Hello Everyone!

Suddenly today, this afternoon, it occured to me that it was time to get some new projects going. And so here I am, with questions:

• Are you up for a new series of projects designed to create prosperity and happiness in your life?
• Are you ready to try new things, think new thoughts, open new doors? I know I am.

What I have in mind for this year is something a little bit different. I'd like to share my journey, invite you along with me as I explore ideas and concepts that appeal to me. Where do I want to start? Hmmm... I think I'd like to start with The Lord of the Rings. That's where I start every year - so it feels appropriate and right to begin there.

What the heck does the Lord of the Rings have to do with prosperity? How can it possibly be a "project" to test and explore? Good questions! And the answer is, I'm not entirely sure. I do have a good start point though, and for now that's good enough for me.

Here's what got me started:

• I realized that it was important to be able to set goals and achieve them - so I thought we should do a project on "goal setting" and I collected a bunch of information.
• Then we did The Oculatum project and the phrase"Know first your path" really jumped out at me. How could I possibly set goals when I didn't know, or have a pretty clear idea, what my path was.
• Mulling over the question of what my path was, lead me not to the answer, but to another even better question... "Who am I?"  
• And that question takes me to The Lord of the Rings.

Every year, on New Year's Day, I have a practice of watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy, from start to finish, all three DVD's (the extended version,  naturally), and while I'm watching, I'm asking myself the following questions:

• If the Lord of the Rings was real life, and I was a character in it, which character would I be? Sometimes the answers are surprising!
• And then I spend a fair amount of time thinking about which character would I want to be.
• And asking myself, how could I go about creating a real life, in which I live large, where I create myself to be that character?
• Finally, I make a commitment that for the next year, I will do my best to be as much like that character as I possibly can.

And so that's how The Lord of the Rings fits into this project. I'd like to suggest that we explore who it is we are in this life, and who we would want to be if we only could. If you already know who you are, and if you are already satisfied with who you are in the world, and there's no one else you'd like to be like, then this project probably isn't for you. On the other hand, if you feel that there is more to you than meets the eye, if you aren't living your life as freely, or as expressly, or as largely as you'd like... feel free to join in.

It's not important that you be a Lord of the Rings fan, nor do you even have to watch that particular movie. I do, however, plan to use movies and books to inspire myself, to inspire you, to think outside the box, to look past perceived limitations, and claim something bigger.

Each movie that you watch from now on, each book that you read from now on, can be a part of this project, if you use it to ask yourself these questions:

1. If my life was this book, or this movie, which character would I be playing right now?
2. Which character would I want to be playing?
3. Why? And how can I begin to do just that?
4. How can I bring those qualities, that persona into my current, everyday life?

If you are interested in joining in, sit down with your favorite book, rent a great movie, and start thinking about it. Tomorrow I'll be posting about who it is that I plan to "be" this year... and looking for ideas on how to "be" that. I'll also be asking who it is that you want to "be" this year... and I'll be happy to share any ideas I might have on how you can "be" that.

In the days to come, we'll explore Mordor - Mount Doom - and the Ring of Power... who or what that is for me... who and what that represents to you. We'll talk about archetypes and other movies and books that have made an impression on me, and I'll be asking you for movies and books that have made an impression on you.

I'm hoping you'll join me... and that we'll create a Fellowship of sorts.