Meeting Notes 08

It’s been a long time since I did one of these. For those who don’t know where Meeting Notes originated, feel free to click on the tab above.

I don’t know what it is about monsters and flowers, but they’re often what I default to when I’m doodling. I guess I often see monsters as misunderstood lovers of beauty and art. Maybe it’s because I watched The Elephant Man when I was 10 and had my perspective of those different than us shifted forever. If you haven’t seen The Elephant Man, I recommend you watch it, even if only for purely cultural reasons. It’s an older movie, a bit sluggish at times, but still quite beautiful.

I like books and movies that offer me a chance to shift my perspective, though in a non-invasive way. For example, I don’t like Michael Moore, nor see his movies as actual documentaries, more his personal commentary on the world. I just want the facts unfiltered. That’s why I like hearing real stories from real people. We can understand a lot about life from good stories.

The movie Antwone Fisher comes to mind. In addition to one of the best movie openings of all time, we get the perspective of a young black man trying to deal with how he fits in the world and what to do with a difficult past. Racism is discussed, but to me it didn’t seem like Antwone Fisher was about the woes of being a victim, but instead rising above to something greater.

Brave New World, too, changed my perspective of life in realizing how truly heinous society could become if we only allow it to, little compromise by little compromise, yet all in the name of the greater good.

Recently a coworker recommended an older book called As A Man Thinketh to me. Consider it the earliest version of the power of positive thinking books. James Allen, the author, suggests that our circumstances in life are the fault of ourselves—or perhaps rather that we remain in them is our fault. He believes positive thinking leads to positive results, and negative bears negative fruits.

At first I didn’t want to believe thoughts had so much power over our lives, but the more I considered it the more I realized it was so—at least in my life. I was more of a negative person in the past. A friend helped me to shift that perspective, but honestly nothing in my life changed except me. Then suddenly greater and greater things were happening, opportunities were knocking at my door, instead of feeling stuck I felt like I was moving and growing—all due to a change in my perspective.

I’m not saying that everything James Allen wrote is necessarily true, but I think a lot of it is.

As a writer, what I gleaned from the book is that if I have a vision of my future success in writing firmly planted in my mind and focus all my thoughts and energies on attaining that goal—of course in positive ways–that I will eventually attract that success to myself. I feel like I’m moving in that direction, whether slowly or quickly.

So now I’m curious, dear friends. This topic was a bit unexpected for me, but all the same pleasantly surprising. And now I want to hear about your experiences. Have you seen or read any perspective changing movies or books? How have they impacted your life? Do you believe in the power of positive thinking? Who or what do you look to for inspiration in your life? Let me know below.

I know I traditionally accompany this with a haiku, but I think an explosion of random thoughts inspired by this image will do, don’t you?