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Author Jock Whitehouse believes we can alleviate much of our unhappiness and that of others by reconnecting to the source of the universe. His novel, The Ledge of Quetzal – Beyond 2012, is an effort to show us how—and to debunk the myth that the world will end with the Mayan calendar on December 21, 2012. In part two of an interview with Jock, the author deals with the age-old question of balancing our work, family and personal lives.

What does co-creating a new reality mean for most of us who are holding down jobs and raising families?

This goes back to the previous question, the “plane of our divinity.” I think there is literally a larger force guiding our lives. It— the universe itself—intends us to succeed. Just look at our immune system and our entire structure and the structure of the universe—how incredibly well built it is in every detail to survive and become what is inherent in itself. That “intention,” so to speak, is personified in each of us in a very particular way.

I think we co-create when we become aware and listen to that intention and allow it to manifest through us. We dance with it in a manner of speaking. We have free will to do and become almost whatever we would like, but our co-creative power is in doing it in harmony with the universe’s intention. We become the intention. We become God, really. I know that may sound blasphemous to some, but each of us is God.

As far as holding down a job and raising a family, the act of co-creation shifts the realities of work and family to become more aligned with “intention.” It’s not that you’re one thing while at work and raising a family and something else while you’re “being spiritual.” When you’re co-creating, all phases of your life begin to merge into a single resonance. I know, I’ve seen it and done it. I’m doing it now.

What did you learn in the advertising world (specifically at swb&r) that you’ve applied in this new phase of your life.

I worked for 11 agencies in my professional career, and SWB—which later became swb&r—was the best of them all. It was small, intimate, and there was a lot of compassion, and I would emphasize compassion. We made room for everyone’s idiosyncrasies—mostly they made room for mine. Perhaps more than anything, the agency had soul. In Atlanta I ran into one other shop that had soul, and there I realized how dysfunctional it can become without clear leadership. SWB had that leadership.

As to what I learned during my time at there—a little over 10 years—I saw how “organic” both social and corporate change actually are. We espouse being guided by reason, but there’s always a great underlying organic—human—process going on. And that human element trumps reason every time.

You say you lost five jobs in eight years, then went on a quest to discover your own divinity. How did you manage to support yourself while following your dream?

I believe now that had I embarked on my spiritual quest after the first job loss, something would have materialized to support that quest, and I will address that belief in a minute. But as you say, it took five job losses—and the pain they caused—to wake me up. And because that’s the way it happened, I believe that’s the way it should have happened. By the fifth job loss, I was eligible for Social Security and I had managed to rebuild a small nest egg after a bankruptcy along the way. The nest egg got us to Mexico and the Social Security helps us keep our heads above water, barely.

But as I have pursued my dream, as you say, Social Security and the nest egg were not enough. A small investment in and resale of a piece of land that practically fell from the sky is the only thing that allowed me to stay on the path until equally small royalties started to come in. I’ve taken these manifestations as evidence that we will always have what we need. And we will. The book itself is testament to this.

Next: The journey from crappy to happy.

– Jeff Widmer