A response to some questions

A couple of weeks ago, the editor of The Cult Den published an opinion piece of mine.  You can find it in two parts, by clicking this link for part one, and this link for part two.

This blog is my reply to David Martin's response The Cult Den is no more, so I'm afraid I don't have his response at the moment.  I'll edit and repost a link if I manage to get hold of a copy at some point)



How exciting!!  Not only did David Martin read my article about how to take the next step in evolving the internet, but he was moved to write a response!  Not only did he write a response, but he sent virtual hugs within it!  I'm a very happy Sarah now, I love hugs, virtual or real (although common courtesy suggests that the real life ones are preceded by at least an introduction thank you please!)  It also gives me the opportunity to get my pretty purple Notepad out again and let my fingers do the talking.

In a brief exchange of tweets after David's response was announced, I said "I'll be back" and David replied "#hastalevista".  Now I'm something of a pedant when it comes to spelling, and I have a basic knowledge of a couple of other languages - enough to know that it's hasta LA vista, because the A at the end of vista tells me it's a feminine word and therefore not preceded by "le".  This led me to a Ted Talk about linguistics, which didn't cover masculine and feminine (I didn't expect it to, I had something else in mind) but helped me in a totally unexpected but wonderful way.  It's probably advisable to watch this before reading so that everything from here makes sense.

Censorship is a topic of huge debate, whichever way you look at it.  Who gets to decide what's good for us?  The recent new UK laws regarding the British porn industry is a good case in point.  Pretty much all of the newly banned acts involve female pleasure, so I've come to my own conclusions about those who wrote the list.  

There's a huge list of banned books too.  Who banned them?  Why were they banned?  Doesn't human nature mean that our curiosity should be piqued sufficiently to go and read everything we can get our hands on?  Of course it does, and whilst those books remain almost impossible to find, we can't be bothered to try and dig them out.  My current obsession with quantum and metaphysics led me to a podcast with David Yurth.  Global Freedom Movement describe him as "...an independent scientist, inventor, patent holder, and general fount of knowledge. Co-developer of the Y-Bias model of physics and cosmology, he has much of value to say on a boggling array of compelling subjects—including no shortage of challenges to the status quo (just what we like around here!)."  I love him <3

He's read a lot of books, many of which are "hidden" because either they were banned, or not widely published in the first place. Now he's a "general fount of knowledge" (to which my inner pedant is screaming "It's a font of knowledge!").  You may say "don't believe everything you read", but don't worry, I don't.  The things I believe are the ones that quite literally ring true.  I can feel it when something is true; I can wrap my head around it, and it resonates with me.

Isn't that interesting language?  "Wrap my head around it" - I can fit it into my brain because it makes sense.  "Rings True" and "resonates".  This brings us right back to metaphysics and vibrations.  When something resonates, we can feel that it's right.  In my world, it really is as simple as that.

Aldous Huxley's Brave New Word is a new one on me, so I can't give an in depth response about the book itself, but I can point out a very interesting linguistic form of control in the very use of his name. I've heard his name before, but have never known exactly who he was, or what he'd written.  To be honest, it usually makes me think of Huxley Pig.  You know, the pig who has daydreams - and daydreaming is heartily discouraged and used to be a punishable offence when I was in primary school.  Plus, he's a pig.  

So my automatic reaction when Aldous Huxley's name is mentioned, is to think of a pig.  An animal.  Lesser than a human.  A human who does that silly, childish thing called day dreaming.

Not an ideal start to get me on the road to reading anything written by the real Huxley is it?

I don't want to go down the conspiracy theory rabbit hole, I've been there before and it gets tiresome very quickly.  My view now is that the books were written in complete innocence, it was a cute idea for a cartoon, and although I've never watched an episode, it probably does teach children good things.  It's great that children's minds are very possibly being positively influenced by the cartoons or animations, and I hope that will help towards the greater good that I can't help but talk about.

The problem is the underlying mind control as we grow up in this society.  The banning of daydreaming in school time, so that we automatically see it as "a very bad thing".  

Let me tell you a little bit more about Sarah.  I daydream.  A lot.  I daydream regularly about one particular person, and he doesn't even know I exist.  Quite literally.  I'm not talking about someone I've met in real life who "doesn't know I exist" in a metaphorical way because he has no idea I want to do.... He has no idea of my existence, that's all you need to know. Ha!  

Daydreaming is good.  Trust me, it's the best natural high when you have a particularly good one.  I've found myself standing in my living room, singing into an imaginary microphone and imagining the recording studio around me, and the way my co-star looks at me as we're singing together.  It was AWESOME!!  Who bloody cares if it wasn't real?!  I felt real emotions while I was doing that.  I was in that studio.  He was singing to me and looking into my eyes, and we connected.  I went to bed so happy, and I think I even dreamed about him that night.  Why wouldn't you want to experience your own high like that?  Why are we being taught our whole lives that it's childish and silly and not to do it?

I guess it's so that we don't experience those intense feelings of joy.  Joy.  Joy is one of my favourite words, and now it's also the name of one of my favourite people!  How cool is that?  I often say that there's always room for more joy in your life - and now there's an embodiment of joy as well!!  While I'm in that joy of the moment, enJOYing my daydream, I have no fear about anything.  There are no bills to worry about, I don't feel hungry, I'm not worrying about anything.  I'm too busy enJOYing the moment.

It's the same when we watch a band, or a new movie, tv episode, read a new book etc.  Entertainment is vitally important.  We're living in someone else's mind for a little while when we watch a movie.  We're living in our own minds when we read a book, because even though the author wrote the words, it's our imagination that fills with the background.  That's why seeing the movie after you've read the book is always a disappointment for at least some people.  

When you read that book, your imagination builds the scenery.  When a movie is made, other people's imaginary scenery is brought to life.  The nuance you put on each conversation is personal to you, so a director's view of the book is more than likely different in many ways to your understanding of the book.  Quantum wave theory shows us that there are innumerable possibilities, and although there will be some concentrated overlaps in what actually happens, there are also lots of places where there's no concentration or overlap at all.

I'm getting into yet another rabbit hole now.  I need to come back to the point....

