I was reminded, just a moment ago, of a quote from the film Tuesdays with Morrie.
‘You can’t substitute material things for love or for gentleness or for tenderness or for a sense of comradeship. Money is not a substitute for tenderness, and power is not a substitute for tenderness’.
This made me think of you and so I am sending you sincere thanks for your friendship. Every time you open these emails, and take a moment to share and relate, it is a valued act of comradeship. Every comment left on Cygnus Books’ wordpress pages, in response to these emails, gifts me, and others walking the same sort of path, with an encouragement that really does make a difference. Only last week, Jenny Newton kindly left a supportive reminder of the Lionhearted Courage we each have in our hearts. It is vital to the social and spiritual evolution of our world to nourish and appreciate each other, to believe in one another and create, as a collective, a bright, positive perception of life. I want you to know that I believe in you. ‘Finding Joe’ is a DVD that will help you realise why I can say this and deeply mean it.
It doesn’t make a difference whether we’ve met or not
When we find the Hero or ‘Lionheart’ within, we begin to see beyond the limited perception of ego. Ego is a trickster that would have us set ourselves apart from each other. Trying to fool us that there is some sort of inner class divide, the ego creates pedestals and thrones and tells us that some people have ‘it’ and others just don’t and that this is what gets other people ahead in life. This is crazy thinking and it certainly doesn’t serve the greater good to think ourselves any bigger, smaller, higher, lower, more gifted or less gifted than anyone else. If you think that you need to be some sort of quantum physicist, acclaimed psychic or signed author to have a special message for the world, I am talking to you here and I strongly suggest you to watch ‘Finding Joe’ to set you straight on this because I’m not going to play it safe with words on this one and tone it down to maybes. You are a Hero and you do have a very special message for the world. That message is at your core. It is the truth of who you are and the truth of who I am. Raise your lion roar to your prankster ego and don’t allow it to stand between you and your truth, because the more Heros and Lionhearts that are realised and surfaced, the brighter the world perception gets. When you have that ‘a ha!’ moment and see your Hero within, you clearly recognise the Hero within every other person, this is when your message comes into play as you are now able to encourage others with sincerity of heart.
Why I’m going on about ‘Finding Joe’
When I escaped my toxic marriage in Sweden, a year and a half ago, I didn’t come home to Wales feeling like a victim. On the contrary, I was returning from my own Hero’s quest, or journey. Whenever I would try explaining this to concerned friends and families they were unconvinced (my attempt to liken my experiences to the adventures of Frodo or Luke Skywalker certainly didn’t help matters!). To help you understand how ‘Finding Joe’ has since helped me out with this, click here for TED’s five minute, animated account of the Hero’s journey. It was such a relief to discover ‘Finding Joe’, when Cygnus Books became its exclusive UK distributor, as this is a film all about the Hero’s journey which allowed me to say ‘there, see, that’s what I mean!’, with the added advantage of it inspiring the same resilience, and defiant contentment, in those I care about.
The DVD of course goes further into Joseph Campbell’s concept of a Hero’s journey, explaining the process so clearly, in a way that I would go so far as to say anyone could relate to (even Barack Obama who recently ordered his own copy!). A diverse cast of 20 visionaries help to describe the journey to us, talking from personal experiences, including Deepak Chopra, Mick Fleetwood, Tony Hawk, Laird Hamilton, Gay Hendricks, Sir Ken Robinson and Alan Cohen. This meeting of quite different personalities (e.g. spiritual bestselling author, rock star, skater, surfer and scholar) makes it something that people of all ages and backgrounds can relate to – a universal map of the Hero’s journey of self discovery.
If you watch it, you’ll go on about it too!
‘Finding Joe’ is quickly making its way through my motley crew of a family; in fact, I’ve just had my copy returned after lending it out. Maybe that’s why it came to mind when I began writing you this email. Like most families, mine has its fair shares of individual struggles right now, and yet I see such a positive change of energy and outlook on life in those who have watched it. They finally get why I really am okay, despite all the monsters I’ve had to face, and they are able to make the connection to their own lives and discover their own Hero within. So, you see, this is why I can’t stop ‘going on about it’ and why you will be the same once you’ve watched it!
Your call to adventure!
Here it is, the official trailer to ‘Finding Joe’.
If you dare take the first steps on your own Hero’s quest, you should know that Cygnus Books have it at a special price at the moment – with £5 off! It’s also worth remembering that, as a multibuy title, there will always be further savings for the copies you’ll want for family and friends too. Like your very own fellowship on your adventure, Cygnus Books are stepping forward with another mark of encouragement – they are going to give you free postage on any order of Finding Joe that you make this week (up until midnight, Tuesday 23rd April).
Happy watching and … ‘May the force be with you’!
One love,
