This time last year, I posted a blog –

All I Did this Year

In that post, I chided myself for not having done very much in 2014. And I set myself an agenda for what I wanted to achieve in 2015 – this year. Here’s what I wrote last year:

This time next year I want to be able to answer that question – What did I do this year? – by saying:

• I wrote a new book
• I walked the Via de Francesca with some wonderful friends
• I finished my PGS film
• I finished the first stage of the online course with my university
• I finished my Indian honour killing film – DEFIANT
• I wrote a new screenplay

So –

• I DID write a new book. Photo Camino. In fact I wrote TWO new books, with the recent publication of WHITE WITCH BLACK WITCH: Initiate.
• I DID walk the Via de Francesca with some wonderful friends, and we had an amazing time. Not only that, but Jennifer and I also hosted the Mother Ganga Tour – being a spiritual tour of India. And we did that with some amazing friends too.
• I DIDN’T finish my PGS film, but I nearly finished filming. Production took me to the US (twice) Italy, Turkey, Bhutan, and India.
• I DID finish the first stage of my online course with my University, the Queensland University of Technology. I’ve been working all year with my incredibly talented web designer, and only a few weeks ago we finished and delivered the first stage to QUT.
• I DIDN’T finish my Indian honour killing film. In fact I didn’t start it. But financing is edging closer.
• I DID write a new screenplay – and that’s now out to distributors.

So I got through some of my agenda but not all of it.

This time next year, I want to again answer the question: What did I do this year, by saying:

• I finished my PGS film.
• I wrote and published the 2nd part of WHITE WITCH BLACK WITCH.
• I wrote another book on the Camino.
• I started my Indian honour killing film.
• I mounted a 2nd Portuguese Camino Tour.
• I mounted a Wild Atlantic Way Tour on the west coast of Ireland.
• I mounted a 2nd Mother Ganga Tour.
• I began the 2nd stage of the online educational resource with QUT.
• I set up a new film, based on the new screenplay – which in fact is about the Camino.

If I achieve all that, I will be a happy little bunny.

People say – how do you manage to do so much in a day. It’s simple. I set an intention, I focus on that, and then I set myself small achievable goals that cumulatively will allow me to achieve the big goal. Then I go about achieving those small goals.

One thing that I learned on the Camino, and which I talk about in The Way, My Way, is that you can achieve huge things if you do it incrementally. Step by step. You can walk across Spain if you take one step then another then another, and another.

And you don’t give up. That’s the key to it. You persevere, until you get there, no matter the blisters, the aching knee, the rain, how long it takes and whatever obstacles you might face. You keep on going until you get there.

I’ve now stopped thinking about outcomes – about the results of my endeavours. I now only think about the endeavours themselves, and achieving them with the utmost integrity.

I’ve learned to give over the outcomes to the Universe.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter if what you do is successful or not. The only thing that matters is that you do it. And do it the best you can…

Hey you all –

my book White Witch, Black Witch: Initiate is now available in paperback on Amazon.

What a great Chrissie pressie!!

Remember tomorrow (or the day after in the rest of the world other than Australia) was the birth of one of the greatest blokes ever to have lived and died and lived again.

Love to you all – you magnificent folk you.

Bill

I’ve just received a book through Amazon which I gifted myself for Christmas.

It’s called INTUITION: SOUL-GUIDANCE FOR LIFE’S DECISIONS.

It’s written by Sri Daya Mata, and is part of a “How to Live” series of books which use the teachings of Paramahansa Yoganada, author of AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF A YOGI, to apply spirituality to one’s everyday life.

It’s a small book. Could easily fit into the back pocket of your jeans. But it’s packed full of wisdom. Here are some interesting excerpts:

Intuition is soul guidance, appearing naturally in man during those instants when his mind is calm. The goal of yoga science is to calm the mind, that without distortion it can hear the infallible counsel of the Inner Voice. 

Question: Faced with the many difficult choices and conflicting options that are a part of life in the day-to-day world, how can we discern whether a decision is the right one or whether it merely seems right because of our personal desires and an attachment to our own inclinations? 

