Horizons Magazine

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JANUARY 2004
Winter - time for reflection, creating a meditation area, using
your thoughts creatively, being led in the right direction

Hello and welcome to the January 2004 issue of Horizons Magazine. I love the chilly weather,
even when I can't be outside in it. My computer monitor is in a corner, and I sit looking out a
giant window to the south at my overgrown garden and canopy of oak, palm and camphor. To
my right is a big picture window onto the west woods, which are growing back dense and lush
after the fire last June reduced five acres to ashes.

On sunny, windy days like today, the squirrels are out in full force and the windchimes are playing their symphony. As night falls and it gets cooler, it's nice to sit in a warm cozy corner with a fuzzy comforter, fluffy socks and hot cherry tea while I proofread. I like hearing the wind howl outside, while I'm snuggled up safe and warm. The wintertime makes me feel more reflective than usual, which is one reason I chose this month's cover art. Isn't that a provoking mirror image?

My home is very conducive to meditation and reflection. I have several private meditation areas and coffeehouse style seating beneath wall to wall bookshelves. I have a most interesting selection of books, tapes and cds by all the old/traditional and new/popular teachers and it's a very quiet, pleasant setting for contemplation and study. A good friend last year said to me that she wished she had her own private meditation area in the home she shared with her husband and two teenagers. There wasn't enough space, she said, to let her claim an entire room for herself. Upon considering her living space with new eyes, we discovered we could convert the small walk-in closet in her bedroom into a private room, and we purchased an affordable wardrobe closet to place at one end of their long bedroom to accommodate their clothes and shoes. Problem solved!

This worked well for a few months and then, she said, she stopped finding the time to go into her private retreat space. She felt guilty taking time away from the family to be alone to read, and as you can guess, she spent less and less time meditating and spiritual study, and was soon back to her former frazzled self.

We spoke recently and she again remarked how perfect a place I have for meditation and reflection. I asked her what was the difference between my place and the space we'd created for her in her home. She said, "at my place, she wasn't thinking about who was in the other room doing what and when she was home, she couldn't stop thinking she should be doing something 'useful' instead."

So, I said, the only difference was what she was thinking? Hmmmm. I asked her what thoughts came to mind as she sat for meditation in my home. She said, "What a serene place. How quiet and peaceful, how sacred-seeming. Even outside sounds seem to slip away as I focus on the soft lighting, the pictures and images of teachers of all traditions, the breeze of the fan, the smell of the incense. Soft music plays in another room and the candlight flickers, inviting my attention. For a moment, thought seems to stop and I find myself feeling more relaxed and content than in a long time, and I feel alive and important."

"Good answer!" I thought. I asked her to go back into her meditation area that night and try thinking those thoughts instead - just do a 20 minute test run ? and report back to me. She called later and was excited, it had worked for her, and she was inspired to reclaim her space and try again. Although she and I talk all the time about changing our thoughts to change our experience, she said this was the first time that she actually experienced it.

I told her that was what affirmations are all about. Affirming what you'd like to experience, and considering how it would feel if it were so. I do some form of that every day. I wake up when I want to and drink morning tea looking into my east garden and woods, listening to birds greet the day. I live in paradise and every window I look out of is onto woods and gardens, without another house in sight. I get to work when I want to, doing what I love to do, with people I love to be with. I have plenty of time to write and create and do whatever I want to do, whenever I want to do it. I'm happy with how my time is spent, I'm happy with my income, I'm dedicated to ongoing ventures, I'm excited about new projects, I feel lucky and good things happen to me.

Most days, all of the above is true. On the rare blue day, it's good practice to sit and read the above and remember how I felt when I felt it. How I feel when it is absolutely true for me. I call that a form of practicing the Presence. Practicing the Presence of my inner guidance encouraging me to feel how I want to feel and think how I want to think. This has been a powerful practice for me. And for those of you who don't know me ? yes, I really AM all that happy all the time! Because I know that no matter what it is, something good is going to come out of it. I've just seen it and experienced it so many times, that I know it is so.

Last month I drove to Hutchinson Island for the Universal Lightworkers? Conference and although only an hour south of me, it was an unfamiliar exit in the dark, so I called the hotel to give me directions. In central and south Florida, it's impossible to get too lost: an hour or three in the wrong direction and you're in the ocean! So I was confused as I got off the designated exit for Hwy 76 East and soon found myself driving with no landmarks, although I'd been mindful to pay attention. There had been a little construction, which I wondered if the hotel knew about, so there was a minor detour ? but I thought I'd paid attention and knew where I was going.
With no road signs, I looked at my van compass, which showed me heading north. North! I should have been heading east almost to the ocean! I quickly pulled into a parking lot to be ready to turn around, and called the hotel. The line was busy. And stayed busy. I stopped to review the directions I'd taken down. My compass showed me heading north. I stopped for a moment to consider what I knew: I knew I was following the directions to the letter. I knew I'd been following the road signs for 76 East. I knew from past experience that, despite all appearances, I may be still be headed toward my goal. I felt that internal a-ha! and considered the metaphor of that thought. In a split second, thoughts of previous instances came to mind, and the thoughts: The hotel gave me directions. I had no reason to disbelieve them. I didn't think they were trying to keep me from getting there. Based on that, I felt I could trust my source of information. I pondered further, Like attracts like. I reap what I sow. I give good guidance to others so I have no fear that I'll attract anything other than good guidance into my experience. Sometimes it can be a long, winding, topsy turvy route to a final destination. The hotel clerk didn't tell me I would be heading east at all times, just that I'd end up on 76 East. Sometimes you have to trust that you're making progress in the right direction, despite appearances to the contrary. Wow, I thought. Ok. So I continued on and within 5 minutes came to a clearly marked inter-section, turned east, and knew exactly where I was.

That ever happen to you? I call that testing my faith. Do I believe that I'm being led in the right direction? Do I have any evidence to the contrary? Do I trust my source? To compound the lesson, I have road maps for everywhere, yet my favorite reference is a small Rand McNally pocket guide that's about 15 years old. Yes, I know, it doesn't show all the current roads, and some of the routes are outdated, but it's so easy to read!

As I read the words I've just typed, it brings to mind the man who was looking under the lamppost for the keys he lost in the driveway, because the light was better there. I have to laugh at myself for using an outdated map simply because it's easy to handle and read while driving. It makes me wonder what other patterns of behavior I have that I'm better off without. Hmmm, might be time for a few New Year's Resolutions, and now is the time to do it.

In 2004, I want to spend less time working and more time with friends. I want to do more things that are fun and active and outdoors. I want to travel to some new places and meet some new faces. I want to learn about interesting new fun things that I right now know nothing about. And I want plenty of time to write about it all and share it all with you, my readers. Without you, Horizons Magazine would not exist. Enjoy our offering this month. Hari Om.

Andrea de Michaelis, Publisher
Photo from 2004