158: Nick Onken – Exploring The Deeper World Around Us

"I think a lot of my self-worth in the earlier times in my career was found in who and what I was shooting, and there was a point where that kind of fell to the wayside."
- Nick Onken
Hey, guys, welcome back to ONKEN RADIO (previously NION Radio). In this podcast, we explore the body, mind, and soul of the creative entrepreneur. It's my goal to help you take your creativity, business, and life to the next level. I'm so glad you're joining me on this journey!

You've probably seen on Instagram that I've been going through a dark time over this last year. As challenging as it may be, I think that the dark times are necessary so we can experience the light times, too. 

That's why today, I want to talk about how we can go one step further into exploring this sometimes isolating, scary, and deep world around us. I believe that doing so is an essential step to fully undergo the process of Identity Alchemy. I think it can help us bring our most creative selves into the world.

So in this solo episode, I'll use my personal experiences to talk about the dark times of our lives and why they happen. I'll also discuss why it's crucial to heal from them and share the different modalities I used to aid my own healing. In this way, I can help you stay resilient, happier, healthier, and more productive!
The Dark Night of the Soul
Have you ever felt a deep sense of feeling lost or empty? Sometimes that feeling is brought on by specific factors, but it can also just appear out of nowhere. If you've had that feeling, then you might be experiencing the dark night of the soul.

The dark night of the soul is a kind of spiritual depression where you can't find meaning in anything. It's what Eckhart Tolle describes as an interruption into your life where you feel a deep sense of meaninglessness. Last year I found myself in that exact hole, trying to figure out what was left of my identity and being.

Many different things can trigger a deep night of the soul. It can be a break-up, losing a job, the death of a loved one, or the loss of your own health. Sometimes it may just happen because you're changing and people around you aren't ready to accept it. 

In my situation, I experienced that dark time when I was navigating my career and finding meaning in a different space from it. In my earlier days of being a photographer, I found my self-worth was on who, what, and which brands I was shooting for. So when the business went wayward, it deeply affected me emotionally. 

That was the first trigger to my dark night of the soul. The second one was watching the Jim Carrey documentary, Jim and Andy. Andy Kaufman was an actor who took comedy and performance art to the edges of irrationality and blurred the dividing line between reality and imagination. Similarly, Jim Carrey is a method actor, and he becomes the character he portrays on and off the set. In the documentary, Jim Carrey shares his experience of feeling lost when a film wraps up, and he had to go back to being Jim. He was like, "Who is Jim?"It was as if he went through a massive identity crisis too tricky for him to solve.

Now, this dark night of the soul is something we all go through at some point in our lives. It doesn't necessarily mean that we're going crazy or losing touch with reality. Many artists and creative entrepreneurs go through this: They feel there's no meaning in what they're doing, feel like it's not enough, or something is just missing. However, again, this step is crucial in the process of knowing ourselves more profoundly.
Healing from a Dark Night of the Soul
There are ways to heal and stay healthy when going through these dark times. In my experience, I’ve discovered specific modalities that helped me to be in a much different space and explore the world around me deeper. These are a few I suggest for everyone.
#1: Read Books
I know it's obvious, but reading books is vital. There are so many excellent books out there that can help us get through...