I just got a typical email that I often get from speakers and teachers. They send me a press release about an event and they want me to interview them to let Horizons readers know all about the amazing, life transforming work they do.  The problem with this is that some of them are really wonderful teachers with valuable info to share.  Some are not.  I don’t know everyone’s work.  As a publisher, what I need them to know is that if they want to be promoted in Horizons Magazine, they purchase a listing.  Other publications will run their press release for free, but I don’t do that for editorial content.  I have years worth of articles waiting to go in, articles that give valuable info and techniques for life changing transformation, without trying to convince someone they need yet another workshop.  One friend is even convinced he has met Jesus who is currently teaching under another name.  What would Jesus do?  He’d pay for his ad.

A client just emailed me her horror story with a web designer who took many months, charged her thousands and left her with no notes and a lot of unanswered questions. I referred the designer to her and was promised he knew what he was doing. He’s a friend I love but cannot refer anyone else to him. If anyone asks me for a reference about him, I have to tell them my experience.

The bottom line is, do not over commit yourself. Do not take on the karma of charging someone for something you are just learning yourself. I could have done her a site for about $300. This is a client on disability with very little income. Don’t take on the karma of that. It will come back to you 20 years down the road when you can least afford it.   No, I am not suggesting you hire me to design your website, I’m saying get it in writing what they will do for you and what it will cost before you begin.  Have a schedule of what will be paid upon completion of what stage of the work.  Make sure you ALSO get all instructions in writing, so when this person disappears, you can do the work yourself.  Make sure the site is fully operational before you pay the last payment. I have had a dozen well meaning friends over the past 10 years advertise to be website designers because they paired up with someone who told them they’d do the work, and it was a horror each time – overcharging – not getting work done – friendships lost.  It’s not worth it.  You either do what you know or you do something else.  Please.

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When I woke up Sunday morning, I took a drive south of US1, then est across the Wabasso Causeway (US hwy 510) and then north on AIA along the beaches.  I left early and I wasn’t sure what i was going to do, so I brought beach gear and had my swimsuit on under black jeans and my favorite oversized black Walmart man’s shirt.  As I drove east across Valkyria Road to get to US 1, I saw about a dozen bikers cycling in the road.  I thought what a beautiful bike ride Valkyria Road is.  I gave them each a wide berth, since there was no one else on the road but us each time.  As I came across the Wabasso Causeway and the bridge over Orchid Island, I looked down into the Indian River Lagoon and saw the morning boaters coming out.  As I got to AIA, I stopped for a quick look at Wabasso Beach at the end of Hwy 510, then headed north. Continue reading →

Last night I felt like I could use some socializing, but by the time I showered and washed my hair, I didn’t feel like driving out.  Since I had the rare night to myself, I opted to stay in.  I’d spent the day working on the October Horizons Magazine and, although I’d been talking with advertisers and publicists, I wanted some friendly interaction with people I actually know.  Or kind of know.  I turned to Facebook and posted:  Hey, let’s all tell a story! Write a few lines, picking up where the one before you left off. I got a long thread of great comments and the story went on for over an hour.  This is one reason I love Facebook.  I felt I was sitting around a campfire with my friends telling a goofy story.  It felt very companionable.  Here’s the story: Continue reading →

Beans are one of my favorite things to eat, and I am always amused by everyone’s jokes about them.  The truth is not everyone gets gas when eating beans and, if they do, it likely has more to do with what they ate along with it.  Only if you’re eating processed foods for much of your diet will you have a problem with gas after eating beans.  People don’t understand that it’s their processed foods that cause them to have food interactions.  Processed = anything with a label. When cooking beans, you simply clean, rinse, then soak. Long slow soaking, and long slow cooking is best.  Don’t add salt or baking soda to beans when cooking, because the sodium prevents them from softening.  Instead add a few fennel or cumin seeds, a slice of ginger, a bay leaf to soften the fiber, convert the sugars, and add nutrients to make beans more digestible. Cover and simmer until very soft. Continue reading →

