The predicted growth-rate was for 30,000 listeners by the end of the year. We started at zero on April 16, 2006. Stefania and Strephon celebrated this achievement in their New Years Eve toast and talk as the Dutch fireworks banged away outside.

Success And New Website Coming

Now we have the experience of success like this we are quickly switching for 2007 to implementing a new website organized around two areas of subject matter: Writer’s Interface Writing Tools, and Expert Psychology. The sub-branches will be many subjects in both fields.

What does our success so far mean for 2006?

The goal was achieved of seeing whether there was good interest in the style of presentation and the ideas that Strephon has taught his students for years, and written into several books now not exactly in print that much.

The Internet Revolution

The revolution that has recently occurred is that the Internet has become the chief information publishing medium for the world. This represents a rebirth for Strephon and his thought.

Strephon shall no longer be concerned about publishing books in paper. They take years to write and to get publishers to publish. Through the Internet we have almost instant publishing and instant readers.

The Writer’s Interface

One further success in 2006 are the first sales of Strephon’s first interactive 92,000 words book, The Writer’s Interface. The success is immediate with immediate readers and users, unlike in the paper publishing world. Why even think of publishing in paper anymore?

Strephon may have created another first in being the first in information processing history to publish a full interface between software and its users. Software has become complicated, so that now regular users may only use thirty percent of a software’s functions. Many users do not have the time or special intelligence to figure out completely how to use a software’s capacities and apply them to real life product-creating situations.

In The Writer’s Interface Strephon not only explains and uses many of the functions of the best in its field, the WriteItNow software, but also adds to the software hundreds of writing-craft tools for the end user writers to use in writing novels, memoirs and screen plays. This is a first time feat since the help files and tutorials that go with writing software are not written by expert end users but by software developers.

It is a curious fact that while there are many excellent software manuals in paper, none of these useful compilations of information are built into the software itself. The Writer’s Interface changes all this, at least with regard to writer’s craft knowledge and using good organizing software to write novels and plays.

2007 Internet Publishing Plan

We shall publish much information in audio books this coming year. We shall also have downloads of Strephon’s writings available. There will be reasonably priced online buying of this material.

Podcasts and vodcasts will continue to be partially free, which means some free, but a complete set not free. It is time to earn a living through this new dominant medium of information publishing.

The Internet Web Revolution

It is time for a revolution in publishing! We in our own niche want to be at the forefront of this movement.

-It is only in the last year that online easy web-page design and functions have been made available at reasonable prices.

-It is only in this past year that the public has learned to buy online in a big way.

These two factors combined with the success of our interest area in Strephon’s thought and inspiration can now come together for what we hope is a successful new year with our projects.

We also are amazed and happy that our outreach is universal around the world. Thus the forth factor is that the Internet now allows us to easily find our audiences wherever our consciousness-lifestyle person lives.

Global Community

From today’s report here we note that only six of twenty-five visitors are from the United States, Strephon’s home country, twelve are from European countries, two from Canada, and the rest from the Far East. It’s a little difficult to read the above accurately.

We are now part of a global, spiritual consciousness community. Not, we add, unconscious spirituality, but persons working on integrating and making conscious their dark sides as well as realizing the positives in life.

We welcome all our listeners, viewers, learners and buyers for those of you serious about your own growth and purpose in life.

Thanks also for all your support with feedback and passing the word to others.

We are here for each other in 2007! That is the plan. Our thanks to all our help, including Ineke of Fotografica and Monique of Monique Family Incorporated.

Stefania and Strephon

Perspective 5 Aggression

War is the deliberate destruction of human beings and their artifacts to gain dominance over a group, its lands and its culture.

War depends on mobilizing the aggressive instincts of animal human being.

The instinct of attack and destroy is built into human animals for a purpose. It cannot be rooted out. It needs safe cultural expression or it breaks out.

To handle your natural aggression have ways of daily expressing aggression.