David asks: Who is to say what is acceptable and what isn't? What should be included on the main stream internet and what shouldn't?

That's where I need to fill the gaps a bit.  "Is it for the greater good?" covers everything.  Inventions, discoveries, talents, ad infinitum.  However, the emphasis of the article was put as being "Entertainment".  That emphasis wasn't mine, it was the editor's.  See what I mean about those waves of possibility?  Now that the emphasis has been put there, I can answer the question that has arisen.

Entertainment is important, there's no two ways about that, and I've already demonstrated above that's how I feel.  Everyone has different things they enjoy, and we all love to be entertained.  I think my main question when it comes to entertainment would be "does it cause harm to anyone?"  We're all familiar with the "no animals were harmed in the making of this..." but what about people?  There are a lot of books, films, music, etc where people are harmed.  But was any actual person caused intentional harm in the making of this movie?  Was anyone forced to do something against their will in the making of this movie?  We need to see the distinction between fact and fiction.  Yes, there may have been many people harmed in the story of this movie, but was any actual blood shed?  Were any actual arms chopped off or was it CGI?  Was anyone actually doing anything against their will, or were they actors who wanted to play this particular part?  I'm thinking about the porn industry as much as anything else here.  Were all the actors happy with everything their role entailed?  Is it something I might enJOY?  OK then good, let's have a look!

Certification still needs to come into play, but let's be more open minded about it.  Let's certify things according to what we, as good parents, would want our children to see.  There would be grey areas where some people think that a movie given a 12 rating is suitable for their 10 year old, but there'd also be parents of 14 year olds who'd rather they didn't see it.  That should be where parental control comes in.  Most parents do care about their children.  We don't need the government to tell us how to do it, because we've been taught how to be good parents by our upbringing - and where that may have failed, our own instincts have kicked in and we've made a conscious decision not to do something that hurt us. Obviously this isn't always the case, but those cases involve harm to a human being, and therefore come in under the two questions above.  

The representative members of society are society as a whole.  We don't need a room to sit in, we're volunteering on our own time in our own homes.  Nobody commutes to this job, and nobody gets paid.  It's all done on an ad-hoc basis from our own homes on our own methods of internet surfing.  Nobody is chosen for their CV, they're recommended and verified by their own usage.  Anyone who tried slipping something vile in would be very quickly spotted, the content removed, and then it's back over at channel 1 for the people who really want to watch it - and maybe a government would then remove it (I don't know, I'm not focusing on Internet 1 any more!)

This is getting really long, so I'll address the other points more briefly (if I can manage it!)  "Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely".  I am no more able to deny this than anyone else - we can all see the evidence before us today in very real terms.  That's why no one person has absolute power, and why it's of vital importance that this is a community endeavour.  The online community, not someone sitting in a seat in an office with a big red button in front of them.

"They are ideas that all fair minded people aspire to"  Yes.  And that's exactly why all fair minded people are positively encouraged to become part of the community of moderators, and how it's self-regulating and self-perpetuating.

I'll cover religion in it's own post, I have an opinion piece in mind after watching Bill Maher's documentary, Religulous.  I have far too much to say on that subject to expand on my views here.  (*edit. I've now posted said article Here)

"...the voiceless and marginalised are always down trodden"  Agreed, they are, because the system we're currently living under keeps it that way.  With channel 2, there would no longer be voiceless folks, because we'd all be thinking "for the good of all".  

When something is a "reality", nobody questions it.  The sun comes up in the morning, every day.  It's an unquestionable fact, and therefore we don't even think about it.  I wonder how many doubters would have had something to say about the vision of the internet itself before that was a reality?  I do honestly welcome questions about my vision, but I do have the proviso that if you ask questions, you listen to and think about the answers with an open mind.  It really is like a parachute!

The problem with trying to explain my view of this, is that it's all-encompassing.  I can see that it would work, because I know the positive impact of positive energy.  Light and Dark, as mentioned, are very relevant.  Martin Luther King Jr. once said "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."

We're currently under the control of the Darkness.  We're living in fear because we're constantly bombarded with images that stir up fear.  ISIS, Ebola, war, racism, child abuse, immigration.... the list goes on and endlessly on.  We live in constant fear of things that have been around since time immemorial.  The media has brought all of these things to our attention, and yes, they do need attention, I'm not denying that for a second.  

The problem is, we're focusing on the wrong things.  Instead of focusing on the problems, we need to be focusing on the solutions.  We need to be doing something about them, getting rid of the problem at it's root.  We have the answers to all of those problems.  Very clever people all over the world are coming up with incredible ideas and putting them into action.  School girls in Nigeria have invented a urine powered generator - water powered generators of all kinds could revolutionise power generation. That's one problem that has a solution.  This boy's daydreaming brought him to a solution for his Grandad's wandering due to Alzheimers.  

I promise you, there's a solution to every problem we're facing in the world today, because someone who's suffering the problem has daydreamed their way to a solution.  That's why we need to daydream, and why we need to change our way of thinking.  The video I linked at the top of this article mentions "theft of ideas".  We need to stop thinking of it as theft, and go back to thinking of it as "sharing of knowledge".  Nikola Tesla was an incredible inventor, but ridiculed in his time.  Tesla have recently shared their knowledge so that any car manufacturer in the world can produce a car based on their technology - which is much better for the environment than petrol and diesel cars.  Imagine the possibilities if all the good ideas were shared in one place... 

Have a problem?  Find a solution - and if you can't daydream one up, Google it, on Internet Channel 2!

Metaphysics, MIBs, and my Mental Meanderings

"I am a preacher when I've got it on me, and I've got it on me" - Guy Garvey - I love that man!  And yeah, I've got it on me, so now you have to sit through my thoughts on Men In Black 3 and the myriad of metaphors behind that.  Just a quick warning for the faint of heart, this is an very honest post and contains reference to cannabis. Consider yourself warned :)


Over the last couple of months I've developed a huge interest in Quantum and Metaphysics and it's totally taken me by surprise.  I didn't try particularly hard at school.  In infant school I was very obviously bright and got high marks on pretty much any test they could throw at me.  By the time I got to high school I'd lost interest and spent a lot of time lounging around in the bus station cafe and generally getting up to mild mischief.  I wasn't a criminal unless you count underage smoking, drinking and the odd bit of sex (oh, and not going to school when I was supposed to!) and I left home two days after I left school with a grand total of 6 qualifications - Four 16+/O-Levels and two CSEs - I was in the last year before GCSEs started.

