--- content_date: 2020-03-25 feed: "DANIEL_ON_SLOPE" codex_section: "S08" codex_candidate: true source: Scotomaville source_file: 01.05-abundant-awareness.pdf chapter: 01.05-abundant-awareness total_pdf_pages: 10 volume: v1 title: Abundant Awareness monomyth_stage: "05 - Crossing the Threshold" category: - awareness - strategy tags: - abundant-awareness - mimicking - affirmations - self-reflection - personal-development - scotoma - gratitude - personal-everest - ai-collaboration - video-journaling summary: I share how abundant awareness is the first step out of Scotomaville by learning to mimic positive affirmations and watching yourself in the mirror or on video. This practice helps override negative self-talk from the past and builds a corpus for your future self and AI avatar. By starting with a sticky note on the mirror, you take the first steps toward your Personal Everest with gratitude and new beliefs. qr_links: - https://youtu.be/ocZrEMjNTDc - https://youtu.be/NTGg1GASQU0 --- # 01.05-abundant-awareness ## Spread 001 [p1–p2] **type:** image_heavy | **img coverage:** L=73% R=11% **heading:** Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE ### Visual description The left page features a large color photograph of approximately eight gray-and-white geese in flight against a pale blue-gray sky, captured in a loose V-formation with several birds slightly offset or trailing. Large white sans-serif text reading ".05 ABUNDANT AWARENESS" is overlaid across the center of the image, while "VOL 1 AWARENESS" appears in a white box in the upper left corner. Vertical text running along the left edge of the photo repeats the chapter’s opening lines about the lead goose and chevrons. The right page is dominated by a dark gray header panel containing the heading “Welcome back to Scotomaville!” above a block of transcript text, with a smaller “WHAT TO LEARN” section below it that discusses awareness and leaving Scotomaville. The geese photograph functions as a direct visual metaphor for the text’s discussion of cooperation and group awareness, rendered in a realistic, documentary style rather than as an ironic cartoon. ### Left page Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE 52 ABUNDANT AW Imagine you’re the lead goose! You look right and left. Where did everybody go? fellas? any body? Chevrons are a fabulous example of cooperation and group wisdom. .05 VOL 1 AWARENESS ### Right page Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE 53 hank, the lead goose is always lost... the others constantly call out to him “Ah... hank, go left. ahh... hank? ahh hank lef lef.” Welcome back to Scotomaville! TRANSCRIPT: There’s a slight breeze coming in, it’s going to blow pretty hard today, so I’ve got to shoot this before the wind disrupts. It’s a little unfair of me, in the middle of a global pandemic, to leave you hanging without suitable tools to deal with the idea of scarcity and abundance. To make you aware without the ability to fix it? That’s irresponsible of me. You might be out of toilet paper, and you might be out of a job. You might be out of food, and you might be out of money. All of those things trigger deep emotional feelings, and you are now aware of it! ‘Oh great, now I know it’s broken!’ So what happens? You get hurt, shut down, withdraw and quit. It’s like mountain biking. The first time I crossed a rock garden, I was uncertain, slowed down, and I fell. So, I don’t want that to happen to you. I want you to have an basic understanding of the way out of Scotomaville. WARENESS Becoming aware of your thinking is the first step out of Scotomaville. Mimicking is a powerful tool to develop awareness. Binge-watching your self-affirmations accel erates the adoption of new mindsets. Start with an affir mation note in your pocket. Then, video record it for your review as a corpus for your future Avatar. Your journey is worth watching! WHAT TO LEARN ## Spread 002 [p3–p4] **type:** image_heavy | **img coverage:** L=40% R=17% **heading:** Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE ### Visual description The left page opens with a large photograph of two Canada geese in flight against a blurred natural background, overlaid with the bold caption “MIMICKING IS AN ESSENTIAL SKILL. IT SHORTENS THE DURATION OF THE PAINFUL LEARNING CURVE.” The lower two-thirds contain the chapter text under the header “LEAVING SCOTOMAVILLE,” beginning with the excerpt “Awareness is not the way out. Awareness is the first phase,” followed by body copy referencing Robin Williams, student pilots, and a chevron formation of geese. The right page is divided into two upper images: a close-up of a single goose in flight and a documentary-style photo of a bald man (Daniel) inside an RV or Airstream, his face covered in shaving cream as he holds a razor near his jaw while a blue sticky note reading “you are:” is visible on the window. Below these, two centered