Disrupting Spiritual Boundaries: India Unfiltered
#cbr, 2025 - #nowplaying, Keep Watching - Chlöe
#cbr, 2025 - #nowplaying, Keep Watching - Chlöe
Radical Narrative of Cultural Resilience
Listen up. This isn’t your standard corporate mumbo-jumbo. This is about India—a civilization that’s been playing 4D chess while the rest of the world was learning checkers.
Radical Indian Imperative
We’re not here to apologize. We’re here to acknowledge a truth that’s been hiding in plain sight: India’s spiritual landscape is a motherfucking revolution of consciousness.
Wisdom That Breaks the Mold
From the depths of the Chandogya Upanishad, a truth that’ll make your corporate-trained brain short-circuit:
“Tat Tvam Asi” (Thou Art That) - It’s not just a phrase. It’s a complete deconstruction of everything you thought you knew about reality.
And because we don’t play by anyone’s rules but our own, here’s a Biblical kicker that resonates across spiritual boundaries:
“Get wisdom, get understanding; do not forget my words or turn away from them.” - Proverbs 4:5-6
Uncompromising Commitment
Intellectual Warfare: Demolishing narrow-minded cultural narratives
Radical Dialogue: Blowing up platforms of limited understanding
Transformative Knowledge: Weaponizing spiritual insight
Ultimate Mic Drop
This isn’t a statement. This is a declaration of war against spiritual mediocrity.
-Mitchell + Deck
Pax Romana
cbr, 2025 - #nowplaying, Circles - Wenzel Remix, The Stickman Project, Wenzel, Sadie Rose
cbr, 2025 - #nowplaying, Circles - Wenzel Remix, The Stickman Project, Wenzel, Sadie Rose
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” - Ecclesiastes 3:1
Hey there. Let’s talk about thresholds - those moments that divide our lives into “before” and “after”. My birthday that year wasn’t just another party. It was a whisper of something profound waiting to break through.
Invitation: Diamonds and Unspoken Truths
Beverly Hills glittered around me, an ironic backdrop to my internal landscape. “Diamonds Are Forever” - the theme I chose. But what are diamonds, really? Pressure. Transformation. Something beautiful carved from darkness.
I’d wrestled with another potential name: Pax Romana.
Pax Romana: Profound Silence of Peace
Pax Romana wasn’t just a historical period of Roman peace. It was a profound metaphor brewing in my soul. Imagine a peace not defined by the absence of conflict, but by the presence of deep internal alignment. A peace that comes from radical self-acceptance, from understanding that your worth isn’t determined by the noise around you, but by the quiet truth within.
The Romans created this extraordinary period of relative calm - not through constant warfare, but through strategic infrastructure, cultural integration, and a complex system of bread and circuses. Sound familiar? Our modern world runs on similar illusions of peace - distractions that keep us from our true healing.
Threshold of Healing
Those invitations weren’t just paper and ink. They were a declaration. A moment suspended between what was and what could be. Diamonds are formed under immense pressure, just like our most authentic selves are forged through our most challenging seasons.
Bread and Circuses: Modern Distraction
The Romans knew a fundamental truth: keep people fed and entertained, and they’ll rarely question the deeper systems. But true peace? True healing? That requires stepping away from the circus. It demands we look inward, uncomfortable as that might be.
“You are more than enough. Not someday. Not when you achieve something. RIGHT NOW.”
My birthday wasn’t just a celebration. It was a quiet revolution. A moment where I chose to see beyond the glitter of Beverly Hills, beyond the facade of “Diamonds Are Forever”, and recognize the real treasure: my emerging, healing self.
Stay curious. Stay humble. Stay connected.
With radical authenticity,
Mitchell Royel + Deck
Chapters of Recovery
cbr, 2024 - #nowplaying - Jayem, Tima Dee - Way Down
Real World, Unscripted
Every place I’ve lived since rehab feels like a season of The Real World - minus the cameras, plus a whole lot of raw reality. Each residence wasn’t just a space, it was a chapter. A microcosm of connection, expectation, and ultimately, disconnection.
Unspoken Threshold
There’s always been this invisible line. An unspoken expectation hanging in the air, thick as humidity before a storm. I’d move in, integrate, become part of the neighborhood tapestry. Friendly waves, shared conversations, momentary belonging. But then… something would shift.
A breach. An unmet expectation. Not always dramatic, sometimes just a subtle fracture in the foundation of trust or understanding.
Integrity’s Delicate Dance
Recovery isn’t linear. Neither are relationships. Each move felt like both an escape and a reset. The neighborhoods changed, the faces rotated, but the underlying rhythm remained consistent:
Connect
Integrate
Sense the growing tension
Recognize the impending disconnect
Move
Cycle of Transience
Is this growth? Or just a sophisticated form of running? Each residence becomes a temporary home, each neighbor a fleeting connection. The Real World without the reunion special.
Life feels the same in some ways but different.
Different, because each move carries the weight of previous lessons. The same, because the fundamental search for genuine connection remains constant.
Rehab taught me about rebuilding. These residences? They’re teaching me about surviving, about the delicate art of human connection in a world that rarely holds still.
Where does it end?
Maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it’s not supposed to.
-Mitchell + Deck
2 Steps Back: When Retreat Becomes Revelation
cbr, 2025 - #nowplaying - Craig David - 2 Steps Back
Let’s talk about something real - those moments when relationships become more than just interactions, but actual pathways to spiritual growth.
Unexpected Classroom of Love
We don’t always recognize it, but our closest relationships are often our most profound spiritual teachers. Take the journey through professional spaces - in our case, a bustling marketplace of wellness and intention - where every interaction becomes a mirror reflecting our deepest self.
