Horizons Magazine

Creating The Space For Change To Take Place

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 04:27:57 +0000

I notice a lot of things around me coming into balance lately. Sure, there's the usual measure of chaos in the lives of people I know, but it usually doesn't affect me. Years ago, I used to get so full of what others poured into me that I couldn't find myself anymore, and I'd have to retreat and hibernate to regain my perspective and my calm center. I have the most to give others, when I have my own calm center. Notice that when you don't have your own agenda, it's easy to get wrapped up in the agendas of those around you. And those around you are probably a lot less centered and focused than you are. Scary thought, huh? So rather than bringing yourself down to their level, where they may be emotionally insecure and floundering, help raise them to yours by keeping your calm no matter what is going on. WHOLE LOTTA THINKIN' GOIN' ON We're used to so many things going on at once, so many thinks going on at once. I can hear you now, "Easy for you to say, Andrea, you don't have a hateful husband, no job, 3 ungrateful kids and an eviction notice on your front door." You're right, I don't have anything like that going on in my life, and I think that's because I do my best every day - every day - taking each day as it comes, one day at a time - I do my best every day to make sure I take care of whatever comes up before me to be tended to. The worst thing that's happened to me lately is having trouble with a new computer program that didn't seem to want to communicate with my network. After much ado, I discovered that all I had to do was correct the default setting and everything worked fine. WHAT'S YOUR DEFAULT SETTING? My default setting used to be sarcasm and criticism. It took me many years to learn how annoying that was to other people. I was so self-absorbed, I had no idea friends were avoiding me because of it. Oh, did I mention I was a know it all, also? When I finally caught on and corrected my default setting to listen more and speak less, respect more and judge less, appreciate more and comment less, my world changed. MY WORLD CHANGES A LOT My world changes a lot. I feel I'm constantly in a state of evolution and renewal. This is good news. When something challenging comes up, I know it will pass in time. When something wonderful comes up, I know it will pass in time. When I step into The Present Moment, when I step into the Now, and assess what is happening - right now - and ask for help and guidance if it's a challenging situation, and give gratitude for the strength to bear it, magic always happens. Always in the moment of my asking, a deep peace washes over me and I know that it will be ok. Sometimes the understanding washes over me instantly as well. Often I don't understand until much later, but I do know that in the moment of my asking, whether I feel it or not, help is always there. WHAT'S RESTRICTING YOU? You know, I think about the reason we get challenges that restrict us (like losing our job, lack of money, no lover, etc.) is so that we can learn about ourselves. If we can pay enough attention to developing our inner life while we have a good job, lots of money and lots of love, then we don't need to have those things taken away from us. But usually if we have all those things, then we pay attention only to things outside us, outside in the material world, so God takes them away from us so that we have to look inside for a reason why, and as soon as we ask "Why?" then we start getting answers. And that puts our feet on The Path. So whenever you feel restricted, ask yourself, "What outside myself am I paying too much attention to? What in the material world am I giving my attention to, that is not bringing me peace and joy?" And then sit quietly and keep asking those questions to yourself over and over and write down the answers that come. And I believe when we sit and do that every day, we get more peace and we get more love. And then we're not restricted any more. Because the purpose of the restriction was to make us go inward and ask for guidance. So when we begin doing that, the restriction is lifted. And if we do it some every single day, pretty soon we have no more restrictions. PEEL BACK THE LAYERS OF YOUR LIFE It's really pretty easy to peel back the layers of your life and to remember what happened to you. It's not all that difficult to interpret, in retrospect, what lessons you were learning at any particular time. The hard part is convincing ourselves that there's value in doing so, and taking the few minutes a day to do that. It's not that interpreting our lives is such a hard process, it's just that we don't take the time to do it. IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT I've heard people say through the years, "Meditation doesn't work for me..." "Affirmations don't work..." "Creative Visualization never helped me..." and my response is, everything works if you work it. If you're sitting to meditate and you close your eyes and immediately start thinking of your "to do" list or your family problems, well, when you open your eyes 20 minutes later, you probably won't notice a change. If you have an affirmation that isn't well thought out in the first place, and say it half heartedly about 20 times a day while being entirely focused on something else, you can be sure you're wasting your time. If you're visualizing brief scenes of being at the beach while you're overwhelmed at the office, and being aggravated that you're having to work late, well, those fleeting thoughts might not be doing you any good. CREATE A SPACE FOR CHANGE TO TAKE PLACE In order for anything like that to work, you must first take the time to create a place in your consciousness for it to happen. You wouldn't just paint an old chair without first removing the old paint and preparing the surface a little beforehand, would you? You wouldn't write a letter to your beloved on top of a letter someone else had sent you, would you? How clearly do you think they'd get your message? They'd have quite a time of trying to read it, wading through the other words and writing. No, you'd get a fresh sheet of paper, and take a few moments to think of what you were going to say, then write it neatly. If you made a mistake, you might cross through it, or start over, so the one you're sending the letter to would have a clear, unbroken idea of what you're saying. START WITH A CLEAN SLATE Just as you would start a letter to a friend with a fresh sheet of paper, so should you start your meditation time, or your affirmation time, or your visualization time with a few moments of deep breathing and focusing on your breath. You might also find it helpful to repeat the word "clearing" as you breathe out, and imagine all thoughts leaving through your breath. Breathe in calm, breathe out aggravation, breathe in stillness, breathe out confusion. Even just a few moments of this helps bring you to center. Then, in that calmer place, begin your meditation, or say your affirmation, or do your visualization. From that calmer place, the magic will begin to work. If you're worried that it's not working, well, that's your clue that you're thinking again, so just don't follow the thought, just go back to following your breath. YOUR IMAGINATION IS ONE KEY TO THE KINGDOM As you imagine that you're in a calmer place, you go there. As you feel yourself sitting quietly, eyes closed, let your imagination transport you to a quiet and peaceful place, and let the feeling of calm and quiet fill your heart. Go into as much detail as you can in imagining where you'd be and what you'd like to find there. Our imagination is our link to God and wherever you imagine God to be, God is. Wherever you imagine your guardian angels to be, they are. Whatever you think you are, you experience. INVOKING EMOTION IS ANOTHER KEY TO THE KINGDOM This is the part many teachers forget to tell you, and that's like jumping in the car and there's no gas to take you where you want to go. You can sit in that car all you want, turning the key over and over, but if you don't give it the fuel it needs to become transportation, it's just a car. If you're imagining and visualizing your future, you also have to bring forth the emotion that you'd feel if you were having or doing what you wish. If you're wanting your visualization to become a reality, you need to give it the fuel it needs to transport you there. The fuel it needs is your emotion. So as you imagine what you want, invoke within you the feeling you would have when you got it. Feel it, think about it, feel it some more, talk about it with others, feel it some more. Because as you think, you feel, and as you feel, you vibrate, and as you vibrate, you attract. START BEING HAPPY RIGHT NOW So many people put their lives on hold, not wanting to begin until they have more money, until they have a soul mate, until the kids are grown, until they leave their marriage, until the right job comes along. Learn to achieve happiness through whatever is around you right now - this is a major key to the kingdom! Ma Yoga Shakti suggests we "Live simply, consume less, think high." Great words of wisdom from a profound teacher, and we're blessed to have her here in our own community. I originally wrote this in June of 1998, and ran across it today as I was looking for something else. That always happens. No matter what I am doing, the Universe makes sure to place the perfect message in front of me, at exactly the time I need to see it. Even if it's my own message of 11 years ago. Related Posts: A Meditation Technique The Creative Visualization Technique Pretend For Just One Day, Change Your World 11 Fun Steps Guaranteed To Initiate Change And Get You Unstuck . . LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides

valerie-sauer

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:12:58 +0000

meditate-tree-sunset72

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 01:56:39 +0000

Silent Meditation Retreats and Losing Time

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 07:45:16 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4913" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Meditation in Nature"][/caption] Back in November 2006, I had an intense month, including a week long stay at The Monroe Institute in Virginia where I took their 6 day Gateway Voyage, then two weekends in Orlando back to back, doing Pranic Healing Level II with Master Stephen Co, and then attending the Hayhouse I Can Do It! Conference where I took the pre-conference workshop with Abraham-Hicks. I came to realize in a bigger way than ever before, that all things are possible; that we are only using a small fraction of our potential, that we have inner resources that are amazing. One of the first things that happened at The Monroe Institute was they took our watches away, and the clock had no hands. We were summoned to events with a bell. This was to ease us out of a time/space mindset so we could experience existence outside a linear time frame. While disorienting at first, it was very freeing and allowed new perceptions to emerge. That was only a warm-up to many very mind expanding sessions using Hemi-Sync technology. I surprised myself by memorizing everyone’s name after the first session! I thought that alone was a great testament that something important was happening “inside” my mind. We’d have several morning sessions and several afternoon sessions, with pre-briefings and de-briefings in between. We also had a group session where we attained the same state of consciousness without the guided recordings, to let us know we did not need the guided tape to access these mind states, that we could also do it on our own. It reminded me of meditation retreats I’d done in the past, where we spent several days having various intense meditation sessions. At these retreats, we’d begin the day in silence, walking long winding paths thru nature as a group, watching carefully each step we place on the ground, then there would be an hour of gentle yoga and some time to journal before breakfast. Next we would have silent breakfast as a group, then move on to the hall and chant for an hour and afterward sit in silence for two hours, with the vibrations of the chant still running through us. There would be time to journal before silent lunch as a group and afterward, another walking meditation through the grounds. Then another hour of chanting, 2-3 hours of sitting meditation, then a free hour before dinner. During dinner sometimes we could talk and, by the end of several days’ silence, everyone’s thoughts had quieted down a lot, so the talk was gentle and sparse. Then back to silence and more yoga before dinner and a group walking meditation afterward, then retire for the evening to journal our thoughts and sleep. I find retreats like this recharge me like nothing else. I love the silence and love to be alone in nature. I also love to feel the energy of others keeping silence with me, especially in nature. It is very powerful and soothing. You begin to feel the subtle permeating substance around you of Love, pure Love, connecting us all to each other. The concept that All Is One falls away as you come to feel and to know that All Is One. That We Are All Connected. That whatever I do to another, I indeed do to myself. And then, after I’ve rebooted that internal computer in my mind, I must come back to ‘the real world’ and determine how to best apply what I have just learned. As Frank DeMarco says, “Practice, practice, and make it part of your new routine, rather than allowing it to become encapsulated as “something different I did once.” Frank, also a Gateway Voyage graduate, is author of Muddy Tracks: Exploring an Unsuspected Reality wherein he relates his personal quest for finding “what is real” in this life and his need for putting meaning back into it. He shows how to use the universe as our teacher, toolbox and oracle through astral travel, psychic abilities, dream analysis, and distance healing. How might I apply what I’ve learned? I will schedule more time to spend in silence and in contemplation. I will spend more time in meditation, and in creative visualization of what I’d like to be living. I will spend more time visualizing those things my friends and family want for themselves. I will spend more time with those I love to spend time with. No more working around the clock. So, I have been reminded: It’s refreshing to spend an entire week with like minded others from all over the world, when our focus stays on our common goal with no concerns or discussion over differences. Our sole focus was the ‘work’ we were there to do. Coming together with a group that has the same focus and goal gives me a high powered feeling. When I feel that high level of power, I get very inspired to new thoughts of what is possible for me and for those around me. When I feel that powerful internal high, I become more artistically creative and everything around me begins to take on deeper meaning. Spending time in silence shows me just how much time and energy I fritter away in unnecessary talk (and listening to unnecessary talk). In retrospect, I realize all the years I watched tv, that was mostly unnecessary talk I was listening to. What a waste of my thought-time to listen to that. Also, for me, the news is something else I don’t need to listen to. And that has served me well for many years now. If it’s something earth shattering, AOL will flash it on the screen to me, or a friend will let me know. In the meantime, I stay aware of only the good in the world - and it keeps me atracting more of the same. Removing the concept of linear time encourages me to slow down and appreciate more of what is around me, and it’s easier to be “in the moment” when I am not watching a clock. Yes, for much of my work I need to watch the clock, since I work by appointments and deadlines, but I do not need to be on the clock 24 hours a day. And if you simply won't take time to go outside yourself on a retreat, you can always stay at home and go inside yourself for one: Sisters Of the Circle: Virtual Retreats for Self Discovery and Spiritual Exploration . LISTEN FREE: Have An Out Of Body Experience

Watching the Bamboo Grow as Florida Summer Comes To An End

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:12:04 +0000

Yesterday was an especially good day. I'd completed the October issue of Horizons Magazine the day before, and had just finished placing some last minute ads and proofreading. That meant I had the weekend off - yay! When I took the garbage out about 9:00am, I noticed the air was cool and crisp. These are my good weather markers: when it is still cool on my birthday, April 10th, I know it will be a mild summer and mild hurricane season. Meaning it won't be oppressively hot and muggy all summer. That we'll have summer storms to take the pressure off. When it begins to cool down on my brother Bobby's birthday, September 9th, then I know it will be a mild winter, meaning few freezes. Especially if the acorns are already out by then. So the good weather continues right on time. I took a walk around the property for the first time in a few weeks. While I was mending from the head/chest cold I had attracted, and then finishing the October magazine, I pretty much just worked and slept and didn't venture out into the yard much at all. One thing a lot of non-Floridians don't know is that yes, Florida is like you see it on tv, but between May and September, you have to add the heat and the humidity and the misquitoes into every scene. The heat can be oppressive if you're not used to it. 90% humidity is typical. If you're outside and smart, you're covered in sunscreen and insect repellent. Which you continually sweat off due to the humidity. Even skinny girls sweat in Florida. So whatever your hair looks like in a steambath, that's what it will look like in Florida in the summer. Your hairspray will reactivate itself into a helmet within an hour. Whatever your makeup looks like in a steambath, that is what it will look like in Florida in the summer. Go with the flow and get natural, or you'll make yourself miserable and end up looking like a clown. So when I can take a walk in my yard the end of September and spend an hour wearing 3 layers and not break a sweat, I notice it. I love it when I first notice the weather change. It makes me all giddy, like good things are happening. As I walked the trails, I could tell the armadillos have been at it again. They root around through the soil and leave little burrowed up piles of dirt and leaves in their path. I like it because it keeps my ground nice and porous, so everything grows well. They also dig up neat things like little animal bones that I try to piece together and figure out what they are. I noted that I really had the air potato vines under control this year and felt proud I handled that. I picked up a lot of dead palm fronds that had come down in a recent wind. The pine tree had a really big branch down, and I will need help dislodging that one. It's long and heavy. I think I missed some kind of storm, because there's a lot of deadfall in the yard. Living in the a/c means I miss the sounds of what's going on outside. This weekend I get to spend time clearing the yard up. That's a favorite thing to do, is play in my yard. I like to cut the overgrown trails and sometimes wind them a new way for a season. This summer, I was cultivating the wild grapevine to rope into arbors, so I have long strands of it suspended from shepherd's hooks, awaiting my attention in October. I can see the gopher turtle has been busy rebuilding its burrows. I give her privacy to do her thang. She moved her burrows from the east woods to the west when there were so many rains a couple of years ago. Now she has a sunnier burrow in the palmetto field, and a shady one in the east jungle. I'm like her as I get older: I want a second place to go to when I want a change of scenery. I could hear the roofers working on the house to the east of me yesterday when I was out walking the land. They must have been on a break because all the hammering and sawing had temporarily stopped. The sounded like they were enjoying a good day sitting on the roof, and it was fun to listen to. Then the squirrels saw me out and came running, hoping for peanuts. It has been a long time since I gave a squirrel a peanut. I learned my lesson: they can get out of hand and too domesticated. Nonetheless, five squirrels came out, chasing each other and enjoying the change in weather, same as me. There was a light wind out and I could hear the bamboo rustle from 50 feet away. It's been growing so quickly, having bamboo is like having a pet, rather than just a plant. It has such personality, and is so responsive and interactive. I like to sit and watch it, and sit underneath it to meditate. I feel myself growing as it does, creak by creak, inch by inch. I can't wait until the temperature drops to about 75 and I can open up all the windows. That's a great thing about living in nature: getting to listen to it. I am planning where I will put my tent this year. I like to camp outside when the weather is cool, and look up at the stars as i fall asleep. I'm thinking of having a tree house built in the east woods, and maybe a zip line through it as well. I don't climb my trees as often as I used to, but I still like to be high up off the ground looking down into the clearing. To be up as high as the birds as they rest on the branches under the canopy. I used to go up and sit on my roof, as well. I like being as close to nature as I can get. Tuesday is the Fall Equinox. How will you celebrate it? Of interest: 3 Rituals to Celebrate Autumn Equinox . LISTEN FREE: Connecting with Your Angels, Guides and Teachers

bamboo-butterfly

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 10:14:39 +0000

lottery-tickets

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:38:50 +0000

Valerie Saurer's Prosperity Project - $1,000 More Each Day

Sun, 20 Sep 2009 20:24:33 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4894" align="alignright" width="96" caption="Valerie Saurer"][/caption] A friend has come up with a fun game that helps get you in the vibration of attracting more dollars. The Prosperity Project can be found at Valerie Saurer’s blog The New Book of Clues. The idea is to get used to having, spending, and enjoying money. Start small, and every day increase your allowance by $1000. Gradually, you will be able to easily picture yourself having larger and larger sums of money, and that idea won't seem entirely ridiculous to you, because your dream grows incrementally over time. If you want to join in this game with all of us that are doing it, write your own dream checkbook entries at The New Book of Clues. I first met Valerie Saurer on Twitter, after I followed a link to her blog post, “Off to See the Wizard: The Myth of Personal Development”. After that, I began to look in on her Living Gratitude Blog, a weekly essay on learning to see the world through grateful eyes. It was no surprise then that when our paths crossed on Facebook we friended each other. The Living Gratitude Blog was part of a larger project called The Attitude of Gratitude Project, whose mission is to help make the world a better place by encouraging people to focus on all the things that are right about this world. Based on the idea that the spoken and written word holds immense creative power, The Attitude of Gratitude Project encourages people to develop a daily practice of verbally expressing their gratefulness for the people and the blessings that surround them. The Attitude of Gratitude Project, as first conceived, was designed to encourage people to send greeting cards telling their loved ones how much they appreciate having them in their life. As a distributor with SendOutCards, Valerie was looking for a way to encourage people to develop the habit of sending greeting cards. So she brought her laptop to the first meeting of the Space Coast Oratorio Society, and one by one had people sit down and dictate a letter to their husband, sister, wife, mother, teacher … someone who had made a significant difference in their life. Each time someone sat down to write a card, they sobbed with the force of the love and gratitude that was bubbling out of them. She sent eleven cards that day, and eleven times the person dictating the message was moved to tears. At the next week’s rehearsal, those eleven people came back and told the story of what happened when the people got those emotion-filled cards. As they told the story, they cried all over again. Valerie was a bit unprepared for the intensity of it all. In order to bring that experience to more people, Valerie had a website built that would point to her SendOutCards website, so that she could offer free gratitude cards to more people all over the world. Valerie would like to invite my readers to follow her link and click on the banner to test out that gratitude card experiment by sending out one free card. I don’t know, I think she might be sorry for that invitation. I’m not sure she realizes how many of my readers will take her up on it! TheAttitudeofGratitudeProject.com became home to the Living Gratitude Blog and an online gratitude journal. Unfortunately, security issues forced her to move the blog to Wordpress and the gratitude journal to Facebook, where it became The Attitude of Gratitude Project Page. What seemed to be a setback turned out to be a lucky break. In just three months, The Attitude of Gratitude Project Page has grown to over 3000 fans in more than 20 different countries from all over the world. People stop by every day to share their gratitude in an effort to focus only on the positive aspects of their world. During those three months the Project, as it is called, has become a community of like-minded people sharing in each others joys and sorrows. Deep relationships have been formed between people who otherwise would have never met. She has two rules: all posts must be positive, and no selling or link suggestions are allowed. She is brutal in deleting posts that don’t follow these rules, because she wants to maintain the Page as a space where people can be open without feeling like prey. Valerie has been deeply influenced in these endeavors by two people. The first was her voice teacher and mentor, Dr. Vernon Boushell, who taught her what love looks like by teaching her to see the world with grateful eyes. The second influence was Abraham-Hicks. The Prosperity Project was actually suggested by Abraham in Money and the Law of Attraction. Valerie listened to the audio version of that book, and when she heard how the game works she decided to play it in an interactive format to see how it would affect her strained relationship with money. Do the Prosperity Project with us. It’s fun and puts you in the vibrational mode for attracting more dollars. Wow, what if all of us began doing this and attracting gazillions of dollars? The media would have a field day. Valerie’s websites are: SendOutCards https://www.sendoutcards.com/valerie The Attitude of Gratitude Project FB Page http://TheAttitudeOfGratitudeProject.com Living Gratitude Blog http://www.livinggratitude.com The Prosperity Project at The New Book of Clues, at http://thenewbookofclues.blogspot.com/

