Norman Alderman was a single man at the age of 48. Every new day, he worried more about being single. It was 2012 and all of his friends, by this time, had children, and some of them even had grandchildren. But then he thought, I guess I shouldn't worry about that because we are all different now, aren't we?
Norman was taken to standing in front of the mirror seeing himself as a playwright or famous novelist receiving a Pulitzer for his magnificent work. What Norman saw in that mirror was Charlton Heston. What the mirror showed was Woody Allen. He did have one redeeming feature though, he was smart. At least he thought he was smart. Aren't all people like me smart? he mused.
Norman was a writer. He thought he had what it takes. Actually, that's not true. He was trained to be an accountant. He had worked in that field for six years and saw himself as a tiny little man at a tiny little desk in a huge office full of tiny little people. He did not like that view, so every day he went home and meditated. While in his meditative state, he tried to make himself wake up as a famous and successful writer but every time he pulled out of it, he was still a silly little ineffectual, Jewish man. Well, at least I'm good at meditating, he thought.
Norman was a persistent man although sometimes he wondered what he should do with his free time. Should he quit writing and do something else? No, he thought, that would be giving up and I'm not a quitter. I’m not,” he repeated to himself in his mind. “I write, therefore I am a writer!” he exclaimed to himself. Who am I talking to? He wondered, hoping nobody else heard these musings should they think of him as wonky.
So, Norman wrote. He wrote poems, short stories, and articles. He had tons of pieces that he had written. All of them were good, but none good enough.
“If I can just get that winning piece, that one literary achievement." He muttered. "If I could just do it?"
Each evening when he went to bed, he saw himself as a great writer, he just knew he had it in him. If only it would just come out!
It was Friday afternoon and he had just got home from work at his accounting job. He thought about calling his friend who was also an accountant and who also wore horn-rimmed glasses like his, but she wasn't a writer. She was a real accountant. She was the boss's number one bean counter. I think the boss is a little like me, a little lonely. That's probably why he likes her? he questioned in his mind.
One thing that you should know about Norman is that he is eccentric. He loved his computer and owned an old tower that he just kept fixing. He also owned a laptop, but he wrote on neither of these machines. He had inherited an old Remington Rand from a family estate and felt that the machine gave his writing work character.
That night Norman had an idea. He scrambled over to his typewriter, dropped into his seat, and placed a brand-new blank sheet of typing paper in the machine.
"Let's see now," he said. "What can we call this piece? I know," he said excitedly. "We'll call it The Writer!"
He placed his palms facing outwards, interlocked his fingers, and pushed out cracking all of his knuckles at the same time. Then he placed his hands in the writing position on the typewriter keyboard. When he began to type, something magical happened. It was as though his fingers were doing the thinking and flew over the keys getting far ahead of his mind.
“How can this be,” he asked?
He looked up at the clock.
"Wait a minute now?" He said, "I know that clock is at twenty after four because I just looked at it a minute ago but now it says 6:30… this is amazing," he said, but it can't be? he thought. I just worked for 2 hours so there must be some missing time somewhere.
But when he looked down at what he had written, he skidded his chair back wildly and tore the paper from the typewriter. Did I write that? I wrote this! I did it! I do have the touch! Then, realizing that the piece had only just begun, he replaced the paper in the return and sat down again to continue. A small amount of drool emanated from the right corner of his lips. He didn't notice this as he was so deeply involved in what was happening. He felt a strange power overtaking him. At first, he thought, Well this is not right? Then he said "The heck with that! This is me! This is me doing what I do best. I am a writer!”
Norman typed and typed! He typed on that old Remington until midnight and then typed some more. He wasn't even looking over the script that he was writing and did no on-the-fly proofreading at all. This wasn't like him. He usually took more time staring at what he had written than doing the writing itself, and this gave him thought. At 2 AM, he stopped. His writing was scaring him.
At one point before sliding the chair back from his desk he thought, this is just wrong! I like being in control of me. But when he read over what his crazed fingers had written, all that went out the window. Why he had written about himself, or at least that's what he thought at first.
But when he got into the piece, he noticed that the man's name was Chad. "That's not me?" he said to himself. Then he read the entire piece and began to write more.
Chad was an attorney but had never won a single case. He was a small and fruitless man. The state put him in charge of handling the defendants who couldn't afford to hire an attorney. He was a Court Appointed Lawyer and a loser. The problem was that his heart wasn't in it. He wondered how he could have picked the wrong career. He wanted to be a writer, so every night he wrote.
Across town, the small man sat down at his computer and began to write. He wrote and wrote until his fingers were tired and his brain was on fire. The story took the form of a woman by the name of Edna, who was a writer and had no confidence, but kept on writing day after day anyway and did finally produce something she liked.
At first, Edna thought that she was writing about herself, but then she noticed that she had typed a name. The character was called Joyce and Joyce was a winner. She entered contests and won them. She didn't know why, and she didn’t have a plan that could be called a system, she just won. Why just last week, Edna wrote, Joyce had won a brand-new car. It was just a little front-wheel-drive Ford with a tiny little engine that sat sideways in the front. Joyce was happy with it though although Edna wrote that she was worried about next April and issues with the IRS. She felt financially strapped and was experiencing an increasing amount of stress.
The following month, Edna wrote about Joyce again and decided that Joyce would enter the Readers Digest Sweepstakes. Of course, she won the big prize which was no surprise to Edna as that was all in the script as the saying goes.
Edna wrote that Joyce was overjoyed but not surprised and she won half a million dollars and just put it in the bank, and then kept on living the same way as if nothing great had happened.
Norman loved his coffee, and sometimes on the weekends, he would take his laptop and sit in the local coffee shop drinking coffee and writing. It was a Saturday morning and he decided that this would be one of those days. He packed up his trusty old laptop and headed out. When Norman arrived at the coffee shop, he realized it was still very early, and the place was nearly empty.
"Where shall we sit this morning?" he asked himself. "Ah, the table in the back, that's where we'll park it.”
He sat down and plugged in his computer and then went up and ordered his coffee and a pastry. He cracked his knuckles the way he always did before he started to write and then returned to some work in progress. The story was about a writer named Chad. Norman wrote for a long time and didn't notice that the shop had become very crowded. A woman had taken the seat across the table from him but way down at the other end and then a young man came into the shop with his laptop and looked around.