Teach your children to be aggressive, to fight back, to stand up for themselves, boy children and girl children.

Have arenas for adult children to explode and express their anger and aggression, such as in football matches.

Couples must learn to fight in a balanced and aggressive way, such as in shouting, wrestling, screaming, hitting, sexual pounding.

Yet, in human aggression watch that you always keep the balance in your fights. This means that between lovers or parents and children, neither of you seeks to wipe out the other person.

Break the syndrome of winners and losers. Encourage good fights of attack and counter attack.

Don’t destroy each other, though you give each other pain. Suffering is a good learning tool when done in both directions with no winners or losers.

Creative aggression is to break up old attitudes and patterns that block new life and well-being. We all get stuck in these.

War itself is the extreme form of human aggression in which there is so much inner repression and frustration built up in organized society that the most vulnerable, the hormone laden young males are easily stimulated to attack other males called the enemy.

Instead of political extremes and parties build sports stadiums. Instead of terrorist and military training camps why not build sports institutes with plenty of opportunity for young men and women to learn fighting and to do fighting under controlled conditions. Martial arts can be taught. Playing soccer-football can be done. Free-for-all fighting with active supervisors on the field also to protect combatants from terrible harm. Emotional release groups and techniques can be taught.

If we take certain Arab groups as only one example. Soccer balls should be free, as well as plenty of sports fields in all the local neighborhoods with plenty of good coaches earning their livings helping the young males and females interact aggressively in various ways. War weapons can be demonstrated on shooting ranges. But also, ethics and reality politics are taught, with the history of warfare and couple warfare objectively taught and role-played.

Leader types are also trained in being better leaders and in having vision and purpose in leading groups. Debates are held so that leader-types can learn how to convince others through speech.

Train people in accumulating and using power. Don’t try and make certain groups powerless while making other groups as powerful as possible.

The human heritage is that every group and person has equal rights. The strong of the world are stupid to try and keep power for the disadvantaged of the world. They should share power as equals and inspire the spirit of cooperation in sharing power and purpose together in life.

Think the best of humanity and the best is likely to happen.

-Strephon Kaplan-Williams

Creative Commons copyright: for personal use only and not commercial use without permission. The author states that these messages are not advice but personal opinion. Experts and people often differ in their points of view. Please take responsibility for your own insights and actions. We are not responsible for what you think and do.

When asked how he explains this growing popularity, Strephon Kaplan-Williams winked one eye slightly and said, “What we have here with the podcasts is the world’s people voting for something serious, don’t we? People are searching! They don’t want to be just entertained. They want food for thought. Honestly, with the advent of computers and the Internet I think world IQ is significantly rising.”

“But why you?” Strephon was asked. “There are plenty of professors around and other writers who can speak wisely.” 

“You define the difference!” Strephon said. “Have you ever met a professor who was not boring? They’re conformists. Instead of academia I chose to be out in the real world working with people, and suffering a few hard knocks myself.”

“What do you mean by ‘a few hard knocks?’”

“A professor in an ivory tower? What does he or she know about the world? A guaranteed salary, a light work load, do some research, write some papers? No one paid me to write my many books or organize my many workshops. I had to get out there and work late nights and organize, organize, organize. I know the real world and have helped many others get their feet into reality. Why shouldn’t I have something to say?”

“Exactly what is your message then? Every writer has a message?”

“Mine is reality. Come into reality. Check out your fantasies. Especially check out all those little ego desires that just don’t happen in your daily life. Get with the program and the program is life. I teach a lot of ways to fulfill yourself in the real world, in the real you. That’s why people listen to me.”

“Do you think that many of your listeners take your messages seriously?”

“Look at the numbers. We are increasing listeners and viewers at three to four thousand a month. People don’t listen to serious stuff if what I say is not both practical and inspiring.”

“What about the American political elections? Who do you think is going to win and why?”

