Hello Creative Humans!
I am so excited to share some mind-blowing new sound waves for your listening ears. I’m here with the first episode of my brand new podcast which is sure to take your perspective to a whole new level! The podcast is called “Live Your Freedom Now,” and in it, I’ll be discussing cultural narratives and beliefs (what I call Dominant Dogma!), how they keep you from thriving in life and business, and how to overcome those narratives by Living Your Freedom Now.
Episodes are going to be a bit more bite-sized (anyone suddenly craving a small Snickers bar… or three?), so you don’t feel overwhelmed as we learn and explore these new concepts together.
This first episode is all about Dominant Dogma. Now, I’m super stoked about this one because I actually coined the term “Dominant Dogma” to give us an umbrella term encompassing all the cultural narratives and beliefs which externally, and subsequently internally as adaptive strategies, tell you who you’re supposed to be, how to do it, and what you need to buy to live that out.
For me, this has popped up in my life in lots of different ways, making me think I have to live or act in accordance with certain rules or beliefs (dogma) to be a good Christian, good wife, or good creative. Dominant Dogma has even appeared in the form of diet culture, making me feel like there are certain ways I need to move my body or exist in my body to be valued.
Dominant Dogma has likely made its way into your life and is now wreaking havoc, causing stress, fatigue, burnout, and all that yucky stuff so many of us are coping with these days. This belief system, the Dominant Dogma you were raised on, has so many big, cultural implications, that it can be hard to “unlearn” or reclaim our truest selves — and not the narratives of who we think we should be.
This episode is an invitation to identify that Dominant Dogma, but to do so in a non-judgemental space, without expectations to label anything as “good” or “bad,” but rather something that you may be able to learn from, so that you can thrive.
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In this episode, we talk about:
- Working from an airport (it’s kind of the best)
- How Dominant Dogma has given us pre-written stories about our lives
- The nuance of some of those stories not being good, bad, right, or wrong.
- How, no matter how innocent Dominant Dogma may seem, it has been used as a manipulation tool in many of our cultural systems (uh, hello capitalism and patriarchy, not so lovely seeing you here)
- How we have the power to set boundaries, understand nuance, and trust ourselves to use our critical thinking to find our freedom.
Read on for quote highlights or listen to the episode below:
Episode Transcript
Hello hello creative humans, I am writing today’s episode from O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. I’ve been planted here for a solid two hours, and I will likely remain planted here for at least another 3 hours due to snowstorm delays. For some, this may sound like a bit of a nightmare, but oddly I have always gotten incredible work done in Airports. Perhaps it’s because of the shifting energy around me, maybe it’s because I’m in “travel” mode, or it could be because I don’t schedule any meetings or calls on travel days. Whatever the reason, I’m grateful, because I have been putting off writing this first episode, and the halting of my schedule is forcing me to recognize there is nothing except my own fears between me and a finalized first episode.
So, here we go!
Today, our focus is defining Dominant Dogma and outlining how it is wreaking havoc on our lives, our communities, and our planet.
Getting more specific, it has likely impacted YOUR life by causing you to feel:
- Overwhelmed
- Insecure
- Not Enough
- Fatigued
- Anxious
- Fearful
- Stuck and Stagnant
- And like your dreams for a better life may just not be possible
So, what exactly is Dominant Dogma: Dominant Dogma is a term I coined to encompass all the cultural narratives and beliefs which externally, and subsequently internally as adaptive strategies, tell you who you’re supposed to be, how to do it, and what you need to buy to live that out.
These stories that define for you what it looks and feels like to:
- Thrive
- To belong
- To succeed
- To lead and be a leader
- To be healthy and fit
- To be a Christian
- To be a wife
- To be a husband
- To be a partner
- And overall, a good and normal human
As I share those titles and states of being, you likely have a picture of what these titles mean to you based on the Dominant Dogma in your world. A vision of what success looks like, an awareness of who you have to be in order to be considered a “good” human, a knowing of where you fall short with your health and fitness routine.
These visions and knowings make up your programming, your conditioning, your lens of the world.
Many of these stories, plans, and beliefs that make up Dominant Dogma are not inherently right or wrong, good or bad.