He noticed the empty seat next to Norman and walked over.
"Do you mind if I sit here and work?" he asked Norman.
"Be my guest," Norman said without looking up from his screen.
He heard the man shuffling around and plugging in his machine but paid no heed. He was a writer, and he must write.
Then Chad suddenly sneezed, and Norman said "Gesundheit."
"Thank you," the young man said. "Are you a writer?” the man asked and then, "I'm sorry, may I introduce myself, my name is Chad.” The man said.
Norman's head jerked up in surprise. After typing the name Chad over and over for the last month or so, he was shocked to suddenly meet a man with the same name. He noticed that Chad was holding his hand out waiting to shake Norman's hand to meet him.
"Uh, oh sorry," Norman said, "I'm Norman and yes, I am a writer."
"Me too," Chad told him.
Now this is starting to be very freaky, Norman thought. Could this kind of coincidence really be happening? he wondered.
They both returned to their respective laptops and another half hour passed. Then Chad got up and went into the restroom and left his computer open.
Norman thought, oh no you don't? That would be very disrespectful. You wouldn't want anyone looking over your shoulder trying to see what you were writing. But he couldn't control his curiosity and knew that was a weakness. He looked. He saw the word Edna and almost jumped out of his skin. He looked again and noticed that in Chad's story, Edna was also a writer.
This just can't be! he thought in a panic. This is just too crazy…
“It just can't be?” he muttered out loud to himself. He looked up and noticed he had been caught looking at another person's work. The lady across the table and down at the end was staring at him with a scornful look on her face. He avoided her stare and quickly looked at his screen although he wasn't reading anything at all and was mentally dazed and he knew it.
Just stare at your computer and everything will return to normal, he thought to himself.
By this time, Chad had returned and began to type again.
Norman could not resist. If he didn't do it, he would regret it for the rest of his life, so he leaned over and spoke to Chad.
"Say Chad," he said softly. "I am compelled to share something with you."
He turned his computer so Chad could easily read his story and for a moment, he watched Chad's eyes running over the words, line by line. Then Chad's mouth fell open.
"Wait a minute, how did you…. did you… okay, what's going on here?" Chad demanded.
Then Chad slammed his laptop shut and began to pull his cords and pack up quickly to leave. Then he froze!
He stopped what he was doing and turned towards Norman.
"It would seem that we have a very odd situation here, and I would like to know more. Norman now closed his laptop, and they began to talk quietly. Norman told Chad everything he knew. He told him that he was an accountant and that he wanted to be a writer. He told him how he had started the story about a man named Chad and how his hands had become possessed as it were and how the story was manifested from within him. And then he told Chad that he liked to meditate.
"Stop right there," Chad said. "That could be important. Maybe we met when we were both meditating?" Chad said scratching his head and looking down.
They both agreed that they should stay in touch and exchanged phone numbers and then both left the coffee shop and went their respective ways but from that moment on, they both thought endlessly about each other.
A couple of weeks later they agreed to meet at the coffee shop and hang out. They both brought their laptops to do some writing. Then Chad told Norman that there was a woman over in the corner that had been staring at them for a long time. Norman looked over and she smiled at him. He tells Chad to talk to her, but Chad doesn't have the confidence to talk to women, so Norman goes over to introduce himself.
"Hello, I'm Norman and we noticed you over here all by your lonesome," he tells her.
"Hi," she says, "I'm Edna!"
Norman staggers back a step or two and then regains his countenance.
"You're Edna?" he blurts.
"Yes, I am," she says. "Is that a problem?" she asks with a puzzled look on her face.
"No, it's just… it's just that….” Norman's words fall all over themselves, and then he says with a voice that cracks as he speaks, "Are you writing a story about a woman named Joyce who always wins contests?"
Now it's Edna's turn to fall off her chair. At first, she just looks up at him.
"You'd better sit down here a minute," she says pulling out a chair. "I'm going to ask you a question and I think you already know what it is. I want an answer that will make me happy." She speaks.
Norman looks down at his feet and meekly squeaks out, "Okay."
Just how did you know that I was writing a story about a woman called Joyce who wins everything, and this better be good!" she exclaims.
Norman bucks up and looks her straight in the eyes and says, "I would answer that, but first, I think you'd better get the whole story. Would you mind if my friend and I joined you at your table?" Edna looks surprised and curious as hell, and then begins to shake her head up and down in agreement.
Norman gets up and goes back over and looks at Chad and says, "You're not going to believe this?"
"That's Edna, right?" Chad says with a sly grin.
"Yep," Norman replies. "Pick up your gear. We're moving over to her table," he says as he unplugs and gathers up his stuff and his coffee.
They both move over, and Norman introduces Chad. Then Norman tells Edna the entire story exactly the way it took shape. He tells her about how he wrote about Chad, and about how he wrote that Chad wrote about her. Then he tells her about how he wrote that in Chad's story, Edna wrote about Joyce. He then explains that he, Norman, appears to be the centerpiece in the middle of the table at a Mad Hatters lunch. They all laugh at that and then settle down to discuss the matter.
An hour passes and then, looking around the coffee shop, Norman suddenly feels nervous and suggests that they leave and asks them to join him at his apartment so they can continue going over what was happening. This they do, and after a couple more hours, they begin to work out a logical plan of attack. They all agree that there appears to be a missing piece of this puzzle.
Norman makes them all some nice Mint Tea and they make a mutual decision. They need to learn who the missing person is. They needed to get Joyce into the group and to do this, they needed to know she actually existed. They all agree that since they had come this far it would be more believable if she were real since the character named Joyce is the only one who is not a writer and that she had to be the missing link. Moreover, they must find her soon.
Norman suggests that they use meditation to begin a search and they all agree. After finishing their tea, Norman throws out some big comfy pillows and they make a circle and begin. All three are well-practiced and find each other right away. While meditating, they all communicate and decide to do a group-minded search for a woman known only as Joyce who may live nearby. It works! They find her immediately and she also knows how to meditate. Now there are four minds linked and they converse lightly and agree to meet at the coffee shop. Joyce tells them that she goes there often but only buys her coffee to go and rarely sits down. This time she agrees to come inside and join them.
They meet the next evening after work. Joyce is apprehensive at first but after they tell her the story, she very nearly walks out on them.
"How can that be?" she asks them. "That's preposterous!" she claims.
