Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman: Is there a Sixth Sense?

I am a fan of mystery in all forms.  The unknown and, as yet, unexplained keep my interest like nothing else.  It's just how I tick.  And I think I have finally found a TV show worth recording.   For years I have been fascinated with physics and psychology and many of the new findings that are discovered through those particular fields.  In the new episode of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman they delved into to yet another subject that correlates to my current writing project, Monarch, and more importantly the story within my novel, Cipher, that my main character is reading in the lead up to the big mystery of 12/21/2012.   Let me explain.

The title of last night's episode was "Is there a Sixth Sense?"  Sounds ridiculous to most people.  A sixth sense in humans has been the subject of many a science fiction or horror story for well over a hundred years, but now science is attempting to confirm that this "sixth sense" may actually exist.  The reason it has gone undiscovered, or unaccepted, until now was that a) it is not as strong as our other five senses; and b) we haven't been able to properly measure it until now.  But last night they interviewed several scientists who have been conducting experiments into the possibility that this sixth sense actually exists in all of us.  One experiment that has been going on for over a decade now - The Global Consciousness Project at Princeton University - seemed most promising in proving that indeed a sixth sense does exist, and that we are all connected.  Very heady stuff!

Another interviewed scientist attributed this to a morphic field, tied to the Earth's magnetic field, that unifies us all - much like migratory birds.  And when they mentioned a collective consciousness, or cosmic consciousness, I felt a tingle go up the back of my spine.  I don't want to give too much away, but in Cipher, the story within the story of my novel,  the main character ventures to a parallel world that is our Collective Conscious.  My story is a work of fiction, and what happens in my story has little to do with what they are talking about in this show,  but I tried to base it upon what I thought was a collective reflection of what we, as humans, believe in.  At the time of my writing Cipher my father was very sick, and my thoughts were on eternity.  But I had actually begun work on this before I even knew he was ill.  My moving back East was planned to do research on this project before he had informed me.  I have tried to dismiss it as coincidence for the better part of twelve years, but after watching last night's show I am not so sure.

They put forth the theory that people can indeed sense the future.  I thought I was just contemplating my navel at the time and trying to make sense of eternity.  Could it be that I was actually somehow aware that something was about to happen, and that my choice of subject matter for my screenplay was somehow tied to my sixth sense telling me that my father would soon be passing away?  Last night's show suggested that might possibly be the case.

F-ing bizarre, right?  I try not to lend myself to all these theories on a daily basis, because I have a life to live, and thinking that we are all connected in some way or can sense the future would keep one wondering if something horrible might be happening anytime you have indigestion.  So until there is definitive proof, we should probably go under the assumption that these things are just coincidence.  But who knows, maybe one day we will all be able to tap into a sixth sense that will help us all in some way.

If you have any interest in knowing more about the world around you, as well as within, then I HIGHLY recommend this show - you will not be disappointed.

-aap

When time is more important than money

I know that is hardly ever the case in this money obsessed country.  And I too have to eat and keep a roof over my head.  Yet ever since my days as an actor I have tried to keep to deadlines.  Back in the summer of 1996, during the Olympics here in Atlanta, I was given an opportunity in a two-performance production by a local playwright.  The catch was that I had just over a week to prepare.  It was a challenge, and I was brimming with confidence at the time, so I accepted.  The experience was probably one of my proudest moments as an actor.  It proved to me and to others that I was serious about the craft and capable of creating something of value with a limited amount of time.

Since transitioning to writing I have tried to keep the same mindset as I had back then: Establishing deadlines and abiding by them.  I am a firm believer that if you do not hold yourself accountable then you're not only letting yourself down, which is the worst thing you can do, but also others.  My screenplay 4-way, I wrote with Charles Thomas, was another example of abiding by a set amount of time and then delivering.  We knocked that first draft out in under two weeks.

These are only two examples.  Neither of which were done for any promised money.  But they were both experiences that helped shape my approach to my chosen art form of the moment.  In both instances the conditions surrounding each were perfect.  Unfortunately this is not always the case, as we all know.

My self-imposed July deadline for Monarch was one that I had every intention of keeping, and if I hadn't been held up by my aging body I would likely have achieved it, too.  (To those of you who were hoping to read Stage One this month I apologize.)  I actually chose to write this story because of its time constraints and the fact that I had been able to deliver in the past.  I knew going in that this story may have an expiration date for a potential readers interest, because it deals with 12/21/2012.  The fact that any possible money that might be made from this project will likely be made prior to 2013 might have dissuaded another writer from tackling the story.  That does not bother me; because, to me, it is just another time challenge to create something of value on a deadline.  I consider it a part of my continuous training as a writer.

Should someone take interest in my work and choose to pay me for it, great!  But then they may actually want something else after that.  Thus I would be on another deadline to deliver, and I would be prepared to fulfill that want.  So, yes, for now, time is more important than money.

-aap