My Meeting with Morpheus.

It is by going down into the abyss
that we recover the treasures of life.
Where you stumble, there lies your treasure.
– Joseph Campbell

Struggle and Strength are often related. Stumbling is a part of life. Too
often we focus on the pain of falling and forget to learn the right lessons.
We become traumatized instead of gaining wisdom.

Pain is more bearable when you realize that others have endured even more
than you and come through better because of it. The Chrysalis seems
unbearable but it’s a crucial part to the future flight. Keep fighting, keep
kicking, a breakthrough is coming.

We’ve all seen movies like Limitless, Inception and Total Recall but what
if these weren’t just movies. What if it was really true? What if you could
actually reprogram your mind and change your reality? What if you could meet Morpheus in real life?

Blue Pill or Red Pill ?

I did meet him and this is what happened to me when we spoke on the phone.

“Would your conscious mind be willing to learn from your unconscious mind
what the cause of the problem is ?” Dr. Wesley Morris asked.

“Yes.” I answered.

With that simple word I began a journey into my own mind.

I was guided on the journey by Dr. Wesley Morris and reached a moment in
the very distant past, felt like a previous lifetime, when I felt as though
I was being held down under water and drowning.

The strange thing is I was very calm even while drowning and did not feel
scared or fight back in any way. Another strange thing is that I could not
see anything. It was all an emotional feeling not a visual one. I think it
was the way my Subconscious mind saw the problem affecting me.

Lack of confidence was holding me down, I was drowning and not even
fighting back.

The process, which I later learned is called Timeline therapy,continued by
going even further back in time to a point before this traumatic experience.
It felt like it was way, way back ,in my case, maybe three lifetimes back.

We began to come back to the present but along the way I suddenly began to
get vivid images of an event that happened to me, in this lifetime. Some
years ago I was robbed while on a visit to Boston. I suddenly realized that
I could have fought back (I was doing Martial Arts at the time but I saw
myself not fighting but just shouting at my attacker while being willing to
fight and thereby dissuading him from attacking). My mind had reframed the
situation and was seeing new options.

Then we came back into the present. My subconscious and conscious mind both
agreed that I needed to be more assertive and fight back when necessary
rather than be passive. I then progressed on the Timeline in my mind to the
future and saw myself handling situations in a more assertive and confident
manner. Dr. Morris then brought me back into the present with a newfound
perspective on Life.

I felt great and we spoke for awhile. At one point Dr. Morris pointed out
to me that I was speaking more confidently already and I laughed. It was
true, I was already speaking clearly and fluently instead of my low-key tone
that had become customary. I told him some of the reasons why I’d always
been interested in psychology and NLP in particular. I discussed some of the
other challenges I was experiencing in my life.

Dr. Wesley Morris demonstrated the technique to me again.

This time he asked ” What problem are you facing in life now, you don’t
even have to tell me what it is write it on a paper near you. ”

I scribbled “Money” on a paper, meaning that lack of money seemed to be a
recurring decimal that was holding me back.

He then asked “Would your conscious mind be willing to learn from your
unconscious mind what the cause for the problem is?”

” Yes”

Again he guided me back in time, in a journey in my mind to a traumatic
event related to my concern, my lack of money.

To my surprise, maybe because I was getting the hang of it, or maybe
because my feelings related to money had a more recent cause, the results
were even clearer and more immediate than before.

I remembered a time, years ago, when I had substantial savings in a bank
and unfortunately that bank collapsed and I now realised that in doing so it
has shaped my attitude towards accumulation of wealth. For the last several
years I had considered it futile to strive after material wealth and had
little interest in financial planning. It sounds simple but it was a major
insight for me I had not even thought of this event for years.

Again Dr. Morris guided me to a time before the event when I was untouched
by trauma and then we reframed what happened and learnt lessons that could
help me in the future. I saw myself losing all my money again in the future
but this time reacting differently. I’d be able to calmly build back my
financial holdings. He brought me back to the present with new insight into
my problem and more importantly how to solve it. I had replaced a sense of
Futility with one of Enterprise. I could now Think Positively and Grow Rich.

Money comes and money goes but we can always build and get it back.