dollars72

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 01:52:23 +0000

Doing the Prosperity Project Brings Up My Excuses & Trust Issues

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:05:19 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4958" align="alignright" width="144" caption="The Prosperity Project"][/caption] Yesterday I wrote about Valerie Saurer's Prosperity Project * $1,000 More Each Day. The project is one of those fun writing games that gets you to delve deep inside yourself and see what core beliefs you are operating with. Specifically, the idea of the game is to get used to the idea of having, spending, and enjoying money. You start small, and every day increase your allowance by $1000. Gradually, you will be able to easily picture yourself having larger and larger sums of money. That idea won't seem entirely ridiculous to you, because your dream grows incrementally over time. One thing I notice as I begin creating my list is that I don't know what the prices of things are. Another is that I am leery to take on new time-consuming projects. Example: I'd like a new floor put down and know I have 2000 square feet to cover, but I'd have to find out what the cost of tile is and what my options are. That requires either research on my part or me hiring an assistant to research for me. Even for fantasy visualization purposes, I make excuses. And that brings my trust issues up. I've had many assistants in the past. I tend to hire people I like and click with. In the past, that tended to be more important than their actual skill and past experience. I relied on what they told me they could do, because I wanted it to be true. Then one of two things would happen. Either we'd goof around so much during "working hours" that the work didn't get done, and I'd have to do it after they left. Or I'd leave them alone to do their work while I did my own, and later find it was not completed. But there goes my mind off on another tangent, taking me off the topic of what I'd spend $1,000 more a day on. My mind so easily goes, by default, to what I do not want to experience, and I have to self talk myself out of that habit. It's an ongoing learning process. My mind always tries to sidetrack me, but I know I am the master of my mind, and the thinker of my thoughts. So no, making the daily list for the Prosperity Project is not easy to do, although you think it is. Get a pen and piece of paper and try to do it yourself. $1,000 more each day than the day before. So, much contemplation - and releasing of justifications and excuses - later, the first thing I'd do knowing that I'd get $1,000 more every single day is formulate exactly what kind of assistant or personal/business manager I need to hire to oversee: the detailing of my car the expansion of the back porch the building of a deck over the roof the replacement of the flooring at home the painting of all interior and exterior walls the building of a studio and wood shop inside my shed the purchase of the one lot adjoining my east property line the upgrade and replacing of all my windows with bigger ones the building of a raised deck inside the east woods, with a zip line the upgrading of the gutters and rain management system the implementation of in-house distribution team the implementation of a sales team the stocking of the wood shop the upgrading of all software me taking a Photoshop class me planning and taking a cross country trip: who to bring, who to leave the work to Ah, now the wheels are turning. Thanks, Valerie! You've helped me UP my vibration. Hmmm, what does one wear when zipping through one's own woods on one's own zipline? . LISTEN FREE : Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

leaves-autumn-many

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:17:30 +0000

I Predict 4 Of Saturday's Lotto Numbers

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:18:50 +0000

Friday I posted on Facebook that the Fantasy Five numbers I'm playing for the weekend are 17-27-28-31-32 and 7-15-17-29-30. I bought my tickets and had the girls at the bank laughing when I told them I was there to lock my winning tickets in the safe box. I used the same numbers for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I said, "We'll see who's laughing Monday, won't we?" So Sunday morning I check my tickets. My numbers were 7-15-17-29-30 and the winning Lotto numbers were 7-15-17-29-35-45. Except my numbers of course were for the Fantasy Five. I used to always get a quick pick for the Lotto and Fantasy Five, but this time I filled out a card, choosing the numbers. So while I did get 4 of the numbers, I bought them for the Fantasy Five and not the Lotto. Hmmm, can I count that prediction as a hit? Sorry, no, that would be making the info fit after the fact. And that's not how I roll. RELATED POSTS: Exercising the spidey sense More lottery wins How to win the lottery by visualizing it . LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

Three Autumnal Equinox Rituals

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:04:21 +0000

Today is the Autumnal Equinox, a time of celebration, reflection, grace and balance. It is also a good time to gather our energies and turn our attention inward. So today, the first day of Fall 2009, allow yourself some rest, relaxation and a time for reflection. No matter who we are or where our people came from, our ancestors had many ways of honoring the autumn equinox, when the day and night are of equal length and the world finds balance for a breath of time. After this equinox. the nights grow longer than the days, so it is traditionally a time to look inward, take stock, give thanks for the harvest, and prepare for the time of dreaming. Give some real time and thought to your own harvests over the past year. What did you learn? What did you do? How have you grown, deepened, or changed? What were the major events or accomplishments you would like to honor? In a world that is often so terribly out of balance, it can be both healing and heartening to celebrate this special time. Taking time to honor your own inner harvests-all the things you have achieved and felt and learned from, over the past months-is a lovely way to connect with this time of year. Here are three Autumnal Equinox rituals http://www.horizonsmagazine.com/Horizons/Fall_Equinox.html . LISTEN FREE: Connecting with Your Angels, Guides and Teachers ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

food-pho-soup72

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 06:12:45 +0000

freemarket-tree72

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 02:04:26 +0000

I Make The Homemade Vietnamese Pho Beef Broth

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:26:09 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4997" align="alignright" width="144" caption="The Mighty Pho Soup"][/caption] The last few days I have been talking with my friend Barbara Nowak about cooking. She lives in an area of Georgia that is not known for its Asian cuisine, and we were looking for a restaurant with a Vietnamese pho soup on the menu. That made me start thinking about making the soup from scratch. It's a lot of work and cooking down animal carcass is not my favorite thing to do, but I wanted to see if I could duplicate the taste of my favorite pho restaurant. So when I woke up Monday morning, the first thing I had on my mind was to go buy some beef leg and knuckle bones. I figured Publix was as good a place as any to look. But first I had to run up to the Asian market and buy some more nam prik pao, which is chili paste in soy bean oil I like the Mae Sri brand when I can find it. I also bought more Por Kwan brand tom yum paste, $1.79 in your oriental market. You can make a flavorful quick soup by mixing a tablespoon of tom yum paste into some light chicken or vegetable broth. Throw in a few mushrooms and some sliced spinach and scallions, and it's a meal. I also buy the big bags of bean sprouts and Thai basil, which is also called holy basil. Sweet basil will not do for the Asian recipes. In the store, I saw the wife who owns my favorite pho restaurant, and I told her I was cheating on her, trying to discover the secret to her pho by home cooking. She laughed. She knew something. So I went to Publix on my way home and looked around in the meat department to find my leg and knuckle bones. I saw neck bones and ox tails, but no legs and knuckles. I asked my favorite seafood dude and he took me to the frozen bins where they had what he called the marrow bones. I bought my two pounds and came home to make the homemade Vietnamese pho beef broth. It was a little labor intensive, since I was roasting the vegetables and pre-boiling the bones. I got the bones to the proper simmer stage so I could add the spices and leave them to cook for 3 hours, after which all the flavor is extracted from the marrow. I'm not used to working with carcass anymore so I perceive it as a messy job. The hardest part, for me, was the constant clean up between stages so I didn't have remnants of animal flesh lying around anywhere. I have to admit it kind of grossed me out. Years ago when I was a daily beef and pork eater, I didn't mind it, because I didn't perceive it that way. So this put a new spin on the experience for me, and it was not a good one. But learning the secret to the broth would be worth it! Or would it? After 3 hours, I strained the soup into a clean pot and placed in the refrigerator so the fat could rise to the surface to be removed. Then I decided to write the recipe down and to make the website for it. Then I did the Facebook post that I was making the broth. The only thing I notice after the fact is that the recipe called for no salt, so I added none; I figured the fish sauce at the end would make up for it. I did not roast the bones ahead of time, and I kept the pot lids on during the simmer. The result? Well, it was a fun process. It taught me to add star anise and ginger and fennel to my soup broth in the future for extra flavors. It also taught me that if I want a good pho, I'll go to my favorite restaurant. Mine was lacking in flavor. Perhaps that could have been remedied by leaving the pot lids off and letting the broth cook down and concentrate, but I did not do that. WAS IT A WASTE OF MY TIME? I don't think so. Had I not tried it, I would always be wondering how it would have turned out. I do that with other projects as well. I get excited about something and throw my time into it and all too often I'm ready to move on to something new without finishing up what I've started. It's not a problem, I start lots of projects other people are happy to finish. But when I take a project to completion, even if the outcome is not what I wanted, it's always a success. Sometimes the success comes in having learned something knew, crashing old beliefs and theories by attracting a different result. It all gets added to the bank of my life experience. SO DID I RECREATE A DELICIOUS PHO BEEF BROTH AT HOME? No. WAS MY HALF DAY OF TIME WASTED? No. I learned that I don't always know what I think I know. In this case, what particular flavors would taste like together. I was reminded that how I feel about the ingredients (the carcass) affects my perception of the final product. It also taught me that if I want a delicious and authentic pho, I'll go to my favorite pho restaurant, . LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides and Teachers ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- www.horizonsmagazine.com

dove-soaring72

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:45:06 +0000

The Miracle and the Bluejay On The Branch

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:36:32 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5018" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Soaring Free"][/caption] I was walking around in the yard earlier this week and watched a bluejay land on a slim dead branch that then broke off underneath him. He just sang his song as he dropped the branch and flew away. I thought, "I know I can do that, too, if my ground ever falls away; just drop it and fly elsewhere singing." It made me think back to times in my life where it wasn't easy to let go and I didn't think I had anywhere else to fly to, much less be singing on the way there. That was when I believed what the world told me was true; when I operated within their guidelines for how life works. And that was when I learned that if I agree to play the game of how the world tells me that Life works, then I am bound by their rules and their guidelines, and must be satisfied with their results. But I learned that I could come to a conclusion that the outer world would deem impossible, if I stepped outside of the rules and guidelines of the outer world. If I stopped believing their faulty beliefs. If I started believing that miracles happen all the time and that I can have and be and do anything I put my mind to. And that doesn't mean breaking the laws of the outer world. It just means staying centered enough to trust my own inner counsel, and following guidance when it comes. It means not cluttering up my life with a lot of wasted talk and wasted thought energy. It means believing and expecting good things to happen to me, and looking for evidence of that in every waking moment. And when I do that, miracles do happen. To me, miracles are merely natural events that transcend our familiar band of perception. And like anything else, the more I look for them, the more I find, until my entire life is one miracle and lucky happening after another. Really. . LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides

food-salad2-72

Thu, 24 Sep 2009 20:30:36 +0000

The End Of A Good Week

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 07:28:45 +0000

It's been a good week. I got the October issue of Horizons to the printer, and I've enjoyed participating in Valerie Saurer's Prosperity Project. Each morning and evening she makes a post on Facebook and I go read her blog and do the exercise. It's fun and motivating. I've been playing with predicting lottery numbers and am having a good run of 2 and 3 numbers out of 5. Two numbers gives me another free ticket, and I love getting a free ticket on a free ticket. The Fantasy Five has been good to me this week. This weekend we'll begin delivering the October Horizons Magazine. I got it to the printer on time, despite a big cold that knocked me out for over a week. Yesterday I got to go to the farmer's market and I bought scallions, garlic, ginger, grape tomatoes, romaine, parsley, a red pepper and yellow onions. Did you know that the secret to good tomato flavor is do not refrigerate the tomatoes? I don't know what scientific process goes on, but it makes them lose their flavor. I find the best salad can be a simple romaine and tomato with sliced red onion, some olive oil, fresh lemon juice and salt. I spent the morning clearing out my office, filing things away, taking down all the small tray tables that I set up during final layout week. Every so often I go through every piece of paper in the office and make sure I know what I have and that it has a purpose. I clear out a lot of junk that way. My office is always so much bigger after I take down the tables and file everything away. It makes it fun to work in again. I used to have a real tendency to clutter up my space with nonessentials. Things I simply didn't want to have to decide right away where it belonged, or for how long it belonged, so it lay about in plain sight, waiting for me to feel inspired to deal with it. That goes for tools and yard tools in the garage, not kept in order. That goes for a shed that I used to store everyone's furniture in for them. I was pinning myself in with all the clutter of stuff I had around me. Now I've learned to go through and take an inventory of what I have and ask myself if I still use it. Often. Some things are kept in limbo for 6 months or more until I decide, but I at least look at it every so often and make the conscious decision to keep it until the next round. for instance, I can't believe how much furniture I end up with. Which reminds me, if you're in Melbourne, Florida this Sunday September 27th, come downtown to the Free Really Free Market 1:00 until 3:00pm. It's a good place to get rid of your extra goods and hang with the locals for a couple of hours. Hey, the end of a good week just got better. . . LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides

Reprogramming My Belief System and Feeling Blessed

Sat, 26 Sep 2009 04:42:50 +0000

I was thinking the other morning that am blessed to have my job. I am blessed to have my life, that's for sure. Meaning: I'm blessed to know that how I think affects what comes to me, and that I can chose to exercise my free will to discipline myself to stay focused on things I like so that more things I like may come to me. It sounds complicated, but it's just me knowing my own power and knowing I have the power to choose to exercise it to move forward into a happy life. It's all just a matter of de-programming myself from faulty beliefs and re-programming my beliefs to be helpful and useful ones. A friend has been talking to me about Brandon Bays The Journey work. I read up about it online and was curious to discover how it compared to other NLP type emotional release work. I read that it is a spin off of Tad James' Master Time Line Therapy and in fact that reviewer did a good job of describing the current craze for the new wave of aspiring teachers to tout themselves as spiritual gurus and enlightened masters in order to market their wares. I am not saying Brandon Bays technique does not work. My friend is adamant that a chronic physical condition has been improved if not healed by her doing Bays' Journey process. I am just saying there are many alternative, NLP and meditation and visualization and self hypnosis techniques available to help you change your beliefs. You don't need to get caught in a marketing web in order to benefit by that kind of work. I'm thinking of a few of those I won't mention as friends would take it personally because they're unknowingly caught in the web. This new wave of teachers learns to extend their market by not just selling books and cds, but by offering certification courses to become a practitioner of their technique. And it's important that they stress that their technique is unique and there is nothing like it, and it is The Only Way. Because a lot of your target market wants to believe that, and they won't question it. And they will come up with the hundreds and thousands of dollars to complete each new practitioner's course level. The reviewer was critical of Bays Journey for that reason as well, and had several good comments on the new age guru/marketer/booksellers: Miracles can literally happen, but not because miraculous techniques are used but rather because healing, resolution and enlightenment are a natural consequence when human beings do inner work and/or get together in open, loving and focused group situations. It is our natural propensity to become whole. The truth is that we don't need The Journey™ or Brandon Bays or NLP or expensive workshops and retreats to find wholeness; we just need honesty, the desire to change, the bravery to look inside ourselves, and each other, period. Modern self-development techniques such as NLP and EFT are extremely powerful and have the potential to completely change our lives in a very short time indeed. The problem with them is that they are almost too effective and easy to execute — no longer do we need years of expensive one to one therapy to make profound psychological changes in our lives. ### end of article excerpt There are a lot of techniques and modalities available for free online. I find they all work if you work them. If one does not work for you, do not drive yourself crazy trying to figure out what is wrong with it or you. Simply move on to another until you find one you have no resistance to. The below links might be helpful: NLP or Neuro-Linguistic Programming is a behavioral technology, which simply means that it is a set of guiding principles and techniques about real-life behavior. It allows you to change, acquire or eliminate behaviors, and gives you the ability to choose your mental, emotional, and physical states of well-being. EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique The theory of EFT is that negative emotions are caused by disturbances in the body's energy field. You tap on acupuncture points while a specific traumatic memory is focused upon, in order to alleviate a psychological problem. EMDR or Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing There are two perspectives on EMDR therapy. One was that eye movement provides neurological and psychological effects that enhance the processing of traumatic memories. The other perspective is that eye movement is an epiphenomenon, unnecessary, and that EMDR is simply a form of desensitization. Is NLP Hypnosis? I've gone to several hypnosis sessions with different practitioners, and am surprised at how few can actually put me under. And I take suggestion easily. I want to cooperate and so I am a good hypnosis candidate. Yet 4 out of 5 could not induce me. I know they had faith in their induction process, but as a fellow hypnotist, I knew right away where the problem was. The fact that they did not simply told me they had not quite learned that part yet. But that is a most important part. Once again, someone practicing something they have not yet become proficient at. I realize as I type this that I might be discouraging people who can benefit from all sorts of work by all sorts of teachers, no matter what they have to pay. We all need to learn our lessons in our own way. I've seen so much of it the last 20 years, I just get turned off by the hype. I get turned off by seeing someone come out with a good idea and then 200 wanna-be's make a slight modification and sell the same product under a different name and go on a giant marketing campaign with exaggerated claims to do it. Out of those 200 might be a handful who really have the proper technique and are able to teach it to others. And 190 of those are just sqwaking noise and drowning out people who really have something to say, all in the name of marketing. And this includes a lot of programs out there, including IBI, CEOSpace, Landmark, Forum, MMI, est, scientology and their spinoffs. Through the years friends have invested thousands of dollars in the continuing sessions they must take to remain in these types of programs, and have nothing to show for it. They are simply kept on a merry go round of classes and workshops and meetings and made to think they are moving toward their goal. Only when they took time out to contemplate what was really going on did they realize they were on the hamster wheel and got off. But that's the good thing about law of attraction, isn't it? We attract what we focus on. So if we can determine what it is we actually want, and stay focused on that, we can be sure to attract the appropriate teacher. Of course, I'm the one that determines whether I attract a sincere, authentic teacher, or one of the many of the new wave sprouting up out there that are more noise and promotion than substance. That goes back to me feeling blessed to have my life, where I don't vibrate in tune with a lot of hype and drama, and things run fairly smoothly and effortlessly. Meaning: I'm blessed to know that how I think affects what comes to me, and that I can chose to stay focused on things I like so that more things I like may come to me. And that means taking my attention completely off what anyone else is doing. It's none of my business anyway. What is my business is finding something to appreciate right where I am. Yes. I am truly blessed. . LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your Angels, Guides and Teachers ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

driving72

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:30:05 +0000

Road Trip: Getting Away From It All

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:40:05 +0000

I went to Cassadaga with my pal Theresa Hudson yesterday. Even though we were just delivering the October Horizons magazine, we made it into an exciting adventure. We both agreed that one of our favorite things is to go on a road trip. The last real road trip I did was in 2006 when Beth Head and I visited the Monroe Institute. I used to spend a lot of 3 day weekends out of town, but I don't make time for that now. Plus there's no where in particular I'd like to go. I could use some new ideas. From 1997 until 2002 I owned a house in Murphy, North Carolina, which was bought as a retreat home to share with friends. The first year I had it, I began going up for 7-10 days each month to play in the Smokey Mountains and take a break from my work- work -work schedule. Of course, I worked from there also - as a one person business, I work a little each day - but I mostly goofed off. I caught up on reading and did a lot of writing. I hiked and wandered through the national parks. It was nice having the cell phone not work in the mountains, so my hourly urge to check phone messages was tempered. I'd bought the home with the proceeds of selling my mom's house after her death in 1996, and it was filled with many of her belongings. Mom's sister, my favorite Aunt Leslie, lived just 10 minutes away, in Marble, NC. Our family spent a lot of time in my youth camping in the Smokey Mountains. I felt at home there, and I liked having my own home there. I liked the cool weather and I liked sitting on my own porch in my own rocking chair, listening to my own creek on my own acreage, and seeing nothing but woods around me. I had a lot of really magical experiences on that land. My parcel was three and a half acres, half of which were up on a flat ridge over looking the house. There were acres and acres of walnut and hardwood forest around me. We could pitch a dozen or more tents on the plateau and be completely private from the neighbors, as we were above them. I became very acquainted with the nature spirits of the land and spent much time journaling the happenings, inner and outer. I liked having somewhere to go to get away from it all. I even liked driving the 11 hour drive to get there. Driving for hours in the beautiful weather always makes my heart sing. A favorite road trip was my solo drive to California in 1998. Driving each day for as long as I wanted to, stopping whenever and wherever I wanted to, for as long as I wanted. My friend Cecelia Danas was manning the office in my absence, so I'd call in to her several times a day and report on the adventures I was having. Ah, fun times, fun times. I'm due for some more fun times. In fact, I'm due for a a serious road trip. Either alone or with a couple of galpals. Got any suggestions? Email me at andrea@horizonsmagazine.com If you want to be on our periodic newsletter, go to our Sign Up Page It tells you when the new magazine is online and has links to neat sites. It doesn't try to sell you anything. LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

