January 28, 2025 • 44 mins
A successful tech entrepreneur Andre Shadowman was one of the first 30 Airbnb employees he built a successful career helping expand business internationally coordinating with him being on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as the VP of international expansion at five or when they went public in 2019 he has a masters degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy school ABA from Williams College of these accolades among others matter less to him now that he has a current dream of showing the magic and the power of human connection around the world born and raised in New Orleans to Argentine Jewish parents with a broader Colombian immigrant community Andreas currently travels the world nomadically with a Mexican Bates
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Thank you for listening to the picture of the radiant.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Rat.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
You readything to me? Oh well, well say, oh well
(00:57):
not a bad stop.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I just need.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Slash. He's dead.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Welcome back, everybody. Our next guest is Andreas Chavelman. He
is an author and his book Captains Wanted. Along with
being being a author, Andreas is also kind of an
adventurous traveler, so his book kind of melds the two
things into one, and it is inspired by personal anecdotes
(02:02):
direct experiences with Indigenous ceremonial and Western therapeutic modalities following
his time at some of Silicon Valley's largest tech companies.
Andreas Schaevelman's Captains Wanted continues elements of the magical realms
(02:25):
of literary fiction to offer utterly unique experience experiential take
on success and self growth. He's actually Andreas is a
fantastic and funny guy. So let's bring him on the
show and hear a little bit about what's behind the
(02:48):
book and what caused him to write the book and
what he really wants us to get from the book. One. So,
(03:27):
Andrea's welcome to the show. Or should I say Andy,
or it doesn't matter right?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah, it doesn't matter. I'm used to having interchangeable identity,
and my parents are from Argentina. I grew up in
New Orleans. I went by Andy, but my parents you know,
my name is Andreas. I like it all. It all,
it all fits me and suits me.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So I mean, I was reading some of the book
I haven't finished it yet, right, and fantastic anecdotes and
things like that. So what kind of inspired you to
sit down and write the book?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
I think my own journey to come back to myself,
to feel into what I actually want in this life,
separate from all of the different systems around me, whether
it was my family system or the societal system that
put expectations on me, and finally realizing that underneath all
(04:31):
of that there was someone who was like itching and
scratching and screaming to kind of, you know, come out
and say this is who I really am, this is
what I really want. And given how hard that was
and is and continues to be, I imagine that's hard
for everyone. And so I was like, Okay, well, maybe
I can share a bit of my story, but in
(04:52):
a novel form that could be helpful for others in
their own process to come back to their own self.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Right, The book does do that.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah. Yeah. The book is called Captain's Wanted and my
best friend from college he passed away from a terminal
illness and his last words were, I am the captain
of this ship. And so I kind of interpreted and
have interpreted at various different points in my life, what
you were, what it would mean to be the captain
(05:26):
of my own ship. And so the character, you know,
the book is written in second person. The character is
meant to be you, the reader, and how that reader
sort of navigates their own process of returning to their
own discernment or their own source of power. You know,
is it mimics part of my own journey to figure
it out for myself? But also I don't. I never
(05:48):
wanted to be an author that told people how to
do it or another talking head that was like, this
is how you should do it. It's like, no, it's
supposed to be your journey, specifically back to your own power.
So the book is kind of modeled to allow for
an experience where you maybe could do that.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So when you actually got back to your own power,
did you yourself feel successful and fulfilled?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Right? Because you know, I think first and foremost, we
have to get to the point where I reached all
of the success from the external validation systems that I
had ever listened to. You know, I went to Harvard
and got a grad degree there. I was one of
the first thirty Airbnb employees. I got to be on
(06:37):
the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with another
company called Fiber and ring the bell. So I like
literally made it to the pinnacle of success, at least
in terms of how it was you know, presented to
me in our society and in my culture and in
my family system. And realizing that that in itself didn't
really didn't you know, lead me to be more happy
(07:00):
or more fulfilled. Then you know, it caused me to
look at you know, Okay, well what can I do
that It's going to be a true expression of who
I am that's going to lead me to feeling really
successful on my own terms. And now what I'm doing,
including the publishing of this book and all of the
different expressions that I have online, including comedic characters, a
(07:22):
travel show, all kinds of things, is sort of is
me just putting out work that comes from my heart.
And you know, whether or not people watch it or
listen to it or read it or whatever it may be,
is okay, because now the external validation system isn't the
(07:44):
thing that guides me. What guides me is that what
I do is a true expression of who I am.
And so in that sense, I do feel successful now, right.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And it doesn't sound very feeling. I kind of know
what you mean. Made it to the pinnacle of being.
Most of my listeners know that I was a former
analytical chemist and I could do something some really crazy
stuff with the mass spectrometer that the only other people
(08:16):
they would ever hire me after Mitsubishi let me go
was was either NASA or Certain It's like, okay, well
that's not gonna happen anytime soon. But I've still felt
left behind, and creating podcasts and films and stuff like
that is like, yeah, I wake up in the morning excited, right.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, And that's priceless. You can't put that, you know,
a price on that. And actually, I think in many ways,
the old way of thinking about how I was getting
paid and whether I should get paid more, negotiating salary
the more that I got paid was often a way
in which I accepted that there was a price to
my to my happiness. But I was willing to exchange
(09:05):
my happiness for a certain amount of money, and that
was okay to a certain extent. But at some point
I was like, Eh, this sacrifice actually doesn't feel aligned with,
you know, how I want to live my life. And
given how short life is, it's like, you know what,
let's try to make the most of it and maybe
(09:26):
there's a way I can calm down some of my
survival mode fears that come from some ancestral stuff and
have that you know, lead to me making decisions that
are more about what makes my heart feel more alive,
rather than making the trade off between what makes my
heart feel alive and how much money I can make.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Right. Yeah, two, your heart feel it feels alive. You're
excited to get up every day and do what you do.
What does Andy's Dave look like?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, I'm not the most habit based person I have.
Every day is very different for me. I'm currently in Oakland.
When we did a pre talk, I was in Mexico.
I had a I move around a lot. I've been
(10:21):
nomadic for a very long time. I mean some ways,
in some ways I want to be more grounded for sure,
but I always find myself being on the road, sometimes
for escapism, sometimes for adventure, sometimes for some combination of
the two. But yeah, this morning I woke up at
(10:43):
my friend's house in Oakland. We went on a walk
to grab some coffee. I'm going to be recording a
podcast here for my new podcast called Rebel, and that
will be in this house, so I set up the shop.