I also hated science.  

I did everything I could think of to get out of it, and when I discovered that taking Geology meant I'd have one less PE lesson a week (I hated that too!) I jumped at the chance - I also managed to convince the teachers that I should be allowed to drop Biology since I was now taking another "ology", and I got my own way.  I do love getting my own way!!

So yeah, it came as a massive surprise when I watched a video on Quantum theory a few weeks ago and discovered that I totally understood what they were talking about! Everyone's always said it's really complicated so I've never bothered even looking.  Just goes to show, don't take anybody else's word for anything - find out for yourself!  It's a big interest of mine now, and I get a bit obsessed with it in my head sometimes, thinking about parallel universes and how all of our lives are interwoven without us really thinking about it - and sometimes without even knowing!

The Men In Black theme tune popped up on my iPod shuffle one morning in October while I was standing outside smoking.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was watching a couple of birds flying around in a bright sky when something caught my eye.  As I turned to my left, a man came around the corner wearing a black overcoat and dark sunglasses!  I did an actual LOL, and as he passed me I told him about the MIB song being his theme tune.  He laughed with me, and as he carried on to wherever he was going, I shouted "thanks for defending the galaxy, keep up the good work!" and carried on chuckling to myself long after he'd disappeared.  You wouldn't believe how often my shuffle played wholly appropriate and/or hilarious songs on a daily basis, but that's a subject for a blog if I ever get around to setting one up.

Yesterday I decided to watch the original Men In Black again, in line with the theme of watching films from years ago and rethinking what they mean to me.  I don't have the DVD - at least, I don't think I do, and it was far easier to look on YouTube on my phone (which I can then play through my TV! That's pretty cool) and I found it on there.  I got myself organised with a drink and something to eat, and then settled down to watch it.  At first I was a bit annoyed to find it was MIB3 that I'd found, but as I'd only seen it once before (and I'd been a bit stoned at the time!) I decided I'd have another look.

Oh, how pleased am I that I did??  As I say, my quantum obsession is in it's absolute infancy.  I couldn't explain much more than Schrodinger's Cat (and I might struggle to explain even that concept just yet) but I've grasped the basics of waves, and now I want to devour as much information as I can.  It also runs right through the centre of the story of MIB3.  Hoorah!!

I'm now watching it for the 3rd time since it was released, and writing this as I do.  I'll waffle on a LOT, so get yourself a snack and a drink and have a little wander around the beautiful and colourful randomness that is my mind.  Make yourself at home!  There are a lot of articles popping into my various feeds at the moment which point the reader towards The Matrix and 1984 as being relevant to the way things are in the world right now, so I guess that's the perspective I'm looking at these movies from - and needless to say, I haven't seen or read either of the above... Yeah, yeah, I'll get round to it!

The film opens in a high security prison, and Nicole Sherzinger has great boobs. I'm sure she knows it too, which is why I have no objection to the blatant cleavage shot within a few seconds of the opening titles - why wouldn't she want you to look at them?!  She's come to visit the maximum security prisoner, Boris the Animal  ("It's just Boris!!") with the ubiquitous escape plan in a cake. It does make a huge point that she disappears within a few minutes of having served her purpose of looking beautiful and giving Boris what he wants, but hey, this is about metaphors, and that's a very relevant one to the female audience.  It'd be really great if everyone took note though, because we should be neither giving nor receiving that kind of treatment. (Told you I'm a preacher! Don't say I didn't warn you, it's right there in the first sentence!!)

"Let's re-write history, shall we K?"

Ooh yes, let's!!

History is written by the victors, we all know that.  Wars are fought because leaders convince the people that the opponents want to take their freedom.  Both sides think they're in the right.  That's how wars begin and history books come into being.  We're only ever told one side, so we just blindly believe what we're told, because it's in the books.  Then came the Internet.  All sides of the story are being told - yes, "all" sides.  Every person sees their own version of events.  Ten people at one event will all tell slightly different stories because no two of them were looking at exactly the same thing at exactly the same time.  So every version of the story is actually true, it's just that each person noticed different instances that made up the whole event. This is where I start to head down the rabbit hole, so I'll leave that there for now - find your own rabbit hole if you like! 

The reason I wanted to watch MIB in the first place was because of Orion's belt.  That concept of a galaxy in that tiny little ball on a dog's collar has stayed with me since I first saw the original.  I suppose you could say I've been thinking about metaphysics for a lot longer than I *think* I've been thinking about it, I just didn't know what it was called.  This video is actually a really good one to demonstrate perspective perfectly - The Known Universe by AMNH

"Good afternoon. Please give your attention to my associate, Agent J. He's going to demonstrate an Electro-Biomechanical-Neuro-Transmitting-Zero-Synapses-Repositioner, we call it the Neuralizer"

First I'm going to demonstrate what a rubbish geek I am... Whenever I've sung along with the theme tune, I've always called it a Normaliser.  Same thing really though, because that particular metaphor relates to MainStream Media.  I've capitalised it like that so I can just refer to it as MSM from now on - no, it's not laziness, it's efficiency! 

So yeah, MSM is the Neuralizer.  Remember all the footage we watched in 2001 when we were being given the official story of 9/11.  That's not a question, of course you remember it - we all do.  We all know exactly where we were when that news came through, and how many hours of MSM news we watched.  We all "knew" the names of the terrorists who had planned and executed it, and we all agreed that they needed to be stopped.  Or most of us did.  