Dr. Wesley Morris used NLP to reprogram my brain. He did this over the
phone. His office is in Kingston Jamaica. You can find more information
about him and the innovative techniques he uses at his website
http://sinderesistransformation.weebly.com/

Now I’m a magnet for the ladies, I attract Success, I’m more confident,
more energetic, happier, smarter and winning more at chess. I’ve replaced a
passive and pessimistic mindset, that’s been holding me back, drowning me,
one which felt the accumulation of Money was Futile, with a sense of
Enterprise. My fears still exist but they are now spurs to action and
improvement, motivators as I Build.

Dream my friends, Dream big for they do come true !

Goal Achievement.

As the New Year begins at least some of your goals should be like the

Prehistoric Cave girls drawn by Robert Crumb…Big, Hairy and Audacious
!

 

Studies have found that those who have written goals are at least four
times more successful than those who just drift through life aimlessly.
Sadly I must admit that up till now I’ve been a drifter and I have all
the lack of results to prove it.

As we go into a new year it’s an appropriate time to pause and
reflect on the year that was and,more importantly, a time to envision
what we want to achieve in the future.

In making our resolutions or goals we should tap into our passions.
Find projects we will be motivated and happy to complete and stay
committed to the process of achieving them. It’s essential to write the
goals down. Also they should be very specific, not vague.The clearer the
goal is in your mind, and then on paper, the more likely that one day
it will be realized.

Those who understand themselves well can easily create a Life
Mission but for most it requires some serious soul searching and
imagination. Having a clear Mission makes it easier to see if a goal
really fits you or not.

Think of your own funeral or if that’s too morbid then imagine your
hundredth brthday party. Now that most of your life goals would
hopefully have been completed what would people say about you ? What
would you want people to say about you ? Are you working towards
achieving that ?

Another, somewhat morbid, exercise that can help clarify your purpose, and
thereby assist in setting good goals, is to imagine what you’d do if you
knew you only had a week or a month left to live. Clarifying your
deeper value systems, by doing exercises like this,will help you set
really meaningful goals.

Most people don’t set goals. They know it would help them be more
succesful but although it’s easy to do,it’s also very easy not to do,as Jim
Rohn said. You must fight procrastination, don’t put off setting your
goals, there is nothing more likely to aid your future success.

Another mistake people often make is to set really easy goals or goals
that don’t reach for much. They set safe targets that will not take
them out of their comfort zone. Although these goals are generally achieved they
don’t bring much happiness or change the world.

Some experts believe that the best goals are those that are so
outrageous your friends would laugh at you if you told them about it.

Other experts advise that you include friends and family in your most
meaningful goals. I think it depends on the goal and also on the type
of friends you have.

In general though it’s good if you have the support of Family and
Friends and a strong faith to help you make it through challenging
times. Whether this means you share the details of all your wildest
dreams with them is a matter of personal choice.

Remember to balance both professional and personal goals and have a
mixture of each type. Use methods effective in one arena in the other
as well. If you use elaborate spreadsheets to monitor your business
finances why not balance your personal credit card expenses that way
too ?

Many goals,especially the Big Hairy Audacious types,will be long
term. It’s not hard for the more meaningful ones to require over five
years to accomplish so the next step is critical.

Break down the Major goals into daily steps. Take your Big, Hairy
and Audacious Goal, Something crazy, something so ambitious that people
would laugh if they knew you wanted to achieve it. Then work backwards
and determine the timeline of likely steps to achieve it and when
they’d have to occur.

From this timeline you can create the 5 year goals, the one year
goals, the monthly goals and the weekly and finally daily goals.

Eat the Elephant one bite at a Time.

Many self made success stories have emphasized that it’s the
achievement of daily goals which are most meaningful as they forge the
habits you really need for lasting success.

Disciplined success habits must be honed each day until they become
unbreakable.

Be undaunted in the pursuit of your Happiness. Follow your Bliss.
Keep evaluating your progress.With focus and determination and creative flexibility

your success is guaranteed.

Your Sweetest Mango.

One day, quite unexpectedly, an acquaintance of yours gives you a

Mango.

You love Mango and as you bite into it you realize how sweet it is

and your hunger is satisfied. More fulfilling than the mango is the

fact that someone cared about you, cared enough to share. Friendship is

sweet and your hunger dies. The pain of loneliness becomes a distant

memory.

The friendship blossoms and you visit this kind friend’s house.

Surprisingly you discover they live in a house surrounded by huge Mango

trees. The mangoes are every where even more than you could ever eat.

You suddenly realize that what you thought was an act of extreme

kindness involved no sacrifice at all.