Then I'm going to go find the best tie food
in Oakland, because I love Thaigh food. I'll probably walk
(11:04):
to that location so I get a little exercise and yeah,
come back shoot the podcast, have another friend come along
round and seen it in a while, and hang out
with him and reconnect with him. And then tomorrow I'm
off to another place in the Soft Bay here in
San Francisco to hang out with another family. And the
next day I'll probably take a fight to Miami and
(11:24):
hopefully at some point land in a place long enough
that I can develop some routines around my body, because
I know that that's been a really important part of
my own process of feeling my strength. But I have
to also acknowledge that the days shift and change, and
I have to be open to that, and that's what
I'm that's the space I'm in right now is allowing
(11:45):
myself to be open to what arises around me.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Right. That sounds really important as being able to be
in touch yourself, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's interesting because I know
how much discipline does matter and consistency matters for certain things.
But if I feel like I'm having to do something
from the place of force rather than want, then it's
not a sustainable way for me to do it. And
it often will feel like I'm not at the center
(12:19):
of my decision making process, but it feels like there's
some other force that's deciding for me what I should do,
and I can leave myself kind of cut off from
the beautiful, synchronistic things that happen in life. So I
try to design my life in a way that allows
me to consistently return to certain practices, but that leaves
room for the synchronistic and the spontaneity to arise around me.
(12:44):
But that's hard in a world where everyone's like, Oh,
what's your morning routine? You should get in all these
exercises or meditations or things like that. I don't live
my life like that. I hope that my life leads
me so that every day I get a meditation and
a workout in. But I don't stay stuck on that
(13:05):
idea either.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah, So if you're in this is an interesting one
because I know a lot of a lot of health
people that say, oh, you gotta It's like I have
friends of mine they're like, oh, Michael, you don't ever
go to the gym. You know you're gonna be shabby,
You're unfit, And I, believe it or not, they're the
ones all the medication. I don't take none. But we're
(13:28):
not going to get too far down that rabbit hole.
So if you're in different places, so the exercise and
meditation has to adjust to where it is you are,
right what's available to you.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, there's some great, you know applications like the Mind
Body app on your phone or sometimes for example, I
was just two days ago in Orange County and I
went to the my friend's gym, had his guest path
and I worked out there as an incredible gym. So
(14:04):
I often, and actually really I really like to go
to local yoga studios wherever I am, or try out
when the other the gyms that are in the surrounding
areas of where I'm staying. It actually has become like
a really cool way to get to know a place.
You tap into these existing communities through the fitness classes
or the yoga classes, or honestly without trying to make
(14:28):
it so rigid, like instead of grabbing an uber to
go from one place to the next, I just walk
and walk a little bit extra. Maybe I walk a
little bit in the cold, but usually there's some sunshine
out and it's nice and I get a little fresh air,
and I get to walk in random neighborhoods, and I
might take a long, roundabout way to get there without
(14:50):
having to put a lot of stress on the efficiency
of the route. And I use that as a bit
of exercise and meditation, and that way to get to
know a place.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
That sounds like a really great way to get to
know the place. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
So.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
But you you've been been a circumventive of the world
a few times, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah. I mean I've traveled over ninety countries, and I've
put a lot of miles on different frequent fire airlines.
I led the status on multiple airlines multiple times in
my life. Yeah, I've always prioritized travel and experiencing different
(15:43):
perspectives and cultures, and it's a big part of who
I am.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, so okay, So back to the book though from
out of Captains Wanted, it's like it's it's filled with
as as you put in in the description, different antidotes
and the things that you've learned. What is one of
the let's see, uh, what are the top three things
that you've learned from from your travels? Did you actually
(16:09):
put got to put it in the book?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Well, okay, I think number one is the the destination
matters less than the direction. So focusing too much on
the end destination can sometimes take away from the direction
(16:37):
reality of your life or whatever journey you're on. And
so yeah, I think I think that's that's one aspect
when I go on, when I travel somewhere, when I
wake up that day, I'm not thinking about that where
I'm like the specific place that I'm going. I had.
(16:57):
I might have a direction which I allow myself to
kind of go down, but I remain open to whatever
signs and signals and come along the way. And I
think being open to those signs and symbols and intuition
is one of the lessons that I've learned from travel,
and I allow that definitely makes it into the book.
(17:21):
Another idea is kind of similar, but it's this idea
of yeah, really going back to this idea of intuition,
allowing for intuition to arise. I think sometimes when we travel,
we're so focused on going to point A, point B,
(17:42):
point C, point B, and we kind of lose sight
of allowing our heart to navigate. And sometimes it's nice
to let go of the trip of Advisor top ten
when you're on the road and just like settled into
the journey, which means kind of going outside. You follow
(18:07):
the sign you see it it has your favorite color
on it or has a word that's been resonating with
you recently, and you follow that, and then you talk
to someone who then tells you about this story about
something that has also risen in your life, and you're like, oh, wow,
that sounds really cool. And then all of a sudden
they are inviting into their home and you're eating a
(18:28):
home cooked meal in this land. And so anyway, being
open to the to the journey and being open to
your heart being your guide, that's another one. And then
I think the other one is often what you think
(18:49):
a place is going to be isn't what it is.
You know, we're sold ideas of what China is like
or what the Middle East is like, and we can
use that to limit ourselves and maybe not even go
visit those places in the first place out of fear
or out of these ideas that we've been We've we've
(19:09):
kind of hold in our mind in certain containers. And
knowing now after so much travel that the containers that
information is packaged inside of and our society is usually
quite flawed, I pretty much like quickly burst the bubble
(19:30):
of those containers to allow myself to step into understanding
the world around me as it is and not as
it's being sold to me. And that's definitely an idea
that makes it into the book.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah, that sounds it sounds important because if you hold
hold a place in this container or bubble and you
and when you get there, you're going to react to people,
maybe I can say in an unkind way, but an
(20:04):
off putting way. But if you break the bubble, you
you interact with people as though, hey, you're just another person.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah. Yeah, And I think that's been a muscle that
over time and different after so much experienced traveling you know,
it does get developed. It's and it basically boils down
to the concept that there's not a whole lot that
separates me and do you, whoever you is in this case,
it doesn't matter who the other person is. They're probably
(20:36):
not that dissimilar than than than me. We have similar
ontes and hopes and dreams and desires, and and knowing
that makes it so that I can let go of
those judgments or containers that I that I that I
put people inside of, or that I'm told to put
(20:58):
people inside of, to really understand that the world around
me is really a reflection of me, and it's another
opportunity to learn something else about me, so that when
I go into different worlds and I see different perspectives
and I have different reactions to those perspectives, it's actually
really something that I get to explore as a possibility
(21:19):
that already is inside of me, and that then becomes
an option in my life that I can choose from,
and it adds to the possibilities of my own discernment
because then I can choose different realities for myself based
on what I see out in the world. I mean,
(21:39):
I could have a better imagination and imagine different considerations
for my life. But going and traveling has allowed me
to see different people live in different ways and that
has challenged my own way of thinking of the way
that I'm doing things, and that's helpful for me.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
It kind of makes sense. And keeping everything in these
little bubbles or containers, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Do you find yourself experiencing like the joy of the
people around you and sometimes maybe the pain? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, you know, especially in places that are that you know,
that go through difficult moments either politically or people don't
have the same opportunities as they had in the in
the United States or Canada, and it sort of like
(22:41):
allows me to see how other people have to survive
and cope and deal with hardship and usually ultimately it
also allows me to see how how hardship is also
incorporated into also people being able to find joy and
(23:04):
happiness because a lot of times we make these assumptions,
at least in our comfortable American lives at times that
in order to be happy, we meet X Y and Z.
