HDxLiberation: A Human Design Podcast

Episode 13: Exploring and Reclaiming Autonomy and Agency

• Courtney Napier, Andrea Ward Berg • Season 1 • Episode 13

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In this episode, Courtney and Andrea explore the concept of agency and its connection to autonomy. They discuss how agency is the power to act in the world, make a difference, and influence one's environment. Drawing from the teachings of Paulo Freire and the principles of human design, they emphasize the importance of understanding oneself and reclaiming autonomy in order to fully express agency. The conversation delves into the historical origins of supremacy culture, the impact of objectification on society, and the relationship between agency and spirituality. Courtney and Andrea also touch on the role of money in relation to agency and autonomy, highlighting the need to redefine our understanding of financial solvency and embrace collective support.


Key Takeaways:

  • Agency is the power to act in the world, make a difference, and influence one's environment.
  • Autonomy is the ability to reflect on one's location within a situation and take action based on one's values and true self.
  • Supremacy culture has historically objectified individuals, eroding their autonomy and agency.
  • Reclaiming agency requires understanding oneself and embracing one's uniqueness and values.
  • Money is a representation of stored energy, and collective support and mutual aid can compound individual resources.


Notable Quotes:

  • "Agency is a natural extension of your life force." - Andrea
  • "Autonomy is the process of understanding where you end and where others begin." - Courtney
  • "The intentional erosion of agency has been part of the way this lineage of society knew to operate." - Andrea
  • "If money is energy stored, collectivism is energy compounded." - Courtney


Resources:

“Empowering children: the importance of autonomy and agency,” Marcus Adams

Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Paulo Friere

Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind, Yuval Noah Harari

Contact and Support:

For more insights and to join the conversation, follow the HDxLiberation podcast on social media at @hdxliberation on Instagram, subscribe to their YouTube channel, and join the Liberation Lab on Substack for exclusive content and community benefits.

Hi, I'm Andrea. Hey y'all, this is Courtney and welcome to the Human Design and Liberation podcast. This is a space where we explore how human design and liberation theology intersect with the past, present, and future. With the intent of sharing the beauty and pain of the human experience to encourage you in your liberation journey.

Courtney:

Hey.

Andrea:

Hey! How's it going?

Courtney:

Really good. I feel very rested.

Andrea:

Good. I'm so glad,

Courtney:

How about you?

Andrea:

I feel good. I feel good. Today is our seven year anniversary, so that's pretty fun. Yep. So and it's on the seventh, which is fun. so all the sevenths.

Courtney:

Yeah. sevens. I'm a July baby. So I'm also a seven.

Andrea:

Yes. all the sevens. I love it. Connected.

Courtney:

Connected. One more instance synchronicity between the two of us.

Andrea:

I know one of the thousands at this point,

Courtney:

So true. Ooh. So today we're going to talk about Agency. We've been like building up to this conversation over like least two episodes, maybe three. Um,

Andrea:

more because even like the strategy and authority conversation was really touching on this.

Courtney:

Yeah, and it's funny because I feel like it happening us.. Wasn't like we necessarily planned this trajectory. It's each conversation we were having was revealing itself to realizing that like, this is a big part of it, like massive of it. Um, maybe it, maybe it is the"it".

Andrea:

Yeah, it is. It totally is. Yeah.

Courtney:

Mm hmm. Yeah.

Andrea:

Yeah. And it's so interesting as we were like brainstorming and Having our like prep chats and just like how, how much of the work that Rod did in human design and the work that has been done in liberation theology is all kind of getting at this core piece

Courtney:

Yep.

Andrea:

agency.

Courtney:

Yes. Yes. Yeah.

Andrea:

so I'm excited dive in.

