Before I found out about Scientology, I was more than a little depressed. I was a student at Northwestern University. I was majoring in Radio, T.V., and Film. I was struggling through a number of required classes that did not seem to have a purpose for me. Get this- one of my classes was called "Philosophy as preperation for Death"! As you might guess, it was not a very uplifting class. We studied a bit of Plato, Kierkegaard, and some other funky dead German dudes. Interesting to read about what they thought, but none of it very helpful in making my life any easier, and certainly none of it was anything you could apply in real life. One day, I was walking past the Scientology center in Evanston. There were dozens of success stories lining the windows. Each one described big wins achieved upon taking the communications course that was being delivered at the center. Each one was more enthusiastic than the next. As I looked in, I could see many productive people buzzing around the place happily doing work. I soon after took my first class.
On my first day, I noticed a sign on the wall quoting L. Ron Hubbard: "Production is the basis of moral". I had a few considerations about this! First of all, I had always been taught that a major goal of life is: 1) make money, 2) RETIRE. I did not think that work was something to aspire to, rather it was just something you had to do before you RETIRE. Having watched more than my fair share of T.V. as a kid, I think I had turned into Doby Gillis, that famous character that was allergic to work. So at first, all I could do was disagree. Then I realized its probably a true datum, but what a bummer! This gave way to the next stage. I was really starting to get good production on my course. I was learning the actual principals of communication, and having wins applying it to life. Its not that I was being taught completely new concepts. It was more like a lightbulb went off and the most important ideas were illuminated and reaffirmed for myself. I became gradually more and more confident as I became more competant, by drilling and practicing the communication principals. I began to be able to differentiate data, sorting out whats true for me and whats false. I started to learn more and more how to think for myself. I began to formulate real goals and work towards them, and the more I did, the more stable and happy I became.
This was a long time ago, and I never looked back.
Here is an article that spells out what Scientology really is. It reminds me of those early days.