"Joyce, I know how this sounds, and if I were you, I would feel the same way, but this is real. These things happen once in a while you know. Think about how we meditate. Some people still think that's all hogwash, but it isn't, it is real and so is this," he concludes.
Then Edna steps up with the answer. She looks at Norman and begins to speak.
"Norman, the way it looks is that it all starts with you. If you don't write, nothing happens. So, in a way, you are the kingpin in this operation."
Norman looks at her, and then at Joyce, and then back at her.
"You are correct, of course, but I can't do this alone. We all play our parts, and, in the end, Joyce always wins. That's really all there is to it. It isn't complicated, just a bit hard to swallow and I understand that. "We need a way to show you that this is really happening Joyce," he tells her.
"I know exactly what would work." Edna chimes in. "Okay listen, and see what you think," she tells them. "I will write about what you will win next month, and I will not tell anyone what it is. Tonight, before you leave, I will write a note containing the information and put it in an envelope and seal it. You take it home with you and hold on to it and then bring it back after you win, and we'll all meet here at Norman's again and open it. But you must give us your word that you will not open the envelope until then, in our presence, okay?" Edna said.
Joyce agrees and they all go home. In the coming weeks, the day of the contest arrives and of course Joyce wins, and as agreed, she brings the sealed envelope back to the next meeting. They all arrive at Norman's on time and find places to sit. Norman makes them some nice Mint Tea and they begin. They exchange small talk for a while and then the moment arrives. Joyce tears open the envelope and her eyes become as wide as saucers. It was a match. She had won an all-expense-paid trip to the Caribbean and that's exactly what the note Edna had written last month said she would win.
Edna spoke up again. "If that doesn't convince you this is real, how about this?" Edna says. "Over the next six months, I will write about how each month you win and then not win and repeat that pattern until the full six months are up. It doesn't matter what the prizes are for this test, just the fact that you win when I say you will win, and you lose when I say you will lose. How does that sound Joyce?" she asked. Joyce agreed and eventually, they all went home again.
The months passed the way they always do. Norman and Chad met regularly at the coffee shop, Norman performed his accounting job well, and Chad worked hard, still trying to win a case in court while continuing to lose. Everyone talked to everyone else by phone a few times and the test was completed.
Then, they met back at Norman's and Norman showed Joyce what he had written as did Edna. Another perfect match.
"Okay," Joyce said. "I surrender! I don't understand any of it, but I guess I'm a part of it whether I like it or not," she told them.
"I have an idea," Norman declared. "I’ve been scanning the news and ads for contests just to see what's out there and I happened to notice that the State Lottery is up to ten million dollars. Let's win that!" he said. This time, Norman wrote about Chad, and Chad wrote about Edna so that Edna could write about Joyce winning the State Lottery. Joyce won that ten million and they all split the lump sum payment four ways.
They all put their heads together and figured out how to run a publishing business and then they purchased the best-known publishing house in the state and gave themselves lucrative writing contracts including some number-one spots on the New York Times bestseller list bought and paid for by themselves.
Joyce, as it happens, didn't care much about money but s he kept winning for some reason. The happy foursome learned to play golf and spent most of their time hanging out together on the greens. Norman never worked another day as an accountant.
He was a writer now!
Norman now lived in a modest home overlooking the new golf course he had built for his local community. After the new publishing firm had opened and become an international icon in publishing, he began thinking about how to branch out, but he knew that should be done slowly and with the utmost care.
Norman, Chad, Edna, and Joyce enjoyed playing golf together and hanging out at the club. They talked and drank for a week straight before coming to the same conclusion.
“Well, we can’t do this forever, but it has been fun,” Chad chimed in.
Everyone agreed, and Norman became very serious for a moment, then said,
“Looking back, I think we were all looking for something. Chad wanted out of his dead-end job, Edna wanted to be a published author and Joyce found happiness in the simple things. She has her new house, and her life is reliable and normal. Joyce has been learning all about hydroponics and growing lots of tasty vegetables. That’s actually a key point in what I’ve been thinking lately. We need America to be self-sustaining and to rely on each other and not those big ugly box stores.”
In that instant, no one moved, and no one spoke.
“I knew all along that I was a writer. That’s what my heart has always told me to do. I’m not special; as a possible way of being, I uphold the gifts that I have and for me, the written word, communication with others, and the information it carries has become larger than life. A passion.”
Everyone suddenly stood up in solute to what Norman had revealed. Respect and love filled the room. Norman smiled and said,
“The question is, what shall we do next?”
Everyone sat down again, quietly going over their thoughts as the moment passed and then Chad, breaking the silence, spoke first. “Let’s meet in the boardroom at Dream House in the morning to talk it over. I’m excited!” “Yes.” Norman responded and “How about 9 am.?”
They all agreed and went home.
That night, Norman began to think about what to do next and realized all roads were now available to the group. He now fully realized that he had great power in his hands and must plan to move forward with the greatest of care and decorum.
They had arrived at a crossroads of sorts, and he wanted to know more about societal motion, inertia, and the cadence of life so he decided they would create a think tank. But then he thought, I should have two think tanks. One composed of the primary group; me, Chad, Edna, and Joyce, and the other all new people but how would he find them? He wondered.
Norman noticed he was fighting off a new notion in his head. The notion that if he did anything outside of the primary group, he would be giving his first-born child away and he didn’t want to do that. But if I don’t take steps to expand the group, it might just wither away into obsolescence. He thought.
He knew they must move forward and quickly corrected his thoughts making the confidence building decision to enroll other like-minded people and turn the corner.
Norman produced a plan to present to the others in the morning. We must begin to expand the group and we must start this process soon, he thought to himself.
He wanted to be certain he and the group, which by now had a name, would keep the cadence by which they had arrived at the prosperity they now enjoyed. He called his group,
Everyone arrived at the boardroom at 8 AM and Norman took note of that.
“I feel a sense of pride for what we have accomplished and for you guys all showing up early. We all share the excitement of the moment, and I am so glad we found each other.” Norman told them.
“I would like to open this meeting with an abbreviated look back at what we have created so far. We all wrote, we all worked together for one end, and Joyce won big.” Norman exclaimed. “Seems pretty simple now doesn’t it? But if it were easy, everyone would be doing it, and they certainly are not. We need new ideas, new concepts, and a new direction.