valerie-sauer1

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:51:16 +0000

valerie-sauer72

Sun, 27 Sep 2009 09:52:56 +0000

Focusing on the Positive Aspects of Things

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:23:19 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5075" align="alignright" width="96" caption="Valerie Sauer Guest Blogger"][/caption] From Valerie Sauer's New Book of Clues: Focusing on the Positive Aspects of Things. Snags happen. We go along thinking positive thoughts, being grateful, focusing on prosperity, expecting good things to happen, and then we hit a snag. Something happens that sets us back, and we get a chance to find out whether all of this positive-thinking stuff is really working for us. We've all heard the advice that we can't control what happens, but we can control how we react to what happens. Today's clue will provide a tool to use in helping to control our reaction to those inevitable snags. Today, I hit a snag of my own. I went online so I could do the Saturday morning bank balancing ritual. I've enjoyed watching the money pile up over the past few months, and especially over the past two weeks as we've been doing the Prosperity Project. I had an idea how much money would be in there, and I was really excited to see that balance in my checking account. I'm going on vacation next week, and today I was going to withdraw the money that I will spend on my trip. So I was pretty surprised when the bank's website showed that I had a whopping $116 in my bank account. Where was all my money?!! Being a seasoned accounting professional, I knew how to untangle the financial knot and get to the bottom of the discrepancy. When I realized the mistake was my own and not the bank's, I was even madder! How could I be so stupid?!!! Last week, I turned over all the household bookkeeping to the boyfriend. He is trying to help me find more time to write by taking over more of the time-consuming chores, like keeping up with the bills. I showed him how to pay the utilities online; what I didn't remember to do was change the bank accounts that the money gets paid from. So all of the bills that should have come out of his bank account came out of mine instead. Oops! When I caught myself getting frustrated and angry because of all the fees, not to mention the embarrassment of making such a dumb mistake, I realized that I needed to change my thinking, and do it quickly. Fortunately, I remembered a clue that I had picked up from Abraham. Abraham teaches a technique called pivoting, which means simply to change the direction of your thoughts by choosing a better-feeling thought. Remember the 68-Second Clue? Whenever we hold an emotional thought for 17 seconds, it attracts another thought just like it. If we do that four times in a row, 68 seconds have passed and we have successfully changed our vibration for better or for worse. Pivoting is a way of breaking that cycle when we find our thoughts moving in the wrong direction. We can choose a better feeling thought by finding some positive aspect of the situation that we can focus on. This morning, then, when I found myself getting all worked up about the unnecessary bank charges, I started thinking that this meant money still wasn't my friend, and that it was still wanting to move away from me instead of toward me. It felt like when I was younger and was insecure about my relationship with my boyfriend. If he didn't pay attention to me the way I thought he should, I always interpreted it to mean he didn't want me or like me, or he wanted someone or something else. I was a neurotic mess. Today I felt myself being that way toward my relationship with money, and that realization made me even madder! For a minute. Then I started framing the situation differently in my mind. I realized it wasn't a money issue, it was a bookkeeping issue. Bookkeeping deals with numbers, not real money. It's simply a list. Bookkeeping isn't real money in the same way that a grocery list isn't real food. What had happened at the bank had nothing to do with my money, my relationship with money, or my worthiness of having money. It was just a thing, as they say. I can call the bank on Monday and negotiate a return of the fees. I can change the account on the bill-paying websites to come out of the correct account. I can, if I want to, just go on with my happy self and enjoy my day. I was able to apply this Positive Aspect technique in the middle of being irritated because I had spent some time practicing it when I was calm. Here is the practice, if you'd like to give it a try. It is another excellent game brought to you by that fun-loving group of spiritual beings known to us as Abraham-Hicks. "If you will buy a new notebook, and call it your Book of Positive Aspects, and spend 10 minutes each day writing positive aspects about your home, your body, your work, your relationships...If you will wake up every morning acknowledging that you have re-emerged into the physical and that today you will look for reasons to feel good...And if you will pay attention to the way you are feeling, and utilize the process of pivoting...it is our absolute promise to you, that -- within 30 days -- you will see such a dramatic turn of events in your life experience, that you will not believe you are the same person." Some of you may recognize aspects of The Attitude of Gratitude Project in that practice. You wouldn't be wrong. A Gratitude Journal is very much like a Book of Positive Aspects, with one very subtle difference. When you say you are grateful for something, especially when you are in an irritable mood, it is very easy to let a bit of sarcasm into it, which is not really sincere gratitude, is it? "I sure am grateful those kids are finally asleep" really means, "Those screaming little monsters are driving me crazy!" See what I mean? A Book of Positive Aspects requires you to find things about every part of your life that you can sincerely appreciate. Instead of thinking, "I don't have enough money," you could think instead, "Although there are things that I want that I can't yet buy, I always have enough money for food, and I have enough money to sleep in a bed and wear clothes and shoes and take a hot shower. Come to think of it, I have enough money to buy myself many very welcome comforts." See how that thought would make you feel better about your relationship with money? If you don't want to start a new writing project by buying a separate Book of Positive Aspects, you can do what I do and practice at The Attitude of Gratitude Project Page on Facebook. Some days it is more difficult than others to phrase my gratitude in a way that doesn't show any traces of sarcasm or negativity. But I'm learning that the more I focus on the positive aspects of my life, and the more I speak about my life using positive words, the more positive my life is becoming. ### end of Valerie Saurer article Sometimes someone else says something so powerfully that I know I can't add anything to it. But I can share it here with you. Andrea

Relaxing, Playing and Finding A New Rhythm

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:14:15 +0000

I had a nice, relaxing trip to Ocala yesterday, when I went to visit Catherine Wendell of Ocala Ghost Walks. Cat does the Ocala deliveries for Horizons Magazine and is a really interesting person to talk to. Check her website to learn about her paranormal investigations, ghost walks, new carriage walks, and psychic readings. I drive the magazines to Ocala and Cassadaga each month myself, simply because I like the drive. It's a fun way to unwind after final layout. I spoke last night to my friend Sharrie, who I wrote about in Shall I Spend Time Programming or Playing. Sharrie had read every book out there on law of attraction and creating your own reality, but she kept forgetting the part about relaxing, and having fun. I've seen Sharrie's appointment book and she schedules herself all day every day. If she misses a few days, she has to reschedule appointments and that puts her behind. I identify with a lot of her behaviors. Driving in the car, she is returning calls and making appointments. She has a dozen projects in the works that she has lost her fire for. She is constantly checking email and voice mail on her cell phone when she is out of the office. She makes good money, but that's because she works literally around the clock. She has created such a big operation, there's no time to think a new thought - it takes her constant attention to keep the current machine of her life in motion. Sharrie is feeling overwhelmed, burned out and lacking passion. And the thing is, she doesn't talk about it to friends - she's not one of those Debbie Downers; she's fun and upbeat and, as Abraham-Hicks would say, in the vortex most of the time. But we were talking today about how easy it is to forget to make time to play and release resistance, and how easy to just slink into a slump and not make a conscious effort to focus attention in a better place. When I attracted my carpal tunnel episode last month, followed by a 10 day head and chest cold, I knew I had a bunch of resistance to something somewhere. But, as Abraham-Hicks says, the remedy is always the same. No matter what the problem is. Simply pivot your focus to a better feeling thought, turn your attention to something you love, pet your cat: do anything to release resistance and put you back in a place of vibrational resonance with well being. Keep finding the better feeling thought. Louise Hay says "As hopeless as any situation feels, it's really only your thoughts that you're dealing with. And you have the power to change those." Like right now, I know I am in a bit of a slump. As much of a slump as I get into, anyway. Listening to Sharrie, I, too, feel somehow compelled to keep my current hectic schedule in place, which leaves me - like Sharrie - without time for a single new thought, since it takes all my thought time to keep the current machine in place. I've lost perspective and am letting myself be hypnotized by the hamster wheel. Lulled by my cozy and comfortable life. And it's time to find a new rhythm. A new rhythm. Something easy and softly flowing. Nothing urgent or frantic, just a simple, easy flowing new rhythm. And all I have to do to begin it is step off the hamster wheel. Of course, that little voice in my head reminds me that hamster wheel is what cranks out the gold coins that keep us in clover. I have to keep reminding that little voice that I am the boss of it and that gold coins can come from somewhere else if they need to. I'd like to spend more time playing with Horizons Magazine and adding some fun features. I'd like to find some salespeople since I have no one selling ads for me. I'd like to do some interviews and attend more conferences and write about them. In preparation for that, I begin to slowly step off the hamster wheel by taking no more reading appointments for 2009, which will result in free evenings for the first time in 10 years. I'll spend that free time doing something that brings me into alignment and allows me to release resistance. Something fun, something new. I can hardly wait to discover what it will be. LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your Angels, Guides and Teachers ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

modem

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:37:34 +0000

Losing My Signal When My Modem Needs To Be Replaced

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 07:21:10 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5090" align="alignright" width="124" caption="Modem connection"][/caption] Yesterday I was working away and all of a sudden my internet connection went down. After taking time to check all the connections, make sure all plugs were plugged in, and rebooting several times, I spoke to Bright House and Roadrunner and told them the situation. They had me talk to Joe and Erik, and both were quick and pleasant. They determined my modem was offline because I had no signal. They asked if I'd had the modem replaced since the original installation in 2006. I had not. So I guess three years is a good life span for a modem. They told me a Bright House office was on Palm Bay Road, and to take my old modem and power cord to them and replace it for a new one. An hour later, I was back in business with my new modem. Yes, even with Mercury retrograde, I was only inconvenienced for an hour :) My expired modem made me think of other things in my life that run their course in about 3 years. Like jobs and relationships - three years seems to be the extent of the term for each. Even courses of study, three years has often been the length of time I spent on particular subjects. So I thought, what might the modem be a metaphor for, for me now? What all have I been spending time on the past three years? What outdated mode of being - or interest - might I be ready to replace with something brand new? And to continue the modem metaphor, what might I be placing in between me and the source that is no longer necessary? Something that has just worn itself out? A few things come to mind. I'll keep you posted. In the meantime, to celebrate Mercury Retrograde coming to an end, I notice our web server went down and so anyone who got the email newsletter and went to the link after 11:00pm EDT last night, got an error message that said Forbidden. We're fixing it. We just temporarily lost the signal is all. It happens to all of us :) LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Accused Murderer James Ward Seen Dancing During Prison Visit

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 09:19:20 +0000

You probably saw it on the news or read about it: Jail house video just released reveals new details James Ward, charged in the high profile Orange County, Florida murder of his wife in their upper-class Isleworth home. Dancing During Their Prison Visit. Accused of Killing Wife, Man Goofs Off With His Daughter: Unsettling Footage Ward was cutting up and dancing for his daughter as she visited him in jail. The news reported that his behavior seemed to be very callous that his wife of 23 years is dead. The defense attorney said prosecutors will argue the laughing and dancing seen on the video recording is inconsistent with grieving. Even the daughter was seen making flippant, unemotional and surprising conversation with her father. "Your sense is, ‘This is inappropriate.’ That’s not uncommon, believe it or not,” Winter Park psychologist Dr. Deborah Day told Eyewitness News. Day, who testifies in criminal cases, says you can’t judge guilty or innocence from just watching the visits. "People respond in very unusual and often unpredictable ways." I was glad she said that and glad the news station did not edit it out. It irked me for years to hear people - and most popularly law enforcement - say that "grieving people do not behave that way". That perception even made it into the media, on tv shows and in movies. It's another one of those things that is absolutely not true, yet most people who don't know any different from what they've been told automatically believe it. But they've been told by people who don't know. I have had a lot of personal death in my own life and, in my 22 years as a criminal defense paralegal, I've interacted with maybe thousands of people within hours and days of a death, usually from a violent crime. These were family members, these were witnesses, these were real people from a variety of ethnic, cultural and economic backgrounds, reacting in real ways. I've lost 3 husbands, 2 brothers, both parents, friends too numerous to mention. There is no standard mode of grief. I have seen all kinds of behavior and know that the least likely grief reaction is someone sitting quietly looking sad and crying. How can that be? It's because under traumatic conditions, our mind starts working overtime. The gracious widow at the wake who seems more concerned about the snacks and deli tray than about her husband who just passed. Her mind is going into high gear and giving her something to do while it takes time to process the traumatic event. It's classic Post Traumatic Stress Disorder behavior. So an accused murderer joking and dancing with his daughter while she visits him in jail, where he is accused of killing their mother - is that surprising behavior? Again it's all about perception. This is a man who, for whatever reason, has just undergone a horrific mental trauma and has been cut off for a week from those he loves. He has been in an unfamiliar and hostile environment. If he's a drinker or substance user, he's been detoxing for a week. If he's guilty, we don't know what emotional and psychological events led to it, but we do know he's dealing with the realization and guilt of it. If he isn't guilty, he's got the added concern of looking at the rest of his life in prison. So, laughing with his daughter on camera, dancing and being playful - she's his only emotional support during a trouble time - that behavior seems typical to me for someone, even when grieving. No matter what the outer circumstances, that visit was a welcome relief from his life of the past week, and relief makes us giddy. Relief gives us hope. We all get excited when we are hopeful about future possibilities. For Ward on that video, he had hope that those he loved cared for him as well. And he was doing it in joyful interaction with his daughter, not caring what anyone watching thought about it. And if you think about it, our lives are lived so much less in our bodies than it is lived in our minds. We literally live in our mind, we live in our bank of thoughts, in our world of thoughts. So, during the prison visit, the media would have you see footage of some crazy acting folks. The participants, however, Ward and his daughter, in their minds were simply celebrating reunion and togetherness. Their perception was being glad to see each other and wanting to cheer and uplift the other. Once again, it's all about perception. It's never about anything else. LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Is John Travolta Leaving Scientology?

Wed, 30 Sep 2009 14:17:13 +0000

The headline reads: Is John Travolta Leaving Scientology? The article begins: After John Travolta took the witness stand last week and testified that his late son Jett was autistic, people wondered if The Church of Scientology would soon lose one of its high-profile members. Until then, Travolta and his wife Kelly Preston said their son had Kawasaki disease, a rare condition that causes arterial inflammation because autism is not recognized in the church. Because autism is often treated with the types of mood-stabilizing drugs that Scientology opposes, the article alleges the child is believed to have gone without appropriate treatment for years because of the church's teachings. Back in July, People Magazine reported Travolta denied reports claiming he was abandoning Scientology following the death of his son Jett. But now, he's keeping quiet and refuses to comment on his relationship with the church. My feeling is, with all the reports through the decades of what happens when someone challenges the Church of Scientology, and having had dozens of clients who were involved in the past, all I can say is the media should butt out of this very private topic. My friend Domino says it's not unlike in the old days when someone wanted to leave "the mob". True or not, things like that deserve a little privacy so as to not bring more pain down upon someone who has already made a painful and life changing decision. I'm just saying. LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

October 3rd Festival Celebration in High Springs, Florida

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 00:19:36 +0000

This Saturday, October 3rd, High Springs Emporium is having their 5th Anniversary Celebration. Food, Music, Gifts, Readings, Massage, Healing Work and Big Fun for everyone! High Springs Emporium, Sharron Britton Owner, is located at 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd in High Springs, Florida 32643. Their number is 386-454-8657. There will be readers and healers: Cheryl Brainard-Detox Footbath; Sharon Docktor-Orthobionomy; Rose Dotson-Craniosacral Therapy and Reiki; Steve Henry-Buddha Card Readings; Janet Idayoga-Massage and Reiki; Mary Alice Warren-Astrological Tarot; Donna aka Lady Tara-Fairy Card Readings; Jenny Westlake-Crystal Acupressure. They'll also have custom stone wire wraps done while you wait by JD Hallowell in silver or double gold-filled wire. Omialadora Ajamu will be here with her band to stir it up with blues, jazz and reggae throughout the afternoon, and Jah Irvin will provide us with a Rasta drumming and poetry invocation. Everyone will receive a free crystal gift, and every half hour we will draw a name for one of these great prizes: Silk Butterfly Wall Hanging; Bamboo Wind Chime; Etched Glass Vase; Arkansas Quartz Crystal; Carnelian Heart; Large Brazilian Black Tourmaline; Celestite Egg; Polychrome Jasper Sphere; Selenite Cathedral Lamp; Angel Wing Calcite Cluster; Large Lemurian Quartz Crystal and our grand prize, a Tabletop Amethyst Cathedral. Here's the calendar of events for High Springs Emporium for October 2009 Sunday, October 4 Acupuncture with Jenny Westlake. Anyone who comes to the party and samples Jenny's gifts will be able to make an appointment for a full session here at the store among the beautiful and powerful crystals in our healing room. Saturday, October 10 Tarot Readings with Jesse Lucas. Jessie uses a Cat People deck that provides an unusual, accurate and provocative reading. Come in and try one from 1-6 PM. $50 for an hour reading. Saturday, October 17 Astrological Tarot Readings with Mary Alice Warren. With all the tumult in the world today, who wouldn't want to receive Mary Alice's compassionate counsel from the stars and her trusty Tarot cards? Call for an appointment or walk in 1 - 6 PM. $50 for an hour. Chord Cutting Ceremony with Shenna Benarte aka Raven Moondance. This is a great time to let go of all the patterns that no longer serve you. Bring a drum or rattle if you like, and join Shenna in this powerful ritual of release. Call to reserve your space. The ceremony starts at 5 PM, and the cost is $20. Sunday, October 18 Acupuncture with Jenny Westlake. You can call her at (321) 698-6185 and make an appointment directly or call us at the store. Once you've tried acupuncture with Jenny amid the crystals, you'll want to become a regular. Saturday, October 24 "Through the Gateway of the New Shamanism: Stones for Psychic Protection". Workshop with Sharron Britton. This is the first of a series of 3 workshops Sharron will be presenting on the use of stones to help those of us who are called to the paths of shamanism. Participants in this workshop will learn which stones can be used for protection, how to make grids and how to prepare for shamanistic journeys. Call to reserve your space. 1-4 PM. The workshop costs $20, and attendees will get 10% off anything purchased on the day of the workshop. Saturday, October 31 "Spiritual Connections to the Other Side" with Omialadora Ajamu. The veil between the worlds is at its thinnest, and there is no better time and no better channel to help you connect with loved ones who have passed to the realms beyond. Bring a picture of your loved ones and open up to the spirit world with Omi. Call for an appointment or come on by. 1-6 PM. $50 for an hour. High Springs Emporium 660 NW Santa Fe Blvd High Springs, Florida 32643 386-454-8657

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Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:03:14 +0000

Vacation Time In Sunny Central Florida

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 07:57:13 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5111" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Mmm sweet honeysuckle"][/caption] Autumn has officially arrived here in central Florida. Just before sundown yesterday, I noticed it was cooler outside than in, so I turned off the a/c and opened up all the windows. That means we had only five months of summer heat and humidity this year - yay! Right now it's down to 65 degrees and 65% humidity - ideal snoozing weather! Actually, anytime it's less than 80% humidity, I like it, no matter what the temp. Less than 70% - heaven! One nice thing about getting to sleep with the windows open is that I can hear all the night critters as they make their way along the trails; the raccoons, the armadillos, opossums, squirrels and bunnies. I can hear the frogs and the crickets, and the occasional car on the road. I can hear the bamboo rustle and creak and I can smell the night blooming jasmine and honeysuckle growing outside my bedroom window. All these things I miss for 5-6 months each year as I live inside in the a/c. So when the first cool of autumn hits, to me that means vacation time. And vacation time can be had even while I am at home. I don 't need to leave to have vacation time. It's a state of mind. As I was growing up, we used to always go on vacation the first two weeks in September, because that was when mom got her vacation. Every single year we started school two weeks late. We always went camping and we always went to the Smokey Mountains. I remembered getting excited to feel the cool air as we drove farther north - cool air being such a rarity in Florida. So when the first cool air hits me here at home now, I begin to feel in an even more festive mood than usual. The cool air makes me feel frisky. I want to be outside in it. I want to be active in it. I want to haul out all my yard tools and climb the oak tree; the one in the east backwoods that has the spiral staircase in it. I discovered that the first week I lived here in 1984. I was 32. I saw it was a good climbing tree and had a lower branch of the right size to hold me, at an easy height to scale and stand on. As I looked around inside the tree to learn what branches I could hold on to and use as steps, I noticed it was a perfect spiral staircase configuration. In just a few steps, I could go right up into the tree, curl around it as I went up, and see down into my yard. The cool air makes me want to climb my trees. The cool weather is also when I think about where I'll pitch my tent this year. I like to camp outside in my little woods during the cool weather, and I can place my tent in a few places so that I don't see the house. I can pretend I'm camping in the forest. It makes me feel on vacation when I do that, so I do it during times I can't take a trip. I cook out in my little firepit: corn, potato, garlic, fresh veggies wrapped in foil, it all goes into the small fire, and I love to sit and watch a fire. These mini vacation times tide me over until I can leave and take a real vacation. But then, who's to say these aren't real vacations? What is real anyway, besides perception? And my story is I'm on vacation. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