I learned of the September 11th attacks two hours after it happened, when I checked email and AOL had it on the front page.  It was a Tuesday, so I went to Unity of Melbourne for the noon prayer service.  I purposely did not watch any news reports of it and to this day have seen very little of it.  The next day, September 12th was spent in and out of Unity of Melbourne in their 24 hour World Day of Prayer vigil.  I thought it fitting that the Unity churches nationwide had already scheduled the prayer vigil, and it fell on the day after the attacks.  Perfect timing.  I was writing my October 2001 editorial for Horizons Magazine two days after the September 11th World Trade Center event.  The cover of the September 2001 Horizons Magazine was Rob Shouten’s The First Noble Truth.  The First Noble Truth is that life is suffering. To live, you must suffer. It is impossible to live without experiencing some kind of suffering. We have to endure physical suffering like sickness, injury, tiredness, old age and eventually death and we have to endure psychological suffering like loneliness, frustrations, fear, embarrassment, disappointment, anger, etc. Continue reading →

I made a Facebook post about winning a bet from my cousin that mortgage rates would fall again in September. It was a spidey sense flash I had when I was at the closing on my mortgage refinance in July.  My friend and long time colleague Ron Van Dyke commented:  When people really get it, there will be amazement. Commercial mortgages, and ALL foreclosures derived therefrom, are lawfully considered fraud. Banks and lending institutions not only don’t sign them, which means they are not valid contracts, they also sell them as collateralized debt instruments or other fancy names, to unscrupulous investors… many times over in most cases. The debt is, therefore, lawfully discharged; and the bank no longer holds the paper and no longer has standing to foreclose. Only our ignorance and compliance allow this to continue. As the Andromedans once channeled, We don’t understand why you have to pay to live on the planet you were born on. I do. Because some people recognized that they could live well off the ignorance of others. There’s so many things I learned because of my lawsuit. I wish people had more of a hunger to learn the truth.

Andrea responded: We have many freedoms but we must be prepared for consequences from those in authority over us who have limited vision and don’t play fair. If the govt and mortgage companies and everyone else is playing a game, I don’t mind playing along. After all, it is really my own consciousness that frees me or impedes me. I don’t mind paying a fake mortgage. I seem to be able to handle whatever the Universe throws at me. And more so the less I push against anything anyone else is doing. Continue reading →

My brother has a cockatiel named Nicole that he’s had for years.  A month ago he retired from his job at Honeywell Aerospace and bought a quaker parrot.  Here’s an email update on Nick and Nicole.  Jerry writes: My new bird Nick is totally spoiled now.  I open his cage every morning then sit down in my recliner.  He gets out and stretches a bit, then it’s down in the floor, waddling toward me.  He tries to climb my leg to get to me, but his toe nails aren’t sharp enough to grip the fabric of my pants.  So he sits and watches me until I put my hand down so he can get it.  Then it’s wrestle my fingers time.  He likes for me to tease him so he can fake biting me.  He doesn’t clamp down but likes to nibble.  He loves to be petted like a dog, and scratched behind his ears.

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To everyone who’s been waiting for someone to drop a wad of cash in their lap so they can quit their job and have time to do “the real work” they want to do – you know, that “spiritual work” that will help out humanity and all?  Well, as you can see, waiting for someone to do that is not how it works.  How it works is that you are so passionate about doing your work that you make time to do it in between getting the kids off to school, doing the housework, going to one or two jobs, and caring for your family at night.  As you do that, the Universe sees you’re serious about it and they begin sending you people and circumstances that make your way easier.  Until then, you’ll just get one person after another offering to help (for a fee) and offering to promote (for a fee) and not really being into it other than wanting to make money off you.  Ah, you’ve already witnessed that, huh?  And “friends” can be the worst offenders, meaning well, but knowing less about it and being less able that you are to do it. Continue reading →