And then you go to places that are in really
tougher situations and those X Y and z's don't really
necessarily exist, but they're still happy, and it makes you
(23:24):
question all the things that you've ever thought you needed
to be happy.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, do we always need to have the for instance,
didn't write new teslaver the brand new iPhone.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Right now, I've learned it is much simpler, much more
simple than that. I mean, I got a chance to
spend some time on our ranch in Mexico not that
long ago. They didn't have electricity. It was a family
of four and they were growing fruit trees and we're
having just a beautiful time living in nature. No electricity,
(24:05):
no nothing fancy. But it was a beautiful life that
they had and they were happy. And I'm not even
sure that I think they could and I'm not even
sure they had hot water for showers, and yeah, that's
a nice to have, But you realize it's much more
simple than that what it takes to be happy.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah. So what truly makes Sandy happy? M hm?
Speaker 2 (24:35):
I feel like connecting with people and truly feeling present
with someone makes me feel happy. I think being out
in nature makes me feel happy and feeling just the
presence of the powerful force that nature is. Being in
the ocean, waking up to a couple of coffee is
(24:58):
really nice. Hm ti food makes me really happy.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Before Yeah, yeah, there's lots of there's lots of uh, well,
mediocre coffee here.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I'm sure you've probably had. I had had the the
uh I worked next to a I didn't realize at
the time, the grandson to a Arab oil billionaire, right,
and I was craping about baklava and how I just
wanted good baklava. Right, he called home, had the baklava
(25:46):
sent on a plane from uh the U A e
To to the United States along with Turkish coffee. Wow,
It's like it was still hot. I was like, how
the did you do this?
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Wow? Yeah, man, that's an example where like that's a
guy who's got money, but he's also using it for
some good. That was a good act. I like that.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, it was. It was a beautiful act. And and
uh we were kind of selfish about it because he
has no nobody else in the place was really going
to catch on to to the importance of baclavi and
the and the coffee. So we kind of locked ourselves
into the lunch room at one point and enjoy ourselves.
(26:37):
But uh, but you compare like coffee like that to
Starbucks and it's like yeah, no, no, I say, we
have mediocre coffee here, but we have good Taye food.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Oh yeah, man. I always make the joke that I
want to be buried in Thai food. Shit, I am
about it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
A good meal is one of one one of those
great joys in life, right, it.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Really is, especially if you can I mean I enjoy
a good meal by myself, don't get me wrong, but
sharing food with others is also a great gift.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
That was That was one of the one of the points. Right.
It's like, especially if you can share it with someone, Yeah,
it makes it experience that much better.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I actually started a company a long time ago that
did okay. It was called Meal Sharing, and it was
an idea where you could go and share a meal
in a stranger's home in different parts of the world,
and you know, sort of kind of like an Airbnb
type of experience. We would go into someone's home and
their food and it was just so magical, like and
(27:54):
sometimes it didn't even matter about the food itself. Really,
it hardly ever mattered. It was always about that connection.
And that is something that is really where I feel
the most joys in those unexpected moments where you're just
sharing something human with someone else.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah. Yeah, is that kind of the point of life?
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, I think so. I think. Well, I mean what's
interesting is like a lot of our traumas, I think
create these difficulties in trusting others because all traumas happen
in the presence of other humans, and so we often
create a lot of barriers, protective barriers to protect ourselves
(28:42):
from being able to be hurt in those same ways.
But I think one of the main goals of our
healing journeys is to come back into connection with ourselves
so that then we can trust being in connection with others.
Because I do really believe that that is one of,
if not the most important purpose of us as people
(29:03):
and humans is to is to come together in our
shared humanity. So I believe that deeply it's at the
core of everything I do.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
And yeah, that that that would be quite the core value,
just to be able to share life with another human
and the human of the time, well.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yeah, and to be in presence with them, you know,
like so many things that distract us away but really
feel the presence of another person, to be there with
them is such a It is such a gift.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Yeah. Yeah, So what do you think we should do
more of as human beings to make our place? Because
we already live in a wonderful, beautiful universe. If we
just look around ourselves with with the right set of
lenses on, uh, you know, what is more of it
(29:57):
that we can do to make ourselves a che being?
See that beautiful place?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Yeah? I think we have to be aware of where
we give our way, our own power, you know. And
I notice it sometimes where with my phone, for example,
I feel this like compulsive energy to be using it.
I know that I'm numbing something. And if I allow
myself to not numb, what will I feel? And usually
(30:30):
there's some discomfort, some vulnerability. And if I allow myself
to feel that rather than numbing it away, then actually
I realized that the discomfort that I was afraid of
isn't that uncomfortable, It doesn't last too long, and then
I can stay present with myself and then with others.
(30:52):
And then as another example, sometimes we get activated, we
get nervous. We feel this regularly, and maybe we have
some tools that each of us learn that works for us.
For me, it could be working out or running or
or you know, yoga or dance. I love dancing, don't
(31:16):
take Meditation is one that people use as well, just
something that can quiet the jitteriness, the anxiety, the activated
feeling that sometimes you get, so that you can again
be more present with yourself and be more present with
your environment, because I think when we're present with our
environment and with the people that are around us, then
(31:40):
we are in touch with that beauty and that joy
and that human experience. Otherwise we're just numbing. We're not
feeling our hearts, we're not feeling our emotions. We're giving
into fear, We're giving into distraction and numbing and protectiveness.
And I think when we are so guarded and protective,
(32:02):
we're not in the place to receive, We're not in
a place to connect, and we're not in the place
to experience the beauty of the world around us.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah. Yeah, that's a that is just well said. Sometimes
you try to find that profound thing like no, no,
he already did that.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
What he said.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Sometimes it's that that is an important statement, right, just
what he said. Yeah, I mean it's it sounds like
you you you have a great life, you know, uh,
a great way of living. Should I say, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
I mean, I think it's important to note that a
great life doesn't always mean that it is perfect or
whatever that means.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Right, Yeah, And I.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Think we have to be careful because I think online
what we see often is people just talking about how
perfect and positive their lives are. That sort of toxic positivity.
