good luck in Columbus we will be there!
Joe, I recently stumbled, quite randomly, upon a video of you talking about your experiences with DMT and that it has, among many other things, affected your life profoundly. It was the strangest thing… because to be honest with you, I would never have pegged you as this person of great insight or intellect (not to mention hilarity). I suppose I’ve had this unfair and uniformed opinion of you as this meat-head UFC guy who hosted that retarded Fear Factor show but man… I gotta tell you not only am I humbled but I am so thankful I have been able to experience that which truly is “Joe Rogan.” It has actually changed my life and has given me great new perspective on a lot of things. I’ve quit smoking tobacco, I’ve begun to get back in shape, and I’ve changed my approach to a lot of different things in my life. Keep figuring/thinking shit out and keep talking about it… Take care, Brother.
Welcome to the age of Aquarius brother
Shame there isn’t a contact link on your website… Well, anyway… Where do I begin… Oh yeah! For me first you were some random dude hosting Fear Factor, then you evolved into random dude presenting Fear Factor and UFC, then… ou Well I don’t remember how but I got a glimpse of what you had to say about psychotropics, etc… And I thought… Hey! This guy’s got interesting things to say!
Anyway straight to the point: I’ve heard about your experience with DMT, and as a french fucker lost in Peru for some years, I have to tell you this: COME TO THE MOTHERFUCKING RAINFOREST AND TAKE AYAHUASCA! I’ve taken LSD, shrooms, salvia and sorts some years back, and sometimes it can feel as touching the hand of God (agnostic non-believer here), but with Ayahuasca, it’s god crushing you under its fingernails, scratching your soul into reality… You’ve taken a look at other dimensions smoking DMT? Well buddy, I got good news, that’s adolescent foreplay! You’ll have your soul stripped down before your eyes, every shameful weakness exposed and it will leave you crying as a child… Most vivid godlike experience ever!
Well anyway, take care fellow curious traveller , and beware of the psychotropic rear naked gogo plata!
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