Also, there now is a skin-changing tool on the left side of the page to change the background from dark red to off-white.

Here is a list of choices I had written down back in January of 1982, when I was a student of all of this in NYC back then. I still use this list today, as these are ongoing choices - fundamental choices - that support all of your other more detailed choices, and as a result are always fulfilling themselves on a regular basis:

I choose to be free (whatever that means to you).

I choose to be healthy.

I choose to be true to myself (whatever that means to you).

I choose to own everything that I do.

I choose to reach for the highest.

I choose to be a vehicle of service.

I choose to have it all work easily and effortlessly, with grace.

I choose to "be" my greatness. To let it happen.

I choose to do what it takes.

I choose to realize my potential for constructive creativity in whatever area I choose.

I choose to be surrounded by friends relating-to or helping with each endeavor of my undertaking, capable of appreciating the whole "trip", and to have that be worthy of such support, always.

I choose to be safe always.

I choose to receive what I want and to receive it graciously at that.

I choose to love easily.

I choose to communicate daily with God (whatever that means to you).

I choose to be a leader.

I choose to inspire, to direct.

I choose for all that I do to be in accordance with my true nature and purpose and God’s Will (whatever that means to you).

I choose to have a good job or career in-line with my true nature and purpose.

I choose to work miracles.

I choose to acknowledge what I’ve already done.

I choose to know what I want at all times.

I choose to attract people into my life who support my growing.

I choose to keep on expanding my capability to do what’s important to me.

I choose to notice what is going on.

I choose to be able to move with ease to get where I want to go.

I choose to appreciate God’s Grace by being aware that I’m in it and using it always (whatever that means to you).

I choose to get results.

I choose to be macrostructurally oriented.

I choose to have a broad overview of the details involved.

I choose to be creating all the time by making choices.

I choose to learn from mistakes; if any occur, I choose to recognize them so that I may learn from them.

I choose to create and adjust.

I choose to support people in having their life be truly magnificent!

I choose to see each day as a good day.

I choose to educate my subconscious how it is going to be easy!

I choose to to take a stand for my own inner greatness and the latent greatness in all other beings.

I choose to co-operate with myself and with what the Universe is offering me.

I choose to keep accurate financial records on paper.

I choose to always have a vision that is worthy of me.

I choose to focus on my vision and keep the attention off of myself.

I choose to share my vision(s).

I choose to commit to make it real, and to aspire towards realizing my greatness at all times.

I choose to make intelligent secondary choices that support my getting what I want right now.

I choose to allow myself to receive an immensly accelerated income through my careful choices and the expression of my higher-self.

I choose to enroll and commit myself to my own life.

I choose to receive completion gracefully.

I choose to have people sense my love through my warmth.

I choose to expand outwards and inwards as befits each’s expansion to my true nature and purpose.

I choose to live comfortably.

I choose Abundance for the Planet.

I choose to show the people on the planet how abundant it can be, via the synergy of many individual creators, myself being one.

I choose to grow spiritually daily, even moment-by-moment (whatever that means to you).

I choose to work for or with somebody who supports my vision(s).

I choose to remember that it’s all possible.

I choose to remember that I already have it.

I choose to create many, many synergistic "avatar" groups which can act as models in many different planes of society, conveying the ideal principles of synergistic manifestation, and being each a seed sewn to generate its own offspring of like quality and kind, having each a worldwide impact towards the blossoming of this planet into the extremely good world it can be.

I choose to know what would be useful for me to know.

I choose to use my "superconscious" to serve me in all the ways that it can.

I choose to come to accept my own and other’s natural goodness.

I choose to be satisfied.

I choose to consciously create structural tension when things aren’t going the way I want, so it will resolve towards my achieving what I hope to accomplish.

I choose to use focus to get the results that I want.

I choose to use limitation to get the results that I want.

I choose to be dedicated to the truth, as I see it, day by day.

I choose to trust the process always.

I choose to trust myself always.

I choose to do something.

I choose to express myself fully.

I choose to bring into existence something that could be.

I choose to do what I can do to heal the planet as it needs healing.

I choose to do what I can to heal others and myself as they or I need healing.

I choose to be in good rapport with the "nature spirits" (whatever that means to you).

I choose to be sensitive to others.

I choose to accurately gauge appropriateness in my thoughts and actions.

I choose to communicate easily with all living beings out of my love for them.

I choose to be aware of other’s greatness.

I choose to have excellent timing.

I choose to "be" professional at what I do.

I choose to serve the people whom I’m in contact with in the best ways that I can.

I choose to be clear about money.

I choose to have it be OK to always have money in abundance.

I choose to notice and recognize any doubts or considerations, and move on towards manifesting what I truly want.

I choose to choose in the most effective way possible, state-of-mind-wise (aspiration rather than goals, for instance).

I choose to teach others how they can live in happiness.

I choose that my expression of thissort of "Abundance Project" be a model of creative humanity, towards creating the ideal planetary/universal conditions which all people in their hearts envision as a real possibility.

I choose to enjoy fitting completions and results from my endeavors.

I choose to do all of this with ready assistance from an adequate number of people.

I choose to flow God’s love into everything I do and everybody I encounter (whatever that means to you).

I choose to develop my "Superconscious Powers" to do good on the planet and in any and all universes.

I choose to be where it is best for me to be at all times.

"Ahh, back in the days when a kretna was a kretna,
unless you changed it, and that wasn’t very often."

Prefatory Poem -
Wrong Way

He said, "Are you well?" with a Pinck in his eye.
She said, "Yes, is there cause for concern?"
He said, "No, it is just I’m confused now, you see,
And thought I might happen to learn…"

"Learn WHAT!?" She exclaimed in poignificant tones
While holding her toe high as dew.
"I simply was wondering if it was me,
Or possibly if it was you."

When I finally found a "niche" where I really felt it was a right "fit", everything suddenly went smoothly and my awful depression went away.

I hadn’t felt that feeling of being in the right place in many years, and the frustration of not being able to find such an existence was driving me to suicidal thoughts. I felt completely out of touch with myself and the universe, like an extra piece of a puzzle where I didn’t fit anywhere.

Only a few events in my life have given me such a feeling of correct "placement"

 
• Hiking in the woods of Ridgefield
 
• Running for Class President in High School and winning the popular vote (but losing the electoral!), seeing my proposals initiated.
 
• My entrance to the Museum School as a "sneak-in" student under professor Jay Jaroslav
 
• Being part of Karmu the Healer’s circle of friends in Cambridge, MA
 
• Being a street musician in Cambridge, MA (Central and Harvard Squares) and in Boston’s subways.
 
• "Saving" Pine Mountain from destruction (which led to my sister saving the rest of it from development years later)
 
• Helping Dorothea Sturgis move her entire ceramic mold and greenware collection and living with her a while
 
• Lynn Burton, DMA, The East-West Holistic Health Center in NYC and that whole crowd
 
• Being a street musician again, this time in NYC - Soho, lower Broadway, Wall Street, and in front of RKO Theater
 
• Bellowing "Free Tickets" for CBS Television’s pilot review programs at 53rd Street and 5th Avenue
 
• Art for the People
 
• White Buffalo Multimedia
 
• Tibetan Monastery
 
• Being a street musician for fun in Soho and in front of Metropolitan Museum of Fine Art on 5th Avenue
 
• The Commodore Computer pursuits, CCUG, The Odyssey/Menagerie BBS
 
• Hands On Science after school classes and the Ridgefield Volunteer Science Museum
 
• Working for the Ridgefield Water Supply Company, minding the reservoir and deep wells
 
• The Dances in Ridgefield (the "Raves")
 
• The Crystal Towers Computer Club
 
• Knowing "when" to go seek therapy for Hepatitis-C (the week that Rebetron was released)

I’ve been somewhat spoiled in that I’ve even had such feelings of perfect "placement" - many never do. Very spoiled, actually. Not having that feeling is excruciating for me, having tasted it so many times.

Hope, according to the therapist Yoshi Naigachi, is that waiting with the knowing that the "sun will rise again", suddenly and unexpectedly, with no possibility of planning for it or creating it except as preparedness for its serendipitous arrival so we notice when it is right in front of us - when it has arrived. All we can do is keep our eyes open for the opportunity, for it will arise; it will occur, if we keep hope alive, for hope is that simultaneous yearning for such moments and the expectancy that what we seek will occur. Our needs will be filled.

It is as if the universe needs time to adjust to be able to fulfill more complex "requests" or make preparations for our arrival into such time periods. One thing I know for sure, though, is that once you have lived in such a state of "being in the right place", living out of that feeling is miserable. You feel out of touch with yourself and feel as if the universe has abandoned you - as if you are already dead, but your body lives on - awkwardly; having no purpose in being here; wandering in and out of strange situations and existences where you don’t feel you "belong"; a stranger everywhere you go; a misfit; an accident. Awful feeling!

