Indy. A Hotbed of LoA Enthusiasts?

Okay, I’ve been doing this long enough to know something’s up.  In Indy.

I do a little bit of targeted Google and Facebook ads, and sometimes send e-mails to Law of Attraction Meetup group members.  I’ve done this in several cities, and so far Indianapolis is giving me (by far) the strongest response of any other city.  More than Salt Lake City, Richmond, Orange County, Lafayette, Detroit, and St. Louis.

I’ve traveled the U.S. extensively over the past several years, but haven’t spent much time in Indy.  So, for those of you more familiar, give me your best educated guess.  Why is Indy in particular so enthusiastic about the Law of Attraction?

God?

It occurred to me, during the third Law of Attraction Success Stories interview, that I’d like to ask each person, “Do you believe in God?”

The responses have been very interesting (at least to me.)  But it addresses something that most of us have to contend with when we begin to embrace a new understanding of The Universe.  Can we harmonize the LoA with our former religious beliefs?  Must we turn our backs on them, or at least modify them?

I’m aware that for most, this may not be an extraordinary challenge.  In considering the experiences of many of my friends, it seems clear that–even when they come from “religious” households–changing their worldview doesn’t produce substantive upheaval in their lives.  They may have incredible, eye-opening experiences, they may reset former patterns of thought, but most people don’t have a difficult time releasing previous beliefs that they didn’t feel too strongly about anyway.

For some of us, it’s an entirely different matter.  If you’ve read my About page, you know that I was born into the third generation of a religious organization that I now recognize isn’t what it claimed to be.  (And it only claimed to represent the sole channel of communication from Almighty God to all of humankind…nothing major.)  I’ve given it some thought and decided (at least for now) not to identify this organization here–although I reserve the right to do so at a later time.  I don’t want this to be about my former religion, and I don’t find it necessary to expend a lot of energy, shining the spotlight on it.

But my point is that, since I was so deeply involved in a religion that most would agree subscribes to a variety of rather extreme viewpoints, it was not something that I could easily sidestep.  I had to deal with it.  There was no allowance, in my former faith, to (for instance) consider oneself an actual extension of The Divine.  God was God–and you were you, and suggesting anything else was nothing less than blasphemy.

In my first podcast, I spoke about readjusting my former understanding of God as being “that chubby guy hanging in the clouds.” I say that because that’s how I always pictured him.  Yep, I had a very clear picture of a mostly bald, bespectacled, rotund and smiling older man.  What’s funny is that, at some point in my teen years, I was looking through my parents’ old photo album and saw the man (apparently a friend of the family) whose exact image I’d evidently borrowed for my concept of The Creator.

“Holy crap, it’s Jehovah!”

Did I just give it away?

Anyway, as I scanned through Google Images for an artist’s rendering of God, I didn’t really find any “chubby guys.”  In fact most were powerful, athletic images that looked like something chiseled by Michelangelo.  As you see, I settled on one that obscured “His” physicality.  The point?  Not only might we all have had different mental images of God, but these images–and even our understanding of His/Its nature–has both evolved and may continue to evolve.

If you’re planning to connect with me in one of the cities I’ll be traveling to, I hope you won’t mind if I ask you this question.  And, rest assured, I won’t mind whatever you say!

And what about the rest of you?  How exactly has your understanding of God changed?  Do you still use the word, “God,” or is there some other word you prefer?  Do share…

The Interviews Accumulate…

What?  Still no interview videos???

That’s right…still working on it, but I thought I’d at least give you an update.  While I have not yet posted any of them, they have in fact been occuring!  From Richmond, Virginia to Orange County, California.  From Lafayette, Louisiana to Detroit and lots of ‘em being scheduled now for St. Louis…the Universe does seem to be providing us with a steady stream of Law of Attraction enthusiasts who want to share their stories.

A word for those of you who hesitate to share out of concern that your story may not be extraordinary… Please understand that I’m getting stories of all shapes and sizes.   Some of them are indeed “remarkable,” while others tend to be more meaningful to the individual personally. Still others focus on the experience of simply learning of the LoA and the change in outlook in it produced in them.

As for the videos, I just started working with a very accomplished video professional as my mentor this morning.  The technology I’ve used in my recording studio for the last six years needs to be updated to accomodate video production, and I’m in the process of acquiring it.  When will the clips be ready?  I still can’t say–but I know that each day brings something new and exciting for Law of Attraction Success Stories.  Sometimes progress comes in surprising leaps.  So “soon” is the best I can give you.

Stay tuned.  And do comment when you feel ready.