“I think we all know that we must take precautions to remain secretive in a productive way. For now, there must be compartmentalization, so we have total control over everything. I know that may sound terse, but our prime directive must be helping people, and nothing will be allowed to stop the end result.”
“The truth is that we made something happen, and we did it together. We are a team, and we should safeguard that. We should put our heads together and do it again. We hold the power to change the world for the better. There is so much suffering and families everywhere are struggling just to get by.
“We need a grand plan and a knew dream. I want to use our super-powers,” Norman said, smiling… “for helping others, service to others I’ve heard it called. We need to decide exactly what we want and then break it down into smaller pieces that are independently attainable.”
And so, the first think tank was born. They all sat around the huge boardroom table with Norman at the head.
Norman asked each member what they would do to improve the lives of others. How to help people to break out of the terrestrial cage that always held people back, stunting their thinking and creativity, and keeping them from advancing in their lives.
Chad suggested they all take some communication classes and that they must always be present to life. Joyce pointed out that they should continue to have meditation sessions and that they should meditate on one thing just like they did when it all began.
Norman suddenly stood up and began walking round the big table as he spoke.
“I think we could use home as a placeholder, so we have a beginning and an end to all the work we do. The people begin and end their days at their homes so that appears to me to me a template of sorts.
“We need to expand our program and that means enrolling others in our way of thinking and our way of meditating. We’ll have to figure out the best way to vet our new friends and we should do a lot of the work in our meditation sessions.
“When I began ‘The Writer’ I immediately thought about what I wanted to end up with and so wrote to those ends. In the here and now, that also strikes me as a template for success.
“I want to delve into creating a new system that would help kids find their individual potential utilizing the foundations of their intuition, skills, and talents. Find a way to get kids started at an early age in music or one of the sciences such as the study of ethology.
“I want to know about communication with our little fury friends, communication with animals.
“I want to help enlighten all the people of Terra.
“I want to organize extremely large groups of people all meditating on the same thing at the same time. The undeniable power of mass meditation will improve life on our planet.
“I want everyone to experience that ‘Love Carries the Day’ moment. I know we all have questions but let’s break now and go home. Everyone please be thinking about what I have said here and lets meet at the same time in the morning with new material.”
And so, Norman had an epiphany to bring about a new reality for towns and communities using mass meditation. A nationwide bond of those unified through their humanity was needed. He knew that a very large segment of American society were asleep and not lucid. He wanted to wake them up; to pull them out of their subconscious inclination of fear and enroll them in meditation and self-achievement. He said that over time, many people he had personally known had become locked into their own shell and are stuck in a self-imposed state of maladroitness that embraces them.
Norman concluded that the most important thing their new project must undertake is the awakening of peoples consciousness from this terrible state of regression.
“And we do this,” he stated, “with mass meditation.
The following morning Norman told the group that he was up most of the night thinking about the project and how much suffering there had been on Terra. In his mind, they were already late!
He asked them,
“Realistically, how much time will it take to get a group of any size together? Just an educated guess.”
Chad stepped up with the answer Norman wanted.
“To begin, I think we should locate anyone who is already doing group meditations. Then, say we have five well-established groups that meet fairly regularly, each one of us should join a different group. That way, our network will begin to grow and that is where we start. The larger our contact is with those who already do know how to meditate, the better the chances are that we can learn from this and slowly form our own groups.
“I think we should go with 100 people. If we move fast, we might make some missed steps but that will be a learning experience. We need that… call it beta testing. I already have a line on a building and for the initial meeting, we don’t need to tell anyone or get permits or anything like that. So, I say two weeks.”
Then Edna chimed in.
“There is an angle here. After the initial event, we should all feel like we did it! We broke the ice. Then we can interview some of the participants and try to get a chosen few to join our group. Undoubtedly some of them will be energized and excited about what they have taken part in and feel compelled to enroll others and do it again.
“I will put that together myself.” Edna told the group. They discussed the idea for another two hours and began to make real progress on the initial project. They debated what and how the protocol would be brought about and concluded the need for four separate managers of course, consisting of the four friends.
Setting Up What is To Come
For the next five meetings the group discussed and debated the mechanisms needed to fit the plan. At this point, their collective vision had already shown them the end result but getting there would require separate pieces of the completed puzzle to be assembled as it grew. To do this, the daily meetings were modified to weekly Monday morning meetings so that each of them could intensify their individual energies on their divergent projects.
Each with their respective areas of information and technology were established as follows:
Norman ran the media and all the main arteries of journalism.
Chad covered all aspects of corporate law in everything the group did.
Edna took care of organizing all parts of the network including security. Edna took her lead from Chad in the area of security and how the laws covering gatherings would apply. She met with several heads of the best security companies and explained the Dream House vision for projects that would be happening soon. She also covered potential ‘super sessions’ that would involve very large numbers of participants.
Joyce took on a huge segment of the new program. Nationwide sustainable food, energy, and life support systems. While they all knew that Edna’s efforts would not have a direct or immediate impact on the primary goal of group meditation, the order of things dictated a need for what would come next. Being prepared for our communities collective and holistic growth and moving forward from there. When our united consciousness had finally blossomed, there would be more work to do. The work of carefully applying the needed components to prosper and grow in our own ways and not how it is now… not the rules-based world that has kept us struggling and fighting with each other.
Norman
Norman had studied mass meditations done in the past and had learned that they had achieved 100% success every time. He wanted to take those studies and increase the personage tenfold and keep doing this until the end results were achieved. He knew a global evolution was in his reach and as such, humanities suffering, and all forms of poverty and disease would be vanquished forever.
He said his position would grow and might morph into new areas but that he would learn it as he went. His, as well as the other three had the same prime directive. Locate, set up, and demonstrate the initial mass meditation groups containing a minimum of five hundred people. He and Edna worked together on a daily basis and soon realized the scope of the project. It was massive.
At one of the morning meetings, he talked endlessly about how things are and how he thought they should be. He pointed out the contrasting differences we all face on a daily basis and began to see them as a beautiful picture. This made a stark impression on all the other members in the room.
He asked this question,
“How did we go from living free on the land, growing our food, keeping our own livestock, and getting most everything we needed by ourselves the way the American Indians did, to relying on big-box grocery stores that sell us chemical-filled, boxed food barely fit for human consumption, and taking orders from people in Washington we don’t know and do not trust?