In the years since that atrocity, more evidence has been coming to light, casting doubt on the story we'd all been told.  There are polls that show more than 50% of Americans no longer believe that a plane could bring down those buildings (and WTC7 wasn't even hit by a plane, why did that fall down??)  When you really look into it properly with an open mind, it's impossible to deny that the truth is something far removed from the story we've all been given to believe for all these years.  I could list alternative versions for days, but I'll let you do your own research when you feel ready to start questioning.  But remember, as K was very fond of saying, "Don't ask questions you don't want to know the answers to"

The point is, the Neuralizer is used to confuse the citizens, and then they're fed an alternative, sanitised, "it's for your own good" version of events.  The MIBs don't want people running around in a panic about all the aliens, so they police them secretly and give people almost rational explanations for everything so that they can carry on with their lives completely oblivious to the dangers around them every day.  The MIBs are the "Light Side" of the coin.  For every negative, there's a positive!

I had a "nervous breakdown" a couple of months ago.  I was off work with depression, and during that time I started to get floods of information.  What started off as "what's my life's purpose?" turned into a huge idea that had arms, legs and a beating heart.  It grew pretty much everything else as well.  It was an all-encompassing idea that had the potential to actually change the world.  I've never had so many thoughts and ideas come to me in such a short time, and I tried everything I could to let people know about them.  

The problem was, there were too many - it was too big.  How do you explain everything you're thinking about when the person you're explaining to is coming in blind?  They don't know about every news article you've ever read, or every piece of music you love, or every person in your life and every conversation you've had with each of them, or every film or video you've watched... It's all just too much information, and when you start trying to explain it, your brain jumps around like a ping pong ball to other snippets of relevant information, which you then need to explain, and it all becomes very confusing, very quickly.  That's what happens when you fall into the rabbit hole.  

There's a little version of this in MIB3 when J is trying to find K at work, but nobody knows who K is.  He looks pretty insane in that moment, because he knows he's right, he knows K exists, but nobody around him has a clue what he's talking about.  Let me tell you, that's a very confusing and downright scary thing to go through. If anyone in your life becomes manic, and whilst you feel as though they're talking a lot of sense, they're simultaneously making no sense at all, please, be like O.  

Agent O: Wait. How long have you been craving chocolate iced dairy products?

Agent J: Just today.

Agent O: Are you experiencing headaches, dizziness, loss of balance?

Agent J: Mmhmm.

Agent O: Agitation, depression?

Agent J: Hell, yeah!

Agent O: There are only two possibilities. One is you've been bitten by the Horbathion brain tick, you could die in horrible agony at any moment.

[suddenly O slaps J hard in the face]

Agent J: Aah!

Agent O: Dammit. It's not the tick.

Agent J: Dammit it's not the tick? There's something worse than the tick? 

Agent O: Mm. 

Listen to them, ask questions, and be patient.  Tell them not to worry, look after their physical needs, let them blabber on about whatever's on their mind, because it's way better than the tick.  Above all, please don't slap them - they might slap you back!

I have a theory, and it's backed up by lots of stories online, that "a nervous breakdown" is actually an emotional wake up.  It's an Awakening.  That's why I got so excited about the Star Wars clip.  That flood of information I was (am!) receiving was actually old memories awakening. Memories of my childhood, of everything I've read, the music I've loved, the speeches I've heard, the places I've been, the people I've met.... everything.  Everything.  All coming back and fitting itself together into the jigsaw that makes up my life so far.  I had all the pieces all along, I'd just never put them all together and then taken a step back to look at the bigger picture.

I did start to look in September.  I started to listen more too, and everything gets absorbed, then filed away for future reference.  It's amazing what I trip over when I'm wandering around in this ever expanding mind of mine - the light's are on, and Sarah is most definitely home!  Come on in, it's warm and cosy.  There are pretty colours and beautiful pictures, epic romances, heart rending tragedies, and countless miracles.  There even stars.  Millions and millions of them. Planets, space, shooting stars to order, and if you order them in, I'll come and lie beside you and we can watch the show together.  My mind is a rabbit hole, and I do always welcome mad hatters!

So when you feel that your friend or loved one is losing their mind; wonder whether maybe they're not losing their mind, but in fact *finding* it.  Watch them grow, trust their instincts, and let them enjoy the journey.  They don't need your judgement, they need your love. Remember always, it's not your journey, you don't have to understand it, they just have this undeniable need to tell their story - and who better to tell than someone they love?  All you might need to do is make sure the practicalities are attended to - in the words of the great man himself (that's Bob Marley by the way) "Everything's gonna be alright" 

Just as a bit of confirmation of this, I used to love my job, and then I didn't.  Then I resigned, and the third time I gave them my notice they accepted it.  I'm now following my heart, with all the time in the world for thinking and writing - and you lucky souls get an open invitation to the bits I'm willing to show you.  Don't worry, I'm very open, you may even find that you get more insight into the workings of Sarah than you'll ever be totally comfortable with.  Like I said, this is my world, and I love it here - you don't even have to like it, all I ask is that you're polite about it :)  

I've gone from a job, to doing what I want to do, and that makes my heart really happy.  There are a lot of things that make my heart smile, and writing is right up there near the very top.  Knowing that something I write might reach out and tap someone on the shoulder warms it too.  Having them turn around and tell me how it touched them is the icing on the cake.  That's the big hug from someone who knows exactly what I'm talking about, and I love it.  Truly.

Hugs are free, and always appreciated more than you can know, whatever form they take :)

Religulous - Bill Maher's documentary film

Bill Maher takes us on a journey around the world, talking about some of the major religions.  Being a Brit, I had to Google Mr Maher.  According to Wiki, "William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, writer, producer, and actor", and since watching this, I like him :)

The video opens with Bill standing on a pile of rocks - "I'm standing on the very spot where Christians believe the world will come to an end.  It's called Megiddo, and it's the place that the Book of Revelations says Jesus Christ will come down to, end the world, and save the people who believe in him.  Now, when Revelations was written, only God had the capacity to end the world, but now man does too because unfortunately, before man figured out how to be rational or peaceful, he figured out how to make nuclear weapons and pollute on a catastrophic scale.  If there's one thing I hate more than prophecy, it's self fulfilling prophecy."