The sweetness becomes sour. You’ve eaten a worm. It gnaws at your

stomach, it sickens you. Not immediately, slowly. Slowly but surely,

the Worm of loneliness grows. It grows till it fills you up.

But as the worm grows the friendship dies and you realise there was

never any friend there was never any friendship. There was really never

any Mango and there was surely never any worm.

All there ever was, and all there is now,is you.

Generosity comes not from the Gift, nor from the Giver, but from the

attitude of those who receive.

Speaking Voynich.

Sometimes I feel like I’m talking to myself because no one seems to understand what I’m saying, but other times I feel like I’m talking to myself because people say exactly what I’ve thought before.

In the first case people are usually totally bored and think you’re stupid because they really can’t quite follow what you’re saying or it does not seem important or true to them.

It’s like you’re speaking an Alien language. When this happens to you a lot it can either mean you’re crazy or you’re a genius.This happened to me so much that I decided to just call my personal alien language “Voynich”.Of course I believe I’m a Genius. Some close friends say I’m just slightly “off my rocker”.

How many people do you think enjoyed chatting with Einstein about what it would be like to be “sitting on a lightbeam” ? How many sailors do you think were wondering what kind of brew Columbus was drinking when he first tried to convince them that the world was really round ?

The second type of  “talking to yourself ” is even more fascinating. In this scenario people are now quite excited to talk to you about some idea, they find amazing and novel, but while they are expressing it your eyes  are the ones that might just glaze over because they are merely telling you something you already knew. They’re speaking to you with your own “voice”.

Years ago I said on a personal website that “Chess is the Martial Art of the Mind.” People in Jamaica were silent or a few just snickered. Chess has no similarity to Martial Arts, I’ve never heard that before, this guy is crazy, they all thought.

I was already being called the Chess Ninja by a few who knew my personal theories of the game, they thought it was an insult or a joke. I didn’t mind the name though and considered it a badge of honour because I understood that I was merely speaking Voynich to them. They could not understand. My site was called Chess Ninjas Dojo and I couldn’t even get the local chess federation to put a link to my site.

Someone who worked with Kasparov, the world’s best chess player at the time, came upon my website. He wrote me telling me he was very impressed by my site. He put a link for my site on Kasparov’s site. Kasparov’s site was  the most popular chess site in the world at that time.

Strangely, it seemed that the World understood Voynich.

This man who worked for Kasparov later launched a website entitled http://www.chessninja.com .   Chessninja.com became one of the world’s most popular chess sites. It is built on the concept of teaching chess like a martial art.

Now fast forward into 2010 and one of the most popular chess videos features Jamaican born grandmaster Maurice Ashley. In this video he promises to teach the secrets of chess.

Grandmaster Ashley makes a startling statement in the video “Chess is Intellectual Karate”. He is telling me my own idea. It’s like I am speaking to myself. My eyes glaze over. The world Applauds. It’s a standing ovation.

Remember this the next time someone says you’re crazy or they can’t understand. You’re possibly  just speaking Voynich. One day the world will applaud and perhaps even beat a path to your door.

Indeed while it is true that nothing can stop an idea whose time has come, it is also very true that big ideas will most likely be questioned and rejected,  then perhaps ridiculed and worst of all… be ignored… long  before some latter-day champion , like Newton, “stands on the shoulders of Giants” and the ideas then become accepted as brilliant and then later on they’re considered obvious.

Joachim Low’s Art of War.

One of my favourite books, The Art of War, by Sun Tzu, might be inspiring Joachim “Jogi” Low, the German coach, for it is clear that he has  been following the ancient strategist’s principles in creating his victories on the Football Field at the 2010 FIFA World Cup .

First, before the tournament even started, there was much talk about how Germany would be hampered and weakened by the absence, due to injury, of their star mid-fielder Michael Ballack.

Sun Tzu says “Military operation involves deception, even though you are competent, appear incompetent, even though Effective, appear ineffective.”

Secondly, The prevailing view before the tournament was that Germany was fielding a young team and merely undergoing a rebuilding phase perhaps

aimed at reaching the quarterfinals this time around but certainly not in contention to win. They were simply giving their young players experience in hopes of winning a future world Cup.

Sun Tzu says, “When you are going to attack nearby, make it look as if you are going a long way, when you are going to attack far away then make it appear as if you are just going a short distance.”