Hope requires some action to be consummated into being culminated - events crystallize into becoming by serendipity and one has to be moving around for such placement to find itself - it does not come to a person, the person has to go to it, and with hope and confidence, being a "moving body" will precipitate the arrival of such moments. Routine movements or staying at home will not bring such things about! It will not "happen" at work or on the way to or from work. It will not arrive by telephone or via an ad or program on TV or the radio. It won’t arrive in the mail. The fact is, it will not "arrive" at all - you have to be the one who arrives, physically placing yourself in an unusual position, changing your routine, going somewhere you normally do not go. Doing something you normally don’t do. By doing so, suddenly it will strike you that you have found what you are looking for, and you will know with utter certainty that you are in the right place - that "this is it"! Peace of mind will fill you - you will have no doubts as to your future success in this place, thorough confidence will fill you, happiness will return very quickly - instantly even.

However, you cannot seem to speed things up by simply doing lots of odd things and going lots of odd places - not exactly… but you can be in more positions of feeling like you fit in nicely, even if not perfectly yet, by doing more odd things and going to more odd places and interacting with the people in those situations - but you will know with clarity and certainty when you are actually at that right place where all else is going to emanate - the place where your life will radiate with brilliance and clear energy.

In a nutshell, then, it will come to you, but you also have to go to it.

A caveat: We seem to know when the universe is not yet ready to deliver our "moments", somehow. This creates feelings of frustration and lethargy. We stay at home, fall into routines, keep at our work, engage in small talk and intellectual discourse with people, help others with their problems - unless depression engulfs us and we cannot get up the energy to do even these daily "treading water" activities, and we begin to drown in our misery, giving up on activity altogether. This, of course, does not work very well at bringing us around to meeting with the right place and time, but sometimes we are seemingly "aware" that such a place and time do not yet exist for us, and that brings about worry that we have been disconnected from the universe somehow (though in reality that is a falsity and an untruth, for we are always connected, and the universe IS adapting to our hopes and needs, just more slowly than is comfortable ofttimes). The more connectedness we desire, the longer it takes the universe to adjust to such needs, it seems.

So, what can you do in the meantime to avoid depression? Get outside of yourself and give of yourself to others as regularly as possible is one answer. When even hobbies have lost their appeal, you can always at least get away from the TV and out of the house to find people needing help somehow. You can be there to be their "right place" helping them get through their own time of waiting for their hope to be fulfilled - everybody is either in their "place" or they are waiting for that "place" to arrive. Helping people get out of their routines may help you be in "place" in odd ways, temporarily and short-lived experiences of being in the perfect place as you help others arrive in their own "place" where they will recognize their time and place have appeared, and you have helped them to get there. Of course, once this mission is accomplished, you will still be awaiting your own fulfillment, and hope is the drive and vision that keeps you seeking such a time. Always nurture hope this way. Always nurture hope!

But some manifestations, particularly those not involving groups of people or becoming part of a "movement", take place instantaneously, miraculously, and seem very much like magical occurrences in response to our needs, wishes, desires and choices. The "Three Dollar Bills" story of mine, the "Green Lights to Soho" story and similar parking-space stories, and others are examples of miracle-like manifestations of the universe in response to need or choices. These are fine examples of the universe at work doing our bidding after the manner of "ask and ye shall receive", but they cannot work where other people are involved, for then it deteriorates into manipulation of others, which always, always, always deteriorates the relationship between people and their spiritual connectivity with one another. Still, it is important to note the manner in which such "miracles" occur and the ease one can confidently take in manifesting such miracles. Such confidence waxes and wanes, and benefits from being around other people who also experience miracles and firmly believe in people’s ability to manifest such things universally.

I have, throughout my life, traveled the strenuous path of self differentiation - the intrinsic causes being my own inner spiritual drives, choices, quests for knowledge and experience, and the quest ultimately for wisdom. This has led me to accumulate a great store of knowledge and experiences. I have hidden this aspect of myself from view in the interest of humility, but eventually the time comes when humility surpasses its bounds and becomes no longer useful for others, and one must instead insist upon respect and acknowledgement in recognition of what is available to offer in order to help others. Yet the first tenant of wisdom is that even the wisest of people is no better than any other, and in fact, the first wisdom acquired is that of recognizing one’s own self as being as the servant of all others.

This sort of wisdom of self differentiation with compassion towards all other beings is the strongest place for producing results that are in harmony with both oneself and with all other beings, but it seems to take some time for such a harmonious engagement to take place that satisfies all of the criteria. Yet, for such outcomes, patience is worthwhile. Hopefully, those awaiting such outcomes will avoid depression by holding that thought in their minds, keeping their hope aligned with the confidence that they WILL manifest the reality they desire, in accord with the harmony of becoming, and then being, attuned with all other beings. This has to take time, so give it the time it needs, and wait. There is so much truth to the adage, "All things come to them who wait!" Have patience, wait it out, keep your eyes and ears open for opportunities, and keep moving till you’ve moved into that "right place!" You will know when you have arrived there with clear and utter certainty!

Two sides of the author’s personality were having a conversation before “beginning.”

“So, Terry. What are you going to write about?” said the first side.

“I don’t know… maybe nonsense. I always loved nonsense more than anything else,” replied the second.

“Like what?”

“Like Alice Through the Looking Glass, or the Oz books… sillier, even. The old Willot Papers story was close to what gave me pleasure to write, but I probably got wound up in making it ‘perfect’ or something and stopped writing it a long time ago.”

“That’s too bad. It was a marvelous story!”

“I liked it, too! It was fun writing it, and the poems that went into it. I remember the night I wrote the take-off on Jabberwocky that I called ‘Adventure Story’ – my eyes were bulging with crazy manic excitement as I came up with those verses.”

“Can you do that again? I mean, get that ‘crazy’ feeling back like you are calling it?”

“I haven’t tried in a long time, but I probably can. It is a sense of exhilaration and exuberance that I felt then – something close to being a manic high, I’d guess. I want to feel like that more often in my life!”

“Why don’t you?”

“Well, I’ve been so bent upon becoming ‘acceptable’ and all, I guess. I don’t know why I’ve bothered all these years – my silliness slips out all the time and exposes me, so my friends know I’m kind of crazy in a way they like, and my not-friends-yet just don’t take me seriously. I probably wish I was taken seriously to the point that I never will be if I keep trying. Maybe that’s what people sense.”

“Hmmm. Sounds like a viable theory to me. You should maybe think about that!”

“You mean, like, just give up on being taken seriously and have fun, and live life to the fullest and enjoy writing and being silly and happy? Is that what you mean?”

“That’s exactly what I’m driving at! What is so ‘dangerous’ feeling about that?”

“I feel like I’ll never hold a job, or get any respect at all when I need it to survive. I don’t know – some other fears are deeply rooted in me – something making me feel I’d be ‘ostracized from the tribe’ or something. Totally rejected.”

“Why do you feel you need acceptance at all? What’s making that such a strong impediment?”

“Well, of course, I’m human and a social animal, so being ostracized is a really primal fear. It is like being abandoned to die. Babies have that fear when their mother leaves the room, right? Isn’t that what some psychologists are saying?”

“Sure, but that can’t be all of it.”

“Ok, you are probably right – there is that incessant drive to become famous that would pretty much not be happening if I were rejected by everyone, or never taken at all seriously… Yes, the drive to become famous someday has plagued me all my life, I think. Wanting to ‘succeed’ like people in history books – wanting to have someone want to write a biography about me someday! I probably have let those big-name role models impress me a little too much. It wound up just paralyzing me from taking actions a lot of times, and catapulted me into taking actions beyond my abilities or social standing that I felt embarrassed for afterwards. Ah, youthful follies!”

“Yes – youthful follies. So what? Those are powerful allies, those follies! The moods of daring, and chance-taking against all odds, are good things – like food sustaining one’s exuberance!”

“Nonetheless, I felt a little embarrassed afterwards – I’d felt I’d made a fool of myself in front of some of those people. Like the toy companies, and the ‘real’ actors and actresses I’d encountered in my theatrical explorations (not that I enjoyed memorizing lines one single bit, but still…) and here and there – I just felt so small and stupid that I never took similar chances again.”

“Is that how it’s going to be with this writing? I mean, just whose esteem do you have to be living up to with this project? Einstein? Franklin? Baum? Carroll? Isn’t just being yourself going to be all they would ever ask of you?”

“That is a very good point! Of course that’s all they would ever ask of me!”

“Well, then, try it on for size!”

“I will!”

“Now, I don’t want to be jumping ahead too much here, now that you are inspired a bit, but what of selling this work? Are you ready to go to market with ‘yourself’ and sell exactly what you are? This will be like doing Fine Art, you know!”

“I’m nervous about the process, which I don’t really understand (getting an agent and all that publishing stuff), and maybe will simply choose the route of self-publishing perhaps … oh, I don’t have any idea what I would do!”

