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Horizons Magazine

More about Andrea

JUNE 2002
Our 10th anniversary; unseen support, history of Horizons, meditation,
thriving in a slow economy, God's will

Hello and welcome to the June 2002 issue of Horizons Magazine, and our
10th anniversary! Thanks to everyone who writes for Horizons, who reads
Horizons, who distributes Horizons, and who advertises in Horizons - without
all of you, none of this would be possible. While it might seem like I'm the only
 one who does everything to get the magazine together each month, me without
you would = nothing. That's how life is, isn't it? We may seem to be alone in our
 ventures, but there is lotsa unseen and uncredited support that goes into the mix.

Without Theresa Richardson's idea in 1992, there would be no Horizons Magazine. Without Kristy Scott's computer knowledge in 1992, there would be no Horizons Magazine. Without me to continue on with the magazine after both founding partners decided to move on to other ventures in 95 and 96, Horizons as it exists today would not be. We've come a long way, baby!

Horizons Magazine began as an idea in Theresa Richardson's head. She discussed it with her friend Kristy Scott, whose brother knew all about computers and layout programs and so the magazine began to take form. Theresa mentioned it to me and asked for my input, since I had a short-lived newsletter called Into The Light, circa 1991, and I was creating the newsletter for a local metaphysical group founded by Theresa Richardson along with popular Space Coast astrologer Leslie Marlar. I was also working full time for a criminal defense attorney - my career of choice since the 70's - and was married, and had an ongoing yoga practice, so my life was already busy. While I agreed to give input, I didn't come in as a partner until the third issue of the magazine.

There were already two metaphysical publications we knew about - one was a local newsletter called The Lightworker, put out by Starlight Aquarian Age Store and it contained a calendar of local events and some local writing. The other was the original Natural Awakenings originating in Naples, FL, but it listed only events happening on the west coast of Florida. It never arrived earlier than the 15th of the month, so when you first got it, you missed most of the events because it arrived after the event was over, and most of the articles were selling something. Theresa's idea was to have a magazine that arrived the beginning of the month, with a calendar of events and phone directory (actually the phone directory was Edith Thomas' idea) and articles that weren't merely ads in disguise.

Horizons was a hit from the beginning. Theresa, being the social one and not into computers, was immediately the sales and contact person, while Kristy created lotsa the ads and I was happy behind the scenes on the computer. We met once or twice a week and spent much time on the phone together. This was before anyone had email and the internet, so everything that came in that wasn't on disk had to be typed in. It took three of us to get everything done, in addition to our already busy lives. We got enough feedback from our readers and writers and advertisers to know what was important to them and what wasn't.
Our readers felt it was important to know what events were going on in their area, and to know about them in plenty of time to plan on attending. Our readers wanted to know who the local practitioners where and how they could be contacted. Our readers wanted articles that really told them something or taught them something, without trying to sell them something, or get them to 'buy the book' or 'attend the workshop' if they wanted to know more.

Our advertisers felt it was important to know that the magazine would be available and in the stores and subscribers' hands by the beginning of each month. If they had an event on June 1st or 5th or 10th, it did them no good if the magazine wasn't out until mid-month and was a waste of their good money.

Our writers wanted a popular forum for their work and were glad to write for free, in exchange for a short bio letting them say who they were and what they were available for, and how to contact them.

We learned that many free publications will print an article if the writer advertises in the same issue. We learned that many free publications don't print their ad rates for all to see, because they barter out much of their advertising, and their ad prices aren't really firm. We're grateful to them because we learned from their mistakes without it having to cost us money and business in the process.

We considered putting on conferences and expos, since it seemed like that was where money could be made, but it was a job that none of us had time to take on. This was back in the 'good ole days' when a conference was an actual conference, and not just a giant room filled with booths full of vendors, and the speakers all telling you about their product, as is so often the case the last few years. I'm talking about the good national shows like the Whole Life Expos, the Omega Institute conferences, and more recently, the Universal Lightworkers events and the Prophet's Conferences.

So the three of us did the magazine and it was fun connecting with everyone and finding out what the readers and advertisers and writers wanted so we could give it to them. Isn't it fun finding out what friends want and then giving it to them? *hehe* Then, life and responsibilities happened and priorities changed, and first Theresa, then Kristy - both moms of dynamic, energetic sons - opted out of the magazine, and by 1996 I was doing Horizons on my own.

1996 was also the year my mother died, my husband died, and I spent 8 months in California. While in California, I came across a lot of free publications that were similar to our vision for Horizons. Since I now had email and access to the internet, I was able to connect with a lot of the publishers and writers and practitioners and learned a lot about publishing a magazine, and a lot about what works and what doesn't.

I learned that most of the publishers had "real" jobs that earned them their income and I was surprised to find that no one depended on their free publication to earn a living for them. The most successful ones, and the happiest publishers, were the ones who were what I call "in it for the outcome, not the income," and that became my mantra. I already had income from a thriving private practice doing counselling over the phone, so after much meditation and deliberation, I decided that I'd let Horizons be my gift to the Universe, and not expect it to make a profit.

