True Initiations, Modern Addiction and Awakened Recovery w/ Alex Olshonsky

Alex Olshonsky is the philosopher and writer behind the popular Substack newsletter Deep Fix. He’s also the Co-Founder of Natura Care Programs (a novel non-profit harnessing psychedelics to support addiction recovery), a somatic therapist, and an executive coach.Most recently, Alex is the creator of Life Not Wasted, an awesome online course which charts a path for all of us to enjoy a fulfilling life free from modern addictions.Alex (known by his friends as “Olo”) knows a thing or two about addiction. As an ambitious and anxious twenty-something pursuing a sexy tech career in San Francisco, he fell into severe drug addiction that nearly cost him his life.In this episode, Olo and I dig deep into what that experience was like for him, how he found his way through, and how — somewhat incredibly — that harrowing journey ultimately bore the fruits of what I now see as his soul’s incredible gifts.Olo reflects at the end of the interview that it was one of the deepest conversations he’s ever had about the intricacies of his story.Through the lens of Alex’s story, he and I explore the seemingly innate human longing for initiation, what makes a true initiation, and how our souls can find their way into initiation even in the absence of support and guidance from our mainstream culture.We discuss Alex’s view on the phenomenon he calls “modern addiction” — essentially, the somewhat ubiquitous experience in modern life of losing ourselves into any number of (often tech-enabled) distractions and dopamine loops that pull us into a negative cycle of reciprocally narrowing our experience and ourselves.Alex points out the reality that in this day in age, it’s much less of a question of whether or not you are an addict, and more of a question of where you fall on the addiction spectrum.He also offers his take on how we can find our way out of the negative cycle of modern addiction — a path he calls “awakened recovery.” In essence, by adopting ways of seeing and being that bring us deeper into the present moment and a fuller experience of our truest selves, we can unfold into a positive cycle of reciprocal opening that leads us to a profoundly fulfilling, clear, and beautiful experience of modern life.Last but not least, this episode was recorded on the eve of Alex crossing the threshold into becoming a father. The serendipity of that timing was not lost on either of us, and I'm so excited to welcome him — and all his hard-earned wisdom and love — into the family of fathers across the globe.I deeply enjoyed this conversation, and found it enlightening and expansive. I hope you do, too.--Links & Resources* Watch this episode on YouTube* Connect with Brooks on LinkedIn, Instagram and X* Soulful Impact: soulfulimpact.co* Alex’s website: deepfix.co* Alex’s Substack: deepfix.substack.com* Life Not Wasted online course: lifenotwasted.org* Natura Care Programs: naturacareprograms.org--Get newsletter updates & future episodes delivered to your inbox: Subscribe to Soulful Impact on SubstackThis is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.soulfulimpact.blog