On Twitter: I'm In A Board Meeting, Having A Miscarriage

Thu, 01 Oct 2009 09:11:48 +0000

On Twitter: I'm in a board meeting, having a miscarriage. In Tweeting Your Miscarriage: Is Nothing Sacred? Melinda Henneberger writes: "Thus did 43-year-old Penelope Trunk, CEO of the aptly named "Brazen Careerist'' blog, Twitter her recent miscarriage: "I'm in a board meeting. Having a miscarriage. Thank goodness, because there's a f***-up 3-week hoop-jump to have an abortion in Wisconsin." (The asterisks are mine, not hers.) It seems a lot of people have the judgment that was too much information and were offended by it. To them, I say, then don't have that person on your Twitter stream. And don't care who else does. Isn't the point of a free country to be able to say what we want when we want? It's the same as tv: I have the right to mute or change channels when anything comes up that I don't want to be subjected to. And the broadcasters have the right to broadcast what they do and the producers have the right to have the actors say what they do. People have a right to say what they want to say, and to share whatever intimate details of their life they want to share. It is up to them to decide what is appropriate to share. Just because it's not something you want to know about them, doesn't mean it's not appropriate for them to say it. And I personally would be much more offended by the violence on the news than by someone blogging the details of her own personal life. I think she's bold and courageous to be so open. And after the media exposure, it's gotta be good for business. Or maybe that was the point. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Going Rustic In Suburbia

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 04:50:36 +0000

It's such beautiful cool weather, I've had my windows open since yesterday. At 2:00pm, it was 84 degrees but only 59% humidity so it felt like 70 degrees. Actually, anything less than 80% humidity is a relief big time to us here in Florida. My entire house is under a heavy oak and pine tree canopy, so once the humidity lifts, my place stays nice and cool. My Uncle Jimmy, who built my home for me back in 1984, put extra insulation in the walls and under the roof and I'm sure that has saved me a bundle in the past 25 years. In fact, last month when I had my giant head and chest cold, I kept the a/c on 73 degrees for two weeks' straight because I was fevered. I got the electric bill today and it was only $116. I usually keep the a/c on 76 during the day and down to 73 or 74 at night and my Florida Power and Light bill for my little 2,000 square feet cottage is usually about $90. I know that's cheap. When winter comes, I usually keep the thermostat set to come on automatically if the temperature drops to 55. I rarely have the heater on. I enjoy the cool air, and especially like to sleep with the windows open at night when the cool air is blowing through. That's because being cold in Florida happens so seldom that it's a novelty. I'm sure I wouldn't want to sleep with windows open in Montana. In fact, wintertime in Florida gives me a chance to wear long sleeves and flannels and sweats, which is another reason I don't need the heater on until it's 55 degrees inside. Typically during the summer in Florida I stick to wearing one layer, simply because two or more layers, no matter how stylish, is hot. If it wasn't for the misquitoes, I'd do yard work in a swimsuit. So I enjoy getting to wear different clothes when the weather is cool. I enjoy wearing jeans and yard boots and a long sleeved cotton shirt to go pick up the oak and pine deadfall from the yard. Living under a beautiful canopy, one of the things that happens regularly is dead branches come down. There are always fallen branches to pick up, which is fine with me because I get to stow it all away for wood at the firepit. I keep separate stacks for kindling, fresh wood and seasoned wood. We've had a burning ban in effect so I don't do a fire every night as I would like. The rule is you can have a fire to cook. I enjoy getting to live a little bit of the rustic life. My dad was a character. In the 70's, he moved out to a cabin he built in the Everglades, off Alligator Alley, off Turner River Road. He had several acres there and grew his own vegetables and had his own honeybees. Once a year, a reporter from The Miami Herald would go out and visit to interview him for an update. That was a novelty back then, and people liked hearing about someone who chose to go out and live in the woods. They portrayed him as some wacky hermit type dude. Which, ok, he was :) But he taught me about appreciating the outdoors and loving the rustic lifestyle. Although I grew tired of having to go camping with the family every single weekend of my childhood, I loved the adventure of it. I loved being able to go off by myself with a book and sit where nature was all around me. At home growing up in Hialeah, our houses were right next to each other, maybe 20 feet apart. If Mrs. Jones was frying chicken, we smelled it. When they sat down to dinner, we could hear them talk. My dad planted about 30 trees on our small lot, walling us in for privacy. So being away from people and being out in nature was something I learned to love. In fact, just today I went out and pruned about 30 cuttings of turk's cap and night blooming jasmine and planted them along the front property line. I've created a nice living wall of nature that runs the width of the property. It gives me lots of privacy and creates a little wildlife sanctuary here that is private from the road and the walkers by. Whenever I cut the top off a plant, I stick the cutting in the ground and water it in, then keep it watered for a week or so until it takes. And I do dozens of them every few months. I'm glad I've carved out a little piece of Paradise of my own, even if it is right here in suburbia. It is what we make it, right? LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides www.horizonsmagazine.com

Notice The Ads Are All Geared To A Young Audience? That's Not A Problem, That's Opportunity

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 10:36:59 +0000

If you're among the many baby boomers and beyond who are noticing that the ads in the media and the shows on tv all are quickly becoming irrelevant for our age group, get used to it. In Retailers turn away from baby boomers, focus on younger customers, we are reminded that the purpose of marketing is to attract dollars, and so it's only smart to use the shotgun approach and talk only to the audience who is spending. Of course, that leaves out entire groups of consumers who can't find what they want. Not everyone is in business to provide a service or product to their fellow man; most are in it just to make a living. Rather than complaining about this, because the older you get, the more prevalent it may become, realize there is great opportunity here. This leaves many opportunities for savvy entrepreneurs to fill several niche markets. Clothing is just one of them. I recall my whole life having to alter every pair of pants and skirt and dress I bought because I was so tall and long but narrow waisted and wide hipped. I have girlfriends who are under 4'10", weigh under 100 pounds and have shopped their entire lives in the children's department. I have friends who weigh 200-300 pounds+ who are just recently finding stylish business and fashion wear. Some male friends have big, big bellies and have to have business shirts tailored, since they must buy to fit the belly, and tailor to fit the neck. Many people have to hem every pair of pants they ever buy. In my teens and 20's, I lowered every hem and added length when I could. By my 30's, I was over it and just wore them as is. So don't complain when you hear someone lament the lack of -- whatever. Put your thinking cap on instead. Think about how you might fill that need. You might surprise yourself at what good ideas you get if you put your mind to it. And might have found a new career in the process. I'm just saying. . LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Brain Scientist Has Ringside Seat To Her Own - Beautiful - Stroke

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 04:25:26 +0000

Jill Bolte Taylor got a research opportunity few brain scientists would wish for. One morning, a blood vessel in her brain exploded. Taylor had a massive stroke, and watched as her brain functions -- motion, speech, self-awareness -- shut down one by one. As a brain scientist, she realized she had a ringside seat to her own stroke. She recounts her experience of living in the right hemisphere of her brain while her analytical left side shut down. Taylor spent eight years recovering her ability to think, walk and talk. Although the stroke damaged the left side of her brain, her recovery unleashed a torrent of creative energy and intuitive awareness from her right. "How many brain scientists have been able to study the brain from the inside out? I've gotten as much out of this experience of losing my left mind as I have in my entire academic career." The video gives an excellent explanation of the functions of the brain hemispheres. Taylor suggests we all "Step to the right of your left hemisphere. We are the life force power of the universe, with manual dexterity. Which (hemisphere) do you choose? And when? The more time we spend choosing to run the deep inner peace circuitry of our right hemispheres, the more peace we project into the world, and the more peace there will be in the world." Oh yeah. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

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Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:33:31 +0000

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Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:36:33 +0000

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Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:39:17 +0000

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Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:40:28 +0000

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Sun, 04 Oct 2009 19:47:53 +0000

More Space Clearing, I Spend The Weekend Painting Furniture

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 10:03:49 +0000

This weekend I had all sorts of plans to get all the quarterly records together for my tax accountant, plus make copies of them for her. I didn't do any of that. Instead, I spent Friday moving furniture around, clearing out my back office, and tossing files that I no longer needed. I see former assistants had created folders and filed many things under "miscellaneous" that already had folders created for them elsewhere. As well as making file folders for individual receipts. Grrrr! Glad I didn't need to find them before now! I also found a giant folder marked "Articles To Use" from 2001, all hard copies. Aaaugh! Into the trash to start again. I put 70 pounds of newsprint in the recycle bin, stuff that never should have been filed in my cabinet in the first place. This will teach me to do my own filing and to know what I have. The good news is I can consolidate down to one giant file cabinet and take the other one out to the shed. I like to go through every piece of paper in the house on a regular basis, so I don't turn into one of those people who has bunch of stuff that I don't know what or where it is. When I know what I have, it seems very manageable and I feel very organized. If I don't know what i have, I can feel scattered and overwhelmed more easily. Saturday, for the first time in years, I got the bug to paint a couple of tables that I've wanted to do for a few years. So I sat outside in the beautiful early morning and spent a few hours sanding two tables and painting them white. They are wood tables and I like the furniture in the house to be white. I pick up little rolling tables whenever I see them and have fun sanding and painting them. Plus it gives me some good hours of exercise for the paws to counteract all the keyboard time :) Here's the larger table halfway through sanding. I was surprised how quickly the deep finish came off with hand sanding. I primed and painted the two tables and put them out on the driveway to dry in the sun before sealing. Here are the two tables after being painted. I'm hoping YinYang will stay off them until they're dry. As I relaxed Saturday evening, I noticed my old wooden bookcase in the corner. I decided to pull it out and paint it white also. Had it not been 3:00am when I noticed it, I would have taken it outside to paint it on the spot. But of course the humidity and the dewfall would keep it from drying, so I waited until daybreak. I woke up thinking about it and excited to get into it. I didn't think to take a pic of the bookcase beforehand, but it was raw wood that had been sanded smooth and lightly sealed. It took very little sanding to take it to raw wood, then I cleaned it up to dry before painting. Here it is afterward. It also has small sliding doors on the bottom shelf, which makes it a cabinet. I painted them also, but I don't use them. It felt good to sit in the shade on the beautiful weekend in my own driveway and work on a project. The neighbor was having a garage sale, so there were many cars on the street, and many turning around in the grass. We all had our windows open, and I could hear a few radios playing in the distance, and the boom boom boom of a rap song in a passing low rider. It felt very old school and very neighborly. I pondered that the sanding down was like uncluttering and space clearing for the wood; purging the old energy. The painting was like setting the intention and the sealing was like the expectation and belief that would let it last for the long haul. And although redoing the furniture was technically "work," I felt like I'd taken the weekend off. Painting the tables helped me add to the newness of the place, the uncluttered-ness, just as I had done when discarding 70 pounds of newsprint. There's always that feeling of newness and possibilities when I do any kind of space clearing, especially at full moon, such as Sunday morning's Harvest moon. Now, when Monday morning comes, I will be ready bright and early to compile the documents for my tax chick, and the job will go much easier due to the new space I've created for it. And yes, I did miss the downtown Melbourne art festival, and the air show and even church, but I had so much fun and was so psyched about doing my project that it was all I wanted to do. I love when that happens, out of the blue, something new grabs my attention and motivates me and delights me. That means I've released my resistance enough to allow the pure positive life force energy to flow unimpeded through me. I means I've unkinked my hose long enough to allow the free flow to me of good things that have been waiting for me in my vibrational escrow. I can hardly wait to see what all that might be. I'm not even going to check my lottery tickets until later this week, so I can bask in the possibilities of - what if? What if? Hmmmm, what if? LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

raccoon-cropped-72-0262

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:42:20 +0000

Finding Balance. Gregg Braden Says We're Not Bystanders, We're Part Of What We See

Tue, 06 Oct 2009 11:44:09 +0000

I had a very productive day yesterday. After I spent the weekend painting furniture, I was ready to get back in the office and I got a lot of work done, even for a Monday. I spent the morning compiling quarterly documents for my tax accountant, and making my way through the emails that had come in over the weekend. I've been spending time visualizing PayPal donations and so I wasn't surprised that I had a half dozen waiting for me. In the afternoon, I ran to the post office, the bank and the produce stand for broccoli, onions, carrots, scallions, mushrooms, tomatoes, romaine and lemons. I like squeezing lemon juice on my vegetables. It used to be butter on everything; now it's lemon and parsley - evolution! In the late afternoon, I went outside and did some hand watering, and then I set the sprinklers to run in 3 areas of the yard. I'd get it set just right in the back yard, then when I'd turn on the east sprinkler, I had to go back and reset the back sprinkler. Then I'd finally get both of them watering the right way, and I'd turn on the front sprinkler. Then the back two would be off! Grrr! It took me about 15 minutes of running laps between the sprinklers to have them all turned on and all reaching the area I wanted them to reach. I thought how my own personal energy is like these sprinklers: I'm focusing on one thing just fine and then I add something else into the mix, and my attention gets diluted. So I work at finding a balance and then I add something else to it. Like gathering tax documents at the same time I'm uncluttering my file cabinet at the same time I'm creating a friend's website at the same time I'm sanding and painting furniture. Yes, I can do it all, but it takes me awhile to find my balance in the doing of it. Like getting the water pressure just right in all three sprinklers. Like we know that everything is connected. What I do here affects what happens there. If I do something to impact John, Jane is also impacted. This is easy enough to remember, but it's not always easy finding the balance to do all I want to do, in the waking time I have to do it. Gregg Braden tells us in Divine Matrix, "It should be clear that it’s impossible for us to be simply bystanders in our world. As conscious observers, we’re part of all that we see. In the realm of quantum possibilities, we appear to be made to participate in our creation. We’re wired to create. Our quantum link with the cosmos runs so deep that scientists have created a new vocabulary to describe what such connections really mean. It’s called the Butterfly Effect. The bottom line of this phenomenon suggests that a single small change in one part of the world can be the trigger for a huge alteration in another place and time. The quantum net or matrix that connects everything suggests that you and I direct a force within us that works in a realm that’s free from the limits of physics as we know them. I guess that's why I try to do so many things at one time: I know I am not bound by time and space, unless I think I am. I just need to be mindful of where my physical energy gets placed. I don't want to let myself run out of steam doing things that could have waited, while neglecting doing what I wanted to get done first. It just takes a little going back and forth to find the right balance. I'm finding it. Little by little. [caption id="attachment_5174" align="alignright" width="138" caption="Raccoon on porch"][/caption] Speaking of balance, last night I heard the screen door crash and looked out and saw two fat raccoons on the back porch. When I opened the door, one of them ran right back out, but this guy ran up the screen. He was pretty good at balancing up there until he could get down. They've got good balance because they practice a lot. I'm taking their cue and beginning to practice more myself. I'm getting there. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Having a Game Plan Leaves me More Time For Fun Adventures

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:32:26 +0000

This week I've been getting my quarterly financial documents together for my tax accountant. Until last year, I used an accountant who let me just hand her a box full of papers. Now I use someone who's really on the ball and makes me give her my work in organized fashion. I created a checklist from her email that told me what she needed me to compile for her. I know if it's something I only do every 3 months, I could use a To Do List that I can check off to make sure I remember it all. Even so, this month I seemed to have a hard time deciphering the list, so I put it off until I felt like giving it my full attention. That time came yesterday. Once I gave it my full attention, it became clear why my hesitation. I put on the list to "print out all Paypal transactions July 1 thru September 30, 2009." Yet I didn't write down where in Paypal to go to get that info. I didn't write down how to get to the online screen that gave me the choice of what kind of report I wanted to generate. I knew I figured it out the last several times, yet I neglected to update the checklist to remind me . The checklist was what made it easy for me to do the work. Without the checklist, I got pretty scattered and wasted several days just half heartedly looking at the list and thinking about getting ready to get documents together. One item said "print spreadsheet of the monthly bills" and, for the life of me I couldn't recall what that was. Granted I always have several lines of thought going at once when I am working, but although a spreadsheet sounded familiar, I couldn't recall right away just what it was and if I'd done one before. I figured, if I did it before, I probably blogged about it, so I went to my blog and in the "search" box I typed in the word "Excel". I saw the post for Facebook Friends To The Rescue, Helping Me Excel and as I read it, it all came back to me. So I amended my checklist to include the name of the Excel file, and the file location. Once I had the amended checklist in front of me, it became apparent exactly what steps to take to compile the records for the quarter. I already had the files together in one place. It's easy enough to do 3 months' of filing at a time. All I had to do now was begin going down the list, opening each file in turn and there would be a note at the top of each page telling me what to do step by step. All I had to do was remember to print the - now newly revised- checklist in order to get started. So, I dilly dallied for 3 days, kind of glancing at the checklist, moving on to something else, still not getting the records compiled. Three days. With three days, I could have taken a long weekend to a fun spot and had an adventure. But, instead, I wasted those three days because I didn't have a useful enough checklist. I didn't have a good game plan. My game plan failed to motivate me to action. It made me rely on my memory to fill in the blanks for what I needed to do, rather than telling me what file to open and print out, which website to type into the browser to get me started. With so many other thoughts of ongoing projects whirling around in my head, I didn't want to add to the mix trying to remember something. When I finally made myself stop and review the checklist to see what the problem was, it was clear to me that I needed to include the action steps to take. What file to open to get started. What website URL to type into the browser. What word or phrase or tab to look for online to find the proper report for my Paypal history. The small details that make it possible for me to do my job quickly and efficiently. So even though I "wasted" 3 days that I should have been getting the documents together, I got to spend the weekend painting furniture. That let me relax enough to vibrate in a place of clarity, to allow me to amend the checklist to be more detailed, which will ultimately save me time in the future. Yes, having a game plan gives me lots of time for spontaneous adventures. Now if I can just remember to print the checklist. . LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit ww.horizonsmagazine.com

butterflies72

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:51:44 +0000

Praying Parents Get Jail for Child's Death

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:46:10 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5196" align="alignright" width="108" caption="Free at last"][/caption] The headline reads: Praying Parents Get Jail for Child's Death. A Wisconsin couple who prayed rather than seek medical care for their 11-year-old daughter were sentenced this week to 6 months in jail and 10 years probation in the girl's death. Madeline Neumann died of an undiagnosed but treatable form of diabetes. The parents were convicted of 2nd degree reckless homicide. In sentencing the couple, Judge Vincent Howard said the Neumanns were "very good people... who made a bad decision." Prosecutors said the couple had a legal duty to take their daughter to a doctor but relied totally on prayer for healing. The father told the judge:"I am guilty of trusting my Lord's wisdom completely... Guilty of following Jesus Christ when the whole world does not understand. Guilty of obeying my God." He believes when he says, "I am guilty of trusting my Lord's wisdom completely." But he does not realize that the Bible he trusts likely has less to do with God's wisdom than it does with man's editorial revisions throughout the millennia. After all the politicians got through with their slicing and dicing at this council or that, who knows if the bibles we know today bear any resemblance to God's word. So his error was not in trusting the Lord's wisdom completely, but in trusting whoever interpreted for him the Bible in his hand, to read that he should keep a sick child from medical attention. The father said he was "Guilty of following Jesus Christ ..." When in fact the issue was not with him following Jesus Christ. The issue was with him believing that whoever instructed him in his faith in fact accurately imparted the teachings of Jesus Christ. But wait, didn't Jesus tell His followers to not make a religion after Him? But I digress... Dale Neumann, who once studied to be a Pentecostal minister, said he was "Guilty of obeying my God." When in fact the issue was not in him obeying his God, but in having misplaced faith in someone who led him on a course of events contrary to man's law. That someone being whoever it was who taught him how to interpret whatever bible he read. Whoever taught him right from wrong. Whoever taught him to operate outside of man's laws. Who was that? His own father? A minister? Here we have a Bible of questionable accuracy, and a handing down of traditional knowledge that may be faulty at its origin, all to the detriment of one child's life. So what can we trust if we can't trust the bibles we grew up with nor the interpretations of the local minister? "Go inside," we hear, "meditate on the God that resides within you." What on earth does that mean anyway? There's nothing inside my head but a bunch of jumbled thoughts. If that's the case, then a good start would be to begin to cultivate the inner experience, quiet the mind chatter, spend more time in silence, less time in idle talk, less time complaining, less time criticizing, more time appreciating, more time forgiving, more time allowing. In time, the mind chatter begins to quiet down enough that you can begin to intuit with increasing accuracy. You may begin a prayer and meditation practice. You may spend less time in the old church, you may visit new churches, you may decide to visit with God in your garden some Sunday mornings, alone, instead of church at all for awhile. Because God is not about church. God is beyond church, beyond space and time. And once you feel your direct connection, you can walk into any church or any place, and it won't matter what words they use, you will know God's word for yourself. With no middle man. No interpreter. And the Neumanns? It's not too late for them. In fact, they seem to know that if we're indeed, as we are, in the midst of God's will, how can we not rejoice? And for Madeline Neumann? Yes, she lost her Earth life in this go round, but what a caterpillar calls death, we call a butterfly. ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

lady-old

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:57:41 +0000

Age Discrimination Allegations At Record High

Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:32:59 +0000

Age discrimination allegations by employees are at a record high the article says. A recent Supreme Court ruling said it is not enough for employees to show age is a motivating factor in a demotion or layoff. Rather, workers must prove it's the deciding factor in the case. Which is all well and good, but most cases aren't about age at all, but rather about attitude and presence. And attitude and presence are things we have personal control over, regardless of age. We know about attitude. Everyone likes someone who is pleasant, a team player and easy to get along with. Including employers. Given the same job and having the same skills, one pleasant employee, one not so ~ in a crunch the boss will always keep the pleasant employee and let the ornery one go. What do I mean by presence? Presence is the total way you carry yourself and how you are perceived by others. If someone were to spy on you while you were working, would they see someone who appeared clean, with attention to detail as far as personal appearance and dress. Would they see someone working in organized fashion in a careful and methodical way? Would they see someone who spoke with pleasant and professional courtesy to everyone? Would they see someone who really appeared to know shat she was doing, and did it well? Would you exude the presence of someone who really had their act together, knew their job, enjoyed their work and could figure out how to get just about anything done that needed to be done? Would they see someone who they would be proud to have represent their company? With that kind of presence, it won't matter if you're 40 or 70. You'll have your choice of jobs. Not so much for the same-skilled employees who are kind of critical and kind of ornery and kind of gossipy and kind of diva-ish and spend more work time discussing their personal life than adding to the value of their employer. If someone else has the same skills and a more pleaasant attitude, it will be adios, muchacha for them in a down sizing. Your employer doesn't owe you a job. The reason you're there is to help keep the company cohesive and to work together with your fellow employees to make it a success. If you're not proud to work there, leave. Now. Do yourself that favor, and allow your employer to fill the slot with someone who wants to help make them a success. You don't want the karma of staying somewhere you don't want to be. We all deserve to work with people who cheer us on in our endeavors, and help us strive to reach shared goals. If you can't be that for someone, then be elsewhere. Because if you don't want to be there, it will show in your attitude, it will show in your work, it will be a palpable aura around you that everyone will perceive. And no one wants to be around that. But don't call it age discrimination. LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Cult Awareness Helpline owned by Scientology? LOL