I don't know if you've heard that term a thrown around.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah, there's always a facade showing you. They're only clipping
out what is perfect. They're not showing you the rest
of the Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, and I think I mean, man, three nights ago,
I had one of the worst food poisonings of my life.
It was ten hours of extreme pain and I was
I felt so alone, and I felt so scared, and
I felt so hope bliss, and I felt so Yeah.
(34:04):
I just felt like no, maybe I was going to
die or maybe I was always going to be like
like this, And yeah, I mean we got I got
through it, and that's that was a not let's put
it wasn't a perfect experience. But at the same time,
(34:28):
you know, coming out of that experience, which I don't
ever want to have again, I certainly have a deeper
appreciation for my health and a deeper appreciation for having
the people in my life who care about me. And
you know, when I come in contact with things that
(34:49):
make me feel the fragility of life, it certainly makes
me appreciate it more. And so I'm just saying there's
an example of where difficult moments can also become lessons
and and yeah, just they're part of They're part of
the larger journey of life. And I'm thankful that I'm
(35:10):
that I look at those moments of lessons. But for sure,
it's not like every single day is rainbows and butterflies.
And I don't think that's the goal. I think the
goal is actually to feel more none less and come
back into connection with others.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
That's a good one. Makes it's a good one, you know,
feel more numb.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Less, yeah, feel more nomb less. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Yeah. It seems that that there's a groups of people
out there that want us to keep numbing ourselves so
they can sell us more crap whatever, whatever, whatever their
agenda is.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Right, Well, it's it's easy. It's easy to fall under
that trap because as we do it so easily to ourselves,
at any sign of discomfort, we just sort of go
to the place that we're not going to be able
to tolerate it, and so we're very quick to choose numbing
over feeling. And I think that maybe our child in
(36:17):
us once felt that every single emotion was going to
be permanent, and so we numbed out as a way
to avoid that feeling. But at all adults knows that
certain feelings are going to be temporary and that we
have the tools to move through it. So it's at
times it's kind of about like kind of calming the
(36:39):
part of us down that still buys into the idea
that this period that you're in is going to be
forever and kind of talking through it with yourself and
being like, eh, this is also going to pass, and
what you're experiencing is real. I don't want you to
not feel it. Let's feel this whole thing that we're
going through. But also overly attached to the idea that
(37:03):
this is how it's always going to be. Let's allow
ourselves to feel it, because when we allow our feelings
to kind of flow through us, they don't really last
that loll It's it's really actually the we when we
stay so like in that stuckness of like, oh this
is terrible, this is terrible. This is going to suck
that we stay longer in it. So feeling is also
(37:26):
a way to kind of just allow for the flow
to move through us. And on the other side of it,
I think is a deeper way of living which allows
me to experience the highs and the lows and the
middle zone two which I'm just now getting used to myself,
(37:47):
and and kind of like you sort of add on
lenses to your life that like create this world where
you see you see the world around you in all
the different hues that are actually out there, not just
the certain ones that you want to see.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. So let the experience flow
through you. Yeah, kind of kind of keep the ride going,
you know. Yeah, yeah, Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah.
So with that being said, what are the best ways
to get your book?
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Yeah, all the ways that people buy books, Captain Wanted
is available, there's certainly it's certainly on Amazon. Comes out
officially February eleventh, of twenty twenty five. And I also
think people would like to follow my journey potentially if
(38:48):
some of this resonates with them on my Instagram, which
currently is shable Mania, I might be changing at the
Shavele Media. But it's andres shableman, you'll find me. It's
like there's no one else will my name out there?
And yeah, I think more so than promoting the book,
I think about resonance. So if anything that I'm saying
(39:12):
resonates with you and becomes one of those like repetitive
symbols that have been that's been like you know, showing
up in your world somehow. If something like that resonates
with you, then yeah, I encourage you to get the book.
And if it doesn't, that's all good too.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Yeah. So again, uh so we're going to look for
you on Instagram to follow you too.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
So yeah, and YouTube, all that.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Stuff is exactly because I had a lot of fun
watching some of your YouTube episodes. That was it was.
It was a lot of fun and you might learn
a thing or two about different places if you all
on YouTube. Also, it was also a shavel Mania, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Yeah, shavel Mania on YouTube And and TikTok, which we're
still going strong on TikTok.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Until he gets banned. Oh well.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
No, I have like twenty four thousand followers on TikTok,
more than any other on any other platform. So it
would be a big loss for me. But you know, yeah,
they're most I think most of my fans on TikTok
are Moroccan because on my Morocco video, this one influencer
with like four million followers. His name is Jamal Alpha.
He he promoted my Morocco episode. And so now when
(40:34):
I put out other contents, the content that the Moroccans
are like, hey, when are you going back to Morocco?
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Hey? You Actually, we take the follows, the views, wherever,
wherever they're from.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Right, I'll shout out to my Moroccan.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
There we go. I had to put I had to
put that in the hashtags Morocco.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Yeah, said, I'm trying to get out of the Moroccan Instagram,
but I can't. I'm Moroccan followers. They they they're my
There are my bread and butter right now.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
All right, So it's been great talking to you.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Uh you too?
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Yeah, So we'll make sure that we share your Instagram,
we share your YouTube and and help hopefully some some
people buy the book too. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
I would love that, and and feel free to reach out.
I want to hear how these expressions resonate with people.
So I'm available reach out hit me up on Instagram.
I I would love to hear how my experiences affect
your world.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Awesome? All right, yeah, so thank you Andy, it's been
great talking to you again, and thank you everybody for listening,
and see you next time.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
Take care.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
The bus to.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
The bat.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
Solong. I don't know, so I wish should from a match.
So name this, he says, I reason to.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
Shake me out.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
Ways we can't wait, So.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
She got to.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
The show has been produced by Depictions Media. Please contact
us at depictions dot media for more information.
Thank you for listening to the picture of the radiant.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Rat.
Speaker 3 (00:28):
You readything to me? Oh well, well say, oh well
(00:57):
not a bad stop.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
I just need.
Speaker 3 (01:14):
Slash. He's dead.
Speaker 1 (01:37):
Welcome back, everybody. Our next guest is Andreas Chavelman. He
is an author and his book Captains Wanted. Along with
being being a author, Andreas is also kind of an
adventurous traveler, so his book kind of melds the two
things into one, and it is inspired by personal anecdotes
(02:02):
direct experiences with Indigenous ceremonial and Western therapeutic modalities following
his time at some of Silicon Valley's largest tech companies.
