I decided to change probabilities for the holidays this year. In lieu of giving presents, I chose to use my gift money to make charitable donations. I realize that I may not be doing my part as a good little consumer to help the economy, but given how many people are struggling and how many worthy causes are hurting for support, I felt the resources I could spare would be put to better use by assisting those who are truly in need.
In late October, I sent an email to those with whom I usually exchange gifts explaining my plans for this year, and I encouraged them to follow suit. Nearly everyone wrote back and concurred with the idea. In fact, a number of them said they would contact others with whom they usually exchange gifts and suggest that they do the same. Before long, I was delighted to see this effort take on a life of its own.
I’d like to think this illustrates how small gestures can yield big results. It also shows, as I wrote in Chapter 8 of Get the Picture, how we’re all truly connected. The beliefs and intents we hold fan out in all directions, like ripples in a global pond, touching many others who are seemingly far removed from, yet nevertheless integrally linked to, each of us.
The results of this undertaking particularly remind me of the message in the film “Pay It Forward,” one of the pictures profiled in the aforementioned chapter. Its story has a number of parallels to my probability shift (only told a bit more eloquently).
Eugene Simonet (Kevin Spacey), a junior high school social studies teacher, gives his class a special assignment – to come up with innovative suggestions on how to change the world. One of his students, Trevor McKinney (Haley Joel Osment), a bright, sensitive, impressionable young man, is particularly captivated by the task. He takes the assignment to heart and creates a plan that’s a real original: He proposes that each person help three others with something they can’t accomplish on their own. Anyone who successfully receives the necessary assistance must then help three more people in need of aid, who must in turn do the same, and so on in an endless chain of permutations that eventually encompasses virtually everyone on the planet. Trevor calls his plan “pay it forward,” an altruistic concept of doing for others that purposely runs counter to socially ingrained expectations based on the more familiar notion of “pay it back.”
Word of the pay it forward movement finds its way into the outside world, eventually wending its way to Chris Chandler (Jay Mohr), an intrepid reporter who decides it would make a good story. He’s genuinely puzzled by this phenomenon of supreme selflessness, especially when he becomes a direct beneficiary of it. Chris thus begins researching the story to trace it back to its source, bringing the work of an enterprising seventh grader to the wider world, with even greater impact than imagined.
“Pay It Forward” has a great message for this time of year. Because of that, I’d like to suggest this picture as a new classic for the holidays. If you haven’t seen it, be sure to watch it with those you care about, especially the youngsters in your life. What a great gift this film is, one whose sentiment is truly in the spirit of the season.
(“Pay It Forward” – 2000; Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt, Haley Joel Osment, Jay Mohr, James Caviezel, Jon Bon Jovi, Angie Dickinson, David Ramsey, Gary Werntz, Kathleen Wilhoite, Colleen Flynn; Mimi Leder, director; Leslie Dixon, screenplay; Catherine Ryan Hyde, book)
A Visionary Hero
Heroes arise from every conceivable milieu. Some may seem like obvious candidates, while others are the unlikeliest of champions. But no matter what backgrounds these noble souls may hail from, once they come into their own, they’re forces to be reckoned with, for the impact they have in reshaping their worlds is formidable. One such hero provides the focus for what is undeniably one of the year’s best movies, the recently released biopic “Milk.”
This outstanding new film tells the life story of Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), a mild-mannered, discreet, somewhat unfocused gay New Yorker who moves to San Francisco with his lover Scott (James Franco) in the early ’70s in search of doing something constructive with his life. Little did he realize what would come of it.
Not long after opening a camera shop in San Francisco’s Castro district, a once-conservative neighborhood that was quickly becoming home to the city’s emerging gay population, Milk grew increasingly dissatisfied with the prejudice and injustice heaped upon his peers by everyone from local business owners to the police. But rather than become indignant and embittered about these patently discriminatory practices, Milk channeled his energy into politics, organizing his constituents into a voting bloc ready to exercise its power. For his efforts, Milk was elected to the San Francisco city council as the first openly gay politician to hold major public office in the country.
But Milk’s vision extended beyond the Bay Area. He looked outward across the nation, hoping to use his experience and that of his community to influence activities elsewhere. He was particularly troubled by initiatives launched to overturn gay rights ordinances in communities across the country, a movement spearheaded by former beauty queen Anita Bryant. To squelch the campaign, Milk ultimately brought the fight to California, an effort through which he was successful in stemming the tide on both the local and state level.