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 08:21:41 +0000

A girlfriend and I were talking today about my earlier post Praying Parents Get Jail For Child's Death. We've both had family members who were involved with religious cults, and even had a brush or two ourselves. I began going to a few websites I know where former devotees of religious cults have discussion forums. Posted on the site, and on many cult awareness type sites are the words: WARNING! The Cult Awareness Network (CAN) was bankrupted and bought up by Scientology. We strongly recommend you do not contact them for assistance. I thought: "Too funny." Scientology buying up a business known for its cult awareness resources? WTF? I can see it now. People having been involved with a cultish organization, already in that fragile, misguided mindset, looking for help out, then Googling "cult awareness" and getting the Scientology folks come to your rescue. Out of the frying pan, into the fire! Of course, they don't say, "Hi, we're the Scientology folks," and they use an ever changing list of business names. And it's not just them, network marketers such as IBI and CEO Space do the same thing, shuffling company names and buying out websites that criticize them for their cult tactics. People are not always who they say they are. So how do you know if who you turn to for help is the hand UP or is the hand out to the fire? Do you just take your chances and hope for the best? Do you spend weeks researching every page Google gives you to wade through all the weblinks, knowing the first many pages will have been search engine optimized by the big dogs to have their pages listed first. Or do you realize that this, like everything else in life, has everything to do with where you place your focus and how you feel when you focus on it. i went through periods of psychological abuse, we all have. If I want to, I can dredge up every old memory of every old injustice and carry it with me forever, and see the entire world through that filter. Or I can just realize that was then, this is now and life is good. There have been many times in my life that I wanted to talk to someone about something I was going through, however did not know who to trust. Each time, years later, I was glad I had not shared information with one particular person or another, although at the time I thought I knew them well and trusted them. So I'm that way now as well. I've learned that if I can bring myself to a place of stillness on a regular basis, I can trust my own inner guidance. Here's one meditation technique. I've learned that if I keep things light hearted and fun, and help lighten others up, I will be guided to increasingly helpful people, good circumstances and events. If I stay focused on the problem and keep digging for evidence of the dirt, then I'm leading myself down a road I really don't want to go, because no one stuck on that road is vibrating where I want to be. So once again, it comes back to me. No matter what is happening to me, I know I need to vibrate in a better place before I can get in that better place. And sometimes I have to get there on my own. Sometimes I am the most upbeat person I know and if I want to be uplifted, I've got to do it myself, for myself. I can whine about it or I can just do it. I'm used to it. It ain't no big thang. Andrea LISTEN FREE: Reprogram Your Eating Habits and Stop Smoking Out of Body Experience ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

2 die, 19 sickened at Sweat Lodge in James Arthur Ray's Sedona Spiritual Warrior Retreat

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 09:58:10 +0000

SEDONA, Ariz. - A sauna-like sweat lodge at an Arizona resort meant to provide spiritual cleansing became the scene of a police investigation Friday when more than 20 people became ill during a two-hour session and two later died. In all, 21 of the 64 people crowded inside the sweat lodge received medical care. Authorities haven't determined the cause of the deaths and illnesses; tests for carbon monoxide and other contaminants were negative. Self-help author James Arthur Ray (who appeared in The Secret) rented the facility as part of his Spiritual Warrior Retreat. Sweat lodges, like that held on the final day of the Angel Valley Spiritual Retreat Center, are commonly used by American Indian tribes to cleanse the body and prepare for ceremonies and events. Stones are heated outside a lodge, brought inside and placed in a pail-sized hole. The door is closed, and water is poured on the stones, producing heat aimed at releasing toxins. The spiritual purpose of the sweat lodge is to create a sacred place to pray, meditate, learn and heal. You enter the lodge for 30-45 minute rounds, and rotate out to give other attendees a turn in the lodge. You also come out of the lodge between rounds to rehydrate; to allow your body and brain to acclimate to the intense heat, so it can continue to function properly. If you're used to intense heat, you may be able to do several rounds in a row without a break. But for most of us, a break between rounds is welcome. About half way in to my first sweat, I had to lie on the floor near the edge of the covering so I could sneak a fresh breath. Without that, I could not have lasted the first round. I was heavier back then, also a meat eater, and had eaten the day of the sweat. I learned a lot since that first sweat. Like about dehydration and heat-related death, in what is known as sweat lodge syndrome. Through the years, I've sweated with many people of many traditions, for a variety of purposes. A standard purpose is the vision quest. You are looking for insight into some area of your life, and are asking Spirit for guidance. You enter the sweat as a ritual to create a change in consciousness, as an act of creating a sacred, receptive place in consciousness so you may clearly hear what Spirit has to say to you. Through the years, I've sweated with those who were sincere seekers, and those who wanted to be known as teachers, so they put on sweat lodges like some people put on workshops. Some would pride themselves on how many rounds they could stand, and how many days they'd fast beforehand, and how wiped out they would be at the end of it all. Like their own personal crucifiction, their own monthly rebirth, as if there was entertainment value in the suffering and the release of it. And often they'd have students and followers who would begin to do the same thing, often to the detriment of their physical and mental health. You find this in any group setting, in any genre. Not just new age teachers. I remember many sweats where attendees, and not all neophytes, gave themselves such a bad experience that they would never again try a sweat lodge. They overdid their time in, they failed to keep drinking water even if they didn't want it, they ate too heavy and too soon before the sweat. They failed to know the state of their own health, or they failed to take precautions if they had heart or other health issues. But that's not what happens to most attendees. Most attendees have a pleasant experience and a water pourer who can judge the group to know how hot to keep the lodge. For most people, the rounds of chanting help purify the mind as the sweat purifies the cells of the body. You can indeed reach an altered state of consciousness in a sweat lodge, and it can be a powerful, illuminating and transformative event. And you don't have to sweat to do that. You can create your own altered state in a less invasive way. You can dim the lights in your favorite room and light some incense and candles. You can make a comfy mat of pillows in the middle of the floor and cover it with lots of blankets. Not your bed - not your couch - not anything that feels familiar beneath you. You can put headphones on with your favorite music, or even something tribal like Hemi-Sync's Spirit Gathering, The Dreaming Gate, Shaman's Heart. Maybe something like Drums on Fire or Oceania, music of New Zealand’s native people, the Maori, brought into the modern world. You can create the space to bring on a transformation in consciousness in your own home, right here, right now if you are a sincere seeker. Maybe go into the session after having written a statement of intent about something you would like clarity on. Or maybe you're just ready for the next step and want to be guided into it. Either way, write the intention and then release your attention from it. Then just relax and listen to the music and let your mind drift where it may for an hour or several hours. The Universe will be sending you its subliminal messages and in the days following, many insights will come to you when you're not even thinking about it. And that is how transformation occurs. And you don't have to pay $9,000 to attend a sweat lodge to do it. Update from NPR on this matter 10:20-09: an Inside Account 10-22-09: James Ray urged sweat lodge participants to stop prescription medications Link to updated info on this matter in chronological order from the beginning . The End of Death As We Know It ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Knock Knock

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 20:07:17 +0000

Knock, Knock is a 2 minute video of Daniel Beaty reciting Knock, Knock: “For the children of fathers who are locked down”: As a boy, I shared a game with my father. Played it every morning until I was three. He would Knock knock on my door and I pretend to be asleep, until he got right next to the bed then I would get up and jump into his arms “good morning Poppa” and my poppa-- he would tell me that he loved me. We shared a game----- “Knock knock”. Until that day when the knock never came, and my mom takes me on a ride past corn fields on this never ending highway— until we reached a place of high rusty gates. A confused little boy I enter the building, carried in my momma arms--- “Knock knock”We reach a room of windows and brown faces – behind one of the windows sits my father. I jump out of my mommas arms and run notoriously toward my poppa ---- only to be confronted by this window. I knock knock trying to break thru the glass trying to get to my father----- I knock knock--- as my mom pulls me away before my poppa could even say one word And for years he has never said a word----- And so 25 years later I write these words ----for the little boy in me who still awaits his father’s knock Poppa come home because I miss you… Miss you waking me up in the morning telling me you love me Poppa come home because there are some things I don’t know and I thought maybe you could teach me--- How to shave, how to dribble a ball, how to talk to a lady, how to walk like a man Poppa come home because I decided awhile back I want to be just like you –-- But I’m forgetting who you are And 25 years later a little boy cries and so I write these words and try to heal and try to father myself---- and I dream up a father who says the words my father did not Dear Son, I’m sorry I never came home----for every lesson I failed to teach---- hear these words: Shave in one direction with strong deliberate strokes to avoid irritation Dribble the page with the brilliance of your ball point pen Walk like a GOD and your GODDESS will come to you No longer will I be there to knock on your door, so you must learn to knock for yourself Knock knock down doors of racism and poverty that I could not Knock knock on doors of opportunity for the lost brilliance of the black men who crowd these cells Knock knock with diligence for the sake of your children Knock knock for me------ for as long as you are free these prison gates can not contain my spirit--- the best of me still lives in you Knock Knock with the knowledge that you are my son but you are not my choices YES---- we are our father’s sons and daughters but we are not their choices But despite their absence--- we are still here-----still alive----still breathing—with the power to change this world—one little boy and girl at a time Knock, Knock who’s there? WE ARE! ~ Daniel Beaty ### end "And 25 years later a little boy cries and so I write these words and try to heal and try to father myself---- and I dream up a father who says the words my father did not. "That's one thing we can all do for ourselves: give ourselves the words, the inner dialogue, the pep talk, the cheerleading that we never got, or that we need now. Dream up this person who says the words you need to hear to motivate you to be who you know you can be. Be that person for your friends as well. Every morning as I lie in bed waking up, I am self-talking myself as though I am my most beloved. I say the things I need to hear. I love you and it makes me happy when you're happy. I'm so proud of you for all you're doing. You're juggling work and play and finding a balance. You're eating healthy foods, exercising and living a healthy lifestyle. You accomplish more than you think you do. You impact people's lives more than you give yourself credit for. You're genuinely a good person who likes to help others, and in return they want to help you. That is part of my morning dialogue to myself. Because, like everyone else, I can use some cheerleading, and I could use someone caring about my process. And for the times no one is there, I've learned to self-talk myself. Knock, knock, who's there? I AM. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Deleting 200 Emails, Starting Over

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 05:31:33 +0000

Last week I deleted more than 200 old emails from the begining of the year. These are mostly notes about websites that people want me to look at, or business opportunities friends are trying to rook me in inviting me to, or Paypal receipts waiting to be printed, or emails from publicists about their clients' latest books and cds, with articles to be considered. I open the emails when they come in, then I save them as new until I have time later to go through them. Since the beginning of the year, for the first time I got 300 emails behind. And that's without making time for a personal life! My friend Beth has 1,000 emails waiting to be read, and even she makes time for vacation cruises every few months! I could learn from her, however I don't want to be 1,000 emails behind. So I made the decision to print the receipts on my recycled pages here, and I forwarded a few choices items to another screen name, and the rest I briefly glanced at and decided I no longer needed. Many emails come in that I want to look at again the next day with a fresh eye. I'm real quick to delete press releases since I get so many, but some catch my eye and make me feel they deserve a second or third look. I've learned to be discerning about what I take the time to read, since so much comes across my desk. I have friends who are excellent speakers, yet boring writers. I know writers whose work grabs me and keeps me engaged, yet I die of boredom sitting in person when visiting. It doesn't always translate. If something is overly wordy and doesn't hold my attention, I move on. Press releases or headlines that try to scare me into buying or attending get tossed. Marketing about anyone calling themselves a guru or spiritual master or enlightened whatever gets a quick scan before tossing. Do I discard things that I later realize I should have paid attention to? Absolutely. But my job is to scan what comes in to me and decide what has the greatest chance of being compelling to read, that peaks my curiosity and lets me walk away from the article feeling more empowered; feeling that more is possible for me than I thought before I read the article. My spidey sense is usually pretty good about who out and about on the circuit is sincere and who is a buckster. I remember many conferences early on, I'm talking about back in the day before a lot of the new wave of new age authors were household names. I remember lots of after hours parties where lots of late night marketing strategies were planned: this makes a good story, weave it into your bio, create some big spiritual insight from it, write a book about your awakening, write a book about the message you've been told to bring to the world, create a theme song, create a cd series, you know the drill. And the irony is that some of these marketing experts are now known as industry leaders. But they intuited what the consumer was ready for and wanted to buy, and they hit the nail on the head. Does it matter that they aren't who they say they are? Likely not. When you think about it, who really is? Whatever it takes to wake people up to the choices that exist around them, I'm for it. If they attract a charlatan, well, they'll get some valuable lessons. If they ask me for help, I'll do what I can. But I no longer feel like I need to spend half of every day going through press releases to make sure I pass along the best information to my readers. Hence me deleting the 200 emails. Don't worry, yours was not among them. Sometimes I just need to let the deadwood fall and start over. I feel immensely lighter and freer already. What is enduring will remain. . LISTEN TO FREE SAMPLES: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

A Universal Prayer

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:23:52 +0000

Lead us from the unreal to the real Lead us from darkness to light Lead us from death to immortality,

Sweat lodge victim's family says she was in shape at spiritual retreat. How did James Arthur Ray attract this?

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 15:29:29 +0000

Yesterday I wrote at 2 die, 19 sickened at Sweat Lodge in James Arthur Ray’s Sedona Spiritual Warrior Retreat: SEDONA, Ariz. - A sweat lodge became the scene of a police investigation when more than 20 people became ill and two later died. Self-help author James Arthur Ray (who appeared in The Secret) rented the facility as part of his Spiritual Warrior Retreat. Today's news: Sweat lodge victim's family says she was in shape. I notice a few things that seem out of place in the story, but since I wasn't there, I can only go on what the media reports (uh oh). Ray and his staff constructed the temporary sweat lodge with a wood frame and covered it with layers of tarps and blankets... The sweat lodge -- a structure commonly used by American Indian tribes to cleanse the body and prepare for hunts, ceremonies and other events -- was 53 inches high at the center and about 30 inches high around the outer edges. I've never seen one with a wooden frame, they were always natural saplings sharpened to be stuck in the ground and bent over to form the lodge. They were then covered by layers upon layers of dense but breathable fabric. Between 55 and 65 people were crowded into the 415-square-foot space during a two-hour period. That's 20 feet by 20 feet. I've never seen a sweat lodge that big. Mine were about 8 feet in diameter and held up to a dozen people in close quarters. I can't imagine having that many people safely in an enclosed space like that. I wonder where, in relation to the entryway, the deceased participants sat, and how much illumination was inside the enclosure, so those in charge could keep watch for signs of medical distress. Nineteen other people were taken to hospitals, suffering from burns, dehydration, respiratory arrest, kidney failure or elevated body temperature. I'm not sure how anyone got burns unless they used river rocks, which explode when heated. I can't imagine how anyone would get a burn, but there's lots I don't know. The sweat lodge has been dismantled. I imagine that means after authorities gave permission to disturb the scene. Certainly no one meant for this to happen, no matter who is judged to ultimately be legally at fault (likely the deepest pocket). But anyone who has ever watched a police drama knows to leave the scene intact so that it can be accurately assessed. It could be that organizers or attendees began dismantling the lodge simply to get into the fresh air quicker at the time of the crisis. At issue is certainly what was covering the lodge: how many layers of what and placed down in what order? Even as a layman I know it has to allow breathing. Perhaps the sheriff's office took the necessary photos and video so they already had that at the time of the dismantling. So the question is how did James Arthur Ray , one of The Secret teachers, attract this? In Steve Pavlina's James Ray Interview in 2007, Ray stated: The results you have in the third dimension are a reflection of who you are in the spiritual realm. Read that again because it’s critical. Ray so clearly knows how crucial it is to realize that the results we have in the real world - the third dimension - are a reflection of who we are in spiritual consciousness, that he says Read that again because it’s critical. Ray goes on to say the law of attraction "guides and creates every single result I produce…" So how did Ray attract a situation like this? I mean, if he knows The Secret and all. As Abraham-Hicks so clearly explains, it's always ever only one reason: Whatever we are experiencing, we experience because we are in vibrational resonance with it. We are vibrationally in tune with it. And where we are vibrationally attuned can change in every moment with the change of every thought. And we can train ourselves to keep our thoughts focused on particular things we wish to attract. And we know when we have tuned in successfully, because we then have that experience. But what about the things we don't want to experience? James Ray did not want to have that experience at the sweat lodge. He probably never considered it, thought about it, pre-paved it or visualized it. So how did he attract it? Like little kids that die: they aren't contemplating bad things happening to them, so how do they attract it? We attract it when we don't have a strong focus on what result we want and where we want to be. We attract it when we get wrapped up in the stories and concerns, real or imagined, of those around us. When you're in a sweat lodge of just a dozen people, you are in the midst of a large vortex of emotional energy. Whether you believe it or not, your own body and mind will tend to go in the direction the majority are going. If there are 60 people in that small a space, everyone's body gets affected. Everyone's mind gets affected. Everyone's emotions get affected. So even people with good intentions, like James Ray likely is, can get caught up in it and lose focus, and attract something he doesn't want. I went to the James Ray website for the first time yesterday, although I'd seen him in The Secret. I find his site typical hard-core-marketing and hype of the sort I find a turn off. But that style appeals to the masses, and if he has a multi-million dollar empire, it is because he knows how to sell something that people are asking for. And he knows the language that will draw them in and convince them to buy and to attend and to experience. Booksellers these days have a whole new way of marketing themselves, and that includes getting up front and personal with their readership via workshops and retreats. Establishing an emotional connection with them. That works whether you want to gain someone's trust so you can help them, or so you can gain a steady customer base. But does that make them responsible when one of their students suffers as a result of one of their practices? Words are powerful. People whose job it is to know how powerful words are have a responsibility to use them wisely. Teachers have a responsibility to correctly assess whether a student is prepared to take their teaching. Not just financially able. Many people who go on spiritual retreats do so out of a sense of desperation, desperate to leave the life they've been living and desperate to find something meaningful. Ray says Desperation is a self-fulfilling cycle of doom guaranteed to create more of the same. It must be hard to not get caught up in that. Maybe not for a spiritual warrior. Update from NPR on this matter 10:20-09: an Inside Account 10-22-09: James Ray urged sweat lodge participants to stop prescription medications Link to updated info on this matter in chronological order The End of Death As We Know It ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Questions About ‘Sweat Lodge’ Rite Where 2 Died. Creating New Neurological Pathways