Belief Board…

I was watching a video, featuring a walk-through of Steve Pavlina’s home in Las Vegas the other day.  If you’re  not familiar with Steve, you probably should be.  He is one of the most popular and successful bloggers (if not THE most) in the area of personal development, and author of “Personal Development for Smart People,” a book next in line on my list.

The video revealed that Steve uses a “Belief Board,” often referred to as a “Vision Board.” Again, Steve is an incredibly accomplished individual, who writes remarkably well on the Law of Attraction and things associated with it.  If you check out his site, you’ll see that he’s really thrown himself into maximizing his human potential. So just how amazing must this guy’s board be?  Possibly a thrilling multimedia system complete with virtual reality eyeglasses and electrodes for his brain and nipples???  Not at all.

In fact it was just a medium-sized bulletin board, placed on an often-viewed wall in his office.  No glamour, no glitz.  Just pieces of paper onto which he’d printed things like, “I am extremely productive,” “I process email once per day,” and “I earn $100,000 per month.” Well, what’s good enough for Steve Pavlina is good enough for me…

And so, my point is…you can expect to see much more frequent posts on this site!  I look forward to your comments.

Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself

My apologies for the delay in this report.  Along with more than 300 others, Rachel and I attended Dr. Joe Dispenza’s “Breaking the Habit of Being Yourself - How to Lose Your Mind and Create A New One,” held April 17th & 18th in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Before I give you my thoughts, I want to take a minute to make something clear. If you’ve paid any sort of attention to this site, I make clear that I am not billing myself as an LoA expert–but that, while I make contact with people throughout the U.S. and record their stories–I hope, not only to publish them for your benefit, but for mine too.  So it doesn’t make any sense for me to give praise to something I don’t really like.

That said, we loved this event.  For me it was the ideal combo of both Science and Spirituality. I mean, I knew that, with a degree in Biochemistry and currently studying neuroscience, we were going to get the science.  But I was impressed with the frequency with which he kept bringing things back to the spiritual as well. As Joe would later reveal, the path he has chosen is one that helps people change. There was lots of information about the relationship between thoughts and emotions.  They so often work against us in that negative thoughts produce negative emotions, which brand these thoughts into our long-term memory.  Negative emotions, in turn, bring back negative thoughts and so on, and the cycle continues as both our mind (through thoughts) and body (through emotions) become conditioned in an ever-repeating negative loop.

The good news, of course, is that this loop works just as well with positive thoughts and emotions too.  The problem?  The negative thought/emotion cycle is so engrained in us, it takes work to change it.  As Joe said, “The greatest habit to break is the habit of being ourselves.”

As a chiropractor, Dispenza is clearly interested in optimum health, and this is never far off from anything he’s discussing.  He explains that we are always in one of two states:  survival or creation, and we only have so much energy for both.  If you are nearly always living in that stressful, anxious survival mode, there will be little energy left for growth and repair–which includes the energy needed to prevent disease from taking hold of your body. So he urges us to closely consider what we are “mentally rehearsing” every day, and what our bodies are doing every day.

And he reminds us:  “nerve cells that fire together wire together.”  He showed a remarkable video, demonstrating how, when we stop having a thought, the connection in our brain that it corresponds to…will disconnect.  Likewise, if we continue to have a new thought, say, one that isn’t part of the negative programming most of us hold–but perhaps a willful, positive thought…powerful, new connections in the brain are made.  So we really can use our intentional thoughts to change our brains and our reality!

The thing most people remember Joe from is his interviews in What the Bleep Do We Know? It’s been well documented that his description of how he ‘creates his day’ was the most popular portion of the film.  The fact that it was so attractive to people is one of the motivations behind this site:  people want to know what precisely to do. It’s encouraging to hear people like Bob Proctor express so confidently what the LoA is and how it works every time.  It’s fascinating to hear quantum physicists explain the actual science behind intention.  But so many people still ask, “Yeah…but what do you actually do?” And Joe delivers well in this area.

One of the most captivating mental pictures he drew for us brings life to breaking the habit of being ourselves:  “We are riding on the back of a giant, and we have to learn how to whisper in his ear.” Joe reminds us that we have access to about ten percent of our brain, the part that is conscious, logical and reasoned.  But ninety percent, the subconscious, brimming with all of the negative and positive habits and behaviors is not readily accessible.

Meditation is what can open the door between the conscious and unconscious mind, and this is best accomplished when the brain slows down to that theta brain wave state.  This, he says, is “magicland,” when the body is asleep, but the mind awake.  At the end of Saturday’s session, he led us through a guided meditation that Rachel and I thought was incredibly well done.