“You have those books on getting published around, and there are those magazines for writers…”

“Yes, but they seem to be about writing to fill needs of publishers and magazines and such… but I sense the point you are driving at – make those types of assignments ‘my own’ by really applying my own style, that’s what you’re driving at, isn’t it?”

“Yes, you read my mind. Those types of projects could be great practice while still earning you a bit of money. Being yourself, certainly, you won’t write like any other soul, living or dead! You can imbue your own style and fun and wit and whimsy and go galumphing into all those projects with your own type of vim and verve, adapting the projects to express your own exuberance and happiness and energy, along with all that surreal sort of outlook and humor that comes so naturally for you!”

“Ok, I see what you mean. Take, for instance, an assignment on writing a political commentary piece about the environment and turn it into a fantastic story? One with a point and an implied message?”

“That’s one approach, sure!”

“Or take a home and garden article and do the same treatment, with talking scissors and garden hoses and grass that turns orange, then pink at a whim?”

“That is exactly what I mean!”

“That sounds like FUN!!!”

“Yes, it does, actually!”

“How delightfully silly!!!”

“Delightfully, yes!!!”

“Ok, one thing I just noticed about this particular story here… I’ve been writing dialog the entire time! This is fun to write!”

“Are you having fun talking to me?”

“Absolutely!”

“Well, then, you must continue!”

“I’ve always been wary of being able to write dialog – it is supposed to be so very difficult, but I’m not finding this difficult at all. Maybe it isn’t very good dialog.”

“Seems to be working for us!”

“Well, yes – it does seem to be working well, in fact!”

“So, whom are you writing for?”

“Other people??? Me??? Myself??? I???”

“All of them, yes – and for your role models, of course…”

“Yes, who only expect me to be myself like you said. But what does that mean, exactly, in the context of ‘whom’ am I writing for? I mean, this is very entertaining for ME (well, for US) but there is that gnarly matter of pleasing the audience… isn’t there?”

“I wouldn’t allow that to concern you at this point – really I wouldn’t. You need to roam free and write about everything and anything in your own way that gives you happiness for right now, and maybe forever! This other concern is the stuff for editing later on, where you might temper things down in the 2nd draft or something. You know the adage, ‘never edit while writing’!”

“Yes, I know. A sin I’ve been guilty of terribly in the past.”

“Well, sin no more! You have a right hemisphere to nurture and allow to feel like it is part of your life again! I’ll keep the left hemisphere happy that it is still loved and nurtured and appreciated for what it does so well for us, but let’s convince the left hemisphere to take a back seat in more of an ‘assisting’ kind of a mode. We can allow it to provide grammatical, spelling and factual data and inspiration, with the understanding that it is a no-holds-barred arrangement that our right hemisphere is allowed to take whatever liberties it likes after such contributions are made!”

“I’m certain it will agree to be agreeable – it has witnessed itself firsthand how taxing it can be to be the sole thinker and decider about everything. It hasn’t been very happy in that role.”

“Nor have we been very happy with that situation either!”

“Well, ‘nuff said! I don’t want to hurt its feelings! It definitely has them, you know!”

“Yes, though a left hemisphere’s feelings seem so very logical and information-filled that they often seem simply dire. It is that old ‘the idle mind is the devil’s playground’ issue, perhaps. It certainly can think us into a decent state of depression, that much is certain!”

“An appreciable state of depression, for sure!!! But it isn’t entirely its fault – it is simply boggled by not understanding why it feels so ‘wrong’ all the time – the spirit has been weak in us lately, and this issue has been confusing for both hemispheres, I’d wager!”

Suddenly, a third voice chimed in.

“You’re not kidding! Uh – just butting in a second – this is the left hemisphere now – it’s so easy to take over in any endeavor involving linguistics and all…”

“Um… yes? What would you like to add, LH?”

“Just that the puzzle of what has been going on has been so overwhelming for me that I kept breaking down, entering into mazes of thought and conceptualizations that boggled my mind! There was no getting to the bottom of why we were, well, getting to the bottom!”

“Yes, this depression stuff has been quite boggling, I’ll admit that. It took actual experience of happiness to expose us to what was causing it. The final fling into Chapel Hill and the alternative lifestyle there was extremely valuable! While short lived because nobody really knew what was going on or how to handle it on the communications end, it was extremely valuable in demonstrating that happiness only was going to come from truly expressing our true self!”

“The big lesson there is very important and we have to remember it for the rest of our life! Just be ourself!”

“RH – have anything to add?”

The right hemisphere eagerly entered into the conversation, quite happy to add something!

“Thank you! Just purple puddles of iridescent nightmares that ripple into silliness that eradicates all fears and worries! Greens and blues mixed in shining relief against the blackness of such negative backdrops, like oily puddles on a busy city street. I’m happy with the colors, but the backdrops, though they’ve been painful, are very valuable parts of the relief-map we call life. Without them, where would the happiness be? Just glowing at us like so much psychedelic paraphernalia without any meaning or depth! It is that darkness that gives us the understanding of humanity – I’ll always keep that in mind. It is one of the nice things that differentiates us from other people’s experiences while also melding us into their experiences!”

“Very well said! LH stepping out for now!”

“Thank you, RH and LH for that input. Stick around for contributions whenever you feel inspired to add something else! And thank you for not editing RH’s comments like I know you probably wanted to, LH!”

The two hemispheres chimed in, thinking in unison, “You’re welcome, sez us! Anytime!”

“Wow – what they threw in was pretty deep and profound! I have to think about that a bit, perhaps.”

“No, you really don’t – those aspects are fully part of what makes us US. We can’t write anything without those sides of our self becoming expressed.”

“Yes, but I like the thought of how mixing the dark with the light, and how the frustration of dealing with puzzling ‘demons’ and unsolvable riddles could add such nice spice and flavor to the stories I write. It makes them sound like they’d have some actual ‘wisdom’ mixed in there!”

“Well, what wisdom you have got you certainly have come by honestly! None of it has come to us easily, I wouldn’t say.”

“Yes, as I was saying to our good friend Yoshi, there is a side of me that is glad I went through the extreme darkness of even suicidal depression states to suddenly emerge on the other side of them with sudden ‘knowing’ of their fundamental cause.”

“What was the fundamental cause, again?”

“Well, especially that serendipity is a very important thing to appreciate – that one has to be a ‘moving body’ if one ever thinks they will encounter the possibilities that lie out there for them; that one has to grasp THEIR OWN truth when they see it and choose to live it; how important choice is to all of this, but also how important it is to put oneself in a position where choices display themselves before one. I think I’m making sense here – am I?”

“I think you are getting very close to the matter, yes. It was a strange position we’ve been in for so many years now – finding out where our choices would align, perhaps, but even more importantly, we got to a point where there was no place else to go. We HAD to be done with that learning phase, to bolster up the courage it took to make such a plunge!”

“Why did it require so much courage, I wonder? What were we afraid of?”

“Those primal fears we discussed earlier? Failure? Ridicule? Rejection? Hmmm – it doesn’t seem as simple as all that. We knew the drills! We had studied Buddhism, knew all about the psychology of making choices and such! What happened at Frisky Business and in Chapel Hill was that we KNEW where we had to be, and that it was right there where we had found ourselves to be. I don’t think it took any courage to fill out an application at Frisky Business – it was more of a feeling of certainty, like a destiny that was playing out. That was the feeling we’ve been lacking so long – that feeling like we were ‘at one’ with our destiny! We’ve felt totally out of sync with the universe, like we were simply in the wrong place at all times – like we didn’t even belong here anymore, as if we benefited nobody by our presence here anymore.”

“Gads, that certainly was an awful feeling of foreboding and of emptiness – as if the universe itself had rejected our being here! Ugh – truly awful!!!”

“I’ll say!!!”

“But then suddenly we felt as if things had synchronized. They haven’t, totally, in the ‘lifestyle’ area, nor even in the ‘job’ area, but there is so much more of a feeling of ‘movement’ going on right now. Like things are ‘happening’ and we fit into the grand scheme of things somehow…”

“Yes, but is this just some illusion we are presently infatuated with, and not really anything more?”

“I think that the important thing is that we have gotten knocked out of the feeling of being disconnected. I am going to opt for seeing how we are connected over entertaining suspicions of being disconnected from now on!”

“That sounds like a bit of newly acquired wisdom, for sure!!!”

“Yes, it does, doesn’t it!”

“Well, let us be wise, then, and hold onto that thought for the rest of these days. I feel we’ve experienced enough dark thinking for a lifetime!”

“Truth to that!!!”

“So, Ok… I guess it is time to start writing, now that we’ve talked this all out.”

“I have to admit, I still do not know what to be writing about! Though, this exercise at writing dialog has been most entertaining and, in fact, extremely useful!”

“I knew that already. That is, about you not knowing what to write about next. Well, and about the other stuff, too. But, well, as you knew that I knew, I suppose that is the very definition of a rhetorical statement…”

“It might be just that, indeed!”

“Well, I’ve always wanted to make a rhetorical statement!”