Answer: First of all, we all have to realise that for most people, the vast majority of their actions and decisions are tinged with personal desires. That is normal. That is human. What the great ones teach is that we should first concentrate on replacing harmful desires with wholesome ambitions that unfold our highest nature. 

To know how to choose correctly in any given situation, we need to guide our judgements by the power of intuition. we are all endowed with this “sixth sense,” but most persons do not use it. Instead they rely on the reports of the five lower senses. But those five senses do not always supply the right data so that we can make the right decisions. They have limited scope and power, and they interpret things according to their own likes and dislikes rather than according to what is true. 

To know what is true you have to go within. If you do so daily, you become more balanced, calmer, your discriminative insight awakens. Discrimination, which like intuition is a quality of the soul, enables you to discern the things you ought to do when you ought to do them.

It is by meditation that these soul-faculties are developed. 

Guess what – we here on this blog have made more than 15,000 comments since it started up in April 2013.

We clicked over the 15K mark on the last couple of posts.

That’s a lot of chatter between us, isn’t it!

Somehow I think there’s a lot more to talk about too – this next year, and beyond.

I miss Sister Clare…

Sister, if you’re reading this, you are welcome back here any time.

That also goes for any dwarfs too…

Lynda Lozner and her husband Dale live near Seattle.

Lynda has been an active participant on this blog almost from the get-go. And this year she and Dale joined us on the Indian tour.

Jennifer and I had met them both earlier when, on a trip to the US last year, we drove up from LA to spend a couple of days with them in their neck of the woods. It was wonderful to meet them after getting to know them through this blog.

Lynda wanted to write something about this blog, and the community that’s developed around PGS. Each day it both surprises and delights me that you guys hang in there with me on this blog.

Sometimes I write some crazy stuff. Sometimes I write some ordinary stuff.

What particularly pleases me though is that through this blog, friendships have developed – not only our friendship with you all, but also as Lynda points out below, friendships between some of you that have nothing to do with Jennifer and myself.

So here are Lynda’s thoughts, which she entitled ~

In April of 2013, I was reading Ivar’s forum in preparation for Dale’s and my Camino for August to October 2013. I came across Bill’s post on his thoughts of his first ten days on the camino.

That, I believe, for me was the birth of our present Camino family. The writing was so engaging, the walk painful, the humor hilarious.  I checked the follow button and it opened a whole new family for us.

Over the last 2 2/3 years some have joined and some have left but our core family has remained the same. With Bill at the head and Jen at his side, our family must now number in the thousands. I know for many of us that morning coffee is best consumed with a post from Bill. It is this family of pilgrims that I am proud to call friends.

Dale and I were honored to first meet Bill and Jen as they passed by our way 1 1/2 years ago. Actually, I believe they detoured WAY out of their way to meet us. We knew before hand that we could call them friends but this solidified the feeling.

This September we were fortunate enough to join Bill, beautiful Jennifer and four others from the blog on a spiritual tour of India. Meeting Jill, Marie, Britta and Janet was an awesome highlight. However, it really felt like we already knew each other as we had bantered back and forth on the blog for two years as well as shared a number of emails.

Thanksgiving and Christmastime usually bring about thoughts of family and I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate you all and how fortunate I feel to call you all family and friends.

I think Bill has attracted a wonderful group of people that truly are lovely, honest, caring, thoughtful good people. Looking forward to someday meeting Arlene, Jenny, Steve, Ingrid, Ken, Angie, the Landers Express and others.

Some of you know that my daughter Stacey, a single mother of an eight year old and fifteen year old, was diagnosed with ovarian cancer a year ago, In April she was told she was cancer free. However while we were in India, it returned with a vengeance and to add insult to injury she was in a near head on car accident last month.

She spent a week in the hospital and is now home but still in horrific amount of pain.  Throughout this year I’ve had numerous calls from Bill, Jen and several others offering thoughts and well wishes. I’d like to thank you each and tell you how much those calls and emails mean to us. We are blessed to be able to call you all friends.

I’ve often wondered why we got to meet Bill and Jennifer. It seems odd to me that someone writing a blog would travel 1,000 miles out of their way to meet Dale and me. Especially someone that is an author, film producer and director.