Andreas Schaevelman's Captains Wanted continues elements of the magical realms
(02:25):
of literary fiction to offer utterly unique experience experiential take
on success and self growth. He's actually Andreas is a
fantastic and funny guy. So let's bring him on the
show and hear a little bit about what's behind the
(02:48):
book and what caused him to write the book and
what he really wants us to get from the book. One. So,
(03:27):
Andrea's welcome to the show. Or should I say Andy,
or it doesn't matter right?
Speaker 2 (03:33):
Yeah, it doesn't matter. I'm used to having interchangeable identity,
and my parents are from Argentina. I grew up in
New Orleans. I went by Andy, but my parents you know,
my name is Andreas. I like it all. It all,
it all fits me and suits me.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
So I mean, I was reading some of the book
I haven't finished it yet, right, and fantastic anecdotes and
things like that. So what kind of inspired you to
sit down and write the book?
Speaker 2 (04:09):
I think my own journey to come back to myself,
to feel into what I actually want in this life,
separate from all of the different systems around me, whether
it was my family system or the societal system that
put expectations on me, and finally realizing that underneath all
(04:31):
of that there was someone who was like itching and
scratching and screaming to kind of, you know, come out
and say this is who I really am, this is
what I really want. And given how hard that was
and is and continues to be, I imagine that's hard
for everyone. And so I was like, Okay, well, maybe
I can share a bit of my story, but in
(04:52):
a novel form that could be helpful for others in
their own process to come back to their own self.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
Right, The book does do that.
Speaker 2 (05:04):
Yeah. Yeah. The book is called Captain's Wanted and my
best friend from college he passed away from a terminal
illness and his last words were, I am the captain
of this ship. And so I kind of interpreted and
have interpreted at various different points in my life, what
you were, what it would mean to be the captain
(05:26):
of my own ship. And so the character, you know,
the book is written in second person. The character is
meant to be you, the reader, and how that reader
sort of navigates their own process of returning to their
own discernment or their own source of power. You know,
is it mimics part of my own journey to figure
it out for myself? But also I don't. I never
(05:48):
wanted to be an author that told people how to
do it or another talking head that was like, this
is how you should do it. It's like, no, it's
supposed to be your journey, specifically back to your own power.
So the book is kind of modeled to allow for
an experience where you maybe could do that.
Speaker 1 (06:07):
So when you actually got back to your own power,
did you yourself feel successful and fulfilled?
Speaker 2 (06:16):
Right? Because you know, I think first and foremost, we
have to get to the point where I reached all
of the success from the external validation systems that I
had ever listened to. You know, I went to Harvard
and got a grad degree there. I was one of
the first thirty Airbnb employees. I got to be on
(06:37):
the floor of the New York Stock Exchange with another
company called Fiber and ring the bell. So I like
literally made it to the pinnacle of success, at least
in terms of how it was you know, presented to
me in our society and in my culture and in
my family system. And realizing that that in itself didn't
really didn't you know, lead me to be more happy
(07:00):
or more fulfilled. Then you know, it caused me to
look at you know, Okay, well what can I do
that It's going to be a true expression of who
I am that's going to lead me to feeling really
successful on my own terms. And now what I'm doing,
including the publishing of this book and all of the
different expressions that I have online, including comedic characters, a
(07:22):
travel show, all kinds of things, is sort of is
me just putting out work that comes from my heart.
And you know, whether or not people watch it or
listen to it or read it or whatever it may be,
is okay, because now the external validation system isn't the
(07:44):
thing that guides me. What guides me is that what
I do is a true expression of who I am.
And so in that sense, I do feel successful now, right.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
And it doesn't sound very feeling. I kind of know
what you mean. Made it to the pinnacle of being.
Most of my listeners know that I was a former
analytical chemist and I could do something some really crazy
stuff with the mass spectrometer that the only other people
(08:16):
they would ever hire me after Mitsubishi let me go
was was either NASA or Certain It's like, okay, well
that's not gonna happen anytime soon. But I've still felt
left behind, and creating podcasts and films and stuff like
that is like, yeah, I wake up in the morning excited, right.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Yeah, And that's priceless. You can't put that, you know,
a price on that. And actually, I think in many ways,
the old way of thinking about how I was getting
paid and whether I should get paid more, negotiating salary
the more that I got paid was often a way
in which I accepted that there was a price to
my to my happiness. But I was willing to exchange
(09:05):
my happiness for a certain amount of money, and that
was okay to a certain extent. But at some point
I was like, Eh, this sacrifice actually doesn't feel aligned with,
you know, how I want to live my life. And
given how short life is, it's like, you know what,
let's try to make the most of it and maybe
(09:26):
there's a way I can calm down some of my
survival mode fears that come from some ancestral stuff and
have that you know, lead to me making decisions that
are more about what makes my heart feel more alive,
rather than making the trade off between what makes my
heart feel alive and how much money I can make.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
Right. Yeah, two, your heart feel it feels alive. You're
excited to get up every day and do what you do.
What does Andy's Dave look like?
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Yeah, I'm not the most habit based person I have.
Every day is very different for me. I'm currently in Oakland.
When we did a pre talk, I was in Mexico.
I had a I move around a lot. I've been
(10:21):
nomadic for a very long time. I mean some ways,
in some ways I want to be more grounded for sure,
but I always find myself being on the road, sometimes
for escapism, sometimes for adventure, sometimes for some combination of
the two. But yeah, this morning I woke up at
(10:43):
my friend's house in Oakland. We went on a walk
to grab some coffee. I'm going to be recording a
podcast here for my new podcast called Rebel, and that
will be in this house, so I set up the shop.
Then I'm going to go find the best tie food
in Oakland, because I love Thaigh food. I'll probably walk
(11:04):
to that location so I get a little exercise and yeah,
come back shoot the podcast, have another friend come along
round and seen it in a while, and hang out
with him and reconnect with him. And then tomorrow I'm
off to another place in the Soft Bay here in
San Francisco to hang out with another family. And the
next day I'll probably take a fight to Miami and
(11:24):
hopefully at some point land in a place long enough
that I can develop some routines around my body, because
I know that that's been a really important part of
my own process of feeling my strength. But I have
to also acknowledge that the days shift and change, and
I have to be open to that, and that's what
I'm that's the space I'm in right now is allowing
(11:45):
myself to be open to what arises around me.
Speaker 1 (11:49):
Right. That sounds really important as being able to be
in touch yourself, right, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's interesting because I know
how much discipline does matter and consistency matters for certain things.
But if I feel like I'm having to do something
from the place of force rather than want, then it's
not a sustainable way for me to do it. And
it often will feel like I'm not at the center
(12:19):
of my decision making process, but it feels like there's
some other force that's deciding for me what I should do,
and I can leave myself kind of cut off from
the beautiful, synchronistic things that happen in life. So I
try to design my life in a way that allows
me to consistently return to certain practices, but that leaves
room for the synchronistic and the spontaneity to arise around me.