“American elections are all about people. Are Americans waking up? Not all of them, but at least an edge of aware people are there who can swing elections. Americans wake up at these elections. There is so much to put people to sleep in America. At election time people get out of their complacency and go vote. They see the bad done by their own country. They see a President who is stupid and misguided in his ways. They see a political system that gets rotten through and through, and they try and do something about it.”

“But you don’t talk about politics yourself?”

“I do, but you don’t notice it. I say vote with your heart. Vote with awareness. Vote with values. I say get out of the herd that just lives by collective values. I say become real. Don’t act superficially. Don’t be so selfish. Get out there in life and vote every day of your life. Every day of your life choose a value to live by, choose to live by more than your fears, your desires, your unconscious expectations. Get with the program, and the program is consciousness.”

“So what are you then? A teacher? Writer? What?”

“Right now on election day in America? I’m a spiritual politician. I say wake up. Vote with your life. Make a difference in the world! Work hard at what is meaningful in life. Do something that challenges your capacity to the full. Have a great time in life but not by indulging endlessly in all the pleasures. Use even your pleasures for value and consciousness. Make yourself aware. Help others be aware.”

“What is your final word.”

“Final word? Everyday is election day. Every day makes a difference in how I live my life. The drama is not all out there as a country chooses its statesmen and stateswomen, and its politicians. Everyday you can be free of your inhibitions and your fears. Choose, vote with your heart. Choose and live for values. The problem is to take the election fever into your own heart and live life passionately to the full.”

“You have my vote!”

“Thank you! We are all running for election of the heart!”

Fluctuations can be due to subject matter as well. Strephon podcasts and vodcasts what he finds of value to humanity, whether others want these subjects or not.

The increase of 6000 for the month continuing to December and then January 1, 2007 means that we should have 32,000 visitors by the end of the year.

Our new drive is to convert some of our listener base to paying customers for our services. The free podcasts and vodcasts continue at one or two a week. Now we have just started selling The Writer’s Interface, which is a 91,500 interactive, digital book for writers of all levels to use in writing their books. It has more writing craft tools and ideas than any other writing craft book or software.

The Writer’s Interface was first sold on October 10, 2006, marking the date that a comprehensive Interface was created of information tools for users to use in using software to create end product, or books.

Software has become so complex now that users use only an estimated 30 percent of their software capability since the learning curve is too steep to learn how to fully use software. The Writer’s Interface fills the gap, making it now possible to use fully organizing software to create and complete an end task by the end user.

Other Interfaces are being developed at this time: The Journeyer’s Interface, The Plotter’s Interface, The Relater’s Interface, are now on the active list.

Regarding Podcasts and Vodcasts when a small number of listeners and viewers commit more fully to Strephon’s style and information they will then buy an Interactive at book price of 19.95, plus WriteItNow software price of 37.50 dollars and begin work in The Writer’s Interface to create a book or writing project.

For even more committed users, an ongoing course in using the Interfaces on a regular basis will be there, paid for by a 29 euro monthly fee, in which users also receive support in creating their projects and a place to show these on their own password protected blog sites. We have one committed student so far and will get going in this at the start of the new year.

Our new drive now is to get more committed people who will help support our effort with money and energy exchanges. They will also involve themselves in interactive learning with us and receive our support in this.

Thus our big drive in the coming year is to build a learning community using our approach.

This report is posted for educational purposes for public information about our use of the Internet as things develop. Support for educational work is always appreciated, even if it is just a note to us.

It is amazing to me that perhaps the most important life skill is not taught in schools. So we teach it here.

If you don’t learn how to make effective choices you will always be reacting to life instead of acting in life.

You are in conflict, little or big. Time to make a choice.

A choice is saying Yes to one thing and No to everything that opposes it. We direct energy one way and not another.

We sacrifice certain possibilities in order to have other possibilities. There is no one right choice. There are only choices and their consequences.

What we choose is what we become.
There is no simpler way than to list in separate lists the minuses and pluses for a certain choice.

