No, I'm not talking about "Oppenheimer."

The cat is staring at me with dreamy eyes, ears pricking up as I set to typing this report about his actions: tail flicking lethargically, head darting between sounds that ride the air currents.

I thought I was going to submit my review to you, dear reader, about a certain film which I saw tonight (technically I saw it last night, but as you may or may not know, I write these posts at night, then edit and publish the next morning. Sort of like sliding through time…) A review seemed superfluous, however, when this film affirmed a feeling that has been growing in my conscious awareness recently that says there are and have always been forces at play that do not wish us well. 

I have made up my mind, however, not to feed into the us vs. them mentality.

I’ve written before that my unwillingness to feed into (or be controlled by) the “enemy duality” held me back from writing for over a year, when the lockdowns were in full swing. My heart was breaking, my head was shouting stop the madness! And all I could do was sit, and breathe, and count my blessings, even if it meant to hold back pen from page until I could find my way back to the Light and to quiet the us vs. them cacophony in my head.

Such a pervasive, massive blockbuster hit had me suspicious of what messages might be hiding in the subtext—or even out in plain dialogue; the tired, unimaginative, disrespectful agenda was insultingly easy to spot.

(And if you’re really all that curious, you’ve probably figured out to which film I am eluding, though I'd rather not name it since I've already been in one argument over it, yet still need to say my piece here, where I come to speak my mind.)

While I was driving across the state of Florida earlier this week, I chanced upon a podcast that featured Jim Kwik as the guest. His book, Limitless, had crossed my path a year or two ago. Because I find the entire concept of limitlessness utterly fascinating and inspiring to my life and my work, I listened with rapt attention to what he had to say.

The interview was long (perfect for my long drive) and somewhat meandering, but there’s a message in there that rang the Truth bell in my head (side note: Kwik similarly refers to goosebumps as “truth bumps,” or the response your nervous system has when a universal Truth has just been revealed):

The basis of “limitlessness” is to recognize that you are ultimately controlling your own reality. This means that we must take responsibility for the experience we are having.

(Kwik has this practice of swapping the words around in well-known phrases, such as, “With great responsibility comes great power,” which, being a Spidey fan, I particularly loved.)

This isn’t really the time to do a deep dive into all the angles and turns those last two statements could take, so I’ll just leave them there for you to ponder.

But as I was sitting in that theater tonight, surrounded by strangers who were absorbing the same dazzling spectacle that I was, I heard this message echo across my memory.

The “enemy” oftentimes only exists inside the confines of your own perception. Similarly, real freedom operates at a higher frequency, on a separate plane. The only fight that can lead to freedom is the fight you may endure within yourself. That is where the most clever and insidious of foes know where to challenge you; where to control you.

Just remember that only you can protect your consciousness, your focus, and your attention; the most valuable resources (and weapons) we each possess.

Shabbat Shalom from the flip side, my friends. Until next week.