LUCAS Media

On March 29 to April 01 I attended an Anthony Robbins “Unleash the Power Within” seminar in New Jersey.

I have long admired Anthony Robbins, I remember first seeing some of his infomercials on TV in the mid to late 1990′s. Rather then buying his audio tapes I went to the local library and borrowed what I could. As a result I listened to almost everything that was available in his Power Talk collection. In 1998 I purchased the book “Awaken the Giant within” and it was certainly one of the most formative books in my life.

All these years later Anthony Robbins has not written another book and in some ways seems more distant on the radar of popular media. However my wife had come across some of his online content this last year and had become a bit of a fan. We looked over his calendar of events and decided going to New Jersey to participate in the “Unleash the Power Within” seminar would be a great vacation retreat.

Here is a summary of my experience:

Anthony Robbins is incredible. I may well be a groupie in my own right, yet it is impossible to ignore the amazing talent and discipline Anthony Robbins has.

On the first day Anthony Robbins spoke for a steady 12 hours from 2pm until about 2am! There were short intermittent breaks, but for the most part he went non stop! He is a master story teller, and the best part is that his stories have a purpose. In the end the moral of his tale reconnects to a principle that helps install and bring to life the lesson that he is seeking to teach. His life experiences are so rich and diverse that he will have you at the edge of your seat in anticipation.

Anthony’s speaking is broken up nicely with stretch and dance breaks. He also gets the crowd doing crazy things like massaging your neighbours or leading those beside you in aerobic instruction. There is lots of dancing and jumping, and at certain intervals the experience is like a rock and roll concert. At one point Anthony Robbins pulls out a water gun and everyone in the crowd starts going nuts and splashing water from water bottles everywhere. This happened while Nirvana “smells like teen spirit” was blaring and the whole audience was bouncing in unison.

There are numerous moments to take breaks and write and reflect – moving life lessons into practice and making plans to implement action into your life. There are many opportunities to share your writing and reflections with your neighbour. I sat with my wife for the seminar but I met a few couples who decided to create space so that they would share with a stranger and be less biased in these activities.

Anthony does take you through what would really seem to be some almost trance inducing exercises. Along the lines of “close your eyes and imagine yourself stepping into a bubble..” On the first night this type of experience felt like 10 minutes but was apparently a 45 minute state. He suggested that the rest we experienced while visioning would have been equivalent to 2-3 hours of sleep! From a refreshed state – we approached the firewalk!

The firewalk occurred on the first night. I was not nervous about it as I feel Anthony Robbins guides hundreds of thousands through the experience, so “if they can do it I can do it”. Yet as he shared the history of the firewalk and the reality of the temperatures of the coals and the possible dangers, I found myself slightly more concerned. Anthony shared a few key components to the way you need to cross the bed of hot coals. Then everyone got pumped up in in the “optimum state” to go do it.

Of the many groups and beds of fire I was the first one in line to cross my particular bed of fire. The whole crowd was clapping and chanting “yes” in unison. The whole thing was very tribal. At times my mind wanted to say “this is fu#ked”! but I replaced that with “This is awesome!”. One of the crew jumped ahead of me and gave the walk a try with success. I had no doubt I could do the same. I was given the “okay” and huffed right across confidently and with ease. It was super exhilarating and gave me a very satisfied feeling.

One big surprise to me was the amount of profanity that Anthony uses in his talks. It was on par with what I would expect from Gary Vaynerchuck. He gave some disclaimers to this early on, and expressed that his choice of words is very intentional. After adjusting to the language I came to really appreciate it. It made me realize how overly delicate I am with using “soft” appropriate words in all settings, when sometimes some good solid profanity simply expresses the truth best.

Anthony was on stage 2/4 days, resting his voice box on the off days. On those days his number 1 coach Joseph McClendon III facilitated. Joseph is a great speaker and is clearly living a very impacting life. He primarily set the stage for Anthony to share on previously recorded video sessions. These pre recorded speeches carried almost as much impact as Anthony’s live speeches. All the same “stretch breaks” and activity breaks occurred and often audience members interacted in the same ways as if Anthony himself was actually up on stage.

I overheard a crew member sharing that “95% of those who attend will not implement real changes in their life from this weekend”. That statistic may be hearsay and who really knows, but for me I reaffirmed some real “musts” for my life. A weekend retreat of this nature always seems like a good annual event to get away from the business of regular life and examine where you  are and where you want to be going.

I would highly recommend this type of conference for anyone who cares about living a life to their maximum potential. Three motto’s that linger in my head are (without browsing my notes):

“Where focus goes energy flows”

“Motion creates emotion”

“Live with passion”

We are not our status updates. But our status updates may tell the story of ourselves to the world.

It is easy to feel jaded about the deception that is social media. Participants project to their circle of friends or to the world the perception that they want to create about who they are. It feels like we create this virtual self. My online character is some type of reflection of who I am, however it is not me.

I use Social Media and I enjoy it. At certain moments in time I am addicted to it in potentially unhealthy ways. I observe the way I obsess over my blog stats. I am eager to receive feedback in the form of comments or “likes” to my posts, real co-dependant type behaviour. “Tell me you love me”. As I gaze into my iPhone I imagine the ironic thought bubble that could be sketched over my head asking “who am I?”, using my device like a mirror hoping my “friends” will affirm me.

I exaggerate a touch for effect, however at its worst this is the nature of “Social Media”.

However I do have a passion for the possibilities that exist in the new world of Social Media. I have obviously chosen to embrace these “tools” and I believe as is the case with so many things it is all about what you do with it that matters.

I have often hoped that one day I may write a book, I suspect that whatever that book may be it will be a partial telling of the experiences of my life. Storytelling is something I believe is inherited to all of us. We have all had life experiences, ideas, and perceptions that we want to share with others.