Then before they played England the coach of Germany went to great pains not to insult the opponents despite the extremely competitive rivalry traditionally shared by the two nations. He heaped praise on England saying they had learnt alot about football by studying the English.

Sun Tzu says “Use humility to make them haughty.” He also says, “A wise general strives to feed off the enemy.”

Finally it must be noted that the game against England featured one of the most effecient attacks I have ever seen in football. The German goalkeeper actually provided the assist for one of Klose’s goals. The goalie simply booted the ball up into the English penalty box like an American football style punt and Klose got on the end of it and slotted it home.

The simplicity, speed and surprising effeciency of this would surely have gained Sun Tzu’s approval for he says, “Conquer others without siege, destroy others’ nations without taking a long time.”

Sun Tzu  also says “When you do battle even if you are winning, if you continue for a long time, it will dull your forces and blunt your edge, if you besiege a citadel your strength will be exhausted. If you keep your armies out in the field for a long time your supplies will be insufficient.”

Overconfidence and Arrogance can easily creep in when a team smashes others easily like “hammers smashing eggshells”.

To hoist the World Cup the German team must now be wary of one final hurdle, one team that can beat them. The Germans must beware of, Netherlands and Spain yes, but more so beware of, themselves.

My fears.

Recently I was forced to face one of my greatest fears.

I drove home and my little daughter was sitting in the back seat. I was about to turn into my gate which was closed when I noticed two well dressed young men walking up the road.

Suddenly I felt fearful. Although I really had no rational reason to feel scared I suddenly realized that if these two men were up to no good and if I turned in to open my gate then as I opened the gate the two men would have the perfect opportunity to ambush me.

Always being one to trust my intuition, I drove past my house, and past the two men, and turned my car around at the top of the road. By the time I turned the car around the men had continued walking straight past past my house and were now around the corner and out of sight. I figured I must be just getting old,paranoid and crazy, or something, but hey, better safe than sorry, right ?

I drove quickly to my gate… got out the car and opened it and then drove in fast. As I got out the car I could hear the sounds of a tv inside and remembered that my wife had a day off today and was inside already.

My daughter, who normally goes with me to close back the gate, was actually sleeping, in her car seat, so I closed the gate by myself and I was busy taking her out of the car when I sensed a presence.

I looked up and sure enough at the gate peering over at me were the two men. They had doubled back and looked menacing.

I was now facing one of my worst nightmares. My life and that of my wife and daughter were in danger if these men chose to attack us. I called out my wife’s name and heard a click as she opened the latch on the front door.

The men realized I was suspicious of them and they hesitated a bit. I suddenly heard my fear talking to me. “They aren’t sure if you have a gun or not”. It was my only chance I had to appear fearless and confident. I stretched to my full height as I took my daughter, still sleeping out of the car only using my left hand and kept my right hand at akimbo, like a gunslinger, ready to draw.

I turned and looked straight at the men and in my mind,silently, I shouted,

“Step across that gate and you’ll both die !”.

My silent telepathic shout seemed to make the men jumpy, amazingly they actually started to step back and they actually ended up on the far side of the road, still watching me like scavengers on the hunt.

I went inside quickly with my daughter lying on my left shoulder. I then put my daughter in a bed, she was still sleeping, as I frantically tried to explain to my wife what was happening. I looked out the window with sweat washing the side of my face.

I could not tell if they went up the road or down. No sign of the men they had disappeared quickly.

Fears usually do when you stand up to them.

The Legendary Aviator.

There was a man similar to Usain Bolt, Bill Gates, Brad Pitt, Vybz Kartel and even Michael Jackson.

This man was once a speed record holder, he was one of the richest men in the World and he had famous love affairs with several Hollywood starlets. He had a slew of critics too, they said the art he created was too Sexy and too Violent and he later became a crazy recluse.

He was Howard Hughes.

Ok, so it’s true that Hughes  didn’t run on a track, like Bolt does and Howard Hughes used airplanes to set all his speed records and yes it’s true that Hughes didn’t sing Dancehall songs, like Vybz Kartel, instead his art form was Big Budget Movies, but I think it’s still clear that Howard Hughes lived a legendary life.

Bolt often says in interviews that he wants to become a Legend, I hope he will avoid all the pitfalls that Hughes fell into. In fact I think we could all learn a lot from the Howard Hughes life story.

Nowadays though few people want to read long books so perhaps you can just watch some movies inspired by Howard Hughes instead.