In pursuing these goals, Milk faced down his share of fears, including death threats, which he defiantly brushed off as evidence that he must have been successful in getting his message across. In this regard, Milk was every bit the embodiment of the hero one needs to be to become a truly adept conscious creator, a concept discussed at length in Chapter 6 of Get the Picture. But as important as this quality was to his success, Milk was proficient at an even more important conscious creation skill – the ability to envision outcomes. He clearly saw what he wanted to achieve and believed passionately in the possibility of its fulfillment. And when he most needed for those results to come to fruition, they did, without qualification.
Despite his success and defiance, however, Milk made enemies along the way, too, most notably fellow councilman Dan White (Josh Brolin). Frustrated at his inability to achieve his own goals, White eventually resigned from the council but later regretted his decision. When his reinstatement was denied by Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber), White took out his anger on those he believed were most responsible for thwarting his efforts, Moscone and Milk, shooting and killing both of them in San Francisco City Hall.
But Milk’s impact did not die with his death. In the wake of his murder, 30,000 San Francisco residents marched on City Hall to hold a candlelight vigil. He became a symbol of the gay rights movement, inspiring countless initiatives at the state and local level across the country. A number of accounts of his life were produced, too, including an Oscar-winning documentary (“The Times of Harvey Milk,” 1984) and this Oscar-worthy film.
“Milk” is a top-notch picture from start to finish. Penn’s performance in the lead role is outstanding, as are the portrayals by Brolin as Milk’s troubled nemesis and by Emile Hirsch as Milk’s protégé Cleve Jones. Credit screenwriter Dustin Lance Black with giving an excellent script to the superb ensemble cast and director Gus Van Sant for pulling it all together into a riveting package.
The inspiration this film delivers is palpable. On one level there’s the inspiration of a champion leading the charge in a noble cause. On another there’s the inspiration of a conscious creator practicing his art in full flower. But no matter which perspective one chooses to view this picture from, one can’t help but be awed by the tremendous sense of empowerment it engenders. And that in itself is both heroic and visionary.
(“Milk” – 2008; Sean Penn, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin, Diego Luna, James Franco, Alison Pill, Denis O’Hare, Lucas Grabeel, Victor Garber, Howard Rosenman; Gus Van Sant, director; Dustin Lance Black, screenplay)
When Bill Clinton ran for president against incumbent George H.W. Bush in 1992, the country was languishing in a recession that the administration was reluctant to acknowledge. Realizing that this was the central concern of voters, Clinton picked up on it and made it the central theme of his candidacy, going so far as to hang a sign in his campaign offices that read “It’s the economy, stupid.” It helped him win that election and put him on a path to re-election four years later.
The present-day parallels to the early ’90s are striking in many ways, and President-Elect Barack Obama’s focus on those similarities no doubt helped propel him to victory in the November election. Regardless of one’s political views, one can’t help but concede that he ran a brilliant campaign and scored an impressive win. But now that the campaign is over, the real task begins: He’s got his work cut out for him.
Or, should I say, we’ve got our work cut out for us.
The list of challenges facing this country today is indeed daunting. But, as practitioners of conscious creation, we must also realize that we contributed to their creation. So it’s not up to just one person – our new president – to resolve these dilemmas; it’s up to all of us.
As we set about seeking solutions, there are several significant points that we need to bear in mind: (1) when we create our reality, we create the totality of our reality, not just parts of it; (2) when we engage in the creation of events that affect more than just our individual selves, we engage in the practice of co-creation; and (3) because of these two foregoing considerations, all aspects of our reality are, in their own way, interconnected. I discuss each of these points at greater length in Get the Picture, but I repeat their essence here, for they truly are central to understanding our current circumstances. They are also integral to the mass problem-solving tasks we must now get ready to undertake.
Of course, as in any conscious creation pursuit, it’s our underlying beliefs and intents that drive the outcomes. So now, as we face the challenges we’ve set for ourselves, it becomes more important than ever to get a handle on these areas. In other words, to paraphrase the Clinton campaign slogan, it’s important for each of us to come to grips with the idea that “It’s the beliefs, stupid.”
Given the size and scope of the challenges at hand, it’s time for us to grow up as conscious creators. We must move forward, self-aware of what we’re doing. The time for sleepwalking is over (that’s what got us into this mess in the first place) and to cast aside the un-conscious and semi-conscious creation practices that I spoke of in Chapter 1 of Get the Picture. It’s also time to put away the idea than any one individual, no matter how much power we may have imbued him or her with, can solve the problems that we’ve created en masse. These are all principles of a paradigm whose time has come and now, thankfully, must go.
Some might contend that this is going to be a difficult process, and they could be right. On the other hand, with recognition of the problems and the intents that caused them, the solutions might come much more easily than expected. Either way, the ease or difficulty we experience in the process will depend, as it always does in conscious creation, on where our beliefs lie. Knowing what they are will determine what we shall become.