Courtney:

Too. So definition. So we want to kind of start with some, yeah, yeah. Let's talk about agency and what agency is. I happen to find like really good, simple, Um, definition of agency. and this is actually from an article talking about the importance of teaching agency to children, which, um, as you all know, Ra's vision, Ra's reception of this message about. human design, um, or human design being the message was for the children. It to empower the adults to raise their children, understanding their design. So this is something that both Andrea and I kind of embody, you know, as mothers,

Andrea:

um,

Courtney:

and also as people who love children, um, uh, and see so much potential in younger generations. Um, so agency, according to this author, refers to the power to act in the world. It means having the ability to make a difference, to take action, and to influence our environment. Or our society is another of putting And, um, it really is the power to act when it comes this, um, idea that Paulo Freire talks about, um, that change with action and reflection. I really feel like action part is the agency. Um, or maybe even further the, the reflection is. The autonomy piece, which a little different from agency. It's the ability to kind of take the step back and understand your location inside of a situation, whether that be societal relational, um, situation, and then the action is your agency, seeing how you can behave to make that situation different for yourself. Um, yeah. so that is kind of like our. Little foundation as far as understanding what agency is.

Andrea:

And I think of agency as a natural extension of your life force.

Courtney:

Mm. Mm

Andrea:

When you are in true self, when you are in alignment with you expressing and being who you are meant to be, yeah. Your agency is a natural extension of that. And so it's really just like the use of your life force towards the things that matter to you. Genuinely. Right. Um, not that somebody told you should matter or not all the not self stuff. So it, it takes a while to really be centered in your agency because it takes a while to be centered in who you are. It takes a while to really understand yourself versus what you have conditioned, been conditioned to be.

Courtney:

absolutely. Yes. And the strategy that reflection piece. Like the strategy and authority is when, when we are reflecting in human design, when we are called. This idea of reflection is about, um, remembering and remembering and kind of focusing into our authority. So whatever that authoritative center is for us. Um, or of understanding how to make decisions. Cause it's not always a center for those who like self or lunar authority. Um, and then the action, when to act, how to act comes from our strategy. So for me as a generator, I have response my strategy. So kind kind of looking at Paulo Friere's reflection and action through human design would be to, um, when I find myself in a situation, um, when I'm approached with a opportunity or approached with a problem or, or an idea, I take a moment to understand Or tap into what my sacral is trying to say.

Andrea:

Yeah

Courtney:

the, and for me, because I'm a triple split can take time. So definitely in the face, the face of, um, the, human design meme land around the immediacy of the sacral voice, it's not immediate for all of us because connected to a lot of other things. being a triple split, can take some time for me to differentiate, like what center I'm hearing when? Um, Right. And so I that time to get that, to tap into those, those nonverbal, um, sounds, expressions, the, the, the way that I have learned how my body reacts, um, when it's saying or no. Um, and then. risk using my, uh, my strategy to respond in the way that is correct for me. And, um, that keeps me aligned in not only building the life that I want, but it's gives me an alignment with my values. it's like the. Yeah.

Andrea:

Yeah. I think autonomy is, is critical because autonomy is this process of understanding that you are like, this is where I end and where you begin. Um, and so much of the dysfunction of supremacy delusion is, um, leaky, right? Like it's, it's. codependent. It's, um, you know, you have like, even just like oppressor oppressed or like, um, people pleasing or, um, narcissism, like all of these These are all symptoms of people not having clear autonomy,

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

and then how that benefits the power structure within our society. And so, um, ultimately, even though it absconds power or agency, right, to people who are seeking power, um, It harms them as well because they have to go outside of their own boundaries in order to do that and yeah, nobody wins.

Courtney:

No one wins. I just talking about this with, um, my spouse with Dave and in terms of money because, and we want to bring in like finances into this conversation at a certain point. But, um, one thing that's really. important to understand is, um, there's no such thing as hierarchy. And one of the ways that white supremacist delusion has manifested in our time is everything being about money

Andrea:

Mm hmm.

