A Thought Experiment about Vibration proposed by Michael’s Consortium
by Stephen Cocconi
As the year 2025 comes to an end, and the emotional equilibrium for most everyone on the planet has been sent into various gyrations, rearrangements, and tumults. From the upset of increasing hostility within the Homo Sapiens species and the undermining of systems (poly-crisis), many are reeling with uncertainty. Such is the effects of an Artisan year with Discrimination Goal (emphasizing deletion and confronting prejudices) and with the Cynic Attitude calling your motives into account, and rams you up against the walls of their own disdain. (Martyrdom). All are feeling as if they are on the edge. The question: Are you fearing falling off? Or are you ready to leap into flight?
As you move from this Emotionally Centered year (and me also as a person) into the upcoming Intellectually Centered one of 2026, the Consortium proposed to me a “thought experiment” employing the notion of assessing energy vibration using the Vitality Tone Scale. Many spiritual types might want to vault into fantasy thinking of this as some “visualizing” exercise (and spin this as what could be, but the opposite is more to the point: What happened and how was it, really?
The Consortium claimed that this exercise could be positive and generative, yet assessing these many influences upon your psyche should be balanced against a “ground truthing” of your personal current real conditions of living. Setting down into a narrative, a list, or a factual accounting, of what you really possess or are actually configured at this point in your life. It is especially important after the relative unpredictability of forces modifying both personal and global circumstances (individual creation and group chaos). In other words, What’s left? What’s new? How are you doing with it? And, where do you think it might lead you? (Support or burden?)
A productive thought-experiment ALWAYS begins with real components or assessments, not should’s. Fantasy requires nothing real of you; your imagination can concoct any desires and expectations without hinging on reality. Thus, make sure to use this criterion of actual events when critiquing[1] your year in review.
As an example of both contextual categories and some of the content of my own life, my list below can serve as a beginning template but should not limit you in your list of major, or important, personal aspects. Instead, let it be clarifying where your life circumstances are, and perhaps your relationship with them, stand-up to honest scrutiny. The purpose, as always, of any such assessment is a “reality check.” Overall, the overt objective to derive from this assessment is whether you can factually measure the changes in your overall vibration, and which items might have increased or contracted it? Using your internal ESP scale (extended sensory perception), instead of social or strategic ranking and comparisons, is a key evolutionary skill. It is an exploration and learning process for all to recognize and hone. But be clear…IT IS AN ACT OF VOLITION i.e. choice.
Reality Changes and the Resulting Tectonic Shift in my Consciousness
Transportation
Auto – I retired my car of 20 years. Much of my identity and sense of personal thrift was attached to it. I manage to get some money for it, while removing an old, smog-generating vehicle off the road and out of the pollution stream. The overall feeling was nostalgic, practical, fortunate and relieved. A win.
I purchased a newer hybrid car with relatively low mileage and in excellent working condition. The price was low since I purchased it from a friend’s estate who favored me with this gift of value. My public identity is now one of a person driving a clean, stylish, and ecofriendly vehicle. If luck, and my tendency for studious maintenance pays off, this car may last me for at least a decade, if not longer. With the price of fuel increasing, my average mileage has improved by 7 miles per gallon to 37. My relationship to all this is that I have pivoted forward with a beneficial upgrade and I a vehicle which will serve me in comfort, reliability and lower cost of operation, than even my old reliable former car. A Win! And, an improvement in my sense of stability. Vibration to satisfaction.
EBike – I’ve purchased a high-end, heavy duty, powerful E-bike. Getting it used I paid less than 50% of market retail. Though, as an asset it was a good deal, and as a mechanical device it is sound and strong, I am aware of my reluctance (perhaps laziness) to ride it regularly. While it is a sound idea to have a backup means of transportation and exercise, I’m wrestling with my own sense of personal utility and safety. This thing can do 40mph! Just because something is a “good idea” (I’ve learned about myself), does not mean I will engage with it. (A wish fulfillment but so far only minimally satisfying. Vibration level up, to Self Esteem – Obligation)
Finances and Resources
Income – To my surprise, it increased without any significant change in marketing. Customer loyalty, in terms of purchasing my services, was stronger than ever. Both my appreciation of them, and theirs for me, made these experiences more uplifting and less work. (A win for gratitude and abundance!)