The time ahead could be seen as an overwhelming burden. Or it could be seen as a golden opportunity for introducing tremendous innovation and enlightenment, the likes of which we’ve never seen or even dreamed of. It’s up to us, though; what will we choose? If nothing else, we at least know where to start looking. And for that, no one can say we weren’t told.
"The Express: The Ernie Davis Story"Sports movies are, admittedly, often among some of the corniest and most formulaic films out there, riddled with ubiquitous clichés, manipulative plot devices, and predictable story lines. But every so often, one comes along that, if it doesn’t break the mold, it at least bends it enough so that its cinematic lineage is not quite so obvious. And, if we’re lucky, that movie just might teach us a few things about conscious creation in the process. Such is the case with “The Express: The Ernie Davis Story.”
This well-crafted biopic tells the short but glorious life story of Ernie Davis (Rob Brown), “the Elmira Express,” a charismatic, lightning fast halfback from upstate New York who went on to tremendous success in the football program at Syracuse University. Davis played a pivotal role in leading his team to the 1960 national collegiate championship through an undefeated regular season and a post-season victory in the Cotton Bowl, a game in which he was named MVP. Two years later, Davis would go on to win the prestigious Heisman Trophy as the most valuable player in all of college football.
En route to achieving these accomplishments, we can see Davis’s conscious creation/law of attraction skills at work. Beginning as early as childhood, we see through flashbacks how a young Ernie (Justin Martin) drew upon the power of belief within him to achieve such goals as overcoming stuttering and developing outstanding skills as a runner. Later, upon entering college, we see Davis envisioning the goals he wishes to achieve as a football player – winning a national championship for Syracuse (which had never been done before) and the Heisman (which no African-American had ever received), objectives that indeed would become realized.
But Davis’s accomplishments extended beyond the football field. At a time when the country was still rife with racial prejudice and blatant segregation, Davis earned respect for himself without stooping to the crass, confrontational ways of those who would try to hold him back. He let his accomplishments on the field speak for him, never having to lower himself to his detractors’ level, yet all the while always keeping sight of who he truly was as an individual off the field.
Davis’s achievements also show us what’s possible to accomplish through collective and not just individual efforts. His spirit of teamwork aptly illustrates his understanding of the significance of the connectedness of all things and the role it plays in effective co-creation. When Ernie won, everybody did.
Davis had plenty of mentors along the way, too, and he never shied away from availing himself of their wisdom. First there was his kindly grandfather Pops (Charles S. Dutton), who played a huge role in shaping young Ernie’s upbringing. Then there was Jim Brown (Darrin Dewitt Henson), the NFL great who preceded Davis at Syracuse and helped recruit his protégé to play at his alma mater. But perhaps one of the biggest influences was Davis’s coach, Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), who ultimately would end up learning as much from Davis as he did teaching him. The reverse mentor role was one that suited Davis well, too, as he himself would later become instrumental in recruiting his successor protégé, Syracuse and NFL great Floyd Little (Chadwick Boseman).
Sadly, Davis’s football accomplishments ended when his collegiate career was over. He was drafted by the NFL’s Cleveland Browns, where he looked forward to sharing the backfield with his idol, Jim Brown. However, Davis was stricken with leukemia and died at age 23. Nevertheless, despite that fact, Davis’s many accomplishments were so respected by the professional team he never played for that the jersey number that was to be assigned to him was retired without him ever having taken a snap of the ball.
“The Express” is a wonderful film on many levels – inspiring, touching, and entertaining, all without being trite or overly sentimental. It’s a great period piece and features a dynamite performance by Quaid, some of the best work he’s ever done. But one of the things I like most about it is that it’s a film one can enjoy without necessarily being a football fan. It’s about people, and, if there’s nothing else Ernie taught us, it’s that people count, and that’s a wonderful “Express” intent if I’ve ever seen one.
(“The Express: The Ernie Davis Story” – 2008; Rob Brown, Dennis Quaid, Darrin Dewitt Henson, Omar Benson Miller, Nelsan Ellis, Charles S. Dutton, Justin Martin, Justin Jones, Nicole Beharie, Aunjanue Ellis, Elizabeth Shivers, Saul Rubinek, Chelcie Ross, Chadwick Boseman; Gary Fleder, director; Charles Leavitt, screenplay; Robert Gallagher, book)
On a personal note: In the interest of full disclosure, I must say that I’m probably a bit partial about this film, given that I am myself a Syracuse graduate. Davis’s playing days were over long before I attended, so I never got to see him work his magic on the field. But I’m proud to see that his story is finally making it to the big screen, given that it has been almost fifty years since he achieved his enviable accomplishments. Davis has sometimes been referred to as the one of the greatest football players no one has ever heard of, but I’m hoping this film will help to change that and to earn him the recognition he deserves for his achievements both on and off the field.