(12:44):
But that's hard in a world where everyone's like, Oh,
what's your morning routine? You should get in all these
exercises or meditations or things like that. I don't live
my life like that. I hope that my life leads
me so that every day I get a meditation and
a workout in. But I don't stay stuck on that
(13:05):
idea either.
Speaker 1 (13:06):
Yeah, So if you're in this is an interesting one
because I know a lot of a lot of health
people that say, oh, you gotta It's like I have
friends of mine they're like, oh, Michael, you don't ever
go to the gym. You know you're gonna be shabby,
You're unfit, And I, believe it or not, they're the
ones all the medication. I don't take none. But we're
(13:28):
not going to get too far down that rabbit hole.
So if you're in different places, so the exercise and
meditation has to adjust to where it is you are,
right what's available to you.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
Yeah, there's some great, you know applications like the Mind
Body app on your phone or sometimes for example, I
was just two days ago in Orange County and I
went to the my friend's gym, had his guest path
and I worked out there as an incredible gym. So
(14:04):
I often, and actually really I really like to go
to local yoga studios wherever I am, or try out
when the other the gyms that are in the surrounding
areas of where I'm staying. It actually has become like
a really cool way to get to know a place.
You tap into these existing communities through the fitness classes
or the yoga classes, or honestly without trying to make
(14:28):
it so rigid, like instead of grabbing an uber to
go from one place to the next, I just walk
and walk a little bit extra. Maybe I walk a
little bit in the cold, but usually there's some sunshine
out and it's nice and I get a little fresh air,
and I get to walk in random neighborhoods, and I
might take a long, roundabout way to get there without
(14:50):
having to put a lot of stress on the efficiency
of the route. And I use that as a bit
of exercise and meditation, and that way to get to
know a place.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
That sounds like a really great way to get to
know the place. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (15:09):
So.
Speaker 1 (15:12):
But you you've been been a circumventive of the world
a few times, haven't you.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
Yeah. I mean I've traveled over ninety countries, and I've
put a lot of miles on different frequent fire airlines.
I led the status on multiple airlines multiple times in
my life. Yeah, I've always prioritized travel and experiencing different
(15:43):
perspectives and cultures, and it's a big part of who
I am.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, so okay, So back to the book though from
out of Captains Wanted, it's like it's it's filled with
as as you put in in the description, different antidotes
and the things that you've learned. What is one of
the let's see, uh, what are the top three things
that you've learned from from your travels? Did you actually
(16:09):
put got to put it in the book?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
Well, okay, I think number one is the the destination
matters less than the direction. So focusing too much on
the end destination can sometimes take away from the direction
(16:37):
reality of your life or whatever journey you're on. And
so yeah, I think I think that's that's one aspect
when I go on, when I travel somewhere, when I
wake up that day, I'm not thinking about that where
I'm like the specific place that I'm going. I had.
(16:57):
I might have a direction which I allow myself to
kind of go down, but I remain open to whatever
signs and signals and come along the way. And I
think being open to those signs and symbols and intuition
is one of the lessons that I've learned from travel,
and I allow that definitely makes it into the book.
(17:21):
Another idea is kind of similar, but it's this idea
of yeah, really going back to this idea of intuition,
allowing for intuition to arise. I think sometimes when we travel,
we're so focused on going to point A, point B,
(17:42):
point C, point B, and we kind of lose sight
of allowing our heart to navigate. And sometimes it's nice
to let go of the trip of Advisor top ten
when you're on the road and just like settled into
the journey, which means kind of going outside. You follow
(18:07):
the sign you see it it has your favorite color
on it or has a word that's been resonating with
you recently, and you follow that, and then you talk
to someone who then tells you about this story about
something that has also risen in your life, and you're like, oh, wow,
that sounds really cool. And then all of a sudden
they are inviting into their home and you're eating a
(18:28):
home cooked meal in this land. And so anyway, being
open to the to the journey and being open to
your heart being your guide, that's another one. And then
I think the other one is often what you think
(18:49):
a place is going to be isn't what it is.
You know, we're sold ideas of what China is like
or what the Middle East is like, and we can
use that to limit ourselves and maybe not even go
visit those places in the first place out of fear
or out of these ideas that we've been We've we've
(19:09):
kind of hold in our mind in certain containers. And
knowing now after so much travel that the containers that
information is packaged inside of and our society is usually
quite flawed, I pretty much like quickly burst the bubble
(19:30):
of those containers to allow myself to step into understanding
the world around me as it is and not as
it's being sold to me. And that's definitely an idea
that makes it into the book.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Yeah, that sounds it sounds important because if you hold
hold a place in this container or bubble and you
and when you get there, you're going to react to people,
maybe I can say in an unkind way, but an
(20:04):
off putting way. But if you break the bubble, you
you interact with people as though, hey, you're just another person.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
Yeah. Yeah, And I think that's been a muscle that
over time and different after so much experienced traveling you know,
it does get developed. It's and it basically boils down
to the concept that there's not a whole lot that
separates me and do you, whoever you is in this case,
it doesn't matter who the other person is. They're probably
(20:36):
not that dissimilar than than than me. We have similar
ontes and hopes and dreams and desires, and and knowing
that makes it so that I can let go of
those judgments or containers that I that I that I
put people inside of, or that I'm told to put
(20:58):
people inside of, to really understand that the world around
me is really a reflection of me, and it's another
opportunity to learn something else about me, so that when
I go into different worlds and I see different perspectives
and I have different reactions to those perspectives, it's actually
really something that I get to explore as a possibility
(21:19):
that already is inside of me, and that then becomes
an option in my life that I can choose from,
and it adds to the possibilities of my own discernment
because then I can choose different realities for myself based
on what I see out in the world. I mean,
(21:39):
I could have a better imagination and imagine different considerations
for my life. But going and traveling has allowed me
to see different people live in different ways and that
has challenged my own way of thinking of the way
that I'm doing things, and that's helpful for me.
Speaker 1 (21:57):
It kind of makes sense. And keeping everything in these
little bubbles or containers, yeah.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
I agree.
Speaker 1 (22:08):
Do you find yourself experiencing like the joy of the
people around you and sometimes maybe the pain? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (22:18):
Yeah, you know, especially in places that are that you know,
that go through difficult moments either politically or people don't
have the same opportunities as they had in the in
the United States or Canada, and it sort of like
(22:41):
allows me to see how other people have to survive
and cope and deal with hardship and usually ultimately it
also allows me to see how how hardship is also
incorporated into also people being able to find joy and
(23:04):
happiness because a lot of times we make these assumptions,
at least in our comfortable American lives at times that
in order to be happy, we meet X Y and Z.