Money Management and Savings – Improved overall though I had more outlays due to car, travel and health expenditures. I used my resources wisely with little “waste’ and generally high satisfaction. Savings were used, but I had them. A win! Now I am rebuilding it.
Credit – I’m so glad to have one solid credit card with a manageable interest rate. For most of the year I have used it sparingly. Most purchases were paid off before the billing period. Yet, I received the ‘cash purchase points’ given by the provider. I don’t use it often but it does provide me some consumer protection against fraud at no charge. A necessary “evil” perhaps, but one that so far has worked in my favor. A weary relief. An acknowledged strategic advantage (limited but financially valid) in case of emergency spending. In measured use, they are an asset, and a vibrational balancer and emotional stabilizer.
Visitations and Reconciliations
Regardless of where one falls in Soul Age, or political stance, we are still all humans. This is the attitude I’ve chosen to deliberately supersede my viewing others along the aforementioned categories. This has not been an easy exercise, but a deliberate choice to expand my mind and, at least attempt, to pause in the Ego’s knee-jerk tendency to quickly pigeon-hole others for the sake of my safety and convenience. As I did more of this, my questions and observations began to alter, in some cases get far more strict, but in other cases, far more willing to see through other lenses. My data collection and conclusions had a few interesting results. When principles and standards align with more intimate values, integrity increases and so does the vitality available to you. Vibrations emanate from a higher range on the Tone Scale.
50th High School Reunion
I wasn’t intending to go. But a few of my comrades from those days really wanted me to attend. My own impression of myself in those days, that I was, at best, one of the invisible dregs, at most an oddball. Certainly nothing exceptional academically nor athletically. I thought my presence, other than my few friends, would go largely unnoticed. It didn’t. Many of the guys who were either popular or noteworthy greeted me, not only warmly, but a couple with real generosity in comments. Why this was significant to me was that it showed that my self-concept back then, translated through my memories and appraisals were quite limited, if not negative about myself. To have a few men, a half-century later, recall me more positively than I had seen myself was a surprise to say the least. This gave me pause to consider how and where and when in life, my own opinions of myself were unrealistically skewed. I’ve been reevaluating this and other previous life assessments since. And, to satisfy your curiosity, the two comments that moved me greatly were: “you were one of the guys who could light up a room when you entered it.” (I know I could be loud and rowdy, but to have it put so complimentary, shocked me.) Yet, the one that made me feel deep warmth, for myself and for the classmate who reported it was: “You know, you remember two kinds of people from high school, the assholes and the good guys. You were definitely one of the good-guys.” On this comment, I had the tickle of tears flush my eyes. Vibrational uplift to love and compassion.
Seeing Friends from Before COVID
Charlie and Kathy are in Washington state, and both had various health problems over the last seven years; a couple were life threatening. Their distance protected them from being “visited” by people, contagions, and obligations; all extremely helpful for their wellbeing yet isolating as well. Our last encounter in 2018 was brief but enjoyable. We’d had to resort to Zoom or phone for the entire period until this last summer. Our dinner date in September, this year, although only a couple of hours, was so restorative that my heart lightened, tremendously. It reminded me how necessary it is to make in-person contact, even if I have exert a little effort.
Hanging Out with Grand Kids and Family
I love my grandson, Wyatt! A playful Sage/Artisan, an Old Soul in a 7-year-old body. His cousins, a 10-year-old Artisan and 12-year-old Scholar, had a whirlwind time with their younger cousin. An only-child, Wyatt became the slightly “bratty little brother’ but otherwise our time together at the cousin’s home in New Jersey was a blast and a wonderful connecting point for everyone. To be there and witness the newest generation begin to reveal themselves empowered my heart and focused my mind on a new principle “It is about the Kids now!” Realizing that, it allowed me to feel the full potency of my responsibility and delight as a grandparent. Many of the previous decades of worrying about “me” fell into line behind the mission of how to love, support, protect, and encourage them! Especially in recognizing world they will inherit (i.e. that we have dumped upon them) will be more challenging, probably restrictive, and environmentally less healthy than any other time in history. Incorporating that mission grounded me into my body, and put my own worries to the back burner. That is a feeling that I’ve long sought. There is a strength that I feel with that purpose.
