Inner Worlds / Outer Worlds – Go Within and Have It All

It’s Sunday evening here in The Oaks. Well, actually in half the world. In the other half, Monday gives way to Tuesday in a few hours. Overcast skies and a little rain, alongside my continuing day-by-day acceptance of what seems to be happening in my life found me quiet again, meditative. The cool, gray, damp of the world beyond the cottage walls gave easy reason to be still, to listen, to appreciate, to love.

Between the rain out there and the light in here, I evolved with the hours, and I watched as I stirred up a delicious pot of highly seasoned dal, adding pumpkin and squash, kale and chard from the last pickings of the garden. I baked bread and slathered butter on large chunks while it was hot.

I smiled a lot and gave thanks, and sent out love thoughts as names popped into my mind. Yes, yours, too. These are things I do daily, hourly. Minute by minute in fact, if you measure tine. These are where my joy lies, in the spaces between thought, worry, need and any inkling of victim-hood.

Until a glimpse of a horrific newscast glanced at for a second on a social site challenges my usual harmony. Ego alerts send me back to Truth, and the gaps are getting more and more slender, so that soon I expect they will disappear altogether and Mastery will assure that Truth remains True and I can know my perfect unity with All That Is, no questions, no lingering doubts, no nothing.

Nothing ‘out there’ matters. It all matters. Nothing is. All is.

The Mystery does not reveal itself to a mind unaware that it is.
I Am.
You Are.
God Is.

And if you would like a luxuriously beautiful reminder to stop worrying, to stop fearing, to love yourself, to BE the love, I highly recommend this film: Inner Worlds, Outer Worlds, by Canadian film maker, musician and meditation teacher Daniel Schmidt. Donate a few dollars to watch, if you can.

Or watch it just to enjoy the beauty.

The film’s sounds and imagery capture so many things I wrote about in Everyone’s a Guru. The sacred geometry is gorgeous; the sane words nudge us back to wisdom. The cross-cultural common denominators will touch a chord, no natter your faith background, lack thereof, or your ‘level’ of consciousness.

Go get your soup, your bread, your blanket.

Watch.

http://dev.innerworldsmovie.com/index.cfm

And help continue to awaken the world.

xo

Sweet Musical Moment in the Thrift Shop Parking Lot

The recent month of Mondays left me under the weight of yet another last-ditch effort to stay alive. Stage four cancer doesn’t care about hopes and dreams, much less house keeping, garden watering and food procurement. But I have plans for the Grammy Awards… someday.

This day, though, I came out of the too-tired-to-function daze long enough to run a couple errands. I played my daughter’s happy new CD en route, while bouncing gently to her salsa, bachata and merengue. All original compositions.

One of my stops was the hospice-support thrift store, to drop a pile of clothing. I pulled up and parked directly in front of the shop on Lakeview. The car windows were down slightly and as I was about to turn off the ignition, I noticed a woman in the truck parked next to me.

Smiling, she moved to the music, too. After a few more lively beats, I turned off the engine then held up the cover of the CD, which I received the day before my birthday a week ago. “She lives HERE?” the woman asked in what seemed a south-of-the-border accent. “No. New York,” I told her, with a wink.

We got out of our respective vehicles and I stepped back to open my trunk. She noticed the pile of clothes I reached for and asked if I was donating them. “Yes. Would you like to peek first?” Her brown eyes sparkled.

She asked if I would wait a moment, then walked to the truck’s passenger door to get her mother: a sweet ‘abuelita’ type, with a walking cane. They met me at the trunk where the daughter (about my age) told me, “I was so surprised to hear that good music – I mean I’ve never seen a white woman in Lake County doing that.” I found nothing whatsoever racist or uncomfortable about this comment. I think she’s right–rock and country seem more the genres out here in boonieland, at least for the non-Spanish speaking folk.

We were all amused. Introductions followed, and a few dance steps had us laughing. With my slim attempts at Spanish, we resorted to hugs and smiles. They calmly chose about half the items I had brought, then followed me inside, where I dropped the remainder of the clothes.

I drove off grinning ear-to-ear, the music a cultural and community bridge resounding over the browned out hills and vineyards that vie for sustenance.

Here’s the video of one of the tracks from the CD, in case you aren’t among the nearly 6,000 viewers to see it this past week since it was launched.

I like the idea of music as a local or international ‘bridge’ and I cross it often. . . to dance, to play, to reconnect, to find personal freedom. And to let go of things no longer needed. I like that Layla has bridged music with her three different genres in one album. And I like any excuse to dance.

Dance on, I say! Dance on! And hug your abuelas, your grandmothers while you can. Mine are surely dancing in the Beyond.

xo

Grand Mother

Grand Mother
Teach me that same laughter ruffled round your eyes
Adhering to waypoints
Lifting to speak with egrets and crows
Falling to step over unrestrained roots
Or to find the perfect one
You’ll later grind for cures.

