The Life Connection • December 2009

“The premise of this book is that we are here to advance the evolution of thought, of human sensibility, of our own personal potential to be more than anyone ever said we could be. Its intention is to inspire thought leaders who are willing to be visible, vocal agents of evolutionary thinking for global good.” (from the Introduction)

The Art of Original Thinking is a brilliant, hands-on guide for would-be leaders who recognize that our times are unique in all history, that clinging to old beliefs and structures in this dynamic and changing world only guarantees more toxicity, and that the future rests in the hands of those who are willing to imagine things differently.

The Art of Original Thinking is not a philosophical treatise. Recognizing that the mind will never lead us where we need to go, that the heart must be uplifted and the emotional body inspired, Phillips approaches her writing as an artist. Calling on an inspired blend of storytelling, real-world examples, insightful interviews, and research, she takes us by the hand and leads us through the steps of releasing the past, embracing the present, and creating the future.

“The thinking that is called for now,” she tells us, “is truly original—not revolutionary or reflexive, but evolutionary and reflective. These times call for a confluence of ideas from all avenues, and for a courageous sharing of purpose and perceptions.” As we free ourselves from outdated beliefs, we begin to see, hear and feel the delight of our own thoughts welling up within us, challenging us to take our place as catalysts for creative action. This is a time for sharing our ideas, for risking exposure of our most intimate imaginings, “for it is out of our collective imagining that the new ways will be revealed to us.”

We must step forward to create a new view of the world, “a new myth, based not on separation and a fall from grace, but on oneness and ascendancy into our true potential….” We live in a time that calls on us to ask the right questions…and yet to give up worrying about whether the questions are right or not, trusting that the right questions will naturally emerge. We live in a time that calls upon us to embrace seemingly contradictory views—“a heroic act,” she assures us—so that we may find the common spark behind them and nurture that flame until it blazes forth to illumine the brilliance of a kindred humanity.

So how does that fit into a world where Democrats will do anything to entice the votes of Republicans, who in their turn openly declare their intention to vote en masse against whatever the Democrats come up with? How does it fit into a world where the survival of some semblance of health-care reform hinges on a fight over abortion rights? Or a world in which radical religious groups embrace the mentality of the Crusades?

Well, as Phillips says, “…our adolescent war between the worlds will continue, until enough of us realize that Rome is burning and put down our fiddles.” Still, this author is a realist, not a Pollyanna. She quotes therapist Laura Chasin, who spearheaded a creative project to open communication between groups with opposing ideologies on reproductive freedom: “‘The more you push for an agreement on outcomes, the less you tend to get it…. But if you shift the relationships, often they will move spontaneously toward collaboration on solutions.’”

“Communication and relationship are the building blocks of original thinking,” Phillips concludes. So, the evolution we so sorely need may come less through striving to create consensus than through embracing what is, knocking on our neighbor’s door and opening daring but compassionate conversations, finding ways to move forward into our disagreement that get down to the nitty-gritty of the beliefs underlying our seemingly conflicting views …and birthing something new, something heretofore unimagined, that curves us all into the same circle.

“…originality,” Phillips says, “is a practice that can be learned, or rather, rediscovered, reclaimed, with a certain amount of attention and surrender.” We all have the potential to be thought leaders, to inspire others to come together and take a look together at where we as humanity have been, where we are, and where we’re going.

The Art of Original Thinking is a provocative, practical, award-winning guidebook to facilitate the process of becoming a visible, vocal agent of evolutionary thinking for the good of all humanity. Now is the time, and we are the ones who can lead our communities forth into a new golden age. Who else?

—Chiwah

One-Minute Cure cover The One-Minute Cure

The Secret to Healing Virtually All Diseases

By: Madison Cavanaugh; Think-Outside-the-Book Publishing, Inc.; 2008; 115 pages; $39.95 (pbk); ISBN 978-0-9770751-4-0; www.1minutecure.com

Imagine never having to worry about getting the flu again — or migraine headaches, gum disease, sinusitis, anemia, lupus, bronchitis — or any other disease, for that matter. What if you no longer had to live in fear of developing a disease that “runs in the family” or that comes with “getting older” or from bad lifestyle choices? And what if you had a one-minute cure that could get rid of virtually any disease in the event that you actually acquired one?

That cure: oxygen. Nobel Prize-winning doctor Otto Warburg shocked the world when he revealed that most disease is caused by insufficient levels of oxygen in the body. In fact, his studies showed that if you deprive a cell of 35% of its required levels of oxygen for 48 hours, the cell is likely to become cancerous.

Breathe. Again. Ya gotta do it, and more is better. Unfortunately, however, breathing does not seem to be enough to give you all the health benefits of a well oxygenated body, especially in our oxygen-depleted atmosphere. So how do you get more oxygen to your cells? Liquid oxygen? Sucking it up at oxygen bars?

Madison Cavanaugh has another idea. Well, it’s not really his idea; it’s been out there in the vapes (breathe!) for a long time. As he explains, it’s basic practice in Europe and other places where the political “take” on health is that it’s more important than corporate profits. Cavanaugh’s contribution? He’s written a thorough explanation of how you can avail yourself of this treatment for about a cent and a half a day.

So, what’s the idea? Hydrogen peroxide. Not the 3% pharmaceutical grade you buy in the brown plastic bottles at the drug store, but the 35% food grade you can purchase only online these days. It’s caustic, so you don’t just open the bottle and drink it. You’d die. You have to know how to use it. And the great thing about The One-Minute Cure is that Cavanaugh tells you exactly how to do that, step by careful step.

Cavanaugh appears to be making the claim that ozone treatment (doctor-administered and expensive) and hydrogen peroxide treatment (either doctor-administered (expensive) or self-administered (CHEAP)) are the only ways to get enough oxygen to your cells to kill any and all viruses and harmful bacteria that come your way without doing any harm to your body. This review does not constitute an endorsement of that claim.

If you’re concerned about cancer, heart disease, the flu, AIDS, arthritis, MS, Alzheimer’s, or any other disease, and think oxygenation might be the answer, you might want to read The One-Minute Cure.

—Chiwah