Tuesday 28 February 2012

Gary Lineker & Harry Moseley

The first face-to-face interview in this humbling process of collecting tributes for the inspirational Harry Moseley was with England football legend and prolific crisp thief, Gary Lineker.

Gary knows all too well the indiscriminate nature of cancer; his son, George, was diagnosed with a rare form of leukaemia as a baby. Fortunately, though, he fought it off and is now a 20-year-old man – thanks, no doubt, to the money raised for cancer research in the years and decades before he was even born.



The following is a passage from a BBC article on Chloe Gambrill, who was diagnosed with leukaemia at the age of six:

Cancer Research UK estimates that about 5,600 more children have survived for at least five years after being diagnosed with cancer than they would have done if survival rates had remained as they were in the early 1970s.

In the early 70s, 33% of children survived leukaemia. Today survival rates stand at more than 80%.

This increase in survival is largely due to the development of combination chemotherapy, which uses a number of different drugs.

And survival rates from neuroblastoma (a nerve tissue cancer) in children have risen from 17 to 64%.

Prof Peter Johnson, Cancer Research UK's chief clinician, said: "More children are surviving cancer than ever before and our efforts are continuing to make an even bigger impact.

"Childhood cancers are difficult to research, with relatively few children diagnosed each year. But our researchers are continuing our efforts to find ways to diagnose the disease earlier and looking for new drugs and making the existing treatments even more effective.

Please follow Harry Moseley’s Mom, Georgie, on Twitter, at:


And if you’d like to make a donation to Harry’s ongoing fundraising efforts, his website is here:


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There’s now a Lesism Facebook Page! I’d be most appreciative if you’d give it a LIKE:


You’re also very welcome to befriend me on my regular Facebook account, here:

Monday 27 February 2012

James Phelps & Harry Moseley

James Phelps... I think..?
Following on from the interview with his sibling clone, Ollie, here’s an excerpt from the chat with James Phelps – Fred Weasley in the Harry Potter films – about their friend, Harry Moseley.

It’s humbling to consider that these two guys have planet-wide recognition, yet were so quick to offer their support for the book I’m working on, in tribute to Harry, who died last October – aged just 11 – after a four year battle with brain cancer. He was and remains to be an extraordinary little guy who has touched the hearts of so many people.


It was a pleasure to speak to both James and Ollie – truly good souls.

I should point out that, for the interview with Ollie, I accidentally posted a photo of James. A couple of people helped me out in correcting my mistake, so I hope that’s all sorted now and I’m not going to get fan abuse for mixing them up again! To be honest, the only way I can tell the difference is the length of their hair, and James has apparently had it cut, now. (Twins are weird, when you think about it, aren’t they?)

Anyway…

You can follow James on Twitter at @James_Phelps - and Ollie is at @OliverPhelps...


And please follow Harry Moseley’s Mom, Georgie, on Twitter, at:


And if you’d like to make a donation to Harry’s ongoing fundraising efforts, his website is here:




* * * * *

There’s now a Lesism Facebook Page! I’d be most appreciative if you’d give it a LIKE:


You’re also very welcome to befriend me on my regular Facebook account, here:

Life After Death

Denise Lescano
Many, if not all of us, at times, struggle with the concept that those we lose to mortal death - including ourselves - could possible live on, elsewhere; that life is bigger than these short years we walk the earth.

The following is an excerpt from ‘The Messenger’, by professional psychic medium Denise Lescano. It’s the most heart-warming story I’ve read of contact from spirit, but also laugh-out-loud funny. It seems we take our sense of humour with us, too!

You can follow Denise at @DeniseLescano on Twitter and her website is at:



The Messengerby Denise Lescano

(Excerpt from Chapter 6)

As I mentioned earlier, this night produced a perfect example of a loved one on the spirit side making sure that his loved ones were going to get their message whether they wanted to or not. It is a story that I remember vividly.

A very attractive blonde haired, middle-aged woman sits on a chair in front of me and to my right. She is dressed conservatively and in very good taste, giving the impression by her visual presentation that she is likely a woman of some means. Her hair, nails and makeup are all done with great attention to detail, but I would not say overdone. Next to her, to her left, is a very good-looking and tall young man with blonde hair, golden suntanned skin and blue eyes. I estimate he must be about six feet, two inches and he seemed all the more tall walking in next to the petite woman who I have already deduced must be his mother. I will later find out in the reading that he is indeed her son and he is twenty-eight-years old.