Yet first list what are the possibilities in the situation? You have a problem, a potential to realize, a conflict to solve.

◆ List first the possibilities for an outcome that can be effected now or in the near future. From these possibilities pick the most desirable for you and the most possible.

What you want may not be possible. You may have to want what you get, rather than expect to get what you want.

◆ List the possibilities realizable now or in the near future. Pick the best and most realizable. Make lists for and against these possibilities.

◆ List what you have to give up if you make a choice for something. List what you might gain. List the values for going in a certain direction, making a certain choice.

Now before you choose, also make conscious the fundamental choice underlying all your choices. This is a value you live by. To solve the dilemma of what to do or choose for refer to a fundamental value you have chosen to live in this life.

Try to choose from positive motivation and not negative motivation.

Negative motivation is choosing from fear, from what could go wrong. Choose for what could go right. Risk for the new value.

Now make your choice if the time is right and you have the means to carry through on your choice.

Choose and never look back.

Choose by saying Yes to the one thing most valuable, and also say No to all that go against the value you have chosen.

Make an absolute choice, ending any ambivalence. If you go back on a choice you were not really making a choice.

Now deal with the consequences of your choice. Enhance the rewards. Make them conscious and create with what comes of your choice.

Express gratitude in some way that positive things are happening out of your choice.

If negative things are happening out of your choice, sort out their reality. Are they really bad, or do you need to see that actualizing your choice is turning out to be more difficult than you thought?

Stay with the program until after the results are in. Then appreciate the results if positive or deal with the results if negative. You can repair almost anything.

Choices do not defeat you, though their consequences might. You only defeat yourself by wanting too much and not seeing reality as it is.

At least you tried and have learned more about how things work in life. There is almost no choice that is not redeemable. Yet take responsibility and deal with the choices you have made, and their consequences.

Affirm fundamental values.
Trust the process.
You have nothing to lose but your unconsciousness, your fears and your longings.
Trust the process.
Never look back or all may be lost. Your future is before you, not behind you.
Choose, and what you choose is what you become.

Some listeners are repeat people, of course, but even when repeat listeners it shows that these people are learning something important for themselves each time.

How many listeners turn off and don’t come back? Has anyone done research on this?

Another factor is that the number of podcasts and videocasts out there in Internet Land keeps increasing, squeezing those of us already there. So the competition for ears becomes greater. This also means that those of us already here will stay because of our devotion to excellence, and not otherwise. We see this as we go up and down on the iTunes scales, the big directory.

We are not after numbers only but quality and the assurance that our efforts are of value to a certain segment of people. When I worked as a teacher of dreamwork psychology and consciousness my students were indeed a select group. It’s great to see that this same type of person is active on the Internet, searching for contexts of meaning in which to understand and act with in their lives.

Reaching our projected 30,000 listeners by the end of eight months was not in our predictions or goals. Now it looks sure to happen.

My Dream Cards took ten years to reach sales of 100,000. While these broadcasts are not money sales they are quality outreach. People believe enough in your quality for themselves that they lend you their eyes and ears. As a communicator you are successful. Your efforts, your long times of study, development and hard work in the world are paying off. Thanks to all those of you that help make this possible. You are passing along to others what you yourself find of value.

-Strephon, Stefania and Ineke (care-taker of our other site: Dreamwork2000.com)

Today, September 12, 2006, we broke 200 listeners a day! At this rate and going up, this would be 100 days by 200 listeners plus 9779 listeners so far or 20,000 listeners by the end of the year.

To compare, this is less than two months for the listener daily average to double. This means that listeners double every two months so that around November 15 we could have 400 listeners a day and by the beginning of 2007 800 listeners a day. It hardly seems possible because that says that in the new year there could be 30 time 800 or 24,000 listeners in a month. Is this also possible?

Does anyone read these reports to check our math?