It's a great place to start off a documentary to demonstrate his doubts about religion.  I share the same doubts, and watching this just reinforced all of them.  This is my favourite kind of documentary - it answers a lot of questions, but leaves me with many more.  In a past life, I would have found that incredibly frustrating, but now, I'd rather be left to think about the answers myself than to accept somebody else's answer as my own.

As background, after living in Qatar between the ages of 9 and 12, I went to boarding school in Cyprus for just over a year.  It was run by born again Christians, and please don't imagine they were anything like the Evangelists on US tv, because they couldn't have been further from that image.  My friends find it highly amusing to discover that at the age of 13 I was teaching bible study classes to the kindergarten children - and not only was I teaching those classes, but I was writing the lessons myself.  I've studied the bible, and I promise you, there's a lot of good stuff in there.  The problem is, as far as I can see it, there's also a lot of out of date and sometimes completely ridiculous stuff in there as well.  

What I took away from that time of intensive study of the bible was that god is love, we should treat other people as we'd like to be treated, and that we should do nice things for people (The Good Samaritan story)  I'm sure I took more than this away, but these basics have done me very well in the intervening years, despite having been a non-practicing, non-denominational. sometimes atheist, mostly "spiritual but not religious" being.

Maher speaks to various denominations of Christianity in the first section and admits that he's preaching "the Gospel of I don't know".  While he's here, he questions the list of widely held beliefs that aren't even mentioned in the bible at all, or are only mentioned in one Gospel (like the virgin birth... who knew that was only in 2 versions of the bible??)  Then there's the question of homosexuality.  He points out many times that *man* wrote the bible, and that homosexuality exists in nature.  Nature is wholly accepting of homosexuality, but certain sections of humanity see it as a complete abomination.  Hmmm... 

It's also interesting to note that the interviewees regularly get angry with Bill, and threaten to end the interview rather than having a rational discussion with him.  Their beliefs are obviously very important to them, but to me, if someone questions my beliefs on any subject, then I want to engage with them and discuss my reasoning.  

Whilst talking to a Jews For Jesus follower about his belief in miracles, the guy tells Bill a story about sticking his hand out of the window to fill his cup with water and pray for rain.  It started raining so hard that his cup filled and people were unable to leave the party.  Bill ridicules his belief that this was a miracle, because "it rains!  That's not a miracle".  I tend to disagree with this; in my view, a miracle is in the eye of the beholder.

Last week my youngest was home for the weekend and wanted to visit her Nan and her sister, and had plans to play bingo with Nan later on in the evening.  I was late getting ready to meet her at her sister's house, so I decided to go to the bingo with them later rather than go home again half an hour after seeing them.  My daughter shouted "house" on the last game of the night, and we shared the £100 between us.  So, not only did I get to spend extra time with my lovely daughter, but I got to see my equally lovely other daughter and grandson, indulged in some play time, enjoyed my ex mother in law's company, all for free and went home with some extra money in my pocket!  That's a little miracle in my eyes, and to be honest, it makes no difference to me if you think that's just life, because that little miracle (or set of miracles) made my day!

It's worth pointing out that religion means a lot to it's followers.  There are millions of people who gain great comfort from their chosen religion, but there are a lot of people who get so involved in religion that they ignore certain parts of it for their own benefit, and that's what I struggle with.  The 10 Commandments have always been purported to have come from a god in the sky.  Maybe Moses did speak to god, I wasn't there so I don't know, but I find it peculiar that 3 of the commandments are for god's protection rather than for the people.  The tradition of man-made laws has followed on from these "commandments from god" ever since.  Men writing laws that are supposedly for the good of everyone, but really only benefit those who know how to get around them (think tax laws as an example).  As Bill points out, why isn't there a commandment about not abusing children? 

He talks to some very interesting people, like the Vatican Observatory's head.  A Vatican Astronomer!!  That's a surprise!  There are quite a few gems of people within this film, and I especially love the priest outside the Vatican that Bill calls a Maverick.  If all priests were like him, I'd have a lot more time for organised religion (although I'd still take the bits that resonate and discard the bits that don't).

To me, all of the holy books should be seen as snippets of history.  They were written by men who may or may not have been around for the events they wrote about.  The scriptures are one person's view of events which will have been interpreted differently by each of the other witnesses to the event.  They contain the views of the individuals who wrote them, and therefore need to be read with an open mind.  Times change, people change, the world at large changes, and popular opinion changes with all of the above.  Just because homosexuality was frowned upon 2,000 or more years ago, does that mean that we're not allowed to evolve past that stage because someone who wrote an article for a book that later came to be seen as "holy" disagreed with it?  

There's a Holy Land Experience in Orlando.  Oh wow... seriously?  How much money does that little (huge!) enterprise drag in from the poor unsuspecting souls who want some comfort in a time of need?  The senior manager of public relations doesn't like that Bill's interviewing their Jesus... I did love the witch's cackle that announced her arrival!  Their Jesus actually makes a lot of good points, he clearly does believe in his god.  

On the other hand, Bill makes a lot of good points as well.  Why would an all powerful god have allowed the Holocaust to happen?  "Jesus" says this is because god is more powerful than you or I, and likens it to trying to explain how tv works to an ant - the ant isn't on the right intellectual level to understand the explanation, and we're not on the right intellectual level to understand god's purpose or method of thinking.

I agree with both of them. How very Libran of me!  I do genuinely think both of them are right in some things, but equally, I believe they're both also wrong in others - or at least, they're both looking at it from the wrong perspective.

In my opinion, god is within each of us.  That omnipotence, omnipresence, omni-whatever-else-(s)he-can-do, is because we all have thoughts.  We all have free will.  We all have the power to make the right choice, and equally, we have the power to make the wrong choice.  We all have the capacity to follow a path of evil, or the path of good.  Whichever path we choose determines the outcome.  