Courtney:

and money Um, everything is dependent on money and the reality that we kind of uncovered the other night is that money was never meant to be some sort of like a pillar of society, you know, we are society human beings. And so the fact that we've built a society where money has actually superseded the importance and the, and the, uh, consequence. superseded the of our society, like money is superseded are like human beings.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

As the most consequential, uh, piece of how we work together and we relate to each other. It is, in my opinion, the reason why we are experiencing literal, uh, just human devastation a level that think any of us really foresaw. And all of us are having such a. not all of but of us who have, who work towards keeping our humanity and our spiritual spirituality intact, something we care about these things that are struggling with so deeply. Um, and that is a, a form how, um, we've been objectified. Our society, the powers that be have objectified us and, and, um, Paulo Friere kind of points to this. He, he has this really beautiful, he has so many beautiful, like, Ways of naming features of our society to make them easier to understand. And again, it's not for the purpose of putting anybody in a box. So not about using identity as ways to box in people. It's, it's words to label name reality that they can be transformed. so we can like move away from these things. But one of the things he talks about is, is This identifying difference between what it means to be an object and subject. So yeah, oppressor, um, has decided that the oppressed are objects inside of the societal reality.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

we're workers, we're parents, we're, um, teachers and it's, it is a box, it is a, it is a box, it is a label. it is function. we have been, our humanity has been diminished to our functionality inside of a box. Um, society and they are the subjects. So the subject is the capitalist, the oppressor, they wouldn't label themselves as oppressors. No, the leadership

Andrea:

person who owns, who has the power.

Courtney:

Right. Right. And the subject can have all of that. multiple layers, multiple forms of existence. And so they have opinions and emotions and ideas and language and culture and all of these things. and the object, the worker, their opinions, their ideas, their culture, their language, their ways of being don't matter because they're just workers. They're just this flat way of existing. Yeah.

Andrea:

And, and it's interesting because we see that in the way that white crime is described in the media versus non white crime, right? Like we see that still today. The other thing that I think is really interesting is we come by this, honestly, like

Courtney:

Mm-Hmm.

Andrea:

this has been a tool for. 4, 000 years.

Courtney:

Ooh.

Andrea:

just telling Courtney before this, that I went, um, down a rabbit hole on the origins of supremacy culture, because I, I remember, and I'm not done with the rabbit hole. So I don't have, I can't like wrap it up in a tight bow yet, but I remember, so, um, Ryan was reading this book. Um, and I want to say, I'm going to have to ask him what the title of it was, and we'll put it in the show notes, but the premise was like the history of humanity.

Courtney:

Yeah. Wow. And so is it sapien?

Andrea:

maybe that's the one that might

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

Um, and essentially, so I have this like conversation that he and I had in the back of my mind about. Um, like the certain point in our evolution and men becoming a more focal point. I went into a whole rabbit hole back then when he was reading it about the Aryans, which is like the original Aryans many thousands of years ago, which

Courtney:

Right.

Andrea:

when, you know, they were a nomadic people. I mean, this is like three or 4, 000 BC. This is like a very long time ago. Um, but anyway, they were the first patriarchal society. on record.

Courtney:

Mm

Andrea:

and they were, you know, pretty horrible to women. Um, and the root of that was it was an equestrian society and the men Were who had larger body size, were able to be more dominant with the horses and all of the care that was required and the iron smithing and all the tools, etc. Right. And so, um, they, interestingly enough, um, influenced much of Eurasia. Because they were nomadic, they went all the way from Western Turkey, all the way to like the Mongolia, the end of Mongolia, like that whole corridor. Um, and they would go into like, they heavily influenced, um, what we know of as India because, um, they would go in and like, Settle for a while. They actually created the first caste system.

Courtney:

Wow.

Andrea:

many believe that they were the ones who brought the Vedas to India. Um, so there's, there's a lot, there's a lot there, right. Um, and especially as we're looking at, um, you know, human design, bringing these modalities that have been around for nine, 10, 000 years, But at the same time, this moment where we have gone through the evolution of 1781, where we are now here to commune and express, and then we have to kind of confront the residual of these systems that were built for survival, right? And so when I think about what, so Paulo Freire, is, is, uh, is, Um, for those who haven't listened to prior episodes where we introduced him, um, he's one of the original

Courtney:

Oh, yeah, of course.

Andrea:

teachers of liberation theology. And on that note, you mentioned raw. So Rah Uru Hu is the founder of human design. So anybody who's listening, like this is your first podcast. I just want you to know who we're talking about. Um, as if there are friends,

Courtney:

we're so glad you're here.

