GET THAT DAMN THING OUT OF YOUR EAR!

Okay, I admit it--cell phones irk me. When I paroled from Folsom State Prison last year, after twelve years of incarceration, one of the first things I noticed was the amazing proliferation of these tiny technical marvels. At first, I was fascinated, being a longtime lover of gadgets. But I noticed what they were doing to the culture. On busses and trains, people use them to avoid making eye contact with fellow passengers (admittedly, sometimes a useful thing). But then I grasped that they used cell phones to avoid making contact with just about everyone, even their closest companions. It is not unusual, as I stroll along the streets of San Francisco, to see couples walking along, holding hands, with the other hand holding the phone next to their ears and talking away. Texting may be worse, since it usually involves using both hands. And I wonder if the large number of people using cell phones in restaurants, while seated across from a member of the opposite sex (or same sex--this is, after all, San Francisco), are talking to their next potential date.

I remember the late, great Dottie Walters, one of the preeminent women speakers and speaker bureau impresarios, really impressing me when I visited her at her office. She was talking on the phone when I walked in. Unlike every other person, CEO or lower, I had ever encountered, she did not wave me to a seat or motion for me to wait a minute or two. She immediately included me in the conversation, saying to the person on the other end something like:

"Jerry Gillies just walked in. Have you read his book, Moneylove?" It quickly became a three-person exchange. I thought this way of dealing with the situation was brilliant--talk about positive multitasking!

Today, however, cell phones are used to shut the live person out, to disconnect from what is going on in the physical world.

This was never more powerfully demonstrated to me than during Thanksgiving. I visited a friend and his family in another California town for two days. Even driving (shades of California First Lady Maria Shriver), my friend Keith was hardly off the phone for a minute. A lot of the calls were from his daughter-in-law, suspicious of his son and asking where he was. Was he meeting the mother of his two-year-old son (I suppose I should call her his "baby mama" to be thoroughly modern) or some of his nefarious friends? And she kept on calling, obviously not believing Keith's response that he didn't know. There were several dozen calls as he and I took a 45 minute drive. He finally shut the phone off, and there were an equal number of voice mail messages when we got back to his house. And there were also calls from Keith's wife wondering where he was, and his son wondering if the daughter-in-law had called, and friends asking for phone numbers of other friends that Keith might have stored in his phone. Never have I felt so smart and lucky to not have a cell phone.

Now I know a cell phone can come in handy in emergencies, or when you are looking for that last piece of directions as you are approaching a friend's home for the first time, or for parents to keep in touch with their kids. But it has created a sort of annoying police state, where everyone feels they have the right to contact everyone else whenever they want, and wherever they happen to be. I thought about all the hours of being able to think quietly by myself, while riding on the BART trains, or walking along interesting streets and roads. I can't think of one instance when I got home and may have had a voice mail message waiting on my landline phone in which I needed to talk to that person or receive that information earlier.

At some point, I probably will have to get a cell phone as I travel more, especially when I am off parole, but I can't say I am looking forward to that day. And very, very few people will have that number, so don't look for it on my blogsites, or on Facebook or Twitter. Like my age, that number is going to be permanently unlisted.

Jerry

P.S. For more blog posts, focused on prosperity, abundance, and my Moneylove work, check out www.MoneyloveBlog.com

FRIENDS IN HIGH PLACES

Every Thanksgiving season I compose a list of the

Ten People I Am Most Grateful To Have Had In My Life In The Past Year.

This year's list was especially easy thanks to the Internet and the new people it has brought into my life, and the old friends who have shown up to reconnect.

Just to mention: There's England's Barry Dunlop, who showed up after Googling me and making contact on Facebook to tell me that Moneylove changed his life, and had a lot to do with his outstanding success in his various Internet businesses. We have been collaborating on several projects.

Tony Busse, who divides his time between Panama and New York, also says he's been greatly influenced by my book and tapes and we have a growing friendship as he continues to demonstrate how well he has adopted my basic prosperity concepts.

Two of my best compliments of the year came from Gerry Robert, Bob Proctor's partner and author of The Millionaire Mindset, one of which was his inscription in the copy of his book he sent:

"Moneylove changed my life! You will change millions more!"

Kevin Delaney, who splits his personality between being the Voiceover Ninja and

the Wealthy Bohemian, has proven himself one of my best and most successful students.

It has been fun becoming friends with Sandra Mann, the beautiful daughter of my old friend from Miami days, Gregg Sanderson--I think she was eight the last time I saw her, and now she has a son approaching that age.

And I am learning a lot from Barry Dunlop's son, Michael, perhaps the most savvy of all the Internet entrepreneurs I have encountered at the mere age of twenty.

The others have pretty much been my friends for a generation, stalwart, loving and supportive even through the prison years. These are Rupa Cousins, Susannah Lippman, Dr. Mary Ann Somervill, and Bonnie Weiss...and I could easily have an expanded list this year with the addition of other good friends Tom Weidlein,Will Porter, Judi Carr, Linda Clair, and my beautiful kahuna friend in Hawaii, Kaleiiliahi. And Rev. Sonya Milton, Dr. Rachel Harris, and I'm sure I could come up with a few more. Whew, I am truly blessed in the friend department!

I indeed have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving, and it is appropriate that I am considering revising my early book FRIENDS after I do the updated and annotated edition of Moneylove. Perhaps I will focus it on making real friends instead of superficial ones on the social media sites.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Jerry

MONEYLOVE, MANIFESTATION, AND THE MILLENIUM

So I've been thinking quite a bit in recent days about the impending arrival of 2010. It somehow seems more significant than the arrival of 2000 and this new millennium did. Of course, I was in prison at that time, which might have something to do with my perception. But I think a lot of millennium plans and dreams and aspirations got sidetracked by the events of 9/11 and what followed.

This got me to thinking that the end of a decade of this millennium would be a good time to regroup, to restart, to create a new beginning for ourselves. I have therefore decided to come out into the world earlier than originally planned, with some assistance and coaching for those who want to use 2010 in this way. It's still being formulated, but it will involve a monthly audio coaching session and strong accountability on the part of participants--I won't want people who just want a shot of motivation, but those who are ready, willing, and able to take action to take a new direction in their lives.

It was also good timing that I did a workshop this past weekend with Dr. Maria Nemeth, author of The Energy Of Money, and a very focused and highly effective coach:

http://www.AcademyForCoachingExcellence.com

On my prosperity blog, http://www.MoneyloveBlog.com, I did a whole post on that experience, though there's lots more I could have said and quoted, and I am looking forward to including some of her ideas and concepts in my revised, annotated, and updated new edition of Moneylove. Dr. Nemeth talked a lot about physical reality versus metaphysical reality, calling the latter the realm of ideas and dreams. She also said it was always difficult when we approach the border between metaphysical reality and physical reality. And a quote that one can ponder for quite a while:

"A moment of discomfort is a small price to pay for enlightenment."

In addition to keeping most of the text of the original for MoneyloveNow!, I will be more than doubling the size of the book, probably in several editions for the online versions. Part of that expansion will be material from current prominent prosperity teachers who have impressed me, and have agreed to extensive interviews, as has Maria Nemeth. My criteria for choosing these people is that they impress me with the quality and relevance of their ideas about money and success in all areas of life, and are not merely regurgitating old maxims, and retelling old stories from previous prosperity masters (myself included). Another criteria is that they see prosperity as more than just financial success. Maria Nemeth talks about the six areas of energy:

Money

Time

Physical Vitality

Relationship

Creativity

Enjoyment

And as you get ready to enter the next decade of this new millennium, you might ask yourself which of these areas you would most like to focus on in 2010.

Jerry