One movie changed my mind, next changed my whole life.
Edna Mode: It will be bold, dramatic, heroic!
Bob Parr: Yeah, something classy.
The Incredibles (2004) was the catalyst for creating my first thought rewiring technique that uses the power of fiction. That technique is my first comic, Inner Speech Bubble Method.
As a kid, I saw The Incredibles over a million times. The first hundred times I watched it were on tape, right before it was phased out. The next thousand times were on my mom's old Samsung Transform; I wish phones were still made this way! Then we were able to get it on DVD. I watched it so much that my mom got a portable DVD player for me as a gift. I played The Incredibles until the thing broke, and I don't regret it.
The Incredibles was my first jab at the modern superhero genre (until Sky High and Superhero Movie stole my heart). This one animated film I watched repeatedly years ago was the first step to creating my first digital self-help comic book. But I wasn't the only one inspired.
It took over a decade for The Incredibles 2 to release, and everyone was ok with it. The long-awaited sequel grossed over $1.242 billion worldwide! Fiction has inspired many people to share the gift of story with others, create more, and believe in a better tomorrow, but what if it can do more than that?
Using Fiction For Personal Transformation
The way people are moved by The Incredibles franchise is proof that fiction is alchemy. If you're just like me, owning the DVDs, tapes, merch, and saw it in theatres. If you dedicate your 2 hours of your time a hundred times over. Fiction not only transmuted your mindset, but it expanded your way of being and expanded its way into your pockets.
But what about the other areas of your life? Why do these stories appear to change us so greatly in the moment, yet don’t change everything? We get up from our phones, TVs, or bookshelves, then go right back into reality. The reality we hate.
Most people don't use the energy they get from fiction to create the life they want. The few that do reap the success of life-changing ideas and decisions, like the Astro boots.
Like me, you already watched the key to all your problems, and I can show you how to use it.
The 3 Components of Successful Fiction
I remember the exact day I queued up The Incredibles and it taught me what art was.
I was 7 or 8, lying underneath the covers, turned on my mom's Samsung Transform, and I said it. "This is art."
A strong emotion welled up inside of me that I couldn't decipher at the time, but I knew it was important to remember this feeling. Today is my birthday, I'm 22 years old, and now I can tell you that I experienced successful fiction.
Successful fiction consists of 3 things:
1. Physical Connection- Body sensations and emotions.
2. Mental Connection- Thoughts, past experiences, and inferences arise that create a new story about the piece of fiction, oneself, or personal life. This connection is conscious and subconscious.
3. Energy/Soul Connection- You send thought forms to other people, manifest situations that mimic the story or its characters, have dreams, and inspiration from said story.
The Incredibles does all 3 of these things on a major scale. By major, I mean I can't find a single person that didn't watched this movie yet. This is a movie my niece will probably watch a ton, and she's part of Generation Alpha.
Why is this important? These 3 components are also what you need to impress to manifest anything.
A Manifestation = Belief
You get what you believe in. Belief isn't wishing or positive thinking. It's an action. Every time you "reason" and act (or lack thereof) on something, that is a sign of belief.
This is about to be briefly science-y.
In the world of physics, there is a phenomenon called the observer effect. The observer effect is the fact that observing a situation or phenomenon necessarily changes it. It is widely argued whether or not this only works in application to quantum physics, but I can give you a real-world example of this happening.
Have you ever heard about someone doing something slightly unethical and getting away with it, but knew you wouldn’t? Such as seeing someone steal candy out of a big store. You’re not a thief, but you also know the universe would find a way to punish you, versus if anyone else tried it.
You might even often find yourself saying, “It would be just my luck if I tried that.” Why is that the case? This is the observer effect at work. Every day, you believe this or that will happen, and it has a 50% happening.
Something I discovered while making my comic book, beliefs work like a spiderweb.
A spider represents the core belief. The web represents thoughts. Any flies caught in the web are thought forms big enough to be considered a belief. At that point, you only see the flies and catch the spider too late. You have stifling circumstances, a trapped life, or you always feel like something is missing.
But the basis of Inner Speech Bubble is that you had the answers to all your problems in the first story. The key to getting what you want is using the fiction you already resonate with to create a new belief.
How To Make Fiction Alchemy Work For You
Taking this information and my love for fiction like The Incredibles, I started by analyzing stories. Not just the ones I watch, but the ones in my life.
In the Instagram reel below, here is a spiderweb I had to clear out the moment I became aware of it.
But it took me a while and a fiction alchemical formula to figure out the spider weaving throughout my life, confining me before I could realize it.
Which is the next part of making fiction alchemy work for you. Figure out how you view fiction and how to turn it into frameworks, inspirations, or principles. We're not all into footwear, but everyone has something inside of them like the Astro boots. This could be a talent you discarded, a saying that should be a book title, or a character archetype to help you stay disciplined.
The first step to using fiction alchemy is awareness. What is your spider web, and what's the spider?
If you need help doing and are still skeptical of how fiction and it's mechanisms could help you, check out this free taste test here.
To find me in other places:
Other Ways to Support My Art Ninja Way
The Vibes of Fiction Podcast: where I analyze and alchemize fiction in real time (also available on YouTube)