We do live within 30 minutes of the “set” of David Lynch’s “Twin Peaks” series. (David Lynch is Bill’s favorite director).  A dinner was had at the famous diner but that was not enough reason for this meeting. No, I think it was to solidify the friendship and set us on our way to learning more about our spiritual side and higher self. All, maybe to be able to help and guide my daughter.

Britta has been very helpful with chants, email conversations and even mailed two books all the way from Australia to help me with my quest on acquiring spiritual knowledge. Jill too has offered help and guidance with some good alternatives to the horrible chemotherapy that Stacey is getting at the moment.

Arlene and I have twice weekly conversations on life in general. Janet has been very supportive as well with emails and reminder pictures of India. And Jenny, well Jenny is hilarious! Always brings a smile.

What started out to be a “Camino Family” has turned out, in my opinion, to be an all around wonderful family and group of friends.  Bill, thank you for your support, friendship and blog. You truly deserve the best !

Merry Christmas (or as you Australians say Chrissie) to All

Lynda

I think when I walk. 

Hurts more than blisters, sometimes, let me tell you. 

At the moment I’m doing about 12-15kms a day, about 5 days a week.

Maintenance level. 

Usually when I walk I listen to audiobooks. Two hours to immerse myself in someone else’s intellect. I would hate to walk for two hours and do nothing but walk for two hours. 

At the moment I’m reading Salman Rushdie’s Two Years, Eight Months, and Twenty Eight Nights. I chose the book intuitively, using my PGS, and once again it didn’t let me down because the book is a highly imaginative and esoteric work on the nature of faith, religion, science, and the nature of the universe. 

Consistent with themes I’m exploring with my intuition film, but in a fictional realm. 

In the course of thirty years writing drama – screenplays for movies – there’s one thing I’ve learned about creating characters: the most interesting characters are defined by what they’re afraid of. 

What they fear the most. 

Think about the classic comic book heroes – Indiana Jones is scared of snakes, Superman is scared of Kryptonite. I could go on and on. It’s the flaw in their heroic nature that makes them interesting, makes them human. 

Then there’s Woody Allen characters, who are full of paranoias. The Jason Bourne movies, where the central character is driven by a fear of not knowing who he is. Often in movies it’s the fear of death, of loss, of rejection, that drives the central character, and the narrative. 

In drama, what the character fears often defines that character more so than their heroic qualities. It defines what they do in the movie. 

Yesterday for half my walk I turned off Salman Rushdie and I thought about this. I thought about fear, and it occurred to me that it also defines us. As people. 

Sometimes the fears are overt – we fear heights, or cramped spaces, or crowds. So we avoid these places. I know a person who is terrified of cats. Goes into a panic when a cat comes near. I know a couple who are scared of poverty. So they’ve become misers. They’re mean, and ungenerous. They hate Christmas because it’s a time of giving. 

These are obvious and demonstrable fears. But it’s the more insidious fears that rule our lives on a much deeper level: Our fear of what’s different, our fear of loss of control, our fear of lack, our fear of rejection, which is allied to our fear of growing old. One of our greatest and most universal fears is our fear of dying. The ultimate fear of loss. 

These are the fears that keep us in jobs we hate, that keep us in relationships, both personal and professional, that are destructive, that keep us from fulfilling our true potential in life. 

These are the fears that define us, define what we do, define the way we look at the world. On a societal and community level, they lead to racism, bigotry, misogyny, violence, greed.

It’s called Survival Mode. Most of us live in Survival Mode, and we build fortresses around ourselves to keep our fears at bay. 

We accumulate wealth, we stay within a close circle of friends, we don’t venture out, physically and metaphysically. we reject what’s different politically. We become fixed in our views. We don’t allow ourselves to be compassionate, or generous, or loving. Because that could be construed as weakness. Or it could lead to lack. 

We might think we’re living successful lives, but is living within Survival Mode really living a full and happy life? 

I’m astonished at how many people  I meet who, once you scratch the surface, are unhappy. They might have a house worth millions of dollars, they might have the latest model SUV, and travel in style around the world, but underneath it all is a snakepit of fears. And a deep abiding unhappiness. 

