Conscious Creation Goes to the Movies, hosted by Brent Marchant
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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)
"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