WHAT LISTENERS GO THROUGH: OUR DEFINITION OF A STREPHON SAYS LISTENER

Listeners means one listener listening to one podcast, not one permanent listener listening to many podcasts. The significant number is what we have. Each podcast listened to. Some will listen to a whole series of podcasts and be more affected by the perspective and change of consciousness that they go through. Some will listen to one podcast only, get angry because their attitudes are pushed, and quit listening to any again. No loss . . .

The real definition of a Strephon Says listener is one who is flexible in perspective, personality and attitudes who wants to grow in awareness and effectiveness in life. Such a listener will take in many podcasts probably because these podcasts give new perspective on life and challenge a person’s defense system and rigid attitudes on all sorts of life subjects.

A true listener to these podcasts will also realize that any anger, or sleepiness evoked by listening to a podcast will indicate some trigger, trauma, or attitude in themselves that needs looking at and maybe changing.

In essence, Strephon’s podcasts act in some people as a wakeup call to become conscious and change. Thus people who know this and choose it will use the podcasts to change their attitudes and perspective on life in a consciousness process.

Some, however, will get angry and assume from their feeling angry, that they have to defend or attack. They will disagree, they feel, and that means a written attack on the podcast author. They will feel justified in either turning off or attacking. They may even try to be reasonable, but they will not take responsibility for their own stirred up reactions and instead assume that there is something wrong with how Strephon states his case. Thus they will then feel righteous about their being upset and attribute the responsibility to Strephon, called blaming, as if Strephon is causing their upsetness. Thus if Strephon is assumed to upset someone then he is at fault for upsetting others.

Thus some listeners will not take responsibility for their own feelings, whether being upset over something, or even being excited about something.

One listener wrote briefly that she was excited to find the same values in the podcasts that she wanted to live in her own life. This probably means she was already taking responsibility for her own reactions to things in life, including in personal relationships, and so could deal with in a positive manner what was being evoked in her by listening to Strephon Says podcasts.

Take responsibility, is the big message. No one else can help you not suffer in life, so you might as well learn to deal with your own suffering and heal it yourself by making shifts in your unreality to bring yourself in alignment with things as they are, whether you always like what happens to you or not.

Someone wrote me quite negatively, attacking my person. It is left on the site so anyone can see, since they posted it there. This is not a personality contest for me in being liked, respected or gaining followers.

It is a project to teach, to contribute to the betterment of the world through talks on consciousness and dealing with the world with values.

Thus, reporting with joy 200 listeners a day for the first time is objective reporting, like in the news, and a mark that people want what Strephon has to teach. Strephon likes this because it aligns with his chosen purpose in the world and further fulfills him in what he does best, which is as a teacher of consciousness about life and dreams.

Strephon Says podcasts are a further extension in the Now of what he has been doing for thirty-five years, which is teaching seeking students the ways and values of consciousness living. This is what you get as a podcast listener here. You may come to listen, as if your interest and curiosity is perked.

However, if you stay, you soon realize that you are not just listening for curiosity or information, you are becoming a student of the process. You come and listen to these podcasts to experience shifts within yourself of attitude and perspective, and thus can increase the value and effectiveness of how you live your life.

Just making things conscious. Numbers are significant, yet even more significant is the context within which they occur.

We have all sorts of people out there making numbers, including such horrible things as with some governments in the numbers of people they have killed, calling these dead bodies, enemies, terrorists, infidels, you name it.

We much prefer to generate numbers in this world that are a quantifying of values for the good of humanity. We leave it at that.

A Reader’s Copy For Feedback – September 8, 2006

Strephon, the writer has incorporated elements not commonly used in today’s novels, while at the same time using the conventions of both the genres: Thriller, and Literary novel.

We offer this for your listening and reading pleasure. If you do read this first chapter and like it, please let us know here, even if to say only “I like it, please continue to write your novel.”

Yet, you might say more, from little difficulties of style to describing personally the effect of the chapter on you and a description of what you see in the Prologue.