Teach me that same gentleness stitched into your limbs
Drenched in noble codes
Drying to soothe base quarrels
Shrinking to fit undeveloped skill
Or thread the needle kindly
Your cataracts ignored.

Teach me that same patience seeping from your organs
Basted in all seasons
Puffed with slimy fosterlings
Ripened by totemic strainings
Risen from crocodile nests and elk scat
You misidentified.

Teach me that same grace vibrant in your blood
Churning hours to butter
Whitened by toothless clutchings
Sifted through thorn-snagged skirts
Woven with milk prayers and charcoal smoke
You offer reverently.

Teach me that same wisdom chiseled in your bones
Bleached on sunny hillsides
Terraced in nutmeg and mango
Pulsed into pies for sisters
Singing oracles to honeyed outcomes
You shape with practice.

Grand Mother
Teach me that same fervor and turkey feather fan
Tended in silent comet strokes
Rippled lakeside shadows
Coddled by generations
Or lead me to my untrammeled trailhead
And kiss me onward.

© V. Wolfe
26 June, 2013

On the Restoration or the Shredding of Sanity

The Catalan woman enters the great cathedral. A long, black lace cloth covers her head. She steps softly across a marble floor, ignoring the forty-foot high stained glass windows; dips wrinkled fingers into a stone fount, moves her fingers to her forehead, then across her chest and belly; lights a candle in a red glass; moves to a wooden bench where the tarnish of time’s attendants have polished and smoothed the sitting place; bows her head and moves her lips to entreat her deity; raises her head to gaze upon the carved figure of a man nailed upon a crucifix; sheds tears; asks for forgiveness because just this very day – a Tuesday – she has decided that the welts upon her back have become more painful than the welts upon her soul and so, she is leaving her husband of 37 years . Rising, she wipes her cheeks, and prays that she can live out her remaining years enjoying her grandchildren in a remote village, far from the reach of her husband’s cane. She recognizes she has failed as a wife; she was meant to submit to the authority of her husband and can do so no longer. Her guilt follows her into the mountains.

Four men encircle the teen Yemeni girl whom they have thrown to the dirt outside a mud shack in Ma’rib. The girl’s eyes are the only part of her face visible to passersby; the eyes are blank behind a withered defiance; she rolls to her right and grabs her belly as one of the men picks up a stone and shouts the two-syllable name of his deity; a camel passes; the wind stirs the dust on the hillside; the girl’s father joins the men and the five of them pelt the girl with rocks they had previously collected. Her mother watches from a window as blood saturates the dust where her child is left to perish; the mother turns back to her work as the men enter the residence; she holds her breath until they begin their prayers.

The council of West Virginia elders sit in metal folding chairs behind a long table that is covered with a pink-checkered cloth; a large black book with onion skin paper lies open on the table; beside the table a bin contains squirming rattlesnakes. Standing before the elders of Jolo, a man of 24 years waves a banner with a purple cross; his younger sister shouts and gyrates as their father rises from his place among the witnessing crowd; the younger man passes the father the banner, and then reaches for the bin to remove and hold high the first of several snakes; the brother passes his sister the snakes; the snakes bite her in five places yet she remains standing as words are sung in high voices and all present acknowledge her errors . The child she had out of wedlock had already been stolen from her and was buried in Pinnacle Creek, more than an hour away; its mother lived on for three more years.

The black skin of the old Papuan midwife glistens as she shivers before a pile of stacked branches; the freshly cut stump of her right arm leaks into her dress;  a mob of women, men and children screams against the backdrop of agarwood trees; the woman tries to run but is caught and tied between two thick, upright limbs; her clothes are removed. An angry man stands before the old midwife, removes a belt, strikes her legs, her back, her face. The mob calls her ‘witch’ and cries for her suffering; the man obliges, leading the midwife to the stacked branches;  another man uses a machete to slice against the midwife’s body; a woman waving a crude fan in one hand ignites the branches with her other; the midwife twitches, flails and kicks to no avail. They only let her burn a short while, this May day of 2013, then lead her to her hut where her skin is still afire yet she is made to yield her material wealth; her cries to the police remain ignored as the sun bends heavily westward.

Buddhists massacre Muslims in Myanmar.

Hezbollah prepares to attack Israel.

The Christian National Liberation Front of Tripura kill Hindus in Tripura.

The Christian Westboro Baptist Church attacks gays, lesbians and the families of dead soldiers.

The Christian anti-Semitic Ku Klux Klan aligns with Christian Neo-Nazis.

The Taliban.

Al-Qaeda.

Freedom Defense Initiative.

Aryan Nations.

America’s Promise Ministries.

Jewish Defense League.

Catholic Reaction Force.

Anders Breivik.

Joseph Kony.

Ayman Al-Zawahiri.

Robert Spencer.

Samuel Mullet.

Rush Limbaugh.

