Michael Jackson and Creative Visualization – Shakti Gawain – 1978.

The first impression this book generates is that you can feel, from the first words, the enormous humility of the author.

Imagination is the ability to create an idea, a mental picture, or a feeling sense of something. In creative visualization you use your imagination to create a clear image, idea, or feeling of something you wish to manifest. Then you continue to focus on the idea, feeling, or picture regularly, giving it positive energy until it becomes objective reality… in other words, until you actually achieve what you have been imagining.

At the beginning of the book, Shakti reminds us of the basics of visualization such as repetition, relaxation, open mind and heart, the exactness of the details of the goal we want to achieve, and that it is only necessary to have the desire to live new experiences.
Then, she reminds us of the fundaments of energy: that the Universe is built with energy, which is magnetic. That this energy follows thoughts and that we attract what we think we are and deserve.

The process of change does not occur on superficial levels, through mere “positive thinking.” It involves exploring, discovering, and changing our deepest, more basic attitudes toward life.

With Shakti, we learn, again, the basics of visualization. She talks about clear goals, mental images and feelings, the focus, and the energy we want to surround our visualization with.
The author talks about something important: the possible use of creative visualization to harm other people. She kindly reminds us that the Law of Karma returns multiplied the intention that has been sent.

As you sow, so shall you reap

Reading this book, I came across something I needed to read. The spiritual paradox of having a purpose but, at the same time, letting it go. I have never been able to remove the need for some control. Fear, I suppose. Shakti offers us a wonderful metaphor that is incredibly useful for understanding the why of this paradox and the reason why it is not even a paradox. I will not share it here with you because you must discover it for yourself. I’ll only tell you what it has to do with the flow of water..

Fortunately, creative visualization is such an innately powerful process than even five minutes of conscious, positive meditation can balance out hours, days, even years of negative patterns.

The third part of the book is a compilation of creative visualization techniques. But before, in the second part, the author reminds us of a few more principles that, in summary, are the following:
Make creative visualization a habit, a part of your daily life,
Read (a lot),
To have friends and companions with the same mentality as yours,
Choose the creative visualization technique that best suits the moment you are experiencing and the state of mind in which you sit,
Create a fluid relationship with your higher self,
First BE, then DO, and finally, you’ll HAVE,
When you desire something with all your strength, you firmly believe that you are going to manifest it and are willing to accept it, here, at that moment, you are sending to the Universe a powerful Intention. Your goal will manifest itself before your eyes.
Flow, flow, flow,
Have a mentality of prosperity,
Know that you are worthy of the good that will come to you,
Every time you receive, give,
And finally, heal yourself.

We need to realize that after our basic needs are met, the experience of abundance has more to do with expressing our creative gifts in satisfying ways, and learning to give and receive in a balanced way.

In short, this is a highly recommended book for beginners on creative visualization and manifestation. It is simple, direct, and very, very practical. It is nice to read, and the chapters are short and direct.

I’m convinced that Michael loved this beautiful book and read it in the blink of an eye. By the way, the author has about a million books written on these topics and I’m glad I found out about her thanks to Michael.

Thank you, my King, for making my life more beautiful. Once again.

Remember to like this article if you like it and leave a kind comment!!

#creativevisualization #shaktigawain #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson #themostbeautifulsmileintheworld

Michael Jackson and The Greatest Salesman In The World – Og Mandino – 1968.

I want to be like Hafid. When you read his overcoming story about how he climbed the mountain of life to be great, you can only think of doing everything the scrolls say to become as great and, at the same time, as humble as Hafid is. The greatest and humblest person who started very modestly… It’s a familiar description, isn’t it? It’s Michael’s exact description.

The story is very, very short. Too short. Like all the stories set in the East, it is a magical world to which we are always happy to return. As if we returned home after a time away. It is familiar, warm, and welcoming. Through the pages, you can smell the scent of incense. You can hear the echo of Hafid’s footsteps among the onyx columns. You are thrilled to discover the mystery that encloses the treasure chest.

The story itself is the chest that guards the wisdom contained in the scrolls. These, little by little, unfold before our very eyes pearls of timeless wisdom. A wonder to put into practice and pass on to our children.

Next, Dear Reader, I offer you a small aperitif from each of the scrolls. Please enjoy it.

Scroll 1:

Today I begin a new life.

Yet I will not fail, as the others, for in my hands I now hold the charts which will guide me through perilous waters to shores which only yesterday seemed but a dream.

My bad habits must be destroyed and new furrows prepared for good seed. I will form good habits and become their slave.

Eventually I will find myself reacting to all situations which confront me as I was commanded in the scrolls to react, and soon these actions and reactions will become easy to perform, for any act with practice becomes easy.

Today my old skin has become as dust. I will walk tall among men and they will know me not, for today I am a new man, with a new life.

Scroll 2:

I will greet this day with love in my heart.

I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars.

I will welcome happiness for it enlarges my heart; yet I will endure sadness for it opens my soul.

I will love the kings for they are but human; I will love the meek for they are divine. I will love the rich for they are yet lonely; I will love the poor for they are so many.

From this moment all hate is let from my veins for I have not time to hate, only time to love.

Scroll 3:

I will persist until I succeed.

