Good vibrations

Why they matter now

Warning: This is gonna read a little woo-woo. Forgive me.

A few weeks ago, Julie and I got together with our good friend Dan. We all initially met in an improv class at Second City here in Chicago half a lifetime ago. We don’t see Dan often, definitely not often enough. But when we do see him, we both walk away with the same feeling.

That Dan is a special guy. There’s just something inherently good about him. He’s the very best storyteller, but it’s not just that. His stories tend to bring seemingly ordinary characters and situations to life, technicolor. He’s super funny, but it’s not just that either. His humor carries a depth that always rings true.

Dan’s a deep thinker, and he marvels at things that would seem ordinary to an awful lot of us. But it’s not just any of that. We’ve both been trying to figure the draw to Dan out for a while.

He’s not the loudest guy. Not the preachiest either. He doesn’t have the biggest ego. He’s open to being wrong. This last time we saw him, after six hours of stories and laughter and wisdom and tears, I think Julie nailed it.

“Dan is a high vibration guy. That’s why we love to be around him.”

This rang so true it gave me chills.

The vibe of high vibrations

Like a few other people I’ve known in my life, I’m happy, inspired, and supercharged when I’m around someone like Dan. People who vibrate high bring out our creativity, playfulness and intuition. Matching their energy feels organic, energizing and joyful. High vibe people are also innately, undeniably trustworthy. So they inherently invite us to safely share some of our deepest thoughts.

And people who vibe high aren’t necessarily happy all the time. Instead, I think these are the people who are the most consistently, reliably real and authentic. Like Dan, high vibe people are seemingly always at their best, their most vital, their most alive. They’re super curious and earnestly want to hear everything you have to say.

And they can root out your brilliance with ease, even if you’re not sure it exists at all. That might be one of the most striking hallmarks of a high vibration person. They make you see the beautiful in yourself.

When you’re around someone who vibrates high, you vibrate high. It’s palpable and infectious. It’s exciting and fun and hopeful. You tend to feel a swell of BIG energy you didn’t know you had.

Dan welcomes that energy into his life, I think. It’s a discipline, a daily dose of spiritual calisthenics that includes meditation, exercise, and focused attention. And no small dose of gratitude and joy. He practices all of it, and it’s become second nature to him, it seems.

As you’re reading this, I’ll bet some of you are getting goosebumps thinking of a high vibration, high energy person in your own life. You know who brings those vibes into your life, and you definitely know who doesn’t.

The near-death effect

During my run this morning, I decided to listen to the SmartLess podcast. The guest was Jeremy Renner, that every man actor from The Hurt Locker and Mayor of Kingstown. But in the past year and a half, most of us know him as a miraculous survivor. You might remember that at the beginning of last year, he suffered a freak accident with a snowplow that very nearly took his life.

I find it pretty fascinating to hear stories from people who have had near-death experiences. Renner is still recovering and will be for years. He experiences a great deal of pain every day. Yet he seems deeply grateful, positive, optimistic and upbeat. Apparently, things can go really sideways and you can still vibrate super high. I like to think that we don’t have to glimpse our end in order to find this lane, but I’ll bet it doesn’t hurt.

Mostly, as I was listening, I was thinking about my own reaction to his story. If I weren’t in a zone myself, focusing on big energy and high vibrations, I think I might have missed the messaging from Renner altogether. The fact that I heard this interview while writing this piece feels synchronous to me. It does not feel like an accident. And if I were not in this headspace, I might have blown right past it without taking in a word.

The need for high vibes right now

So some people are more present and available to the moment than others. Good for them. But really, who cares? Well, we’re not just heading into some turbulent times in our culture. We are right in the middle of them.

We are currently in, well, the singular weirdest presidential election ever. As I write, the current president seems to be considering stepping aside. The other guy is still, well, that same guy. The Supreme Court seems hell-bent on proving that, despite their mandate, maybe one or two people are in fact above the law. The rights of people of color, and those of the LGBTQ community, and women all appear to be dwindling instead of expanding.

That’s a shit ton of bad news. And we cannot ignore it.

But I think the answers might lie in each of us attending to our own levels of vibration. Honestly. And I think the more of us that reach for these high vibrations in ourselves, the less divisiveness and vitriol and petty politics will matter. I think high vibrations can trump all of that.

How to get there

And the good news is this: I believe that we all carry high vibrations within us. I just think it takes some introspection and energy to bring our best selves to the fore. And your best self probably looks and feels a little different than mine, which looks and feels a little different than Dan’s. That’s important, I think. I think we need all types of people to bring more life to life.

And this clearly feels like an important time to focus on good energy and high vibrations. Both tend to spread a lot of contagious goodwill. We need as much of that going around as possible. And I’ve been noticing that when you share depth and humor and goodwill in one interaction, you’re likely to repeat it.

The drag of low vibes

In the weeks since we saw Dan, I’ve been thinking about this concept a lot. And I’ve been looking around. I think an awful lot of us are vibrating, super, super low. When we look down at our phones, our vibrations take a massive dip. When we talk poorly of other people, big drop. When we’re arguing instead of listening, pretty shitty vibes.

A while back, I was behind a woman in line at Starbucks. She was shuffling and huffing and exasperating at the pace of the service, which was actually pretty quick. I made a little bet with myself that she would find something in her order to be upset about.

As you might guess, I won that bet. She complained that her order was completely incorrect, but it wasn’t. It was exactly what she asked for. And I’m virtually certain she went through the rest of that day like a lot of her days, ruining moments for other people, vibrating low.

And these days, I think most of us occupy this space a lot of the time.

We are phoning it in, and there are an awful lot of influences in our culture that encourage that. From 24-hour new cycles to isolation to a conviction to victimhood, we vibe low.

And for those who are not in the practice of it, I think vibrating higher is an act of courage. I was running this idea by a 19-year-old client the other day, and he said, “High vibes. Yeah, I love that. But man, it’s asking a lot. It takes a lot of courage to step out of your shame loop.” And I think he nailed something really important there. A lot of us deliberately vibrate on low because of fear of rejection and some sense of shame about who we are.

I don’t think we have the luxury of lurking in the shadows of low vibrations these days.

And raising your vibration does mean attending to all of your gifts and bringing them to the world in a positive way. That does require courage. All of that, despite whatever you may have gone through, whatever traumas you may have suffered, whatever diagnoses or difficulties you or your loved ones may carry at the moment.

It’s asking a lot.

It’s asking us to be our best selves. But isn’t that the better story? Otherwise, why are we even here?

I’m not suggesting we ignore the headlines and the alerts. Quite the contrary. When we vibe on high, I think we’re activated. Instead of just complaining about what’s going on, we’re more inclined to do something about it. Act on it, bring our best selves to it.

And just in case you think this might read a bit preachy, I’m writing this every bit as much as a note to self as a note to you. I need to vibrate on high far more often. We have to invite it in, through big ways and small. Let the other guy in your lane. Thank the barista. Say hi in the elevator. Stop gossiping about your friends. Think bigger.

A rising tide will lift all boats.

I’m big on Hope. And right now, I think the greatest hope for all of us lies in our highest vibrations. Time to dig deep and find them. That would be a damn good story.

Let’s go.

You can find Dan’s new Substack here:

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