*     *     *     *     *

I sit in my two-bedroom cottage surrounded by giant oak trees on a half-acre property in rural Northern California and ponder the world situation from time to time.  I am a self-proclaimed Pacifist, and am not a part of any major religion, though I do subscribe to many philosophies that acknowledge a form of divinity.  I abhor dogma, while I appreciate certain concepts of world culture and traditions.  Yes, I am among those who consider themselves ‘spiritual –not-religious’ but if you were to read my book “Everyone’s a Guru,” you would find a somewhat tongue-in-cheek compilation of all things ‘New Age,’  with a clearly put forward hope that people dare to think for themselves, especially in this world of media bombardment.

The whole of my life centers on a deep appreciation of nature, of the simpler things in life, of loving one another, of respecting those who may not hold the same beliefs. But I draw the line at hate. I draw the line at hate speech falsely interpreted as ‘freedom of speech.’ I draw the line at abuse of others for any reason, and more and more I see abuse of not only other people – minds and bodies – but of our planet, resources, and the list of possibilities for retaining sanity seems to grow thinner every day.

My heart aches to read such incidents as the four I wrote in the beginning of this document.  I have never understood how people proclaiming any form of religious faith can use that very belief system in order to justify harm against others. Whether a one-on-one encounter, a group against another group, or a nation against another nation, where do we – as Humanity – draw the line?

Religious ferver is not the only reason for bringing harm unto others. Yet it seems to continue with more people becoming apathetic in spite of the glaring horrors. Have we burned out? Are we too overwhelmed and helpless, feeling that our one little act of compassion in our one little corner of the world won’t matter anyway?

I disagree.

I don’t just spew my concerns. I am one to act when I see or experience injustice, intolerance and harm. But I do not ‘fight fire with fire’ because I have witnessed similar attempts and have remained among the few left standing in the embers.

What will it take for enough people to grow less apathetic and peacefully claim our right to a life where all people are truly free? The wars on terror/drugs/women do not serve as good examples of success in any form. Yet we are beginning to see more people trying to raise their voices against tyranny, against the rule of oil, against austerity, against the negligence of humanity by those who seem to reign in power over them.

The CIA, in its “Global Trends 2015” Terrorism-Related Excerpts, states that “Between now and 2015 terrorist tactics will become increasingly sophisticated and designed to achieve mass casualties.”

I ask: Will we let this become reality?

The FBI’s 2011 Hate Crime Accounting, released December 12, 2012, states: “Of the 6,222 reported hate crimes, 6,216 were single-bias incidents—46.9 percent were racially motivated, 20.8 percent resulted from sexual orientation bias, 19.8 percent were motivated by religious bias, 11.6 stemmed from ethnicity/national origin bias, and 0.9 percent were prompted by disability bias.”  The victims numbered 7,713.

I ask: Will we sit back and watch these numbers grow?

I think that these hate crimes that are supposedly not rooted in religious bias actually are. Because from where does the hate for someone not of your race arise? Why would anyone lack compassion for a person with a disability?

A study by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life, published December 18, 2012, shows that worldwide, more than eight-in-ten people identify with a religious group. This comprehensive demographic study included more than 230 countries and territories, and estimates that there are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion.

Many atheists proclaim that the world would be better off without religion. I am beginning to believe that, too, even though I hold strongly to my personal spiritual path. The more I watch beautiful young men and women – as diverse as the 900,000 types of insects on our planet – being sent off to wars, I marvel at the nation sending them under the guise of ‘For God and Country.’  These are untruths. And anyone who is party to a religion which is supposedly founded on peace and Christ’s love, for example, is doing great harm to every one of those young people. The programming of young minds in our schools and churches, as well as by the media today, is not the only concern; when one blends the myriad contributions of what a handful of ‘leaders’ – religious, political or otherwise – condones as ‘right action’ with no broad-spanning checks and balances, that concept of the 1% vs the 99% starts to take on different perspectives.

This goes far beyond the 1% of monetary control of certain aspects of global disparity. It goes beyond extremism, beyond ‘them vs us,’ ‘the haves vs the have nots,’ the religious vs the atheists,’ ‘the gays vs the straights,’ and so forth. It goes beyond morality as viewed from the pages of sacred texts and beyond immorality as viewed by those who define law. And it goes often to extremes which cannot seem to be curtailed by any one particular nation or political group or religion or court.

Humanity as a whole needs to awaken .

I will say that again: HUMANITY as a WHOLE needs to awaken.

The facts are out there for anyone who dares to actually look them up rather than just listen to talk-radio show hosts tossing around one conspiracy theory after another. Why do people feel so incapable of applying basic reason to some of the utter hogwash circulating the air waves? Because they lack education? And whose fault is that. Because they lack resources? And whose fault is that. Because they lack experience? And whose fault is that.