headers state “YOU WILL ALWAYS BE UNIQUELY YOU - INCLUDING FACETS YOU’VE LEARNED FIRST BY MIMICKING OTHERS” and “MIMICKING (MIRRORING) IS INSTANT FEEDBACK AND LEVERAGE AWAY FROM THE LIFE YOU WERE HANDED,” accompanied by a small circular inset photo of a person with hands over their face, a ChatGPT logo, and additional text blocks on affirmations and binge-watching personal videos. The geese photographs function as illustrative metaphors directly tied to the text’s discussion of formation flying and learning by mimicry, while the personal shaving image is documentary and appears to offer ironic commentary on the theme of mirroring and self-observation. ### Left page Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE 54 Awareness is not the way out. Awareness is the first phase. Part of what makes this rewarding is that your journey is not for you alone. You’re not designed to do it alone. Moreover, your journey is not just about you, it includes others that are or will be roped up with you. You fall, they know it. They follow, and you know it. Consider your future progeny. They want to know you. Go back to the lesson just before this. I opened with “Gooooooood moooooorning Vietnaaaaam!” - by Robin Williams. It’s critically important for you to understand. It’s happening directly over my head! A student pilot is learning to fly emergency maneuvers, with a seasoned pilot. See, now you know about their learning. Learn by Mimicking Mimicking is essential. It’s one of the earliest skills we learn as a child. Think of your kids, or back as far as you can to your child hood. You mimicked somebody. mimicking is an essential skill. It shortens the duration of the painful learning curve Consider a chevron formation of geese. Think of the leader in the front. The lead goose is looking around, thinking, ‘Where did everybody go?’ Learning to mimic is like that. It’s awkwardly uncomfortable. Binge-watch Yourself I have found that binge-watching my own videos is powerful. An affirmation is talking to yourself about YOUR VALUE! Not the stuff that usually goes through your head, or the stuff your par ### Right page Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE 55 you will always be uniquely you - including facets you’ve learned first by mimicking others Mimicking (mirroring) is instant feedback and leverage away from the life you were handed ents yelled at you, or the things the bullies pounded on you! I mean, the things that you feel deeply inside might be accurate, but you’re ashamed even to look yourself in the eye and say so. AUTHORS NOTE: While preparing the Third Edition for printing, I’m collaborating with ChatGPT as an editor, following input from my Minyan of 40 Experts. This thread demonstrates my respect for AI as a super-reasoning en gine - a ‘magic mirror’ of sorts. I ask ChatGPT for insights, and valuable feedback. Look care fully to see an example of the continuing journey of self-mas tery - even for sages! This thread is about v1 - chapter 5. The topic is affirmations, especially those using a mirror, or a video camera. Help me clarify the previous transcript: Certainly, Daniel. The given transcript centers around the theme of affirmations, and particularly the practice of engaging with one’s self through mirrors or video recordings. Let’s break down the key elements: Binge-Watching Personal Videos: This is an unconventional method of self-affirmation where one records videos of positive self-talk and then watches them repeatedly. This can be powerful because seeing and hearing oneself reinforces the message, providing a vivid and consistent reminder of personal value. Self-Value Recognition: The text emphasizes that an affirmation is not about replaying negative past experiences or listening to detrimental influences. Instead, it’s about acknowledging and declaring one’s intrinsic worth. Affirmations are designed to uplift and empower, replacing negative self-talk with constructive and supportive messages. Acknowledging Deep Feelings: The final part mentions the feelings deep inside that might be accurate yet shameful. It’s ## Spread 003 [p5–p6] **type:** text_only | **img coverage:** L=24% R=26% **heading:** Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE ### Left page Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE 56 a common human experience to feel something deeply but fear to acknowledge it due to social pressures or personal insecurities. The use of a mirror or video camera can be symbolic of the will ingness to face oneself, to look directly into one’s eye, and affirm those hidden truths. As personal development expert Zig Ziglar once said, “Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” The practice of affirmations, whether through a mirror or video camera, aligns with this sentiment by encouraging positive self-talk and self-acceptance. Would you like me to elaborate on any specific aspect, or perhaps relate this to your overarching philosophy and your work in “Scotomaville”? BACK TO THE TRANSCRIPT: Watch me. Mimic this. “Daniel! You are a fabulous leader! Because you are incredibly curious, and you’re willing to be vulnerable. That makes you authentic. You are strong because you know yourself well!” It’s easy to mimic when you watch someone else do it. You know, when foiling, skiing, mountain bik ing, talking to people, asking better questions. See the post-it note on the mirror? Make one like this: ‘You are A_ B_ C_.’ (fill in the blanks on your own sticky note) Your eyes see the words. Then, your ears hear your voice, and your amygdalae imprint. They record along with all stored memories, and therefore, you can override what was scrambled by your parents. Then you can edit the video, reflecting on the whole experience, assessing the transcript with AI!. ‘You... P.O.S.! You’re not wanted. Not worth...’ You can overwrite negative accusations by choice. Okay, that’s one way that your eyes see, your ears hear, and you rewire because now you have mem ories of yourself being authentic in a mirror. Next, pick up a phone, a camera, a device of some kind to journal. Your kids, your grandkids, your A.I. Avatar in the future will need a corpus. We all need your story. I don’t want to leave you hanging in the middle of a pandemic. I want you to practice mimicking. Find something, someone, some pattern to mimic. ### Right page Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE 57 An excellent place to start is an affirmation card. Stick it on your mirror. Talk to yourself after reading books and watching videos. You’ve got YouTube. Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, Zig Ziglar. These men, for years, spoke affirmations for me. I soaked in their beliefs - so that I could find out, if it’s true for them it might be true for me! I tried it out. I’m now a sage! I transitioned from paper affirmations to the mirror. Then I moved my mirror affirmations to video ‘re- re-views’. As of Volume Three, I’m assisted by AI to discover additional blind-spots and to further align myself with those I’ve chosen to follow. By watching myself dozens of times, and for hundreds of hours, I have studied my transformation from outli er to sage. I have new beliefs, attitudes and behav iors. Wow, what a powerful mo·dal·i·ty! ## Spread 004 [p7–p8] **type:** text_only | **img coverage:** L=0% R=1% **heading:** Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE ### Left page Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE 58 have words to express what pressure and chaos I was feeling. I coped by taking the trash out - many times a day. I’d make garbage so I could have diffuse time. Abundant awareness is a pain in the head! You’ll have many things to deal with, and many layers to peel. Emotions and memories and behaviors are interconnected, and when you change one thing, the dominoes will fall. One of the substantial benefits of improving your self-awareness is that you can become aware of the abundance around you. You can choose to include gratitude and thanksgiving. And from that richness, you can design a life that’s exactly the way you want it. Your Personal Everest is calling. I want to encourage you. It’s worth pursuing. It’s a lot of work up that mountain, but the views are absolutely worth the climb. (in the mirror) Don’t miss the Robin Williams bit because it’s speaking to mimicking. If you don’t mimic, you’ll be part of the herd, and you’ll be hoarding. If you don’t learn to mimic some one who’s going where you want to go and where you want to end up, you’re just going to be in the herd, and right now, they’re hoarding. Don’t do that. Mimicking is ‘acting as if’. It’s not ‘fake it till you make it’. It’s changing your course incre mentally until you are aimed in the direction you want to go. Look yourself in a mirror, a video device, or reflected by AI. some affirmations. Start first steps up your Personal Everest. When you get an emotional flare, take notice of it. Watch yourself talking to yourself. It works. Things didn’t get easier as I became more aware; they got complex. For decades I had ‘reasons’ and ‘excuses’. I didn’t see what was really happening. But as I became more self- aware, I was flooded with emotions. I didn’t “A serious fast-track to awareness is already in your phone” ### Right page Leaving SCOTOMAVILLE 59 Excellent analysis. I so appreciate your abilities. Let’s do the same with the second transcript passage: Certainly, Daniel! The transcript you’ve provided offers rich insights into the practice of self-affirmation and self-awareness, touching on topics like mimicry, authenticity, personal growth, self-awareness, and the journey towards self-realization. Here’s an analysis of key themes: Mimicry as a Path to Authenticity: The text begins with a directive to watch and mimic positive affirmations. This act