TheOngoingJourney - My Introduction

First of all, a big hello to everyone here at ATS!

I am a 23 (24 tomorrow) year old male who was born and lives in England. My main interests include music, film, video games, computing, astronomy (just beginning with this venture) and football (soccer to Americans). I support Manchester United, although maybe admitting that could have been a slight mistake

I first found this site through a chain of events which looking back at, seemed like a mini awakening. I want to be careful here and not sound "new age" or anything like that as I am only just embarking on this journey. I have always felt like I never fitted in to the "norm" growing up and always seemed to think differently to others. Again, I don't want to come across as trying to sound "different" but that is the truth. Certain things that went on in the world never seemed quite right, however I never really had anyone in my social circle/family who I could talk to about these feelings, ideas etc. I realise i'm starting to go off on a tangent here, so i'll try to get back on track.

Whilst working at my previous job I met a girl who also seemed "different", in the way that they didn't really fit in with the norm either. We got talking about certain world events (9/11, endless wars) until eventually she brought up the topic of the "Zeitgeist" films. She quickly touched upon the subject of the films and so after that I had finished my shift I went home and acquired the films and watched them over the period of a few days. Well my mind was blown, how could these things really be happening in the world? 9/11 a false flag, economic hitmen etc etc. I'm sure if you are aware of the films, you know their subject matter.

After following up some of the information in the films I randomly came across a youtube video which was titled something like "The man THEY don't want you to know about, Ron Paul." After watching this video I felt like I had to research more into this man and his ideas etc. What he was saying seemed so obvious and logical, although hugely contrasting to what I was always reading about in the mainstream news and newspapers. I then realised that the whole game was messed up, why weren't the other politicians, leaders etc not talking about the same ideas and beliefs? What Ron Paul stood for and was trying to achieve seemed like a no brainer. Why didn't everyone support him, after all it would have been beneficial to the majority!

I went from video to video of Ron Paul, just trying to learn what I could about him and what he was trying to achieve. Now bear in mind that I said I was born and live in England, so until then I had never really been interested in US Politics, let alone UK Politics. This man spoke to me, his ideas and proposals just seemed so logical and common sense. To cut a long story short, on one of the videos I watched there was a comment by a poster which mentioned something about a site called "ATS". Well I immediately had to google that term and low and behold, I found that it stood for AboveTopSecret .

I set about reading all of the top topics and just basically started to read everything I could that was rated highly (lots of flags). It feels like it has been a snowball effect as where I am now is about 100 steps forward in terms of enlightenment from where I was upon discovering the site. So after about 4 months of lurking and just educating myself to all of the goings on I was never aware of, I now have decided to register an account and start to get actively involved in discussions and hope to add something to the community.

From 18-23 I was addicted to smoking cannabis (I know drug talk is not allowed, so that is as far as I will go with that). I believe that contributed to me not following up on my feelings of being different and not thinking like the mainstream, as I was basically using it to mask the problems I should have been tackling.
ANYWAY, I have recently quit smoking it and am hoping to embark on both a "metaphysical" journey and of course one of enlightenment of the current goings on in the world (become more "awake, for lack of a better term).

It is from ATS that I have discovered about Lucid Dreaming, Meditation, Astral Projection and such techniques. I had heard of these terms before I found the site, however I never knew anything about them or how to achieve them. Now that I see a Metaphysics forum, I do hope to learn how to use these techniques and hopefully better myself spiritually as well as mentally. This is where I urge anyone who can help me get started with these to PM me with any help they can give. Anything appreciated
I've tried meditation a few times by focusing on breathing and clearing my mind of thoughts, however I feel there is more to it than that.


There's a lot more to say but I have rambled on long enough already, if you made it this far then thank you very much for taking the time to read my thread. If you want to ask me anything then go ahead, I look forward to hopefully hearing from some of you!

Thanks!

Welcome to ATS. Most of us come here by "accident" . I got hooked by the humor. Enjoy being a member, careful that first step's a doozey.

reply to post by TheOngoingJourney

Welcome on in and Happy Birthday for tomorrow! Zeritgeist were indeed very good films despite the possible odd inaccuracy here or they they were generally bang on the money. And for free too.

Anyway, hope you like it here and look forward to seeing you around.

reply to post by TheOngoingJourney


Welcome. I enjoyed reading your introduction. I'm pretty new as well, and hopefully we both can make some useful contributions here.

We are all on a journey, only few have opened their eyes to it, and it's good to know more and more people are feeling the nagging itch to "wake up". Glad you are scratching that itch!

Glad you've made some life changes, and in all of that, you've come here and become a member. Well thats fantastic and we applaud you while your quest is ongoing.

Speaking of quest, we realize that ATS (this website) can be overwhelming to many, so we've created this tour/presentation for you to help you on your way to getting oriented..

Welcome TheOngoingJourney

For now you can reply to any thread in any member forum you wish. Once you have achieved 20 post replies, you will then be able to start your own threads in the appropriate forums and additionally send & receive messages to and from fellow ATS members.

You are able to send & receive (PM's) Private Messages to Staff only for now (after the 20 reply-post minimum, you'll have full access to any member).

To save yourself a lot of searching and even possible future heartache and frustration, please review the below....

Some handy links to get you started in becoming an informed and valued member of ATS.

Terms & Conditions Of Use (Please read first)

Index of Important ATS Related Threads

Start Here - ATS Freshmans Forum

Starting a New Thread ?... Look Here First

Hey new members!! Come here if you need advice

Rules for Avatars and Mini-Profile Background images

An Easy Way to Upload Your Avatar Graphics

Signature Guidelines

General ATS Discussion Etiquette.

We expect civility and decorum within all topics - Please Review This Link.


Be sure to try out our Ask ATS with the 'topic' search words of your choice. I'm sure you will find many threads to pick from to add your thoughts and opinions too. We encourage everyone to please contribute to existing threads rather than start a new one. This will also help guarantee that your thread won't end up as a duplicate located elsewhere. The ATS Search feature is your friend!


AboveTopSecret is much like a theme park with many, many rides, so with that said...
Here's a few thoughts before getting onto any one of the 1000's of topical rides at Above Top Secret, also known as ATS, the world's largest Civil & Unique Discussion Community.


* Please check out those links posted above before getting on one of the rides. This will save you a lot of future stress, frustration and possible action by one of your friendly neighborhood Mods!

* Please be sure to act like an 'civil' adult and are at least this tall to get on any of the rides, (Johnny stretches his arm outward).

* Please remember that some members are very passionate and vocal depending on what ride your all on. You should be mentally fit, stable and have a strong stomach for theories, conjecture, research and evidence presented that may be contrary to your own.

* Please be "open-minded" enough to understand that sometimes the ride isn't always what you might expect. Be aware you also might end up learning something new and 'out-of-the-box' before you get off the ride.

* Please note that at times the ride gets overly-heated and "it's strongly suggested" to get off the ride to regroup one's thoughts before continuing. This will also help guarantee that the ride will move forward without getting derailed or explode into a fiery trashbin.

* Please have fun! But be aware that if you act in an uncivil-like manner, use profanity, intentially spread a hoax and/or get verbally abusive, you will be removed off the ride by a Moderator. This is not only for your safety, but also for those both young and old on the ride with you.


So buckle up, keep your arms within the ride's comfort zone, have fun and "Deny Ignorance"...!


Johnny

Thank you all for the warm welcome, it is very much appreciated!

At the moment i'm just getting used to using the site and so those links and advice will help me greatly, again thank you all.