Basically, "Judge not, lest ye be judged" is bloody good common sense to me, and yet it's ignored in every single religion and every single law of every single land.  If religion is so central to everything, why do we have courts, laws, police, barristers, and everyone else involved in the judgment profession?  Why are we imprisoning and killing people "in the name of the (man made) law" on a daily basis?  Why are American prisons so overflowing with young people who have shown true remorse for what they've done?  Have you ever felt guilty about something?  I mean something small, like the time you said something that unintentionally hurt someone you care about.  Remember how that guilt almost consumed you until you apologised? And then how you still felt bad until you were sure they'd forgiven you?  Imagine that multiplied for the person who got drunk and crashed the car, killing the three close friends who were in the car with them at the same time, or the dad who took his kid fishing and the child fell into the lake and drowned.  I'm not for a second saying let's get rid of all laws, but I do think that there are reams of them that should be consigned to the history books, and cases where human decency should be brought into play far more often than the written laws of the land.

There are fundamental natural laws that can't be ignored.  The Fibonacci Sequence for example. The images there show that it's a law that exists anywhere you care to examine in nature, and you don't need to be a mathematical genius to see it.  

The taking of another life is debatable, because in nature, animals kill and eat each other all the time.  It's the circle of life.  Does that mean it's ok for humans to go around killing each other?  No.  The only way I can align that in my Utopian daydream is that there are small communities of cannibals.  Some people want to eat human flesh, some people want those people to eat their flesh. Put them together, and give them a place where they can happily eat flesh from each other without actually causing death, and let them get on with it.  It's their choice; just because I don't want to eat or be eaten doesn't make me automatically wrong.  If they're happy with it, let them get on with it - who am I to judge?  As long as there's informed consent, do what you like.  Just don't try to force anyone else into it.  That goes for religion, politics, sex, anything you can think of.  By all means let other people in on your beliefs, and discuss them if the other person wants to, but you can't make anyone feel something they don't feel.  We all need to take responsibility for our own actions, and stop worrying about other people's actions.

Gosh, that was a new rabbit hole, even for me!

It's a widely held belief that most of the wars that have ever taken place have been due to religion.  Between religion and politics, millions of people have lost their lives, and Megiddo is a perfect case in point.  The Jews and Muslims have been fighting and arguing over that site for centuries.  Why can't they just accept that everyone has their own little story behind it, and that just because their story disagrees slightly with yours, they're automatically wrong?  Why can't everyone just go and do their own private pilgrimage without having to attack the other person's beliefs in the process?

That's what I can't reconcile when it comes to religion of any sort.  Why is your set of beliefs any more correct than theirs?  Why aren't they entitled to hold their own beliefs and leave you to hold yours, without each of you trying to kill the other?  

Whatever happened to ""Thou shalt not kill"?

There's an awful lot more covered in Religulous, much of which will cause you to question your own beliefs if you approach it with an open mind.  One of the things I found most interesting was the number of sub-sections within each religion.  Some of those sub-sections fundamentally disagree with others within the same religious umbrella.  That alone is enough to tell me that religion needs to be consigned to the"History" section, along with many of our man-made laws.  

I highly recommend Religulous, even if just for the comparisons between the story of Jesus and the tales of the previous 1000+ years, about Krishna, Horus, and many others.  Jonathan Boulden (a visitor at the Holy Land Experience, which still makes me roll my eyes by it's very existence!) deserves a mention of his own, because he brings Star Wars into it and notes that in Episode 1, Annakin was born to a virgin.  I bloody knew all of this would connect!  Just wait til next December, I'll have lots to say on this subject over the next 12 months, I'm sure!

Before Bill left there, "Jesus" asked Bill "What if you're wrong?", which Bill in turn asked him back.  "Jesus" looked a bit uncomfortable about that, and didn't give a reply (to my knowledge!) but if someone asks me that question, my reply will be "I've been the best person I could possibly be, and worked to improve on my weaknesses as I noticed them".  If that's not good enough then so be it.  At least I know I tried my best :)

Bill gets kicked off site by several religious organisations, which again, I find telling.  I guess it could tell a story that a lot of the newer religions are more than used to public ridicule, so they might just be trying to protect themselves... but really, in my view, if they had nothing to hide (ie they fully believed in their religion) they'd engage in discussion about it.  Some of the revelations in this film are eye-poppingly unbelievable!  I have no idea how people manage to align themselves with this stuff and go back for more every week!

When Bill moves on to Judaism, I'm afraid do want to give him a shove and tell him to be quiet for a minute.  He doesn't give the Rabbi any time to speak, but I do feel that he may have had some really interesting things to say.  He doesn't believe in a Jewish State, and that Jews will only see the sacred place when they reach a higher level of (godliness?)  That makes sense to me, he spoke of a compassionate god, which is quite different from the jealous god mentioned when he spoke to Christians.  It could have added quite a bit to the debate for me, but there you go, I can't change that :)

The next Jews he speaks to are basically spending their lives finding loopholes in the extremely strict rules around the Sabbath.  Very amusing!  

There's also a very clever comparison between the Old Testament and madness - hopefully it'll make some people think!

Then we come to a man who proclaims he's the second coming of Jesus Christ.  People pay him for that, he has followers, and says that Jesus of Nazareth had a wife and Jesus's seed was spread across Europe and into Puerto Rico, so he's a descendant.  Woah!!  Very funny section, I like Bill a lot!

We then move to Amsterdam and the religion of Cantheism, interspersed with conversations about Islam.  Also a very interesting section, with some great questions, and a variety of answers.  I did feel a bit sorry for the Gay Muslims, they really didn't look amused, and they do have balls for going on a show like that.  Well done them!

We're shown the contrast between the Imam in the mosque saying that "Islam preaches above all peace, peace, peace" and then the video cuts to an Ayatollah of some description shouting about killing the infidels.  It seems to me that the peaceful Muslims blame the violence and killing on politics, and the non-peaceful muslims say they're acting on religious grounds.  It's everyone else's fault.  Obviously!

With that sort of contradiction within one book, how is anyone supposed to know what they're supposed to be doing in the name of God?  And I'm not just talking about the Quran here, I mean any holy scripture that can be interpreted as condoning violence, and that includes the Bible.  

Thou shalt not kill.

Judge not, lest ye be judged.

Not doing so well on either of those are we?  As a planet I mean.  Humankind has messed up big time when it comes to religion as far as I'm concerned.  