“There is a tribe of indigenous people who live deep in the Amazon rainforest who have remained isolated from the outside world. This tribe, and many others like them in similar areas, have never experienced diseases such as what we have here in the modern world. This is because they live in pristine forests on freshwater rivers and cleverly survive on fishing, hunting, and fruit gathering.
“In the early days of our country, we had a strong connection to others in our communities and when problems arose, we all pitched in and made things better. Life was good. Today’s medical advances are a double-edged sword, and our bodies have diseases nobody had ever heard of back then because they did not yet exist.
“Also, during those early days, there were special individuals who studied herbal medicinal practices and methods and often traveled to the homes of neighbors and friends who needed medical attention. Many people were healed with those natural remedies and the skies were clear of pollutants and chemicals.
“I’m telling you all this because it worked, and we can bring it back again through the unity acquired by mass meditations.”
Everyone sat in stunned silence as Norman continued to speak.
“With meditation and a deep comprehension of where we went wrong, I think we can make a massive difference to put us on track to continue in our technological society while maintaining the old ways of love and companionship. Holding the simple things in our hearts for our journey into the future.”
Chad
Chad wanted to cover all legal aspects of the grid network Edna would soon establish. As the firms only attorney, Chad was more than qualified to build and monitor the sequential protection of the firm. The documents Chad created are far more than the scope of this primer but suffice to say they were safe from any outside interruptions or distractions during the meditation sessions.
The idea was that through this new program, meditation could become a household word and that this would soon prompt more people to either join Norman’s network or create similar networks aligned with Norman’s. They all knew there was untamed power in numbers when meditations were done in large groups. The larger the group, the more people would create intentions for a better society and a better world. Coming together can have an intense impact on the collective energy of our communities and on our galactic standing.
Chad suggested that based on current knowledge, a huge section of American society is oblivious to the practice and potential results of meditation not to mention the critical need.
Chad’s vision was that this must change over time but not so swiftly that some would see it as the latest fad. He told the others that introducing the power of meditation to the sleeping masses could only be achieved at a very slow cadence. This would prevent digressive thoughts and bring the happiness and love to the surface. The hinge point being a minimum number of new meditation practitioners it would take to show the rest of the world the unquestionable results of mass meditation. He told the group that in the coming months, they would draw the attention of the entire planet who might then see the possibility of a planet-wide group meditation.
Edna
Edna came up with an outline for all the department heads thereby creating the blueprint for all who come after us to follow to keep their happiness, their free will, and their creative forces intact.
She was, in effect, the kingpin that would assure success when all the parts were assembled as one. Her role was utility only much more than that. She was efficient in her research and, with Norman, used the data to arrive at dependable coordination when dealing with property, county regulations, fees, and everything necessary to get the plan into motion simultaneously in multiple areas.
She also suggested that eventually, schools and even pre-school aged children should be taught meditation as well as specialized classes for kids all the way through high school and beyond. She theorized that with such training, our species would use psionics to become an advanced race using remote viewing, telepathy, and much more.
Without realizing it, Edna was becoming the conduit through which the planet would excel far beyond what it has ever been and would be welcomed into the off-world community.
Joyce
Joyce gladly assumed the creation of sustainable food, energy, and life support systems to be available to all communities, counties, and states across the nation.
Joyce loved her new life. She woke up one morning and became aware of the possibilities in her grasp. She loved cooking and needed ingredients. Ingredients come from the ground, so she went back to school and got a PhD in horticulture and water farming. It wasn’t long before she dropped all dirt farming for hydroponics. Joyce loved the idea of growing anything she wanted, anywhere on the planet, inside or outside.
She designed specialized grow structures to be used in every climate and location on Terra. She created an equation for atmospheric enclosures needed in all areas of Terra to provide fresh, naturally grown food for the masses.
She studied Nutrient Film Technique or NFT systems, Deep Water Culter or DWC systems, Wick and Ebb & Flow Systems, and even Aeroponics. Theorizing that the average household might not afford a complex hydroponics system but wanted everyone to grow something. As such, Joyce quickly designed, built, and demonstrated what she called the Lamp Shade Gardener. A system of three very tiny net pots and another with one bigger grow pot about the size of a coffee pot. They hung on the wall and had a vertical nutrient feeder hose from the nutrient tank on the floor behind grampas recliner up to the single pot with a good deal of flow.
She told us that she was thinking out loud but knew everyone had a little space somewhere and The Lamp Shade rigs were pretty to look at and had soft colored lighting in the system for evenings. Ideas like this would transform the way people think about eating healthy food with very little effort. Joice told the group that this was only the beginning of her plans for removing all the bad stuff from the planet. She wanted everyone to have not only food but food that would be there when they needed it without leaving the home. Her ideas were that if there is a space on your wall, you can grow high quality food that no one has sprayed or covered with preservatives. Just good home cooking with good home-grown ingredients.
Boardroom Meetings and Satellite Locations
Another meeting in the boardroom and another busy day for the crew. There was no lack of enthusiasm, and everyone was anxious to get the project further down the road. They all knew there was a crossroad up ahead and they all wanted to be ready.
Edna spoke first.
“Since we have the funds, let’s select a new piece of property in a central area and build a center for the project. We can create our own auditorium unlike any other. A comforting space where meditation would thrive.
“In fact,” she continued, “Why not create satellite meditation outlets? Like any storefront business, a place where folks can go to grow their consciousness and all that follows. Each of these satellite outlets should have hand-picked managers and those managers should have regular meetings. Possibly weekly Monday morning Zoom meetings with just the managers and then monthly meetings here with us at Dream House. Without knowing it, Edna had just given birth to a template that would be the key to the entire project.
“That is an excellent idea Edna,” Chad responded.
“And it jives with what I have been thinking about regarding how to get to those who have never even cast a thought about meditation. This is a huge barrier for me, and I realize the old ways have had the opposite effect in that people were kept from seeing the good holistic things in life such as meditation and homegrown food.
“I have some ideas based on Edna’s proposal. What if we placed a few ads describing the benefits of meditation to attract those who already know about meditation? The truth is, we need them all to join us for the world to change for the better. Those whose current knowledge of meditation will be our top advisors. In the outline of our plan, we will need a tier format that works from the top down. Bringing those at the bottom; those who have never meditated up as we go so that eventually, we are all at the top tier. Then, my friends, I think we shall arrive at complete effectiveness.”