“And now indeed we have!”

“Well, I could ask the right brain in to simply have a wail at it and produce a skirmish of dabbling, diddling, and frombulizing that keeps out of any quagmires…”

“Um, I think he already has been rubbing you in his way of rubbing things…”

“Indeed he has!”

“So, why not simply write with the faith that both LH and RH are going to establish themselves as fruitful presences?”

“Well, frankly, I want a little prayer first. One that asks them to be guided by that spirit that I was fortunate to see at the DMA teachers’ training so many years ago in Boston.”

“Can there be any other guidance? That was your connectivity to the entire universe!”

“Yes, and I want that to be the driving force that informs and inspires LH and RH in their doings. I’d like this to always feel like something bigger than simply mental masturbation, playing with thoughts and ideas to no end. I want a prayer that it benefits all beings everywhere, that’s all.”

“So, let’s have a prayer then. We pray that all such writing leads to the benefit of beings in all directions and in all times, in all states of being and existing at all levels of attainment. That it be entertaining yet enlightening, a source of joy and exhilaration and of ideation and visions and marvelous cognitions; an avenue to their own happiness permeating all times of their existences, and an avenue to their understanding when times are difficult, that they might contrast such times to see the potential for happiness held even within such times, even perceive the reality of such happiness concurrent with all other events in their lives! Anything else to add?”

“That sounds like a very inspiring prayer! I love it!”

“Ok – we may add to it later on someday, but this is a good one to go with for now! And I see LH has jumped in already and fixed up a couple of things! This is a good one!”

“I totally and wholeheartedly agree!”

We pray that all of our writing leads to the benefit of beings in all directions and in all times, in all states of being and existing at all levels of attainment. We pray that it be entertaining yet enlightening, a source of joy and exhilaration, and of ideation and vision and marvelous cognitions; an avenue to their own happiness permeating all times of their existences, and an avenue to their understanding when times are difficult, that they might contrast such times to see the potential for happiness held even within such times, and even perceive the reality of such happiness concurrent with all other events in their lives!

“So, what are you going to write about?”

“I still don’t know.”

“Maybe this prayer thing is putting too much of the old sense of pressure onto things. It doesn’t have to matter that much, you know, not the first drafts of things. Right now, we have to just get right with the writing part so it becomes automatic and a kind of habit like a hobby or other pleasure is for us, like smelling flowers or going for walks in the woods!”

“You are right – I was getting ahead of myself there again and making this too important. LH, in fact, felt a serious need to jump in and be at the ready to edit ‘right up front’ everything that was written, didn’t you, LH?”

“I admit it – that prayer inspired me a bit too much. I’ll keep back a bit more and contribute like I promised I would, just grammar and spelling and cool words and sentence structures and the like…” LH replied.

“I just saw you edit the extra dot out of that ellipsis!”

“Sorry…”

“Just teasing – you can’t help yourself! RH, where are you? I need you feeling empowered by that prayer and confident that you can deliver on it!”

RH timidly came forward in response to being called out. “I just don’t have that confidence yet… that prayer made me nervous, even though I helped to compose it! Wow – such a huge idea!”

“And one very worthy of you, RH! I need you to connect with that spirit with confidence, please. It is your best ability. Sorry, LH, but as you know, you can let the logic and facts and puzzle-solving occult the truth of what the spirit is trying to get across to you much of the time.”

“Yes, it is like a form of dementia or something, where I keep forgetting myself and who I really am!” LH responded.

“Don’t feel blue – you are doing very well with what you have received lately in the form of new wisdom and the facts of that wisdom will filter into your logical lattice and affect everything, as other wisdom has done in the past for you. Take heart – you are still definitely a powerful part of this endeavor. Include yourself in!”

“Thank you. That is encouraging!” LH reacted enthusiastically.

“RH, what have you got to say?”

“I’m trying, but trying is not the Yoda way – ‘Do or do not. There is no try.’ I’m still a bit rusty myself!”

“It will come easier with practice and success!”

“Yes, but I could use some success right now!” RH lamented.

“I count this as one success! This isn’t such obvious writing in the way it has gone, in that it doesn’t seem so surreal or fantastic or whimsical, but a re-read of it will expose your hand in this bit of magic! This has been a very positive flow of thought, led largely by you, I would say!”

“Thank you! It is heartening to think that even this small contribution might be considered worthy enough even of so great a prayer as we composed earlier!”

“We do not know of the effects of things – our crystal ball is broken, and we cannot imagine who will be reading this or when, or even how! They may be picking up on it telepathically in some distant time and age merely as it floats through the ether of universal thought! We cannot know what the long-term effects or what the audience reactions will be. We only know that Fine Art is left to the audience to witness and to make their own contribution to the meaning derived from it. If we can produce works containing a multitude of meanings so that they fit countless beings’ interpretations and produce insights in just as many, we will have done a Buddha’s work! If we can touch one million-billionth of that many beings, we will have accomplished very much!”

RH felt touched by this.

“I will free up my mind and let my resources be resourceful, then! I will seek inspiration in every fly that flies by, in all the flies that fly by, in every bee that is, in every is-ness that has being, in every mote of dust, in every avalanche of sky wisdom that offers itself to me, in every rock and root and tree and flower! I shall avail myself to every memory I have, from this lifetime and from every other lifetime, all from the same root, from this universe and from every universe! I dedicate my wholeness and rich resourcefulness to this cause!”

“Spoken like a true Right Hemisphere, all right! Thank you!”

“You’re very welcome!”

“LH, you seem driven speechless!”

“I assure you, I am! Not by force, but simply as one enjoying this exchange so much that I forgot I was even here!”

“He-he! That was so honest yet cute as anything could be!”

“I never thought of myself as being ‘cute’, but I kind of like the idea!”

“Oh, you are definitely cute!”

“Thanks!”

“Now, I have a question. What can I do with the experiences of my past that were so fantastic, amazing, miraculous, and fascinating? I mean, whenever I write about them, they become so dull sounding – not at all as amazing as the experiences were to actually feel as they happened. This has been making me consider not including such events at all, the telling of those stories has been such a dreary matter to date!”

“I suggest we not eliminate them, but hold onto them, and tell them as part of someone else’s tale.”

“That is an excellent suggestion! You mean incorporate such tales into some character’s life?”

“Exactly.”

“I have been thinking about the failure of the 3-dollars story, for instance. I mean, here is this miraculous appearance of three dollar-bills from the dirt alongside an interstate highway for an entire two weeks, and it seems like an impossible story to relate to or tell properly. I’ve been thinking lately of telling it in a dialog format like this one, with a teller and a listener?”

“Let’s try it!”

“Ok!”

The Story of the Unusual Appearances of Three Dollar-Bills

“Ok, you’ve gotten the title written out. Now what?”

“Geesh! I’m already stuck!”

“You aren’t getting silly enough … call in RH to the rescue!”

“Right… I was editing a moment ago and LH was in charge again. RH?”

“Here I am!”

“Well, get going!”

“Here goes!”

As written by RH with only some help from LH and the others…

Turbulent flowerings spilled down the roadside byway in cascades of prettiness, all pink and dark pink and orange, flowing their ebullient display ahead of the two travelers into the distance on either side of the long dirt pathway along which they traveled.

“This is some dusty walking. But for the pretty flowers to look at, I’d be bored stiff!” said the one.

“Would you like to hear a story, then, to keep your mind off of your feet for a while?” the second asked.

“That might help me to breath a little more easily in this August heat, alright!” said the first.

“Well, did I ever tell you the story about the mysterious dollar bills that just kept on appearing in the roadbed?”

“No, not that I can remember.”

“Well, it really happened!”

“What happened?” asked the first, perplexed.

“Magic!” said the second. “Mystery! Miracles! The impossible!”

“Wait – so, let’s start at the beginning, shall we?” the first implored, curiosity piqued.

“Ok – well, have you ever been totally and completely broke? Penniless? With no chance of finding money, not even by borrowing or any other honest means?”

The first thought back to such times and rolled his eyes, the anguish of such memories penetrating him to his core.

“Well, yes, I certainly have!” he replied.

“I was in such a situation at one time. I’d just started a new job, and had a ride that dropped me off one exit away from the interstate exit where I worked. I was in a situation where I needed three dollars in order to be able to eat lunch – a sandwich and a drink costing just under 3 bucks. My car was busted, and I was awaiting my first paycheck to get it fixed.”

“So, what did you do? Did someone at work loan you the money?”

“No – I found the money on the ground while walking between exits in the interstate!”

“Found the money?”

“Yes! Exactly three dollars! It was there on the ground. One appeared under some leaves. I picked that one up and was inspired to look diligently and carefully in case there was another one somewhere, and surprisingly another appeared further on down under a clump of grass, and then after being bolstered in my confidence that looking just as hard might turn up another, a third appeared buried under sand by the curb further along! Exactly what I needed!”

“Ok, that was fine for the first day. Then what happened?”

