The Table
The food, it is love.
Each plate set before us artfully given.
I am compelled to slow down.
By the atmosphere. By the food. By the wine. By the people.
To savor.
To make each bite last as long as possible.
And yet
As much as I don't want it to end,
I know it must also end.
It is beauty in the brief yet pure delightful experience with the present moment.
Not just of the food and the drink,
But of the people I am with.
Everyone around me is laughing. Sharing the experiences of the day, of the weekend. Feelings, ideas, thoughts uncovered. New stories are told. Old stories are reshared.
We are together in every sense of the word.
Our camaraderie only briefly interrupted by the delivery of new rounds.
Each plate presents a mystery.
What will the first taste be?
What will I feel?
What will everyone else feel?
We are connected in the moments that we share the magnificent first bite.
And then, the wine.
Each plate comes with it's own pair.
My experience begins quite simple. Bite, sip. Be with it. Bite, sip. Be with it.
I start to notice the aroma of the wine as well.
I sit with the aroma.
Sometimes, the aroma is overwhelming. I sit and feel through the entire life of the wine in one instantaneous sensory moment.
And I am comforted by the life around me.
Sometimes the wine wraps around the taste of the food like a hug, sometimes it stands beside the taste like a contrasting light.
I am by no means an expert in wine.
But I can feel the connection, the contrast, the delight it adds to the plate.
And always it's the shared experience with those around me.
The expression of delight and joy upon the first sip. The sometimes mild disappointment when the glass is empty.
This room, this food, and these people are all coming together in a unique beautiful experience.
It's an experience that brings brings out the truth.
It's an experience that brings out the best in all of us at the table.
Great things are made only more great when you share them, and at this table everyone shares in the moment, in the taste, in the memory, in the experience.
Lukas tells the story of Mark Tarbell and the Red Solo Cup.
We laugh at the absurdity and the beauty of that experience.
And we know,
We all know together right now in the moment,
It's not about the label. It's not about the thing.
It's about the experience with your friends and the stories you share together.
That was The Table at Mark Tarbell's, with The Cha Cha Mouche Wine Club.
And that is also the true heart of The Guardian Academy.
Just like the food, it is love.
There's only one way to find this experience.
Presence.
In TGA we talk quite a bit about this concept of Presence. Being present with yourself. Being present with others.
In our search for Clarity, we find that Clarity comes with Being Present. Presence shows you your role. Presence comes with embracing boredom. Presence makes intentional change possible.
Presence allows us to willingly step into uncertainty.
But Presence is still an elusive concept, until you experience it viscerally.
For this dear reader I must confess to you something that astonished even me.
To share, I need to begin with context.
I have been writing for The Guardian Academy for about 1.5 years. Officially I have been writing since August of 2023, but the first article I wrote I made nearly a year before that.
It's not a complicated story.
I saw the team at TGA were starting to publish content. I felt called into this group strongly and I wanted to do something that was Useful.
Several stars aligned and I wrote The Real Cost of Dopamine.
This was very well received. So over the next 4-5 months I slowly wrote my Guardian Capstone - "The Keys to Winning the Long Game."
I share all this with you because I want you to understand one simple thing.
I've read everything.
I've watched everything.
Every live broadcast I could get my hands on for TGA, every video, every article. And for the last 7 months I have written nearly every paid article and more besides.
I am as "in it" as you can get.
BUT
I had never gone to an event.
The experience above was my blessed opportunity to sit at The Table with 11 other very fine people who attended the event this weekend, after the 2nd day.
I can tell you now,
As someone who "knew it all" before going,
NOTHING
Compares to being in the room.
Nothing.
I have rarely ever been so present of MYSELF in my entire life.
I do not think I can express how deeply valuable this experience has been.
To Be In The Room.
I went expecting to simply observe - because I'm the writer right? Im there to work.
But from the very first moment on the first day when Nic started speaking and he brought up Dr. Jeff Spencer ...
I became compelled to be.
To put forth everything I possibly could into that room. And I could tell that every single other person there did the same.
We all came together as a team to make the 2 days what it needed to be for each and every one of us in the moment.
Nothing compares to being in the room.
And I can see now that the true gift of The Guardian Academy, is the gift of my present self.
I sincerely personally hope you, dear reader, come and join us one day to find the power of that presence.
Until then,
This is why we have started The Arena1.
The Guardian Academy Substack is a place to learn new ideas, relearn old ones and in general take in new and interest information.
But that is just one step.
We practice multi-loop learning, which involves the following:
1. Consume
2. Reflect
3. Engage
4. Repeat
We practice Consume and Reflect through The Guardian Academy Substack. But learning requires engaging the field with what we have discovered.
The next step is ACTION.
When you are ready, The Arena will put you into action and compel you to be present with yourself and the challenges you face. To *learn* through contact and give you the path to growth through doing.
Here’s what you can do right now:
1. Consume: Go back to your favorite article, video, audio, or piece of content.
2. Reflect: Reflect on how it might apply to your world. Journaling works great for this.
3. Engage: Take the list of application(s) from above and try them. Engage the field so that instead of “knowing about” this stuff, you start becoming it.
4. Repeat: After engaging the field, go back to the original content and consume it again. It will likely mean something different to you AFTER you have engaged the field. The content is the same, but it means something different because you are different.
Make the commitment to engage the field.
Step into the Arena.
Earn your way to the Table.
Resources:
Most Popular Posts can be seen by clicking here.
Social Media: Check our our new Instagram for aesthetically pleasing stuff and exclusive video clips. Twitter (Or X) for more frequent updates and insights.
Forthcoming Event and Experience Dates can be found by clicking here. Nothing compares to being in the right room with the right people. It doesn’t have to be our room with us - just get yourself in proximity to the right people, places and things for you.
The Arena will be available for Guardians and Founding Members to participate, first. Basic paid subscribers will be able to watch and engage as well.