As I give my usual prep speech to the group, I am very aware of his eyes, which are very intently focussed on me. He is studying me and I know that he is the sceptic that the spirits warned me about. I am also aware that he does not know what to make of the fact that I am an attractive, “normal” looking, and much younger than what he had expected. I am definitely not what he had imagined. Although I am quite certain he had no idea what to expect, I obviously don’t fit into any of his preconceived ideas of what a medium should look like. I actually get quite a kick out of this, am amused by his thoughts and am now looking forward to reading for him. I always love a good challenge and there is nothing more rewarding to me than to totally blow the mind of a sceptic.

In stark contrast, his mother feels to me very open and hopeful, as if she is looking forward to her reading. She will be much easier to read for because of this. It is obvious to me that her son’s energy is very protective and I know that he has come to do just that and protect his mother from me, from being taken for a ride and from disappointment. When Jane calls me the next day after speaking with the mother and son following the group, she validates that my suspicions were accurate. I know that he does not believe in me or that this whole thing is possible. When his mother told him that I was coming to her grief support group tonight, he became quite worried about her and her state of mind, which to him was obviously now in question. He came along with her, not with the intention of seeing if I was real, because he already knew, of course, that I wasn’t – but to protect his mom.

I pivot in my chair and turn to my right so that I am facing both of them; they are the last reading of the group that evening.

“Do you have a brother and son who passed?” I ask.

“Yes,” the mother replies.

I look at her son. “He is telling me that you two are twins. Are you twins, identical twins?”

He raises his eyebrows, nods and replies, “Yes, yes we are.”

“He is telling me that he passed in a car accident, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“He is showing me a road somewhere in what looks to me to be out in the country. I believe in the northeastern part of the country, New Jersey or New York areas somewhere I think. It is two lanes and winds around through the woods. It is not mountainous, but it is rather hilly. It is nighttime and he is telling me that it was around one or two a.m. when he crashed. Is this all correct so far?”

His brother is staring intently at me at this point, leaning forward in his chair. He simply nods yes. “It was in New Jersey, actually.” He is still not convinced, but I am beginning to get his attention now.

“He is telling me the road was wet, slick after the rain, it had been raining. He had a few drinks but I would not say he feels like he was drunk, but maybe a little tired. He is the only one in the car and driving. He is showing me from his point of view in the car and I can see the road take a pretty sharp curve to the left and as he hits the curve the back wheels of the car slide out and fish tail. I see the car going off the right side of the road at the sharpest point of the curve. He was going too fast, the road was wet and he misses the turn. Does this all sound like what you know about that night?”

They both are silent and just nod yes.

“He shows me the car rolling over several times, as it rolls off the side of the road and down a sloped embankment.” I turn to look directly at his mom. “He wants you to know that he passed instantly, his neck snapped. He did not feel anything.” His mom starts weeping quietly; tears are running down her face. “He says you need to hear that because they did not find his car until the next morning and you had always worried that he had lain there all night in pain and dying. You were afraid he was trapped in the car. He is telling me the car looked like a crumpled piece of tinfoil. He says he wants you to know it was quick. He was out of his body before he even realised what had happened. He also wants you to know that your father, his grandpa came there to meet him.”

Her emotions are now like a dam breaking and I can see the relief on her face along with the streams of tears running down her cheeks.

“I am so sorry to go through all of these details about the accident with you again, but it is important that you know, so that you know it is really from him. I am not allowed to edit any messages that I am given,” I explain to both of them. “He is telling me that he was at the house with you when the sheriff came and knocked on the door. He is so sorry about that. He said it was horrible for you. He says the sheriff explained to you that just before the sun came up around 6 a.m. or so, someone driving by saw the headlights coming out of the trees and called it in.”

At this point the brother in spirit, who I will call Paul, is now standing behind me and speaking into my right ear. I find this to be very unusual because spirits will usually stand in front of me and behind their loved ones. Paul is very handsome like his brother and I am becoming aware that he has a very good sense of humour. He is speaking to me now and joking and teasing me. He says to me: “My brother wants proof. This will get him! Tell him that…”

I turn to look directly at his brother and say, “Paul is telling me that you have his wallet in your pocket right now and that it even has all of his things and his money still in it. He is telling me there is a gold poker chip inside of it that he kept from the trip to Vegas you went on together. He kept the chip for good luck. Do you have his wallet with you now?”