Andrea:

Yes. Um, um, so, like when I look at the intersection of, um, objectifying, right, that was That was literally a subconscious tool for survival in in order to be able to commit the atrocities that had to be committed to survive in their mind, right? We don't know whether or not they had to be in their mind atrocities, like in their mind, they had to, you know, go and raid towns or go in, know, there was a lot of harm happening. Like, All over lots of harm. Like we come from a very violent past.

Courtney:

Um. Yes.

Andrea:

and so that objectification was a way to survive, which is a very seven centered necessity.

Courtney:

Right. Yes.

Andrea:

Because of that, we now have the opportunity to say, Oh, that actually harms me too. Like I'm not benefiting if I objectify you. And that is a process of us recovering our autonomy. Okay. And also claiming our agency, because if we have always been objectified, the only way we know how to survive is to objectify. And so we are breaking that cycle and creating a new cycle of humanitizing, which is what Freire freire describes as allowing everybody to be a subject.

Courtney:

Yes. Yes. Oh, that's so good because I think what it touches on is the, um, fear at the heart of what seeing and,

Andrea:

um,

Courtney:

fear, the of freedom, which is something that I feel like, I think especially americans are ill, uh, situated. To understand like we are not situated well to understand how fear and freedom, uh, can like the how fear complicates freedom

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

for the self and for everyone. And, um, it's it's. There's a line from, uh, Toni Morrison, who wrote in Beloved, this is the line from Beloved and it's,"freeing yourself as was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another."

Andrea:

Yes.

Courtney:

And I want to, and this is what she said is making me of reflect back to, um, the Revolutionary War, which, side note, we are entering, um, Uh, a astrologically where Pluto is to be back in Aquarius, correct?

Andrea:

Pluto is an aquarius.

Courtney:

Pluto is in Aquarius, and that I want to make sure I'm saying this correctly. That is where Pluto was the time of the Revolutionary

Andrea:

War. the War. Um. the French Revolution.

Courtney:

yes, and I believe the Haitian Revolution as well,

Andrea:

Yes. Yes. Because the Haitian revolution came shortly thereafter. I'll double check.

Courtney:

Yes, we'll sure these are all correct, but we are in a very potent time for evolutionary change, um, which feels very accurate when you look out the proverbial window, i. e. your Take care. Like social media and see what's happening in the world right now. And so, but what it calls me to is this freedom fear cocktail and how it is

Andrea:

right.

Courtney:

It does show the, the resistance, that we still have in ourselves because we are, according to human design, still evolving beings into the nine, nine centered way. So we've, the change has been made, but there's, there's further change to be had in 2027.

Andrea:

Right. Absolutely!

Courtney:

Um, so there's this internal resistance to. Our full freedom, like really owning our freedom on an individual level, which leaves room, not self, like the not self, um, provides this room for the demagogue, for the

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

outer authority to come in and say that in order to, um, be free, Your freedom is hinged upon literally objectifying yourself. So literally

Andrea:

in order to, in order to survive.

Courtney:

in order to survive. Um, and that there's no such thing as everyone being free and everyone having what they need. There's only finite resources still. We are, we are still under attack. We are still, um, we are still, vulnerable to scarcity. Scarcity is a thing. It's real. It's lurking behind every corner and we have to come under the umbrella of certain way of thinking, being, behaving, relating to one another in order to stay on top of this food chain. And this is all old, not self, seven centered, now mythology,

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

And what was about what you said that this wasn't always mythology, like what you're saying is like, this mythology has origins in a reality, and also this reality was thousands of years ago, and we have evolved.

Andrea:

Yeah. The the reality was thousands of years ago. I mean, you know, it's, we have, we're in an unbroken chain, right? So when you look at like the. Founders of our society. those founders are in an unbroken chain going all the way back to the origins of, um, these like dominating ideas, this scarcity mentality. But when you look at like, even our nearest ancestors that we study all the time, right. The Romans, um, you know, they came by it honestly from the the Assyrians. So there's, a whole chain of how it came to us. I think what was, Um, particularly harmful with the Romans is that they learned from the empires that did not succeed. Okay. So there were empires prior to the Romans who did not succeed because they allowed indigenous spiritual practices to exist within the empire. so the Romans learned, Oh, that cannot be possible, right?