And then you go to places that are in really
tougher situations and those X Y and z's don't really
necessarily exist, but they're still happy, and it makes you
(23:24):
question all the things that you've ever thought you needed
to be happy.
Speaker 1 (23:29):
Yeah, do we always need to have the for instance,
didn't write new teslaver the brand new iPhone.
Speaker 2 (23:40):
Right now, I've learned it is much simpler, much more
simple than that. I mean, I got a chance to
spend some time on our ranch in Mexico not that
long ago. They didn't have electricity. It was a family
of four and they were growing fruit trees and we're
having just a beautiful time living in nature. No electricity,
(24:05):
no nothing fancy. But it was a beautiful life that
they had and they were happy. And I'm not even
sure that I think they could and I'm not even
sure they had hot water for showers, and yeah, that's
a nice to have, But you realize it's much more
simple than that what it takes to be happy.
Speaker 1 (24:28):
Yeah. So what truly makes Sandy happy? M hm?
Speaker 2 (24:35):
I feel like connecting with people and truly feeling present
with someone makes me feel happy. I think being out
in nature makes me feel happy and feeling just the
presence of the powerful force that nature is. Being in
the ocean, waking up to a couple of coffee is
(24:58):
really nice. Hm ti food makes me really happy.
Speaker 4 (25:05):
Before Yeah, yeah, there's lots of there's lots of uh, well,
mediocre coffee here.
Speaker 1 (25:17):
I'm sure you've probably had. I had had the the
uh I worked next to a I didn't realize at
the time, the grandson to a Arab oil billionaire, right,
and I was craping about baklava and how I just
wanted good baklava. Right, he called home, had the baklava
(25:46):
sent on a plane from uh the U A e
To to the United States along with Turkish coffee. Wow,
It's like it was still hot. I was like, how
the did you do this?
Speaker 2 (26:05):
Wow? Yeah, man, that's an example where like that's a
guy who's got money, but he's also using it for
some good. That was a good act. I like that.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
Yeah, it was. It was a beautiful act. And and
uh we were kind of selfish about it because he
has no nobody else in the place was really going
to catch on to to the importance of baclavi and
the and the coffee. So we kind of locked ourselves
into the lunch room at one point and enjoy ourselves.
(26:37):
But uh, but you compare like coffee like that to
Starbucks and it's like yeah, no, no, I say, we
have mediocre coffee here, but we have good Taye food.
Speaker 2 (26:54):
Oh yeah, man. I always make the joke that I
want to be buried in Thai food. Shit, I am
about it.
Speaker 1 (27:07):
A good meal is one of one one of those
great joys in life, right, it.
Speaker 2 (27:11):
Really is, especially if you can I mean I enjoy
a good meal by myself, don't get me wrong, but
sharing food with others is also a great gift.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
That was That was one of the one of the points. Right.
It's like, especially if you can share it with someone, Yeah,
it makes it experience that much better.
Speaker 2 (27:32):
I actually started a company a long time ago that
did okay. It was called Meal Sharing, and it was
an idea where you could go and share a meal
in a stranger's home in different parts of the world,
and you know, sort of kind of like an Airbnb
type of experience. We would go into someone's home and
their food and it was just so magical, like and
(27:54):
sometimes it didn't even matter about the food itself. Really,
it hardly ever mattered. It was always about that connection.
And that is something that is really where I feel
the most joys in those unexpected moments where you're just
sharing something human with someone else.
Speaker 1 (28:12):
Yeah. Yeah, is that kind of the point of life?
Speaker 2 (28:19):
Yeah, I think so. I think. Well, I mean what's
interesting is like a lot of our traumas, I think
create these difficulties in trusting others because all traumas happen
in the presence of other humans, and so we often
create a lot of barriers, protective barriers to protect ourselves
(28:42):
from being able to be hurt in those same ways.
But I think one of the main goals of our
healing journeys is to come back into connection with ourselves
so that then we can trust being in connection with others.
Because I do really believe that that is one of,
if not the most important purpose of us as people
(29:03):
and humans is to is to come together in our
shared humanity. So I believe that deeply it's at the
core of everything I do.
Speaker 1 (29:12):
And yeah, that that that would be quite the core value,
just to be able to share life with another human
and the human of the time, well.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yeah, and to be in presence with them, you know,
like so many things that distract us away but really
feel the presence of another person, to be there with
them is such a It is such a gift.
Speaker 1 (29:36):
Yeah. Yeah, So what do you think we should do
more of as human beings to make our place? Because
we already live in a wonderful, beautiful universe. If we
just look around ourselves with with the right set of
lenses on, uh, you know, what is more of it
(29:57):
that we can do to make ourselves a che being?
See that beautiful place?
Speaker 2 (30:05):
Yeah? I think we have to be aware of where
we give our way, our own power, you know. And
I notice it sometimes where with my phone, for example,
I feel this like compulsive energy to be using it.
I know that I'm numbing something. And if I allow
myself to not numb, what will I feel? And usually
(30:30):
there's some discomfort, some vulnerability. And if I allow myself
to feel that rather than numbing it away, then actually
I realized that the discomfort that I was afraid of
isn't that uncomfortable, It doesn't last too long, and then
I can stay present with myself and then with others.
(30:52):
And then as another example, sometimes we get activated, we
get nervous. We feel this regularly, and maybe we have
some tools that each of us learn that works for us.
For me, it could be working out or running or
or you know, yoga or dance. I love dancing, don't
(31:16):
take Meditation is one that people use as well, just
something that can quiet the jitteriness, the anxiety, the activated
feeling that sometimes you get, so that you can again
be more present with yourself and be more present with
your environment, because I think when we're present with our
environment and with the people that are around us, then
(31:40):
we are in touch with that beauty and that joy
and that human experience. Otherwise we're just numbing. We're not
feeling our hearts, we're not feeling our emotions. We're giving
into fear, We're giving into distraction and numbing and protectiveness.
And I think when we are so guarded and protective,
(32:02):
we're not in the place to receive, We're not in
a place to connect, and we're not in the place
to experience the beauty of the world around us.
Speaker 1 (32:12):
Yeah. Yeah, that's a that is just well said. Sometimes
you try to find that profound thing like no, no,
he already did that.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
What he said.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
Sometimes it's that that is an important statement, right, just
what he said. Yeah, I mean it's it sounds like
you you you have a great life, you know, uh,
a great way of living. Should I say, Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:55):
I mean, I think it's important to note that a
great life doesn't always mean that it is perfect or
whatever that means.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Right, Yeah, And I.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
Think we have to be careful because I think online
what we see often is people just talking about how
perfect and positive their lives are. That sort of toxic positivity.