In that moment everything shifted. His brother’s jaw practically dropped to the floor and his face turned white as if he had actually seen a ghost. He slowly stood up without saying a word and reached into his back pocket to pull out his brother’s wallet with all of his things still in it, even the money, and most importantly the poker chip, which he pulls out of the wallet to show us all in the group. I was just as stunned as he was.

Every spirit communicates with me differently. Some show me pictures and images and it is like we are playing charades. Some will impress me with feelings and emotions, while others will quite literally speak to me in thoughts. Paul was one who showed me images, but also spoke to me and I could hear his words as clearly as I heard his mom’s and brother’s. In fact, it was really amazing how well he communicated with me.

His brother took a moment to compose himself and began to tell me that before he picked his mother up he put the wallet in his pocket. He told me that on the drive over to pick her up he spoke out loud to his brother and said, “Paul, if this is really you tonight, if this is really real, then I want you to tell me about the wallet.”

His mother was stunned. She looked at me and said, “I had no idea he had done that, “ and then looked back at her son in shock. Her face was filled with excitement not only for the proof that it was really Paul, but that she knew how much this had just impacted her living son.

Paul continues on to tell me, “Now tell them this…”

Looking at his brother, I ask, “Paul wants me to ask, do you remember when you and your brother were dating the two sisters just after high school and you decided to pretend you were the other brother for one night so you could switch dates?”

He immediately starts laughing and blushing and replies a little embarrassed and shaking his head back and forth in disbelief. “Yes, we did do that.”

His mother puts her hands to her face and I can see she is about to burst with excitement. I look at her, obviously waiting for her to share what it is that has her so excited.

“Well, when I was waiting at home for my son to pick me up, I was sitting with Paul’s picture in my hands, on the couch, and I asked out loud to Paul. I said, “Paul, if it is really you tonight, I want you to tell that very same story about you and your brother. That is just incredible, absolutely amazing! I cannot believe he came through with that. Wow!”

Now mind you, there are six other people in the group, as well as Jane, witnessing this reading. Not only did he bring through information that I could never had known, he also brought things through that there was no way Jane could have even known before the reading. Just in case there was still any doubt on his brother’s part that Jane and I were working together and she was feeding me information, the details that he brought through were brought to dismiss that suspicion. Again, I was just as amazed as everyone there that night and could hardly believe the words coming out of my own mouth. The reading continued on for about thirty more minutes as Paul brought through a lot more specific and detailed information about the family business that he, his brother and their dad all ran together. He even gave his brother some advice on how to handle some very specific issues that were currently going on in the business. He also told me that their father would never do something like this – go to a medium – he would never believe this. His brother and mother laughed and nodded in agreement.

Paul had a great sense of humour and kept everyone laughing all night, including his brother and mom. He ended the evening with such an upbeat and positive feeling that I am certain everyone there that night was on a high for days after.

Paul knew his brother and mom were suffering greatly and struggling to come to terms with his sudden and tragic passing. He also knew that they needed proof, especially his brother, to be able to believe that it was really him, and he did a great job of bringing through things that only they would have known. Paul also proved to them that night that he was, in no uncertain terms, alive and well and still carried with him the same great charm and sense of humour he had in his life. He also showed them that he was still around them by bringing through the things they asked him to, and by talking about things that had happened with their business that occurred after his passing.

The mother and brother gave me big hugs before they left that night and thanked me. And, about a week later, after they had time to really absorb it all, the mother wrote me a wonderful letter, thanking me again. I know that they will always miss Paul and be sad that he left them so early, but I also know that night changed their lives forever. That night changed the way they viewed his life and death, and his life after death. For they know now that he is indeed alive and well and never really far away, and all they have to do is think of him and he is there with them.

* * * * *

I wanted to back up the story you have all read here today. This story was about my mother and I. The man killed in the accident was Eric Hayes. I was truly shocked with events of the evening. Denise was right in saying that I was a skeptic about the whole thing and wanted to make sure my mother was ok. I did however leave there with a new found calmness in my heart and I think the evenings events erased years of potential therapy. I just wanted to thank you Denise! What you do really helps people in their time of need and I am honored that my story stuck out in your memory. I hope this story will give a breath of hope to others in their time of need!

Thanks again!