Courtney:

Hmm.

Andrea:

Um, especially the later stage. Right. So like, as they start to colonize Christianity in the early stages of the Roman empire, they were trying to do the same thing, but it quickly. started to go sideways. And that was when they adopted Christianity and then turned themselves into, you know, the Roman Catholic empire instead of the Roman empire. Um, which was a, which was a weird, you know, five, 600 year transition where there was a lot of fighting and a lot of You know, power struggles and, um, some would even say that was a thousand year period, but it just depends on, you know, how you define the terms, but the, I think the important part is how this oppression went from the, like, you know, day to day"I employ you" or"I enslaved you cause I captured you and I raided your town" to a spiritual oppression

Courtney:

Mm hmm. Yeah.

Andrea:

It was also a physical oppression, but it was physical and spiritual at that point.

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

Um, and so the scarcity really came in, um, for our direct lineage, right? The lineage of this country, because your direct lineage is different.

Courtney:

Yes

Andrea:

you're at the impact of the lineage of this country. So it's relevant to you.

Courtney:

Yes. And I want to come back that, but really glad you, you pointed that out, yes. continue because that's an important.

Andrea:

Yeah. So this, this scarcity mindset, if you think about when these indigenous cultures were obliterated and like. the beginning of the dark ages, right? So like 400, 500 AD, what came in, right? What came in were, um, plagues and, uh, famine and all of these really tragic societal issues. That were then compounded by the dysfunctional power structures at play. And of course there were times when they were able to get back into alignment, right? Like I think of, um, the time of queen Elizabeth or like even the Victorian era, right? Like there are times where it was less acute, but the reality is, is even during those times, nobody was thriving. Right.

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

Nobody was thriving.

Courtney:

Like, yeah,

Andrea:

everybody was suffering. Um, there, maybe some artists were thriving, but really, like, even when you peel back those stories, they're

Courtney:

Oh,

Andrea:

so much drama.

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

and so that's, that's like, the, the, um, the genealogy, for lack of a better term, of the scarcity mindset, some I am using air quotes here, um, or the, like, identification with scarcity that we have, because that's really what it is. It's like, it's an identification with scarcity as, uh, non negotiable. And that really bumps up against, you know, colonizing the U. S. Where, or, you know, the previously native lands where you had people who were really fundamentally connected to the abundance of

Courtney:

yes,

Andrea:

being a human.

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

And, and I think part of the gift of this clash is that We have an opportunity to come back to that quickly because the land is holding that

Courtney:

Mm.

Andrea:

Like the land here has that. I'm chilling on this. The land here has known that more recently than say the land in Europe. Right? Because the land in Europe has, you know, many more hundreds of years of that scarcity and that, um, that, uh, extortion, really.

Courtney:

mm,

Andrea:

That is required to survive. Um, and so there's much more recent memory here of the abundance and the, um, ways of nature that we are meant to come back to. And so we, you know, we do things extra here. Like that's just, that's been part, that's how we were founded. You know, like we weren't founded by people who are really happy with where they lived. Like we were founded by people who literally were kicked out for lack of a better term. Like there was no reason to kick them out, but they were so extreme that they didn't want them in their own country. Okay.

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

they were extremists in their time.

Courtney:

They were, yeah, violent extremists also, which think is another important piece to, to say, but I mean, but you're right. And it's this is like such deep conversation that like, I honestly, where my mind's going, I don't even know if I'm ready to talk about that yet, but do think it's really important to back aside that, that you touched on with indigenous, indigenous tribes, um, the people and the land. Connected deeply through spirituality, um, and tangible spirituality. Like i, want to like like a big emphasis on this, this spiritual connection. Um,

Andrea:

it's an animist connection. Right. I mean, we've talked about this a little bit with your. Recent deep dive.

Courtney:

yes. Ooh, which is a whole nother thing, I'm excited. I'm like, have chills

Andrea:

We're going to have an episode on that.