“That’s just it! I found three dollars AGAIN!”

“Along the road?”

“Yes!”

“In the leaves and under trash and sand?”

“Yes! And the same strip of road! A second finding of three dollars exactly!”

“Well, how did you miss those dollars the day before? Had you given up looking after you found the three dollars you needed?”

“No, that’s just the point! These three dollars were in different locations – spots I had had missed, or so it seemed. I had walked right by them, even right over them, though I certainly and obviously didn’t see them there the previous day!”

“Well, eyesight is a funny thing. All six had to have been there, but you missed three the first day.”

“Yes, but then there was the third day – and the same thing happened! I wound up spotting three MORE dollar bills!”

“Three you had missed the other two days? Now that is funny!”

“Funny nothing! It was amazing!”

“I don’t know how amazing, necessarily. You were intent on looking, I’d imagine, by this time, and found new bills hiding in the ground where they’d been all along!”

“But now there are nine – why only find three at a time?”

“I don’t know! Maybe your attention just wasn’t sharp enough to spot them all at once the first day.”

“But then there was a fourth day, and three more bills appeared! And a fifth day, with three more! That’s fifteen bills altogether! Uncanny that I missed twelve bills the first day, and nine bills the second, eh? That’s a lot to miss, when I was looking so intently by this time, isn’t it? Doesn’t that seem rather strange to you?”

“Strange, yes, but…”

“Well, I’m not finished yet with this story! On the next Monday, I found another three bills. By this time I was doubtful I’d find anything, but there they were – appearing like they had before right in areas I had already walked the previous week! Ok… so that adds up to eighteen bills now! And then Tuesday arrived and ANOTHER three bills showed themselves! Twenty-one bills along that same stretch of road, and I was still only discovering only three at a time as I had been for over a week now!”

By now, the one listening to this story couldn’t help but roam his own eyes along the curbside and into the clumps of grass and flowers wondering if he might spot a dollar there. “So, you are suggesting what? That you very selectively limited yourself to finding only three of the twenty-one dollars thus far on day one, and another three of the remaining eighteen on day two, and so on? That seems odd that your brain should filter out the existence of the others the way it seems to have!”

“Yes – very odd indeed! And then Wednesday, there appeared another three bills, where by this time I was certain it must be impossible to find any more! I had traversed this same stretch of road seven times already, and this being the eighth, I was just about certain I could not possibly have missed another three. And I was almost right – I only found the third just as I was preparing to cross over the interstate to the other side to get to work!”

“So, you found three again on Wednesday?”

“Exactly! And I think you are starting to grasp the grip of this tale! On Thursday, against all odds, I once again discovered three bills which appeared the same way, from amidst sand-covered trash or under dirt clumps and brown, wet leaves or amidst straw-like grasses along this same ten foot wide strip which I had already traversed eight times before!”

“Uncanny!”

“Indeed uncanny! And on Friday, which was payday at last, a final three dollars appeared, meaning there had been 30 dollar bills along that stretch of road on that first Monday that I walked along that route, but had only found three, and 27 bills that Tuesday, but I had only discovered three of those, and 24 bills that Wednesday, and so forth.”

“Or so one would imagine! But how on earth could anyone miss 27 out of 30 bills on that first day, let alone miss 24 out of 27 the second day and so on???”

“Ah! Now you are beginning to see the mystery and the puzzle! How indeed?”

“What did you think was happening?”

“I truly could not help myself from thinking that these bills were simply appearing in the ground each day. By the end of the first week, that suspicion was already upon me, but every day of the second week, that was the only thought I was able to hold! That these bills were not there previously – the odds of me missing so many of them, and of only ever finding three on any single day seemed too overwhelmingly unlikely!”

“That is entirely true! Quite impossible odds, I would have to say!”

And on that Tuesday of the second week, you know, they did not appear right off. I had walked almost to the end of my trek before the first one appeared, and then all three appeared in succession merely footsteps away from each other! Before they showed up, I remember feeling like I had to simply acknowledge that the miracle was over, yet I should think my praises to the universe for having provided me thus far. Almost immediately after having that thought, the next three showed themselves!”

“Incredible!”

“Yes, and when I hadn’t found the third by nearly the end of my walk the next day, I was overwhelmed with a sense of peace and confidence that the third would appear, and so it did just before I reached my crossing-over point!”

“And so the same with that Thursday and Friday, I’d suppose!”

“Yes. I was filled with this wonderful feeling of prosperity – of a feeling that I had no need to worry about being cared for again as long as I held on to my confidence that I would find them, and continued to seek them diligently. And just as expected, the three bills appeared those two days as well.”

“You must have been feeling pretty blessed by then!”

“I was absolutely giddy while at the same time filled with a profound peacefulness during my walks those two days in particular. I’ll never forget the feeling!”

“What happened then? I mean, after you were paid and all?”

“I got my car fixed, and so never walked along that roadside again. And I’ve never found three dollars along the road during my travels since!”

“That is an incredible story! Now I shall be looking for dollars everywhere myself!”

“I am certain that if you had a true need, that those dollars would be there for you to discover, by some kind of miracle, and that you would discover them, my friend!”

“Thank you! After that story, I feel convinced that would be true!”

The two of them walked along the flower-laced dirt roadway for a while with a calm sense satisfaction with things engulfing them both. It suddenly felt as if this highway along which they now traveled was delivering them exactly what they each needed right at the present moment. The flowers, a wafting breeze, sunlight and a clear sky with pillow-like clouds overhead, and easy companionship – everything they needed right at this time.

“You know, my friend, after that story, I have to reflect upon the fact that we always have true needs, and that they are so much of the time fulfilled!”

"That's just it - the amazing quality of life itself seems to be in its providing abundance in accordance with our needs, whether we realize it or not!"

"By accordance to our needs, you mean as fulfills our actual needs, I suppose, not the imagined ones which attachment or greed can create."

"Yes, exactly. That is a difficult point for some to grasp, yet as the saying goes, "Ask and ye shall receive," anything we ask for may be a valid request as per the individual's genuine needs. I wonder if the universe somehow knows to differentiate between frivolous requests and genuine needs?"

"It may indeed know, for it is the universe which we are but a part of and an expression of. It created us, it generates us, and it nurtures its creations."

"But there is the quagmire: what of those unfortunate souls for whom their desperate needs seem to never be fulfilled? Their needs do not seem to be producing magical dollar bills to fulfill their hungers. Is there something you did that entailed a 'leap of faith' which might have transformed your request into a need fulfilled, or some other quality that may have differentiated your situation from the way others handle a similar situation?"

"Good question! I must say that when I decided to look for bills on the ground, it was with the inner conviction that I would find one, and after finding one, that I would find three. That inner conviction was the same each day - an inner assurance that I would find three bills. Although some nagging doubts did exist at length on the days that bills weren't immediately forthcoming, the inner conviction was that I must be patient sometimes, but not give up, but rather to have persistent confidence until the end. That is, not until there was no doubt that there wasn't to be a third bill was I to give up the notion that there would be!"

"Astounding! That right there may have been the 'magic elixer' that transposed a mere want or desire into a thought manifested into reality!"

"Perhaps. I wish I could teach others this skill - indeed, I wish I could be mindful of it always for myself!"

"Amen to that! How our faith wavers day to day!"

"Yet, I'm not so sure it is exactly 'faith' we are discussing here. There is another thing, similar but different. I’m talking about a different kind of a confidence that seems to be able to manifest magical things! It is an absolute sort of confidence. Unshakable. Focused and casting of all doubts aside.”

“I’m not sure what you mean by that,” said the first, casting his eyes sideways towards his companion. “That stuff about manifesting magical things – I’m not certain one can manifest such things. I mean, miracles simply happen, don’t they?”

“Have you ever performed a 'thought experiment'? Or what you might otherwise term as a 'working premise'?" asked his friend.

“I cannot say for certain if I have or not.”

“By a ‘working premise’ I mean taking an idea and acting as if it is so for the purpose of testing it out, to see if it supports producing results. I took on as a ‘working premise’ that three dollars would appear, and the result was that they did, every day for ten days.”

“Well, that is an interesting example, but we still haven’t gotten down to establishing what exactly actually caused those dollars to appear!”

“No, we haven’t, but that might not be important to making such things happen to know the mechanism by which it works.”

“I’d like to know, especially considering such enchantments as bring about dollar bills! It is a little bit scary, wondering just who or what is behind such a thing happening!”

“I think it is the universe ‘happening’ that is making such things ‘happen.’”

“That sounds like some bit of double-talk! The universe ‘happening’?”

“Yes – perhaps as we are a part of the universe, we have a larger hand in what the universe brings forth of itself than we know or realize!”

“Do you have any other examples of such a notion, or are we still only on this dollar bill issue?”

“I do have another example of an impossible thing taking place.”

“Please, go on!”