Over the years, I’ve found that one of the most effective ways to further one’s conscious creation education is to attend conferences on the subject. These events are excellent learning forums for those who are just starting out, and they’re great refresher courses for students who are a little further along the path. They feature a wealth of learning resources, including excellent presentations by knowledgeable speakers, valuable experiential exercises (like guided visualizations), great opportunities for interacting with kindred spirits, and a chance to recharge your energetic batteries. But, perhaps best of all, they make it possible to immerse yourself in the material for a few days. Such concentrated exposure allows you to focus your attention fully on this philosophy and practice, enabling their empowering concepts to percolate throughout your being.
Such immersion can yield profound personal growth results, too, as I found out for myself recently when I attended one such gathering, the Colorado Seth Conference in Denver. So how did I reap such rewards? For starters, I availed myself of all the aforementioned resources, which shed some much-needed light on things for me. But the most significant insights came about from just being playful with conscious creation concepts, an undertaking made easy by simply being present in an accepting and nurturing environment such as this. 
This became particularly apparent at one of the event’s social functions, a dance with an oldies (’50s, ’60s, and ’70s) theme. The ballroom was aptly decorated for the event, and organizers encouraged conference participants to dress in costume, which I happily chose to do. Little did I realize, however, how important this would prove to be: The simple act of dressing in a different set of clothes – in my case, the outfit of a ’60s radical – was quite revelatory. Not only did I look different, I felt different, too. I no longer saw myself as the Brent I had been when I arrived at the conference but as a different probable self (see photo). I even got into character, which prompted others to see me and respond to me differently (some didn’t recognize me at first, either). Appropriately enough, I became a “radically” different person through this experience, and this transformation proved to be as enlightening as it was fun; it became an outward, extrapolated symbol of what was happening to me internally. The adoption of some radical new thinking and a new set of beliefs about what I wanted for my future had come into being during the conference, and getting into costume fittingly and playfully reflected – and reinforced –that internal shift. When I became consciously aware of this, that realization made the impact of the change all the more profound.
As I wrote in Chapters 8 and 9 of Get the Picture, getting in touch with other aspects of your being – your other probable selves – can be a great way to discover elements of yourself that were previously hidden. Accessing those other aspects can be an excellent way to solve problems, develop new talents, unmask buried qualities, and even chart totally new territory. And events like these conferences are excellent venues for such explorations, for, as I wrote in Chapter 10 of Get the Picture, stepping out of one’s all-too-familiar everyday existence and trekking through the uncharted turf of alternate realities (be they physical or otherwise) can enhance these experiences even further. They allow all kinds of new developments to occur, sometimes with even greater speed and/or magnitude than one thought imaginable. In short, they can help to open new vistas that pay dividends in many ways.
I strongly encourage anyone seeking to immerse themselves in conscious creation principles to attend such events. Personally, I’m most at home at the Seth-Jane Roberts conferences, since it was through these particular teachings that my conscious creation education began, but these events are by no means the only ones out there. Do an online search to look for all of the available options, and pick one that speaks to you intuitively. Then go and have a blast. You owe it to yourself; you won’t regret it.
P.S. I’m pleased to announce that the entries from this page are now being featured in the blog section of New World View (http://www.newworldview.com), a multifaceted web site devoted to the exploration of consciousness. Visit the NWV home page for details on how to sign up for the site and how to access its many features. Be sure to check out the site’s marketplace page, too, which features an array of books by many authors (including yours truly) and other consciousness-related items. Enjoy!
Photo © 2008, by Oshara Waago
“The X-Files: I Want to Believe” and "Henry Poole Is Here"
As we all know, conscious creation is all about beliefs. No matter what aspect of life we concern ourselves with, beliefs always factor in as the driving element. That’s especially significant when we consider the big picture issues of life, such as our overriding worldview, because the core beliefs we hold in that regard underlie those that support everything else. Coming to terms with those beliefs can be a seriously challenging task, particularly if we experience difficulty in defining them or even identifying their existence. But two very different recent releases help to shed some light on this question – and quite well at that.
“The X-Files: I Want to Believe” may seem an unlikely candidate in this context, given the franchise’s reputation (first as a TV show, later as a movie) as a vehicle for tales of science fiction and horror. Yet the franchise’s second big screen outing is so concerned with beliefs that it’s even in the title.