On other fronts…
My age and My body.
At 68, I don’t resent my body, or much, at least. It has been a faithful servant that I have often treated poorly of self-care, and abuse. I do struggle with it on two fronts: Healing of my right knee (had 3 surgeries over 6 years) and continued struggle with weight, even after Bariatric Surgery 6 years ago.
Knee Replacement and disappointments
Being a man who’s done a lot of physical labor, I’ve used my body as my earning capitol. I’ve always thought that it was honest work, but it was wearing. The 21st century brought years of pain. And finally in 2019, I had knee-replacement, the first time. Sadly, the initial surgeon made a mess of it. Two years later, I got another surgeon, who disregarded my entreaties to replace it again. He “knew better” but his repair didn’t help. In 2024, (third times the charm) I finally found a young surgeon, who used a robotic-assist procedure. Finally, after a year of recovery, in 2025;my knee is stable and almost pain free. Dr. Giang actually listened to me and made the necessary corrections, acknowledging too what he saw as previous mistakes.
Struggle in this odyssey was part of the journey. I’ve never been particularly complacent with nor dismissive of doctors. I’ve had both good advocates and inattentive hacks, as well. With this interim accounting, my sense of determination paid off. I didn’t drop into hopelessness. But I was getting close. There is a place for anger to drive persistence. I can see this on the horizon again now. Sobering and yet crystalizing. My Vibration level was one of anger but it has risen, building up a structure of resolve. It was not fun, but the journey produced some resilience. Endings, or at least cessation, can bring relief if not peace, and potentially a renewal of hope. I will walk the Camino de Santiago, again!
And onto weight and body image.
Like many Americans I have struggled with my size and food addiction. For Michael Students, I am a predominantly Jupiter Body Type with equal parts Venusian and Saturnian. Large and noticeable, but often uncomfortable to carry. Yet, like so many, food was my go-to calming agent. Decades of struggle, even an early life 100lb weight loss, still left me struggling and by 60 years old, I was almost 360lbs. Something drastic had to be done, and I did it! Bariatric Surgery in late 2019. It worked and I worked it. I spent Covid years in retraining old habits and learning new ones. Yet to my confounding disappointment, the promised “removal of the hunger hormone generator” did not happen. So, after a second 100lb weight-loss, I started gaining weight again. My eating hadn’t changed but my body was slowing down. I got depressed as I put 40lbs back on. I’ve had a difficult time with shame and resigned/surrender to becoming otherwise more frustrated and anguished. Cortisol, the stress hormone, made the whole thing worse. And that stress about these events was dragging me down to dive back into Self-Deprecation. No, I couldn’t! The temptation to return to those days of shame eating, or need to pretend, were right there on the shelf if I wanted to brush them off. So this resolution was one of giving up and stop fretting. Getting neutral was not simple and acceptance been slow to arise. It continues to be a labor; somedays of love, somedays of frustration, somedays of recalling that I am at choice about my behavior, but my emotions have their own mind and history.
Getting Involved and Showing Up – My initial steps into Volunteerism
Standing by and watching all the karmic explosions, we call a government, and a division between political factions, makes me wonder if we, like China in the 1960’s, might go through a bloody “Cultural Revolution” of our own? But my reaction to all this has come from the same Source and Consortium we all know and love. It directs me to get prepared for the aftermath! “Don’t just brace yourself waiting for things to ‘settle down’ or ‘work themselves out.'” Nope, I had to get away from the very simple self-preservation strategy of avoidance, a vibration of constant anxiety, distrust pervaded my thoughts in a battle, on a battle ground, that was all too familiar. Fuck it! And harkening back to one of my most beloved comedy troupes Monty Python, “now it’s time for something completely different.”
