Horizons Magazine

More about Andrea

AUGUST 2003
Helium balloons, relaxing our hold on how things ought to be, losing
track of time, living a multi-dimensional life, how to use Horizons Magazine,
Haunted Hotel & Ghost Tour

Hello and welcome to the August 2003 issue of Horizons Magazine. It was great
seeing everyone at the Body, Mind, Spirit Expos in Melbourne and Orlando in June
and July. We were blessed with record crowds despite cloudy, drizzly weather each
weekend. I love getting out and about and meeting new friends, and I always have
lotsa fun when I have a booth at an event. I also love balloons and at the Orlando
fairgrounds last month, I was making helium balloons for the kids. Well, I was making them for everyone. Well, ok, ok, I was making them for ME!

Playing with balloons makes me feel light and bouyant. I'd put about 3 feet of white ribbon on each balloon and, after I'd let a few get away from me, marooned up on the ceiling about 15 feet overhead, I began tying a small loop in the end of each ribbon. That would prove effective later when I began gathering all the stray balloons up beforeI left. I became quite good at balloon-wrangling, sending up other balloons with double stick tape in place, and trying to catch the ribbon's loop with hooks. I learned how sensitive their balance is, how the slightest touch can send them flying off. A few other people got in on the action, too, and together we managed to get all the balloons down from the ceiling before the close of day Sunday.

Playing with the balloons was an excellent lesson in holding onto things lightly and not being attached to the outcome. Realizing that there are things in life we have control over, there are things we appear to have control over and then there are things we seem to have no control over.
Just like people, sometimes balloons are high and bouyant and floating happily along, and the slightest touch or breeze can send them floating in another direction. Sometimes they are bouncing off everything in sight. Sometimes they hit against something - not even knowing what it was - and they pop! They can be taken from us in a moment. We know it's inevitable, so we enjoy our balloons while we can.

And what about us? We, too, can be flying high and happy one minute, and the next be bouncing off walls, ready to pop.  Ram Das , in Still Here; Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying says, that if we want to reduce our suffering, we learn to weather change as gracefully as possible, remaining open to what we do not know. We plan what's plannable, then work with whatever we get. Wisdom requires that we relax our hold on our picture of how things "ought" to be, and allow everything to become grist for the mill. In this way, we reduce our responses to outward stress, and in doing so, cause our outer circumstances to change.

Just as we know a balloon's life is limited, we know than human death is inevitable, yet we allow ourselves to experience so much pain when our loved ones die. This is not so in other cultures, but it's prevalent in our contemporary society.

Mental pain alerts us to where we are thinking narrowly, to where we need to be more conscious. In other words, our frustrations, anger, delusions become our greatest helpers in freeing ourselves from suffering. They point to where the Ego is trapped; they show us where we are resisting change, where we are timebound and where we need to grow past conditioning. Ram Das says, "Our approach to the future comes down to how we feel about mystery. As wise elders, we begin to rest in the mysterious present and let the future unfold as it will."

As I cultivate the ability to be more and more deeply in the "mysterious present," the power of the present moment becomes stronger than the memories of the past, even memories of extreme pain. By learning to "lose track of time" through focusing on the present moment, we begin to discover hidden dimensions to everyday experience, which have always been there for us, but have been veiled by our being time-bound. These other dimensions are hidden in plain sight, and our entry into them is the power of our focused attention.

We've all done it. Making love places you in the present moment, as does swimming, skiing, wallpapering, For some it's dancing, or being in nature, and anyone who has raised kids know how quickly the present moment fills and becomes more than enough.

One example of being fully in the moment is when you have a big screaming match with your mate. You fully enter into that moment with passion and intent, and you fully engage your partner. After you've finished telling him everything you're angry at this time, through the wonderful law of attraction, your memory is flooded with every other thing your mate ever did to annoy you, and you bring those to mind and spew them at him also. Your powerful use of the present moment has brought forth everything like it, and filled the moment to overflowing, and you're overflowing it onto someone else. I strive to be mindful of what I'm overflowing onto other people. The secret is filling the present moment with things I enjoy doing, and doing so consciously and intentionally. This also helps prepave happier future moments.

You say your life is so full that you don't have time to do the things you enjoy? The remedy for that is to begin to find pleasure in the things you are doing right now, whatever they may be. Remember, when our inner responses change, it causes our outer circumstances to change. Changing your view of your job to one of service, serving your fellowman, can change how you feel about it. If you feel stuck in a job that for whatever reason you're not ready to leave yet, try for 30 days shifting your view of it to one of this being your opportunity to be of service to others, unattached to the outcome.
 
For 30 days, simply put your time in at work as if the Creator alone were the One you had to please with your actions and duties. Talk to each person each day as if they were the Creator checking in to see if you're doing a good job. You'll feel easier with the ornery ones, and less angry with the selfish ones, knowing that it's just a game to test your ability to play, despite circumstances. You can do this whether your job is waiting tables, being a trial attorney, or raising a family. This is a very powerful practice. Something else to do if you're feeling stuck in a job or life you are wanting to be free of, is to plan twice daily to sit for 10-20 minutes alone and quiet your mind. Begin by closing your eyes, stretching and breathing deeply, then just follow your breath as it rises and falls. Imagine you're rising up like a helium balloon with each inbreath, then gently relaxing back down with the outbreath. Control the outbreath and the inbreath will take care of itself.