Jason Hayes

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You can buy a signed copy of The Messenger at:


Here’s a link to the book on Amazon (.com and .co.uk, respectively):


And please follow Denise on Twitter, at: @DeniseLescano

There’s a load more information on Denise and what she does on her website, at:

Sunday 26 February 2012

The Voices In Your Head

It’s a common truth that most of us believe we’re great at giving advice to others - whether they want to listen, or not - yet we’re not so good at advising ourselves.

While we may get irritated with the recipients of our wise counsel when they don’t do what we think is best for them, it’s generally the case that nor do we listen to our own reasoning, when, if we did, we’d make life much easier.

So, how can we learn to listen to our own advice?

The thing that I’ve become aware of, recently, is that we have two distinct ‘voices’ in our heads, when we think: one is the unconscious, unruly noise of the overactive mind (which is more of a mad gibbering than coherent speech), whereas the other is conscious, precise and much more sensible.

At least in my experience, it feels that this conscious voice is at the front of my head, in the area of the forehead, and the unconscious thoughts come from the back of the skull.

When engaged, this conscious voice drowns out the flitting, critical over-thinking of the unconscious, egoic mind – the illusionary, phantom ‘self’ that first causes, then exacerbates all our emotional pain. In the extremes, the ego can literally destroy you… more commonly, it causes anxiety, depression and other related, miserable mood disorders, so it’s in our interest to silence it as best we can.

You may think I’m talking out of my bum-hole by now, but here’s how to recognise these two voices and two very different ways of thinking…

Firstly, cast your mind to an event in the past that still troubles you, today. It doesn’t have to be anything particularly traumatic – it could be just a lost wallet or purse, or perhaps an exam that you didn’t study hard enough for and failed.

This is unconscious thinking. Your ego is telling you a story about how stupid or useless you are, because it feeds off negative energy. The more down and depressed it can make you, the stronger it becomes.

Now, after listening to your mind telling itself this sad story for the umpteenth time, try engaging your conscious voice.

I think the best example of finding this is ‘speaking’ to yourself, though without actually making an outward sound. Without uttering words, it becomes a voice in your head, but unlike the ramblings of the ego, you can actually make this conscious voice make sense – even if you’re a man.

You can use this sensible voice to offer yourself advice, as you would advise a friend who was experiencing trouble in their life.

If you’re stuck in traffic, late for work and your mind is racing, stressing you out more and more, engage the conscious voice and say: “Hey, don’t worry. You’ll get there when you get there. There’s no point beating yourself up about it.”

If you look in the mirror and your egoic thinking becomes critical, not liking what it sees, engage the conscious voice and say: “You’re just who you are. Don’t listen to your brain. We both know it’s an idiot most of the time.”

You can also use this conscious voice as a narrative over your life, overriding the clawing thoughts of the ego. Say you’re out for a walk and you feel yourself being drawn into dark memories, lift yourself out of it by describing the world around you. Focus on every detail and tell yourself what you’re seeing – sounds, colours and shapes.

It’s a very simple practice that all of us can engage in, and it gives us the ability to actually be a good friend to ourselves, as we should be.

Friday 24 February 2012

Ollie Phelps & Harry Moseley

Ollie Phelps... I think?
Ollie and James Phelps are recognised the world over as, respectively, George and Fred Weasley from the hugely successful Harry Potter films, but there’s another Harry very close to their hearts… their friend, Harry Moseley.

My girlfriend, Jenny, and I spoke to both Ollie and James recently, to collect material for a book we’re working on, in tribute to Harry, who died last October – aged 11 – after a four year battle with brain cancer. In his all-too-short life, and since, he’s helped raise more than £650,000 for cancer charities.

I’ll be posting clips from both interviews, which we recorded separately. Ollie is first up simply because we spoke to him first, rather than because I’m balding and James has (in the interview, though apparently it’s been chopped, now) long and luxurious hair, which made me jealous. (Ollie has short and luxurious hair, which made me jealous.)

Please be aware that the audio isn’t too great, at times, due to background noise at the hotel where we met. The videos were recorded so I could transcribe the interviews (as my shorthand is rubbish and my memory is rubbisher), rather than for the explicit purpose of broadcasting them… creating the YouTube clips was an afterthought, kindly agreed to by Ollie and James.

You can follow Ollie on Twitter at @OliverPhelps - and James is at @James_Phelps … it’s their birthday, tomorrow – 25th February!

