The Paradigm Shift You Didn’t See Coming

The Moment Everything Flipped

There are moments in life when something shifts so deeply that you can never see the world the same way again.

For me, that moment started with Bitcoin.

Not in the speculative, number-go-up way. Not in the hype, the promises of Lambos, or the feverish “crypto bro” trading culture that many associate with it. But in the realization that everything I thought I knew about money, value, and trust was incomplete.

Because Bitcoin wasn’t the destination—it was the doorway. A paradigm shift that, once entered, made me question much more than just money. But this isn’t just about Bitcoin. It could have been anything—a personal crisis, an unexpected realization, a moment when something cracked open and couldn’t be unseen. Bitcoin just happened to be the gateway for me.

For years, I operated within the same framework most of us do—trusting that the financial system, the institutions guiding society, and the rules we played by were solid. But the more I went down the rabbit hole, the more I realized:

I had been missing something huge.

And if I was missing this much about money, what else was I missing?

That single question cracked something open.

Because when one deeply held assumption shatters, it doesn’t just stop there. It spreads, like a small crack in glass slowly spiderwebbing outward.

Have you ever had a moment like that? A moment where something shifted—maybe subtly at first—but you couldn’t go back to seeing things the same way?

I started questioning everything.

Not just about money, but about:
—The nature of power and control—who decides the rules we live by?
—The beliefs inherited over time—how much of what seems certain is just conditioning?
—What actually makes life meaningful—is it achievement, success, external markers… or something deeper?

Bitcoin was just the beginning. It became a gateway into much bigger questions about reality itself.

And once those questions started, they couldn’t be unasked.

The Awakening That Followed

At first, I resisted. Hard.

And if I’m being honest, I still do. Even now, I find myself resisting the changes unfolding in my life, caught between the pull of transformation and the part of me that wants to hold on.

I’m learning that even resistance itself is something to surrender to.

The structures I had built my life around no longer fully resonated. The version of life that had been about climbing, optimizing, and striving for more—suddenly felt like it had been chasing the wrong things.

I had already started down the rabbit hole before 2020, listening to Bitcoiners discuss foundational problems in the system.

But when COVID hit, I discovered Jeff Booth’s ideas, and over those months, his insights on deflation, abundance, and how the system was at odds with technological progress helped me connect the dots. The more I understood, the more it became clear how big of a shift humanity is actually going through.

While many were just trying to get through the chaos, I spent hours every day learning, questioning, connecting the dots between broken financial incentives, manipulation, and control.

But as these perspectives shifted, the realization set in—this wasn’t just about economics. It was about how we construct reality.

Some of these new ideas got me crazy looks and met resistance, even from those closest to me. Conversations that once felt effortless suddenly felt strained. Friends and family who had always seemed aligned now seemed confused.

That moment stuck.

Sports had always been the connection to family and friends. And suddenly, the thing that had once made everything familiar now made everything feel foreign.

This wasn’t just an intellectual unraveling—it was an identity shift.

Even the closest relationships weren’t immune. My brother’s heartbreaking divorce deeply affected me, forcing me to reevaluate what I had once assumed to be unshakable. The ways of showing up in relationships were no longer unquestioned—patterns once invisible were now glaringly clear.

When Reality Cracked Open

For years, I had meditated on and off, but about mid way through 2023, I made a more regular commitment to the practice.

Something in me knew that deeper stillness was needed, even if I didn’t fully understand why at the time.

And then, in early 2024, something new happened.

I was on a plane to San Diego for a business trip, staring out at the clouds, reading The Science of Enlightenment by Shinzen Young.

The sky stretched out endlessly, and for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was inside of it—not separate, not caught in my thoughts, just present.

And suddenly, something released.

The anxiety that had followed me for years started to loosen. My body felt different—lighter.

A few days later, when I arrived in Florida for a family vacation, I was moving through life in a completely new way.

I saw patterns and rhythms in nature that I had never noticed before. The pelicans diving for fish in the morning moved with a perfect, musical rhythm.

The dolphins arrived, and it all felt like a part of me, woven into something far greater.

I journaled 40-50 pages that week, processing emotions and fears that had been buried for years.

It felt like mourning the death of an old self and celebrating something new emerging.

For about two weeks after returning home, that lightness stayed with me.

A colleague at work even spontaneously mentioned that I was glowing.

Maybe this was my new reality.

And then—just as suddenly—it wasn’t.

What followed was a year of disorienting volatility, where the openness and peace I had experienced in Florida would clash with some of the most painful plunges into the depths of my own soul.

Expansion gave way to contraction, clarity to confusion, and what felt like a breakthrough one moment often unraveled the next.

It wasn’t just an emotional rollercoaster—it felt like parts of me were being ripped apart.

The peace of Melbourne Beach, Florida felt like a distant dream as I faced panic, pain, and the raw weight of everything I had buried for years.

But maybe this isn’t just about me.

Maybe the world itself is going through a similar cycle of expansion and contraction.

What if this volatility isn’t just personal—but part of something bigger?

The Invitation: Trusting What’s Emerging

This week, I’m sitting with this question:

"What happens when we stop grasping for certainty and instead trust what’s unfolding?"

If you’ve ever had a moment that shattered assumptions, I’d love to hear about it.

Because maybe, just maybe, those moments aren’t breaking us.

Maybe they are remaking us.

Much Love,

— Matt
Founder, The Liminal Leap