Looking UP Together
A Don’t Look Up AMP Session for Courageous Democracy
My intent for this AMP session and the reflections that follow is to invite the support of the highest sources of wisdom, love, and healing—however you understand or name them—so that together we can align with and integrate the deeper meaning of this film with grace, ease, love, and joy.
It feels like the ground beneath us is trembling. Violence, suspicion, and fear keep spiking, and the noise of blame rises quickly. People shout, point fingers, and double down, certain they know who’s at fault. In the whirlwind, it’s easy to feel small, voiceless, or tempted to retreat into distraction.
In our Minority Report post, we explored how fear tries to police the future—grabbing for control when life feels uncertain. In Cloud Atlas, we looked at the unbridled bully pattern and how small acts of courage ripple through time. Today’s Alignment Movie Process (AMP) film, Don’t Look Up (2021), shines a light on a third pattern that fuels both: denial—the impulse to numb out, distract ourselves, and postpone what really matters. That’s not a partisan pattern; it’s a human one. And it keeps us from doing the simple, brave things that heal communities and sustain a living democracy.
This isn’t a movie review. As always, AMP treats films like tuning forks—stories that resonate inside us, stirring what’s ready to shift. Don’t Look Up is satire, yes, but beneath the humor is a deeper pulse: how fear, profit, busyness, and tribal loyalty can seduce us into postponing love and stewardship. How easy it is to doomscroll, dunk on strangers, and wait for “someone smarter” to fix it. And how freedom withers when people stop tending it together.
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Why this session now
It meets fear without feeding it. Instead of amplifying panic, the session turns us toward the felt experience—how fear lives in the body, and how we can soothe, ground, and re-open.
It stays non-partisan and human. We work with patterns—denial, overreaction, blame—rather than attacking “the other side.” That protects dignity and invites honest conversation.
It offers small, doable next steps. The antidote to numbness isn’t a grand gesture—it’s many ordinary acts of attention, care, and participation that add up.
Domination and bullying are the problem. But here’s the truth: it isn’t only them. The work is within us. When we change these ways of being inside ourselves—when we stop trying to dominate, belittle, or retreat—we open our hearts to discover new solutions to the problems we face. Real social change starts with inner change, and it spreads through resonance.
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Try This AMP Session Yourself: The Intention Session
If you’d like to experience the healing resonance of this Don’t Look Up AMP session, here’s a simple practice before watching the film:
Step 1 — Say these out loud
I allow the changes in my timing and only integrate what I’m ready to.
I have faith that I’ll receive the benefits I desire.
I’m patient with myself as I make my changes.
I let go of feeling I’m too busy to take the time for this.
I let go of needing to understand how AMP works, allowing myself to receive the full benefits in my own timing.
Step 2 — Three modalities
Nod your head “yes.”
Drink water.
Take several slow, rhythmic breaths through your nose.
Then simply watch Don’t Look Up all the way through. Don’t force insights. Just notice what stirs. Trust that the resonance will do its work.
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Resonance Reflections for These Times
When you’re ready, speak these statements out loud:
I let go…
I let go of trying to control outcomes when I’m scared.
I let go of doomscrolling and blame.
I let go of overcompensating with busyness.
I let go of numbing myself when life feels overwhelming.
I allow…
I allow mindful presence—I attend and befriend the fear in my body until it softens.
I allow proportion and perspective—my thinking re-balances when I slow down and breathe.
I allow connection—listening before debating, remembering there is no “them,” only us.
I allow stewardship—taking small, steady actions that help keep self-government alive.
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Three Small Ways to “Look Up” This Week
Have one brave, kind conversation with someone who sees things differently—no winning, just listening.
Do one local act of stewardship—help a neighbor, attend a community meeting, or make sure someone can vote when the time comes.
Practice one calming ritual daily—a hand on your heart and slow breathing to keep you out of reactivity and in choice.
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At the end of Don’t Look Up, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character quietly says,
“We really did have everything, didn’t we? I mean, when you think about it.”
To me, it’s not despair—it’s remembrance. We do have everything: each other, our neighborhoods, our fragile but still-living democracy, the ability to choose love over fear. The point isn’t to be terrified of losing it; it’s to care for it tenderly while we have it.
The late Howard Thurman, mentor to Martin Luther King Jr., once said:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
That is the invitation of this session. Not to let the fight distract us, but to wake up, look up, and come alive—in unity, in love, and in the simple daily acts that keep freedom breathing.