Monthly Archives: May 2012

Steve Pavlina’s Passive Income Series

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Steve Pavlina has been writing an entire series on passive income lately, and although he hasn’t exactly got to the how-to aspects yet, his posts are pretty enlightening on this subject.  First, he is trying to weed out the pretenders, the people who are considered self-help junkies, those who consume vigorous amounts of material, but never do anything meaningful with it.  I am truly enjoying the posts he’s written so far, and it has helped me really see the mindset of someone who earns passive income, rather than active income.  The series starts here.  So far, there’s been around 8 or so posts on the ideas of passive income, and these will help you build a foundation to figure out if you are the kind of person who wants to earn passive income.  I’ll definitely be following along myself, and even attempting some of the passive income streams on this website if I can figure out how to implement them.

This blog has had its successes when it comes to traffic, but it has also had its lulls in traffic.  It is partially my fault for not shamelessly marketing myself constantly.  I’m sure if I got my blog in the hands of more people, it would pick up steam.  I could make a million excuses for why I haven’t marketed myself as much as I could, but the truth of  is that having a blog is easy, but running a business is hard work, and it requires a ton of work that I don’t even know about.  There’s a lot of behind-the-scenes work that goes on that is barely noticeable to anyone who doesn’t run a business.  That, and the fact that I’m not the most apt when it comes to HTML and other programming languages.  I’ve thought about joining SBI!, but I’ve gone through their tutorials, and I don’t think I’ll be able to create a website based on some niche topic that I would easily get bored with quickly.  The best ideas I have for a website involve the concepts of comedy, subjective reality, and personal development.  I could create a website that encompasses all three of those things, but I don’t want to be limited by those things.

My writing is very stream of consciousness, and it has to do with whatever is on my mind at that particular time.  Sometimes I’ll just start writing with a blank slate and see what comes to mind.  One example of this is the post Prison Reform.  I had no idea I was going to write about how horrible prisons are and how that system isn’t working until I took a look at what my biggest fears are.  And that’s when I realized that my biggest fear is going to prison.  Above all else.  And it’s fucked up that prisons are filled with violence and rape, among other things, where you are stripped of all your individual rights and pretty much a slave.  And  most of those people are not beyond redemption.  Most of those people can change for the better, if they change their environment and the people who surround them.  Most people in prison were born into that way of life, living in places where there are no jobs, no way to escape the turmoil of a life below the poverty line.  But those in power try to keep those people down, in order to maintain power over.  What those in power fear the most is a truly equal society.

Like I said, I have so many ideas floating around in my head, and so many statements to make about the culture we live in that all I really need to do is find a way to put it all under one umbrella and then I could start a website that actually makes sense from a passive income standpoint.  If I could earn a couple thousand dollars a month from this website, or another, then I could really start to save some real money and get myself financially abundant.  I just need help in achieving that goal.  I need to learn from others’ mistakes and my own mistakes as well.  It’s all about creating a brand that is uniquely me.  I’ve seen it done on numerous websites and blogs.  The woman who used to write on Violent Acres turned her abusive childhood and unique sense of humor into a very popular and profitable site.  Steve Pavlina created a website based on his hobby of personal growth.  Leo Babauta created a wonderful site called Zen Habits simply by writing about his passion of simplicity and fulfillment.  He’s made enough money so that he doesn’t have to work anymore, except on his blog and whatever ebooks he wishes to create.  There are a wide variety of ways to create an income-generating website, and I just have to figure out the formula and learn all the hidden tricks for high web traffic and I’ll be golden.

I love to write about a variety of topics, and my small audience seems to appreciate it as well.  I write for myself as much as I write for anyone else, as it allows me to create something that otherwise would not exist.  I’m at least throwing myself out there to an extent.  But I know deep down that if I am to earn any kind of living from this kind of work, I need to figure out a way to build traffic and monetize this website to the point where I’m making enough to cover all my expenses and then some.  Sure, it will be a lot of work up front, but once I have the traffic rolling in, I’ll be pretty much on autopilot.

Anyway, check out Steve Pavlina’s Passive Income Series and see if you also would like to create some passive income in one way or another.  It certainly beats active income, where you only get paid while you are working.  It could be the best thing you’ve ever done for yourself, and the downside is pretty limited.  The upside is almost unlimited, so where is the risk really?  If it doesn’t work out, it’s not like you’ve risked anything but a little of your time.  Until next time…

If you found this post insightful, helpful, or thought-provoking, feel free to donate to my site.

