13 Captivating New Stories to Spark Your Imagination - September 2024

You can read about evil, brainwashing, parenting, Gods, the Law of Attraction, Fear, living in a Simulation, and even humanity existing alongside dinosaurs

Oct 10, 2024

Dear reader, allow me to introduce a new substack publication, ZZ Universe.

I envision it as an entry into the world of my writing, encompassing the best of what I’ve written and summarizing my work periodically. It’s the best way to stay up-to-date with my publications without subscribing to each of them, getting your mailbox overwhelmed.

I'm thinking of publishing the following:

A periodic update informing you about selected new stories from all my publications with a short describtion, as an overview of my work.
Short stories that won't be sent to your mailboxes.
The future is unknown, so who the hell knows...

One publication to rule them all. One subscription to find them. One newsletter to bring them all, and in the inbox deliver them. - J.R.R. Tolkien on ZZ Universe

Here’s a list of all the articles summarized in this newsletter:

We talked about evil—what it is and who is evil—and asked ourselves about our capacity for evil deeds.

Evil is Often Born of Good Intentions

Here’s my definition of evil: “Evil is something that is from my perspective (important) so despicable, terrible, vile, immoral, unforgivable, and tragic that it should be extinguished from the face of this Earth with extreme prejudices.”

Evil is always lurking just beneath the surface. It’s not some devil’s doing, but more often than not, mere good intentions and interests of one group or individual against another. We should often ask ourselves: "Are we the baddies?" and question our perspective's validity because there is always more than one perspective on everything.

I dared do the unthinkable and offer unsolicited parenting non-advice because I would never dare to assume I know you or your child. Let's call it an opinion that may or may not be helpful.

What are the core principles of a happy and easy parenting experience?

Here’s a short summary of the core principles:

The most important lesson of happy parenting is that you must always first take care of your relationship with yourself, ensure that you are relaxed, content, and happy.
Your children and your whole parenting experience will always perfectly reflect your inner state, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs.
Second, tend to your relationship with your partner. After that’s done, the rest is easy and comes naturally.
Kids practically raise themselves and need very little apart from your presence and love. If the parents are “good,” kids will be “okay” as well.
Accept imperfections, and stop comparing. Accept uncertainty. Accept your child’s timing and growth.
When dealing with problems, don’t focus on the issues, just know they will pass. When searching for repeating patterns and problems, look within.
Always know what is and what is not under your control. Do what you can and then completely let go of the rest. What will be, will be.
Focus on the good, never the bad. Know that everything will be okay and that you are a good parent. You’re good enough, and you’re doing a good job.

Happy parents — happy child — happy family.

To make matters worse, I even speculated on your parents' parenting skills. How dare I?! Quickly - read it and scientifically tell me to go f*** myself.

10 Things Your Parents Didn’t Know

All parents make mistakes, and all children can point out those that most impact them. That’s just the way of life. Do better by understanding the following principles.

10 things you must understand about raising children

1. You teach by example, not by your words.

2. Happy parent = happy child, now and forever.

3. Taking care of your relationship with your partner is incredibly important.

4. The first seven years of your child’s life are crucial.

5. Children interpret everything as their fault.

6. Words matter and become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

7. Your kids need only you and almost nothing else.

8. Never project your desires and preferences onto your child.

9. Pretending your demons don’t exist and running away from them never works.

10. You can never know what the future holds.

Remember that your parents were just like you—flawed and confused. If they knew any better or could do it, they most likely would. Forgive them and forgive yourself.

The best advice I ever got before becomign a parent: You will never do everything right as a parent, so do your best and trust it's enough.

I then transitioned to topics of voluntary brainwashing. First, I pointed out what you allow to enter your mind uninvited, and in the next article, I offered a suggestion on how to counter that programming.

You Are Being Programmed for Misery and Pessimism

I find things people consume all day long absolutely unacceptable, annoying, stupid, and pure voluntary brainwashing that results in a state of perpetual misery, pessimism, and heartache.

Here are a few affirmations you absorb from the news:

I am always in danger.
Crime, accidents, and disease are everywhere.
Every day someone gets raped, shot, stabbed, robbed, or murdered.
Everything is hopeless, and the world is going mad and getting worse by the day.
People are horrible!
Evil is everywhere around me.
Everybody gets sick all the time.
Horrible things happen to everyone.
War is everywhere, and we’re in grave danger.
There is only suffering in this world.
Everything is dangerous, and every day, people die doing the most mundane of activities.