I am a lion and I refuse to talk, to walk, to sleep with the sheep.

I will be liken to the rain drop which washes away the mountain; the ant who devours a tiger; the star which brightens the earth; the slave who builds a pyramid.

Nor will I allow yesterday’s success to lull me into today‟s complacency, for this is the great foundation of failure.

So long as there is breath in me, that long will I persist.

Scroll 4:

I am nature’s greatest miracle.

I am rare, and there is value in all rarity; therefore, I am valuable. I am the end product of thousands of years of evolution; therefore, I am better equipped in both mind and body than all the emperors and wise men who preceded me.

I can accomplish far more than I have, and I will, for why should the miracle which produced me end with my birth? Why can I not extend that miracle to my deeds of today?

There is no room in the market place for my family, nor is there room in my home for the market. Each I will divorce from the other and thus will I remain wedded to both. Separate must they remain or my career will die. This is a paradox of the ages.

Scroll 5:

I will live this day as if it is my last.

This day is all I have and these hours are now my eternity. I greet this sunrise with cries of joy as a prisoner who is reprieved from death.

I have but one life and life is naught but a measurement of time. When I waste one I destroy the other.

And if it is my last, it will be my greatest monument. This day I will make the best day of my life. This day I will drink every minute to its full. I will savor its taste and give thanks. I will maketh every hour count and each minute I will trade only for something of value.

Scroll 6:

Today I will be master of my emotions.

All nature is a circle of moods and I am a part of nature and so, like the tides, my moods will rise; my moods will fall.

I will learn this secret of the ages: Weak is he who permits his thoughts to control his actions; strong is he who forces his actions to control his thoughts.

Henceforth I will recognize and identify the mystery of moods in all mankind, and in me. From this moment I am prepared to control whatever personality awakes in me each day. I will master my moods through positive action and when I master my moods I will control my destiny.

Scroll 7:

I will laugh at the world.

I will smile and my digestion will improve; I will chuckle and my burdens will be lightened; I will laugh and my life will be lengthened for this is the great secret of long life and now it is mine.

I will paint this day with laughter; I will frame this night in song. Never will I labor to be happy; rather will I remain too busy to be sad.

Never will I allow myself to become so important, so wise, so dignified, so powerful, that I forget how to laugh at myself and my world.

Scroll 8:

Today I will multiply my value a hundredfold.

If it is possible for leaves and clay and wood and hair to have their value multiplied a hundred, yea a thousandfold by man, cannot I do the same wi th the clay which bears my name?

The height of my goals will not hold me in awe though I may stumble often before they are reached. If I stumble I will rise and my falls will not concern me for all men must stumble often to reach the hearth. Only a worm is free from the worry of stumbling.

I will commit not the terrible crime of aiming too low.

I will do the work that a failure will not do.

I will always let my reach exceed my grasp.

I will never be content with my performance in the market.

I will always raise my goals as soon as they are attained.

I will always strive to make the next hour better than this one.

I will always announce my goals to the world.

Yet, never will I proclaim my accomplishments.

Scroll 9:

I will act now.

My procrastination which has held me back was born of fear and now I recognize this secret mined from the depths of all courageous hearts.

I will not avoid the tasks of today and charge them to tomorrow for I know that tomorrow never comes.

When the lion is hungry he eats. When the eagle has thirst he drinks. Lest they act, both will perish.

I hunger for success. I thirst for happiness and peace of mind. Lest I act I will perish in a life of lure, misery, and sleepless nights.

Scroll 10:

Who is of so little faith that in a moment of great disaster or heartbreak has not called to his God?

Never will I seek delivery of gold, love, good health, petty victories, fame, success, or happiness. Only for guidance will I pray, that I may be shown the way to acquire these things, and my prayer will always be answered.

Oh creator of all things, help me. For this day I go out into the world naked and alone, and without your hand to guide me I will wander far from the path which leads to success and happiness.

(…)

Let me become all you planned for me when my seed was planted and selected by you to sprout in the vineyard of the world.

Help this humble salesman.

Guide me, God.

Amen!

A few years ago, I read this book and, I have to admit, it didn’t catch my eye. I liked the story of Hafid’s life, but the theme of the scrolls bored me. Now, with more years on my shoulders and looking at it from Michael’s perspective, I’ve enjoyed it more and understood the part of the scroll better. Actually, I have begun the reading three times a day as recommended by Scroll 1. Have YOU, Dear Reader, already read this book? If yes, have you read a scroll every month? What did you get? Leave your story in the comments!

#ogmandino #thegreatestsalesmanintheworld #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson

MICHAEL JACKSON AND THE GIFT OF ACABAR – OG MANDINO – 1978.

“Books, Pedar, books! Great minds.”

Og Mandino has blessed us with this story about pain, grief, physical, and emotional pain; ultimately about loss. But also, he gave us a jewel about true power and Free Will.

“There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage.” -Seneca.

It is a story of resilience, generosity, and how to face adversity with courage. The story shows how to accept our talents and, also, how to appreciate the most precious treasure for all: our lives.
This is a tale about how a miracle happened to deliver a gift and thus produce another miracle. This is all about Credenda.

“Although there have been millions, through the centuries, who have used their power wisely, the majority choose to spend so much of their precious allotment of life feeling sorry for themselves that they have no time to enjoy the paradise that was created here.”