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 04:14:25 +0000

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — As Arizona authorities on Saturday investigated how two people died and more than a dozen others were overtaken during a ceremony at James Arthur Ray's new age Spiritual Warrior Retreat near Sedona, questions arose about the circumstances surrounding the simulated Native American rite. A sweat lodge is similar to a sauna. Traditional lodges are usually made of willow branches and covered in canvas or animal skins, and are not meant to be air-tight. The authorities said that the lodge at Angel Valley was covered in plastic and blankets. Questions have also arisen about the length of time the people were in the lodge — about two hours. A ceremony usually lasts no more than an hour, Joseph Bruchac, an expert on Native American traditions and author of “The Native American Sweat Lodge," said. Now this is where the media begins misleading people. Little comments that are made as statements of fact, creating more outrage than there needs to be. Covering the lodge with blankets is done all the time. Covering with plastic is not. Two hours is not an excessive time for a lodge, when you've got a water pourer who knows how to regulate the heat, and isn't trying to break records and be a rock star. Now the media will have people thinking it's abusive to stay in a lodge for two hours. Under the proper conditions, it's not. Covering the lodge with blankets didn't violate anything. The media states the cost of the retreat was listed on Ray’s website as $9,695 per person. Being in the business, I am aware that in all events, not everyone pays full price. I get media passes to everything. They always give out a certain number of scholarships, meaning those attendees get in free or at greatly reduced rates. So it's likely Ray was NOT walking away from the event with $500,000 in tuition payments. About the Spiritual Warrior Retreat, Ray says its participants will “experience a new technologically-enhanced form of meditation that creates new neurological pathways.” I don't know anything about Ray's work so I don't know what his technology is. But I do know that what creates new neurological pathways is thinking a new thought. What creates new neurological pathways is envisioning a better life. What creates new neurological pathways is thinking a new thought with attention to repetition, doing so purposely and mindfully, and training yourself until it is automatically the thought of least resistance. It's called Creative Visualization. That's what creates new neurological pathways. That's what transforms your consciousness. That's what makes you resonate vibrationally in tune with something new, and begins the attraction process. It's easy enough to do and just takes some practice to get good at. No sweat. Andrea Related Post: How did James Arthur Ray attract this? 2 die at James Arthur Ray’s Sedona Spiritual Warrior Retreat Update from NPR on this matter 10:20-09: an Inside Account 10-22-09: James Ray urged sweat lodge participants to stop prescription medications NOTE: This is a link to ALL updated info on this matter in chronological order The End of Death As We Know It ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

dikki-jo-8-07

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:30:50 +0000

Nationally Known Astrologer and Author Dikki Jo Mullen on The Runes Sunday Oct 18th at Yoga Shakti Mission

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:39:29 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5295" align="alignright" width="118" caption="Dikki Jo Mullen"][/caption] This Sunday 18 October Dikki-Jo Mullen will give a presentation on "The Runes" at Yogashakti Mission from 9;00 - 10:00 AM. The runes are sacred letters from the Northern Mystery tradition. They have been in use since about the year 900 AD and are thought to come to us from Odin (Woden), God of Wisdom. He received them in a sacred trance after hanging upside down in Ygraddisdill, The World Tree, for 9 days and 9 nights. Odin relates to the planet Mercury. The word rune means to whisper in Old Norse, suggesting sacred truths. This Sunshine Lecture will introduce you to the runes both as healing charms and as a method of accurate divination. Yoga Shakti Mission is located at 3895 Hield Rd NW in Palm Bay, FL 32907, phone 321-725 4024 www.yogashakti.org

Even the Maya are sick of Mayan Calendar 2012 hype

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 04:29:46 +0000

I opened a can of soup last night and the expiration date on the top was December 2012. It was right after I read this: Even the Maya are getting sick of 2012 hype MEXICO CITY - Apolinario Chile Pixtun is tired of being bombarded with frantic questions about the Mayan calendar supposedly "running out" on Dec. 21, 2012. After all, it's not the end of the world. Or is it? "Definitely not," the Mayan elder insists. "I came back from England last year and, man, they had me fed up with this stuff." Next month, Hollywood's "2012" opens in cinemas, featuring earthquakes, meteor showers and a tsunami dumping an aircraft carrier on the White House. Now it makes sense. Last month I had a couple of mainsteam type friends ask what I thought was going to happen in 2012 at the supposed end of the Mayan calendar. They know I am not into all the end time prophecies and channelings. They said they'd seen it in the mainstream news and it was being talked about in the media. I'm like Abraham-Hicks: I think it is a non-date for a non-event. Unless, of course, mass consciousness makes something happen because they are focused upon it. Now I realize the reason for the big overflow into the mainstream media is because there is a movie! Of course! Oh, what a field day with law of attraction. Get the movie watching masses to fear a particular date and anticipate it with dread, and let's see what they can conjure up. And if their own imagination isn't vivid enough, the movie will give them all sorts of possible scenarios to envision, to pre-pave their "inevitable demise". Yet another movie I won't be seeing, simply because, well, I have a good life here doing what I do. I'm vibrating in a good place; a place I don't think can be improved by turning my attention to scenes of death, disaster and cataclysmic end times. I don't judge what someone else wants to focus on and vibrate in tune with and attract to themselves. But I don't need to get stuck in the way of it. As for me, when everyone attracts that earthquake or meteor shower, I'll be off on vacation, seeing beautiful sites, hanging with delightful people, and not missing anything that got blown away. I won't experience what they experience because I won't be turned to their dial. I'll be tuned in to appreciation and well-being and better-than-ever-ness. And just to be sure, I'll start practicing right now. Andrea The End of Death As We Know It ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

No Permit For Sweat Lodge, Dispute Over Who Constructed It, Let The Games Begin

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 10:02:24 +0000

Deaths at Sweat Lodge Bring Soul-Searching. SEDONA, Ariz. — Authorities continue to investigate how two people died and more than a dozen others were overtaken during a ceremony at James Arthur Ray’s new age Spiritual Warrior Retreat. The authorities say that Ray’s employees built the wood-frame lodge, which was wrapped in blankets and plastic tarps. A spokesman said Ray’s contract with the Angel Valley spiritual retreat called for Angel Valley to “design and construct” the sweat lodge. Sheriff’s Office spokesman said the office stood by its contention that members of Ray’s staff built the sweat lodge. Angel Valley’s owners declined to comment on the contract. And, it's pretty wacky but: Sweat Lodge Did Not Have Permit. If you're going to operate in the world of man, you gotta operate by their rules. That includes amending contracts in writing, such as when who constructs the sweat lodge changes. I've learned if someone wants a contract, there is no such thing as a verbal amendment. The purpose of a contract is to outline responsibility of the parties in the event of a worst case scenario. It's like a prenuptial agreement. You have to operate with the end in sight. And take responsibility when the contract shows one party liable, if the other party actually did the work. This is an opportunity for everyone involved to get real and get clear and own up and keep it pure. This will also burn off a bunch of bad karma you haven't burned off yet, if you have any. Just tell the truth of the whole story, admit to what you don't know and take your chances with what you will attract out of the Universe as a consequence. It's an opportunity for everyone involved to see exactly where they are vibrating, to see what dial they are tuned to. I'm not critical of Ray's work. I don't know his work but in The Secret he had some good things to say. This is an opportunity for everyone involved to make some decisions that will affect the rest of their lives. It was definitely a transformative weekend. . Related Post: How did James Arthur Ray attract this? 2 die at James Arthur Ray’s Sedona Spiritual Warrior Retreat Questions About Sweat Lodge. Creating New Neurological Pathways Update from NPR on this matter 10:20-09: an Inside Account 10-22-09: James Ray urged sweat lodge participants to stop prescription medications Link to updated info on this matter The End of Death As We Know It ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

sign-pilgrims-caution-illegal-immigrants72

Tue, 13 Oct 2009 20:45:55 +0000

Paula Deen's Ignorant Comment: Ignorant as in she doesn't even know why it's offensive

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 05:28:03 +0000

Ignorant comment of the hour by Paula Deen: "Is he from this country?" Paula Deen had a bit of a freak out last week on the set of the "Today Show" after an NBC staffer accidentally walked into the shot and hid behind a kitchen island. "Oh my goodness, can you all see? What is he doing in here? Does he work here?" Deen asked Al Roker as she prepared her Nutty Orange Coffee Cake to promote the New York City Wine & Food Festival. "He doesn't have a gun does he? Should we pull out our knives?" Roker laughed along with Deen, although it became a bit awkward after he asked her what she was making. "Nervous. That's what we're making -- nerves, nervous," she said. "Is he from this country?" To say that the staffer, an olive skinned, Mediterrean looking gentleman, was embarrassed is an understatement. Had he been blonde haired and blue eyed, there would have been no drama and no story. And a joke is a joke but that was just ignorant and offensive. My friend Barbara Nowak said it best this week: We all need to remember that, unless we are Native American or were dragged here to be slaves, all Americans come from immigrants. Insinuating that just because someone has ethnic features, that they are to be feared or don't belong, is ridiculous in this day and age. The people that do it really, really do not understand why it is offensive. Their brain just doesn't work that way. They've been taught since early on to fear what they don't understand, and to fight against it at all opportunity. They have big insecurities, don't realize how they are limiting themselves and no one to sort it all out with. Bless them for they know not that they know not. [caption id="attachment_5329" align="alignleft" width="118" caption="As white as it gets"][/caption] And I don't like to be a Debbie Downer but I feel like I have to mention when something like that happens that everyone thinks is so funny. I got a dose of it growing up, in a back hand kind of way. I was the white blonde child in a family whose hues ran up and down the color scale. I wasn't the smartest, I wasn't the prettiest or most personable, but I was definitely the whitest. I got a big dose of reverse discrimination that served me well my entire life in the secular business world, and in my social life. And it taught me to not judge someone on their appearance, period. Period, end of story. Period. And it certainly taught me to not make even joking comments or generalizations about a particular culture or tradition or race or country. If we don't want something done to us, we shouldn't do it to someone else. Remember that golden rule that everyone talks about and only a handful walk? For Deen to plant the idea in the minds of the viewers that there was something to be feared going on, even in jest, due to the way the staffer looked, was unconscionable. That would be like me making disparaging remarks about a bloated, aging redneck whose entire show is a recipe for a heart attack, whose arteries are likely so clogged that sufficient blood doesn't reach her brain, otherwise she would think before she makes an ignorant, racial comment on national tv. But that would not be cool. I'd have to be real passive aggressive to do that. And I know better. :) Goddess Grub, Healthy and Luscious Low Fat Meals For The Goddess On The Go ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

7-12-09-car56-72-good-w-o-bg

Wed, 14 Oct 2009 10:37:38 +0000

Getting so caught in our own spin that we don't see our own wobble

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:57:27 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5342" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Caught up in the spin"][/caption] I woke up this morning realizing I had not written a blog post yet. I usually write it the evening before. I was so busy yesterday doing final layout for the November Horizons Magazine that I worked through the evening and then just went to bed. As I came in here this morning, nothing came to me to write about, however I knew that, as usual, as soon as I sat at the keyboard, something would come to me. It didn't. So I opened an email from a friend. I'd ask him how he was doing and he responded, "I guess I'm OK. Are you picking up something? I'm not aware of it. You know, the top that wobbles as it spins may just be aware of the spin, not the wobble. I admit I'm not taking the best care of myself. I've done a couple of classes with X, and I'm still going out with Y. Any of these things could signal something is out of balance, but still I'm choosing to do them. I thought that was an insightful observation. I told him "As far as still choosing to do things that you think could signal something is out of balance", we do things until we're done with them. We do things that feel familiar, because that is what we're used to. That's the station we're used to being tuned to. That is the place we're used to vibrating. That's why it feels familiar. But when we decide we want to be somewhere else, when we decide we want a different kind of life, we know that in order to get there, we must vibrate in the new place more often than we vibrate in the old. And we always know where we're vibrating by what we see around us, what is happening in our life right now." I talked yesterday to friend Christopher Tims. I joked with him that I'm surprised he's not rich and famous by now. I met Christopher at the 1998 Universal Lightworkers Conference where he shared the bill with Gregg Braden, Doreen Virtue, Ken Page, Steve Halpern, Jon Marc Hammer. A few years later he moved to Florida and now lives about 6 miles away. We talked about how much we both enjoy what we're doing right now, leading simple but fruitful lives. "Do we not go after more, " I asked Chris, "because we're too happy with our little lives as they are?" He agreed that was what it's all about. We can want big and dream big and create big, but life is also about taking time to enjoy what you've already created. Enjoy what you already have in place. He likes teaching and doing his Akashic Record Readings and he also enjoys doing construction and he enjoys his family. I like writing and reading and doing the magazine, and I also like playing in my yard, creating art and taking photos. We're both happy with the lives we've cut out for ourselves. I've got many friends that are on the fast track, in and out of the corporate world, and their lives are a flurry of hurry. That is the place they're used to vibrating. It feels familiar to them, whether they like it or not. To get somewhere else, they know they must vibrate in a new place. But so many get caught on the hamster wheel and don't make the time to think about what they'd prefer. It's all they can do right now, as it is, to think about everything they have to think about to keep the current machine in motion. No room for new thoughts. No time for new thoughts. That's what their programmed mind keeps telling them. I'm not much different. I have the same thoughts, I just act on those thoughts far less often than I used to. I still feel rushed. I still feel the sense of urgency to do, do, do. I just recognize now that they are simply thoughts, and I can choose to release the thought and not act on it. I am the one in charge of what thoughts I choose to think. I am not always in charge of what thoughts pop in to my mind, but I am in charge of what thoughts I choose to continue to think. I admit I have quite the machine going on myself here, and it takes lots of time to maintain. I make a good income and one reason for that is because the last few years I've scheduled far too much work, too far into the future. And then it snowballed and now I'm living out the consequences of that and have had little free time this last year. Taking on too much, just because I can. Just because I'm used to it. Just because it feels familiar. And I allow myself to get so caught in the spin that I don't see my own wobble. I always know where I'm vibrating by what I see around me, what is happening in my life right now. And right now everything is flowing smoothly. Busy as can be, but truly effortless being. Just tending to what is in front of me and doing each job step by step, day by day. Knowing that whatever I need will be taken care of if I just tend to what is right in front of my face. Now to remember that will happen no matter where I am and where I go. It will happen here in the office at the computer, and it will happen if I'm under an umbrella at the beach, and it will happen if I'm camping in the mountains. When I've had enough, I will remember that. And when I remember that, I will promptly get myself to a beach or to the mountains. . LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

spinning-top

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 13:06:58 +0000

Choosing your thoughts is a daily yoga. Recognize the reflections around you.

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 08:53:56 +0000

I wrote in Getting so caught in our own spin that we don’t see our own wobble about friends on the fast track whose lives are a routine of hurried sameness. They don’t have time to think about what they’d prefer instead, it’s all they can do to think about everything they have to think about to keep their current life in motion. No room for new thoughts. No time for new thoughts. That’s what their programmed mind keeps telling them. I’m not much different. I have the same thoughts, I just act on those thoughts far less often than I used to. I still feel rushed. I still feel the sense of urgency to do, do, do. I just recognize now that they are simply thoughts, and I can choose to release the thought and not act on it, and not react to it. A friend told me she was surprised and glad to read that I have the same thoughts. She said I always seem so calm and centered, she imagined I only had calm thoughts. That really made me laugh. The only difference is that - now - I just recognize they are simply thoughts, and I release the thought. I am the one in charge of what thoughts I choose to think. I am not always in charge of what thoughts pop into my mind, but I am in charge of what thoughts I choose to continue to think. I am in charge of how I react to each thought. Choosing my thoughts used to be a daily yoga, back when I had lots more karma to burn up than I do now. I had boyfriends and husbands back then, so staying solitary has definitely added to the peace and serenity of my life :) I also had a full time career as a criminal defense paralegal in large Miami law firms, dealing daily with a lot of people and a lot of personality conflicts. Now I don't even think about the stuff that used to fill my daily thoughts - making judgments about this one and criticizing that one; being passive aggressive with this one, secretly favoring that one. What a clusterf*k of useless thought time that was. And that was years of my life spent that way. I used to be involved in a lot of discussion groups and meetings - about 4 times a week, for decades. In so many of them, there was a constant political posturing going on that took the group's focus off what I was attending for. A constant complaint was being surprised that would happen in such a group of supposed lightworkers. LOL Not realizing that's what we're here to work out, that's why we're thrown together, that's why the person is sitting next to us at the meeting. We all end up together in the same room, the same meeting, the same house, the same family, the same workplace, the same social group, because we vibrate in harmony with each other. We are all dialed to the same station, attuned to the same dial. And, until we understand that, it will piss us off because we don't like what we see. We don't recognize it as a mirror. In computer science, reflection is the process by which a computer program can observe and modify its own structure and behavior. When we begin waking up and getting conscious, we do the same thing. We may call it spirituality, we may call it self help, we may call it new age, personal development, metaphysical, personal growth, yoga, meditation, contemplation. We may not call it anything. But when we begin getting conscious, we begin doing it. And the problem with a reflection is that it takes time to figure out how it works. Everything is backward because it's facing us. We can get caught up in studying every little image we see in it, that we can't see the big picture. Sometimes all it takes is a little distortion to hide something in plain sight. So here are are with this group of grumpy, know it all misfits and wondering how we ended up here. We don't recognize that the sooner we work it out with these people on this small scale, the sooner we become of value and a source of strength to the ones who don't have our combined thought power. But I found through the years that most of these groups chose to keep an undercurrent of infighting and posturing in place, because that is what they are used to. That is what feels familiar to them. They like to dream about taking the next step up the ladder, but it feels so safe on the ground floor, even if they have to share it with a gang of disgruntled others. When they can make themselves take the next step, those gripey people and those fighty circumstances will move out of their experience. But for those who recognize we're all in this together, we can make good use of our time. We can skip all the personality conflict nonsense and band together for whatever we signed up for. We can be there to use our combined thought power to bring about understanding and change so that we can all live happy, fruitful and meaningful lives. Yes, choosing our thoughts is a daily yoga. But since choosing our thoughts is also choosing our relationships, our environment, our career, our social life, our health, our happiness, it's a practice worth cultivating. When a conflict arises, and it will, recognize that it is simply a thought, and you can choose to release the thought and not react to it, and not get cuaght up in the distraction. The result? Whereas I spent years of my life in frantic, hamster wheel thought patterns, now I spend very little time in thought about anything other than what's delightful, right here, right now in this moment. Upgrade! LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides Donate $1 for good luck & karma

We all need a little Validation

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 07:13:26 +0000

A very cool video - Validation - is worth the 16 minute watch. Validation is an award winning, comedic fable about the importance of acknowledgment and validation. It shows the magic of looking for the best in people. Validation has played at 34 film festivals worldwide and won 17 awards. I want to be like that guy. He knows that just a few words of validation takes just a moment and can make someone's day. Always offer hope, for some it's all they get. I thought today how true that is. People are who you make them think you think they are. I'm one of those who talks to other people standing in lines. I always have a comment to anyone my elder. Just today in the market I was next to a grandmotherly 80-something and she apologized for being so slow getting her green beans. I joked that I knew what she was up to, taking all the good ones. Her face crinkled into a big smile and I asked how she was going to cook them. I had the best time listening to her tell me some of her favorite recipes. She remarked several times about it being hard to cook for one and I told her I liked it because that meant less cleanup. And that left more time to play in the garden and think happy thoughts and go to the market and pick out all the best green beans. We had the best visit and would say "you again!" when we'd pass in the next aisle. My morning was made better by listening to her. I saw her as someone who likely had something to teach me and I was right. It seemed as though she may not get often asked for advice. She will see herself a little more through my eyes at least for a few days. I hope it makes her smile. It did me. We all need a little validation. PS. Two hours after making this post, and a week after writing it, I open Alan Cohen's article for the November Horizons, and it talks about the film! Synchronicity! LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Another magazine to the printer