In a nutshell, former FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) are coaxed out of hiding and retirement, respectively, to help solve a particularly troublesome case. And, as far as the plotline is concerned, that’s all one really needs to know, for that part of the story is largely unimportant, a mere pretext to what the film is really all about – the protagonists’ search for meaning in their new lives. After years of chasing monsters in the dark, a time when their purpose in life at least seemed fairly clear, Mulder and Scully are each left to wrestle with the question of what their mission is now. Mulder, who always had been an ardent believer in the magic of the paranormal and the extraordinary, suddenly sees himself in quite a pedestrian existence, wondering whether he can recapture the wonder of his past beliefs and use them as a guiding principle for his new life. Scully, a scientist and fence-post Catholic who long toiled to find balance between the rational and the miraculous, finds herself still ensconced in this challenge, still struggling to determine whether reason or spirituality should guide her new existence. These core belief dilemmas, in turn, further affect the characters’ search for answers in other areas of their lives, such as their relationship with one another, the future of their vocations, and coming to terms with their morbid fascination with “the dark side.”
This picture, unfortunately, hasn’t been well-received by viewers, critics, or fans of the franchise, but that may be due to preconceived notions coupled with misleading marketing. The film was plugged primarily as a thriller in the tradition of the franchise, but it’s clearly anything but. It’s principally a character study, cerebral and introspective, rarely if ever suspenseful except for how Mulder and Scully will respond to their circumstances. Those seeking to be scared will likely be disappointed (and rightfully so); however, those looking for something more profound than a simple horror story will be rewarded beyond their expectations.
In contrast to the dark drama of “The X-Files” is the gentle comedy-drama “Henry Poole Is Here.” But as strikingly different as the story is, it’s thematically similar from a conscious creation standpoint. When the film’s title character, a soft-spoken young atheist (Luke Wilson), receives a diagnosis that he’s dying, he chooses to slip away by quietly drinking himself to death. He seeks sanctuary for this undertaking by buying a run-down bungalow and moving into the house as-is. However, his well-meaning real estate agent (Cheryl Hines) feels guilty about the home’s condition and has the structure’s exterior rehabbed with new coats of paint and stucco. The plastering leaves much to be desired, as evidenced by a big ugly water stain along one of the outside walls. But that stain soon becomes the focus of widespread attention when one of his neighbors, an overzealous Catholic busybody (Adriana Barraza), sees the face of Christ in it and is profoundly moved by this unlikeliest of miracles. This, in turn, sets in motion a host of vignettes involving Henry and a cast of colorful characters, all of whom have different, yet profoundly moving experiences at the wall. And in the end, they all come away from it with something to believe in.
Like “The X-Files,” this film has received its share of criticism, largely for its predictability and sentimentality, which at times verges on being manipulative, and I wouldn’t entirely disagree with those complaints. However, the picture is so well written – far better than the story it covers – that it’s worth seeing for that alone. Some have also been critical of the film’s religious proselytizing, but it’s never heavy-handed in my view. Its overarching emphasis on notions like faith, trust, and hope – concepts that transcend religion – are more important, even if they’re couched in somewhat conventional imagery. In my opinion, those ideas can provide solid foundations for anyone’s core beliefs, no matter what religious or secular forms they ultimately may take in our lives.
At a time of year when most films are long on style and short on substance, it’s refreshing to see pictures like these being released amidst the summertime extravaganzas. That’s important in an age like ours, when people are so hungry for meaning that they strain to see it in everything from building structures to snack foods. Such sustenance is essential, for it provides a firm footing on which to base our very existence.
(“The X-Files: I Want to Believe” – 2008; David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson, Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, Xzibit, Mitch Pileggi, Callum Keith Rennie, Adam Godley, Fagin Woodcock; Chris Carter, director; Frank Spotnitz and Chris Carter, screenplay; Chris Carter, source material)
(“Henry Poole Is Here” – 2008; Luke Wilson, Radha Mitchell, Adriana Barraza, George Lopez, Cheryl Hines, Morgan Lily, Rachel Seiferth, Richard Benjamin; Mark Pellington, director; Albert Torres, screenplay)
One of the real joys associated with
Get the Picture is participating in internet and broadcast interviews, and now on-demand podcasts from two of my recent internet radio shows are available for listening and download.
The first is a 90-minute interview I did with host Catherine Bradford for the show Dot to Dot: Creating Global Community, which was originally broadcast on July 23. The show is archived at
http://www.contacttalkradio.com/hosts/bradford-dot.htm in two installments, one each of 60 and 30 minutes. Just visit the site's archives and click on the July 23 show's tabs for downloading or listening.