You're taking this time to sit and breathe, with the intention of coming back to zero, resetting your internal hard drive. Keep a pen and notepad next to you and write down any thoughts that come to mind that you simply must make note of, otherwise you'll spend more mental time angsting over whether you'll remember it afterward, than you did jotting it down. As you get in the twice daily habit of sitting and breathing, you'll eventually run out of things to make note of, and your meditation time will become more effective.

This is the secret to living a truly multi-dimensional life. Being able to interact in each segment of your life consciously and intentionally, and entering into the deeper, hidden dimensions of each segment on a regular basis. The easiest way I've found to access these hidden dimensions is through playful interaction with friends, and that's why you always see me happy and laughing when I'm out and about!
Speaking of being out and about, I got sidetracked earlier talking about balloons, and digressed from telling you about the Body, Mind, Spirit Expos. I always meet new Horizons readers when I have a booth at these events, and some readers tell me they use Horizons Magazine as a basis for their spiritual practice. They read it and meditate on the articles. Some meet weekly with friends and discuss current Horizons articles. I also received several suggestions that I'll share with you here:

How To Use Horizons Magazine
1. Read the horoscopes first. This will get you psyched up for the month ahead. Astrologer Barbara Lee rocks!

2. Mark on your appointment book all of the events from the calendar you are interested in. That way, if the day comes and you're suddenly free, you know about it in time to go.

3. Have friends over once a week to discuss articles and ideas. Use Horizons Magazine as a basis for creating spiritual community where you are. I especially enjoy discussing Abraham principles.

4. Find some out of town weekend events and arrange a weekend jaunt with friends, like to the psychic demonstrations in Tallahassee and Merritt Island in September (see page 38.) Idea #2: You & friends pile into a van after work on Friday, drive to Cassadaga, spend the evening rocking on the porch of the Cassadaga Hotel where you'll spend the night, dine Saturday morning in the Grocery, get psychic readings, shop in the afternoon, and be home before bedtime Saturday night.

Oh! Speaking of trips, we're going on tour, and you're invited! We're gathering info for a series of Haunted Hotel and Ghost Tours around Florida and we'll keep you posted on the progress. Email me at HorizonsMagazine@aol.com if you're interested in joining us. The Haunted Hotel and Ghost Tour is the brainchild of my friend  Bar bara Dobson . I'll give more background on Barbara in a future issue. Barbara is full of ideas and has really hit the floor running. She has a sales background, and co-owns a family business with her entrepreneurial husband. She looks like Sarah Michelle Gellar from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and she's smart and fun to hang around with.

The summer rains are here in full force and my woods are growing back rapidly, the palmetto fans already waist high after weeks of afternoon rains. Many of the pines were burned back, yet half or more of them still show vitality in their auric field, so it's just a matter of time until we see visible new growth. Isn't that always the way it is? Always so much more going on beneath the surface than is visible. Lots of inner workings before we see evidence of it in the outer world. That can be stressful and that's where faith and expectation come in handy! Having faith and being optimistic goes a long way toward reducing worry. As we reduce our responses to outward stress, we begin to vibrate differently, and as we vibrate, so we attract. As we reduce our response to stress, we begin to attract a different experience. As our inner responses change, so do our outer circumstances. We don't always know what we're vibrating though, do we?

Abraham-Hicks this month, says "If you're wondering what you are vibrating, observe your life. It's a perfect match. What you are living is what you are vibrating, without exception." They've got a real effective process this month, the Magical Creation Box.

I enjoy the Abraham-Hicks processes because it was through them that I first heard, in everyday language, the basic fundamental workings of the law of Attraction, and the concept of Allowing. I had learned through reading other philosophies through the years that I was the attractor of my experience, so that wasn't news.

When I read Creative Visualization by Shakti Gawain in the 70's, I realized with a bang that I was more in charge than I ever imagined, and my world changed overnight. Abraham-Hicks takes this a step further with their Science Of Deliberate Creation. Studying various traditions, I have times too numerous to mention witnessed the power of ritual magic over the astral and elemental kingdoms, and secretly prided myself on my mastery of such practices. Through the specific, conversational language of Abraham-Hicks , I have learned the shortcuts, and learned them in a fun and playful format.
Doreen Virtue tells of her experiences in You Are Surrounded By Angels . Doreen is a friend and I'm excited she's coming to Fort Lauderdale on October 25th (see ad on page 46) for the Mystical Connections Tour with Sonia Choquette , Sylvia Browne and John Holland . If you see me at the event, come over and say hello. I'll be attending with galpal Joanne Priaulx , human mother of feline Cheetle, the brother of my Cosmo the Cyber Cat. They are both big husky boy kitties.

Alan Cohen writes, "If you are currently watching a bad movie in the form of a relationship, job, or bodily condition, leave before it gets worse. You cannot afford to hang out in a place that keeps you smaller than you are. I am not suggesting that you run away. I am suggesting that you do whatever you need to do to make it better. Ideally you can create shifts that take you to a new level within the relationship or job. Your pain may be calling for an attitudinal upgrade rather than a departure."

How many of us would rather switch jobs rather than change our attitude toward the coworkers we feel aren't pulling their weight? How about thinking that it doesn't matter if they pull their weight or not? That you'll work hard enough for both of you. You'll do the job the best you can, no matter what someone else is or is not doing.

It's never about them anyway, is it? They're just reflecting back to you what you're vibrating. I always welcome mirrors like that, it shows me opportunities to make course corrections on my way along this spiritual journey. I especially enjoy sharing this journey with all of you. Enjoy our offering this month. Hari Om.