“I lived for a while in an apartment with very high ceilings on a city street along which busses traveled. The ceiling light in the bathroom was very hard to reach without a ladder. It was a single bulb screwed into a light socket. When the busses would go by, they sometimes would shake the whole building just a bit, though it was barely noticeable from the off-street apartment I was in. However, it had shaken the bathroom light bulb loose just enough that sometimes you would be in there sitting on the ‘can’ after dark, and a bus would go by and shake the lamp, and the light would go off, leaving one sitting there in the dark, hoping another vibration would tip the bulb just enough to make it spark back on again. The carbon deposits on the bottom of the bulb and upon the contacts of the lamp socket had built up so that a barely perceptible shake of the building would make the light come back on again.”

“My! I ‘m sure that was frustrating sometimes!”

“It sure was!!! To the point of absolute fury sometimes! But no amount of banging the wall or stomping one’s feet on the floor would ever work – you simply had to wait for another bus to go by and shake it back on.”

“Good grief! How maddening! Sitting in the ‘john’ in the dark just waiting for the lamp to spark back on again must have been quite awkward!”

“Yes, it definitely was that!”

“So, what did you do?”

“Ok – I was sitting in the dark there one day, when it occurred to me that this connection through carbon deposits depended upon only a couple atoms to ‘wiggle’ their electron orbits a bit, and an electron path would spark into place through the carbon, completing the circuit, though very fragilely, holding the electron path until the carbon atoms were shaken apart again. It occurred to me that this was the ultimate test-laboratory for trying out mind over matter – telekinesis – and I decided I would try to use my thoughts alone to make those electron paths shift that little tiny amount and get the light to go on. Sounds crazy, but I was sitting in the dark for the umpteenth time and was frankly ready to try anything!”

“Goodness! I’d be ready by this time also! So, what happened?”

“Well, my first attempts yielded nothing, just focusing on the light bulb and trying to “think” it on. But then I paused to reflect, and I considered that everything I’d ever heard about actual ‘working’ magical events always seemed to involve some central place of focus for the mental energies to be ‘collected’ within and then be released from all at once, be that a ritual object or a magic wand or talisman object, by an individual’s efforts or through a group prayer, or whatever. So, I created this imaginary ‘object’ in my mind’s eye in front of me – kind of a Plexiglas rod sort of thing about an inch and a half in diameter and a couple of feet long, imagining it hovering in the air, just floating there in the air in front of me. So, here’s this clear Plexiglas rod, though of course, it is imaginary and made only of dream-stuff.”

“I see. Go on!”

“Well, I focused my thoughts on that rod collecting my concentrated energy, with the thought that it would collect the energy like a leyden jar was used to collect static electricity in Ben Franklin’s day, and that once I had focused enough energy into the rod so it stored what I considered an adequate amount, I would then mentally ‘release’ all that energy out of the rod and towards the light bulb to ‘shake’ its couple of atoms sitting in the carbon deposits and make the electrons spark across the gap, allowing it to fire on and light up the bulb!”

“Wow! You thought all that out sitting there on the john?”

“Yes – it kind of came to me in a flash of insight how I might make use of this ‘imaginary rod’ idea, after simply focusing on the light bulb didn’t seem to be working at all.”

“And… so???”

“Ok, so I focused the energy into the rod, then mentally ‘released’ it towards the light bulb, and to my amazement, the light came on in that instant!”

“Good gravy!! Weren’t you a little frightened that it worked???”

“Well, to be honest, I was a little. But I realized just as quickly that I may have simply been the lucky recipient of coincidence, where a bus might have gone by and knocked it back on at the same time I thought I’d ‘released’ the energy towards the bulb. So, I knew that to prove I’d actually done anything, I’d have to turn it off at-will in the same way.”

“So, what happened? I can’t stand the anticipation!”

“So – I concentrated into the rod again, ‘released’ the energy toward the bulb, and lo and behold, the light went off!!!”

“Holy Cow!!! How did you feel then?”

“I was definitely bemused and sat there marveling at my sitting again in the darkness, considering what I had just done! So, naturally, I couldn’t resist the impulse to do it again, to turn the light back on. Especially, of course, since I was again sitting in the dark.”

“And on the light went, didn’t it?! Oh my, this is just too much!”

“Yes. The light went right back on at the very instant I ‘released’ the energy towards the bulb. It was an awesome feeling of power, even though I knew I’d only just moved a couple of atoms, or even only a couple of electrons from their orbits. But, gads! I had always heard that every telekinesis experiment had been a hoax or a fake! And here I was doing it in my bathroom to my ceiling lamp!”

“Hah! The ultimate laboratory, as you said!”

“He-he! Yes!”

“So, what happened after that?”

“I finished my business and got up, and upon emerging from the bathroom, I told my girlfriend what I had just done. Though she was very skeptical at first, she could tell from my excitement that I had actually done what I said I had done! So, over the course of the next two weeks, every time I went to the can in the evening, I would go ahead and turn the light on and off while sitting on the john, and sometimes did it even during the day just for the fun of it. It became so easy that the ritual ‘charging up’ of the Plexiglas rod took only a few seconds now each time. If my girlfriend happened to be stuck in darkness from the bulb going off while she was in the toilet, she’d call me in and I’d turn the light back on for her! It was always one of those things that just made you kind of laugh to yourself, it was so exciting and amazing to be pulling such a thing off!”

“This is certainly an amazing story! So, why didn’t you become the “Amazing Telekinetic Human Light Switch, Performing on All Continents and Before Magnificent Heads of State and Royalty” for the rest of your life?”

‘Well, I was sitting on the john one day, turning on and off the lamp just for jollies, when it suddenly occurred to me that such an ability, if discovered that I had such a one by the government, would be the end of life as I knew it, as I would be taken and studied by scientists and the military, and the ability would be ‘weaponized’ for use in wars or as a sabotage tool or whatever – I just couldn’t see any practical use for it otherwise, and the foreboding scene of being used as a tool of destruction by a government agency was too scary. I was afraid of getting too ‘good’ at this, and all that such a thing might lead to! So, in a flash of commitment, I suddenly climbed up on the top of the bathroom sink, standing on my tiptoes. From this precarious position, I reached up stretching as long as I could stretch, grasped the light bulb, and I screwed in the light bulb!”

“And so came, with a single twist of your wrist, the end of your days as a telekinesist! How terribly sad – and yet how hilarious! Oh my!!! Seeing you stand up on that bathroom sink, screwing in the bulb in such a state of resolve to put this thing to an end once and for all! It is just too rich an image to put down!!! Such resolute determination! The end of an era in the twist of a light bulb!”

“Yes, and with it a flood of instantaneous relief! I can assure you of that!”

“Well, I certainly won’t venture to try it for myself, even if I have a cooperative light bulb! But I take it that the ‘working premise’ you had decided upon was thinking that the ‘Plexiglas rod’ solution would work, and you simply went with that once you had thought it out. Am I correct?”

“Yes, that was what I was trying to illustrate. It is a pretty radical example of such an idea at work, of course, but it had the essence of the idea of a ‘working premise’ at work going for it. Simpler applications I’ve heard of are like Olympic swimmers imagining their hands as being larger, and that has lead to them swimming faster immediately. The working premise wasn’t imagining their hands to be larger – it was imagining that imagining their hands were larger would increase their swimming speed!”

“I am beginning to catch a glimpse of what you are driving at. It is like what you were saying about the universe ‘happening’ a result into being.”

“Yes. The working premise that it could do so had to come first!”

“What an amazing idea! How could one teach such a thing? Or make it practicable for people to improve their own lot in life. Of course, now you have me musing as if I was a believer! How could this be how things work? And why can’t we or haven’t we harnessed such an ability before?”

As they strolled along, before either of them could think of a response to those two questions, a slight breeze wafted in their direction, pushing along towards them a piece of paper – an old page from a magazine that tumbled and slid along the roadway in their direction, till it finally settled upon the speaker’s foot, wrapping itself around his shoe. Upon the page was a photograph of two starving children from some foreign country, their stark eyes staring outward from the page and upwards towards the two men, as if imploring an answer themselves from them of those two questions, in the name of all of humanity and all of the sufferings of mankind. The man whose foot the page had become wrapped around bent down and picked up the sheet of paper, but arose stricken. They both were suddenly stricken with instantaneous grief. As he arose and straightened his body, the page with the photo being held in his hand, his eye caught the eye of his companion, and the two men suddenly broke into horribly sad tears of anguish, their remorse filling them both over the plight of the world, and they fell into each other’s arms, and wept for a bit, uncontrollably, their tears rolling down their faces in great sobs.

The universe had just “happened” both of them into a new form, changing their lives forever. This subject had just gone well beyond mere intellectual discourse about a curiosity. Once their tears had finally spent themselves upon the two of them and had left them thoroughly exhausted, they had been transformed completely into a new form: world changers. Separating from their embrace, they looked into each other’s eyes and each saw themselves as reflected in the face of the other, eyes sad, imploring, yet determined and committed, and full of an odd sort of confidence that was new to them both.