The second is a 60-minute interview I did with Dr. Michael Brickey for
www.AgelessLifestyles.com. Visit the web site and click on the show titled "How Movies Can Help You Be Ageless" under the heading "Recent Posts." That will open a new window with a download tab, located in the show's description.
And remember, your feedback is always welcome. Happy listening!
Every summer, like clockwork, the motion picture industry trots out its annual crop of action-adventure and superhero films. To many movie buffs, such pictures might make for dazzling eye candy, but they’re generally regarded as little more than fluffy, escapist special effects extravaganzas. Yet, from a conscious creation perspective, they often offer us more, even if such contributions are not readily obvious or recognized.
As I wrote in Chapter 6 of Get the Picture, courage and heroism are essential components of the manifestation process. In fact, these qualities are just as integral to making conscious creation work as they are to the success of the plotlines of summertime blockbusters. Without such elements in place, many of our beliefs may never get fair try-outs, and otherwise-worthwhile creations would thus never see the light of day. So, like our big screen counterparts, whether we’re engaged saving humanity from dastardly evil-doers, or birthing brave new materializations, or simply exploring sides of ourselves that have never been examined before, all of these undertakings embody acts that stem from beliefs fueled by courage and heroism. And films that tell such tales often provide the requisite inspiration viewers may need to flesh out their innermost heartfelt, but untried convictions.
This summer, the movie industry is offering us an array of pictures with characters engaged in a variety of heroic behavior. Champions of noble causes live out grand adventures, as in films like “Ironman,” “The Dark Knight,” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.” Elsewhere, introspective inquisitors boldly explore life’s great mysteries, as in “The X-Files: I Want To Believe” (how’s that for a fitting conscious creation title?). Even unlikely heroes—everyday folks—participate in envelope-pushing acts, as in the heart-tugging drama “The Visitor” (see my review of this picture at http://andnowforthegoodnewsmovies.blogspot.com).
Courage and heroism are underrated qualities of the conscious creation process, often deserving of far more attention than they typically receive. In fact, the very manifestation of our creations might depend on our willingness to draw upon them in the first place. And yet all it may take to employ the process successfully is a little motivation.
So to see examples of movies that aptly illustrate these principles, be sure to check out some of this summer’s new releases. Grab that cape of yours, and fly on down to your local multiplex. Your reality may depend on it.
Rob Butts passed on last Monday, May 26.
Many of you no doubt know the man and his works. But for those of you who don’t recognize his name, Rob is someone you should know.
Rob Butts played an integral role in bringing the philosophy and principles of conscious creation into the world. He was the soft-spoken scribe who diligently recorded the metaphysical insights delivered by his wife, author Jane Roberts, during sessions with her noncorporeal channeled entity, Seth, over the course of 20 years. The revelations of those sessions provided the foundation for conscious creation theory and the material for the many books on the subject that Jane and Seth produced. That material also ultimately provided the philosophical basis for the concepts explored in Get the Picture.
None of that would have happened, however, had it not been for Rob’s faithful transcribing of those hundreds of sessions. His annotations to the transcripts provided additional insights into and context for the information conveyed during the sessions. He gave legs to the material that Jane and Seth birthed.
Conscious creation practitioners owe a lot to Rob. His role in quietly advancing these principles was invaluable. And, fortunately, he was with us long enough to see his contributions publicly recognized at two Seth Network International conferences in his home of Elmira, New York in 1997 and 1999. He was widely applauded for his efforts at those events, and rightfully so.
Many thanks for your contributions, Rob. Best wishes to you in your new adventures in consciousness.
Sometimes we all have to go back to school to get remedial (or refresher) training in a given subject. I found that out for myself recently in an area I’d like to think I know a few things about – conscious creation, the metaphysical practice that provides the philosophical foundation for Get the Picture.
Last week, I completed a long and often frustrating search to find a new apartment. I believed (key word there) going in that it would be difficult, and, of course, that’s exactly how it turned out, since beliefs form the basis of this practice. My conscious creation collaborator, All That Is, faithfully complied with the underlying intent of my request, wrong-headed though it may have been to incorporate difficulty as an inherent part of the process. I guess I bought into that notion partly because it reflected my beliefs associated with difficult past experiences. I also likely embraced it because I had a lengthy list of requirements and preferences for what I wanted out of a new place. What’s more, many naysayers told me that, given what’s in the market, I’d never find what I was looking for. In my own defense, however, I resisted their negativity and limited outlooks, genuinely believing in the true spirit of a confirmed conscious creator that eventually I would find what I wanted.