So, in 2025, I stumbled my way into volunteering for two organizations: the American Red Cross (Server-oriented) and CERT = Community Emergency Response Teams (Warrior-oriented). It is amazing how I can feel like a tattered Cinderella fearing that I might draw unwanted attention to myself in situations where I might be completely ineffectual. But the 35% Masculine Energy (a minority stake in this Old Soul male body of mine) pushed me forward, proclaiming to my inner council of debaters, “better to be prepared and join in than to sit on the sideline and be a victim if/when circumstances arise.” It won! Yet, progress has been in fits, starts and stalls. I’ve had to cultivate some incremental safety with each group. I generally don’t mind admitting my career (odd) vocation, but I am aware of the distraction from probing and confusion it can arouse in people. Besides, for those aware of Soul Age difference, some of the sweet, well-intentioned Baby, Young and Mature Souls, can be triggered in ways that is unnecessary to their comfort, and distracting from our mutual purpose. So, I minimize for effectiveness instead. A standard I do not deem deceitful nor hiding, but I am aware of how I contain myself. This solidification of boundaries has been a stabilizing, determined effort, that I’m building my confidence in a sense of genuine, but narrow, public persona. That permission to be measured, but effective, counters whatever New Age scolding about “being authentic” or “truly myself” understanding that those are both Ego needs to assert some kind of specialness. Fuck that and fuck it! Get the job done and help…it is NOT about me!
This is just a sample of the wide array of topics that were significant that I believed some could relate to and were not so personal for me. As a married man, and yes, just a three year newly wed, I still get mired in kerfuffle’s with my wife that keep pealing back the layers of our differences and our similarities. I’m happy to be here but many times I am frustrated by it as well.
As this article, and this year, draw to a close…
I hope these examples of quantifying one’s relationship to your own experience activates a bit of re-centering, a recalibration, a refinement in focus, and a realignment to a more concentrated seat of potency within you. For no matter what the world does, or what happens to the Earth itself, the only power is derived from the core of your Soloverse.
It is concurrently possible to be “unhappy” about the state of things, but also locate and operate from an inner point of sovereignty, and find some serenity there. A definition of multidimensionality. Working to access this state is a dynamic exercise! No sitting around waiting. It is about deliberate engagement. But at least all parts of Self = Essence, Personality, and Ego, can operate from a wider perspective and an integrated place from within. If you need the process to look pretty, or spiritual, then you’ve missed the point of this article. Whatever your inner terrain might look like, let alone your outer, find a place of deep appreciation for the fact that you are alive and here to experience it. Again, easier said than done! This is the only ride you are on this incarnation; you might as well be determined to find enjoyment, or at least awe for the sheer diversity of experiences you have, and had!
The Emotionally-Centered Artisan year gave us an opportunity to strip away many things that no longer served us, but also reassess what really does. It is time to cast off the anchors of the past as reference points along a safe shoreline of familiar thoughts and identities. Generate new winds for your sails. Even if you don’t know the course, follow the more potent vibrations listed from Anger and above on the Vitality Tone Scale. (And yes, stop fearing Anger and stop converting it into hatred, resentment, or denial. Embrace your truth in it and use it as fuel for forward motion!)
The past is gone. The future is for you to experience. What do you really have to lose?
Have a regenerative Winter season and enjoy what you have! That is the most substantive intention I can hold for any of you…just as I do for myself.
Blessings,
Stephen Cocconi
https://www.themichaelteaching.com/about-stephen/applied-michael/the-vitality-tone-scale/
[1] I use the word critique, in contrast to criticism, because of the latter’s emotional interpretation and ‘charge’ that many bring to it. Review of your own ‘trigger words’ was one of the internal exercises for exorcism that was intended by the configuration of 2025’s Overleaves. Whether you confronted any of them, let alone recontextualized them from wounding or fear into description and knowledge, was a choice available to everyone.
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