And please follow Harry Moseley’s Mom, Georgie, on Twitter, at:


And if you’d like to make a donation to Harry’s ongoing fundraising efforts, his website is here:



* * * * *

There’s now a Lesism Facebook Page! I’d be most appreciative if you’d give it a LIKE:


You’re also very welcome to befriend me on my regular Facebook account, here:

Thursday 16 February 2012

Chris Evans & Harry Moseley

For the tenth interview for Harry Moseley’s ‘book of celebration’, the lovely @Woodyfloss and I travelled once again to London, this time to speak to the all-round brilliant TV and radio presenter, Chris Evans.

As with all the participants of this project, Chris was such a lovely guy to meet and it was a pleasure to listen to his enduring memories of Harry, as well as hear his plans for helping to continue the little guy’s legacy for years to come.

Here’s an excerpt from the conversation:


The roll-call of participants, so far, is:


We’ve also received written tributes from Sarah Brown and Frank Lampard.

This is still just the beginning of a long journey to get this book out to the world, but it’s becoming clearer and clearer that Harry was an extraordinary soul, and I like to think he’s giving Jen and I the help we need to get this done.

Sitting in central London, eating cheese sandwiches after interviewing Chris, the Sun broke through the clouds, bathing us in a warmth that felt more fitting to an early summer’s day, rather than one in the remnants of winter. That gave us a smile.

I hope you can head along to Harry’s website and buy a bracelet or make a donation:


And please follow Harry’s mom, Georgie, on Twitter, at:


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There’s now a Lesism Facebook Page! I’d be most appreciative if you’d give it a LIKE:


You’re also very welcome to befriend me on my regular Facebook account, here:


Two Years of Enlightenment



Yesterday marked the second anniversary of my Awakening, and in those two years, my life has changed almost beyond recognition. The face in the mirror is still quite familiar, though it smiles more than it used to.

Echoing detail from other blogs, I’d spent almost the entirety of my teen and adult life as a very lost, messed up and wretched wreck of a human being – never achieving anything of note and seemingly sabotaging all of the good things that came my way, from close relationships to job opportunities.

Then, in the early hours of the morning of February 15th, 2010 – over the course of around an hour – my whole world shifted polarity, from an intensely negative outlook to a supremely positive knowing that life was far more brilliant than I’d ever imagined. I just hadn’t been looking at it the right way.

I’ve had a few ups and downs along the path (learning from my mistakes, rather than ignoring and repeating them, as I did before), but the past two years have been the most incredible of my life, with 2011 the most surreal and beautiful experience I ever could have hoped or dreamed for… and 2012 has started with even greater promise.

I know there are so many people out there who are hurting; lost in their own minds, wondering if they’ll ever find a way through their pain…

Two years and one week ago, I would have labelled myself a suicidal depressive. I had a history of depression that stretched across two nightmarish decades, and I thought that was who I was and who I would be. I never, ever, ever thought I would escape it.

Then, two years ago, the depression stopped.

Two years on… at and in this moment… I am still happy.

There is a way through.

The handle to the door that leads to better days is always within arm’s reach, because it’s there, inside you.

Thousands of years of civilisation, conditioning and control over the masses have meant that this door has been concealed to many, but it’s still there and you’ll find it when your mind is quiet.

To use a contemporary analogy, imagine a badly maintained computer, riddled with malware, old and useless programs, irrepressible popups and general junk data that you don’t want or need. The machine creaks and whines under the strain of all that unnecessary information, eating away at its processing capability, until even the most basic tasks become difficult to carry out. It’s not that the hardware is beyond those tasks – it’s the software that has corrupted the functioning.

This is a fair representation of the average human mind.

Now, say you want to give your child a computer, but instead of giving them something fresh and straight from the factory, you copy all of the information from your dysfunctional machine on to theirs.

In time, your child does the same thing for their children, and their children for theirs, and so on, and so on, and so on…

As the centuries and millennia pass, the same faults and errors are repeated over and over again, and this is why humanity – as a whole – has never truly been free, because true freedom comes from the realisation that we have the in-built ability to restore our minds to factory settings; to clear out the old, negative junk and fill that space with something infinitely more positive.

But the greatest enlightenment comes from realising that we’re not the computer at all…

We’re the operator and we have complete power over the machine that is our mind.

When you learn to tell your mind what to do, rather than the other way around, then you’ll open that door to a better world.

This is available to you right now.