Nevertheless, once I began my search, I repeatedly came up dry. The places I looked at lacked one or more of the required elements and sometimes barely met those that they did fulfill. And the longer this went on, the less confident I became that my wish list would be realized. My faith in one of my cherished beliefs appeared to be caving in, despite the fact that internally I knew better. I pondered what to do and ended up reminding myself of something that Jane Roberts and Seth wrote about in The Nature of Personal Reality, that the primary factors that undercut conscious creation’s manifestation are fear, doubt, and contradiction. In my case, I clearly was allowing doubt to hold sway over me, which was keeping the desired results at bay. It was time for an attitude adjustment. The apartment I wanted was out there; all I needed to do was cast aside my doubt and reaffirm my faith in the belief that conscious creation would bring me what I was looking for.
The day after I underwent that shift, the apartment I wanted materialized. It was precisely what I sought. I went for it and quickly was approved for a lease.
This experience once again proved to me that anything is possible in conscious creation. I guess I just needed a reminder of its validity. Perhaps this was due to the magnitude of what I was seeking to manifest, since it arguably was more elaborate than anything I had ever attempted. To illustrate what I mean by that, the apartment is larger and has more amenities than my current home, it’s located in a better building in a better neighborhood, and it costs less than what I’m paying now. How’s that for hitting the jackpot? But then, if I’m as committed to conscious creation as I profess to be, should I really be surprised at the result?
By all rights, according to the prevailing wisdom, such a place shouldn’t exist. Yet it does. So how is that? Dumb luck? Remarkable coincidence? Good timing? If this were a case of only one or two of the desired elements being fulfilled, these more conventional arguments might hold water. But since this was an instance of a tailor-made laundry list of requirements and preferences being materialized, one that many would say goes beyond what’s “realistically” achievable, I have to believe that this is more than just sheer chance or happenstance. To me it speaks to one thing and one thing alone – the veracity of conscious creation as a means for effective manifestation.
In the end, this experience clearly reminded me of Get the Picture’s central message. It pointedly recalled the lessons of a number of the movies profiled in the book. For example, just as in “Lost Horizon” (Chapter 7), my recent experience shows how a seemingly unreachable goal indeed can be realized if we only allow it. Similarly, as in “Groundhog Day” (Chapter 5), it points out what can be attained through the continual refinement of probabilities, ultimately resulting in the desired outcome. And, as in the profoundly inspiring film “What Dreams May Come” (Chapter 9), it makes clear that thoughts really do become things when we put our mind to it, no matter how outlandish or improbable the sought-after manifestation might appear on the surface.
As readily as I make use of conscious creation as an approach to living, I still sometimes need to be reminded of the capabilities and of the beauty of this process. The search for my new residence was a prime example of this, an exercise in my own personal continuing conscious creation education. While this experience may have had its share of frustrations (ones that I admittedly built into the process), the rewards have been more than worth it. If nothing else, the renewed awareness of what can come out of the practice makes my enthusiasm for it more impassioned than ever.
P.S. Got a conscious creation story that reflects the lessons of the movies in Get the Picture? If so, I’d love to hear it and share it with readers of this page. Write me at brentmarchant@momentpoint.com. Thanks!
On a recent trip to New York, I had the great pleasure to visit lower Manhattan
’s East West Living bookstore and café. I had the opportunity to sign copies of Get the Picture and meet with book buyer Cami Aronowitz (pictured with me here). Be sure to check out the store’s Web site to learn more about its product line and its schedule of upcoming events.And, speaking of New York, to quote the city’s colorful former mayor, Ed Koch, “How’m I doin’?” I’d really like to know! Drop me a line at brentmarchant@momentpoint.com to give me your feedback about this bulletin board, as well as your comments about Get the Picture. Thanks!
Photo © 2008 by Lavelle Porter
Movies are undoubtedly my greatest entertainment passion, but every so often something on the small screen catches my attention that’s well worth a look. That’s especially true when the material illustrates conscious creation principles at work. Such is the case with the quirky new comedy-drama-fantasy offering, Eli Stone (Thursdays, ABC, 10 p.m. Eastern). The series follows the life of the show’s title character, a high-powered San Francisco lawyer (Jonny Lee Miller) who begins experiencing unexplained visions, often at inopportune times, such as during meetings with his boss (Victor Garber) and intimate moments with his fiancée (Natasha Henstridge). Many of these spectacles at first seem irrelevant and annoying, but they quickly turn bizarre, even unnerving. The apparitional appearance of pop star George Michael singing his hit song "Faith" in Eli’s living room, for instance, stretches the suddenly befuddled protagonist’s limits of believability, causing him to question his own sanity.
