Wood’s World

I’m not sure if I am going to be able to express my disbelief properly in this article. I was quite skeptical about this even being possible when I was researching it yesterday, but after a bizarre turn of events leading up to me waking this morning, unlike any experience of awaking I have had before, I definitely know it is possible.

I’ll start by laying out the time scale. I went to sleep late last night, around 4 am. I had set my alarm for 11 am, but before it had a chance to go off I had been woken up by someone leaving the house. I later found out that this happened at about 10:45 am. I remember switching my alarm off before it went off, I reset the alarm for 12:30 pm. I lay in bed going over the dream I had just had over and over again, trying to gather together all the events and cement it in my memory, just as the training advice I read yesterday had told me to do. I remember several instances of bringing myself back whilst in that stage between awake and asleep. After a while I fell asleep again without really noticing.

I Was in my breakfast room, I just made some bacon and sausages in the frying pan, I sat down and ate them (I can’t remember actually eating them, all I know is that I ate them). Then I can remember that my mum made me some cereal in a bowl and I was eating that, I didn’t have enough milk in the cereal so for some reason I was pouring milk directly into the cereal packet, and now I am eating out of the cereal packet instead of the bowl. My mum is sitting on the other side of the table, and she hands me a letter in an orange or red envelope, there are two identical looking letters but I assume that one of them must be addressed to one of my brothers.

I have this sudden realisation that I seem to have been eating a lot of breakfast, in fact I remember saying to my mum in a jovial fashion “why have you made me this cereal? Now I have had all three types of breakfast in one morning” I can remember thinking that this cereal was the third separate meal I had eaten that morning (I can’t remember what I ate between the sausages and bacon and the cereal but I know there was something). I remember thinking that it is odd that I have eaten three different types of breakfast in one morning. That’s when it happened.

I remember Tom telling me just yesterday when we were talking about lucid dreaming techniques that he had read an account of a person who looks at one of his festival wristbands whilst in his dream, to check to see if the writing that is on it is how he would expect it to be. I usually keep my festival wristbands on for quite a while, currently I have 4, 2 on each wrist. I decided to check my wristband. It was the Glastonbury wrist band that I was looking at, trying to read the words on it. All I could read was the word “farm” but struggled to read the rest (I now realise that was probably because I didn’t really know what was written on it, but I knew it had something to do with the farm).

At this point I was fully aware of the fact that I was checking to see if I was in a dream, but I still didn’t realise it was a dream even though I couldn’t read the writing properly (which is apparently a common occurrence when trying to read something in a dream). I thought that I must be awake because I didn’t really beleive I was going to be able to do this. Anyway, I looked away from the wristband and then looked back to check it again (something that I had read was a technique for convincing yourself you are in a dream, called a reality check as I wrote about yesterday).

This time I couldn’t read any of the words on the wristband, it was a blur. At this point I felt very strange and I was almost in a state of shock because I had actually become aware that I could be in a dream, it only lasted the briefest of seconds before I quickly awoke.

When I was in the process of waking up a very odd feeling came over me, almost like the world spinning then me getting sucked out of it, passing though some kind of barrier (it sounds crazy I know, I probably wouldn’t believe me either) As I was passing through this barrier (this lasted for what seemed like less than a second) I had enough time to realise that what happened was actually a dream and as soon as I was awake for some reason, I involuntarily said the words “oh my god” (which is not a phrase I normally use). I don’t know if I actually said it out loud or if it was in my head. It was quite overwhelming at the time, because as I said earlier, I was quite skeptical about this lucid dreaming even being possible.

I couldn’t quite beleive that I had managed to do it, even though I had woken up almost instantly the moment I suspected that it was probably a dream. I wasn’t even 100% sure it was a dream when I was trying to read the wrist band a second time, I just very much suspected it.

A few moments after waking up, the way the whole thing felt was still quite fresh in my mind, I felt almost the same as when I was actually in my dream, so I had to make sure I wasn’t still dreaming (for my own sanity, haha). I checked my wristband and I could read it fine, looked away and then checked it again, I could read it fine, then did it a third time just to make sure. Then I grabbed my lap top and started writing this.

When I realised It was likely I was in a dream I don’t think I wanted to be there anymore, which is probably why I woke up. I was a bit freaked out by it. However, now that I have got that first breakthrough under my belt, hopefully I will be able to have a bit more control over the situation the next time something triggers me to do a reality check. I’m quite apprehensive about it happening again really, I think that’s just because it seems so out of the ordinary to me. But I keep telling myself I have to progress with it.