In fact, for the most part, we all have an understanding that it is wonderful to help others and to get some type of movement in during our day.
However,
- It is how dominant culture misuses the stories, beliefs, and virtues that they become toxic tools of manipulation.
- It is how we are required to fit into Dominant Dogma to be accepted and safe.
- It is how patriarchy, supremacy culture, and those at the top of the capitalist food chain, benefit from your playing small and feeling broken.
It’s how the stories and beliefs have become Dogma instead of concepts and perspectives that we can evaluate, contemplate, set healthy boundaries around, and yet still empathize with.
I want to pause and define dogma real quick.
Dogma:
A belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. – source
Recently, I listened to an episode of the “Sounds like a Cult” podcast and found it beautifully interesting how in each episode they essentially question the Dominant Dogma of different groups and followings.
With each group they discuss, many of the values that the group shares are not inherently harmful, however where things consistently go wrong is the way humans believe and then are required to believe, the messages the group teaches without evaluating the system.
–
The way, these seemingly innocent stories and lenses of the world, become Dominant Dogma is largely rooted in capitalism, colonialism, tribalism, and hierarchical “power over” systems.
Those in privileged positions tend to utilize your need for safety and belonging to control and shape the Dominant Dogma in your life in such a way that it benefits them.
This can be seen in political spheres, religions, clubs, businesses, and even families.
Now, I want to briefly sidebar here and chat about Dominant Dogma in business and in marketing.
I think it is very important to hold the both/and here because there is also the element of living within a world where people do need to make money in order to live.
This podcast in-of-itself is part of my business marketing plan and it’s here to both offer beneficial free content and function as part of my funnel sharing how I can help you Live Your Freedom and navigate the Dominant Dogma in your world.
What I personally have found to be critical so that I don’t blanket label EVERY BUSINESS as a manipulative scheme to take my money and make me feel small, is to notice where there is transparency and consent.
I’m going to end our sidebar there for now, because that is a whole set of podcast episodes that we will cover at a later time, but I did want to touch on it because I don’t want to cultivate nor be a part of further polarization and crafting a Dominant Dogma around labeling every and anything as inherently wrong or bad.
Instead, I am here to help you recognize where you have been sold a message of brokenness when all along personal freedom was right at your fingertips. To help you pick up an attitude of self-responsibility when it comes to evaluating the Dominant Dogma in your life.
–
Due to your innate drive of self-preservation, you likely are unconsciously living from Dominant Dogma, those stories, and beliefs, of your culture and subculture.
Living it out unchecked and oftentimes from a place of positive belief and a good heart.
Not realizing how you may be upholding a cage for yourself, and those around you.
Especially those with marginalized and divergent identities.
This first episode is really an invitation to take a hard look at yourself and your world, though I encourage you to enter this space with compassion because you come by these patterns naturally.
And that is where we are going to wrap up today and where we will pick up next week.
Now, I recognize this episode was a bit heavy, and I promise, we won’t be all doom and gloom on this podcast, but we will continue to hold the both/and. We will be going deep, inviting nuance and critical thinking, AND we will remember the power of the present, what is in your control and how can you Live Your Freedom right here and now.
To wrap up and to help bring us back to an energy of expansion I’m going to share one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Edith Eger, “The only place where we can exercise our freedom of choice is in the present.” ― Dr. Edith Eger
Again, I will be right back here next week, and if you want to cheat and jump ahead a bit, head to megscolleen.com and download my free Freedom Manifesto!
All right, I’ll see you next week!
Freedom is yours,
Megan
Pull Quotes:
“You probably have an awareness of who you have to be to be considered a ‘good human,’ and a knowing of where you fall short. These visions and norms make up your programming, your conditioning, your lens of the world.”
“Dominant culture misuses these stories, beliefs and virtues so that they become toxic tools of manipulation.”
“We are required to fit into Dominant Dogma to be accepted and safe.”
“The way these seemingly innocent stories and lenses of the world become Dominant Dogma is largely rooted in capitalism, colonialism, tribalism, and hierarchical ‘power over’ systems.”
“We will continue to hold the both/and. We will be going deep, inviting nuance and critical thinking, AND we will remember the power of the present.”
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