Courtney:

Yeah. The power of spirituality, kind of going back a little bit to the last episode, um, that the energetic. connection between the people in the land of the indigenous communities and, you know, Turtle Island, and now the United States, and also the indigenous connection of the enslaved africans. Um, that they had to their lands and to the land in general, because I mean, people to the land are connected to the land. Yeah. know what I mean? Like, And. And the really sad and unfortunate part of what the Europeans holding at the time is that their connection to the land had been like like you said, hundred years prior. Um, and so many years, many of years prior. And so there, I mean, and we see that in Jamestown, you know, could not, could not cope. Um, and this introducing. uh, a, a genetic bloodline, energetic function, um, regulation, energetic connection that was missing for who, for a group that was quickly becoming the most powerful in the world.

Andrea:

Right.

Courtney:

Very quickly. And part the reason why they were able to do that so quickly was that they had the, and saying this in a very objective way, they had the power to harness. The power of this spiritual of and land enslavement and through, um, genocide, lack of a better word.

Andrea:

They had absconded. They had absconded so much power through enslavement and, and genocide.

Courtney:

Except for the fact that they never were they, they rarely could experience the thriving on an spiritual level.

Andrea:

Absolutely. No, they were not thriving. They were not thriving. Again, they were doing what they were taught to survive. and, and what they were taught was this relentless pursuit of power. Is the only way that you can survive, they were, and, and it got disguised as thriving, but in the end, you see in all of these, you know, so much that's been revealed through history of like diaries and letters

Courtney:

Mm-Hmm.

Andrea:

you know, once you get under the covers, none of them were doing well, right? None.

Courtney:

Anyone who's who's seen Hamilton should have a good sense that no one was thriving during this Yeah.

Andrea:

Yeah.

Courtney:

They were killing each other. They were literally killing each other over. other over. Bullshit.

Andrea:

They were killing each other over bullshit bullshit and designing systems to kill other people. Like that's, that's what they were

Courtney:

Mm-Hmm.

Andrea:

and those are the systems that we are working to dismantle and reimagine today.

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

Um, I think that when it comes back to agency, just to kind of like bring this back full circle,

Courtney:

Yeah. Mm-Hmm. Mm-Hmm

Andrea:

The intentional erosion of agency, the intentional erosion of autonomy, which then led to erosion of agency, has been part of the way this lineage of society has known to operate. And so when you look at a system like human design and a system like liberation theology that brings you back to the core of your humanity,

Courtney:

Mm hmm.

Andrea:

it naturally leads to repair in your autonomy, which. supports you in taking back your agency.

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

And so when we think about that's the reason I think why we take this work so seriously and why we know this to be revolutionary work. And it's a quiet revolution. It's not, it's not needing to correct anyone else because the energy, your energy changes when you take back your agency,

Courtney:

100 percent

Andrea:

the power in your voice changes when you take back your agency.

Courtney:

Mm hmm.

Andrea:

and that can be on a small or a large scale. There's no hierarchy. right? Each one of us is needed in whatever way that we're needed and might be in your own family unit and might be in your neighborhood and might be in your workspace. It's needed wherever you are.

Courtney:

Yeah. Those, those, those expressions are no less or more critical to your personal, first of all, your individual liberation, and then to our communal and collective liberation than literally anyone next to you. And, um, to bring this like to current day. I think that's something that if you're someone who has been keeping up with the student protests, um, that is really important to find sources are actually coming from the protests themselves to understand what's happening. Not simply because the mainstream media is just trying to paint the whole thing in a very broad, very Idiotic, frankly, brush, but to notice that The big and small to notice all the different ways of different gifts and purposes and callings and personalities and identities and are coming together to build something that is dynamically revolutionary. It's not just one form of protest that's happening in these spaces. There are providing food one another. are people who are bringing music. There people who bringing dance art. There are people who are teaching their teachers in the space. They are holding classes in these encampments. There arendividuals who holding religious services these encampments,

Andrea:

I was gonna say there's a spiritual element yeah,

Courtney:

a a spiritual element, everything, every type of. Expression of. community is being represented inside of these, these spaces. And I think it's really important to understand that is revolution actually looks like It is the, um, is the eyes opening to our autonomy, the ability to like, Move separately how we were taught to move like, we can be taught to move a certain way and we can choose to move differently. And then, as you said, claiming back our agency actually go through the process of understanding. Okay."How do I want move? do I to make change?" and it something very, very deeply unique, deeply differentiated using language human design and the beauty. and impact comes from that when we, we choose to embark on that journey and in that

Andrea:

yeah, absolutely. I think what's interesting is that you cannot, there's, we get confused with agency and individualism. And agency,

Courtney:

Yeah, speak on it.