I think it happened so quickly because I had spent quite a while reading, talking and writing about it yesterday. I have got to try to keep it at the forefront of my mind during the day today and I’ll try to spark a discussion about it with Tom later tonight, to keep me thinking about it. I’ll try to continue with the wristband reality check technique as it seems to have worked once already.

This has been a very enlightening experiment so far, and it’s only one night old.

Related Articles:

• The Lucid Dreaming Experiment
• Lucid Dreaming: Night 2
• Lucid Dreaming: Night 5
• Lucid Dreaming: Night 10

Welcome to my first experiment. Over the next few days and weeks I am going to attempt to reach a state of lucid dreaming. This challenge has been suggested to me by my brother, Tom. I will be logging my experiences, problems and progress as I go.

What is Lucid Dreaming?

Lucid dreaming is being aware that you are dreaming whilst in a dream. This can happen when, at some point during your dream, you realise that the experiences you are having are not actually occurring in physical reality but merely in your head whilst lying in bed.

There are different levels of lucidity. Some people will naturally experience a low level of lucidity during some of their dreams. A strange or unlikely occurrence may trigger you to realise that you are in a dream, but generally when you are in a dream, unusual things don’t seem so unusual at the time. Low level Lucid dreams can sometimes occur when you have been awoken by something but almost immediately return back to REM sleep.

I’ve read that if you can reach a high level of lucidity, you can be very aware that you are in a dream and you can even manipulate your surroundings and the course of events. You may choose to do something that would be impossible given the laws of physics. All in the knowledge that there is no real danger and you are in fact lying in your bed dreaming.

Why Do I Want to Do This?

Going to a place where the laws of physics don’t apply, where you are only limited to the extent of your imagination is very appealing to me. So I’m going to try to train myself to be capable of a high level of lucid dreaming. I want to know if it’s possible, what it feels like and where my imagination can take me. People have said that it can be an incredible tool for creativity and inspiration.

I’m quite interested in what you can do with your mind and how you can control it. If I can control whats going on while I am asleep, could this help me improve my control over thought processes whilst conscious? Will power, fear and things of this nature.

I do experience very vivid dreams and I’m sure that on occasions I have experienced low levels of lucidity but never really thought anything of it, other than thinking that it was a bit of a strange dreaming experience. Also, I often find it quite easy to remember what has happened in a dream. These traits should be a good base for developing my ability to lucidly dream.

How Am I Going to Develop My Ability?

To trigger lucidity within a dream you need to be able to realise that the things that are happening around you are in fact only happening in this dream world.

There are several methods I will be using that could help me to achieve this:

1: A Dream Journal

Being able to remember your dreams is an important ability. If you can recollect common occurrences in your dreams, then you should be more equipped to recognise that you are in dream when you are dreaming. Also, if you do manage to get to a high level of lucidity, you want to be able to remember it. Logging your dreams as soon as you awake can help you develop your ability to remember dreams.

Along these same lines you can log specific things that may indicate that you are in a dream. For example you might often dream that you are riding a dragon or something strange like that. Then if you end up riding a dragon in your dream then that may act as your trigger, making you aware that it’s a dream.

2: Reality checks

You can do something throughout the day, for example writing a word on the back of your hand. Periodically during the day look at the word and take a moment to acknowledge what it looks like and what it says. Because you have been doing this a lot during the day or the past few days, you may subconsciously see the back of your hand during a dream. If the text is strange in some way, this can trigger you into realising that things aren’t quite right and you are in fact, in a dream.

3: Visualization

When you are awake, attempt to visualize what it would be like if you were in a dream at that point in time. Try to imagine the things you will be doing in your next dream. Then if these things happen when you are actually in a dream, that may trigger you to remember that you thought about this being your dream and you realise that you are dreaming.

Apparently, having a lucid dream could take days, weeks or months depending on the person.

Let the experiment commence!

Related Articles:

• Lucid Dreaming: Night 1 - A Breakthrough Already
• Lucid Dreaming: Night 2
• Lucid Dreaming: Night 5
• Lucid Dreaming: Night 10

Coca-Cola is the most popular soft drink in the world. A lot of people are not aware of the dealings of the Coca-Cola corporation and how they managed to achieve this, others argue that they like the taste of coke, therefore they will drink it regardless. I’m not one of those people. I admit that I quite like the taste of coke, but I don’t want to drink it all time and thus become accustomed to the sugar or caffeine content resulting in me craving it, along with far stronger reasoning as listed below. I did once try sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose .

In addition to the health issues there are quite a few ethical issues surrounding Coca-Cola. You have to consider that every time you purchase a product you are effectively giving them your vote. Allowing them to grow larger and spread their product, manufacturing methods, advertising, values and ethics further, so it is important to be aware of what you are supporting. Anyway, onto the 5 reasons not to purchase Coca-Cola.

1: Health

As I touched on previously - Very high sugar content, high calorie content, high caffeine content. All of which can lead to dependencies which can result in your mood fluctuating, your teeth decaying, fat build up and the development of conditions such as diabetes.

2: Unethical Policies

Despite the known health risks associated with drinking coca-cola excessively. In the 90’s the Coca-Cola corporation introduced a policy, where by it would pay schools in the U.S. to sell Coca-Cola from vending machines placed in corridors and various other places around the school. This was a ploy to get children hooked on their addictive product, so that by the time they graduated they would be loyal Coca-Cola drinkers, and more importantly long term paying customers. Particularly vulnerable were under-funded, struggling state schools who could hardly afford to turn these deals down. Thus the children of America were reeled into the arms of the Coca-Cola corporation, adding to the already existing problems of obesity and diabetes.

3: Affiliation With The Nazis

Coca-Cola, a U.S company, were fighting on both sides during the second world war, in an attempt to increase profit and expand the brand. Before the second world war broke out, Max Keith, Coca-Cola’s German representative, was sponsoring Nazi events. Coca-Cola, became the most popular drink in Germany during the late 1930’s / early 1940’s. When the Nazis occupied surrounding countries such as Italy , France , Holland , Luxembourg , Belgium and Norway. Keith traveled with Nazi troops and subsequently organised for Coca-cola factories to be set up using expropriated (confiscated) drinks factories in said countries. There are many allegations that Coca-Cola used forced labor in these factories during this time.

Source

4: ‘Cocacolonisation’

Cocacolonisation is a word created to describe the spread of the Coca-Cola corporation in third world countries. There is a case in India of Coca-Cola tapping so much water from local water supplies which local residents depended upon, that they have run dry. In the same area the Coca-Cola bottling plant sold off waste products as fertilizer to local farmers, this has been found to contain unsafe levels of toxins.

“What is particularly disturbing is that the contamination has spread to the water supply - with levels of lead in a nearby wells at levels well above those set by the World Health Organisation.” - David Santillo, University of Exeter senior scientist.

5: Suspect Behavior

“SINALTRAINAL (the Colombian food and drinks workers union) has accused Coca Cola of working in cahoots with paramilitary death squads to remove union activists and hence the union organisation from its plants in Columbia.” This following a number of assassinations of union members and leaders who were working for or had worked for Coca-Cola.

Major Brands Owned by The Coca-Cola Corporation:

• Coca-Cola and all variations – Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke etc.
• Capri Sun
• Fanta
• Five Alive - Fruit Juice
• Kia Ora - Cordial
• Oasis
• Powerade – Energy drink
• Relentless – Energy Drink
• Schweppes (under licence)
• Sprite

Interesting Information:

Taken from an article by Mohammed Mesbahi:

“Coca Cola’s appalling human rights record, combined with its high boycott vulnerability ratio make it the ideal target for a boycott. This is why Max Keiser has decided to launch a hedge fund, which will be used to buy Coca Cola shares. They will then sell the shares for less than they bought them for, which will bring down their value on the international stock market. They are relying on the continuing boycott of Coca Cola products to bring the share price down still further. They will then buy the shares at a lower price than they sold them for and sell them again for even less. All profits from this venture will be donated to the victims of Coca Cola in countries such as India and Colombia. Max Keiser says that for every 1,000 new boycotters, they will increase the size of the hedge fund by £5000. “

Zeit - geist:

“Is originally a German expression that means “the spirit of the age”, literally translated as “time (Zeit) spirit (Geist)”. It describes the intellectual and cultural climate of an era.”

Zeitgeist: Addendum (2008) is the second film in an on going series of documentary’s.