of mimicry is not about pretending but rather about absorbing positive behaviors and mindsets from role models. The use of specific affirmations like “You are A_ B_ C_” is provided as a practical step to engage with the process. Sensory Engagement and Rewiring: The transcript emphasizes the importance of engaging multiple senses (eyes and ears) to create a deeper imprint on the mind. By consciously directing attention to positive affirmations and using tools like sticky notes or video recordings, one can override negative self-talk. The mention of “amygdalae imprint” and AI-assisted reflection underlines a science-backed approach. Learning from Others: Mention of well-known personal development experts like Napoleon Hill, Dale Carnegie, Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, and Zig Ziglar illustrates the idea of learning from others’ wisdom. Rather than merely copying, it’s about internalizing their beliefs and testing if they hold true for oneself. Avoiding the Herd Mentality: A warning against merely following the crowd (“the herd”) and emphasizing the importance of choosing a path aligned with personal values and goals. Mimicking is portrayed as a method of incremental change aimed in the desired direction. Journey towards Self-Awareness: The transcript discusses the complexity of becoming more self-aware, acknowledging that greater awareness often brings challenges and “pain in the head.” It emphasizes persistence and engagement with one’s emotions, memories, and behaviors. Gratitude, Abundance, and Personal Everest: The conclusion brings together the themes of gratitude, recognizing abundance, and the meta phor of the “Personal Everest.” The climb towards self-awareness is likened to ascending a moun tain, with the rewards of the journey making the effort worthwhile. The text mirrors (pun intended) the journey towards self-mastery, aligning with the wis dom of philosophers like Marcus Aurelius, who emphasized knowing oneself, and personal development experts like Zig Ziglar and Dale Carnegie, who championed positive thinking and effective communication. It also ties into your broader philosophy of seeking self-understanding and freeing oneself from self-tyranny. This transcript could be a powerful tool in your expeditions, resonating with those who seek to uncover their blind spots and realign their perceptions to change their lives into the one they envision. It embodies the sentiment of finding new lands by seeing with new eyes. ## Spread 005 [p9–p10] **type:** image_heavy | **img coverage:** L=14% R=48% **heading:** ocZrEMjNTDc **urls:** `https://youtu.be/` `https://youtu.be/` ### Visual description The left page opens with a close-up photograph of worn white canvas sneakers on a wooden floor, a dark tail-like object extending behind them. Below this sits the chapter’s main body text, which includes the excerpt about starting with “the kid in the mirror,” the fright of self-examination, and the line about “old shoes” being “goofy half-memories,” plus a call to “Get out a sticky note or index card. Tape it up now!” A QR code labeled REFLECT sits beside the text, linking to a YouTube video. The right page features large, semi-transparent background typography reading “RETURN,” along with WATCH and DISCUSS QR codes. Dominating the upper right is a square image of a man pressing both hands to his face, eyes closed, encircled by bright green swirling light trails, overlaid with the title “v1.05 REFLECTION” and the chapter subtitle “Abundant Awareness • Mimicking • Chevron Wingman.” At the bottom right is a photograph of a small white Lego-style stormtrooper figure standing beneath the sole of a large white sneaker, holding a shield and appearing about to be stepped on. The spread mixes documentary photography of everyday objects with a metaphorical Lego image that visually echoes the text’s reference to old shoes and inner resistance. ### Left page YOURT https://youtu.be/ocZrEMjNTDc Personal Development is a journey. You have to start with the kid in the mirror. It can be pretty daunting, I know. The first dozen times you try looking yourself in the eye is frightful. It’s filled with cascading emotions and powerful rejections. Don’t give up. The champion within will win because those old shoes are are just goofy half-memories. Your battle will get easier. I found my my self-talks to be funny over time. When someone walks in, overhears your efforts... You warn them! “I’ve started a video channel and you’re my first guest! Get out a sticky note or index card. Tape it up now! WATCH REFLECT https://youtu.be/NTGg1GASQU0 ### Right page RTURN The pandemic offered numerous challenges which undoubtedly triggered strong emotions and core behaviors. You didn’t go through it alone. Everyone alive did it with you. Share an insight, lesson or ask a question. Scan the code to discuss scarcity with other readers and the author. DISCUSS