I was happy to be making a living doing something else that I loved to do, and just making that decision freed me up from a lot of worry over how can I make money with Horizons? I found that by being in it for the outcome and not the income changed how I did business. When I took dollars out of the equation, decisions were easier to make and integrity was never an issue. I never found myself in a position of accepting an ad or article I didn't endorse, just because it would mean income for me.
About a dozen years ago I first heard the question, "would you do it if the money didn't matter?" Since then I try to make all decisions as if the money doesn't matter; as if I would do the thing just out of the pure joy of doing it, out of the pure delight in sharing something with others. Doing this has changed my world and continues to change my world daily.

In this issue, Abraham-Hicks answers the question, "Are economic business slumps natural phenomena" and reminds us that what the media shows us is the bleakest picture, in order to get our attention and sell air time or print space; that even if they all are doing it, it doesn't need to affect us - unless we allow it to. It's possible for you to thrive financially despite what seems to be going on around you, and all you hafta do is take charge of your patterns of thought, which determines your vibrational attraction, and become more 'allowing.'

Rev. Judith Vidal discusses boundaries and tells us that if you constantly find yourself caught up in the middle of some sort of crisis, and the crisis really belongs to someone else, this means you have lost your ability to claim your boundaries. Dr. Brian Weiss talks about meditation as a gateway to spiritual development. I've had people in the past tell me they were afraid to begin meditating because they'd been told it was a doorway into something other than God, and that is simply not true. If practiced properly and diligently, it can be a doorway to direct experience of God.

For many, direct experience of God may differ from what they grew up thinking God was, and for the most part, this is good news. Only when we stretch our perception a little beyond our comfort zone, a little beyond everything we've been taught and think we "know," can we see from the higher perspective.

If you have a lot of fears and worries, it's helpful to find a meditation teacher who can help you recognize what is a projection of your own mind and what is not. When you first begin to meditate, it's like boiling off a ham - you put a giant pot of water on the stove, put the ham in and bring it to a boil. All this salt and scum rises to the top and you skim it off and boil it again until the water becomes more clear. When we sit to meditate, whatever our mind has been full of will begin to surface. We skim it off by 'releasing the thought.' We can release the thought by thinking the words, "release the thought" and going back to focusing on our breath as it moves in and out of our nostrils. Then another thought comes, and we release that and return to focusing on our breathing. In the beginning, you'll likely be releasing a gazillion thoughts per minute but, don't worry, it gets easier with time and practice. And just sitting and doing that twice a day for 10-20 minutes will make you a calmer, more peaceful and centered person. Whether you think it's working or not.

"I'm bored, this is silly." That's just another thought. "My leg itches." That's just another thought. "Someone's making noise in the next room." That's just another thought. "The phone's ringing, maybe it's important." That's just another thought. Even if you spend your entire sitting time releasing thoughts, you're making progress that will be apparent to you soon enough if you continue. Remember, behind our visible world is a whole other world where everything works differently. And I suggest having a meditation teacher at first because it can be an unsettling experience to someone with a fearful mind, full of worries, to sit and not have proper instruction and begin a journey in their own mind, usually amplifying their own fears and following fearful lines of thought to their even scarier conclusions. If that's what's happening, that's not meditation. And you don't need to spend lotsa dollars on a meditation teacher. If you can't find an affordable local teacher, call me. Or go to the library and check out any of Roy Eugene Davis's books, or for something more academic, Herbert Benson's Relaxation Response, which gives the process for transcendental meditation, using the word "one" in place of the mantra, with no religious significance to the process.

A landmark study at UCLA has turned prior research upside down as far as how people handle stress. Past studies were done on males alone, and they now find that females react to stress very differently. The bottom line of the study was that women tend to form friendships that reduces their stress, while men are more likely to hole up and keep to themselves. Dr. Lloyd Thomas in this issue also talks about creating healthy friendships, and healing the alienation we so often experience. In the long run, at the end of your life you will have as much companionship and as many friends as you have cultivated during the rest of your life. There's no reason for anyone to end up alone unless it's their own choice, by virtue of their behavior, their attitude or their lack of sociability during earlier years.

Alan Cohen reminds us that frustration and conflict are messages from the universe that it's time to back off. The longer you wait to get the message, the harder your journey will be. Rev. Beth Head says the question she is most often asked is, "How do I know what God wants me to do? How do I know God's will?" She says that your sacred dreams and your preferences are put there as signposts by Spirit. I believe that to be true. In my private practice, that question - or some version of it - is the one I am most asked as well. "What should I be doing? What is my perfect career? Where will I find the most happiness and fulfillment?"

In Edgar Cayce Reading 3183-1, he says, "And the abilities are here to accomplish whatever the entity would choose to set its mind to, so long as the entity trusts not in the might of self, but in His grace, His power, His might. Be mindful ever of that, in thy understanding in thy own wisdom, much may be accomplished; but be rather thou the channel through which He, God, the Father, may manifest His power-in whatever may be the chosen activity of the entity. (http://www.edgarcayce.org/)"
If you haven't read Edgar Cayce before, when he says "the entity," he means the person. You or I would be "the entity" if he were reading for us. The last 17 words are a real clue here. To me, this clearly sets forth that WE must choose our path, according to OUR choice, and then God will work thru us. So all those years that we waited around for God to tell us what to do, what path to take, etc., He was just hanging around, waiting for us to make a decision so He could get to it!

Enjoy our issue this month. Hari Om.