Taken from a statement on it’s website it:

“Attempts to locate the root causes of this pervasive social corruption [caused by the power structures at large] , while offering a solution. This solution is not based on politics, morality, laws, or any other “establishment” notions of human affairs, but rather on a modern, non superstitious based understanding of what we are and how we align with nature, to which we are a part. The work advocates a new social system which is updated to present day knowledge, highly influenced by the life long work of Jacque Fresco and The Venus Project.”

The film is segregated into 4 parts:

PART 1: The Monetary System

This section explains the role of money in today’s society and how the monetary system in the U.S. Functions.

PART 2: ‘Economic Hit Men’

This section explains how a relatively secret global empire is built up through using the power of wealth to put smaller country’s into debt. Thus being able to influence or control parts of that country’s liberties, social services and natural resources. It then explains the part of an ‘economic hit man’ in this process.

PART 3: The Venus Project

This section introduces the Venus Project and their view for progress towards a resource based economy rather than a monetary based economy. Which focuses on the advancement of technology and the untapped abundance of renewable energy sources.

PART 4: The Emergent and Symbiotic Aspects of Natural Law

This section explains “two of the most basic insights humans can have about reality… the Emergent and Symbiotic aspects of natural law.” (taken from the transcript) It progresses to state that the change must first take place in you, where it puts forth 6 suggestions on how you can begin to make a difference.

Review

As with everything you watch, you need to critically assess it. This goes for things you initially agree with as well as disagree with.

This film is most definitely worth watching, what ever your current beliefs are. There has been much criticism of the film, some founded, some unfounded. I propose that you watch the film before you read any of the reviews. Attempt to form your own opinion about the concepts it presents and the overall message it conveys by using your own common sense, along with observations you have made and opinions you have formed about world affairs. Rather than being influenced by someone else’s view of it, including mine.

You may be viewing this article because you have already seen it, so I will give you my thoughts on it. If you haven’t seen it, watch it before you read any further, I don’t want to give you any preconceptions.

I’m guessing that if you are not one of the minority that substantially benefits from the current monetary system, and/or someone who is very selfish. Then you will be in agreement with the film when It says that when 1% of the population owns 40% of the planet’s wealth in the same world that 34,000 children die every day from poverty and preventable diseases, something is wrong with the system the world runs on. Therefore I think it is of value to be putting forth new ideas about how society can be run. For this the film is commendable, whether or not the system it is proposing throws up questions about its functionality, or even if some of it’s ideas need to be developed further.

From what I can gather through further research, the explanation about the functionality of the U.S. monetary system (part 1) for the most part is accurate.

The existence of wealthy/larger countries manipulating poorer/smaller countries through debt, covert operations and military strength to gain control of, or influence, social services and natural resources (part 2) is clearly visible in today’s world. One only has to look at the invasion of Iraq and the false claims given as reasoning.

The Venus project’s campaign (part 3) to increase the collection of renewable energy is something which I support. I am also in favor of a science based society free from religion and the military. I think that with the advancement of technology there will be a time when the abundance of necessary amenities will be high enough to render the monetary system obsolete.

No one can say how people would react to a resource based economy as suggested by the Venus project, because it hasn’t happened. Would people have no incentive to do anything without the promise of financial gain, or some form of materialistic reward? Or would people’s motivations and ambitions adjust accordingly and become more focused on exploration, adventure or the acquisition of knowledge perhaps? I remember how the makers of star trek viewed it. A quote from Star Trek: First Contact, in which money no longer exists, a character from the past asks Picard:

Lily Sloane: “No money? You mean you don’t get paid?”
Jean Luc Picard: “The acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives. We wish to better ourselves and the rest of humanity.”

It’s hard to say what other people would do, but I think my motivations would come from three main themes; self improvement, investing time in research or action which helped others overcome their problems and making energy consumption more clean and efficient. You have to consider the thousands of people that currently have the motivation to find time and energy to do volunteer work and charitable activities for no material gain, even though most of them do have financial obligations, such as a mortgage, or children to look after.

Although I believe that there will eventually be a time when the monetary system is a thing of the past, I think there is a long way to go and much more violence, struggle and inhumanity will occur before we reach that stage. It almost certainly wont happen in my life time. However, every progression in humanity has to start somewhere. Progression, awareness and new ideas are all good things.

As a final word, no matter whether you agree or disagree with the ins and outs of the information and concepts in the film, it gets people talking and thinking about how things could be improved. For further reading, here is a link to The Zeitgeist Movement.