It is, understandably, nearly impossible to capture such a multi-dimensional character fully in one film but the Martin Scorcese film, “The Aviator”, starring Leonardo Di Caprio, was quite excellent. Every detail was just perfect from the Acting straight down to the musical score and costuming.

I also recently discovered that Howard Hughes is one of the inspirations behind the famous Marvel comic character “Iron Man”, (or more precisely his alter ego Tony Starks) who, despite being brilliant, has severe personal flaws. The comic-based movie “Rocketeer” also has a Hughes-inspired character.

Two other movies “Melvin and Howard” and “The Hoax” also detail aspects of the bizarre incidents that often surrounded Hughes.

The first is about the so-called “Mormon Will”, that surfaced after Hughes death, and the second is about a false biography, that someone wrote about Howard Hughes while he was alive, that forced the hermit magnate to defend himself with legal action.

As good as all those movies were though I enjoyed most of all the documentary about Hughes in the Modern Marvels series shown on History Channel. It showed the brilliant side of this incredible man. His company is still at the forefront of aviation technology and also critical in the development of the satellite television broadcasting that has made our world smaller.  It showed how even when Hughes was in hospital for severe burns from a plane crash he designed a better hospital bed that is still in use today.

Howard Hughes, the inventor, the legend, we Salute you.

Become a Tribal Leader !

Jamaican politics is said to be  “a struggle for scarce benefits carried on between hostile tribes perpetually at war”. Tribes are not always political though. They can be religions and those they disagree with may even call them cults. Tribes can also be a powerful economic and social force.

“Since the dawn of civilization people have formed tribes, and research demonstrates that humans are genetically programmed to form into groups. Within every company there are tribes, often several, consisting of 20 to 150 people who know each other and work together. But while everyone tribes, the culture of each tribe is different, as is its effectiveness. Improving a tribe’s culture—and its chances for greater success—requires a tribal leader who not only understands the tribe but can leverage its collective assets to build a greater team.”

That quote is taken from a website promoting a book called “Tribal Leadership”.

Some believe buying such a book is a waste of time since they feel that a Tribal Leader cannot be trained or created but is a natural, a charismatic personality,someone great that spontaneously arises when the right conditions present themselves.

Obama used a “grass-roots” strategy,  with the simple “snowball effect”  idea of building ever-enlarging tribes, to reach the White House. His strategy was flawless but his Personal Charisma is also undeniable.

On a more intimate level Mystery, a world famous Pick-Up Artist (PUA), a master of seduction, actually encourages his students to become “Tribal Leaders” because he says all women are biologically hardwired to respond most strongly to these “Alpha Male” types.

Mystery believes that the Charisma comes from having the leadership position. This is contrary to the commonly held view that Leadership is attained by the one who exudes charisma.

Mystery says that, in the “Game of Seduction” at least, once you display qualities of Leadership, once you display “Social Proof”, you automatically become attractive.

This might also help explain people, such as Hitler, who possessed incredible public speaking Charisma yet were awkward in a personal setting. With a carefully crafted stage presence, with many symbols of  Power, they can create a type of Charisma.

Obama said, at the largest gathering of Native American Tribal Leaders, last year, “Treaties were violated,Promises were broken. You were told your lands, your religion, your cultures, your languages were not yours to keep.”

Civilization has not always been kind to Tribes. Ask Chief Seattle. Ask Africa.

Given the past, Obama said he wouldn’t have been surprised if the leaders hadn’t come, saying it showed “an extraordinary leap of faith.”  Sitting at a table on stage in the Interior auditorium last year, Obama signed a memorandum directing all federal agencies to develop within 90 days a plan to improve tribal consultation. “These are challenges we can only face by working together,” he said.

Obama is clearly not just Charismatic but also an extraordinary leader in his strategic ability to create consensus, be authentic, visionary and inclusive.

Daniel Quinn believes the future will once again belong to tribes. In his books he argues that Modern Civilization is not working and to survive it must revert to what works…Tribes.

You may not have Obama’s leadership abilities but you can still shape the future by deciding which tribes you belong to.

According to marketing guru Seth Godin, modern technology has made it even easier for us to form into tribes and these tribes can now easily become Global, because of the Internet.

Seth Godin outlines the following principles for aspiring Tribal Leaders;

Firstly, Create a change, a meaningful Tribe will in some way challenge the status quo. It will seek to improve conditions.