I don't know if you've heard that term a thrown around.
Speaker 1 (33:24):
Yeah, there's always a facade showing you. They're only clipping
out what is perfect. They're not showing you the rest
of the Yeah.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, and I think I mean, man, three nights ago,
I had one of the worst food poisonings of my life.
It was ten hours of extreme pain and I was
I felt so alone, and I felt so scared, and
I felt so hope bliss, and I felt so Yeah.
(34:04):
I just felt like no, maybe I was going to
die or maybe I was always going to be like
like this, And yeah, I mean we got I got
through it, and that's that was a not let's put
it wasn't a perfect experience. But at the same time,
(34:28):
you know, coming out of that experience, which I don't
ever want to have again, I certainly have a deeper
appreciation for my health and a deeper appreciation for having
the people in my life who care about me. And
you know, when I come in contact with things that
(34:49):
make me feel the fragility of life, it certainly makes
me appreciate it more. And so I'm just saying there's
an example of where difficult moments can also become lessons
and and yeah, just they're part of They're part of
the larger journey of life. And I'm thankful that I'm
(35:10):
that I look at those moments of lessons. But for sure,
it's not like every single day is rainbows and butterflies.
And I don't think that's the goal. I think the
goal is actually to feel more none less and come
back into connection with others.
Speaker 1 (35:30):
That's a good one. Makes it's a good one, you know,
feel more numb.
Speaker 2 (35:37):
Less, yeah, feel more nomb less. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (35:39):
Yeah. It seems that that there's a groups of people
out there that want us to keep numbing ourselves so
they can sell us more crap whatever, whatever, whatever their
agenda is.
Speaker 2 (35:55):
Right, Well, it's it's easy. It's easy to fall under
that trap because as we do it so easily to ourselves,
at any sign of discomfort, we just sort of go
to the place that we're not going to be able
to tolerate it, and so we're very quick to choose numbing
over feeling. And I think that maybe our child in
(36:17):
us once felt that every single emotion was going to
be permanent, and so we numbed out as a way
to avoid that feeling. But at all adults knows that
certain feelings are going to be temporary and that we
have the tools to move through it. So it's at
times it's kind of about like kind of calming the
(36:39):
part of us down that still buys into the idea
that this period that you're in is going to be
forever and kind of talking through it with yourself and
being like, eh, this is also going to pass, and
what you're experiencing is real. I don't want you to
not feel it. Let's feel this whole thing that we're
going through. But also overly attached to the idea that
(37:03):
this is how it's always going to be. Let's allow
ourselves to feel it, because when we allow our feelings
to kind of flow through us, they don't really last
that loll It's it's really actually the we when we
stay so like in that stuckness of like, oh this
is terrible, this is terrible. This is going to suck
that we stay longer in it. So feeling is also
(37:26):
a way to kind of just allow for the flow
to move through us. And on the other side of it,
I think is a deeper way of living which allows
me to experience the highs and the lows and the
middle zone two which I'm just now getting used to myself,
(37:47):
and and kind of like you sort of add on
lenses to your life that like create this world where
you see you see the world around you in all
the different hues that are actually out there, not just
the certain ones that you want to see.
Speaker 1 (38:04):
Yeah, yeah, that makes sense. So let the experience flow
through you. Yeah, kind of kind of keep the ride going,
you know. Yeah, yeah, Yeah, that's a good one. Yeah.
So with that being said, what are the best ways
to get your book?
Speaker 2 (38:25):
Yeah, all the ways that people buy books, Captain Wanted
is available, there's certainly it's certainly on Amazon. Comes out
officially February eleventh, of twenty twenty five. And I also
think people would like to follow my journey potentially if
(38:48):
some of this resonates with them on my Instagram, which
currently is shable Mania, I might be changing at the
Shavele Media. But it's andres shableman, you'll find me. It's
like there's no one else will my name out there?
And yeah, I think more so than promoting the book,
I think about resonance. So if anything that I'm saying
(39:12):
resonates with you and becomes one of those like repetitive
symbols that have been that's been like you know, showing
up in your world somehow. If something like that resonates
with you, then yeah, I encourage you to get the book.
And if it doesn't, that's all good too.
Speaker 1 (39:27):
Yeah. So again, uh so we're going to look for
you on Instagram to follow you too.
Speaker 2 (39:35):
So yeah, and YouTube, all that.
Speaker 1 (39:38):
Stuff is exactly because I had a lot of fun
watching some of your YouTube episodes. That was it was.
It was a lot of fun and you might learn
a thing or two about different places if you all
on YouTube. Also, it was also a shavel Mania, wasn't it.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
Yeah, shavel Mania on YouTube And and TikTok, which we're
still going strong on TikTok.
Speaker 1 (40:05):
Until he gets banned. Oh well.
Speaker 2 (40:09):
No, I have like twenty four thousand followers on TikTok,
more than any other on any other platform. So it
would be a big loss for me. But you know, yeah,
they're most I think most of my fans on TikTok
are Moroccan because on my Morocco video, this one influencer
with like four million followers. His name is Jamal Alpha.
He he promoted my Morocco episode. And so now when
(40:34):
I put out other contents, the content that the Moroccans
are like, hey, when are you going back to Morocco?
Speaker 1 (40:45):
Hey? You Actually, we take the follows, the views, wherever,
wherever they're from.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Right, I'll shout out to my Moroccan.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
There we go. I had to put I had to
put that in the hashtags Morocco.
Speaker 2 (41:01):
Yeah, said, I'm trying to get out of the Moroccan Instagram,
but I can't. I'm Moroccan followers. They they they're my
There are my bread and butter right now.
Speaker 1 (41:13):
All right, So it's been great talking to you.
Speaker 2 (41:17):
Uh you too?
Speaker 1 (41:18):
Yeah, So we'll make sure that we share your Instagram,
we share your YouTube and and help hopefully some some
people buy the book too. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:31):
I would love that, and and feel free to reach out.
I want to hear how these expressions resonate with people.
So I'm available reach out hit me up on Instagram.
I I would love to hear how my experiences affect
your world.
Speaker 1 (41:51):
Awesome? All right, yeah, so thank you Andy, it's been
great talking to you again, and thank you everybody for listening,
and see you next time.
Speaker 2 (42:02):
Take care.
Speaker 3 (42:03):
The bus to.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
The bat.
Speaker 3 (42:18):
Solong. I don't know, so I wish should from a match.
So name this, he says, I reason to.
Speaker 2 (42:56):
Shake me out.
Speaker 3 (43:01):
Ways we can't wait, So.
Speaker 2 (43:44):
She got to.
Speaker 1 (44:26):
The show has been produced by Depictions Media. Please contact
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