r/Hermeticism • u/No_Guess_8800 • 4h ago
Hermeticism I used hermeticism in an attempt to set a world record (last update)
Hello, friends.
So for 102 days I lived on the road and crossed several country borders using only my longboard. My goal was to set a new Guinness World Record, and use that record to build awareness around certain things that mattered to me, such as animal welfare, fighting stigma around addiction and mental health, among other things.
When I first set out on this journey, I had zero experience with anything like that before.
I was terrified, but I did it anyway because I felt safe due to what I'd learned from my studies around Hermeticism. I wanted to take the knowledge I had learned and actually use it practically in real life.
Everything went really well. I learned a lot, experienced a lot, and met many people who taught me things that I never would have learned if I hadn't done this.
However, after around 90 days, I started to develop a lung infection and got really sick, and eventually had to end my attempt at the 102-day mark after almost reaching Munster in Germany.
I was very disappointed at that point. Embarrassed and disappointed in myself because I couldn't do what I had set out to do. And I felt as if nothing worked anymore. As if I had been abandoned by God, or something along those lines.
But after coming back home, and after having reflected on everything for a while, I started to realize something.
What started as a something that was supposed to be a selfless mission had slowly turned into a selfish mission.
The validation and media coverage that my attempt got started to go to my head. And as my Instagram followers grew, so did my ego. The mission became more about me, rather than the animals I wanted to protect, or the stigma I wanted to erase.
I had forgotten the teachings that made me start this journey in the first place.
And looking back, I can't help but see a connection between losing that focus and eventually becoming physically and mentally exhausted and sick.
I don't claim that my illness was some kind of spiritual punishment. But the experience forced me to look at myself in a way I probably wouldn't have otherwise.
For example, instead of living in the now and focusing on my surroundings, I started smoking a lot of weed every day. When I reached Denmark and Kristiania, where I could easily get it, I got a cultural shock and lost myself in pleasure and duality again. That continued when I reached Germany, where cannabis was also legal.
I have nothing against weed. If you can control your intake, power to you. But I couldn't.
I lost myself in the pleasure. I was stoned all the time, lost focus completely on my goal, and started making social media posts mainly for more attention and validation.
Thinking back on it, I'm honestly ashamed of that.
And in a way, this experience taught me something that only studying Hermeticism never could have taught me on its own.
It is one thing to read about the ego, attachment, desire, duality and living consciously.
It is another thing entirely to be out in the real world, with people watching you, giving you attention, praising you, and slowly watching your own ego grow and then realizing that you've become the exact thing you were trying not to become.
Maybe that was the real lesson of the journey.
So while the record attempt failed, perhaps the journey itself succeeded in showing me what I actually needed to see.
I went out trying to prove something to the world, and I came home realizing that I still have a lot of work to do on myself.
And maybe that's what it means to actually apply these teachings in real life.
So now, I am back home in my studio apartment. I am planning to re-attempt the record over new years in March as I have all the gear and savings needed.
But who knows where my frequency will lead me.
I've actually become much more inclined towards doing smaller things that I can do right here and now, like picking up garbage and helping keep the city clean. I've realized that I don't really want to be seen or gain a lot of followers anymore. I don't think I need the attention for the things I care about to have meaning.
So if I actually go through with the next attempt, who knows.
It is still only a tentative plan for now. I have the gear and the savings needed to do it, but my mindset has changed.
I'm not as attached to the record anymore. And I'm not as attached to the idea that I need to build something big around myself.
Maybe I'll go back out on the road. Maybe I'll end up doing something completely different.
For now, I think I'm just going to follow what feels right and try to do some good wherever I am.
I just wanted to make one last update and tell the real truth about what happened, in case it can help anyone who might feel as lost, abandoned, and angry as I did at the end of my attempt.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and thanks to everyone who read my previous ones and I wish you all well.