If you consume TV news, and it’s not much better on social media unless meticulously curated, you are brainwashing yourself into misery, pessimism, and unhappiness! That is a fact!

Commercials are an affirmation of:

I am not enough. (very problematic affirmation)
I don’t have enough.
To be satisfied, happy, healthy, and enough, I must buy “this.”
“This” brand is superb, and you will choose it over another (influencing your purchasing decisions).

How exactly do you benefit from watching the news and all these commercials? Are you sure you want to consume the affirmation mentioned above?

What If Instead of the TV, You Chose Your Own Brainwashing

Since you’re being brainwashed all the time, why not curate the content of that brainwashing to feel happier, healthier, and more optimistic instead of miserable and pessimistic?

Why choose to focus on the bad when you can focus on the good?

I am always safe.
The world is a safe and pleasant place.
I am perfect. The universe is perfect.
I am enough just as I am.
My life is good enough.
I am worthy of love. I am loved by all.
I need nothing. I have all I need and want already.
Everything in my life is always perfect.
People are kind, loving, and good.
Anything is possible at any time.
I see only good news and pleasant surprises.
I am surrounded by love and light.
Every day, in every way, I am (or things are) getting better and better.
I am strong and healthy.
My body and mind are always perfect.
I am grateful that everyone I love is always healthy and happy.
May all living beings be happy, healthy, and free from suffering (Metta meditation).
Everything always works out for me.
I am happy and satisfied right here, right now.
Life is good, and I am grateful for every moment I am given.
I have so many things to be thankful for… (listing them)

Delusional? Maybe. Helpful? Definitely. Feels good? Oh yes! Do I want more of that? Absolutely! Shall I try it?

I don’t know — will you? What have you got to lose?

Epictetus: “Happiness and freedom begin with a clear understanding of one principle: Some things are within our control, and some things are not.”

The other day, I wanted to watch some lovely wildlife documentaries with my four-year-old daughter. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but for an innocent little girl, they are positively traumatizing! We tried at least ten different wildlife documentaries, but it never took long before someone was getting eaten again.

Think Your Life Is Cruel — Watch a Wildlife Documentary

Nature is cruel. We, humans, have it easy. The only problem is that we can’t see it because we are focused on what is missing instead of what we have.

Next time you feel that your life is hard and cruel, you feel in danger and hate the unpredictability of your existence, please remember that no one, and I mean no other living organism on this planet, is safer than you, fellow human. None have a higher infant rate of survival. None have more comfort. None have it easier than us, apart from the mess inside our heads, which makes us feel otherwise.

If God or a random ejaculator is spitting souls into the Earthly realm, you’ve won the freaking genetic lottery! Show some freaking gratitude!

I published some excruciatingly uncomfortable stories in the Master the Mind publication, where we play with the idea of mind over matter.

The Uncomfortable Truth About the Law of Attraction

If you can create or attract your desires with your mind alone, that means you created everything in your life, and the world is not what you thought it was.

If it exists, you created it

If you hate it, you did it. If you love it, you did it.
If it’s evil, you made the evil. If it’s good, you made the good.
Your sickness? You did that to yourself.
Accident? Still you.
Financial ruin, scammer, robber, thief? Who else but you, dear one?
You were attacked? You created the attacker and the situation and wrote yourself into a victim.

The hard pill you must swallow

You can’t expect to heal by rewriting your mind if you’re not willing to admit that you caused the sickness in the first place. Your mind either has the power over your body, or it doesn’t.
You can’t wish your way out of a horrible life situation unless you’re willing to accept that you put yourself there. You either have control or you don’t.
You can’t expect miracles to happen only for your benefit and the same principles not working to your detriment. The good and the bad happening are either both miracles or none.
You can’t expect words like affirmations to work on bringing about your desires if you’re not willing to take responsibility for everything else in your life that other kinds of words or thoughts created. There are no magic words of creation — all words create equally and in proportion.
You can’t expect to visualize a life of abundance, love, and happiness if you’re not willing to accept that you also envisioned a life of lack, loneliness, and misery. Either all images in your head create your reality, or none do.
You can’t expect your special person to change to your liking by imagining them differently if you’re not willing to take responsibility for them being as they are now, including the whole of your relationship. You either create everything in everyone all the time, or nothing, never.

In other words — The Law of Attraction, The Law of Assumption, the Biblical teachings, and ancient secret knowledge all allude to one simple truth: You are all there is — the only source of everything in your life.