But what is Credenda? I could transcribe Credenda right here and you would have the Gift, forever. Though it’s worth every second you dive deep into the pages of this wonderful story.

I am certain that Michael took a great delight reading this beautiful tale. He loved to contemplate the sky and, for sure, he also dreamed to be like Tulo. His imagination would soar without limits and, I am convinced, he would spend hours dreaming of talking about life and the Eternity with Acabar.

“Ah, but you do, little man! Along with the power of choice, you received the most precious gift our Creator can bestow: the spark of life. With it came an obligation to apply your special talents, whatever they may be, to leave this world a better place than you found it. Billions of humans have failed in this obligation and wasted their lives. On the other hand, if you use your talent and repay your debt.”

#ogmandino #thegiftofacabar #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson

Michael Jackson and The Power Of Positive Thinking – Dr. Norman Vincent Peale – 1952.

With the promise of a life full of peace of mind and incessant flow of energy and blessings, Dr. Norman Vincent Peale gives us a book with simple principles based on Verses, Psalms and Prayers.
As I read it, I felt at every moment that Michael must have felt very comfortable with Dr. Peale’s personality. His kindness is palpable, his faith in God unwavering, and his desire to help, huge.
I share with you as always in this type of book, a very small dose of its principles, in this case, every Verse in the book.

1-Believe In Yourself.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13).

According to your Faith be it unto you (Matthew 9:29).

If ye have Faith… nothing shall be impossible unto you (Matthew 17:20).

If God be for us, who can be against us? (Romans 8:31).

The Kingdom of God in within you (Luke 17: 21).

2-A Peaceful Mind.

Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).

3-How To Have Constant Energy.

But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and the shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:30).

He giventh power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength (Isaiah 40:29).

In him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28).

I am come that they might have life, and they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

4-Try Prayer Power.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).

If two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in Heaven (Matthew 18:19).

According to your Faith be it unto you (Matthew 9:29).

What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them (Mark 11:24).

5-How To Create Your Own Happiness.

He that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast (Proverbs 15:15).

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24).

In him was life; and the life was the light of men (John 1:4).

6-Stop Fuming And Freetting.

Fret not thyself (Psalm 37:1).

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you (John 14:27).

Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest awhile (Mark 6:31).

He leadeth me beside the still waters (Psalm 23:2).

The peace of God which passeth all understanding (Philippians 4:7).

A thousand years in Thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night (Psalm 90:4).

I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my help (Psalm 121^th).

Come unto me, all ye that labor, and the heavy landen, and I will give you rest (Matthew 11:28).

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid (John 14:27).

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee (Isaiah 26:3).

7-Expect The Best And Get It.

If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark 9:23).

If ye have Faith… nothing shall be impossible unto you (Matthew 17:20).

According to your Faith be unto you (Matthew 9:29).

If God be for us, who can be against us (Romans 8:31).

Have Faith in God for verily I say unto you that whosoever shall say unto this mountain be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea and shall no doubt in his heart but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass, he shall have whatsoever he said (Mark 11:22-23).

8-I Don’t Believe In Defeat.

I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13).

9-How To Break Worry Habit.

For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me (Job 3:25).

But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13-14).

10-Power To Solve Personal Problems.

Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18:20).

If ye have Faith as a grain of mustard seed… nothing shall be impossible unto you (Matthew 17:20).

According to your Faith, be it unto you (Matthew 9:20).

11-How To Use Faith In Healing.

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).

In Him we live and move and have our being (Act 17:28).

12-When Vitality Sags, Try This Health Formula.

Anger is an emotion […] Therefore to reduce an emotion, cool it.

Say aloud to yourself “Don’t be a fool. This won’t get me anywhere, so skip it.”

Say 10 times “Our Father who art in Heaven, hallowed by Thy name.”

Make a list of everything that irritates you […] to dry up the tiny rivulets that feed the great river of anger.

Make each separate irritation a special object of prayer.

Ask yourself “Is this really worth what it is doing to me emotionally?”

When a hurt-feeling situation arises, get it straigthened out as quick as possible.

Apply greivance drainage to your mind.

Star praying for the person who has hurt your feelings.

Say “May the Love of Christ fill my heart. May the Love of Christ for -insert the other’s name- flood my Soul.

Take the advice of Jesus to forgive seventy times seven.

Allow Jesus Christ to take control.

13-Inflow Of New Thoughts Can Remake You.

The Lord is the strength of my life… in this will I be confident (Psalm 27:1-3).

And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive them (Matthew 21:22).

He leadeth me in the path of righteousness (Psalm 23^rd).

Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts (Isaiah 55:7).

Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free (John 8:32).

14-Relax For Easy Power.

Do all things through Christ (Philippians 4:13).

Eye hath not seen, not ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (I Corinthians 2:9).

15-How To Get People To Like You.

If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men (Romans 12:18).

And whosoever will not receive you, when ye go out of that city, shake off the very dust from your feet for a testimony against them (Luke 9:5).

16-Prescription For Heartache.

Eye hath not seen, not ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him (I Corinthians 2:9).

Because I live… Ye shall live also (John 14:19).

Why seek ye the living among the death (Luke 24:5).