Joyce stood up and walked to the front of the room.
“I think I know how to put the satellite thing together, but it would be a big expense for us.” She said with some degree of excitement in her voice. “We need to hold people’s attention right? How do we get that focus for a sizable cross section of society? We do it block by block. What I mean is not just our communities or our neighborhoods but our cities.
“Similar to the way martial arts studios sprang up all over the country except we are Group Meditation Studios. Each outlet will be located in strip malls or just wherever people go to get groceries, gas for their cars or other services. For instance, that commercial area on the corner near your home may have a gas station, a barbershop, and a 7/11 convenience store.
“Chad, you can map out our city and find all small commercial corners that have a missing business, an empty store with a for rent sign on the window. I see them all the time. This might sound a bit devious but we could even call some of them different names so they would seem in competition with each other. This may avoid the potential conversation devious minds may have about who owns all these new outlets. Also, I think we should be very careful to stagger new openings so as to grow our concerns very slowly. You know, baby steps.
“So, what you are saying,” Chad chimed in, “Is that we start with a lot of small group meditations under the radar and then begin to put them all together to form larger and larger groups.
I like it!” he added.
Norman raised his hand, still standing at the podium, and voiced his concerns.
“For Joyces idea to work, we must do it in a strategically measured way. In other words, we must guard against those who might think this is some kind of conspiracy. You know how people are. Rumors start so easily, and things could get out of control.
“I think the way to prevent any unseen problems is as you say, to start very small so the populous doesn’t see all these storefronts popping up all at once. So, the timeline is critical.
“Chad, do you think you could come up with some quick logistics on this?” Norman asked.
“I can indeed, and I even have a template I could modify to fit our needs. There is a concept called homophily referring to how and why people flock together or in more simple terms, why they befriend certain types of people and no other types. For our usage, what do we get from meditation or group meditations?
At this point, Chad came up with a truly brilliant idea.
“I’ve got a vision of our future.” He began. “We all know this program will work but it is up to us to be very certain there are no hiccups down the road. I’m thinking that the entire affair is made of, and for the people but people en mass are the key. We must work hard to get the numbers up so when the time comes, we can fill that auditorium, that concert hall or whatever venue we have.
“To do this, lets establish a training program for our satellite managers. The program would involve the enrollment of trusted, new meditation practitioners whose task would be to get ever more people involved. I don’t think a few one thousand participant sessions will be enough.
“What about setting up some clandestine sessions in nondescript locations just to get more participants involved. It’s sort of like the domino effect. A hundred here and a couple of hundred there and set them up with a theme of ‘Tell Your Friends’ to join us. Even if they have never meditated before, they would get the feeling just by being there among those who do.”
Chad sold his ideas to the group and what followed were lots of new Zoom meetings and some quick thinking by certain managers. New locations were scouted and confirmed, and new teams of hard-working dedicated meditation practitioners were very busy. Chad suggested that parking could be an issue so therefore, participants should carpool or take a bus to the event.
Joice went even further and explained that an enclosed garage area on the premises for bicycles would be a great idea.
“If people could load up their bikes on their vehicles and then stagger their parking so as not to draw attention. Then, they could ride the rest of the way to the event and store their bikes in a safe place while at the event. Just an idea for now.”
The network of information that was the Dream House Project was not compartmentalized like secret societies and secret governments; it was open source to all insiders. Every team member knew not to speak to the public beyond the daily salutations and felicitations. Everyone working under Norman knew the value of their position and what the future would hold for the planet.
Breaking With the Old Ways
Norman searched inside for the strength to push forward but often felt a notion of fear pulling him back… luring him back to his weak and ineffective role as an accountant and enticing him to keep fear in his heart. He felt the uncertainty that tells us to hide under the bed in a fetal position… that we are a hopeless bunch who will never achieve anything of any substance.
With regular meditations together with the other three members, he easily overcame such mental nonsense and now saw himself as a very tall man. A man who would be remembered by his legacy of good and benevolence. This was his time and he loved it!
Before the next meeting, all four members felt a charge in the air as they entered the room. Norman was already standing at the podium and waved them in with a huge smile. Norman held out both arms in a hugging gesture and one-by-one, looked into the eyes of each of his friends.
Then he began.
“My friends, the time for action has arrived. Over the last ten months, we have made massive strides toward our mutual goal. What is that goal? To achieve a global connection for humanity and establish this as the new normal. A normal so powerful that no force, no matter how strong, will ever pierce the mantle of self-awareness, mindfulness, and peace we shall maintain for future generations to follow.
“The results of our work will eclipse those of individual meditations producing benefits that will endure through the ages. For far too long, this planet has suffered at the hands of those, who while inferior to us, have controlled our entire lives from birth to death.
“No longer will their noise and distraction have any effect on us. What we begin now will go into the history books and annals of human life for all of the time to come. Our embedded unity will thrive, and our tranquility will be amplified.
“The kernel of our group meditation, many hearts beating as one, will elevate our collective energy and our collective consciousness. Our shared journey will help others to shed judgement and embrace accountability, motivation, and a broad sense of community. We are all the same and yet all so very different. What one of us lacks, the other possesses but our humanity will be the glue, the unbroken adhesive energy that binds us as one. One species, one love.
Chad, Edna, and Joice sat motionless… stunned by Normans words. He continued.
“Our community awareness and the cultivation of all that is good is a power beyond reckoning. We shall break through the unseen barriers of doubt and uncertainty, and we must all realize that our collective liability represents a responsibility we all hold for each other.
“The cancerous form of capitalism that rules the world today will be disassembled and prevented from ever hurting anyone or anything on our planet ever again. Our connection to one another will be an unbroken circle of love and self-achievement. Looking back, we can see so many areas where we were prevented from moving forward naturally, where we see dropouts in the timeline. Intersections along the road of life where moving forward would have provided us with everything we could ever possibly imagine.
“Beginning now… right now, we shall no longer be herded in an unknown and uncertain direction; our grasp on the future is secure and our pathway shall not be controlled by evil forces whose nameless and faceless influence has been vanquished.
“Doors are opening all over the planet my friends. That which has been kept from us for thousands of years will be revealed and made available to all Terrans. “Let me give you some examples of what is to come. Space industrial manufacturing, medical procedures never before allowed and replicator technology that will end world hunger. Free power for global use; absolutely free. Waste product technology, and so much more.”
