*Jozzua

From my passionate writer friend: Test your blog writing creativity by describing love without using the traditional cliché.

Classic love cliché from Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861):

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace.

Now make your own. This is mine:

Ang pag-ibig ay tulad ng isang sandwitch na hiniwa sa tatsulok.
Bigay mo sa kanya sa pagnanasang mabusog mo sya.
Ngunit minsan kulang pa.
Lalo na kung ibahagi mo na rin ito sa iba.

In English, it goes something like…

Love is like a sandwich, split in a triangle
Offer it with the hope it fills her
Sometimes it’s not enough
Especially if you shared it with another.

Let’s make this a quick Meme, shall we? Tagging Aileen, Jay, Blogie, Giovanna and Mae! Go!

[Got ya! I was kidding on the SEX part so those who came for that should just get married first. Or you could watch "Keys to the VIP" on Youtube for 'Player' tips. Now on to more Abundance, Health and Wealth talk...]

So you want money, good health and joy eh? Tell you what… I’ve lost around 4 inches off my waist since November 2007. I’ve been promoted at work. I’ve also received a lot of nice financial surprises and made some great new friends.

Looking at Patterns and Making a Theory

All the positive stuff made me look at the patterns I’ve been following in the past months. Based on it and on what I’ve been reading lately, I’ve now developed a theory on how to be healthy and wealthy. I see four steps.

Step 1: Have a positive attitude in Life.

Look at all your feelings everyday. Feel good? Feel bad? Focus on the good emotions that come your way. You can ‘feel bad’ if you want, but don’t dwell on it too much. You are allowed to feel whatever you want try to always look at the bright side. When you start doing that, great days come.

I’ve also noticed that good thoughts are amplified more than negative ones - which works to our advantage because we seem to attract what we think about. Just use your emotions as a guide to your thoughts - feel good and good thoughts come.

How do you do that? When you encounter something terrible or bad, just think of something happy. Personally, I start my day with something like this…

“I feel good” by James Brown. Point is - just start your day with any feel good music.

2. Clearly visualize what you want.

You know this right? Athletes know this. If you want something, imagine it. Get deep into the feelings of it. You want that brand you car? Imagine it in your mind. Get it into your system. My friend has a joke about it - you have a one track mind. It’s a record that keeps playing on your head. It’s like that dreaded last song syndrome (LSS) - keep thinking about it.

Here’s a visualization scene from one of my Adam Sandler favorites:

Why? When you think about it, you subliminally hypnotize yourself to be ready for it. Without realizing it, you look for it. You meet with the rich and you ask them how they did it. You talk to healthy people and imagine yourself as healthy as they are.

At this point, you could get envious - but if you’ve focused on being positive (remember positive thoughts amplify more than negative ones), and see yourself being as successful as the rich/healthy folks, you make room for it in your life.

For those who want money, here’ some helpful self-hypnosis for you.

3. Figure out ‘how’ to get it.

Here’s where a very basic skill comes along - problem solving. I’ve noticed that I’ve developed a certain habit - when I want something, I immediately think about ‘how’ to get it. I don’t even allow myself to have doubts. I just know, I’m going to do it.

Again, let me return to sports for this. Do you know the concept of being “in the zone“? Look at these elements and get it into your system:

• Clear goals (expectations and rules are discernible and goals are attainable and align appropriately with one’s skill set and abilities).
• Concentrating and focusing, a high degree of concentration on a limited field of attention (a person engaged in the activity will have the opportunity to focus and to delve deeply into it).
• A loss of the feeling of self-consciousness, the merging of action and awareness.
• Distorted sense of time, one’s subjective experience of time is altered.
• Balance between ability level and challenge (the activity is neither too easy nor too difficult).
• A sense of personal control over the situation or activity.
• The activity is intrinsically rewarding, so there is an effortlessness of action.
• People become absorbed in their activity, and focus of awareness is narrowed down to the activity itself, action awareness merging

If you don’t know what I mean, try to go into a sport that you really love.

Point is: You’ve got the attitude. You know what you want. Now get in the FLOW of how to solve the problem of getting it.

4. Practice. Do it all over and over again. Then say ‘Thank You’.

Okey, here’s where the real fun begins. Start of with something easy. The other day, I wanted to drink great coffee but really had only around Fifty bucks left in my wallet (enough to get home). I was in the office and was pretty busy. In my head I kept repeating to myself… “I want coffee. Somebody give me great coffee!” We had coffee in the office but it was the ‘instant’ kind. That’s not what I wanted. Subliminally, I was thinking about it.

In the evening, somebody treated my Seattle’s best black and white hot cafe mocha. After drinking a sip I realized - what the hell, I just got what I wanted!