Andrea:

Agency. Is what creates the foundation for a healthy community

Courtney:

Mm hmm.

Andrea:

Agency is what allows us to be the what MLK talked about, right, the, the beloved community is everyone agency is everyone within that community being honored for who they are

Courtney:

Mm hmm.

Andrea:

right versus this rugged individualism which cuts you off from community. So. It's, I understand why it's confusing because you start getting into, okay, I need to know where I end, where you begin, I need to know what right action is for me. I need to follow my own strategy and authority. It all sounds very individual and that part is, and then the part where we are communal beings and a piece of you following your strategy and authority is showing up and communing, right? Because we've made that evolution. We're no longer surviving. We're now communing and being able to really be authentic within that group of other people. Is what lays the seeds for true community, true mutual aid, true, um, just living out what we're here to be, right?

Courtney:

Yeah.

Andrea:

We cannot do it by ourselves, but we also cannot do it without our autonomy.

Courtney:

Yes, exactly. Yeah. We cannot, we cannot do it but cannot do it showing up as less than who we fully are.

Andrea:

Yes, as showing up as a piece of who we fully are, right? Because I think we've been showing up as a piece, but without the understanding that we have given away our power. We've given away that agency. And so we have to find a way to reclaim that.

Courtney:

Yeah. And we, and are, mean, and these are the tools, this why we're here. This is, this is part of what andrea and I fully, fully believe is a part of our purpose is to share these tools of getting back to, um, autonomy and agency. And we believe those that human design and liberation theology hold inside of it. Um, so many loving ways of coming back to radical self love, radical self trust, um, and understanding that we are interconnected. We are a beloved community that my actions directly impact those of others versa. And so moving accordingly is only way forward.

Andrea:

Absolutely.

Courtney:

And that we it takes to do those we have innately

Andrea:

That's

Courtney:

what it takes to live these truths and realities out

Andrea:

We do. And it's also going to take some relearning, you know, it's going to take some unlearning and relearning. and relearning. Um, one of the things that comes up quickly when you're following your strategy and authority is that you can't control somebody else's strategy and authority. And so so, and so that puts you into this place of, okay, I really need to understand my autonomy, but I also need to understand our interconnectedness and how I have to trust that if this is truly a yes for my family or for. Um, the community I'm in or for the city, right? Whatever, whatever you're navigating, it has to be a yes for the other person as well,

Courtney:

Mm hmm.

Andrea:

even if they're not aware of it. And often you're dealing with the not self, right? Like you're, you're in community with people who have, who are on the journey of being in their true self. And so really being able to hold that truth for yourself while allowing the other person to be on their journey.

Courtney:

Mm. Yeah. Yep. Yes. Yes. That's a major part of knowing where you end and someone else begins. Um, and I love talk about that really soon. It's how operates communally. Um, yeah. That'd be beautiful.

Andrea:

Yes. I also think that just looping back to something you said earlier. around financial solvency and recognizing that money is just a representation of energy. It is just stored energy. And when we take our agency back. We take back control of that stored energy because we are the regenerative resource, right? So when we think about like, um, you know, financial distress or like, you know, I've been very open about some of the things that I've experienced in the last five or so years. And what I had to learn through that is that whatever happens, Within those supremacist systems is not a reflection of my resource.

Courtney:

Yes.

Andrea:

My resource is my resource. My resource is who I am when I walk in the room. My resource is who I be when things are falling apart around me. Right? Like my resource is my life experience. There's so much that cannot be taken away from me as far as that goes. And I would say likewise for you and for anyone listening. And so agency is so intricately tied with our understanding of energy. Because it is an expression of our energy, right? And money is just that energy stored. And so once we can fully own, okay, my energy is coming from within me. My energy is coming from my skills. My energy is coming from who I am inside, then you actually become pretty un-fuck-with-able. Like people cannot you anymore. And that sends the system screaming, of course, right?