Sun, 18 Oct 2009 14:31:26 +0000

I finished final layout on the November Horizons Magazine last night and then went to bed at a reasonable hour, 9:00pm. Of course, that meant I'd be up at midnight, 3 hours later and I was. I gotta bless menopause for making my sleep consistent: three hours from start to finish, no matter what. I love being up in the middle of the night. It's quiet, and I love the quiet. In fact, because of the quiet factor I think it may be hard for me to ever share space with a mate. My cousin has been a roommate for most of this year and, for the most part, he keeps to himself, writing code or whatever it is he does. He watches movies, headphones on at his laptop, so I don't often have to deal with hearing his tv or radio. It's an ideal situation, if I must share space: everyone being self contained and not space-invading each other. I lived alone for several years after my husband passed, and in 1999 I decided to invite my widowed father in law to move in with me. He was in his 80's, he lived alone 3 miles away and was in good health. He was always such a quiet man and I did not anticipate any problems. The only thing I didn't factor in was that he was a tv watcher. Living alone and in and out of monastic communities, I'd forgotten about things like that. So during the day he'd watch Jerry Springer and all the court shows, and at night it was news and wrestling. And he was hard of hearing despite 2 hearing aids, so everything had to be loud. Really loud. I did not regret my decision to have him move in. Rather, I took it as an opportunity to deepen my practice, and to see how much of my calm and centeredness I could maintain in the midst of blaring distraction. It was quite a yoga. There was a wonderful peace at night after he'd turned the tv off about midnight. I could feel the house hum with the suddenly quiet airwaves. So being up after midnight is a particularly favorite thing to do. The temperature dropped to below 60 overnight, and when I went outside about 1:00am, it was nice and freezie feeling. I had on my sweats and yard boots. The only problem with walking with shoes on outside in the dark is I can't always tell where I am on the path. That's a favorite barefoot thang to do - know if I step on this root that I will turn to the left in just 2 more steps, without having to stop and get my bearings every few moments. Remember, when you live in a wooded area where foliage grows fast, the landscape changes weekly. Being so chilly outside, there was less critter activity than usual, everyone snuggled into their burrows. I could hear something stomping around half a lot away, likely the armadillo family. They're noisy and seem somewhat deaf and blind. I've had them walk right over my feet as I sat quietly outside. If I move, it startles them and their bodies jump straight up in the air, like a cartoon armadillo. I like listening to the night sounds and the critter doings in the quiet of the after midnight hours. Now it's barely 10:30am on Sunday morning, and I am loving just sitting here typing, in my giant flannel lumberjack shirt, sweats and shepherd booties, listening to the windchimes outside, watching the squirrels chase each other through the oaks. I planned to go to Unity of Melbourne and then to the Cocoa village craft fair, but now all I want to do is hang around here in the quiet and make my spicy Asian style shrimp and asparagus soup. Maybe I'll do that now and go to the craft fair later . Since the mag is done, I've got all day . LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Reprogram Your Eating Habits ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

tangled-lights

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:56:28 +0000

Getting Tangled and Trapped in My Own Thoughts

Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:59:05 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5385" align="alignright" width="144" caption="In a tangle"][/caption] Yesterday was a great day of staying home and doing lots of homey type things right here. I'd finished the magazine early on and then spent the day wandering around the yard with the kitties, transplanting loquat seedlings, and lounging around on the back porch. I made a couple of soups throughout the day, my Asian spiced shrimp asparagus soup, and later a tomato, onion, corn and green bean chowder. I like making mini-soups, enough for one serving at a time. Soup is so fun to make, and I like to do it often. I make just a pint or quart at a time and I eat it out of big oriental bowls, with bean sprouts and basil, using chopsticks. By the end of the day, I was very relaxed, with very few thoughts going on in my head. I love when that happens. Especially when I wake up and my thoughts are only about how comfy the bed is and how nice and warm it is under the covers, rather than waking up with my To Do List running a million miles an hour in my head. I usually have an ongoing inner dialogue that is not too invasive. Meditating twice a day, bringing my thoughts back to square one twice a day, helps with that. My thoughts may dwindle from: The ongoing To Do List, as well as what is happening in the Now. What I am doing in the Now, the To Do List has fallen away. Doing without thinking, with my mantra running in the background of its own accord. Doing without thinking, just observing, the mantra has fallen away. Being without doing. Last night I got comfortable in the big puffy chair and pulled the acrylic moon and stars blanket over my legs, so it would be nearby if I fell asleep and got chilly. I like to keep the windows open when it's chilly outside, I like it about 60 in the house. I was debating putting a warm cap on when YinYang jumped onto the headrest of the chair and stretched out, sealing in the heat from my head. Perfect timing. Not long after, Izzy jumped up on the footrest and made a bed on my legs. Nice and warm, all of us in the big puffy chair. Which was fine until I had to get up to powder my nose, seeing as I'd been drinking big watery soups all day. I was careful to untangle Izzy from my legs, leaving him on the fuzzy star blanket. I was careful not to send YinYang flying off the headrest as I got up. It was an interesting yoga getting out of the chair that way. Afterward, I saw how little space there was in the chair for me with the two of them pinning me in, and I decided to go to bed rather than get back in the chair. It was 3:00am after all. I still had no internal thoughts running, which was very cool. I picked up Izzy in the fuzzy blanket and carried him into my room with me. It was nice and freezie in there, and I knew I would warm up under the covers soon enough. Izzy is not a snuggle bed kitty and has only slept in my bed half a dozen times in 9 years. But he stayed until I was almost asleep, when I felt him jump down. My mind was still blissfully quiet, except for noticing my thoughts were still. Sometime later, I woke up and felt Izzy back in the bed, lying on the covers on top of my legs. I moved around, but couldn't move much because he was right on top of me. I'm a side sleeper, so during the night I'll wake for a moment and roll to the other side. A big giant kitty on my legs kept me trapped on one side. But I didn't want to disturb him, so I stayed on my right side and fell back asleep. A while later, I woke and again tried to turn over, but he had me trapped. It felt nice and warm under the covers, though, so I just ignored it, stayed trapped and went back to sleep. Still no internal thoughts. Nice. The next time I woke up, I'd had enough of feeling trapped and not being able to turn over, so I reached down to move Izzy off my legs. He wasn't there. I felt all around the bed in the dark. Nowhere to be found. I'd tangled myself up in my own bedding and here I had been blaming Izzy for it for hours! He wasn't keeping me trapped at all. I remembered him trapping my legs as we sat in the big puffy chair earlier, and my thoughts automatically went to "he's doing it again." I built this entire scenario in my head about what was happening, kind of like the time I was talking to my ShaktiCat. But the scenario wasn't real, it was all made up in my mind. I'd simply let myself get tangled up in my own self and was reacting as though it was real. Like this video of a dog whose own leg is trying to steal his bone from him, so he attacks it . We've all done that. Had an idle thought that we began thinking was real. We act as though it's real and react to it as though it's real, and we get all tangled up in it. Then we get comfortable in these tangled places and we keep ourselves trapped in scenarios that exist only in our minds. We fear that someone is going to rob us of what is rightfully ours, but it's our own leg we fear. We have created an idea in our mind that something is separate from us and that we have to be on guard against it. Then later we we wake up and untangle ourselves after we've had enough of biting our own leg one too many times. I'm about gnawed to the bone before I figure it out sometimes. How about you? LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Eliminate Negative Beliefs Without Taking An Expensive Workshop ~ In Just Four Questions

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 05:34:23 +0000

Who would you be without your story? Who would you be without your current limiting beliefs? What is a belief anyway? When we believe something, we think it is true. That makes it a belief. All beliefs distort our perception of reality, since they are the filter through which we see the world. We are emotionally attached to our beliefs. Being emotionally attached to something prevents us from seeing it objectively. When we examine a belief and diffuse the emotional power of it, we eliminate the distortion and that in itself automatically dispels the illusory belief. There are a lot of practitioners in the personal development field who will charge you hundreds and thousands of dollars to attend a workshop or private sessions designed to help you reframe your past experiences with the advertised goal to eliminate your negative beliefs. I'm sure many of them are effective. But you can do the work with a little self inquiry on your own, as well. I personally have never heard anyone say it as well as Abraham-Hicks when they teach law of attraction. They have a lot of free information at their website, and on Youtube you can find many videos, and simply perusing their material will begin changing some core beliefs you may not have been aware of. It's good work, it's revelatory work and it's fun work. Nice segue into Byron Katie's method called The Work. It's a simple process of inquiry that teaches you to identify and question thoughts that cause suffering. It's a way to understand what's hurting you. She has the entire process online for free, which is why I give it to you here now. The method has you begin with a worksheet called Judge Your Neighbor as a starting point for self-realization. You write about someone you haven’t yet forgiven 100%. 1. Who angers, confuses, saddens, or disappoints you, and why? What is it about them that you don’t like? I am ________________ at ____________________ because ________. Example: I am angry at Paul because he doesn’t listen to me, he doesn’t appreciate me, he argues with everything I say. 2. How do you want them to change? What do you want them to do? I want ________________ to __________________________. Example: I want Paul to see that he is wrong. I want him to apologize. 3. What is it that they should or shouldn't do, be, think, or feel? What advice could you offer? ________________ should/shouldn't___________________. Example: Paul should take better care of himself. He shouldn't argue with me. 4. What do they need to do in order for you to be happy? I need________________ to ________________. Example: I need Paul to hear me and respect me. 5. What do you think of them? Make a list. ________________ is _________________________________. Example: Paul is unfair, arrogant, loud, dishonest, way out of line, and unconscious 6. What is it that you don't want to experience with that person again? I don't ever want to ___________________________. Example: I don’t ever want to feel unappreciated by Paul again. I don’t ever want to see him smoking and ruining his health again. NEXT ASK THE FOUR QUESTIONS: In its most basic form, The Work consists of four questions and a turnaround. For example, the first thought that you might question on the Worksheet is "Paul doesn't listen to me." Find someone in your life about whom you have had that thought, and let's do The Work. "[Name] doesn't listen to me": 1. Is it true? 2. Can you absolutely know that it's true? 3. How do you react, what happens, when you believe that thought? 4. Who would you be without the thought? NEXT THE TURNAROUND After you've investigated your statement with the four questions, you're ready to turn it around. Each turnaround is an opportunity to experience the opposite of your original statement and see what you and the person you've judged have in common. A statement can be turned around to the opposite, to the other, and to the self. For example, "Paul doesn't understand me" can be turned around to "Paul does understand me." Another turnaround is "I don't understand Paul." A third is "I don't understand myself." Byron Katie says, "As I began living my turnarounds, I noticed that I was everything I called you. You were merely my projection. Now, instead of trying to change the world around me, I can put the thoughts on paper, investigate them, turn them around, and find that I am the very thing I thought you were. In the moment I see you as selfish, I am selfish (deciding how you should be). In the moment I see you as unkind, I am unkind. If I believe you should stop waging war, I am waging war on you in my mind." Here are a few more examples of turnarounds: "He should understand me" turns around to: - He shouldn't understand me. (This is reality.) - I should understand him. - I should understand myself. This is just an example of one free resource available to you online, for a technique that others will dilute and sell to you for hundreds or thousands of dollars, and wrap it all up with a bunch of fluff to market it. If you want to deepen The Work, Byron Katie offers that as well. I've through the years on many occasions gotten together in a group of friends for a day or a weekend and we all do self inquiry work, answering questions for ourselves, writing in our little notebooks. We spend our time in silence and use the writing to draw from within. I even created a website called Sisters of the Circle, where we have several different Virtual Retreats for Self Discovery and Spiritual Exploration in self inquiry format. I've spent many a weekend camping alone, sitting with these questions to discover more about myself, and uncover one limiting belief after another. I enjoy doing it while camping, so I can have a campfire and turn it into a burning bowl session: writing down what I'm ready to be free of, tossing it into the fire with a prayer of release. i like uncovering new layers of the onion that is Me. And yes, I realize that the layers are the onion. :) Related site: Virtual Retreats for Self Discovery and Spiritual Exploration LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Breaking news: Inside accounts of James Ray sweat lodge tragedy and retreat

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:46:56 +0000

NOTE: See here for Link to updated info on this matter Breaking news, an Inside Account This is from Philadelphia Speculative Fiction Examiner Cassandra Yorgey. Remember this is just one person's account, based on whoever she spoke with. And each person she spoke with gave just one person's truth, just how one person saw the situation. I initially wrote that I was not sure this writer's account is true, and said she had so much in her article that was not true and that she clearly had it in for Ray. As I read more and more of her writing this morning, my mind has changed somewhat. I don't agree with everything she writes but she has valid points and I believe she's somewhat objective. I no longer think she has it in for Ray. Cassandra Yorgey describes herself as a speculative fiction enthusiast. I don't say that to diminish her authority for writing what she writes, I simply never heard the term before. I commented on one of her articles: I just discovered your pages about James Ray n am enjoying your writing. I may not agree with everything you say but you make me think n see things from another angle. In the past 17 years I've published Florida's new age magazine, Horizons, n I've seen lots of people get wrapped up in this guru n that; even smart people, even knowledgeable, informed people. Folks are so ready for change n deliverance from their boring n routine lives that they gladly place their trust in whoever has the most compelling spiel. They want to die to their old selves n be re-born again. It's not that they're willing to risk their lives for it, it's that they haven't seriously contemplated the consequences of their choices. They frantically go from one guru to another, one workshop to the next, waiting for someone to magically make it all better. They don't take much time for critical thought or inner work. Then they attract situations they resonate in "vibrational" harmony with and don't know why. and she emailed me: Thanks for helping continue the discussion of the sweat lodge tragedy. One factual correction I need to alert you to is that my article is not just one person's view. I spoke with multiple sources to write my article. It is true that my opinion is all over it though, I did try to make clear where my thoughts differ from fact. Many have pointed out that I am a speculative fiction enthusiast, and that is absolutely true. I realize it's odd that I am covering the James Ray story but it is not as unrelated as it first appears. In addition to my examiner column I am also writing a young adult fantasy set in a wilderness program. During the resesarch for my book I came across a lot of information that ties into this case. My latest interview is with an expert who ran a program that has many overlaps to James Ray's spiritual warrior retreat and takes a look at the both the mental and physical safeguards that are necessary, as well as an explanation of one aspect of James Rays technique. Thanks again for contributing to the discussion, Cassandra Yorgey

So, as usual, there's lots I don't know. One thing I do know is I found an interesting blog to follow. Related Post: How did James Arthur Ray attract this? 2 die at James Arthur Ray’s Sedona Spiritual Warrior Retreat Questions About Sweat Lodge. Creating New Neurological Pathways

James Ray Sweat Lodge story updated links

NOTE: See here for Link to updated info on this matter . The End of Death As We Know It ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

A Soup or Two Every Day. I Discover I Never Didn't Like Curry

Wed, 21 Oct 2009 08:24:15 +0000

10 Spices That Heal: Cancer, Diabetes, and More. Wow, cumin, ginger, basil, garlic, rosemary, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, tumeric, thyme, sounds like the spice mix I use in my soups.. I wrote in Sunday's post that I love making soups and sometimes make more than one a day. I used to cook big giant pots of soup, since that was how I recall my grandmother doing it. Then I'd eat the soup at every meal for a week or more. It only just in the last few years occurred to me to make small mini-soups instead. That way I get the pleasure of choosing and chopping and cooking more often, and make just small one-pint or one-quart soups. I enjoy cooking now that my diet consists of mostly fresh vegetables. I enjoy finding new flavor combinations, especially in soups. Like Sunday, if I think about it (or glance at my daily food journal), I really ate all day long. Of course, I was eating salads and watery soups, but it was basically a day of fun food preparation and feasting. They just weren't heavy or fatty foods. Also, I figure it's healthier to spend half of my kitchen time in food prep rather than in eating, since I'll spend the same amount of time doing it, no matter what. Yesterday's soup was a carrot, onion and fresh green bean stew, which also included celery, fresh garlic, one sweet potato, a can of fire roasted tomatoes, a cup of lowfat beef broth and a tablespoon each dried basil, rosemary, tarragon, cumin, oregano, thyme, cinnamon, 3 bay leaves. Yes, a tablespoon each and yes, 3 bay leaves. I've done that soup before using beef s well, browning stew meat then tossing vegetables on top, then the tomatoes and broth, simmering for 2 hours. I've even used smoked ham hocks in this soup. A smoked turkey leg has less fat and calories and almost as much smokey, meaty flavor as smoked ham. These days though, I usually make it without meat but using lowfat beef or chicken stock. Someone the other day mentioned curry and my automatic response was, "I don't like curry." They asked what I don't like about it, and I said, "the flavor." They asked, "What kind of curry was it? What combination of spices did you not like?" I didn't know the answer to any of those questions. I just knew that once when I was 24, my brother was eating something and I said "I want a taste" and I didn't like it and asked what it was. He said it was curry and he loved it. So, from then on, I just figured I didn't like curry. Isn't that ridiculous? I've turned into a bit of a foodie the last few years since I cut way back on heavy, fatty and processed foods. I did it as a health move. I want this body to last me another 60 years. So I spend time glancing at recipes and learning about new spices. I came across a line that said that curry powder is like chili powder, in that everyone has their own spice combination preferences. I didn't know that. I thought it was a single spice for the chili powder. I thought it was a single spice for the curry powder. Now I realize it is like the Indian garam masala - just a preferred palette of favorite spices. Like what I use for many of my soups. My spice palette, my garam masala or curry powder consists of equal parts dried basil, rosemary, tarragon, cumin, oregano, thyme, cinnamon, 3 bay leaves. An equal part garlic powder as well, not garlic salt, if I am not using fresh garlic. I found out that a curry can be any highly spiced dish of vegetables and/or meats. In that case, I'd been a fan of curry all my life. Yet I held this belief in my mind that I didn't like curry. So through all the years eating in one amazing Indian and Asian restaurant after another, I denied myself tasting some amazing curries. Because the voice in my head repeated the familiar line, "I don't like curry." So I wonder today what other really neat things I have denied myself through the years, because I have a picture of me as someone who didn't like that or didn't do that, hastily based upon one fleeting incident. We'll see. LISTEN FREE: Reprogram Your Eating Habits ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Delicious low fat foods for the goddess on the go at www.goddessgrub.com