Secondly, Tribes develop their unique culture: “A secret language, a 7-second handshake, a way of knowing whether you are in or you are out.”

Thirdly, tribes have curiosity: “about the people in the tribe, and about outsiders.”

Fourthly, the Tribe fosters Connection to each other. They allow people to achieve what they want more than anything else….to be missed ! If someone isn’t there other tribe members should notice and miss them.

Seth Godin agrees with Mystery in the end because he says “All tribal leaders have charisma. BUT, you do not need charisma to be a tribal leader. Leading a tribe gives you charisma. If you look and study the leaders throughout history, you will see where the charisma comes from. It comes from the leading.”

Finally Great tribes Commit: They commit to the cause, they commit to the tribe, they commit to the people.

Become a Tribal Leader !

Blogging. My first year.

“What Bobby Fischer was to chess,what Bob Marley was to Reggae Music, thus was Bruce Lee to Martial Arts and Action Movies. This one not only packs a punch but becomes Immortal by virtue of it’s talented cast and coherent story, rare in the genre.” I said at 11:32pm on December 23rd, 2008.

I was posting a brief movie review to Flixster, (an application allowing you to rate various movies online), I was describing, one of my favorite shows, the movie “Enter the Dragon”.

A guy named Mad Bull commented at 4:34am on January 11th, 2009. He said, “You know what, Mark? I think you would make a good blogger. Check me if you are interested if you want info on how to get started.”

The rest,as they say,is history.

In just one year of Blogging I think I can safely say it has changed my life. I went on an amazing personal journey of self-expression just as my friend Dennis Hammond (creator of Hammondville.com) had predicted when I launched out with a shout of Geronimo !

It was an adventure along which I bared my soul, and risked embarrassment, at times, with intensely personal, and unfortunate memoirs, like “This is not a Suicide note” and “Sleepless on Sunday”.

Travels during which I soared to the moon and waxed philosophical in ramblings like “Shooting the Moon”. Although I confess that that post was not particularly interesting I think it helped me to learn a lot about my personal style of writing. I used a technique which has served me well since then called “Writing the Natural Way”.

Expressing some of my Philosophical ideas in pieces like “Tit for Tat” and “Life is but a Dream” was lots of fun.

From the start I was continually encouraged by my Mentor (the Blogfather) Mad Bull and he directly influenced me to learn of Charles Pick’s Advice which has guided all my best writing from early on.

Blogging is a perverse activity, kind of like internet webcams, I imagine, in that it is very personal and yet makes you feel connected to a wider community of like-minded individuals the world over.

This type of paradox and my gift for making ridiculous connections and synthesizing myriad experiences led to blog posts like “Marriage,Matchmaking and Masturbation” and my personal favorite “Doppelganger”.

“Doppelganger” was inspired by a post by Ruthibelle. I feel connected to bloggers like these who I began to read more and more regularly. My blog “Swamp Things cannot Read any Moore” inspired Ruthibelle to talk about comics in one of her later blogs also. Each one Teach one, One hand rubs the other, or insert other catchy cliche’ here.

The exceptional blogger and photographer Stunner also inspired me so I dedicated “Workman needs bigger Zoom”, about photography and critics thereof, to him.

These are not people I know personally, yet. Yet, I feel like I know them, like we’re a close-knit community. A family almost. Sometimes I even imagine heaven to be like a big Blog roll call in the sky. Annie Paul, Mad Bull, Stunner, Ruthibelle, Kingston state of mind, Pssst Browning !,the list goes on and on…yep that’s heaven to me. But we have no plans to check out just now and if we do, inadvertently, then I suspect the journey won’t be over but rather just moving on to greater heights.

During the year (2009) I realized a dream, after some hiccups and hurdles, by visiting Calabash Festival at Jakes. I described it as a Writer’s Hajj and was close enough to talk to one of my heroes, Colin Channer, (although I didn’t). Channer had nonetheless taught me “How to write a Rahtid book“. I wrote “Journey to Jakes” based on this pilgrimage also.

Pico Iyer, an author who was interviewed at the Festival, was supposed to be the main focus of one of my blogs. I never did get around to writing it.

For every blog idea I wrote the truth is I have ten others or so I didn’t get around to. They still swim around,these incomplete ideas,like malnourished fishes, in the Aquarium of my mind. They bounce into the glass occasionally asking me silently to feed them. When they ask loud enough I do feed them, with relish.I feed them to the hungry public.

