Join me at Esalen's 'The Soul is a UFO: Understanding and Embracing Transcendence' this December

Where do I begin? I mean, really—where do I begin?

I guess with the pertinent stuff. I am overjoyed to announce that I will be attending Dr. Jeffrey Kripal and Kevin Cann's workshop "The Soul is a UFO: Understanding and Embracing Transcendence" this December at the Esalen Institute. The plan is for me to serve as the workshop assistant for the event.

Over the past few years, I've started up a wonderful correspondence with Jeff, whom I think is one of the most insightful, kindest people scrutinizing the paranormal today (Jeff would probably prefer "the impossible"). He has been such an enormous supporter of my work, offering advice, providing encouragement, and just generally carving out time from his busy schedule to humor me.

Equally rewarding has been the relationship I've been forging with Kevin Cann, who is not only at the forefront of Jeff's newest book (How to Think Impossibly: About Souls, UFOs, Time, Belief, and Everything Else) but is also an incredibly smart, kind person. Honestly, I'm constantly struck by how many wonderful people I meet in this field, it kind of leaves me at a loss for words.

Which brings us back to where I started: Where do I begin? I really can't quite articulate the gratitude I feel for Kevin and Jeff inviting me along for the ride.

For anyone who approaches the phenomenon like I do, Esalen is something of a bucket list item. Simply taking a tour would have scratched that itch. But to attend in this capacity, with the chance to not only spend time with Kevin and Jeff but also all the other attendees? I mean, pinch me.

Details about the event, which takes place December 5-7, 2025, can be found here. Central to the discussion is Kevin's concept of Platonic Surrealism. I've been working intensively with Kevin to wrap my head around this particular view of reality... I'm getting there. I think it has a great amount of utility for anyone willing to listen, and it has even helped me reconcile some of the more confounding contradictions that the phenomenon presents.

Recommended reading for the course includes Jeff's How to Think Impossibly, Bernardo Kastrup's Why Materialism Is Baloney, and (somehow, this has got to be a mistake), Fourth Wall Phantoms.

I really hope to see some of you there. For now, my heart is full.

I can't even imagine how much fuller it's about to get.