Bill goes back to Jerusalem for the next section, to where Solomon's temple used to be, and now the Muslims have built the Dome of the Rock.  There's an interesting story as to why Muslims all face towards Mecca when they pray, I knew they did it, but not the reason why.  Then there's a round up of who feels this site is particularly holy and why they feel like that, and it just leaves me wishing for a world where everyone can travel freely to a place that is important to them, no matter what their race, religion, gender, as long as they're going there for peaceful reasons.  Stop fighting over the toys children, and play nicely!!

  

Then we visit the "giant naked man with a sizeable erection" at Cerne Abbas.  In Bill's opinion it's all just about tradition without really knowing why things are done that way.  In all honesty, I think he's right in many cases.  Actually, in most cases more than likely.

"If the world does come to an end here, or wherever, or if it limps into the future, decimated by the effects of religion-inspired nuclear terrorism, let's remember what the real problem was that we learned how to precipitate mass death before we got past the neurological disorder of wishing for it. That's it. Grow up or die."

Bill Maher

You can watch Bill's film HERE - If you don't have a Netflix account, I'm sure it's available elsewhere as well.  I'm not affiliated with anyone and will receive no monetary payment for this blog - but as Netflix have a month free trial, you literally have nothing to lose and potentially, everything to gain!

We Are The Future

We’re looking at life from completely the wrong perspective, but the great news is that it’s easy to change.  I've just finished watching Tom Shadyac’s film, "I Am" and it confirms everything I've known in my heart for a long time.  This is a film that was released in 2011, and the way life is at the moment means that it's not classed as mainstream so not enough people even know it exists.

I stumbled across it a couple of nights ago by what some people would refer to as coincidence, but I know to be synchronicity.  I've tuned into the frequency that shares the sort of information contained within the film, and that led me to it.

Over the last 2 years I've been through the most difficult time of my life, as I'm sure many of you have experienced as well.  There have been many high points, but the lows have been much lower than those we've experienced in the past.  Over the course of those dark months, I've come to the realisation that that the world is going to change and that we’ll all do it together, but I’ve spent too long coming up with plans to change things, and ways to convince other people as to why I’m right - that never works on cynics, so it's become something of a solitary journey. 

Everything I've seen and learned along this journey has brought me to the absolute certainty that our world is about to change, and that it will be a rapid shift.  That word has popped into my consciousness many times, because so many of us feel it and that in itself is a self perpetuating shift. The changes are already happening, and nothing can stop the avalanche we're experiencing.  It's great news, because every positive action we make now is adding to the tipping point, and it's just as unstoppable as a landslide would be in the 3D realm.

Quantum Physics is about to prove itself to all the doubters.  We've lived in a world of duality and separation for thousands of years, and now that we know about it, we can reprogramme ourselves.  

I couldn't watch the film immediately because I had to order it and then await delivery.  This is part of the problem IMHO.

We’re all connected, everything we do affects everything around us.  

I’ve known this for a while now, and I’ve been trying to find a way to explain it.  Then I watched this film from 2011 and found that Tom has already done the hard work, it just needs to be seen by as many people as possible.

I’ve spent months banging on about how it’s preferable to share knowledge than to patent it, how volunteering makes you happier, why we should be looking after the planet, trying to convert people to my way of thinking.  I’ve been just as bad as any religious zealot knocking on your door while you’re trying to eat your tea, and for that, I apologise to every single being I've negatively affected along the way.

I’ve already written stories about my journey, tried to explain my inner thoughts and beliefs, but now I realise I've been emphasising the wrong subjects. We need to share our knowledge rather beliefs, and the best way to do that is online, where we're connected to the world.

In 2012 Justin Bieber sang for my daughter, and he was actually really great, but as usual, he was ridiculously late.  On this particular occasion it was because he’d been partying with the One Direction boys the night before.  The fact that this performance happened is really special though.  Being one of 10 teenagers in a private show from Justin Bieber – how many millions of youngsters would have loved that!  It's actually a beautiful song as well, and the lyrics fit in perfectly with what every one of us is trying to achieve.  

Love.  

Click here to view on YouTube 

I've come to realise over the last few months that 2012 actually was a huge year after all, we just didn’t all realise it at the time.  Have a think about where you are in your life today, and how you ended up here.  If you go through all the "well this happened because of that other thing that went wrong, and that happened because X introduced me to Y and they had an opening for..." I have a feeling that a lot of significant changes or new things came about it 2012 that had a direct impact.  I can definitely trace events back to something major in that year!

When it became more common knowledge that the Mayan calendar ended on the 21st December 2012, there were a few people getting into a bit of a silly tizz about it.  There were films and books everywhere we looked, and even if we didn't really believe the whole world was going to come to an end, I'm honest enough to admit that there was a little twinge of "what if".  The way I look at it now, is that it was an ending, and now we're all an integral factor in the new beginning.  But it was only the end of that chapter of human life on earth.  It's not the end of the story, not by a long way!

The changes we're seeing now are a direct result of what's become known in many circles as "The Shift", and my "breakdown" was basically me thinking I had to come up with a way to save everyone on the planet.  I'm now sufficiently recovered to know that I can't do it on my own.  I can't change anything. I'm just one person.  However, what I've also realised is that there are billions of "Just Little Old Me"s in the world.  And not only that, but a surprisingly large number of the other J-Loms (ha! I just totally made that up on the spot and I'm loving it!) are awake already!  They started the party without me, but that's ok, I like o be fashionable late - but I never want to be the last to arrive!  However, I'm always there until the very end, because I've always been scared of leaving too early in case I miss the fun stuff!  (We'll not talk about the number of times I've fallen asleep in public because of that little phobia! Haha!) 

The Shift started in a major way then, we just can't see the results yet, but that's because we've all been preparing for now.  The planets are aligned, every atom of our being can feel the change coming if we're tuned in to it.  The waterfall has already started, because a lot of us woke up or had experiences that would lead us to realise ourselves and our destinies of saving the Universe today.  Now it's time to add to that waterfall.

Humankind is hardwired to help others.  We can have a global community where everything is free, and those of us who already provide free food for the hungry know that.  Those of us who are already showing care and making positive changes in our own lives know how vastly our happiness has improved from that one simple change.  

