The Transparent Hypnotist

Photograph by Joel Mann (cc)

Let’s see, this week my blog has been “cracked” (or hacked if you must). The headaches have returned (but do settle down after a fashion). And I awoke this morning, put the loose Earl Grey green tea in it’s little pouch, poured in the hot water right before the boil and sat down to read email. I have been awake for at least a half an hour, and just now it has dawned upon me that something is missing – my teaspoon of honey. I have been drinking my first cup of tea with a teaspoon of local honey for at least the last six months, but today I totally forgot to put it in? I apparently need a vacation.

So bear with me as I do a little self-hypnosis with this post and indulge in my vacation game - where I plan a trip and do it mentally in my mind. Join me if you will. I cannot think of a better mental travel companion than you!

Our destination is Kissimmee, Florida (I have never been) and we leave right now, for what better time to take a trip to Florida. The temperature should be most pleasant (I like it hot). We travel by plane (I think). This is one of those rare journeys where everything goes smoothly at the airport, with the airline, and soon we are sitting back in a reclined positions. Maybe you even put on your ear phones and listen to a guided meditation for the short journey. I do. 

Arriving at the airport, again things are calm, our baggage arrives with us, and there is a car waiting to take us to our hotel, the Mona Lisa Suite Hotel in Orlando. I chose this because it might be a little more adult friendly (quiet, calm, peaceful, all those lovely relaxing words).  I also chose it because I simply must spend a little time at SeaWorld and riding the Manta (in my mental vacation, the ride is open) and I think this is relatively close. We relax poolside for awhile to lose our traveler weariness. 

More toward the afternoon, we head out for Silver Springs in Ocala, where we go in search of the infamous “white alligator.” The truth is, we  are really there to just settle back and enjoy a peaceful ride in a glass bottomed boat. Natural meditation.

The next day finds us at the Bok Tower Gardens on Iron Mountain. It is home to 250 acres of gardens (did I mention you should have brought comfortable walking shoes - oh right, just imagine a pair for yourself). We meander through nature’s splendor and before we know it the day has passed in it languid trance-like way.

Manta, manta, manta, chants my inner mantra when morning arrives again. And just like that we are at the gates of SeaWorld. We are in awe at the many aquariums, relax with sea life and finally, there it is - the coaster of my current dreams. There is no line, no screaming children, just pure intensity and joy with the freedom of release only coasters can provide.

On the last day of our holiday, we drive to the beach in a classic convertible. I leave that detail to you (choosing the car and such, I mean). The beach is marvelous, the sun warm and relaxing (yes, we have loads of sunscreen), the sand exfoliating, and we return from our mental journey a tad bit wind kissed, but feeling the better for it.

If you have enjoyed this mental break with me, you should know that you can make it a reality. Kissimmee is giving away several vacation packages similar to what I described during our mental break. The last drawing will be on June 1, so visit my sponsor, enter their sweepstakes and maybe you will win the actual holiday.

Stronger than a Great White Shark

Faster than an eel

More powerful than a Humpback Whale

Able to backflip more than a trained seal

Look in the water

It’s a power boat

No, it’s a dolphin

It’s the Mesmerizing Manta Maiden

Its a quiet day at the hypnotist’s office. She drinks her tea, welcomes clients, and does her part to save the world - one mind, one change at a time. But just under the surface of this pleasant facade – the business attire, the heels, the soothing voice, and the red lipstick, this hypnotist has a secret. When roller-coasters call, all new and shiny, ready to be tamed, off comes the serious professional garb, and out comes The Mesmerizing Manta Maiden. But with this superhero depiction also comes great responsibility – the ability to embrace one’s inner child, the leaving behind of adult worries, and the necessary abandonment of a workaholic lifestyle are all part of MMM’s powers. No roller-coaster ride goes undesired.

Okay, maybe this is being a little cheese ball (okay quite a bit cheesy), but today the urge is strong to just put aside all the day to day normalness and routine and embrace my inner Manatee. As you may recall, I have been blogging about SeaWorld’s soon-to-open coaster Manta. Well, it just so happens that opening day is not so far away – May 22. I am so ready to be there.  