Stepping Back to Move Forward
There’s a beautiful wisdom in understanding that love isn’t about perfection, but about continuous learning. Those two steps back? They’re not retreat - they’re reconnaissance. They’re moments of sacred pause where we get to reassess, realign, and recommit.
“Your sensitivity is not weakness. Your struggles are not failures.”
In the intricate dance of human connection, we’ve discovered that true intimacy requires something radical: vulnerability. Not the performative kind, but the deep, soul-level transparency that makes our hearts tremble.
Spiritual Alchemy of Relationship
What happens when we stop trying to manage relationships and start experiencing them? Magic. Pure spiritual alchemy.
Our journey taught us that:
Love is not a destination
Relationships are living, breathing ecosystems
Healing happens in the spaces between words
Authenticity trumps performance every single time
Navigating Unseen Currents
We learned to move with intentionality. In spaces filled with wellness warriors and spiritual seekers, we recognized that every interaction carries energy. Some supportive. Some challenging. All transformative.
Unspoken Language of Connection
There’s a profound spirituality in truly seeing another person. Not their resume. Not their Instagram aesthetic. But their soul’s landscape.
Our path revealed that:
Compassion is a practice
Boundaries are an act of love
Growth happens in uncomfortable moments
Silence can be more powerful than words
“When the world feels overwhelming, when your inner critic gets loud, when comparison tries to steal your joy - breathe.”
Call to Authentic Connection
To our fellow travelers: Your relationships are not accidents. They are intentional classrooms of spiritual development.
Stay curious. Stay humble. Stay connected.
With radical love and unwavering hope,
Mitchell + Deck
Boosted
There's something happening in America's retail spaces that most shoppers never notice. Between the bright lights and friendly greeters, an invisible war rages daily. They call it "boosting" – a term that might sound positive but masks a destructive reality that costs businesses billions and affects us all.
Boosting isn't random shoplifting. It's calculated, coordinated, and carried out by networks of professionals. The people who physically steal the merchandise are literally called "boosters" – they're just one gear in a well-oiled criminal machine. They target specific items, often working in teams, creating distractions while others sweep merchandise into specially designed bags or clothing.
The stolen goods move quickly through a chain of handlers, ending up sold online, at flea markets, or through other "fences" who specialize in moving hot merchandise. It's retail's underground economy, and it's booming.
What's wild is the scale of this problem. The Department of Homeland Security estimates that organized retail crime costs federal and state governments nearly $15 billion in lost tax revenue. That gets passed to consumers – about $500 annually per American in additional costs. That's not pocket change, friends.
Retail employees aren't just there to fold clothes and stock shelves. They've become unwitting soldiers in this battle. Modern training programs now teach them to identify suspicious behaviors without putting themselves at risk.
"The Triangle Offense" isn't just for basketball anymore. The best loss prevention strategies operate on three principles:
1. Advanced surveillance systems and AI to capture evidence
2. Employee training to identify suspicious behaviors
3. Collaboration with law enforcement agencies
But here's the catch – violence is increasing. According to the National Retail Federation, 81% of retailers reported that organized retail crime offenders have grown more violent, with 67% noting increased aggression compared to previous years. Employees are taught to observe and report, never confront. Their safety comes first.
But there's a deeper metaphor here that's been on my mind lately. How often do we experience "boosting" in our personal lives? I'm not talking about theft, but about those people who take without giving, who drain our energy, time, and joy without contributing anything meaningful in return.
You know the type – the friend who only calls when they need something, the colleague who takes credit for your work, the relationship that leaves you feeling emotionally bankrupt. These are life's "boosters," and they operate with the same calculated precision as their retail counterparts.
In Proverbs 20:17, we're reminded: "Food gained by fraud tastes sweet, but one ends up with a mouth full of gravel." The immediate gratification of taking what isn't earned – whether merchandise or emotional capital – always leads to emptiness.
And just as retail employees need training to identify boosters, we need wisdom to recognize when we're being emotionally looted. Psalm 119:18 asks, "Open my eyes that I may see wonderful things in your law." Sometimes we need divine clarity to see what's happening right in front of us.
Retailers invest millions in security systems to protect their assets. Shouldn't we do the same for our hearts and minds?
Philippians 4:8 offers a powerful framework: "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."
This is your personal security system, a filter that helps you discern who and what deserves access to your inner life.
Just as retail employees are taught to work in teams to combat boosting, we need community. Ecclesiastes 4:12 reminds us, "Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken." When we surround ourselves with people who add value rather than subtract it, we create a defense against life's boosters.
The most progressive retail organizations don't just focus on catching boosters; they work to understand and address the root causes. Similarly, our response to those who take from us shouldn't end at creating boundaries.
Matthew 5:44 challenges us with: "But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you." This doesn't mean allowing yourself to be continuously exploited, but it does suggest that our response should ultimately aim toward healing rather than punishment.
I've found that some of life's "boosters" are operating from places of deep woundedness. Their taking is often an attempt to fill internal voids. Understanding this doesn't excuse the behavior, but it helps us respond with compassion while maintaining healthy boundaries.
When retailers experience significant losses from boosting, they don't just write them off and move on. They analyze what happened, strengthen their defenses, and work toward recovery.
Isaiah 58:12 speaks to this beautifully: "Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings."
After experiencing emotional or spiritual boosting, recovery isn't just possible; it's promised. The process of rebuilding after loss can actually leave us stronger than before.
Whether we're talking about retail crime or personal relationships, boosting thrives in environments of unawareness. The more we understand the tactics, recognize the warning signs, and implement wise prevention strategies, the less vulnerable we become.
Proverbs 4:23 puts it simply: "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." This might be the most important anti-boosting strategy of all.
In retail and in life, what we protect prospers. What we neglect gets boosted. The choice, ultimately, is ours.
-Deck