Does anyone need to actually be blamed? Does religion cause such senseless separation of humanity that ultimately people stand on two sides of the fence deemed ‘Global Warming,’ with one group claiming ‘their’ Bible states the Earth is only 2,000 years old, while science has mountains of factual evidence to the contrary? Do liberals know more than conservatives because they come from more open-minded roots, or do liberals tend to smoke more dope and just not give a shit, as some would have you believe. Will the new Catholic Pope finally sell off the content of the Vatican’s coffers to feed the starving millions of its own church? Will the shamans of Peru direct their followers to more ayahuasca toward going ‘beyond’ the world’s limitations?

These are the things I wonder about. I know there must be solutions toward Humanity as a Whole finding a way to allow certain basic freedoms to all members of society; these freedoms have become not only distorted but are yet to be felt in many parts of the world.

Do we begin with children? Teach the children well – Did you ever hear that Crosby, Stills and Nash song – and we can prevent further hell, eh? Well, what do we teach them? Who decides that? Clearly, the children we once were must have been mistaken because now our children live in a world where women are raped, tortured and burned, governments spy on their citizens, corporations hide billions of profits in offshore tax-free sites, and sex, food and smart-phones seem to set the foundation for empty-headedness.

Where is our sanity?

Do we revolt until we have destroyed ourselves completely? Or do we raise our voices until we are heard? Who gets the final word on ‘what is right’ or ‘good and evil’ and so on? Doesn’t it come back ultimately and always to personal responsibility.

Personal responsibility. Yes. Every thought you have, every word spoken, every action has a result of some sort.

I would like to invoke Wisdom. As in Sofia – the root of the word “Philosophy,” which literally means the love of wisdom.

If you beat your child, your child will learn to beat others. Unless perhaps you realize in horror what you have done and through remorse instantly alter your behavior, becoming an exemplar of decency.

If you hand snakes to your daughter and say that if God loves her, she won’t be harmed, what are you are teaching your daughter? If you pick up a gun to ‘resist’ attack and are ready to kill another human being in the name of Jesus  or Allah or The Star People, are you being an example of truth? I mean TRUTH.  And only Truth is True, right?

Do you live by the TOTAL  content of your sacred text, or do you grab at bits and pieces to justify your daily actions? Do you adhere to a Higher Power who instructs you to hurt others?  Do you rob Peter to pay Paul? Do you cry at the suffering of a wolf skinned alive? Do you climb on your wife to rid yourself of the thoughts of your  voluptuous neighbor?  Do you teach your sons that no matter if a woman is nude or not, rape is never acceptable?

If we went back to ‘the beginning,’ we might have a chance. A fresh start. A clean slate.

I propose we do just that. And I am open to hearing what the beginning might look like. My own version employs sanity, a world without war, without religious division, without any one person having power over any other person, and with all citizens having every basic need met, alongside unlimited options to realize dreams that benefit all. Laughter rings from the mountains; music echoes through a million trees; art abounds; rivers run clear; altars of Kindness are raised; food is pure and shared with open arms; peace reverberates through every heart. And what once was just a simple thought of goodness and respect becomes a code by which one can measure a life meaningfully lived.

I have many associates who silently mock me for thinking such things, or who proclaim outright that such a concept is impossible.

And I say, smiling to the naysayers, please, PLEASE, for the sake of us all:

Let the renaissance begin – NOW.

For further reading – Includes References I Used, and General, Randomly Selected Sites

Global Terrorism Database

The Global War on Terror – by Laurence Andrew Dobrot, US Army

FBI Hate Crimes Accounting – Annual Report 2011

The Pew Forum – Global Religious Landscape

Institute of Policy Studies, Islamabad – Terrorism, Religion and World Peace, by Fang Jinying

DCI Exceptional Intelligence Analyst Program; An Intelligence Monograph – International Trafficking in Women to the United States: A Contemporary Manifestation of Slavery and Organized Crime, by Amy O’Neill Richard

Violence Against Women: Roots and Cures in World Religions, by Daniel C. Maguire

CIA World Factbook – Political pressure groups and leaders

Southern Poverty Law Center – Intelligence Files; Hate Groups

Southern Poverty Law Center – Hate Map

UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy

Guardian – Lee Rigby: an ordinary soldier who died in extraordinary circumstances

Huffington Post – Papua New Guinea ‘Witch’ Burning: 2 Charged In Murder Of Kepari Leniata

MIT Press: Radical, Religious, And Violent; The New Economics of Terrorism, by Eli Berman

Oxford Bibliographies – Terrorism, by Karen Terry

American Psychological Association – With terrorism, labeling has implications

Juan Cole – Terrorism and the other Religions

Religious Tolerance – Genocide Past genocides committed against Native Americans

Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute -The History of the Catholic Church in Latin America and Liberation Theology, by Gary Smith

Canta Clara (Jesuit) University – Killing in the Name of God: The Problem of Holy War, by Dr. David L. Perry

Stanford University – The History of Religious Conflict in the United States: Revolution to September 11th, by Eric Wong

Maps of War – History of Religon

The Christian Arsenal

Ku Klux Klan

Westboro Baptist Church

American Nazi Party/

Australian Bureau of Statistics – 2011 Census reveals Hinduism as the fastest growing religion in Australia

Council of Foreign Relations – Realizing Democracy: Lessons from Mexico and Brazil

All Africa – Search Results: Religion

Christian Science Monitor

Quiet Mountain Tibetan Buddhist Resource Guide

Jewish Virtual Library

Islam Religion

Christianity.com

Hinduism Today

Catholic Online

Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons)

Metropolitan Community Churches

Lancaster County – Pennsylvania Amish religion and traditions

Pagan Federation International – What is Paganism?