I have never been privy enough to be one of the first to ever try out a coaster, but SeaWorld is having a ”Front-of-the-line” contest to celebrate the opening of Manta. With this you can join my League of Extraordinary Roller-coaster Riders and embrace your own manta persona. There are a series of six tasks you must accomplish to be considered for a front-of-the-line spot. First, you must prove your extraordinary knowledge of the Manta coaster by taking a brief quiz about it (the answers are all found on the site). Then you must follow the mighty, @RealShamu on twitter.com (you also have to tweet about the contest). From there you choose three others to be your partners in fun, or at least be your seat mates (providing their email…would any of you like to be my seat mates?). Show your allegiance by creating a short youtube.com video thus proving your dedication and excitement of being among the first to experience the Manta power. Take this a step farther, using the words “I heart Manta” create a photo and upload it to flickr.com. But the biggest test, that which will make you worthy of the Manta, is to print out the manta mask and take a picture of yourself in it. Every superhero needs a disguise afterall.

The question is - are you worthy to go to-the-front-of-the-line of Manta?

*Quick note to the great powers of SeaWorld or Izea.com: the Mesmerizing Manta Maiden would love to come to your headquarters and do a stress-relief session to help your associates be super ready to open this attraction. She would even probably do so for coverage of her expenses (and a ride on the Manta)…email her at ellie.blunt@gmail.com.

Photograph by Don Fulano

Enter To Win 10 Day All Inclusive Costa Rica Tour

Some would say that the tree of life is a coffee tree. It grows, spreeding its branches full of coffee berries like fingers seductively tempting one to indulge in something sensual. I am tempted, seduced, and today I worship at this tree of life. I beg it to distill its caffeinated magic into my heart and soul and awaken me out of this grogginess. 

It is still deciding if I am worthy or perhaps it is testing me (it knows I swing between my worship habits - sometimes - often even - I pray to the great Tea Gods for my morning reverie). 

Currently I am trying not to rush around, but rather act in a calm and peaceful manner as I get ready to participate in a health expo this weekend. The printer is cranking away, eventually producing new proofs of my material that I will have for hand outs. I wish I had some marvelous thing that would attract attention my way, but I fear my true creativity is as blocked as my wakefulness. By the way, I would be glad for any suggestions anyone might have for creating a fun and meaningful booth. 

And as I am affecting this pseudo calm, my mind continually wanders back to the coffee tree. You know, I have never actually seen one and at this very moment, I would really like to have that experience. Right now, I would like to know the journey that this substance of life embarks upon before it becomes manna. I would like to be in Costa Rica. Have I mentioned I am getting the itch to travel, again? 

So how am I really spending my time, as the printers do their thing and I await for the caffeine to kick me up a notch? I am looking at a 10 day tour to Costa Rica from Caravan Tour, which includes experiencing coffee’s birth and finish. Sure, the tour provides a lot more than just coffee, coffee, coffee, but coffee would be good. 

I would offer to take you with me if I were to win one of their monthly prizes of a 10 day tour (like I promised if I won a trip to Sea World, which I did not win), but there are only two tickets. I feel my partner would need to go with me for that. Instead, I will actually pass on the goodwill and let you try for a chance as well.

Enter To Win 10 Day All Inclusive Costa Rica Tour

My feet are cold, red in certain spots, and I feel like I am twenty times older than I really am as I sit here trying to enjoy the warmth of my Earl Grey green tea. Just as I start to get comfortable, I will shift my legs and brush a foot across the cold, hardwood floor. Such gesture send a renewed sense of “why did I think it was a good idea to wear three inch heels yesterday?” Ah, the vanity. 