The Law of Attraction either always works for everything and always has through your entire life, or it never works for nothing, never has, and never will. Which is it?

Then we took this concept further and blamed you for your children's problem. Not really. No guilting is involved, but because you are the master of your reality, so... deal with it.

Accept responsibility and raise happy and healthy children by changing your mind

Here’s the essence of the following article in one sentence: It’s never your child — it’s always you. We cause unwanted behavior in our children.

When your child is misbehaving, erratic, can’t sleep, doesn’t want to eat, has problems in school, is angry all the time, is lashing out, wets the bed, is overly shy and fearful, perhaps even anxious and depressed, hyperactive, or whatever else that is the issue you are dealing with, you would typically think: "What is wrong with my child?"

The problem is obviously with the child, and the only way to solve it is to FIX THEM. Right? Wrong!

You are the source — your children are the result

I know it’s hard to hear this, but it cannot be any other way. You are the source of everything in your life, and there are no exceptions to this rule.

You are the projector — your children are the projected image on the screen of life. Your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and assumptions about anything and everything, including your children, cause what you experience in this life.

When you notice something about your child that you dislike, always ask yourself: “What within me is causing this behavior in my child?”

Remember: Whenever you want to change something or someone in your outside world, you must always look within for the cause and make changes within your mind!

That was painful, right? Don't worry - it gets worse.

10 Painful Answers That Will Piss Off Everyone

If you believe in LOA and you create things with your mind and want to manifest your desires, you also have to accept the other end of the stick and accept responsibility for all the bad in your life. Some of today’s messages will be hard to read and even harder to accept. Think of it as tough love, but love nonetheless.

People like the feel-good side of their ability to control their fate, use affirmations to get things, visualize a better future, and somehow manifest it, but almost everyone is pretending that there isn’t a darker side to the same story. I’m afraid that the Law of Attraction works both ways.

If you create all the things you like, you also create everything you don’t like.

Here’s a list of question we ask in this story:

Q: Are you saying I’m somehow responsible for all my problems?
Q: Are you claiming that it’s my fault I was cheated on or mistreated?
Q: Are you saying I have caused my body to become sick, catch a virus or bacteria, go weak, or break?
Q: Are you claiming that I somehow caused a traffic accident that wasn’t physically my fault?
Q: Are you saying it’s my fault that my child is problematic (whatever that may be — hyper, energetic, refuses to eat or sleep…), hurt, or sick?
Q: Are you claiming that if I walk down the street and some thug walks up to me and punches me in the face, that is somehow my fault?
Q: Are you saying I’m at fault if I can’t get pregnant?
Q: Are you claiming that it’s somehow my fault that I can’t get a job, make the sale, sell the apartment, or get a promotion?
Q: Are you saying that even if some miracle happens, like an alien beaming down from their spaceship revealing to me secrets of the universe, it is still my doing?
Q: Are you claiming that I’m somehow directly responsible for all the evil, sickness, violence, and suffering in this world?

You’ll have to read the full article for the answers before burning me at the stake!

I also discussed fear, which is an ongoing theme in my writing and life. While I usually hammer my readers with the logic of wasting energy worrying about things beyond our control, I went even further, discussing the insanity of fear in a mind-made reality.

Fear Is Nonsense in a Mind-Made Simulation

Our reality is mind-made, and it responds to your thoughts

Wherever you come from, be it science (Quantum Physics), religion (God is all, as you believe, so are you), the Law of Attraction and Assumption (as within, so without, like attracts like), or just about any other philosophy (Stoic philosophy — the only thing you control is your mind) you eventually come to the same conclusion, if you deeply understand the core teachings.

That conclusion is that your mind determines everything in your life. It determines your level of happiness or misery, how you perceive everything, your emotions, relationships, success, luck, and, yes, even the amount of suffering you experience. In short, the mind is what we should all focus on but mostly ignore.

Do you remember when you had a nightmare?

Something horrible was happening, and there was nothing you could do about it. Some evil people or monsters were hunting you. You were afraid, and it felt just as real as this “real life” does now.

When you were trapped in the nightmare, you believed it was real. You perceived everything as real. You fell for the trick of the mind. At that time, you didn’t realize. That was your reality, and you were not in control. Those people or monsters were all external beings (not you) with their own minds, desires, and will. You were a victim, and you were in real danger. Right? That is how it felt — that is how you perceived it.

What happened when you woke up?