If it were not so, I would have told you (John 14:2).

17-How To Draw Upon That Higher Power.

Hast Thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the Earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? There is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youth shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall. But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint (Isaiah 40:28-30).

According to your Faith it be unto you (Matthew 9:29).

When you read this book, you realize that the solutions Dr. Peale proposes are sometimes too simple. Especially for someone like Michael, who had a complex life. Although I do believe that our King, as a Bible student he was, was comforted and encouraged to read something he already knew: the Holy Book is a manual for life, and that its Verses can bring comfort and focus in times of mental chaos.
That was a little tiny look at the book, but I hope these Verses and Psalms will help you find some serenity.

If you liked this article, please like it and leave a beautiful comment, THANX!!

#thepowerofpositivethinking #normanvincentpeale #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson #themostbeautifulsmileintheworld

Michael Jackson and Songs My Mother Taught Me – Marlon Brando – 1994.

From the first few pages, dear Reader, you can understand why Michael and Marlon were friends. Both were united by great intelligence, a humble character, a love for the simple details of life, and hard childhoods. As you know, our King had a childhood as a child star, but Marlon had alcoholic parents. Michael and Marlon were children eager to have a normal childhood, thirsty for love and attention. Like Michael, Marlon searched for love his whole life.

Marlon’s inner world was composed of smells and sounds; he also had the eyes of a painter. He was an extremely sensual man, all his senses were hyper-developed.

“Cows have very sweet breath because of the hay that they eat, and I felt the warmth from it.”

Marlon tells his life story without complexes, without omitting faults or stupidities, without modesty, but with enormous humility. It’s been both sad and fun sailing through Marlon’s life. He alternates his memories with the letters he wrote to his family, many of them unanswered. It feels like his words were thrown into the void.

The book is full of sexual anecdotes and comic situations with which you laugh until you cry. Doing this Marlon gives, with one hand, morbidity; this is the bait… But, with the other hand, to delight the intelligent Readers and to awaken the asleep ones, Marlon exposes his deepest thoughts, his activism, he tells us as the human being let him down, again and again, his profound concerns about real problems (of which he was very conscious), and the human misery with which he came across. Marlon talks about his relationship with Native Americans, Jews, Blacks and his experience with the Mafia when he shot The Godfather.
His words are the same words that could have come out of Michael’s mouth. Marlon suffered from seeing people suffer, especially children, and he tried to help with everything he owned. I can imagine these two great men chatting with a straight face about all these subjects.

He dazzles us when he shows us his mastery as an actor. His words confirm to us that for him acting was as easy as breathing.
In every film he made, he was engaged 100%. He even rewrote scripts to better fit what he knew was best for his character. By doing this, he got his movies to a higher level. But for him, acting didn’t have the slightest excitement because the reality of his life was beyond fiction.

Marlon tells things as he sees or feels them. He cares very little about what the Reader may think of his words. Quite naturally, he tells us the rottenness behind the entertainment business, how actors were damaging each other. Michael mentions this in his book “Moonwalker” and how Marlon explained to him that it was a common practice among actors. As an example, Marlon tells us about the movie “The Teahouse Of The August Moon.” In this movie, he and Glenn Ford ruined the movie because of Ford’s caprices and Marlon’s reactions to them. Marlon couldn’t stand haughty and capricious people and reveled in putting them in their place.

“Politicians are among our most flashy and worst actors.”

But definitely my favorite part, and probably yours too, is when Marlon talks with love and passion about Tahiti and Teti’aroa, his island:

“The lagoon was about five miles across at its broadest point and infused with more shades of blue than I thought possible: turquoise, deep blue, light blue, indigo blue, cobalt blue, royal blue, robin’s egg blue, aquamarine. As I admired this astonishing palette, several flawless, white, flat-bottomed clouds rolled past me at about two thousand feet, as if they were on parade and I were on a reviewing stand. A shadow fell across the island briefly, then moved on, and the sun shone again like satin on the riotous colors of the lagoon. It was magical.”

“I’ve looked on Teti’aroa as a laboratory where I could experiment with solar power, aquaculture and innovative construction methods. I built one of the first sawmills in Polynesia that could turn coconut trees into lumber, and felt a great sense of accomplishment. I savor the smallest details on the island. Once I filled a hundred-foot-long piece of galvanized pipe with water, left it in the sun and produced steam through solar heating, which was very satisfying. Even the least achievement on Teti’aroa delights me. One of my most rewarding triumphs was to restore a rusted two-inch iron plug for a pipe. The salt air had corroded it so much that the threads seemed to be gone. I rubbed and rubbed it with a wire brush but couldn’t dent the thick crust of oxidized metal. Then I remembered having read somewhere that lemon juice helped dissolve rust because of its high acid content. I picked a few limes off a tree, squeezed the juice, mixed it into a slurry with salt and rubbed it on the fitting. The acid ate through the rust and made the plug shine, revealing the lost threads. What a wonderful feeling! It was a small thing that gave me great happiness.”

“If I have my way, Teti’aroa will remain forever a place that reminds Tahitians of who they are and what they were centuries ago—and what, I’m convinced, they still are today despite the missionaries and fast-buck artists, a place where they can recreate and procreate and find enjoyment without being exploited by outsiders. I would like the island to become a marine park with technological systems that can help provide its inhabitants with more food. Because the population is growing rapidly, they will have to find ways to increase the yield of their land and lagoons. If I can do this, it will give me more pleasure and satisfaction than any acting I have ever done.”