There are three words that form the basis, I think, of Dispenza’s message:  change, evolution and neuroplasticity, and they all point to the same things.  We can experience amazing, positive changes, if we just break the habit of being ourselves–and whisper into the ear of the giant that is our human potential.

I’m only a little way through his 2007 book, “Evolve Your Brain, The Science of Changing Your Mind,” and every page so far has been exciting.  In my notes, I found this personal entry:  “This has been the greatest uniting of science and spirituality I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing.” So let it not go without saying… I enthusiastically recommend his work!  Do visit his website when you get the chance.   http://www.drjoedispenza.com/

Dr. Joe Dispenza in Scottsdale

Rachel and I are really looking forward to this.  You probably remember Dispenza from his interviews featured in the video, ”What the Bleep Do We Know?”  Of all those so interviewed, for me, his was the most riveting.  He actually gave us a glimpse at his own personal LoA script.  Remember it?

“I say, ‘I’m taking this time to create my day and I’m infecting the quantum field. Now if (it) is in fact the observer’s watching me the whole time that I’m doing this and there is a spiritual aspect to myself, then show me a sign today that you paid attention to any one of these things that I created, and bring them in a way that I won’t expect, so I’m as surprised at my ability to be able to experience these things. And make it so that I have no doubt that it’s come from you…”

So he’s going to be speaking this weekend in Scottsdale, and I’ve actually taken some time off from my busy schedule to attend.  (I don’t do that too often!)  Maybe I can even get an interview.  I’ll let you know how that goes!

My First Podcast…

 

Click here to save as mp3.

Here we go.  First Podcast.  And how rusty am I?  As I listen, I realize this thing didn’t go quite as planned, but that’s okay.  Next time I’ll create a basic outline to guide my stream-of-consciousness banter.

Learning From you

I came across this quote from George Herbert Palmer…

“I am defeated, and know it, if I meet any human being from whom I find myself unable to learn anything.”

I don’t know if I completely agree, but I do like the idea behind this quote.  Can I really learn from any human being.  Maybe.  I mean, I certainly keep myself open to learning from anyone.  But, if I’m to be perfectly honest, sometimes I meet people who are so closed to new ideas, closed to improving themselves, and satisfied in skating by with the bare minimum of effort they find necessary.  Might I learn from someone like this?  Yes, again, maybe.  If I talk to them long enough, searching for a nugget, I’ll probably find something edifying.

But why would I want to spend my time in this way?  While certainly remaining open to learning from everyone, I would prefer to spend my time seeking people who have, for instance, accomplished what I want to accomplish, mastered something I want to master, spent time studying things I want to learn, or at least people who’ve had experiences I wish to have.  And I definitely hope not to feel the counterproductive agony of “defeat” if I don’t learn from every single person I meet.

Okay, with that out of the way, I’ll return to at least the essence of the quote:  we can learn from the people we meet. And this is the point of the site you’re visiting.  I’ve noticed throughout my life that, while teachers and experts can be extremely helpful, sometimes our greatest “Eureka!” moments come from something someone said. A bell goes off, a key is turned, and you are enlightened.

The Law of Attraction has captured the imaginations of millions of people.  It’s kind of funny though.  So many struggle with allowing it to work for them–but they still seem convinced it’s real. I suppose it’s because they’ve had enough remarkable experiences to persuade them of its validity, but they just haven’t found a way to make it work consistently.  So they’re looking to latch onto a method, a mindset, an approach to harness it.

How did you first learn about the LOA?  Was it watching “The Secret” or “What the Bleep Do We Know?”  Was it reading Esther and Jerry Hicks’ books?  Or have you been a longtime student?  Do you still feel you have more to learn?  Good.  Me too.  So instead of claiming to be an authority on the subject, I’ve embarked upon a mission.  While this mission will include interviewing experts, it will focus upon capturing the stories of those real people who have found success in working with the LOA.

Soon my “Share Your Story” page will give you the opportunity to do just that.  I am traveling almost every week to a different U.S. city.  If you find yourself in my area, I’ll welcome meeting you.  If you’re in the Phoenix area, that’s my home base, and I’d love to get together with you there too.  Soon, I’ll also begin to interview people over the telephone, which will be part of my podcast series.  Stay tuned.

If it’s not already obvious, I’m new to blogging.  (Special thanks to Justin Wright for helping me put this site together.)  That aside, you should know I’m incredibly excited to pursue this mission, and you are cordially invited to be part of it.

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