127. Dare to Choose New Paths – Agneta Sjödin
Agneta Sjödin is a media celebrity in Sweden. She started out her career as a tv entertainer and to some extent she also worked with journalism. But she was always a seeker, and lately, she has focused on her inner journey, which she has also shared with her fans in several books and in a podcast. She has evolved into something of a Swedish Oprah, if you will. I got to know Agneta earlier this year, and it was obvious that we have similar worldviews and share many thoughts, ideas and musings. It shows in this conversation (I sometimes talk as if I were the guest …) Spirituality was always there, from early childhood, she says. Her father took her to Sunday school. She never became a “proper” Christian, but she kept the spiritual side of it. “I knew I wanted to serve in some way.” Agneta rose to fame early on in her career. Her authenticity and presence made her greatly popular. She mainly hosted entertainment shows but also a morning news show. Do you follow the news today? “No. The news is rehashed, and they don't give you any hope or energy.” One trend Agneta has noticed with certain unease is the demand from activists that you take a stand in every new conflict. As a celebrity, she is particularly vulnerable to it. “The wars today are not only taking place on the ground, they are in people’s heads all over the world”, she says. “As a public figure, you are harassed if you don’t take a stand. Why don’t they demand we take a stand against war in general?” Agneta has become ever more interested in ETs and the UFO/UAP phenomenon. We talk quite a bit about that, and we delve into information about wars in outer space that would be considered controversial to most people. Her latest book, Våga välja nya vägar (Dare to Choose New Paths), focuses a lot on the inner journey. It’s important to find your higher purpose, Agneta points out. But that doesn’t mean to divorce yourself from everyday life. “There is a Zen saying that before enlightenment you chop wood and carry water, and after enlightenment you chop wood and carry water.” Agneta and I agree that pain is inevitable but suffering optional. We suffer when we linger on pain. “But it’s difficult to tell people that they don’t have to suffer. ‘How can I not suffer when the world looks like this?’, they say” Love is the creative force of the universe, but most of us don’t fully realize that. “We live more in fear than in love on this planet. Even if you fall in love, you instantly start worrying: ‘what if he/she leaves me?’.” “I have struggled with relationships”, she says. “But I have had things to learn in that area. I am good at loving myself now.” Is consciousness God? “I don't use that word a lot. But for me it’s more like divine love”, Agneta says. “It's the intelligence of everything. We’re all a part of that intelligence. Nothing ever dies.” In our conversation we also touch on – all too briefly – another topic that both Agneta and I are passionate about, the origins of civilization. She recently visited the enigmatic megalithic site of Göbekli Tepe in Turkey. Agneta's website Agneta's books Agneta on Instagram Agneta on Facebook