There’s one thing Marlon says I don’t agree with. He thought actors aren’t artists. I disagree. The actors ARE artists and he was, he is still, one of the GREATEST of all time. Like Michael, Marlon is Immortal.

“I can finally be the child I never had a chance to be.”

Here, I leave you a link to his very first film: “The Men.” Enjoy!!

Dear Reader, thank you for reading this article. If you liked it, please give it a LIKE and SUBSCRIBE. Thanx!!!

#marlonbrando #songsmymothertaughtme #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson

Michael Jackson and Kids At Work, Lewis Hine And The Crusade Against Child Labor – Russell Freedman – 1994.

It is a sad book to start the new year, I know, but I have felt the strong need to read it. I apologize in advance if the book or my words make you cry. This book broke my heart.

It is a literary work that is both touching and horrifying. Without drawing attention to himself at any point in the book, Freedman tells Lewis Hine’s story. A humble and simple man who was a hero.

Fate put a camera in the hands of Lewis and granted him the purpose of showing the world what no one wanted or could see: children working as adults for low incomes and in unhealthy conditions.
Of course, this phrase is a euphemism. Even in those years, some people clearly called it child slavery.

“To see is to believe,” Lewis said. For this reason, starting from 1908, he and his camera began touring the United States to collect photographic evidence of these abuses for the National Child Labor Committee.

Hine was not against small jobs after school or summer (I think we all have had these kinds of jobs being minor) nor against jobs where children were apprentices. He fought against child exploitation. He said: “There is work that profits children, and there is work that brings profit only to employers. The object of employing children is not to train them, but to gain high profits from their work.“

Hine had to go deep into the lion’s den, lying about his true purpose. The foremen and employers hid the children, they did not want snoops who could report that mutilations, diseases, and even death were daily bread within the walls of their factories, mines, sweatshops, and factories.

In the cotton factories, a boy was lucky if he lived to be twenty years old (the girls lived even less) because, literally, they breathed cotton dust.
Hine comments: “A twelve-year-old doffer boy fell into a spinning machine, and the unprotected gearing tore out two of his fingers. ‘We do not have any accidents in this mill,’ the overseer told me. Once in a while, a finger is mashed or a foot, but it doesn’t amount to anything.’“



In the canneries, children from the age of six were in charge of opening oysters and peeling prawns. Opening an oyster requires a force that a child (and many adults) does not have, so they ended up with swollen and bloody little fingers.



In the mines, Hine himself saw children die: “While I was there, two breaker boys fell or were carried into the coal chute, where they were smothered to death.“

In the glasshouses, the temperature was so high that the children fell exhausted. Also, they had eye issues because of the brightness of the glass in the ovens. A longtime worker said: “I would rather send my boys straight to hell than send them by way of the glasshouse.“



Hine also spoke and took pictures of children working on the street: shoe shiners, newspaper sellers, and nomadic workers on farms and cotton fields…


“Tiny bits of humanity picking cotton in every field“, said Hine.

The United States Children’s Bureau was established in 1912. Although very slowly, thanks to the pictures of Hine people became aware of this abusive situation. But children had to wait until 1924 for adults to decide to create the following meager Declaration of the Rights of the Child:

1. The child has to be provided with the means necessary for his normal development, both material and spiritual.
2. The hungry child must be fed, the child who is sick must be nursed, the child that stays behind must be helped, the child offender must be recovered, and the orphan and the abandoned must be protected and rescued.
3. The child should be the first to receive relief in times of distress.
4. The child must be able to earn a living and must be protected against all forms of exploitation.
5. The child must be educated in the awareness that his talents must be devoted to the service of his fellows.

From 1916 to 1948, there was a lot of tug-of-war between The National Child Labor Committee/United States Children’s Bureau and groups that wanted to continue using children as cheap and easily replaceable labor. Only in 1930, things moved a little more in favor of children thanks to the Great Depression. Adults began to compete with children for those jobs and replaced them. The situation started to change.
But, again, the children had to wait until 1959 for new ten rules to be drafted:

1. The right to equality, without distinction as to race, religion, or nationality.
2. The right to special protection for the physical, mental, and social development of the child.
3. The right to a name and nationality from birth.
4. The right to adequate food, housing, and medical care.
5. The right to education and special treatment for children with mental or physical disabilities.
6. The right to understanding and love of parents and society.
7. The right to leisure activities and free education.
8. The right to be among the first to receive assistance in all circumstances.
9. The right to protection against any form of neglect, cruelty, and exploitation.
10. The right to be raised in a spirit of understanding, tolerance, friendship among peoples, and universal brotherhood.

These ten points improved the situation a little. They recognized the right of the child to education, to love, and to a name. On the positive side, before these rules got created, there was nothing to protect children. They arrived many years after Hine took his photos, but thanks to him and the people who fought for children’s rights, at least some minds got opened, and those few rules got written.

But a Declaration is only an act of goodwill. It does not compel to obey, even if it has been signed.

