The film Dark City is a powerful cinematic experience in its stunning visuals and setting, as well as rich in themes of mind power and memory. The film merges several genres – science fiction, horror, film noir, German expressionism, with overtones of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari and Metropolis. The ideas and themes open several mind-expanding and thought-provoking lines of deep inspiration. The late great film critic Roger Ebert named Dark City the best film of 1998 and one of the great modern films. He called it a great visionary achievement, “a triumph of art direction, set design, cinemat ..read more

The Law of Attraction states that what we tend to think about, we bring about.  Where attention goes, energy flows. While this is a metaphysical law, we see it in everyday life.  Someone thinks often of ill health; another thinks of good health; one thinks of failing a test; another thinks of making a good grade – the law works the same for any situation. We might accept that our dominant thoughts create our reality.  However, putting this concept into action is not always easy, especially with troubling or fearful thoughts. The tendency in thinking is to simply follow along ..read more

Think and Grow Rich is one of the most famous inspirational books ever written, often cited as number 1 on many lists. Napoleon Hill wrote this book in 1937 during the time of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, and the world greatly needed this inspiration.  Not surprisingly, these ideas express the main ideas of the Law Attraction, which have roots in ancient spiritual traditions. The book describes the power of mind, the power of thoughts to transmute into reality. Wouldn't you love to grow rich?  Of course we do.  It's the "think" part we need to grasp. He consistentl ..read more

Imagination is one of our greatest creative powers. Creation starts with a vision. In the philosophy of the Law of Attraction, this concept is sometimes called a mental equivalent, a picture of some good that we want. Everything you see or feel on the material plane is the concrete expression of a mental equivalent that you hold.  This belief is the core of mental science: Our thoughts out-picture as our reality. Imagine that!   The Law of attraction concept is that what we tend to think about attracts things of like nature, or “where attention goes, energy flows.” Believing it as t ..read more

You might remember MAD magazine and this motto of the mascot, Alfred E. Neuman. Maybe that’s why he has such a big smile – he has released the habit of worry. We talked in the last post about fear and the Hero’s Journey. A hero is not someone who has no fear but who acts despite the fear. So, you might say that fear is really a gateway, a portal to living a heroic life. Fear has many faces, and one of its devious forms is worry. Definitions of worry are to give way to anxiety or allow one's mind to dwell on difficulty over actual or potential problems. In these definitions, it’s easy to see ..read more

We’ve been talking about the Hero’s Journey as a main structure in most stories, and then Your Heroic Life, applying the hero journey to your own life. An inspiring film that sheds some light on this topic is Defending Your Life. The story focuses on how we are often run by our fears and the importance of overcoming them, not only for this lifetime, but for our whole soul journey. It was written, directed and starring Albert Brooks in 1991, but it has retained its popularity since then. Daniel Miller, a successful ad executive, is celebrating his 39th birthday and the purchase of a $39,000 ..read more

The last blog post focused on the Hero’s Journey, the deep inner structure of most stories. The great mythologist Joseph Campbell studied the world’s myths and stories and found they followed this Hero’s Journey pattern, as referenced in his book Hero with a Thousand Faces. He felt that this pattern expressed the deep inner connections and symbolism of the human experience. The Journey has a spiritual element: the quest to connect with the true self and find meaning purpose. This quest is the essence of your heroic life story. The Hero’s Journey in a book or film has a definite starting poi ..read more

The Hero’s Journey is a deep pattern imbedded in many stories. In fact, it has been called the one story, the monomyth, of human existence. The acclaimed mythologist Joseph Campbell studied myths from all over the world and time periods. He found that they had a similar structure, which is discussed in his classic book, Hero with a Thousand Faces.  He felt that this pattern expresses the deep inner connections and symbolism of the human experience. For the Journey has a spiritual element, the quest to connect with the true self. Many stories and films loosely use this structure, such as ..read more

Christ taught by metaphor and similes and images, in stories the people could hear and understand.  He speaks several times of “the Kingdom of heaven is like….” He spoke of things they were familiar with:  a rift between a father and a son, sowing seeds, working in vineyards, and the differences among groups of people. A parable can be understood on many different levels, a personal level, a social description, or a metaphysical teaching.   One is a story of a kind of man that has become synonymous with a kind helper:    Luke 10:25-37    The Parab ..read more

The quote below is one of my favorites, written by W. H. Murray.  He was a Scottish mountaineer, author and soldier. While serving in North Africa in the Second World War,  he was captured and spent three years in Nazi prison camps. During this time, Murray wrote his famous book Mountaineering in Scotland on the only paper available, the rough lavatory paper. It was found and destroyed, so he started over again. After the camp was liberated, the book  was published, the first of many on mountaineering and the environment. His autobiography was entitled The Evidence of Things ..read more