Subjective Reality Revisited

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I feel like I’m one of those people who has a lot to say.  I have thoughts on certain things.  One of these thoughts is known as subjective reality.  The whole idea behind subjective reality goes like this:  all matter is merely energy condensed to a slow vibration. That we are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death, life is only a dream and we’re the imagination of ourselves.  It’s a pretty powerful belief system, where there is only one consciousness, and it encompasses everyone and everything, and that you are that consciousness.  It is you as the dreamer, and it is as if your life is quite literally a dream.  Now, this can’t be proven in any objective sense, because it is subjective by nature.  Although, from what I understand, Einstein proved it at some point in his life.

I find this belief system fascinating, because it is a completely new way to look at the world, and it truly enhances your experiences, which leads me to believe that it is most likely more accurate than the objective model, although the objective model is contained inside the subjective model itself.  If you believe that the objective model is real, you are simply using subjective reality to create objective reality.  It’s the whole “thoughts create reality,” or even more precise, “beliefs create reality.”  But a belief is simply a thought you keep thinking, so you can literally shift reality by thinking thoughts and observing their manifestations.  Everything is vibration, and reality is very pliable based on your beliefs/habitual thoughts.  Your thoughts really do create your reality, but the thoughts you keep thinking are the strongest manifestations.  And once you’ve created something, it is harder to uncreate it, simply because just observing it perpetuates it.  

The best way to go about exploring subjective reality is to install empowering beliefs into your reality.  Those empowering beliefs will take root and begin to manifest.  The only catch is that you actually have to believe them for them to come into your reality.  You have to be in perfect alignment with these empowering beliefs, and you have to expect them to manifest in your so-called physical reality.  This can be very challenging, but only if you believe it is.  To maintain the vibe of subjective reality takes some time at first, but after a few weeks of constantly reminding yourself that you are in fact dreaming, you will begin to assimilate this belief system into your reality.  It is something I have played with at times, but I’ve never really immersed myself in it quite yet, at least not in the last 5 years.  It is something I am looking forward to truly discovering and experiencing in the future, or even starting now.  

“The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. And the ride goes up and down and round and round; it has thrills and chills and it’s very brightly colored and it’s very loud and it’s fun… for a while. Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: “Is this real, or is this just a ride?” And other people have remembered, and they come back to us, and they say, “Hey – don’t worry, don’t be afraid -EVER- because, this is just a ride.” And we… KILL those people HAHAHA! “Shut him up! We have a lot invested in this ride – SHUT HIM UP! Look at my furrows of worry! Look at my big bank account, and my family! This just HAS to be real!”… But it’s just a ride. And we always kill those good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok? Jesus – murdered; Martin Luther King – murdered; Malcolm X – murdered; Gandhi – murdered; John Lennon – murdered; Reagan… wounded HAHA! But it doesn’t matter because: It’s just a ride. And we can change it anytime we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. A choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love, instead, see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride: Take all that money that we spend on weapons and defense each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would many times over, NOT ONE HUMAN BEING EXCLUDED, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace.”–Bill Hicks, comedian.

The above quote also in so many ways reflects what I am talking about as well.  You can find people talking about this belief system everywhere, and even the Abraham-Hicks spirits basically talk exclusively about the subjective and vibrational nature of reality.  Intuitively, this way of looking at the world and reality in general makes absolute perfect sense to me.  And it is a far more empowering belief than objective reality, although even in a subjective frame, you could choose to believe that objective reality is true and therefore use subjective reality against itself, in a manner of speaking of course.  If you believe in objective reality, it will be created for you, just like if you believe in subjective reality, it will also manifest.  But in both cases, you are using the subjective nature of the universe to create what it is you wish to believe.  There are no right or wrong beliefs, but some are more empowering than others.  My suggestion is to pick the beliefs that empower you the most, and drop all the disempowering beliefs that will only make your life not as fulfilling as it could be.

I suggest you give this belief system a try, and see if it has any merit for you.  You’ll never know what it could do for you unless you give it a shot.  Until next time…

If you found this post insightful, helpful, or thought-provoking, feel free to donate to my site.