You realized it was just a nightmare. None of those people, monsters, and danger was a real threat. You were never in any real danger. It was just a dream, and dreams can’t harm us. The exact same thing happens to those who awake from this simulation.

Being afraid is not only insane in a simulation but also directly causes more reason to be scared by proving that your fear is correct. Fear is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It wasn't all serious and mind-bending. We had some fun with the idea of humans living alongside dinosaurs in a parallel universe!

Do You Ever Wish Dinosaurs Never Went Extinct?

What would our world look like if dinosaurs never went extinct and intelligent life evolved from dinosaur ancestry? (Interdimensional Talks -Episode 19)

A universe where humans live with dinosaurs in harmony

Mike: “Welcome back to International Talks. I’m your host, Mike, and today, I have an exceptional treat for you! Remember how we would dream of a world where dinosaurs never went extinct? As luck would have it, we no longer have to imagine. I found a parallel universe where dinosaurs never went extinct, that cursed asteroid missed our planet, and humanity developed parallel to building-sized reptiles roaming the Earth.

What do you think life would look like for humans if dinosaurs still ruled the Earth? Let’s find out. Please allow me to introduce our guest, Malcolm Redhorn, from Earth 76867.”

Read the rest of the story in the above link.

ABOUT THE SHOW:

Ladies and gentlemen, alien or domestic, Welcome to Interdimensional Talks with your host Mike!

The only fictional radio show in the world broadcasting across the universe and the multiverse. Listen in as we talk to the most diverse bunch of guests you can possibly imagine. We’re talking aliens, ethereal beings, artificial intelligence, and even humans from parallel universes.

Suspend your disbelief, open your mind, and join us on a journey of fascinating exploration of ideas. Grab a drink and enjoy the show.

There isn't a dull moment these days as we all await that one mistake that will seal the deal and bring about a nuclear apocalypse. When Israel committed their acts of terrorism, as some commentators labeled them and surgically eliminated all the leaders of Hezbollah by remotely detonating their communication devices all at once, a new short fictional story was born.

Vengeful God of Israel and Technological Apocalypse of 21st century

The old vengeful God of Israel has had enough, ordering Israel, his chosen people, to unleash the electronic apocalypse and purge this world of all humans using electronics. (fiction, short story)

God descended from the heavens and spoke to his prophet

The heavens opened up, and God Yahve himself descended to speak to his prophet in prayer. It had been thousands of years since his last appearance, so the prophet was beside himself with joy — a joy that would prove to be shortlived, as God did not come in a good mood but one of lust for destruction, purification, and mayhem.

Prophet Netanyahu: “Oh Lord. Is that really you?”

God, Yahve: “I am that, I am.”

Prophet Netanyahu: “I am honored by your presence. To what do I owe this pleasure, oh Lord of Heavens and Earth?”

God, Yahve: “I have chosen you as my emissary of death.”

Prophet Netanyahu: “I’m sorry, what? My hearing isn’t what it used to be.”

God, Yahve: “Have you forgotten who you are speaking to, mortal?”

Prophet Netanyahu: “Forgive me! (he fell to his knees) I meant no disrespect.”

...

God, Yahve: “It is time to punish those who oppose me. Thau shall be my staff, the instrument in my hand. This time, I shall not compel the sky to do my bidding. You will be the weapon of my wrath! Will you serve?”

Prophet Netanyahu: “I will serve. May I ask what is it that you demand of me, oh Lord?”

God, Yahve: “Press the button of doom and never look back!”

Read the rest of the story in the above link.

Finally, we looked at the happenings on the markets in Trading Meditations. I don't write much about trading anymore, as the market has plugged the remainder of my hair from my scalp, and I'm just not feeling all that inspired, to be honest.

What To Expect From the FED Rate Cut Tomorrow for Bitcoin?

I covered my expectations for the (now recent) FED rate cuts and what they mean for the markets. Historically speaking, it's not as straightforward of an affair as you might think.

Then we looked at some charts, and I made my tea-leafs non-predicting predictions. On that topic. I just have to repeat this line as I'm rather proud of it:

I like my charts like I like my women - as naked as possible!

In short, I'm cautiously optimistic and positioned for more upside, while aware that it might get darker before the final dawn (a full-blown bull market in crypto).

Not bad for one month if I do say so myself.

Thanks for reading. Like, share, recommend, link to, and subscribe. You know the deal with online publishing. Every little thing helps. I appreciate you!