Then he stopped speaking and backed away from the podium. Walking around the podium, he came closer and said these words.
“All we want is the freedom to be who we are and to be left alone by unwelcomed forces. That’s really all there is to this project. I know we can be successful because those who came before us have already revealed their magnificent findings. Mass meditation works. Knowing this, just think about what we can do if we can patiently organize the largest meditation group ever assembled.
Building A Dream
During the next few months, all four founding members worked independently on their individual segments of the project. In that time, the Monday meetings were changed to evenings and consisted of meditation. They had begun the process with meditation, and they would end it with meditation. As such, the powerful effect they would create would grow exponentially.
Chad and Edna teamed up and began to research the growth of small business and how to franchise. They discovered how successful franchises have worked in the past and what barriers they had faced along the way. They kept the research notes in a binder that effectively became a booklet in its own right. Failure was not an option, so their work was drawn out of a period of six months. Meeting as many times as the cadence of the work required, they often met every day.
When they were absolutely certain they had a format for growth that would move the project forward without any concerns from those in the communities they had selected, they informed Norman who scheduled a Monday morning meeting to review their findings.
At this meeting they established a new timeline for opening groups of two satellite outlets at a time. Each pair would be a minimum of fifty miles apart from each other and each would carry a different logo and marquee out front. Everything all the way down to color schemes would be totally different.
Chad had set up a way for each to be a separate LLC with no legal attachment to any other business so each would appear to be a sole proprietorship in its own right.
They were collecting trusted contacts in the area of meditation. They would need these people as the project moved forward to get the word out and enroll more and more people as the venues grew. This was a highly important component of the project because they would need the numbers to grow the field of influence meditation would generate.
Edna came up with a new idea for a way to generate street level information.
“What if we had runners who we trusted as information collectors. Perhaps kids from some of the families we are already working with. Those young people would see changes in the adolescent behavior of their friends after each group meditation and I think it would help us as a sort of soft barometer as we go forward.
We can term them as ‘Runners’ in our records and use them as much as we can.”
Everyone liked this idea and asked Joice, who was the most charismatic one in the group, to help set this up. As it happened, the word spread and Joice acquired lots of help in the reporting of changes in the air as it were.
On the following Monday, they all met in the Dream House boardroom as Norman had some new thoughts he wanted to run by the group.
“We have done so well with our publishing firm, and this has provided us with the power to move ahead with our dreams. Therefore, while the satellite storefronts have all been relegated to various new and different names for obvious reasons I think the end result, the largest group meditation ever done on the planet should be called Dream House in honor of our beginnings. Then, the world will know our name and all the work we have done to get this project completed. As such, that would be a misnomer because at that point, the work had only just begun. The work of maintaining love and peace, self-achievement and unity across the globe and making sure it stays that way.” Norman finished.
Monitoring the Work
The next meeting was held in the auditorium at Dream House and was called by Chad who said he had some important information regarding monitoring the effectiveness of each group meditation session.
This time, Chad took the podium and began.
“Good morning, when a group of 100 participants all meditate on one thing… let’s say crime in their city, they will affect the numbers, and this is measurable. I now have a direct line with city records in our town and folks in those offices have agreed to collaborate with us on the project. Our city, as with every city in America, wants crime to be reduced and would like to eliminate crime completely. This is the same across the board. Every city keeps records, and they all know the daily, weekly, and monthly statistics on crimes committed.
“This morning, I have a special guest I want to introduce you to. He is a retired police officer and currently runs a detective agency. He is retiring next year, and he absolutely loves what I have told him about Dream House and the meditation project. His name is Dan Phelps, and he should be here soon.”
Chad’s phone rang and he said, “This should be him now.”
Mr. Phelps had agreed to call when he arrived at the building so Chad excused himself and went down to greet him.
Dan was a big man. He appeared gruff when folks met him for the first time but when he spoke, all that changed. He was one of those people everybody liked. He radiated all that was good as if there was something angelic inside his big body.
A few minutes later, Chad and Dan entered the room and Dan was formally presented to the group.
“My friends, say hello to Dan Phelps, or should I say Detective Dan Phelps!
Alright Mr. Phelps, tell us about yourself.”
Dan took the podium and looked out at all the empty seats. His eyes settled on the front row and the three most influential people he would ever behold.
“First, let’s dispense with the ‘Mr. Phelps Chad, my friends call me Dan and I am just an old man who has spent his entire life doing what you, my friends, are doing here. Reducing all types of crime in my city. I know I’ve made a difference with the work I have done, but I never dreamed I would be a part of eliminating crime completely and make no mistake, that is exactly what this project will do.
“I have been meditating for many years now and began doing that to relieve the stress of the job and that’s why I am here today to tell you that I know the Dream House Project will indeed be successful. Over the years, I thought about group meditations and always wondered how to organize such a thing because I knew way back then that it would achieve the goals I have always held. Those aspirations are what got me up each morning and back to work every day of my life. Helping people. Helping the innocent victims of all types of crime who should have never experienced the agony of lost family members. Sons and daughters; husbands and wives reduced to tears and broken lives at the hands of those twisted individuals who cannot control themselves.
“Looking back, I do not wonder why I never tried to do what you are doing now. Police work is so full of macho ideologize, angst, and trepidation that I might have been laughed out of my job and couldn’t let that happen. Now, here with you four wonderful people, I cannot tell you how truly excited I am to be a part of your organization.
“Let me tell you about my part of the group, my link in the chain if you will. For each group meditation, no matter how large, there will be an effect. I believe the larger the group, the larger the effect. We can measure these results. I have been doing this on a monthly basis for my entire career. Of course, the times have changed and with the advent of computers, many new doors have opened. The greatest of these is something called PACER. This is Public Access to Court Electronic Records.
“The PACER system is based on court records so will not be instantaneous. I have developed a program that utilizes various websites and databases. Some of these databases are currently used by law enforcement agencies and others were established by using my own sources. Without going too deeply into all this, the point is that I do have what might often be considered real time crime statistics and these are what I will be using during the weeks after each group meditation.
“What this boils down to is that when I refer to the PACER system, I am talking about all my sources and not only PACER.”
Dan turned to Chad who had been silently sitting behind him and asked what he would like to do next.