Dear Reader, I am convinced that you have realized that in none of these fifteen rules the child is acknowledged as a human being. Indeed, until 1990, there was no real obligation to treat children with the respect they deserve as human beings. From a subjective perspective, those of us born before 1990 were born without rights; only the ten rules protected us. Fortunately, in 1989, the Convention on the Rights of the Child containing 54 Articles was created and signed. Although it did not enter into force until almost a year later, it demands obedience from those who signed it. Here is a PDF with all the articles: http://www.unicef.org.uk/what-we-do/un-convention-child-rights/

In the end, like all heroes, Lewis Hine and his work were mostly ignored, and he died in poverty.

We must all be like Lewis and Michael, we must do what is necessary to make children visible. And while it is true that since 1904 (the year of the founding of The National Child Labor Committee) the things have improved, we know that the abuses are not over. Serious problems remain today 117 years later in the twenty-first century. All around the world, abuses continue to be perpetrated against children. They are forced to work under conditions that none of us, adults, would accept for ourselves. They are forced to participate in wars created by egotistic adults. They are forced into prostitution to satisfy the perverse needs of insane adults. Every day, they are traumatized psychologically and emotionally by adults, even by relatives. It happens daily and in every country on the planet. Even the most “advanced.”

In my review of The Giving Tree (https://sofiaolivochatblancshenfu.wordpress.com/2020/07/24/michael-jackson-and-the-giving-tree-shel-silverstein-1964/), I say something that I will repeat. These are the words of the Hindu philosopher Osho: “When human beings stop building the society based on adult needs and build it based on the needs of children then, and only then, will we be an advanced society.” We are far from being advanced.

Being a man aware of all this, I cannot even imagine how much Michael would have cried reading this book.

Credits for images: the Internet.

#kidsatwork #lewishine #russellfreedman #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson #booksmichaeljacksonread

Michael Jackson and As A Man Thinketh – James Allen – 1903.

With the exquisite language and long phrases typical of the early 20th century, James Allen delights the reader by repeating the same thing over and over again: our thoughts create our reality.

Although he always repeats the same concept, he does not become repetitive because he tells the truth bluntly and applies this truth to various aspects of being human such as character, health, or inner calm.

Allen invites us to do much more than introspection. He gently spurs us to come into our minds and become the Observer who observes its thoughts.

It is a tiny book we should have around for the rest of our lives to jog our memory every time we fall into superficial distractions and forget that “we ourselves are the makers of ourselves.”

I am going to share with you a little appetizer from this work; my favorite sentences:

1-Thought and character.

As the plant springs from, and could not be without the seed, so every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of thought.

The act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits.

A noble and Godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association with Godlike thoughts.

[…]Such is the Conscious Master, and man can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought; which discovery is totally a matter of application, self-analysis, and experience.

2-Effects of thoughts on circumstances.

Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts which he has built into his character have brought him there,

So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects in his character and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.

The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which it loves, and also that which it fears.

Circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own.

The outer world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought.

A man does not come to the pothouse or the gaol by the tyranny of fate or circumstance but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and base desires.

Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself.

Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.

The “Divinity that shapes our ends” is in ourselves; it is our very self.

His wishes and prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions.

3-Effect of thought on health and the body.

The body is the servant of the mind.

Strong, pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and grace.

The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed.

The thought is the fount of action, life, and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.

If you would protect your body, guard your mind. If you would renew your body, beautify your mind.

4-The thought-factor in achievement.

A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to be helped, and even then the weak man must become strong of himself; he must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another.

The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may sometimes appear to do so; it helps the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous.

Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort.

He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.

5-Visions and ideals.

The dreamers are the saviors of the world.

As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers.

Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are the makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity would perish.

Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all, heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will, at last, be built.

Your Vision is the promise of what you shall one day be.

You will become as great as your dominant aspiration.

6-Serenity.

The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good.

How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers.

In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleeps: wake Him. Self-control is strength; Right Thought is mastery; Calmness is power. Say unto your heart, “Peace, be still!”

Once more, we recognize Michael in each of these sentences. He was a Master of Manifestation, and his mind was powerful. He controlled his thoughts and achieved his goals. I humbly bow to this power.
The entire book can be summarized, perhaps, in a phrase that all Soldiers Of Love know very well: “Take a look at yourself, and then make that change.” Let us listen to the Master.

#asamanthinketh #jamesallen #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson

https://ko-fi.com/G2G0261OF&#039

If you liked this article, please, click in the Ko-Fi link up above and help me to buy more books that Michael read. Thanx!!

Michael Jackson and Peter Pan – J.M.Barrie – 1905.

We all grew up with the Disney version of this literary work. But Barrie’s story is much darker; it shows a deep understanding of child and adult psychology. It’s much better.

Peter Pan’s last name is related to Faun Pan. Half-man, half-goat creature of the Greco-Latin mythology, the deity of the breezes of dawn and sunset. Pan lived in a cave called Coricia (a real cave that served as a refuge for the inhabitants of Delphos during the Persian invasion) with nymphs. This inspired the author to place Peter in an underground shelter, in a world full of fairies and mermaids who worship him. Faun Pan was a hunter, healer, and musician. He spent his time scaring away the men and sheep that entered his domain. He played a musical instrument called Syringa or Pan’s Flute.