Indians.org – Native American Spirituality

Internet Sacred Text Archive

American Atheists

Religion Facts – The Big Religion Chart

Religious Tolerance – Religions of the world: Information about 40 organized religions and faith groups.

Buyer Beware: Cancer can be a great marketing device for some natural and alternative cancer ‘gurus’

You’ve heard it said that cancer is big industry. Billions are spent on ‘research’ and ‘treatment’ yet we still have no CURE.

Today I woke to another email that sent me reeling. So many people seem out to make a buck off cancer — prevention or cure — and often in the guise of an ‘alternative’ or ‘natural’ physician who seems to truly ‘care.’

Allow me to save you some time.

If you’ve read my book Everyone’s a Guru, you know WHY I wrote it to begin with. The whole ‘new age’ and other rackets with sales pitches claiming to have the end-all/be-all answer to your every spiritual need is expounded upon so you can learn to carefully weed out the b.s. and actually think for yourself.

Well, the cancer industry has jumped on the band-wagon as well.

The cancer ‘gurus’ out there want what?
And you will be able to practice what when encountering them?

Case in point:

Dr. Brownstein’s Natural Way to Health

There’s a not-too-old marketing formula at play. The tool is a presentation-cum-video scam to get your interest, or to scare the crap out of you so you sign on to get more of what they’re promoting.

The videos look something like this:

• You click a link which takes you to a page for the presentation
• It’s in video form, but is really just a voice-over to accompanying text
• A few graphics are tossed in so you think it’s ‘legit’
• You find NO indicator of length of the presentation
• NO way to fast forward or backtrack
• NO way to copy the info to use
• NO way to cut to the chase regarding what exactly they are offering you

If you’re like me, when you get an email saying, “The 5 best ways to prevent cancer,” you just want to see WHAT those  things are. Instead you have this experience:

– An introduction to the presenter, so you can feel confident the person is qualified.  These are often ‘doctors.’  Their qualifications and training or history are given to build trust.

– About 10 minutes into it we get to the promised list; in this video we are shown the 5 signs:

• low immune system
• obesity, or being 20% overweight
• tobacco
• sugar and grains
• toxic water / food/ air/ and medicine

Okay, you spent 10 minutes to learn something already prevalent and readily available online, just in case you’ve been living in a foil-lined cave in Botswana with no wireless, no television, no radio and no newspaper or smoke signals in your ‘hood.’

Then follows the ‘special offer’ or ‘free report’ … and you don’t yet know there’s a sales pitch coming, because you can’t get to that until you watch the entire thing, and hint: the free offer or report is only yours when you BUY something.

First, you must continue to watch or listen.

In this one, there’s the, “But FIRST, you will want to learn how to PREVENT cancer” bit. This comes with  long lists and details you already know

And in case you’ve been lost at sea for the past decade, here it is in a nutshell. Or you can spend 18 minutes waiting to get it from this presentation, or after they toss in and backtrack to other ‘historic data’ so you can feel informed.

At 27 minutes in, they get to a cancer prevention list.

1. Avoid chemicals, hormones and GMOS in food
   (dairy, beef, chicken, pork, fish)
2. Avoid aspartame, diet-drinks and artificial sweeteners (in a large percentage of the food supply)
3. Avoid sugar (use raw honey or organic stevia)
4. Avoid all refined and processed foods
5. Avoid chlorine and fluoride
6. Avoid partially hydrogenated oils (coconut and olive)
7. Avoid common table salt (devoid of nutrients) and instead use organic SEA salt
8. Avoid dental work, especially silver amalgam
9. Avoid all heavy metals
10. Watch out for low iodine levels
11. Avoid radiation exposure, including all x-rays and mammograms (damage is cumulative), etc.

Okay so that’s 11 not 7, but because there are a lot of ‘facts’ tossed in, you’ve lost track of the count.

Bottom line: Avoid a low pH and keep your immune system performing optimally.
AS IF YOU DID NOT KNOW THIS?!

More minutes are spent discussing such details as how the food industry(e.g. breads) long ago replaced iodine with bromine, and this caused problems for consumers, i.e. low iodine levels.  All to save the food processors money. And perhaps you learn how most  people are deficient in iodine, b12, magnesium, vita d , sulfur, zinc, chromium, potassium, or whatever. If you eat the typical American fast-food, processed diet, you would of course know this.