The director, writer, producer and editor of the film is Peter Joseph. The following video is a ‘discussion’ between Peter and Alex Jones. Alex Jones is a really annoying guy, so you have to kind of put up with his constant interrupting, large ego and immaturity. I think peter does pretty well to stay calm in places, I would find it hard to stay cool talking to Alex Jones, he hardly ever allows peter Josef to finish a statement.

As I am beginning this endeavor to create a site which hopes to help people and provide interesting information and articles which are enjoyable to read. I am fighting off some negative thoughts that are telling me - I’m not going to be able to achieve this. Do I have the personality, knowledge, creativity, technical ability, insight and writing ability to be able to pull it off? As with starting out at anything new, you haven’t proven to anyone, most of all yourself, that you are capable of doing it. As the saying goes “The first step is often the hardest” and the first step is where a lot of people fail, often due to negative thinking getting the better of them. Be it launching a website, going for a job interview, attempting to get into a sports team, developing an innovative idea or any number of ambitions you may have.

When ever you give these negative thoughts attention they grow and spawn new negative thoughts that you hadn’t even considered before. For instance, there is the knowledge that’s niggling away in the back of my mind that there are thousands of other people that have tried and failed to do what I am attempting to do now. Which leads me to thoughts of – Why am I even bothering, what makes me any different, will anyone actually want to read what I’m writing about? If people allowed these thoughts to defeat them then some of the most wonderful things in the world may have never been created or invented. I dread to think about the potential things that could have been created by those that were defeated by their own negative thinking, or negativity which has been imposed upon them by others. Which brings me to my next point.

Never discourage other peoples ambition or creativity. Actively encourage them to follow through with their ideas, don’t let them think they can’t do it. In most cases it’s much better to try and fail than to never try at all. Not trying at all will result in regret, and regret is a bad thing. Having said this, it is important to keep a sense of perspective. You don’t want to be banking everything on an idea or ambition succeeding or paying off because if it doesn’t you might be in for a crushing blow to your confidence and self esteem. Being positive and realistic at the same time can be tough to balance. Here are some tips that you may find useful towards achieving this.

1: Discuss Your Ideas With Someone You Know Will Give You a Positive or Constructive Response.

Avoid the people who wont. The last thing you need is someone pointing out all of the difficulties and obstacles and stating things like the number of people who try and fail etc. (Most of which you will already be aware of and have already spent time thinking about).

2: Find an inspiration.

This could be a number of different things, for example a book, a film, a person, music or something like Nature. Keep these inspirations at the forefront of your mind by surrounding your self with reminders. Things like jotting down inspirational quotes and sticking them on your bed room door so you view them each morning, or setting your desktop background to a particular picture which keeps your mind focused on what you want to achieve.

3: Be Aware of the Bigger Picture.

It’s very important to have a good indication of how long something may take and how difficult you will find it (different people find different things difficult). However, don’t be discouraged by the magnitude or difficulty of a potential ambition, see it as a challenge. The harder or bigger something is the greater the sense of achievement upon completion. I don’t think there is a bigger killer of ambition than a misconception of the length of time something will take or the difficulty level. If you know its going to be hard and it’s going to take a long time, then you are prepared for that and you spend time building up to things, but if you think it’s going to be easier and quicker than it turns out to be, that’s going to be a hard thing to overcome.

4: Don’t Let Anything Consume You.

It’s safe to say that becoming obsessive about an ambition can be detrimental to achieving it. In some people It might push you to eventually achieve your goal, but to what cost? It can cause pressure and stress to build up, possibly depression and a loss of perspective. If something becomes your life, then your life becomes it, which can result in your life becoming mundane leading to the possibility of missing out on many new experiences.

5: Don’t be Afraid.

Whether this is a fear of what others will think or a fear of failure. Remember that if your not getting things wrong then your not learning. If I’m riding around on my snowboard and I haven’t bailed all day then I know I haven’t progressed much that day because I haven’t been pushing my limits. You often progress yourself far more when you loose/fail than when you win/succeed. What you do in failure or defeat is a true test of character. Do you quit? Or do you dust your self off and come back stronger?

6: Have Your Own Perception About What You Are Doing.

Be a free thinker, don’t try to archive something just because the people around you, or society, thinks that’s what you should be doing. In addition to this don’t take on board society’s measures of success and failure, live by your own measurements. For example, just because its the ‘norm’ to grow up and get a job, don’t let that make you think negatively about pursuing an alternative idea you may have about supporting yourself.