I meet a lot of people with very little who are unhappy too – who are pockmarked with fear. 

Interestingly, there are two concepts that I’ve discovered while making my intuition film that kill fear stone dead – the first is the concept of SURRENDER 

Surrender is a really scary concept because, by its very nature, it requires you to let go, to relinquish control, to put yourself into freefall. For you to truly surrender, you need to TRUST, which is the second concept I’ve discovered.

Trusting is just as scary as surrendering – perhaps more so – because to trust you need to be fearless. 

Truly fearless. 

To trust, to surrender, to be fearless, you need to believe in something greater than the here and now. You need to believe in something greater than a fat bank account, a million dollar mansion, a huge four wheel drive that keeps you protected on the roads, or a political system that keeps immigrants away. 

Most people think that they need to live in Survival Mode until they have enough, and then they can shift into a more loving, generous, and more compassionate way of living. 

It rarely works like that. Survival Mode is a hard mode to break. 

Some do – Bill Gates is a great example. But you don’t need to be one of the richest men in the world to break out of survival mode. All you need is to surrender, trust, and be fearless. 

And to do that, you have to believe that you are being guided towards your highest good, towards your true potential, and that you are protected in ways that right now, you may not understand, but are there for you anyway.

In making my intuition film I have had to trust, I’ve had to surrender, and Jennifer and I have had to be fearless. And later, when the film is done, I will reveal how we’ve been protected and guided through the process. 

I know it works. 

Edited with BlogPad Pro

Full disclosure: We have a dog.

His name is Toby and he’s a chihuahua.

I state this because I believe there’s been some talk off blog amongst you folk about the possibility of us having a dog.

Yes, it’s true.

When we travel, he stays with Jen’s mum. She lives the next house over.

I’ve trained Toby to be an attack dog.

He bit me the other day.

It bled.

I was so proud of him.

The way I figure it, if you’re that small, you’ve got to have attitude.

Toby’s got attitude.

Try to pat the cute little fella and he’ll take your finger off.

I’ve trained him well.

Edited with BlogPad Pro

My book, White Witch Black Witch : Initiate  is now available on Kindle.

Here is the book’s synopsis:

Lily Lennox, sixteen, lives on a farm in Northern California with her mom, Angela. Lily’s father died in a car accident several years earlier, and being an only child, she and her mom have since become very close.

One Saturday morning at a farmers’ market, Angela becomes strangely panic stricken when she sees three hostile biker women cruising the stands, looking for someone. Angela flees with Lily in tow, but instead of going back to their farm, they hide out in a motel.

Lily is confused and angry – confused because her mother acted so oddly, angry when she doesn’t explain why.

That night, her mom slips away from the motel and doesn’t return. In the days that follow, Lily learns that her mother has been leading a shadow life, and that she’s been abducted by witches.

Accompanied by a young man, a Native American shaman, Lily sets off to find her mom, but she quickly discovers that the witches are now coming after her too. The only way she can hope to fight them, and rescue her mother, is to become a witch herself.

This is the first of a planned series of four books, which follows Lily Lennox as she becomes a more powerful white witch.

The first book, and the subsequent books, deal with a contemporary world where witches, black witches, have embedded themselves into all aspects of contemporary society, and they act like terrorist cells. They exist in Government, law enforcement, the judiciary, the media, and in big business.

Their mission statement is to use their unique positions of power within these organisations to create fear and chaos in our world, and within that murky soup they can then begin to exert their influence.

This is not a Harry Potter type story, this is set in the real world, in the here and now.

Why did I write a book like this? Well, from a very early age I devoured everything that Ray Bradbury ever wrote, and I grew up with his writing as a major influence. I then segued into HP Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe.

That said, I didn’t want to write fantasy – I wanted the story to be grounded in fact and reality, and so before writing a word of this book I researched the world of witchcraft thoroughly – and I discovered that what we know as witchcraft from popular fiction is fairy-tale stuff. The real world of witchcraft is much more sinister, much more insidious, and way more terrifying.

On one level, this book sits within the genres of thriller, action adventure, and young romance – but at its heart this is a book that examines the true nature of good and evil, and the nature of our souls.