Throughout the presentation, you see something like, “Just ahead I’ll give you the info I promised at the beginning but first …” and there’s a plug for the “free” book. In this example, it’s ‘Guide to Healthy Eating’ –  currently $18.00 on Amazon.

At 24 minutes in comes the ‘Free report’ offer … again.. showing info that is, again, readily and freely available online currently on countless sites.

Note: ‘FREE’ is often in red as is the word ‘cancer’ and these are seen repetitively throughout. Are you feeling programmed yet? Alongside the use of red is the use of the phrase, “Just ahead I’ll show you” at which point you get the, “OH AND I ALSO HAVE a free report on ‘Heart disease.’

At 32 minutes in more teasers for more things to read/ download/ purchase.  A book, newsletter, and OH YES, access to the ‘members only area’ …  ALL FOR ONE LOW PRICE.

Wait a minute! You thought he was offering something FREE. To HELP you.

Doh!

The whole thing results in a 30 to 45 minute TEASE.

FINALLY, in this one, at 38 minutes in (And I ask you, WHO has time to sit there that long these days?! – Answer: unemployed people, sick people, scared people) the button shows up to ‘Click for your ‘Cancer Prevention Kit.’

When you do, you learn:

“Dr. Brownstein’s Natural Way to Health at the low rate of only $54 for a year. (12 monthly issues), containing great strategies for my optimal health and wellness. Plus, I also receive a 3-month trial subscription to Health Radar!”

(Yes, I cut and pasted that directly from the linked-to info that is separate from the video. It’s copyable text.)

What that presentation also DOESN’T have, beyond my initial list is:

• COST up front (Um, would you watch if you knew you were going to have to pay something?)
• Links to outside sources
• Resources and references

Sometimes (rarely with this marketing formula, aka trick) you do find a link to ‘read this instead of watching.’ That can save you time, however it’s too infrequent. But if you get the newsletter, you only sometimes get actual usuable informtion – most often you are directed to yet ANOTHER of these presentations, toward getting more of your money.

I only watched today so I could write an accurate blog, toward helping YOU learn to discern. Truly, I care.

Another major culprit of this kind of thing is: Cancer Defeated, Lee Euler, Publisher.

There’s a Health Disclaimer on his site: ” The information provided above is not intended as personal medical advice or instructions. You should not take any action affecting your health without consulting a qualified health professional. The authors and publishers of the information above are not doctors or health-caregivers. The authors and publishers believe the information to be accurate but its accuracy cannot be guaranteed. There is some risk associated with ANY cancer treatment, and the reader should not act on the information above unless he or she is willing to assume the full risk.”

I know that almost every alternative or preventative cancer treatment requires such, due to the absurdity of the FDA and so forth. I actually purchased the Cancer Defeated program’s book months back. I had to skip food for a week, but I wanted to know what was in it that I might not already know. Answer: hardly anything. But it is in one compact book.

After getting subsequently bombarded with daily emails leading to more of those video presentations, where it takes nearly an hour to actually get to the information they promise to share, I asked for a refund. I received appx. 75% back as I wanted it right away; I could have received the full refund if I’d waited another few weeks.

SIDENOTE: Nowhere in these presentations have I found discussion of a person’s stress levels, lifestyle, spiritual needs, metaphysical considerations and so forth relative to disease. These are critical aspects for consideration. If you want to prevent – or heal from – any disease, these would rightfully be included.

SO, I invite you to share this with all your friends and family because too many people are getting scammed these days. Whether or not these doctors are who they claim to be requires deeper investigation, and will you take the time to contact their alma maters or claimed training programs to make sure they actually are who they say they are?

Feel free to post in the comments section if you have found any similar types of marketing scams.

Why these people think we are too ignorant or too afraid is beyond me. They are after your money. Cancer is big business, you betcha. Not just for mainstream medicine, but also for alternative and complementary and ‘natural’ medicine.

Use your head. Get wise. And share so others don’t get taken for a ride. Talk to your LOCAL Naturopath or Physician and do your homework on EVERYTHING you are told.

And think for yourself!

One of the Best Stories of Deception in Early Yacht Racing History

(My rating: 4 of 5 stars)

Sitting in the cozy confines of my cottage on a wintry evening two hours from the Pacific coast, I hit ‘play’ on the 2006 documentary Deep Water for one simple reason: I’ve been watching the Vendee Globe of 2012/2013 quite closely, thus have sorely missed sailing.  So why not get a taste of someone else’s experience from yesteryear. . . with one of the greatest stories of deception ever plied by a sailor?

Donald Crowhurst wanted to go sailing. Yacht racing, in fact, against 8 other men who would sail alone around the world – with no stops. While the viewer is led to believe that the prize money for the winner of the Golden Globe was a major deciding factor, it seems Crowhurst’s dream could also be pure fancy, a test of his limited sailing experience, a challenge to his engineering mind, or a way to go down in the history books.