Courtney:

Oh, absolutely.

Andrea:

It totally sends a system screaming, but in the best possible way, because you have, you are claiming your agency, right? And so then that leads to. energy coming back to you, which is going to lead to what you need to be able to thrive. I don't necessarily think of it as like a get rich quick scheme. And this is something I am, I'll be, you know, full disclosure. I'm still recovering from this. know, desire to have all the money in the world. And I'm not saying that, like, I don't still desire it because I want to be comfortable. I want my kids to be comfortable. I want the people around comfortable. I want to be able to support the people around me that are suffering. And that gets into. you know, what's possible when we have that financial solvency, when we've, when we've reclaimed that agency, and then we can really up with resources for the people who need it, which is going to be part of the solution of healing from this capitalistic society that is built to like capitalize on everybody and moving into a more regenerative economy where we recognize, Oh, like falling on hard times is part of being human."Hey, here's the, here's the toolkit for that. Oh, you're having a hard time. Here's the toolkit for that."

Courtney:

Like, uh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yes. I love like what came up for me in this movement is like money is energy stored, but collective like collectivism, mutual aid, that's energy compounded.

Andrea:

it is.

Courtney:

You know, it And so one thing we I want to finish with is that you can't have community without vulnerability. And one of the things that is the intention behind making about money and this capitalization on our energy is to say that if we don't have money, then we don't have to offer. And if we don't have something to offer, we can't ask for anything in return. So we become very isolated, right? In this capitalistic, rugged individualism. like how rugged can you be when you're broke? Like, what can you, you you're sticking big when you're broke. Right. And so this idea that we have both faced is, this a tough one, but I also believe because it is so emotionally charged that to address it, it means the potency is there that when we realize that yes, money is our energy stored, but collective is our energy compounded. And we express when we are a deficiency in certain type of energy and a certain storage of our energy, then community can come in and compound what we do have and, and bring about the stability that the community is for, the collective is for the stability, not money. Um, and so, like you said, that sends the system screaming and it is a very potent way of experiencing agency and autonomy inside community because of our, uh, access to our vulnerability.

Andrea:

Totally. I mean, why do you think they're going after the bail funds? Like that's such a great example, right? I mean, they could go after the GoFundMes, trust me, they would be like, it's, but it's our, they can't, the, the, the sheep have left the stable, like, yeah, exactly. The tide has already

Courtney:

It's Babe, baby, it's Babe, babe. We are out here, BAH-RAM-EWE, man.

Andrea:

Yeah, like, sorry, that, that ship left, like. that tide turns, you're not going to be able to turn that and it's exciting, you know, it's exciting what we're figuring out and. um, and, you know, certain municipalities are experimenting with other, um, you know, like the basic income and other ways of, um, giving people back their agency. That's essentially what they're doing.

Courtney:

it's true. It

Andrea:

They're re-enfranchising them. them.

Courtney:

Wow. Yes. Yes. Oh, so, so, good. I hope you enjoyed as as we did. Um, please, uh, like, follow, subscribe, comment, comment, comment. And,

Andrea:

want to be in

Courtney:

Please. Yes, yes, do. All right.

Andrea:

Let us know what your takeaways are and what questions you have. And just thank you for being here.

Courtney:

Yes. Yes. Until next time.

Andrea:

Until the next one!

Courtney Napier:

Thank you so much for tuning into HD and Liberation podcast. We hope you've gained valuable insights into human design and its role in building a life of peace, success, satisfaction, and wonder. If you've enjoyed this episode, please show your support by liking, following, and sharing our podcast. on YouTube, or your favorite podcast platform. Your engagement helps us reach more people who can benefit from this wisdom. For exclusive content and to join our thriving community, consider becoming a Patreon member. Your support allows us to continue exploring the depths of human design and its potential for life and community transformation. Stay tuned for more fun, thoughtful, and impacting discussions. Together, we're unlocking the path to a more liberated and authentic life. Thank you for being a part of HD and Liberation Podcast.

People on this episode

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Andrea Ward Berg

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Courtney Napier

Co-host