What does it look like to live a truly authentic life? Not just the way some 22-year old tik-tok’er might tell you to live “authentically” … but I mean to live daily connected to the your soul’s deepest purpose for living? … What does THAT kind of life look like? Perhaps more importantly, how do you actually step into living a soul-centric life? In this episode, my guest is the visionary depth psychologist and wilderness guide, Bill Plotkin. Now, listen up. This episode is like no other. Bill is one of the most genius and inspired visionaries you’ve probably never heard of. He’s the author of a few books that have been rocking my world the last few years, notably, Nature and The Human Soul, and now his latest book, The Journey of Soul Initiation: A Field Guide for Visionaries, Evolutionaries, and Revolutionaries. I’m serious when I say listen up … this may be the most important podcast episode I ever create. I love all my guests, and what particularly excites me about Bill Plotkin, is that when I first read his book, Nature and The Human Soul, I felt like what the Israelites must have felt like when Moses came back from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments.  Not that Bill has brought back commandments of any sort, but through his work spanning probably 5 decades now, as a depth psychologist, wilderness guide, and founder of western Colorado’s Animas Valley Institute, where he has led thousands of women and men through nature-based initiatory passages, what he HAS brought back is a map of human development that I believe to be as all encompassing as any map modern day humanity has discovered. Building on Carl Jung’s work, and the work of countless other brilliant hearts and minds spanning a myriad of human cultures, when I read Bill’s work, I understand more clearly the adventure of my life, the story arcs that have played out, the excruciating bottoms I’ve hit at critical and pivotal moments of my life, and what the real tasks of the different stages of life are that, if I don’t accomplish those tasks, then I don’t truly grow or evolve, even though my body may age. In fact, this is one of the major themes throughout Bill’s work – which I assure you is a MASTER work; his books are just masterpieces of wisdom and insight and practical information – but a major theme he explores, and that we talk about in this episode, is the overwhelming lack of true adults in the modern world, the state of humanity as one currently made up largely of people stuck in adolescent ways of thinking, being, and doing. It’s certainly not hard to make the case for that these days; just read the news or scroll through your social media feed. You may not be able to quite put a finger on it, but something constantly nags at you that the world around you is largely devoid of real wisdom and nuance and maturity.  Bill’s masterfully explains why this is, and at a depth far beyond politics, and opinions, and even philosophy. Bill’s work is sourced from nature, itself. And I mean that both poetically, and literally! Look, I can’t possibly articulate to you how important and thorough his work is. Today he and I talk about perhaps the most critical phase of a life journey, The Journey of Soul Initiation. Bill might say all the phases of a life journey are critical, that you can’t grow beyond one stage until you successfully complete the tasks of that phase. I actually don’t know exactly what he’d say to that, and I don’t ask him in this conversation, but The Journey of Soul Initiation, is, according to Bill’s model of eco-centric human development,...