Incomplete Ideas. Perpetually Incubating. Floating Skeletons. I was still being hounded by my greatest enemy…Procrastination. My greatest enemy, my only formidable opponent, was in fact…myself.This was clearly shown by the unfinished serial that I began about Theo Adams and Storm and Hezekiah Scythe. Interesting Characters, I thought, but they will only live again if I can conquer my most fearsome foe…procrastination…myself.

I was somewhat saddened that my readership remains largely uninterested in the wisdom of Marcus Garvey or Jefferson, but I will continue to post poetry and prose and anything else that I find powerful.

Learning was what this blog, and Life, is all about, and that I did.I learned but I also have questions that remain unresolved. In my blog “Heavy Sex will drop from the sky” I explored the question all true artists must face. I spoke of the temptation to sell out,just to eat a food, versus staying true to their art and possibly starving to death. Post humous success versus instant gratification.

I succumbed to temptation and wrote popular posts like “Dora the Sexplorer”, “Think before you ink” about tattoos and “Sean Paul”. These posts are my most popular ever.

No longer was I the only one reading my blog. It was a tremendous thrill when when my blog was featured on Sean Paul’s official site. For me it was a great accomplishment but then again I realized that five minutes of fame, even riding on the coat tails of a great Artist that I always respected and admire was not the Summit.

I realized that even when I do cover popular and current events it should be with some degree of insight, some new twist, beyond the obvious. It should have a unique “Heavy Logix” stamp, my imprimatur so-to-speak. Instead of merely a crass or commercial angle I must deliver some substance that will stand the test of time. My “Inter-View” post about Vybz Kartel fit the bill exactly. It took on a current topic but tried to make points that would be over looked by the local mainstream media.

The passing of great men like Michael Jackson and Jim Rohn led me to post also. Jackson also inspired the Reggae cover versions post as i searched to try and find some of those songs to make a tribute album.

In the coming year I hope to do more comparisons like I did in the article Pepsi or Coke ? Comparing things like Charisma and Character and explaining the difference between Rappers and MCs perhaps. You can also expect more movie reviews or impressions like Emperor’s Club and lots more exploration of the confounding cybernetic possibilities of our Minds like I did in the story “Banshees”.

Blowing my own trumpet like this is quite tiring so here’s wishing you all the best for the New Year and remember that in whatever you do Be Happy !

Adios amigo.

mjbb.

The Secret to Success by Jim Rohn.

This article is by Jim Rohn and published here in memory of him. He passed away Dec 5, 2009.

Do you want to achieve your most important goals? In my opinion it gets down to two simple words, “easy” and “neglect”. People often ask me how I became successful at the early age of 31, while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: During that 6-year period of time (age 25 to 31), the things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking and my ideas. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes and the seminars, and to get around other successful people. They said it probably really wouldn’t matter. If I had to sum it up, I would say what I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do. Six years later, I’m a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government, and company policies, yet they neglected to do the basic, easy things.In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing as well as they could and should, can be summed up in a single word: neglect.

It is not the lack of money – banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity – America, and much of the free World, continues to offer the most unprecedented and abundant opportunities in the last six thousand years of recorded history. It is not the lack of books – libraries are full of books – and they are free! It is not the schools – the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of ministers, leaders, counselors and advisors.

Everything we would ever need to become rich and powerful and sophisticated is within our reach. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is simply neglect.

Neglect is like an infection. Left unchecked it will spread throughout our entire system of disciplines and eventually lead to a complete breakdown of a potentially joy-filled and prosperous human life.

Not doing the things we know we should do causes us to feel guilty and guilt leads to an erosion of self-confidence. As our self-confidence diminishes, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity diminishes, our results inevitably decline. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins the slow shift from positive to negative, our self-confidence diminishes even more… and on and on it goes.

So my suggestion is that when giving the choice of “easy to” and “easy not to” that you do not neglect to do the simple, basic, “easy”; but potentially life-changing activities and disciplines.

To Your Success,
Jim Rohn

Credit Statement to be included in Reprints:

This article was submitted by Jim Rohn, America’s Foremost Business Philosopher. To subscribe to the Free Jim Rohn Weekly E-zine go to www.jimrohn.com Copyright © Jim Rohn International. All rights reserved worldwide.