Prison Reform

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I’ve been thinking about becoming a writer, but it’s not the easiest thing in the world.  Especially when I’m operating on about 3.5 hours of sleep today.  It really doesn’t matter what happens in the long run.  Reality is an illusion, and when we die, we become a part of Source, so no matter what we do on this planet, we all end up in the same place.  There is no such thing as death, really.  It is simply you shedding your shell and moving onto a higher state of consciousness where your body is no longer necessary.  They say death is the number 2 fear among people.  Number one is public speaking.  I would have thought number one would be prison.  That is the most horrific place on this planet.  At least even that is an illusion.  I’ll say it right here.  I would rather die than ever spend any significant time in prison.  Because when you die, it is a transformation like no other, one that is as exhilterating as nothing you have ever experienced, while going to prison is as stressful and scarier than anything else on this side of life.  I feel bad for those who have been wrongly accused of a crime, and then wrongly convicted.  I even sometimes feel bad for those who were rightfully convicted, because prison isn’t going to help them at all.  It’s just a way for the people in power to live out their Bible revenge and punishment fantasies.  It doesn’t help those who are behind bars, so why do we keep building more prisons?

I believe that every human being deserves at least a second chance.  These people being locked up on stupid charges, like drug possession and tax evasion.  And they are put in with violent offenders, people who killed someone, people who raped someone, people who molested children.  How is that in any way, shape, or form rehabilitation?  And they’ve privatized the prisons now, so they are for-profit, giving law enforcement and the lawmakers to create more and more laws that can get you thrown into prison.  And the prisoners are used for slave labor, which is also a gross infringement on our constitutional rights, not that we have many of those left anyway.  People spend their lives in jail for one mistake they made, while others can freely get away with crimes that are so heinous that to even comprehend them would cause digestive discomfort.  But it is still all an illusion, a dream, etc.  Some aspects of it make it a nightmare.

African Americans have it the worst in this country.  They are proportionally incarcerated at such a higher rate than Caucasions that it is sickening.  Sure, they’ve been screwed by a system that considers them at the bottom of the totem pole, and because of this they are almost forced to turn to a life of crime to even make a living.  This isn’t true for all of them, but for the ones who live in the ghettos, what other alternative do they have?  Even though they sell (crack) rocks, it feels good putting money in their mailbox.  And then when they finally get caught doing that, they get 15 years in jail or more, sometimes life.  The drug war is only around because the government doesn’t want any competition.  They are the biggest drug-pushers in the world, and the CIA have been drug-runners for years.  That is almost their job description.  And you never see them locked up.  It’s always the poor black drug dealer you see serving 25 to life, not the CIA operative that runs 100 times the amount of drugs across the border.  It’s a rigged game and it is totally messed up.

The only people who should be locked away are those who harm other people intentionally, and they should not be placed in these dark cells where they rot for the rest of their lives.  What we need here is real rehabilitation.  All that money that is spent on the war could go towards rehabilitating prisoners, turning them into productive members of society.  But the government and those who control the government don’t want that.  They want control of us all.  What they really want is a country where 50% of us are in prisons and therefore they will have complete control over us.  We already lead the world in percentage of incarcerated people per capita by a wide, wide margin.  What does that say about America as a nation?

We need a serious reform of this entire law enforcement system, because once it becomes for profit, then it just becomes worse and worse for the citizens.  To take someone’s freedom away is one of the most damaging things you can do to them, and that truly is a fate worse than death.  We need to fix the system from the bottom up, because top down really isn’t working.  The government doesn’t care about us, and those who control the government don’t even care about the human race as a whole.  They want to enslave us,  using any means possible.  The important thing is not to give into it.

The most important thing you can do to combat the gross infraction on our human rights is to know your rights.  If you know your rights, you’ll have an advantage when it comes to knowing what law enforcement can and cannot do to you.  Most people fear authority figures, but that’s not serving anyone but those who are truly in power.  As long as you are not doing anything illegal, and as long as you know what your rights are, you can avoid being arrested and confined to a cell for however much time that the judge, jury, and police officers think is appropriate for the “crime” you have committed.  You’re not going to get the “rehabilitation” you need in jail or prison anyway, so I don’t even see the point of having them.  There is a better way to deal with these violent offenders, these people who can’t function in society without causing harm to others.  We are all human beings, and we are all connected, and if you don’t have compassion for those serving life sentences, then you truly don’t get that we are all one, and that we all feel similar emotions in similar circumstances.

If something doesn’t do any good for anyone, then it shouldn’t exist.  We need to create something better to deal with these people who are causing problems, but the whole idea of throwing them in a cage for a certain amount of time is not working.  All it is doing is putting a bunch of criminals together, and you can only imagine that when any of them get out, they just become better criminals.  And that just makes the problem worse.  We need a change badly in this area, and hopefully there is a leap of compassion to help these people overcome their past and become who they were truly meant to be.

If you found this post insightful, helpful, or thought-provoking, feel free to donate to my site.