Go down he did and he certainly made the history books – but not for the reasons one might anticipate. Robin Knox-Johnston won the race, and how that happened is most interesting to watch unfold at the periphery of the story. But Crowhurst left the sailing world numb and his adventure is central to Tilda Swinton’s narration.

In Deep Water the viewer is shown the background and preparations for the non-stop Golden Globe race in which Crowhurst would participate.  Shown are his wife, a son, various friends, yachtsmen and journalists who captured the 1968 race. Snap shots and footage that Crowhurst actually shot aboard his vessel tell parts of the story as well, and the pressures he faced to fulfill his goal are captured through newsreel footage of a time when the UK was still reeling from the razzle-dazzle aftermath of Sir Francis Chichester’s solo circumnavigation.

Crowhurst’s story unfolds with enough nuance that while watching, even if you know the full story in advance, you begin to get the feeling of what this man was up against. Modern day footage supplements the historic documentations and the narration begins to reveal the more ominous sides of the individual alone at sea. The hard part about viewing this is to refrain from judgment of Crowhurst’s rather daring choices while at sea – none of which could transpire in today’s yachting world as technology today would reveal these. It is that same technology that might have brought about a different tale altogether, but Crowhurst was in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, becoming more and more lost in his own mind as to how to remedy a deteriorating and desperate situation. He chose to rely on something that was not in the boat’s tool kit. And his own log books are what finally gave him away.

Having sailed thousands of miles myself, I have experienced a few horrific moments on the big blue. I have yet to sail solo, and those who have — especially racers — are comparatively few in number. Though ambitious perhaps, Crowhurst may have been far too unprepared for such an undertaking. Once at sea for more than 200 days, he comes face to face with himself and must choose whether to nurture his inner demons or sail home to complete humiliation. The choice he makes, shown through the log books and various documentation, is hard to fathom, yet again – it is not. Until the viewer has walked in Crowhurst’s shoes, or been in the cockpit of Crowhurst’s vessel (now rotting in the Caribbean), he can only imagine the nightmare of facing three-story high waves or winds that can split a sail in seconds or the fury of the Southern seas that might eat you alive. Worse things seemed to remain ashore, back home, where his family and the world waited.

I found this whole experience quite moving, and I felt compelled to light a candle after viewing it… For anyone lost at sea.  The filmmakers pf Deep Water seem to remain objective in the telling, but how can anyone not be moved by tragedy – no matter how small it might seem? To Crowhurst’s family the tragedy was immense.

Watch the film to get a keener look into the human experience, as well as the foundational aspects of modern day yacht racing. Or simply to learn of what Robin Knox-Johnston did with his prize money.

Recent Interview on Voices of Women

Friday, September 28th, 2012, I spent an hour on the radio with Kris Steinnes, host of Transformation Radio’s Voices of Women.  We covered my book Everyone’s a Guru, exchanged thoughts about spirituality and discussed a little about my challenge with the return of breast cancer.

Kris is the founder of the Women of Wisdom Foundation which began in 1998. The WOW annual conference has drawn internationally acclaimed authors and speakers, as well as women who making an impact locally in their communities.  You can learn more about her on both the WOW site and the link below.

If you would like to hear the one-hour program, just go to this link and click play at the bottom of the page:
 http://www.transformationtalkradio.com/meet_shows.php?id=6830

My thanks to Kris and to all the listeners who tuned in online and via WBLQ stations in Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York. Be sure to take advantage of the special offers! They expire October 10th.

FILM REVIEW: Snow Flower and the Secret Fan – a major disappointment after reading the novel.

For my birthday this year, my soul-sister MaryJane had sent me the book Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See.

I read it slowly over three days, savoring the content, the details of a history known to few of us beyond generalities. The book focuses on the relationship(s) between traditional Chinese women – of varying backgrounds, financial status, and personalities; key figures are Lily and her laotong Snow Flower.  The once-considered-beautifying practice of foot binding plays a big part in the story and serves to symbolize other forms of limitations in the lives of women during the 19th century.

The book rocketed to a place near the top of my “Favorites list.” It was already an important best-seller and I was thrilled when I learned there was a film version. I rented the movie for a dollar yesterday, and was extremely disappointed. Below is my take on the film. I’ve since read a few other negative reviews that agreed with my thinking, though if one only views the film, you would have nothing to which to compare it, right? I would urge anyone who has not read the book to do so if you love a great story.

THE FILM:

I can imagine Lisa (the author of the book) cringing when she saw the film. Or perhaps she supported it, and was open to the alterations, but the film did nothing to tell the story within her artistically shaped pages.

Though the film was pretty in places, there were SO many major problems with it.

The book is HUGE. Epic. Grandiose. Stunning. I expected the film would be something that would have won an Oscar – maybe several.

I think the director Wayne Wang was much too far off base with his interpretation and his choosing to modernize the tale.