The word panic derives from the word pan.

The imagination of the author is amazing. It transports us back to our childhood; we remember those feelings we had as children.
Neverland is the name the author gives to the unlimited imagination of children. A country in the subconscious mind of every child in which they manifest worlds full of abundance.
But the children end up forgetting Neverland. They are engulfed by the monstrous adult world. They feel its menacing presence under the bed or in the closet.
Children are forced to grow up by cynicism. They must adapt to the “needs” of adults. Millions of children are abused, forced to work, to become soldiers, etc. Michael knew that face of reality.

How many wonderful things adults miss by forgetting Neverland and rejecting the fantasy world so generously offered to them by their children. Children are natural manifestors of abundance and love. But we kill that Gift of God and then run desperately after abundance and love; then, we try to get them by adult methods.

It’s good to read this book again and again. It takes us back to Neverland. This place is always there, at the bottom of the adult mind, where the rational does not dominate. It reminds us that the child we were is still alive inside us and is willing to play.


“If you shut your eyes and are a lucky one, you may see at times a

shapeless pool of lovely pale colors suspended in the darkness; then if

you squeeze your eyes tighter, the pool begins to take shape, and the

colors become so vivid that with another squeeze they must go on fire.

But just before they go on fire you see the lagoon. This is the nearest you

ever get to it on the mainland, just one heavenly moment; if there could

be two moments you might see the surf and hear the mermaids singing.”

Peter’s the kid Hook always wanted to be. He hates the boy because he couldn’t be like him. Hook is the boy who grew up too fast at the cost of his innocence. He is the adult that Peter refuses to be. The child hates him because he is what he could become if he grows up. The child wants to save his innocence at all costs.
There is one more character who represents the third aspect of the adult psyche. Mr. Darling is the adult who, behind the facade of a serious man, hides a childish being in need of care. He’s a toxic person; he’s no interesting. He is even annoying.
We have the adult childlike, the cynic, and the childish. They are the same person who has taken different paths. But the most interesting confrontation is when the childlike aspect collides with the cynical one; because it often occurs inside the mind of a single person. What kind of person do you decide to be then?

Did Michael face this situation? Did he see himself in the position of choosing what kind of person to be? I am sure he did. As a child who grew up too quickly, he could sense, early on, that Hook was waking up inside him. Michael chose to be Peter Pan because the other option was too dark. Hook’s depression and bitterness were an added weight to the weight his young shoulders had to bear. Peter Pan, despite his flaws, is brighter. There are more options to continue living a life full of light. It is the archetype he chose to incarnate to survive.

Michael invited us to enjoy the animated version of Peter Pan so that, when the time came, we would feel attracted to a deeper reading. Tired of the darkness of our inner Hook, we can understand the struggle Peter has got to save his innocence, and we can accept that quality as a strength. In the adult, it is a choice that fills us with purity, authenticity, and joy. It lightens us from the weight of life. It is exhausting to be Hook twenty-four hours a day. But being Peter, magically, revitalizes us.



Hook has a breastplate around his heart. He’s a man who doesn’t know how to regain his innocence. Indeed, he doesn’t even know he’s looking for it. But he has less and less time to fill that void. He flees in terror whenever he hears the crocodile that, like Cronos/Saturn, wants to devour him. Life is a drama for Hook because he lives in the past and fears the future. When he disappears, he leaves nothing of himself. Everyone forgets him; Peter the first.

For Peter, the past is just a blur in his memory, and the future is an unbearable eternity. Unlike Hook, for him, time is not a threat. He is not afraid of the crocodile Cronos; he is barely aware of it. Life is intense for Peter because he lives in the present moment. He experiences one adventure after another. When he finishes one, he forgets and moves on to the next.


The archangel Michael says: “We are all children playing at being adults.”

I have not seen the biopic starring Johnny Deep (JD innocent!!), so it is just my impression. It seems that J.M.Barrie is a man tired of the cynicism of the adult world in which he lives and, to save himself, redirects his attention towards children. He takes refuge in them. He DECIDED to follow the path of innocence. Michael made the same decision. He was aware that innocence is a strength and that with it one experiences the world in a more intense, more authentic, and purest way.

From this book, the author published two sequels: “Kensington Gardens” (1906) and “Peter and Wendy” (1911). And as a curiosity, here’s Peter Pan’s first film made in 1924. I don’t know if Michael could see it, but I hope so because it’s so fun to see the special effects of a 1924 movie!

#peterpan #jmbarrie #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson

https://ko-fi.com/G2G0261OF&#039

If you liked this article, please, feel free to click in the Ko-Fi link up above and help me to buy more books that Michael read. Thanx!!

Michael Jackson and Rip Van Winkle – Washington Irving – 1819.

Please, let me start with a personal comment: the description Washington Irving makes of his main character, Rip Van Winkle, reminded me of one of my uncles. For someone who has no experience with family members who specialize in the art of dolce far niente, Rip may look like a cartoon but, indeed, he is pretty real.

This story has the smell of old fairy tales where the disastrous protagonist is involved in a bizarre story and ends up being the hero without making the slightest effort. He just follows the flow of circumstances. Actually, it is the story of a trip through time made thanks to the greatest drunk in the history of literature.