Chad knew the group would have questions, so they adjourned to the boardroom for coffee and talked over where to take the project next. Everyone had questions for Dan who patiently told them everything he knew and how his part in the project would work.
They all agreed that an accelerated schedule was the key to getting what they wanted out of the program so before long, the charter members all shook Dan’s hand and formally welcomed him into the group.
The Dream House project was growing but they had all agreed they needed more staff. This was the next phase, and they were steadily closing in on the big finale; the largest group meditation ever held on planet Terra.
From this time forward, all five members were busy around the clock, and it was mutually agreed that Zoom meetings would now be the norm. There was a feeling of excitement in the air, and they all felt it. They knew success was right around the corner and while they also knew the project would work, they wondered what the world would look like with little or no crime.
This was difficult to conceptualize because it had never happened before. The history of the planet was one war after another, but this was because people were influenced by those with hidden faces, hidden agendas, and hidden powers. Soon, humanity would break that pattern and there would be much to do to get the leadership in place to secure and protect the network of societal harmony.
It turned out that Dan had a lot of contacts. Good, valuable contacts. His police work for the city had led him through a maze if influential people in high places. Thirty years of service would pay off handsomely now.
They needed venues and had to begin to think big. Stadium big! Dan was close friends with the city manager and his wife. This was the time to reveal the Dream House project to others and they needed to be vetted and trusted individuals. With Dan’s contacts, they were all that and more. As they moved forward, they added more insiders, all of whom instantly became synchronously excited. The enthusiasm was building quickly.
Soon, Chad and Edna began meeting with Dan and Norman nearly every day and established a system for the acquisition of venues at a moment’s notice. They mapped out the county and located all the convention halls, auditoriums, and even outdoor venues for the summer months.
They set a plan in motion that would begin with venues seating for under two thousand people and wanted to work up to the biggest concert halls as they all knew that would come next.
Over the following six months, ten group sessions of just over two thousand people were held and crime statistics indicated drastic reductions in all types of crimes. Reports even came in from Joice’s runners about how kids they knew who normally started trouble were behaving like better people. Nobody questioned changes in demeanor or behavior but in groups and gatherings all over the county, they all noticed, and this is what the runners brought back to Joice and the group.
One of the kids used the term ‘Joice’s Warriors’ and it stuck. Joice’s Warriors were on a mission of peace and love, which was exactly what the project, and the planet needed.
Although they did not know it, several Governors had been speaking to each other about the crime statistics reports. At first, they couldn’t understand how such a significant drop in crime could happen all at once. Somebody dropped the name Dream House, and all the governors got the word. There was a new Sherriff in town, and he was making a huge difference. A Sherriff called Dream House which by now was Dream House Inc.
Runners and The Growing Staff
The Zoom meetings continued and included an increasing number of members. Venue owners, restauranteurs, security company owners, and even some of Dan’s friends who were also retired cops. They each contributed their ideas and facts which were discussed at length. The excitement went off the scale.
Those meetings, those people, and their collective knowledge, gave birth to an earth-moving evening all over the county. The crime records showed only a few crimes, none of which were dangerous. The most serious crimes reported were animal thefts and fender benders.
A massive set of Dream House group meditations was arranged, and each was held in venues of just over three thousand participants. These groups were held on the same evening. The stage was set for the largest group of participants.
Runners were reporting news vans in the parking lots when the sessions were over, and the crowd began to wander out to their vehicles. The local news stations, all of them, ran sizable segments saying that they had never seen so many people all in one place, all so happy and so full of love.
Two months passed until the super events. Football stadiums in multiple counties were courted and eventually contracted for an upcoming night. It would be the largest meditation ever held. Norman began to get calls from news agencies and governors assistants, and they all had the same questions. How did he do it and what were his plans for the future?
Norman was not ready to be a celebrity, nor was he willing to discuss the project until it had come to fruition. Life at Dream House slowly became a fight to maintain focus on the project while not alienating the media and the public. Chad set up a small motor pool consisting of nondescript cars and trucks that would fit in well with the daily traffic. The guys began to use the rear entrance to the building which was well concealed and led to an alley filled with trash cans and other serviceable items.
Meetings were held in person now as the big event drew near. Everyone who was a part of the stadium event planning team were always in attendance. It was decided that four stadiums would hold events simultaneously and after setting up the first one, a template for success was formulated to repeat the preparations for the other three.
While Norman and the crew had been working on the smaller, interim events, all the satellite meditation outlets had been busy with what they came to term ‘Silent Sessions.’ Those group meditations gave strength to the communities in which they were held as well as enrolling participants enough to fill stadiums.
One month later, Norman called a meeting to announce the stadium events. All managers, runners, and facilitators were present, and the dates and locations were announced. Also, Chad and Edna had been working behind the scenes with security firms that understood large events. Due to the peaceful nature of the sessions, there was an understanding that violence and bad behavior was doubtful, but they could not take any chances.
“Thank you all for coming.” Norman began. “A few years ago, Dream House began with an old typewriter and a few writers, all of whom loved to meditate. Today, we are about to change the world.
The air was filled with a charge as the big day approached. Everything was ready and Dream House staff as well as all those involved carried the excitement and the enthusiasm of the ages.
On the evening of the event as the sun began to set, the charter members along with Dan drove over to the closest stadium. They slowly walked around the parking lot greeting the smiling masses and chatting with those who wished to talk.
What everyone felt could scarcely be put into words. Norman’s group had reserved a stadium box where they too would participate in silent meditation with the other hundred thousand participants.
What developed that evening created a paradigm shift. The planet experienced the connection, unity, and shared energy that provided innumerable benefits far transcending those of solitary meditation. The precedent being set in motion would be a template for more and more similar events. Group meditations were shown to be extremely favorable in cultivating accountability as well as the overall motivation for entire cities.
The collective power and camaraderie inspired individuals to travel deeper into their collective meditation journey. This created a clearing for sustained mindfulness and personal growth. The biggest prize was the sense of purpose on Terra and a new pathway to self-discovery.
On the following morning, Norman received a direct line phone call from the Governor of his state. On that line were also three Senators from Washington. All of them wanted him to bring his crew and join them in Washington to learn how their template, the Dream House Project template, could be applied to all the continents on planet Terra. Unity was the foundation for life and love always carries the day.