I had watched a rerun of Sex in the City on Thursday night. I see those women and how nonchalantly they wear their high-heels for all occasions. I think to myself “I could do that.” And do that I did yesterday. I slid my fragile toes into a pair of somewhat forgotten, basic black heels and began my day. I am sure they were fine while I sat, my legs crossed and clothed in stockings. Then there was the whole, rebalancing that I had to adjust to, and that is when the pain began. In my rush, I had not thought to bring my normal loafers (some time this winter loafers seemed like a better choice). I walked the city blocks, teetering on throbbing toes and paced during my hypnosis sessions (sometimes just sitting seems unproductive during a session and I find standing up or leaning against the doorway to be more satisfying to my thought process). At one point, while doing traditional suggestion work hypnosis, somewhere along the way (which I truly cannot remember when it happened), I slipped off the offending perpetrators of pain, and continued on in my stocking feet. I realized I had done this when my client, who in the moments after the awakener, suddenly asked my why I seemed shorter. How embarrassing to have to search for where I had kicked off my shoes. 

This has lead me to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe I need a new pair of shoes - flats, but something a little more stylish than anything that resembles my loafers. With that in mind, I have been perusing http://www.jildorshoes.com/, which has a wonderful selection of cool and hip shoes (and not just crazy, if not dangerous ones for those trying to satisfy the Sex in the City urges - please learn from my discomfort. LOL). In looking for something more stylish, I am gravitating to the charms of the tory burch reva line of shoes. They are like ballet slippers with a bit of a bottom surface, but what better way to glide, gracefully through my sessions (and keep my shoes on) than with pseudo dance shoes. What sets Tory’s style apart for me is her use of bobbles and such. She utlizes her logo, two fancy letter Ts that form a bit of a cross design to decorate an otherwise simple shoe, transforming it into something unique.

So, that is it, my Esoteric Saturday. Sometimes a woman has just got to talk about the vanity of being professional. It cannot always be all hypnosis tools, experiences, gaming, and hiking - sometimes she just has to indulge in shoe shopping. I hope my male readers will bear with my humanity.

The prophecy read:

You will teach people how to have fun during a time when fun is a commodity. You are the voice of the people. You are connected.

There were no big words of cataclysmic proportion, nothing about worlds shattering, just the southern lilt in the voice of the astrologer. But before you go and think, “Ellie is about to get all New Agey on me,” not quite. Hang on for just a little while longer. First let me say that I have never been much for knowing the future. I would rather not. I would rather face it as it comes. But…alas…the astrology session was a gift from a friend, who, feeling the waves of stormy sea beneath my calm exterior, thought it might help. Who was I to refuse?

Trying to take the above words with a grain of salt, I have instead pondered them. They pop up in the middle of the night when least expected. Now as a hypnotist, it is not hard to make a connection - I have always been in this business to help people have a better sense of themselves, to find inner peace, achieve a goal, to find some sort of happiness. But fun? I never really looked at anything from a “fun” perspective.

But it is true - personally. If it is not fun, I want no part of it. I will go to great lengths, expending much energy to have fun myself. But what of others? What can I do to “teach” others how to have fun? I reel the idea in like a trout on a fishing line. Then I release it (how I wish there was no hook involved) back into the waters of the unconscious. And I wait. I wait for some sort of synchronistic event to happen that will provide guidance that resonates.

Just maybe something has resonated - a bit.

I saw a commercial (okay, I occasionally like commercials, I find them entertaining sometimes) the other day. It was a very tranquil, transpersonal, and a hopeful spot that featured children. The phrase that stuck out was “Fun as a Renewable Resource.” The synchronistic flow began. Was this an ad for a green campaign? No. It was a commercial for SeaWorld and now every time I see it, I find myself deeply touched by its message. It is not blatant advertising. It is just a nice thought.

Then I noticed Ted Murphy of Izea blogging about spending time at Orlando’s Sea World. Apparently a few select bloggers were able to get a hard hat tour of a new roller-coaster called Manta. The concept of Manta is that you are riding with a manta (laying down and attached to its belly). It involves aquariums and who knows what else. Gosh, I love a good coaster (my favorite is the Areosmith coaster at another theme park in Orlando). Yes, this says fun to me and I believe it says the same to many others. Now how can I spread, if not teach, the fun?

Well, I can begin with news of Izea’s and Seaworld’s contest. You can win a trip for four (that includes airfare, accommodations, park passes and priority access to the Manta. You can visit www.ted.me/manta to learn more about how you can win this trip.