After that I said to myself - Thank You to whatever power in the universe that got me my coffee. Then I thought about it… I just randomly asked my someone to go out (despite having really no money that day) and she treated me to this great coffee. My problem solving “in the zone” mode actually kicked in.

Friday last week I asked for some surprise extra cash by Monday (yesterday). Guess what, last night a friend called me and wanted to pay me for one of my “web hosting” services. Somebody also wanted to place ads on one of my other sites. I immediately said “Thank You!” and allowed myself to smile.

Anyway… just practice it yourself, ok?

Bonus: Think Magically

Allow yourself to believe that a little magic does happen. You may want to call it Karma or Faith.

…a roof fell on a particular person because of a magical spell cast (unwittingly) by another person.

The Azande knew perfectly well a scientific explanation for the collapsing room (that termites had eaten through the supporting posts), but pointed out that this scientific explanation could not explain why the roof happened to collapse at precisely the same moment that the particular man was resting beneath it. The magic explains why two independent chains of causation intersect. Thus, from the point of view of the practitioners, magic explains what scientists would call “coincidences” or “contingency”. From the point of view of outside observers, magic is a way of making coincidences meaningful in social terms.

Just believe that the good stuff can happen to you. Let those “coincidences” come in.

Want a brand new Macbook Air? You really want one? Simply “Ask, Believe, and Receive.”

Now before you go closing that browser and swearing me off your RSS feed list, hear me out. There is some real weird and illogical magic that happens in life. You can’t always explain in scientifically but it does happen. You might not believe it but it does happen.

I know this because all throughout my life, small magical things have happened. I’m a testament to this unexplainable force.

The Secret

Over at a pizza lunch with some officemates, we talked about “The Secret” - a book and DVD about the “law of attraction.”

We were joking around over why a friend didn’t have a girlfriend yet (despite his good looks). One officemate tells him “You’ve got to give whoever that person is… space in your life.” For example, we should take out some food for his “girlfriend-to-be.” We were joking of course but this all lead to “The secret”.

Here’s a short video about it on youtube.com:

As put forth in the film, the “Law of Attraction” principle posits that people’s feelings and thoughts attract real events in the world into their lives; from the workings of the cosmos to interactions among individuals in their physical, emotional, and professional affairs. More from Oprah on Larry King Live:

Magical Thinking

If you find the excerpts above to be too surreal for you, then let’s look at something that sounds more sane. Take a look at magical thinking on Wikipedia.

In anthropology, psychology and cognitive science magical thinking is causal reasoning that often includes such ideas as the law of contagion, correlation equaling causation, the power of symbols and the ability of the mind to affect the physical world.

Magical thinking can occur when one simply does not understand possible causes, as illustrated by Sir Arthur C. Clarke’s suggestion that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic” (see Clarke’s three laws), but can also occur in response to situations that are largely random or chaotic, such as a coin toss, as well as in situations that one has little or no control over, especially those one is emotionally invested in.

You see, we can pretty much call “magic” anything that Science can’t explain yet. In my opinion, there are ‘energies’ that are shared between people - probably not real energy but something much more psychological.

It’s surprising that I found this whole concept through Merlin Mann of 43 Folders. Merlin just taught me magic.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic

It’s true, isn’t it? If we brought television and radio to the 17th century, we might be considered practitioners of the dark arts. We’d be heretics. There are probably a lot of things that happen today which we don’t understand yet but will make sense a century from now. Perhaps the “law of attraction” will have a scientific basis by the 23th century.

Right now, however, just believe that it works.

The Velveteen Rabbit

At this point let me share one of my favorite classic books. The Velveteen Rabbit learns that ‘real’ is not how you are made, rather a toy becomes real if its owner really and truly loves it.

While awaiting the bonfire, in which the Velveteen Rabbit will be burned, the Rabbit cries a real tear. This tear brings forth the Nursery Magic Fairy. The Rabbit thinks he was real before, but the fairy tells him he was only real to the boy. She flies him to the woods, where he realizes that he is a real rabbit at last and runs to join the other rabbits in the wild.

The following spring, the boy sees the Rabbit hopping in the wild and thinks he looks like his old Velveteen Rabbit, but he never knows that it actually was.

When you invest enough emotion in something, and make room for it in your life, it somehow becomes real.

An Odd Example: The Wizard Named Steve Jobs

Over at wired, you’ll see how Apple has completely gone against the Silicon Valley Norm. I attribute it to the magical work of Steve Jobs. I think he’s a Psychological wizard.

There is even a term coined for Job’s magic - the reality distortion field. Just listen to what Andy Hertzfeld says about it:

It’s impossible right? Unreal? We can’t do that! That’s what we think about things. The wizard makes us look at things differently.

But really now, we don’t need to watch Andy. Let’s watch the wizard himself in action when he presented the iPhone and be mesmerized.

