Yesterday, one of my relatives had surgery and has to be in bed for a couple of days. Needless to say, that makes me one busy lady. It’s cleaning day, too. Ugh. So this will be short, but hopefully sweet! Have a great weekend, all!

Me: It’s my feeling—and this is in almost all of my books—that human beings are pack animals, and if you’re a member of a pack, you’ll want to gain acceptance of the pack or you’ll not be a part of it, but there are two ways to do that. You can be externally directed and be guided by other people like, “Ooo, am I doing the right thing so I can be a part of the pack?” So all of your decisions are motivated by these external factors. You have this external compass. But you can also gain acceptance from the pack by contributing something meaningful, and that takes using your inner compass. That’s where you get your true identity. Instead of getting your identity from the outside, you get your identity from the outside. Speak to that.

Erik: I speak to that by saying, “I agree!” Not only are we pack animals, our identify, right is being influenced and shaped by strong social media and marketing being so strong in our lives. Back a long time ago, our pack animal behavior was human to human. Now, all of a sudden, we have these virtual packs. It’s a different game altogether. There’s a whole nuther influence there. We’ve got to show every human being—little, big, old, whatever—that we’ve gotta resort to being a human pack. The reason I’m saying this is that this virtual identity, it’s a great place, like you were saying, Mom, to contribute, to show what you can give, to leave a mark on the world, to leave a footprint, whatever it is, even if it’s not through words or teaching but through art, to problem solve. Leaving a mark happens in every path you take. It’s not limited at all. But if we do that in a virtual world, we’re not seeing the response from the people we’re interacting with.

Me: You don’t see the contribution and the effect it has on the circle of humans who cross your path.

Erik: Yes. Right. You may only be able to read about it like in the comments section, “Oh, that video you posted changed my life.” That feels good, but you can’t hear how the person is expressing it. Most often you won’t read it with the right tone or inflection. One word might mean something different for you than for them, so you’re not really creating a real pack. You’re just seeing it at face value. Virtual pack? Wonderful. I’m not denying it for people—

Me: What do you mean by, “Virtual pack?” Are you talking about society as a whole with the marketing that says, “You should be thin.” Are you talking about that?

Erik: With virtual pack, I’m talking about the social media you have to communicate with people.

Me: Okay.

Erik: Like what we’re doing right now. Somebody’s on social media looking at this. They’re going, “Wow, I’m experiencing this,” but yet you don’t get to see that, Mom. You don’t get to see how they’re responding, but you might be able to read their comments. I get to cheat. I get to see it. I want to be there when they’re watching it. I want to help them.

Erik is referring to the fact that he can split himself infinitely and be with everyone at the same time.

Erik: So my pack is the whole. I want to separate virtual pack from marketing. Marketing influences virtual and human-to-human packs.

Me: Oh, sure.

Erik: They want to how you should manipulate and maneuver your pack when really, like you were saying before, Mom, it has to come from the inside.

Me: Yeah.

Erik: Whether people want to hear it or not, it has to come from within you. That’s why you chose to live this life.

Me: Yeah, like you said, it seems like marketing tells you how to look, what music to listen to and things like that. It sort of creates another identity for you. Is that true?

Erik: Absolutely. A lot of women out there don’t love their bodies whatsoever. I think maybe 6% of you woman like the way you look.

Me: How awful!

Erik: And the rest go, “Well, if my hips were smaller,” or, I don’t know, belly fat and shit like that. Men, we have a different relationship with our bodies. We go, “Is it working? All right, then it’s good! It works for me. I got my strength. It might not look like big ass muscles, you know, but I got my strength.”

Me: Oh, I thought you were talking about something else! Along the lines of Erik’s usual.

I laugh.

Jamie: Don’t worry. He was, but he saved it with the muscle thing.

Me: Good save!

Erik: Yeah, thanks.

Jamie (laughing): Stop! Go back!

Me: Stay on track, Erik!

Jamie: We’re totally off track. Go ahead and ask him a question.