If you want to be on a Select Mailing List to get further chapters, let us know.

Strephon desires your reading appreciation, criticism and support as he takes this year now to write chapter after chapter of this philosophic novel until complete and ready for publication.

If you are a regular supporter, in whatever way possible, you will not be forgotten.

You should be able to see already that this is not a Christian religious novel but a literary, philosophic novel that has nothing to do with modern Christianity. Strephon has ancestors and a father who was Jewish and a mother who was not. He knows Christianity through growing up in an Episcopal boarding school then going to a military school with the insistence on church every Sunday, then the last two years, the best, in a Quaker high school. Strephon has taught a number of people at collage and adult levels on the historical Jesus texts as spiritual texts, along with teachings in Hasidic stories and Zen stories.

So, join us if you can. Any opinion and support is worth something to us.

***

Prologue – A Crucifixion

What I cannot seem to figure out is the rate of acceleration. We started at zero 21 weeks ago. What is the rate of acceleration so that we can predict how high it is going to get?

We had 450 listeners after the first month and 950 after the second month. We had 2267 listeners after the third month. Thus we more than doubled our numbers for the third month.

In three and a half months we had 3695 total listeners and 100 listeners a day. 1428 listeners came in after two weeks more, around 1500, or 750 listeners a week. Six more weeks down the road and we now have 1000 listeners a week and 200 a day instead of 100 a day.

Are we then having around a 25% increase in listeners every week?

Thus 25% of 1000 current listeners a week would be 250 listeners added to 1000 then equals 1250 listeners next week, or the middle of September and 1500 the next week and 1750 after the one after. So by the end of September we will have 9000 listeners now added to with 1250 plus 1500 plus 1750 so that the total is: 13,500 listeners by the beginning of October. October will give us by the end 18,500. Isn’t math wonderful!

Let’s see what happens?

What does it all mean?

First, this is a plus for serious educational podcasts, competing with the university professors and popular writers to give useful information for living life to the public.

We are just starting!

Hopefully Strephon of Strephon Says has many more years and the right energy to content conveying his insights and knowledge about life as he has lived it.

Let’s speculate a little. The present rate of increase is now at 2000 in less than two weeks, or around 1000 a week.

Dare we speculate that the listener base may now increase at 1000 a week? And why not since the increase has been steady and accelerating for these last four and one half months.

Of course we put these statistics and analysis up for our listeners, some of which are dedicated in spreading the information around so as to benefit their friends, making their own private CD’s of the podcasts as gifts.

Of course it is part of our purpose here to spread the word of these Strephon Says podcasts being available so as to have a positive influence on people’s lives, and even the world culture.

Thus we are a positive input for cultural and individual change.

If these are your values also, you can choose to pass the value and information onto others. While these podcasts are free, everything has its price in life. One good return to offer then is that you let others of like mind or necessity know what we are doing here.

At some point we might ask for stories from you about how the podcasts are working in friend’s lives, and how you are helping with the outreach process.

For now, thanks, and thanks again to Stefania who continues to spend some of her valuable time improving this service and making it go well at the practical level. We also discuss many of the issues in these podcasts as they apply to our personal lives and relating. This is all part of the learning part of our personal relating.

You can do the same thing, and we know of people who are. With your family, or you as a couple, simply listen to a podcast and then launch right into a discussion among yourselves. God knows what you all might say.

My thoughts are on the line, but I don’t have to have your agreement, do I? We are in this awareness process about the meaning of life together, aren’t we?

Let’s leave it at that.

I also am grateful for Stefania’s valuable companionship, and for the inner companionship with a greater non-ego source that let’s the words come and the values come into the light of day.

Let’s see, at 1000 a week now, and climbing, that means about 17 more weeks to the end of the year. Maybe then we will have around 15,000 listeners by then, maybe 20,000.

What is life all about, anyway?

-Strephon and Stefania