When you read the exquisite story within the book, you will understand the beautiful concept of laotong – a loving, contracted relationship between very young women who grow through the years together, writing their experiences in a secret women’s language – on paper or on things like a fan.

In the film, the depths of the laotong , the shimmering period of history and the torment of rebellion, the husbands, kids, birthing, planned marriages, matchmakers and so forth are wholly skipped over, with only hints here and there regarding any of these.

The importance of the words of the various songs in the book were overlooked. The film had a couple of songs but offered NO translation – and the WORDS of those songs helped to complete the story. Why the director chose to “go modern” with this period piece is beyond me.

The biggest excitement I got was when Hugh Jackman appeared on screen! I was not expecting that. And though he was part of the modern story, I admit to watching his scenes.

The modern setting and story tried to draw parallels to the book but failed miserably. The modern take totally washed out the storyline of the book, weakened it, leaving us with average performances and bad lighting and confusion due to jumping back and forth in time with no truly coherent strand.

I was SO in love with this story because of the history…. and yet it took a full 13 minutes before we get to the past. And it missed the boat on everything, cutting to just a few key moments.

The gaps in the original story are so gigantic and the modern parts took up half the film so, I would guess that anyone who had read the book had to be somewhat let down. If not TOTALLY, as I was.

Plus the modern sections felt utterly contrived to me. Some pretty close ups, too much lingering for long moments with no point. The entire film dragged and the STORY was wholly lost to me. In fact, I was so bummed, I forwarded the DVD in short bursts to choppily skip ahead. I didn’t miss anything. And after getting halfway through the film, while just trying to accept it, I instead wriggled like a 5 year old in my chair.

This book was so very beautiful I was already thinking of reading it again right away. The only book I’ve ever done that with was The Hours, by Michael Cunningham.  Which I didn’t even wait to restart – began it immediately at the end of the story.

I’m still a bit angry (maybe the better word is frustrated) with the director’s version – who cares that the film came out in 2011?

I wish one of the big epic, even non-Chinese directors had filmed it, or maybe a woman, or anyone else. A director who really understood the book and the importance of what it revealed. I could have done a better job.

I won’t go into the acting as I was too disappointed to give any role much attention, however most were what I would call “weak.” Which was probably due to the director’s lack of deep heart love for this story. That deep heart love drives the book, and See’s details offer a vision of a time long-gone and the tragic consequences of bad choices, and also the frightening process of foot binding, which thankfully has fallen into disuse.

Read the book. Skip the film. Maybe someone will come along in the future to portray Snow Flower and the Secret Fan with what it truly deserves.

Film rating: 1 star – for the attempt at beauty and loving sisterhood.

Novel rating: 5 stars – for perfection throughout.

Note: Comments are welcome in discussion form, preferably from those who have both read the book and seen the film. If you have only seen the film, however, you may likely
have had a completely different experience, as you lacked the point of reference. So
please keep comments intelligent, without attack. 🙂

The Paperback Version of Everyone’s a Guru is NOW ON AMAZON

While several hundred copies have already gone out on Kindle in a short while, Amazon is now carrying the paperback version. Click this link to get your copy!

Front Cover of the Book

Eight Months Later – Why I Haven’t Had Entries Here for Awhile

November of 2011, I was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. This most unwelcome situation, and the attendant stresses, prevented me from working – not to mention held up my writing. After intense deliberation, I chose to try chemotherapy, which took up several months.

The ‘brain fog’ which accompanies chemo prevents clear thinking, so writing was challenging. Things didn’t go as I hoped. But I did squeeze out a few entries on yet another blog, (when I had any energy) because I simply couldn’t email each individual family member, friend, or client with regular updates. That blog has been read more than 7,000 times to date, and apparently has even helped a few people who are either experiencing cancer themselves, or who have loved ones going through a similar time.

The other blog was initiated by a concerned friend, who knew that when work stopped, savings went, and life was going to change drastically, I’d need support. I started writing on it soon after. And periodically, helpers and worried friends posted as well, especially with regard to fundraising. I am humbled by the outpouring of love, support, gifts and encouragement.

And while I hesitate to share this, for fear of being seen as a ‘victim,’ or of worrying YOU, I think it would be a mistake not to at least share the link once here, so you can decide whether or not you want to check out my cancer journey. I do continue to update things on that blog, however am hoping to return to more (non-cancer related) entries here in the near future. But should I vanish again, the Helping Deb Blog would be the place to check.

While I am not ready to get back to work just yet, I am delighted to share that my book Everyone’s a Guru came out on Kindle in July of this year. View it on the Amazon/Kindle site. Several hundred people downloaded it in just the first week!

AND the print version is due out within a week. You will be able to order your copy soon. Please bookmark my webpage: About the Book and check the usual online booksellers. If you don’t find it at your local bookstore, I hope you’ll ask for them to order it.

Thank you for sharing the journey…
and Shine on!

Debra