I may not be able to “teach” you how to have fun, but I can let you know about this opportunity. In addition, here is the deal, if I win, I will have two extra tickets. I will invite two of my readers, two who are in terrible need of having fun, to accompany me. This would partially be a way of fulling the prophecy. Stay tuned.

Note: The contest has ended as of March 10, 2009.

Oh dear gosh. How the heck did it get to be Monday? How did it get to be Monday without me realizing it? This particular Monday, I find myself over booked and already behind. Therefore, if you are here because you are a regular reader, well, then, good morning. If you are here expecting the hypno world news, I fear that must wait a bit. It takes a long time to compile those posts and I am afraid with the rush I am in, I just cannot make it happen. I am thinking about reorganizing those future posts a bit. That may mean just changing the day. The blogging experts always say that you should be constant in regular posting features, which I am Friday through Sunday, and if that is the case, I may need to change the news day. Or does it matter to you when I post it? I would really like to know.

But I hate to leave you without some sort of Monday treat, so when one of my artist friends sent me link to www.wordle.net, it was so cool I just had to share it. It creates word pictures like the one above based on the URL or words you provide. This one, I believe is based on my most recent blog posts. If you like it and do your own, please leave a comment with a link, I would love to see it.

All was well in my world until the dreaded words came pouring out of my partner’s mouth - we need to consolidate our storage units. Our goal is to go from having two units to one. It seems worthy of my “keep it simple” goal for this year (visit The Unwinding Path), yet to contemplate moving boxes of books, my collection of vintage clothing, old computers, and long forgotten relics of lives lived singly, it makes my head and stomach churn. It makes me tired. Just as I begin to get caught up from my long absences this past winter…

Oh for a vacation - a real vacation - one that includes no obligations to friends or family, no packing, moving or chauffeuring the family elders around to the cold and sterile realm of grocery stores, banks and post offices.

Sorry, I really do not mean to spill my negativity onto you. It is so much harder to live under the pressure of enlightenment when one is tired out.

Okay. There is no fun vacation insight. How do I make this into a positive thing? Well, more meditation, a little self-hypnosis and the world is oddly tolerable again. Add to it some fun and games and well - a relief from a bit of a pressure holiday.

There was a time when I played Stupid Monkey Ball (bet it was really called Super Monkey Ball). It was stressful at the time because I had never played it and I had a group of other people watching and well, you know, performance anxiety. But that experience did not diminish my love of games, granted my personal favorites are Zombie-based.

But today I was up for a little passive fun and joined the MagNext Virtual community. I have a been able to embrace my inner marble with this game for that is what your avatar resembles. What attracted me was the marketing for this community (yes, I am a sucker for good marketing). It talked of things that reminded me of the Law of Attraction. The premise is that the little marbles are like magnets, attracting others in a community experience (we are all One, don’t you know).

There I am, logged in (ellieblunt) with a cute little ball. There is some sort of gladiator community game you can play with others, but I admit it, I am not quite there (though I believe this community is touted for young people and is fairly simple, they are the ones with nimble fingers and spot-on dexterity). Yet, I did enjoy the car game - where the goal is to keep your car running on the track (it loses momentum the farther you drive) and to collect gold coins. Then there was the roller-coaster game where you are rolling along the track, but pieces are missing so you have to choose the right shape of track or your marble falls into oblivion.

It was fun diversion from my stress. MayNext is light and probably good for dexterity and keeping the mind sharp. Now back to life in the real world.

I have had a rather late start today, but it was not all drinking tea and eating toast. No, I was reckoning with two beast - my loss of page rank and a need to do something different. I managed to wrestle with both by finding a video competition for creating a Scour Commercial . Scour.com, a social search engine, is seeking entries for a 45 second or less commercial. It is a great opportunity to potentially win $500 as well as gaining some exposure on their site.

Well, I was inspired to do my own (but do not let me stop you from creating your own video and entering). My little cartoon eyes represent me, the essence at least, fairly well, so I decided to conintue on in my series of short animations. Leave a comment here if you have entered this contest. It is always fun to see how other’s approach such things!