However, as events unfold, Eli realizes the visions aren’t just random occurrences; he sees that they have meaning. Viewers thus get to watch our hero coming awake, even if he does so somewhat reluctantly. Still, over time, Eli becomes attuned to the synchronicities occurring around him and begins drawing upon the magical approach to conscious creation, using his intellect and intuition to grasp the nature of the reality he’s manifesting. By doing all this, Eli gradually gets a better handle on the new world that’s forming around him. He also gains a better understanding of who he is and what his life purpose is. This is the flowering of his personal value fulfillment.
The seemingly obtuse but fittingly synchronistic materializations occurring in Eli’s life help to clarify his value fulfillment by steering him in a new direction—that of taking on the worthy causes (and cases) that no one else will handle. That’s how, for example, he comes to represent the mother of an autistic child whose condition was believed to be caused by a faulty vaccine preservative. Or how he takes on the case of immigrant agricultural workers whose infertility is suspected to have been the result of pesticide exposure. This is a far cry from the life he led before as a successful but self-absorbed corporate shill. Thankfully, both for him and his new clients, he’s able to hear the ring of his own internal metaphysical alarm clock.
The series features snappy writing and a host of colorful supporting characters, such as Eli’s wisecracking though devoted assistant (Loretta Divine) and a sage but streetwise acupuncturist/spiritual advisor (James Saito). The plot lines are solid, presenting genuinely uplifting stories, but telling them without the overwrought sentimentality of many of this genre’s predecessors (think of the scripts as having been more inspired by Mad magazine than Kodak moments). Some of the visionary sequences are a bit over the top (and feature a little too much George Michael music for my taste), but the show’s real strengths shine through in its quieter moments, when it aptly illustrates conscious creation principles at work.
It remains to be seen if Eli Stone can find an audience, especially in the wake of the recent Hollywood writers’ strike and all the attendant fallout on production and broadcast schedules. The show is fortunate to have the enormously popular Lost as a lead-in to its time slot, but its success ultimately will depend on how well it stands on its own. In the meantime, perhaps the best thing that fans of this series can do is to draw from the wisdom of Eli’s unlikely muse, who simply said “you gotta have faith.”
One of the movies I had the great pleasure to profile in Get the Picture was “Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse” (1991). This superb documentary provided an in-depth look at the gut-wrenching ordeal that went into the making of Francis Ford Coppola’s Oscar-winning Vietnam War film, “Apocalypse Now.” It showed, in unflinching detail, how the director toiled to produce a picture that effectively captured the madness of this insane conflict, an undertaking that pushed him to the limit and nearly cost him everything. It’s also an excellent cinematic exploration into an artist’s struggle to overcome creation by default by using the magical approach to conscious creation.
At the time I wrote Get the Picture, “Hearts of Darkness” was available only in VHS format. Many fans of this documentary, as well as of the movie that inspired it, lamented that it had not been made available on DVD. It was even perplexingly excluded from the special edition DVD release “Apocalypse Now—The Complete Dossier” (2006), a two-disc boxed set that included the film’s original theatrical version (1979) and its later-released director’s cut (2001) (so much for being complete!). Fans of the “Apocalypse Now” saga believed (and rightly so) that the absence of this back story documentary from the special edition, as well as its unavailability as a DVD unto itself, left a gaping hole in the lore of this monumental motion picture.
Fortunately, that oversight has been corrected. A DVD version of “Hearts of Darkness” was released late last year, shortly after Get the Picture hit bookstores. Finally, the wait is over; viewers can now enjoy this Emmy Award–winning documentary in a contemporary video format.
For future reference, I’ll include further information updates on the films profiled in Get the Picture on this Web page as they become available. In the meantime, dear readers, if you hear any interesting developments about these movies that you would like to share with me, please write me at brentmarchant@momentpoint.com. Thank you!
Readers and movie fans anxious to hear how conscious creation principles are portrayed through film turned out in force for an in-person author event featuring yours truly on January 11 at Transitions Bookplace in Chicago. The event, which was held in the bookstore’s spacious and comfortable café, opened with a brief presentation on the subject, followed by discussion, questions, and book signing. Many thanks to those who attended, and a special thanks to Transitions for hosting.
Photos © 2008 by Dion Tillmon
Hi Everyone,
I’ll be doing a talk and book signing on January 11, 2008 at 7 pm at Transitions Bookplace, 1000 W. North Ave., in Chicago (www.transitionsbookplace.com). If you live in metro Chicago (or will be visiting the area at that time), stop by. I’d love to meet you!
In the meantime, happy holidays!
Brent