The black witches want Lily’s mother’s soul – and the series of books will be about the fight for her soul, and Lily’s soul. To that extent, the book examines themes which are consistent with, and an extension of, my work with my PGS film.

For those of you who asked for a copy, I’ll get them out today or tomorrow.

If you missed the earlier post and you want a copy, email me at billpgsblog@gmail.com. All I ask is that you write a review on Amazon and Goodreads when you’ve finished. The book is only available at the moment on Kindle, but if you don’t have a Kindle you can read the book on any iPad, tablet, smartphone or computer using a free Kindle app.

If you want to buy a copy, then here is the link:

Black Witch : White Witch / Initiate – from Kindle Store

As I said in my earlier post, I will now seek broader publication, and a literary agent. In the meantime though, I want to get it out there. If you get to read it, I hope you enjoy it.

We were driving to dinner last night. 

Dinner with friends. 

Jennifer and I rarely socialise, but these were long time friends – a prominent winegrower from the district, his gorgeous wife, and a couple who have recently walked the Camino for the first time. All dear friends, and Jennifer and I were looking forward to catching up with them.

Dinner was at the winery – one of the most beautiful wineries in Mudgee, which is a town not short of beautiful wineries. It’s about 20 minutes drive from our house. 

They said 6pm. As we were driving out I looked at the clock and saw that we were going to be early. 

I said as such to Jennifer: I don’t want to be early. We should pull over somewhere and wait. 

My phone rang. It was the security service that monitors our house alarm.

Sir, your alarm has just been activated from the lounge room, they said. 

I quickly did a U turn and drove back to the house. Whenever the alarm goes off, I freak out that someone has broken in. 

No-one had broken in. Jennifer had put our dog in our bedroom upstairs but forgotten to close the door. The dog had wandered downstairs, into the lounge room, and triggered the alarm. 

Whew. 

We put the dog upstairs in the bedroom, closed the door, reactivated the alarm, and drove off again. 

As we were driving out of town, out into the vineyards, I looked at the clock. We would now arrive at about 6:15pm. A good and courteous time to arrive. 

Did you see what happened? Jennifer said. You told the Universe you didn’t want to be early. And then you got the call from the security service. And now we’ll be arriving exactly when you want to arrive. 

She was right. I hadn’t connected the two. I had barely said I don’t want to be early, and I got that call. And now we were on time. 

I got several things from this: 

1. Your words, and thoughts, are incredibly powerful.
2. They’re listening, and they’ll do their best to try and do what you want.
3. You have to be very careful what you say, and what you think – because thoughts are just words unspoken, deeds not yet done. 
4. They do these little things for you to remind you that they’re with you for the big things too. 
5. All you have to do is ask, with full intent.

 

Edited with BlogPad Pro

Next week I will be publishing my first novel.

It’s called White Witch : Black Witch / Initiate. It’s the first of a planned series, and whilst I’ll be self publishing initially, I hope to pick up a publisher. Or a literary agent. Preferably both.

It’s been eight years in the making – and goodness knows how many rewrites and drafts. I’ve had to learn a completely new set of skills. Writing a novel is totally different to any other kind of writing – particularly screenplay writing.

During all the years I worked on the manuscript I told no-one, other than my family, and a few close and trusted friends. No-one else has known that I’ve been tooling away on this story, and developing my craft, for so long.

Finally though I decided to tidy it up and get it out while I’ve got a bit of breathing space with my intuition film. I think I’m going to be very busy next year with the film.

I’m writing it under the name: W Calder Bennett. My full name is William Arthur Calder Bennett. I’m doing this so that there’s a clear distinction between my work as a novelist and my work as a film writer and director, for which I’m known as Bill Bennett, of course.

Here below is the cover of the book. The design was done by a very talented young lass named Cass Gaunson at Carnival Studios, under the supervision of Demi Hopkins. Demi and his team designed the covers of my two other books – The Way, My Way, and Photo Camino. 

For those on this blog, if you’re interested, I’ll send you a Kindle copy gratis once it’s published – probably next weekend. All I ask is that you write a review on Amazon and Goodreads when you finish.

Let me know if you want a copy –
billpgsblog@gmail.com