After watching that, didn’t you just want an iPhone? That was his spell. He just cast it on you and me.

Ever met someone with this kind of magic in your office? Someone who gets things done despite unbelievable and crazy odds? Someone who could turn a sinking ship like Apple Inc. into one of the most admired companies of this decade?

I’m getting in Ateneo…

Back in High School, this was crazy talk for me and my friends. We all came from a public school in Marikina and didn’t really think much of ourselves. Still, we were lucky to have some volunteer tutors from Ateneo who pushed us on. They helped us prepare for College and even paid for the initial application fee.

They were smart. They looked good (we all had crushes on one of the sexy ‘Ates’ there). They gave us hope and urged us to believe in ourselves.

I remember submitting the admission form at the very last deadline date. Funny thing, our valedictorian that year didn’t get in Ateneo. I, who was nowhere near the top 10 of my class, got in - on scholarship.

I still scratch my head when I think about that.

I’m Getting a Macbook Air…

…and a car and my own condo. Probably by the end of this year or early next year. For some weird reason, I have a strong feeling this will happen. Am I just thinking nonsense or is this magical thinking? Is this the secret?

Simply put, I’ve experienced it before. I know it works. I live in my own Reality Distortion Field.

(Just the rambling of a man who lacks sleep? I think I’ll delete this insane post now… maybe after you’ve read it. )

Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity [10th Anniversary Edition], provides advice for people who want to unleash their creative side - don’t read. For web info addicts like you and me, does this mean, don’t surf?

First, let’s talk about the book. The only place I found this a copy of this (aside from Amazon) is at A Different Bookstore in Eastwood, Libis. The book teaches how ordinary people (like me) how to release our inner creative child by through some simple principles:

1. We are all innately creative.
2. Our creativity is often blocked by many things.
3. There are tools and ways to get pass the creative blocks.

How do we become creative? Julia offers two basic tools:

1. Make morning pages. These are daily 3-page written thoughts and rants that you MUST do every day, then not read again for at least 3 weeks. This eventually becomes your creative source. It’s your venue to regularly practice your creative side without the boundaries of censors and critics. Important when you do this, don’t edit it. Just write continuously and freely - then just leave it be.

2. Have an Artist’s date. Essentially this is your alone time. You must promise to go out alone (or with your inner artist self) to do something to refill your creative jar. It can be anything that’s totally out of your usual routine. Things that came to my mind include going to museums, art cafes and odd shops for trinket shopping. This depends entirely on you.

Not Reading For A Week?!

If you’re in a creative slump, Julia suggests this shock treatment: NO READING for a week.

I definitely, with my working lifestyle, can’t do this for one week. However, I realized I could probably do this for one whole day. I remember one time I didn’t go online for around 2 days, it felt rather refreshing. It was like going on a personal retreat, shut off from the world. When I got back online (and blogged) it felt like I could write forever.

I’ll give her suggestion a try for the next few months. I’ll go on those morning pages, weekly artist dates and at least one day (in my case, this is all I can do) without READING or SURFING.

Since I’m an INFO addict, the INFO deprivation might just work.

On to unleash my inner artist!

YES.

Since I installed that Buy Me Beer donations plug in this month, I have received a total of… tan ta na naannnn…

Six Dollars ($6).

Not much, you say? I think of it this way - that’s six dollars that I would not have otherwise received if I didn’t have a donate button. That’s also equivalent to two decent cups of coffee in Starbucks or Seattle’s best.

If you’re going to ask for donations, here’s a quick tip:

Don’t just ask for a donation. Give your visitors a reason why they should donate.

On this blog, I ask people to treat me out to coffee (instead of beer) because I’m a coffee lover. I have read in studies that people accede to requests when provided with a valid reason.

Think about this. If you were in a line for the photocopying machine and lady comes by and asks:

“Could I go first?”

Would you let her use the machine before you?

Now if she asks…

“Could I go first? I’m in a rush right now and the boss urgently needs this.”

People tend to generally give in.

There’s actually a study somewhere that proves this - I just can’t seem to remember where it is. If you have seen it, could you point it out to me?

Well then, let’s start giving people reasons to donate to us.

Are you a regular wordpress theme and plugin tester? Do you always go through the following process?

1. Search a theme/plugin
2. Download theme/plugin
3. Unzip theme/plugin
4. Open FTP program
5 Upload theme/plugin
6. Activate theme/plugin

Thirty minutes later you discover you don’t like what you just tested and scrap it from your server. Then you search for another theme or plugin and do the process all over again.

Such a hassle. Wouldn’t it be great to simply do this download, upload, and activate process in one easy step?

Introducing… (drumroll)…

One Click For Wordpress!

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What do people say about it?

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(LOL, always wanted to write something like this. Seriously, this is one cool plugin.)