It's time to show the rest of the world it works, by being the person you came here to be.  

The contents of the film are scientific enough for even the most hardened of sceptics, there’s no disputing anything that’s said in there.  It’s not about spirituality, it’s about human nature, and every single person in the world has that. 

Ask yourself, “What can I do to change the world?” and then do it.  Can you help out with fixing up your local community centre? Do it!  Can you call on your elderly neighbour and have a cup of tea with them? Do it!

There's no need for any of us to work hard, because by helping each other, we can get on with doing exactly what we love.  Our creativity is freed, and we have the freedom to indulge it.  The best thing about creativity is that it's so varied.  When someone is creating what they love, they want to share it.  If that creation is beautiful food, they'll feed others.  If that creation is art or entertainment, they'll give pleasure to their audience.  If the creation is a solution to a problem, they'll make another life easier to live.

Every creation is a solution to a problem.  It fulfills a demand.  And where there's a demand, there's a market.  The new market will not require currency though, because the sharing of creations and knowledge will be a pleasure.

When we're free to explore what we love, we learn everything about it and become expert.  We have a natural desire to share the knowledge we have, so we welcome interested students and take joy in sharing that knowledge.  

Imagine a dad in his well equipped garage, sharing his joy with his inquisitive child.  He will happily answer every "why", and the child will grow up with knowledge, even if it doesn't become their passion.  Our most precious asset in this world isn't money or gold.  The most valuable commodity known to man, is knowledge. In our current system it's known as "intellectual property", but in our next reality it will be "shared knowledge".

Here's a little challenge for you before you watch the film yourself.  Think of any of the huge disasters we've seen footage of in recent years.  Natural disasters or man made acts of terror.  Now I guarantee you're thinking of how terrible it was, how many people died, maybe even who was to blame.  I'd like you to pay attention to how you feel inside before you read on.  Is there a physical reaction?  A tightening of muscles? Any other sensation?

Now instead of thinking of the tv footage of the disaster, I'd like you to focus on the other side of the story.  Think about all those people who rushed to help out.  All the rescuers, the life savers, the primary caregivers.  Now let's imagine the people who raised money to help the victims.  What imaginative and fun ideas might they have come up with to raise the money?  How happy were they to have raised money to ease someone else's suffering?  Let's imagine a tv interviewer going back to the victims when their situation has improved, and asking them how they feel about the people who helped them back on their feet.  I imagine that they're incredibly grateful to those people who pulled them from danger or disaster and helped them back to their feet.  I can see the happiest face, perhaps some tears of happiness, and I can feel the joy in my heart just from visualising it.  That feeling would be amplified by seeing it with my eyes, but the imagination of it still creates a palpable positive reaction in my whole being.

How did you feel inside when you imagined that world?  It's a completely different feeling to those you felt when you thought about the disaster at first.  The second feeling is what we all love to experience.  It's an enjoyable feeling, and it's even better when it's shared.  Think about how you feel when you're with your friends, laughing and having fun. Everybody prefers that feeling, and when we make other people happy, that makes us happier.  The easiest way to make someone else happy, is by fulfilling a need for them.  

Now I'd like you to imagine a world where instead of talking and posting online about what's wrong with the world around us, we talk about how easy it is to change things for the better.  We can raise the collective vibration, because we are all part of the collective.  The vibration is already changing to a higher frequency, and you only need to look at the successful and peaceful protests that are going on around the world to see that people are coming together for one cause at last.  We are making a difference, we just don't believe it yet.

It's true that a leopard can't change it's spots, but spots are on the outside.  We all know from experience that we can change and evolve from the inside.  So do you if you think about it... Are you the same person that you were 10 years ago?  How about 6 months ago? 

I can’t change the world by myself, but I can change myself.  I can be kind and thoughtful and compassionate with everyone I come across, and I can spread the love.  What can you do?

If someone is hungry, feed them if you can.
If someone is cold, offer them warmth if you are able.
If someone is hurting, help them to feel better if you know how.
If you don't know how to help them, offer your love and kindness.
If someone wants to share their joy with you, thank them.
Above all, remember that happiness shared is actually multiplied.

We can start a new stream to add to the waterfall by sharing this story.  Justin Bieber and Tom Shadyac have huge followings.  JB has a really great voice when he sings like this, he really does deserve a great career.  Tom Shadyac has the answers to everything on a film. Let's help them to be famous for all the right reasons, and make something really worthwhile viral instead of cats, or people hurting themselves.  We'll still be allowed to look at cats in the new reality, we can do everything we love to do!

Everything will change.

All of the conspiracy theories that led to a lot of our soul searching were just as unhelpful as the system we’re all in.  It led to more division.  "Us against them".

It’s not "their" fault.  We all learn from our parents that this is the way the world is. Then we learn from our contemporaries and the people we spend our time with. We learn from other people's example each and every day.

If we change the lesson, we change the world.

If Tom Shadyac makes his film a free download and freely shares the information with the world, then the world will see it.

If Justin Bieber tells his fans to watch "I Am" – and then One Direction do the same, and all of the other celebrities follow suit, how long do you think it will be before the world changes? 

We have the power to change the world.  We have the knowledge.  We just need to share it, and what’s the best way to do that? 

Through our connections.

The film I Am explains scientifically how much better we are than we think, and that we really do have the power to change everything.  The study of the red deer is particularly relevant.  There's an article here with a further 6 examples of democracy and telepathy in nature which all show how real change is possible because nature proves it every time.  

When 51% of the population has made a decision, the other 49% go ahead and follow their peers to the watering hole.  This is me leading you to the water.  Are you thirsty? 

We all have the power to decide.  Do we want to carry on living the way that we are, or do we want to live happily ever after?  Do we choose war and corruption and slogging our guts out in return for not quite enough money and far too much stress, or would we prefer to nurture our creative sides and take joy in other people's enjoyment of our creations? 

Even Charlie Chaplin knew today was coming!

I know which I prefer.  Billions of "I Am"s make one huge "We Are"

It will be beautiful.  Many of us can already visualise it. Let's make a new reality together!!

We can change the world.  

Together.