Perhaps this should be an Esoteric Saturday, but I am not sure on the timing of it (it may have been on January 18), so I thought I would mention it now. There is an interesting auction happening right now for some hypnosis object d’ arts. Included is the image included above. It is by “Escher.” I have been trying to tie it to M.C. Escher, but cannot quite get there. This just does not have the feel as his other work of the time, but then again, I am a hypnotist, not an art historian. I suppose it could be another Escher. Anyway it is an interesting piece, the Buddha and the hypnotist juxtaposition against one another. Wonder what the message is here? Any thoughts?

Also, the image on the left is a book of parlor tricks, but I cannot help appreciate the aesthetics.

It looks like the auction actually started on January 18.

To learn more about either object, click on the picture and it will take you to the auction.

After seeing the hypnosis panels in Too Cool To Be Forgotten, I was completely and pleasantly surprised at the honesty creator, Alex Robinson depicted in the sequence. It seemed to mostly show an honest portrayal of the hypnosis process, which is often no so typical for fiction projects. Well, needless to say (and for the two post I have already done on this) I am intrigued. Was Alex another hypnotist with a day job as a graphic novelist? Was he a closet hobbyist? Imagine my surprise when he sent back his answers to my questions.

Without further ado - my questions with Alex Robinson.

Q: What was your inspiration for creating Too Cool to Be Forgotten?

A: My 20-year high school reunion was coming up so that time of my life was on mind even more than usual. I thought it might be a good opportunity to do a story about it, and try and wrestle with my experiences and feelings about that time. I also happen to love time travel stories so it seemed a natural excuse to try my hand at that, too, but I didn’t want it to be a typical time travel story, I wanted it almost to be more of an emotional time travel story.

One thing in my mind as I was doing the story was that I also wanted it to sort of be a metaphor for the process of therapy. I will admit to having spent some time on the couch, and I think it’s fascinating that many times you’re dealing with things that happened long in the past. You’re powerless to change the fact that things happened but you can change the way you think or feel about them. Also, a lot of times what gets you to therapy is not necessarily what you wind up dealing with: you could go because you’re having problems at your job but when you dig around your psyche you find out that you’re actually angry at your parents or whatever. I don’t want to give anything away about the story but the protagonist, Andy Wicks, has a similar experience.

So given that, the sort of twin purposes I had in mind, I wanted Andy’s time travel experience to be less technologically oriented, and hypnotism seemed like a good way of handling that.

Q: Have you ever been hypnotized by a hypnotist and if so what did you experience?
Was the hypnosis portion of the book based on your own experiences (and if so please elaborate)?

A: I’ve never been hypnotized–at least not that I can remember (haha, a little hypnotism humor there!). I have thought about it, in the therapy context I mentioned before but never really pursued it. I will admit to some skepticism about the idea in that the mind is a staggeringly complex thing, and all the stories you hear about recovered-memories being closer to suggested-memories and all that.

Q: What sort of research did you do for the hypnosis portion of the book?

A: I’m embarrassed to tell you that I did no research. I had a very casual familiarity–I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “knowledge”–I’d picked up from TV shows or documentaries or whatnot but to me it was more of a plot device than anything else. Since there was the fantasy element of time travel I didn’t think it was too important to try and make the hypnotism realistic–of course, if I had known that actual hypnotists might be paying attention I might’ve paid closer attention! Basically, I tried to portray it more as a kind of medical procedure rather than something like stage hypnotism, which I guess could’ve worked, too, for the story purposes.

Q: Are you a hypnotist?

I have been known to put some people into altered states of consciousness when I ramble on but I don’t think I can legally call myself a hypnotist.

Q: Do you use hypnosis for any of your creative pursuits?

I have not, though it’s an intriguing idea. As I said, I think the mind is an amazingly powerful and complex thing, and the idea of being able to somehow tap into some unknown potential or improve yourself is exciting. But I’m somewhat wary in the same way I’m wary about people’s claims about LSD, how it will change you somehow and I’d be worried I wouldn’t be able to “go back”–if that makes any sense.

Visit Alex’s web site at www.comicbookalex.com or his publisher at www.topshelfcomix.com.