“The children of the village, too, would shout with joy whenerver he approached. He assisted at their sports, made them playthings, taught them to fly kites ando shoot marbles, and told them long stories of ghosts, witches, and indians.”

We can learn three positive things from the story:
The first is that the protagonist, as we have said, flows. He lets himself be carried away by events and adapts to what life puts before him; this is a precious lesson.
The second is that thanks to Rip, we see how people can change in a few years. A war, a catastrophe, a new trend, or… a pandemic can change the collective consciousness in the blink of an eye.
And the third positive thing is that, of course, drunkenness is NOT the “time machine”. It is the soil. The description of the landscape already indicates that the protagonist is in a magical place:

“Panting and fatigued, he threw himself, late in the afternoon, on a green knoll, covered with mountain herbage, that crowned the brow of a precipice. From an opening between the trees, he could overlook all the lower country for many a mile of rich woodland. He saw at a distance the lordly Hudson, far, far below him, moving on its silent but majestic course, with the reflection of a purple cloud, or the sail of a lagging bark, here and there sleeping on its glassy bosom, and at last losing itself in the blue highlands.
On the other side, he looked down into a deep mountain glen, wild, lonely, and shagged, the bottom filled with fragments from the impending cliffs, and scarcely lighted by the reflected rays of the setting sun.”

Our Mother Earth hides many mysteries, magical places, and strange beings that, with a barrel of liquor on their shoulders, can lead us to experience the most fantastic and fun adventure of our lives. That remote possibility is exciting, isn’t it? Michael loved this kind of magic.

There are many film and TV adaptations to this book, but the most curious is a series of short films created by Joseph Jefferson in 1896. They are short films without sound and in black and white. It’s worth taking a look at them; perhaps these short films are one of the first fantasy films in the history of cinema. Here you have them all together in one video: https://youtu.be/cLaWj1dvCjA

#ripvanwinkle #washingtonirving #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson

https://ko-fi.com/G2G0261OF&#039

Please, click in the Ko-Fi link up above and help me to buy more books that Michael read. Thanx!!

Michael Jackson and The Old Man And The Sea – Ernest Hemingway – 1952.

The dangerous fishing on the deep sea, in a fragile skiff, and commanded by an even more fragile old man is what arouses the reader’s interest in this perfect thesis on deep sea fishing.

The reader immediately empathizes with the protagonist and wants to know how he will get to fish something and whether he will come home alive. This and Hemingway’s mastery of storytelling in a fluid, energetic, and tense way makes us hook up.

It’s the kind of stories Michael liked: an ode to perseverance and courage, to not giving up yet defeated. It’s an apology for the effort to the last breath. Even if the forces of nature are against you and you only have your intelligence and experience as weapons.

Those fishermen possess few things, have fewer if they do not fish, and almost nothing if they don’t fish for weeks like the old man, who everyone considers a jinx. But the old man is so poor and has been so poor for so long that when someone gives him something, he gives more back. He thinks he’s lucky with as little as he has. The humility, compassion and wisdom of the old man have no limits; he is to what every human being should inspire to be

“Where did you wash? -the boy thought. -The village water supply was two streets down the road. I must have water here for him, the boy thought, and soap and a good towel. Why am I so thoughtless? I must get him another shirt and a jacket for the winter and some sort of shoes and another blanket.”

Life revolves around the sea. There is only that and baseball. Hemingway shows with accuracy and tenderness that in Spanish there are two ways to call the sea: the first form is “LA mar” (feminine). It is how sailors call the sea. For them, the sea is an indomitable, dangerous, beautiful, and, also, generous woman. She is a woman who gives them her treasures after much effort; as life itself. Both the sea and the ocean are “la mar.” All the water on the earth is “la mar” because what sailors feel towards her is love; she is their life. The no-sea people usually say “EL mar” (male) because we do not have the same feeling.

The old man accepts each onslaught of “la mar”, of the life symbolized by the sharks. He goes on and on because he knows that she is a complex and strong-willed woman who must know that he is a skillful sailor and that he deserves her gifts. He has to earn her love again. He wants her to give him back his luck.

On each page of the book, you can feel the cold and humidity. You feel the physical pain of the old man, his suffering during the long hours of fighting against the fish (his dearest dream) he considers his friend, never his enemy. You also are amazed by the old man’s serenity and cleverness. The old man makes a superhuman effort without realizing it. That effort leaves him so exhausted that, although the story concludes, it leaves a question, a crack in the mind of the reader as deep as the cuts in the old man’s hands.

“Don’t think, old man,” he said aloud. “Sail on this course and take it when it comes.”

There are many films, many versions of this book. The first of them was in 1958 with Spencer Tracy as the protagonist.

VIDEO https://youtu.be/_NrRGsTQyKY

#theoldmanandthesea #ernesthemingway #michaeljackson #honormj #mj #mjj #kingofpop #mj4ever #mjinnocent #soldiersoflove #mjfam #mjarmy #love #iloveyoumore #mjlegacy #therealmichaeljackson

https://ko-fi.com/G2G0261OF&#039

Please, click in the Ko-Fi link up above and help me to buy more books that Michael read. Thanx!!

Images credits: painting of the boat by Pawel Kuczinscky (IG), Michael Jackson’s pic from the internet.