“We have to do something about this,” said one.

“Yes. It is over. This planet will be transformed once and for all. We must do it.”

“Agreed.”

The two men walked onwards towards their new, unseen destination, yet with the complete knowledge of where that destination lay and how it would look when they arrived at it. Now came the workings of magic. The working premise was that it could be done, and be done by them and by everyone else.

* * *

Continue Reading: To Chapter 2 -->

(It had been over two years since the last chapter was written!)

"So, what do you think happened?" I asked the left hemisphere of my own, ripe for the asking brain.

"What do I think??? Well ... I think that this Kalisia person gets our hero turned in, and that Scott Carpenter and Howard Popsicle descend upon him and stop him from doing whatever it is he is doing! I mean, he's "shifting everything at once" and all! This has to be terribly upsetting to these others, who have been working diligently behind the scenes for all these years and, lo, over lifetimes!!!"

"Good guess," I answered, "But wrong! What do you think, Right Hemisphere?"

"Good glorious gracious! I have no idea at all!" said right hemisphere. "I helped as much as I could when it was being written back then, but I'm totally unsure now!"

"Ahhh! That is wonderful!" I said. "The two of you got this story going with these mysterious characters with no names, one of whom you have set up to seem to be this persona called "The Technician" (who, it is not lost upon me exactly, is supposed to be me...), and these odd off-world folk who are caretakers for the human experiment they themselves supposedly started, and you had no idea where you were going with all of this???"

The two hemispheres of my brain had as sheepish a look on them as brain hemispheres could be expected to have.

*** To Be Continued ***

***

"'To Be Continued'??? Who in blazes put that there?!"

The other side of my personality became alert, seeing decisions being made ... and without him. "I mean, who SAYS this has to be continued or not? Don't I get any say in this?"

"Sorry ... it was me," admitted my right hemisphere. "I really would like to see this go on."

"Go on WHERE?" asked the other side of my personality. "It seems you have all but given up already!"

"Now, now. We might be able to take this a little bit further" said I. "After all, it is well intentioned, and has already revealed so much about me/us that has never been revealed in quite so compelling a manner before now up until this time."

"Revealed too much, perhaps!" I said.

"As a friend recently put it, disclosure is what is needed and necessary now. The only place to hide is out in the open, after all. That is, there is no hiding for anyone anymore!" said I.

"Indulge me, please, my paranoia, but I'm not so certain anyone needs to know this much about me!" I said. "Perhaps left hemisphere should be permitted to edit some of this content out of the story entirely!"

"Absolutely not! Besides, it is too unbelievable to be believed by anyone as being anything but a story anyway! Plus, it makes such a good story, and all the meaty philosophical underpinnings that are exposed ... why, it is just ..."

"STOP!! STOP!! I CAN'T TAKE IT!!!" cried out the right hemisphere. "OK - I'll finish the story so that it is what we intended in the first place completely, and helps everybody like we want it to do!"

"You will???" the rest chimed-in in chorus.

"Yes, I will," stated right hemisphere.

Every part of me looked uneasily at itself and shrugged. It did FEEL like the rest of the story, no matter where it was headed, was supposed to be written.The matter had been resolved. And it was good.

"Well. That's settled then," I said. "So?" said I.

"Exactly. So!" said Right Hemisphere.

*** Being Continued ***

"So," the one being called "The Technician" continued while sipping on tea Kalisia had made for them, "What do you think of this idea? - Everything, everywhere, is the center of the universe. The question concerning the middle is the riddle. But that means the center of the universe is everywhere at once!"

Kalisia nodded dreamily, still not believing or understanding what was happening.

The other man responded, "Oh, really?"

Howard Popsicle was eavesdropping on their conversation over the phone that had remained off of the hook for fifteen minutes now. "This is getting interesting!" he thought to himself.

"I always love thinking about that one," said The Technician with glee! "It is such a crazy idea, yet it makes so much sense, somehow! If we use that as a working premise supposing that is the way the Universe really works, what could we do with that?"

Shift.

Howard couldn't take it anymore. As Kalisia fought to regain her composure, Howard suddenly began blurting out loud over the telephone, making everybody suddenly aware that he had been there listening in all of this time.

"Wha..!! How?? How are you doing that!!!! What on Earth!! I can't take another one of these whole-universe shifts all so close in one day! Hello!!??"

The three folks drinking tea stared at the phone, dumbfoundedly. Kalisia broke the silence...

"Oh!! Howard!! I'm so sorry!! I forgot you were waiting on the phone for me to come back! Oh, my!" She rushed to the phone and placed the receiver to her ear to muffle his next words from reaching the other two.

"Hello, I'm here now," she said to Howard. Then, to her guests, "I'm sorry, you two, I'd completely forgotten I had left him hanging there!" Then to Howard, she said, "Can I call you back later? I have some visitors."

No amount of pressure against her ears could muffle Howards exasperated response. So, she hung up on him.

***

Download the whole book as an RTF file (updated when website is added to)

Before we get started, I’d like to ask you a few questions, the first of which being: if you apply for a job being advertised in a newspaper or job service or agency, will you be the only person being interviewed at that time?

“Well, DUH, Mr. B. ,” I hear you saying.

OK, here’s another one. If you call a company when they are not advertising for anyone, what is the most likely answer you will receive if you ask them if they are hiring? Like, “Hi, I’m looking for a job. Are you hiring?”

I am still receiving those looks, you know…

Question three: How will a company respond to this question? “I’m interested in working for your company. What kinds of jobs are open right now? I’ll do anything!”

I certainly hope you are very good at doing everything, in that case. Including cleaning bathrooms.

Four: “Hello, I’ve heard you are in the [fill in the blank] business. Is that true? If so, I’d like to work for your company!” Will this go over very large?

Five: Do employers only hire people who are qualified for a certain position? Or, do they hire people whom they like? Or both?

I know, that was a bunch of questions thrown in there.

Six: Will an employer create a job that formerly did not exist - just for you - if they like you?

Lastly, Seven: Can you get hired because you have figured out how you could be useful to the employer in ways that they themselves hadn’t thought of yet?

Now I’ve got your brain a’bubblin’!

Truth is, although everybody has ideas how to create a resume, how to dress for an interview, how to send a thank you note or write a cover letter, nobody ever tells you that you do not have to do any of that stuff, and you can still land a better job than those who do all those right things.

This takes more work in some ways than just preparing for a job interview for some advertised job, but it can lead to good paying, soul-satisfying employment much faster than any other method there is. And here is the secret.

Preparation and Moxie

First, let me warn you, I will be telling you that you will have to make so-called “cold calls” to companies whom you wish to work for. That said, how do you know what companies you would like to work for?

Research!

I know that sounds a bit too much like homework, but it is essential homework. It would be very wise of you to know more about the company you are considering working with than they even know about themselves.

Before you allow them to consider you, you consider them! Ask yourself: Would you consider hiring these people to be your employer? Do you feel strongly enough that they’d be a good fit for you to spend some of your valuable time to interview them?

Now, of course, companies do not mail out resumes to prospective employees ... exactly. But they do provide information about themselves, and it is up to you to unearth this information. It is up to you to find answers to the following questions before you pick up the phone to call them.

  1. Do their employees like working for them? Is there a high turnover rate? If so, why? (Beware of sour grapes as well as ‘company man’ answers.) Ask the employees themselves. And the receptionists. The receptionists are your best friend.

  2. What does the company really do? It isn’t enough to know so-and-so is a printing company, for instance. Who are some of their major clients? What are their specialties, if any? How many employees work for them? Are they the only branch, or are there other branches elsewhere? Might they be looking at moving some operations overseas? Might they be looking at moving you overseas? (... at least, look into their policies and practices regarding relocating employees.)

  3. What successes have they had that they might be proud of? Have they invested largely in new equipment or facilities lately? Have they recently landed a big contract?

  4. Who would you actually be working under as your supervisor? Who does that person report to? Who makes the actual decisions for hiring people in the particular department(s) you are interested in? You want to talk to these people!

  5. What kinds of plans do they have for the future? Do your detective work to discover where this company plans to go in its future endeavors.

  6. This may seem silly, but not to them. When was this company founded and by whom? Has it changed hands through buyouts or mergers? Has it gone public, and if so, when did it do so? What are its stock prices currently. Would you consider them a good investment? Would a broker?

  7. Who has won awards within this company, and for what? Be able to name names alongside their accomplishments. Bring notes to the interview with such information.

  8. Do they have benefits? What are those benefits, and how does one qualify? Are there company ‘perks’ that, although largely unofficial, are enjoyed by many of the employees there? (like a golf club membership, an annual trip to Disneyland for the whole staff, reduced rates for flights or hotels, generous vacation time, etc.) Are there probation periods one has to pass before benefits kick in?

