Meet J. Martin Strangeweather

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful J. Martin Strangeweather. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with J. Martin below.

Hi J. Martin , so happy you were able to devote some time to sharing your thoughts and wisdom with our community. So, we’ve always admired how you have seemingly never let nay-sayers or haters keep you down. Can you talk to us about how to persist despite the negative energy that so often is thrown at folks trying to do something special with their lives?

Never let the naysayers get a foothold inside your head, but never pass up constructive criticism, either. Listen to people who have your best interests in mind. Don’t waste your valuable time and energy on people who just want to tear you down. If you’re doing something that hasn’t been done before, you’re going to have naysayers. If you’re doing something important, you’re going to have naysayers. If you’re doing something noticeably better than others in your profession, you’re going to have naysayers. Sometimes people are afraid your mere presence is going to overshadow them, and sometimes they’re afraid your light is going to expose what they’ve been hiding in the shadows, and sometimes they’re just jealous. Be a Mozart, not a Salieri.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

In the art world I’m the originator of a hallucinatory painting style called the “chaos method.” In the literary world I’m the founder of the Santa Ana Literary Association and the originator of a thought-provoking genre called “mediatized realism.” And in the world of philosophy and religion I’m the originator of the highly unorthodox “eidetic afterlife hypothesis.” Speaking of the eidetic afterlife hypothesis, I recently released a supplement to it. The supplement is titled Notes Concerning Eternity and it’s twice as long as The Eidetic Afterlife Hypothesis. Both books are available to read for free on The Internet Archive (see link below).

Each section of the Notes Concerning Eternity explores a different aspect of the eidetic afterlife hypothesis, but more thoroughly than the original work, which was really an introduction to the concept of subjective, neurobiological, relativistic eternity. Chapters for the notes have titles such as “The Phenomenology of Time Travel During the Dying Brain Process” and “The Psychological Mechanics of Heaven” and “The Psychophysiology of Out-of-Body Experiences”. It’s heady stuff, but I made an effort to write about these subjects in a manner that would be comprehensible to non-academic readers.

Let’s end this segment with something that combines my interests in art, poetry, and philosophy:

Gods and Men

Van Gogh poured his soul into Irises
But no one wanted to buy him

Van Gogh traded his soul
To the owner of an art supply store
For a few tubes of paint

Van Gogh suffered for his passion
Van Gogh sacrificed himself
In Devotion

Shortly after Van Gogh died penniless
The art supply store owner
Sold Van Gogh’s soul
To an art critic
For 300 francs

The art critic sold Van Gogh’s soul
To an art collector
For $84,000

The art collector
Auctioned off Van Gogh’s soul
At Sotheby’s for $54,000,000
Van Gogh’s soul was purchased
By an anonymous bidding agent
Over the telephone

It was the most expensive price
Ever paid for someone’s soul
At that time

The J. Paul Getty Museum
Acquired Van Gogh’s soul
For an undisclosed sum
Obviously more than enough
To buy poor Vincent
Another pour of Absinthe

Now Van Gogh’s soul hangs far from home
Crucified on display
For multitudes of strangers to worship
Who will never have to pay*
Except for parking

–Strangeweather

* The price of admission to the J. Paul Getty Museum is free

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

Let’s see, three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were impactful in my journey:

1. Most children are extremely imaginative and creative and curious about the world. I was the same, except I never grew out of it.

2. Learning to think critically and philosophically at a young age made me who I am today. It’s too bad we don’t teach critical thinking in high school. It sure would help prepare kids for whatever comes next in their life.

3. I’ve always felt that getting the chance to experience this miraculous planet is the most precious gift we’ll ever receive. Don’t squander your days chasing factory-made dreams. Don’t take the wonder of existence for granted.

Here’s my advice: Don’t fake it till you make it. Start humble. Do your homework. Do your research. Put in the hours. Put in the effort. Be passionate about what you do. Be honest with yourself and others. The world has enough phonies.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

I would travel, and go to concerts, and read important works of literature, and spend my days thinking and writing (maybe even publishing something from time to time), and I would create art, and teach people, and help people, and try to make the world a better place, just like I’ve been doing for the past two decades!

Contact Info:

• Facebook: The Eidetic Afterlife Hypothesis on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558218727017
• Other: Click on the link below to read Notes Concerning Eternity for free on the Internet Archive:
  https://archive.org/details/notes-concerning-eternity-file

  Click on the link below to read the Eidetic Afterlife Hypothesis for free on the Internet Archive:
  https://archive.org/details/death-and-dying

Image Credits

The photo of my wife and I are courtesy of Shadia Masri Photography. She is a friend of mine, and she gave permission to use this photo.