The new world of Social Media is our opportunity to tell our story in a small way every day. Offering little nuggets of who we are to the world. I think that of everyone who logs on to Facebook there are many more who look rather than post. It is also easier to discredit and criticize the nature of sharing that happens on that social sphere when you do not actively participate in the conversation. Yet all those who open their news feed everyday are looking for something. There is some reason we all keep coming back.

I appreciate the daily opportunities that exist in telling my story in small ways. Documenting my life as it happens and sharing a little bit of myself with the world.

Art is a lie… yet it is the best way to share truth.

I invite you to take a few moments to watch this very cool display of magic using the modern-day iPhone:

I create art in my work as a Realtor.

The way we describe & promote properties with video and images. It is important to create realistic expectations yet at the same time we want to draw the focus towards what is positive. If a view to the right features a highway and the view to the left reveals a river view, we will be more inclined to highlight the positive. The negative may receive an understated footnote such as “you can still feel the pulse of the city by way of this homes urban location”.

Is this a lie?

When you go and take family pictures you want the photographer to make you look better than you look in reality. Are you truly the happy family that is captured in those few minutes in the studio. I imagine yes and no depending at the moment in time.

Sharing posts, tweets, status updates that deceive towards the positive is okay with me. These little snap shots may be the closest I get to share my life with the world. I am happy to open the pages of who I am and let you peer in. As the author of what is being written I will obviously direct your focus towards what I love.

I can take the updates of others in a similar way knowing all we can hope for is a dim reflection of the people who share themselves. Maybe in the end we can draw closer and become friends for real.

In the same way a poet can tell more truth in a few lines of poetry then a theologian or a scientist can write in a whole book. The small clues to who we are shared on Social Media might be deceptive, but so is art. There is an Art to Social Media. If we approach our social news feed with an openness we might find  it offers the most honest news we read today.

I had the joy of watching three friends gather close around an iPhone last night and watch this beautiful 2 minute video.

I perceived a happy glow on their faces and felt a happiness in my heart. I had seen the video many times already as I had produced it and uploaded it 35 hours earlier.

40 hours earlier I had uploaded the following video to my Real Estate sites:

What do these do productions have in common?

The song.

After capturing video one of my favourite things is browsing a song library to discover a song that will serve as the soundtrack. Finding the right song before cutting down the video footage helps me to define many elements of the final cut. I love trimming frame transitions to intersect with transitions in the music.

It was especially exciting trimming the content for the Real Estate video to just over two minutes, and still being able to maintain the essence of what I wanted to communicate.

Every once in a while I go with virtually no sleep. Often as a result of these intense video capturing and editing sessions. When I come home with some footage and a vision I am like a kid at Christmas. I upload my SD card to my computer and I am excited to start the editing process. On Wednesday night I pressed upload after midnight and went to bed close to 1 am, snoozed for few hours before waking up at 4am and going to the Yoga Shala at 5am to practice and then film Liana and her beautiful backbends.

While practicing my own primary series in the morning I was setting the stage for Liana in my mind. I saw the right location in the room to create an attractive backdrop and started assembling some of the visual props in my head. The tiny statue for the foreground with a few tea lights and the singing bowl. These items help enhance the movement of the camera on the slider and enhance the zen-like qualities of the space. I also realized that the song I had uploaded a few hours earlier would make for a real nice track for the video I was about to make.

While I filmed I was so focused on the pace of the slide and the framing of Liana that I was only dimly aware of the beauty of her movement. It was really after I made the final cut that I really SAW how amazing this back bending was. It indeed seems like slow motion, unless the flicker of the candles expressed otherwise.

I am grateful to have the opportunity to create and to share. It is a gift for me to enjoy and savour the process of being in what is called “the flow” and when published and shared may put the glow of happiness on the face of others.

In Junior high I took Outdoor Education as one of my option classes. The pinnacle of the class was going out in to the woods for a two night camp out. I partnered up with a friend and built a lean-to structure in the forest.

On my first night out my friend and I built an incredible bonfire. On that first day somehow we managed a massive amount of wood to burn that kep us toasty and warm through the night. Our second night we did not fare as well. Somehow our wood supply came up short for the night. It was a chilling experience.

I’ve been in similar situations many times. Curled up freezing but unwilling to “do the work” that will change the circumstances. It is something to marvel how long we can stubbornly maintain such a position hoping for something or someone to rescue us. Then if we are lucky there comes a point when we throw off the covers and go and find some more wood.

In the activity of hunting for the fire wood I started to build up a core temperature. Then more importantly I found what I needed to make the fire burn. On this occasion I remember the satisfaction of putting in just a little bit of effort and then getting comfortable once again as the fire blazed anew.

I’ve often marvelled how I can sit in uncomfortable situations and procrastinate in such a way. The fire is out and I am freezing, but my “id” wants me to be rescued, my instincts lean towards lethargy and inactivity.

It is usually the thing that we most want to avoid that we should seek to do. It is often those items that we procrastinate doing that are most the rewarding when we turn an attack with action to complete. Usually all it requires is a start.

Small starts can unplug a damn.

This happens in the sink of our kitchen often. One plate gets set in the sink and very quickly it seems to magnetize a whole pile of dishes in a short time. I relate this to a bottle neck that has been plugged up, the flow has been jammed. Often those piles of dishes can seem daunting. I try to wish them away.

My best approach is when I simply tell myself I will make “a start”. I insist to myself that I do not need to finish, I just need to begin and “put a few away”. Once I start of course the task flows through to completion. Not only am I pleased to have a clean sink but I find I enjoy the process.

Today this post is my log on the fire.