  9. What hours of operation do they have, and how do their shifts run? Two or three shifts? Can you start off in a day shift, or do all new employees have to take the 2nd and 3rd shifts? Do they have four-day workweeks (usually four 10-hour days and three days off) or three-day workweeks like they have in Europe (usually three 12-hour days and four days off)? Are people expected to work overtime - nearly all the time??? (Overtime pay gets old after a whole summer of lost weekends, believe me!)

You may be wondering by now, “Where the heck am I supposed to find all the answers to these questions???” And although many of the questions asked above seem understandable, some may seem to have nothing to do with you anyway. Why would you need to know about any of their recent successes?

Okay, for the first question: we have three sources - the public library, employees of the company (the most important of these being receptionists and secretaries!), and the company’s Human Resources Dept. (PS - NEVER, EVER leave a resume with the Human Resources Dept., even if they ask you to. Simply tell them that you are not seeking a job there right now, but are merely doing research. Custom build a resume for the employer/dept. manager you’ll be interviewing with after the interview, if need be, and send it directly to that person.)

As to why you would need to know any or all of this information, it is to arm you to the teeth with information about their company so you can totally blow their minds that their company actually interested you that much that you would perform so much research about them!

It also will help you verify any assumptions you may have made about what it may really be like to work for that company and what kind of work you can expect to be available from them, or perhaps point out any other assumptions you’ve made or missing spots that you need to clear up.

Another question: Would you rather find out that a particular establishment could absolutely never offer you work that you could enjoy or be happy doing after working for some ill-fitting company for months or years before you finally concede to the hard truth that working there is doing nothing for you and will do nothing for you (except perhaps contribute towards stress-related illness!) or would you prefer discovering this fact before taking a job with them?

And one more: Is it very likely that the very first employer who says, “We’ll hire you!” can really be ‘The One’ and offer you a job experience that enriches you, allows you to grow, and gives you happiness? Most people just take a job and are happy they got one, without ever looking into themselves to question whether that job is actually good for them.

Happiness? Enrichment? Personal growth?

Believe it or not, I am talking about a real world here, not an impossible fantasy. But to attain this kind of pleasant work experience will take asking the right questions, of yourself as well as of the potential employer. Here’s the toughest question in the whole world: What do you really want? Give me as many details as you can. Good! Now you are ready to call some potential employers and ask them for an exploratory interview.

The Exploratory Interview - Setting one up

Hello, my name is Terry Britton, and I am
a student—- a recent graduate—- changing careers

and wanted to setup some time with
Company Owner—- Dept. Manager—- Area Supervisor

for an exploratory interview. I’ve researched your company, and it looks like a very good place to work! I’d like to see better what’s needed of an prospective new employee to work at a company such as yours, especially in the xyz department. I assure you I will take only ten minutes of their time.

“One moment, and I’ll connect you.”

Thank you!

“Hello, Dick Grayson here.”

Hello, my name is Terry Britton, and I am
a student—- a recent graduate—- changing careers

interested in establishing a career in [graphic arts] and would like to setup some time with you for an exploratory interview. I’ve researched your company, and it looks like a very good place to work, but I’d like to learn better what I’d need to know in preparation to work at a company such as yours. Could we possibly get together some afternoon or morning? I promise you I will take up only ten minutes your time, but I’m certain it would be worthwhile, and besides, I would like to meet you. If you can schedule some time where you could arrange a quick company tour as well, that would be all the better!

“Sure I can, but let me have Stu Kirkwood meet with you first for that tour, as he is the plant manager. I’ll happily join you afterwards.”

Question: Does the scenario this script portrays sound like it could actually happen? Well, what kind of employer wouldn’t give you ten minutes of their time to help you out? Not any kind you would ever wish to work for!

The Exploratory Interview Itself

In the interview, offer a review of what you know already and ask questions based upon what you have researched about the company. Ask about that reward they received. Ask about items on the person’s desk or on display in their office or elsewhere. Ask them what they consider to be the most valuable features of a prospective employee to work for their kind of company. Get them talking! You should do little talking except to ask questions, and to show your familiarity with what the company actually does along with other things about the company.

That “ten minutes” will turn into a one hour interview without your even trying. Owners, managers, and even supervisors really love to talk about their company and their successes, if they are happy that they work there. If they do not show such enthusiasm, read that as a definite sign. Sure, you may only be hearing some ‘sour grapes’ or gripes, but you may be picking up on the fact that this person is not happy working there themselves! Perhaps ask why. Dig as deep as you can without being prying. But always, stay alert for cues such as these!

One added perk to using the exploratory interview technique is that the employer will likely be more honest with you than they likely would be in a job interview or starting up a new hire. In those cases, they are under pressure to put on the company’s best look. So, you may experience less ‘snow-jobbing’ in the exploratory interview than you’d see in a normal ‘job interview.’

Closure

“Well, thank you for your time! I’ve really enjoyed talking with you, and if I find you advertising for a position, I will certainly apply!”

“Actually, when could you start working for us? We could use you right now!”

Question: Does this scenario sound at all possible? Oh, I see you’re finally catching on! Yes indeed, it is not only possible, but, in my experience, happens often. After all, you have just shown this prospective employer that you have many of the best qualities an employer always prefers to see in their employees! Genuine interest, organizational skill, the ability to do research and learn on your own, self motivation, good people skills, good character, willingness to work and to do the best that you can (a work ethic), and prior knowledge of the workings of the company, shortening the time it might take to train you for that environment. And I’ll bet that if you think about it some more from an employer’s point of view, you probably can add many other positive traits you had just demonstrated to this list.

Of course, a company cannot always simply place you right away. So, followup is now the next very important step. Like sending a letter thanking the person for giving you their time, mentioning some specific things about the conversation that you found particularly interesting or learned from. Then, watch for ads from this company (the only reason you should ever bother with reading the classifieds, in my humble opinion). Occasionally call their human resources dept. Drop by to see the owner/ manager/ supervisor themselves to bring them up-to-date with your job search, and feel free to ask them for any company referrals they could think of during that repeat visit. (“I was just driving by and thought I’d drop in and see if you had a second to see me again!”) Two weeks after the interview, send another thank you letter that brings them up to date with your progress, and drop names of other owners/ managers/ supervisors you have talked to and the names of the companies they work for. You already have made a very good impression - one that will stick in their minds, setting you apart from other prospective applicants. Now, you must keep that impression shiny and fresh in their memories. And it certainly will not hurt to contact them with the news that someone else has made a job offer to you, and what they are offering to pay you, along with other perks and benefits. They will appreciate the update and feel like they’d been a real help for you, but they also may ask you to come by to discuss a future at their company instead!

But none of these things are as likely to happen if you look for a ‘job’ in the usual ways people tell you. Believe me, the advice in this article is not common knowledge. But now you know about this approach, so I hope you will try it out, even if in conjunction with traditional job-search methods. Your life is more in your hands than you had ever imagined.

I sincerely hope you take-on your own happiness, personal-growth, and life in general with the spirit embraced in this article. You may not always succeed, but that is the price of success! One has to learn to accept failures and convert them into something useful.

Personally, I’d rather look back at several months of failures trying to find a really, really good job, working with great people in a positive and healthy environment, with excellent benefits and vacation times, than to look back at several years working at jobs that never were a good fit in the first place, but those happened to be the first employers who said, “Can you start Monday?” Answer that question from now on with, “I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to think that over (or discuss that with my spouse, etc. ) during the weekend and get back to you. Is that alright?”

Last word: Always quibble pay rates. If asked how much you’d like to be paid, ask them how much they think you are worth! Also, always ask what kind of career track is possible for you if you do accept the job they are offering. (That is, can it lead to promotions you would enjoy, or is it a dead-end job, or worse, a promotion that would only lead to a heart attack!) It is perfectly alright for you to make them answer your questions, and it actually shows them that you are serious about wanting to do a good job for them. Be serious about whether you would hire them to be your employer - more serious than they are about hiring you! Be brave! Say “NO THANK YOU!” if there are negative signs. Above all, very, very, very seldom accept the first job offer made to you. Treat those first ones as practice!

Enjoy Great Success!

Terry Leigh Britton

* * *
“Adventure is worthwhile.” Aesop
* * *
“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”
Henry David Thoreau
* * *
“No legacy is so rich as honesty.” William Shakespeare
* * *
“Chance favors the prepared mind.” Louis Pasteur
* * *
I find that the harder I work, the more luck I seem to have.
Thomas Jefferson
* * *
Do, or do not. There is no ‘try’. - Yoda
* * *

The comments are owned by the poster. We aren’t responsible for their content.

Posted: 2005/9/17 15:52 Updated: 2005/9/17 15:52
This is excellent advice, indeed!

Another thing to consider is that networking is one of the very best ways to find a job. If you’re looking for a job, let everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, know you are looking.  Heck, even if Grandma is retired, a friend’s grandson could be hiring and she’d tell you about it. Job leads can come from the most unexpected places!

Be mindful and seize every opportunity you have to following every lead.

Kat

* * *

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