New Updated Links for info about the James Ray Sedona Sweat Lodge Deaths Matter

Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:54:13 +0000

This page has evolved into the page for updated links on this matter - see the links list below for a chronological timeline. I am keeping track of this story since I get so many emails and Facebook messages asking about it. I'm not personally out to get anyone, but I believe people who do this type of work need to be responsible and accountable. This matter going public has drawn out past participants who were afraid to speak up on their own. As someone who has done dozens of vision quests and sweat lodges since the 70's, a main interest in them for me is the psychological changes they bring about in everyone involved. A bonding together for a common purpose. An awakening to a deeper understanding of the world around you. That is why I am following this story. It is interesting watching it unfold, and interesting to see reactions to it. Oh, we are in interesting times. Beverly Bunn, Sweat Lodge Survivor, Speaks Out, Reveals Details Of Tragic Incident excerpt: When participants exhibited weakness, Ray urged them to push past it and chided those who wanted to leave. "I can't get her to move. I can't get her to wake up," Bunn recalls hearing from two sides of the 415-square-foot sweat lodge. Ray's response: "Leave her alone, she'll be dealt with in the next round." $9,695 New Age sweat lodge session kills 2, injures 19 This is a very long extensive post but has some interestesting tidbits about the James Arthur Ray sweat lodge incident, James Ray's past time line, The Secret, Ray's Practical Mysticism pitch, what secret spiritual warrior tradition did James Ray study in Peru and the Amazon? The page also contains a link to an interview with Shawna Bowen who was on the scene. Shawna Bowen website here. UPDATED LINKS AS THEY CAME IN: 10-21-09, an Inside Account 10-22-09: James Ray urged sweat lodge participants to stop prescription medications 10-22-09: Mind altering breathing techniques used by James Ray at Sedona retreat 10-23-09 update interview with survivors Sidney Spencer and others 10-23-09 James Ray Spiritual Warrior Participant Guide, Welcome letter 10-24-09 Interview with Dr. Stanislav Grof: James Ray not certified 10-26-09 Did James Ray use coercive persuasion 10-28-09 Sweat Lodge Victim's Family: Guru James Arthur Ray Lied to Us 10-27-09 Story unfolds of James Ray, who hosted fatal sweat lodge 10-30-09 James Ray Spiritual Warrior worksheet: Shocking questions 10-31-09 First lawsuits filed in Arizona sweat lodge tragedy 10-31-09 James Ray has no degree/licensure to do psychological trauma work 10-31-09 James Ray jewelry thief, refusing to return items handed over 11-4-09 James Ray lists his Beverly Hills home for sale 11-9-09 Lawsuit filed By survivor Sidney Spencer 11-13-09 Lakota Nation files lawsuit against parties in sweat lodge incident 11-16-09 Who Built the James Ray Sweat Lodge? Photo of it partially completed 11-24-09 Interview with Lorena Bathey; James Ray Escalating Patterns of Abuse 11-27-09 What next for James Ray cult survivors? 12-8-09 ABC Video, former James Ray employee tells of his actions after ceremony 12-9-09 Former Employee: Ray Did Not Help People Dying in Sweat Lodge 12-10-09 The Nightline Interview with James Ray Staff 12-11-09 Breaking news: Fifth death associated with James Ray 12-15-09 James Ray Facing Criminal Charges, Authorities Say 12-15-09 Complete transcript of the “Anderson Cooper 360" segment 12-16-09 James Ray drugged participants and forced snake handling 12-29-09 Ray Ignored Broken Bones, More, Leading Up To 3 Deaths, Say Court Docs 12-30-09 New police info released - police reports revealed 12-31-09 James Ray drugs and disease 12-31-09 Particpant Interviews from PrescottNews.com 1-14-10 Detailed look at newly released police reports: part 1 1-24-10 Q & A with James Arthur Ray by Michael Joseph Gross 2-3-10 Motivational speaker CHARGED WITH MANSLAUGHTER in sweat lodge deaths 2-4-10 More Damning Eyewitness Information About Fatal James Ray Sweat Lodge 2-9-10 Employees Rat Out Self-Help Guru, Get Immunity (a lot of links at this website) 2-10-10 Religious Practices on Trial in Arizona: The Problem With “Experts” 2-11-10 Interview with James Ray Intl Director of Operations 2-16-10 Interview with Josh Fredrickson: part 1 3-11-10 Interview with Angel Valley Nurse 3-24-10 Police interview with Owner of Angel Valley . Older posts: Link to video segment of James Ray on Larry King Live James Ray sweat lodge survivors continue to speak out Related Post: How did James Arthur Ray attract this? 2 die at James Arthur Ray’s Sedona Spiritual Warrior Retreat Questions About Sweat Lodge. Creating New Neurological Pathways Update from NPR on this matter . The End of Death As We Know It ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

New Federal Trade Commission Guidelines For Endorsements By Bloggers

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:46:41 +0000

This week is the first I learned about Federal Trade Commission attacks bloggers - fines up to 11K. Cassandra Yorgey writes: Today the Federal Trade Commission posted some new Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials by bloggers and other internet mediums. For those that don't want to read the full 81 page document, let me sum it up for you. If you say anything nice about a product or service anywhere on the internet, you better disclose exactly how you are connected to that company/individual... or you can face fines up to $11,000. Even if you are an unpaid-just-for-fun-in-my-own-little-corner-of-the-internet dabbler of all things digital who only talks to people you know in real life. ### end of Cassandra Yorgey excerpt Andrea: This doesn't apply to my blogging since no one has ever compensated me for endorsement. However, this is good information to keep in mind. Especially since lots of people I know blog. I especially like John Chow's Disclosure Policy below: To comply with the recent FTC ruling (not that I have to since this blog is not based in the USA) over bloggers getting paid to write stuff, I offer the following disclosure policy. If you’re reading my blog, you should assume the following: * I make money from every post I put on this blog. If I’m not making money from every blog post, then it was an oversight on my part and it will be corrected soon. * Every link on this blog is a paid link. If it is not a paid link, then it was an oversight on my part and it will become a paid link soon. * Every product I write about on this blog, I get for free. If I didn’t get it for free, then there was a miss-communication with the company that sent it and I will be billing them for the cost so the product becomes free. * I make money from every tweet I send out on Twitter. If I didn’t make money on the tweet, then it was an oversight on my part and it will be corrected soon. * If you email me, all of the information in your email is mine to do with as I please, such as exploit for financial profit, use as blackmail, or quote on my blog. * The T-shirts you see me wear at trade shows. I get paid to wear them. If I didn’t get paid to wear them, then it means I ran out of paid shirts and had to wear a free one. In which case, I will go to the company that gave me the free shirt and ask them to sponsor it. * If something on the Net is making a lot of money, you can bet I will be in on it. If I’m not in on it, then it was an oversight on my part and it will be corrected soon. * Just because I get paid to blog, tweet, wear T-shirts, etc. does NOT mean I will give you or your company a positive review, blog post or endorsement. As a matter of fact, chances are pretty high that I might slam you. Hopefully, the above statement clears up any misunderstanding you may have about my blog posts or Twitter tweets. If you have any questions, you can contact me at my contact page. Just remember what I said about emails. This disclosure policy was sponsored by Market Leverage and Clickbooth. Yes, I make money on my disclosure statement as well! LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

The Pain Body by Valerie Saurer, Guest Blogger

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:58:00 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4894" align="alignright" width="96" caption="Valerie Saurer"][/caption] From guest blogger, Valerie Saurer. I love it when someone says it better than I! Does this sound familiar? You're going along being all spiritual, mood is light, and you're able to handle whatever comes along without breaking your stride. You're proud of the progress you've made, and you feel like your ride on that emotional roller coaster you used to be trapped on is finally behind you. Then, someone says something that totally sets you off: your blood starts boiling and you fly into a rage. Or, if you swing the other way and your anger tends to get directed inward, you tumble down into a deep depression. What just happened? I have a friend who used to be a heavy drinker. Generally, he tends to be an easy-going and generous guy, but when he drank he turned into someone he called Him. Him was just down-right mean and abusive. You could always tell when Him woke up and was ready to wreak havoc: He would push his glasses down to the end of his nose and peer over them in a warning glare, then he'd let you have it. Even now that he's been sober for a long time, every now and then Him will rear his ugly little head from time to time. We all have a Him inside of us. Only in my case, it's a Her. A few years back I picked up a copy of Eckhart Tolle's book The Power of Now, in which Tolle explains what is going on here. Tolle calls this emotionally-charged alter-ego The Pain Body. The Pain Body is made up of all of the unresolved emotional issues from our past. In her book Molecules of Emotion, scientist Candace Pert explains that any time we do not fully process emotions, they actually become a part of our physical biology and embed themselves in our cells until a future episode awakens them. Over time, these molecules of emotion take on a life of their own and become our Pain Body. We basically have two intelligences working inside us. First, there is our thinking, which is basically the stories we tell ourselves inside our head. Thinking can be a very useful tool, but most of us confuse what we think with who we are. Second, we have emotion, which is our body's intelligence. Abraham-Hicks calls our emotions our Guidance System: emotions tell us when something is good or bad, when we are moving toward or away from that which our real self knows to be true and good. Your thinking has the power to control your emotion. This is a wonderful thing to know if you are able to control your thinking. If, however, you believe that the voice in your head is really you, you will tend to forget that you shouldn't believe everything that you think. You'll also notice that when you tell yourself certain stories in your head you tend to get REALLY upset. Then your Him surfaces and all bets are off. Emotions are very useful when they are a reaction to a real event; unfortunately, they react just as strongly to a perceived event, which is why if you have certain conversations or think along certain lines you can activate your Pain Body. The Pain Body is an energetic entity located within, but separated from our total energetic field. We all have one. Usually it lies dormant until something happens to set it off. When that happens we are no longer the ones steering the ship: the Pain Body has taken control and the best that we can learn to do is manage it until it subsides again. If we are emotionally mature or very fortunate, our Pain Body lies dormant most of the time. Some people, however, are almost entirely controlled by their Pain Body. You know them when you see them: they thrive on drama and are always reactive and easy to offend. So how do we learn to control this evil twin that lives inside us? How can we learn not to become possessed by Him, or to send Him packing when he rears his pointy little head? The Pain Body thrives on pain. It can be activated by pain, offense, insult, worry, fear ... and once it awakens, its survival instinct will take over and it will want FOOD, which it will expect your thinking to provide. When the Pain Body awakens you will notice that your thinking changes along with it. You begin telling yourself stories in your head that serve to perpetuate the anger, fear, or worry ... whatever is the dominant emotion of your Pain Body. You'll call your friends and tell THEM the story so that you can hear it all over again. The more you tell it, the more angry, fearful, or worried you become. If you tend to be depressed instead of angry, you will crawl into your dark place and wallow. The only way to prevent the Pain Body from taking over, or to send it back to sleep in its coffin, is not to feed it. We must become aware enough of what is happening that we can stop the negative thinking that is feeding our Pain Body. Remember the two intelligences? Of the two, the only one we can control is our thinking. Emotion just happens. When we are sad, we are really sad. When we are angry, there is no doubt that the anger is real. Even though we may describe ourselves as emotionally immature and we think that our emotions are the problem, they're really not. It's always our thinking that's the problem. Next time you notice that your Pain Body has taken over and you find yourself overwhelmed with negative emotion, try this technique: First, feel the pain. Really feel it. Remember that your Pain Body grew out of your unwillingness to fully process the emotion the first time around. So in order to heal your Pain Body you must, sooner or later, feel the emotional pain. But here's the difference: This time you will practice feeling the full force of the pain without the accompanying story you tell yourself in your head. Instead, you will think something like: "Oh, there's anger here. I feel really angry. This is what it feels like to be angry." Allow yourself to fully feel the anger. Notice what is happening to your body when you are angry. Where in your body do you feel the anger? Do you clench your teeth? Your fists? Does your stomach get tied up in knots? What exactly is happening to you? If you find yourself telling the story of your anger, STOP. Strive to become an observer, only. By watching the anger instead of becoming identified with it, you cease to feed the Pain Body and begin to actually heal the pain. Remember, some of us have very powerful Pain Bodies, so you will have to allow it space to run its full course. Without food, though, it will fall dormant again sooner rather than later. At first this might be hard: When the Pain Body has awakened, it is running the show and it will not want to be killed off. It will take control of your thinking, speaking, doing. You must regain control, and you can do that by dis-identifying with your thoughts. When the Pain Body takes over, become aware that it is definitely Him and NOT you who is throwing this temper tantrum. Stand aside and observe. If you do this every time, your Pain Body will eventually become weaker and will awaken less frequently and with less force. Does this mean that you will never get angry again? Of course not. There are real reasons to become angry, and our emotions are given to us to protect us and to teach us what is right and what is wrong for us. But you will become angry because of something that is happening in the present moment, not re-living past anger; and you will feel and express your present anger so completely in the present moment that it will not be able to turn itself into a molecule of emotion that adds to your Pain Body. Eventually, you will almost forget that you ever had a Him.

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Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:41:31 +0000

A blank slate, happy for no reason

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 05:42:17 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5495" align="alignright" width="108" caption="Happy"][/caption] I've been in a great mind space the past week, where my internal dialogue has slowed to almost a halt. When I'm not doing something, I mean. And when I wake up. Just a nice serene, calm tabula rasa, a blank slate. And it's a happy blank slate. Happy for no specific reason. Just a feeling of, as Rumi says, "I'm the spirit of freedom riding the winds of joy, the fountain of love in which universes are born in a ceaseless outbreak of ecstasy." Even as I sit to write a blog post, I think: there's just nothing I can say that would improve the silence. ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Interview with Dr. Stanislav Grof: James Ray not certified

Sun, 25 Oct 2009 06:16:28 +0000

Once again we can thank Cassandra Yorgey for keeping us up to date with this story. Here is her interview with Dr. Stanislav Grof author of The Holotropic Mind. Dr. Stanislav Grof website Today I spoke over the phone with Dr. Stanislav Grof, author of The Holotropic Mind. Yep, that’s right the same Dr. Stanislav Grof who's book was required reading for the participants of the Angel Valley Spiritual Warrior retreat led by James Ray. This guy has been studying medicine and psychology since before James Ray was even born. His list of educational and professional achievements is long enough that you should just go look for yourself. I’m pretty impressed, but I’m not formally educated in that field so I could be wrong. Joseph Campbell is well respected in the science-fiction/fantasy genre for his work in mythology and psychology and he seemed pretty impressed with Dr. Groff, too, and is even quoted as saying “I know of no work that so well incorporates the findings of Freud, Jung and Rank, adding fresh insights, which the methods of those psychotherapists could never have achieved. I do not doubt that many others working in this field would find Dr. Grof´s discoveries a basis for a whole new strategy of research.” Right, so as far as I can tell, this guy is a pretty big deal in his field. I had a great time speaking with him and learned some really interesting things.

For instance, did you know that Dr. Grof started a certification program for Facilitators through Grof Transpersonal Training? The purpose of this is to promote professional and ethical practices governing Holotropic Breath work. When Dr. Groff and his wife retired, the management of the company was taken up by Cary Sparks and her husband Tav. Interestingly enough, I spoke with Cary and she says James Ray is absolutely not certified in use of their techniques. This again raises questions about his training, education, and legitimacy to be practicing and combining these techniques.

While some of Dr. Grof’s early work could be considered controversial due to the use of LSD, he has complied with legal guidelines and discontinued study when the substance was outlawed. I asked Dr. Grof if he had ever had any charges of unethical use brought against him and he stated he had not. In fact, he had never even heard of James Ray before this disastrous retreat. Its funny how many experts in the various fields that James Ray has bastardized have never even heard of him.

So, just to be clear, Dr. Stanislav Grof has no affiliation with James Ray and has never been employed by him to speak at an event or anything like that. One of the first things that Dr. Grof made clear to me was that he would never recommend using Holotropic breath work in combination with a sweat lodge. Dr. Grof shares with me that he has experienced a sweat lodge first hand because of his interest in non-ordinary states of consciousness, but that he has not used them in his work. Dr. Grof continued to explain that conditions such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular issues, etc would be even more dangerous when combined with heat, but they should be monitored in relation to the breath work as well.

I asked Dr. Grof about the effects of mixing Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) with Holotropic breath work and he explained the two things are really quite different. Dr. Grof expressed concern over a concept in psychology known as transference, in which a person would develop an emotional dependence upon the facilitator. In standard, ethical use facilitators would deflect this inappropriate bond toward the source of the problems, but James Ray could have very easily abused and encouraged this horizontal projection. Combined with the use of highly coercive NLP, non-ordinary states of consciousness, and hypnotic language, this could leave participants in an extreme emotional dependence on James Ray. What did James Ray do with this emotional dependence? He played God, literally taking up the roll of God in the group games and “killing” participants. This seems to me like he was pretty clearly trying to set up acceptance among the group that he could cause death, making it even that much harder for them to stand up to him when he did start killing them.

Reading over some of the information that Dr. Grof sent me, I found this quote “Although the client's cooperation is an essential part of the therapeutic process, it is the therapist who is seen as the active agent and the source of knowledge necessary for successful outcome.” Again, I am not an expert but to me this looks like maybe the facilitator should have some idea of what they are doing. The text also states, “The holotropic state of consciousness tends to function as a universal homeopathic remedy in that it activates any existing symptoms and exteriorizes the symptoms that are latent.” This would make it particularly easy, in my opinion, to encourage transference and emotional dependency, which is clearly not what is supposed to happen. “The task of the facilitator or therapist in holotropic therapy is to support the experiential process with full trust in its healing nature, without trying to direct it or change it in any way.” There is not a single thing at the retreat that James Ray did not try to control – food, water, bio breaks, life, death, I do not think a little subconscious twiddling is surprising here.

Another effect that Dr. Grof asserts is verifiable, “We have been able to confirm repeatedly Wilhelm Reich's observation that psychological resistances and defenses are associated with restricted breathing (Reich 1961). Respiration is an autonomous function, but it can also be influenced by volition. Deliberate increase of the pace of breathing typically loosens psychological defenses and leads to a release and emergence of unconscious (and superconscious) material.” This adds support to my claim that James Ray executed a deliberate attack on the psychological, physical, and emotional well-being on every participant with increasing severity. These attacks are similar to Boiling Frog Syndrome, in that the gradual increase in severity can go unnoticed and by coupling that with a deliberate attack on the decision-making capabilities of the individuals (including such physical stresses such as sleep deprivation, starvation, etc) and emotional dependence, James Ray was able to rapidly increase the levels of danger without participants fully grasping what was going on. This is particularly impressive when looking at the intelligence and educational level of the participants, but completely understandable because the techniques James Ray twisted for inappropriate use are valid and legitimate techniques that can have great healing potential – if used in a proper medical and ethical manner.

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In case the FTC is wondering, I do not endorse James Ray and he has never compensated me in any way. Dr. Stanislav Grof, however, did send me some electronic bits of his work so I could better understand his field.

James Ray Sweat Lodge story updated links

The End of Death As We Know It ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

I'm Never Surprised

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 04:34:03 +0000

Earlier this week, I wrote in A blank slate, happy for no reason that I’ve been in a great mind space the past week, where my internal dialogue has slowed to almost a halt. When I wake up, when I'm just sitting, when I'm relaxing: a nice, serene, happy blank slate. Happy for no specific reason. I'm always glad when I come into that space, as I do for a spell every few months. It always comes during a time when things are going exceedingly well. It lets me know that what I'm doing is working for me. It lets me know that, as Abraham-Hicks says, I'm in the vortex. My last week's posts have been repostings of the James Arthur Ray Sedona Sweat Lodge matter since I am getting a lot of emails asking for info about that. Cassandra Yorgey is doing such a great job of covering the story that I've been sharing her findings here in my blog. I will keep updating the page entitled Updated Links for info about the James Ray Matter. That also keeps me from having to purposely think up thoughts and find something to blog about, during a time that I am having a welcome relief from thoughts. Reposting Cassandra Yorgey's great articles lets me still give my daily readers something new that I am personally interested in, and it lets me stay in my happy, mindless, thought-free state. When I would have days like this back when I worked for other people, I simply took off work. Now that I work for myself, I do the same. I woke up yesterday morning determined to not jump on the computer right away, but to get dressed and go to church for the first time in a couple of months. I typically sit down to check email about dawn and then hours later am so engrossed in what I am doing that I don't want to stop. I've been gung ho with my work lately and working Sundays as well, and now am wanting to get back to my more relaxed routine of Sundays off. So I get to church just after all the hugging and helloing is finishing up, and I got to say hello to lots of friends. The music was nice and I enjoyed the meditation. But almost as soon as I got there, I wanted to be back home. WTF? When I get like that, I don't question myself, I simply go with my impulse. I snuck my offering into the bag and split out the side door. I got in my car and took the long drive home: east on Eau Gallie Causeway then south down AIA and west across the Wabasso causeway and north up US 1. It's a favorite drive of mine, especially when I've been working as much as I have been lately, glued to the computer and phone 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. An ocean drive goes a long way in dispelling cabin fever. I thought that although I've been posting a lot about the James Ray incident, and reading a lot about it, I've not really given it much thought beyond filing it under "sh*t happens." None of it outrages me, since I know people from all walks of life do all sorts of things. Having worked as a criminal defense paralegal for 22 years, I know anybody can be capable of anything, given the circumstances. I know anyone can goof up. I know things are not always what they seem. I am never surprised when the milquetoast next door neighbor is really a Hannibal Lechter. Anyone can practice a facade and get good at it. None of that surprises me. And it doesn't surprise me when I get in that observer mode, where I observe things that are going on in the world, and find none of them bother me. No matter how horrific they can seem to friends. They all seem just like another turn of the wheel, some "good", some "bad", but of no particular import worth discussing or theorizing over. I could never be a journalistic reporter. One that has to gather and check information on deadline, getting it to the presses before anyone else. That's a lot of work and a gazillion pages to go through. I figure, what I write, I write for me and for anyone who wants to read me. Lots of my friends are like me, and we all have similar thoughts and realizations and we each appreciate reading what the others have to say about our personal lives. It's usually relevant on some level to each of us as well. I am glad that I'm able to just sit in my beautiful setting, on my own schedule, and read the things I want to read, and write about what interests me, and somehow it all turns into dollars that keeps it all going. I am glad I do not have to run out to lousy assignments, like Lois Lane sometimes had to do for The Daily Planet. How she did all that running around and in heels, too - wow. No wonder Superman dug her. But that life's not for me. Hmmm, did I just talk myself out of a Superman? In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. Andrea LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Basking In The Higher Vibration

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 08:06:08 +0000

Sometimes I am just going along in my life and all of a sudden I start getting a real kick out of the most simple things, like skipping a party to stay home to cook a vegetable stew and clean the house. I please myself with the different ways I find to rearrange my furniture, and it keeps me loving the space I live in. I just opened up the living room and suddenly the space inside looks so big and spacious and clean and white. Outside it seems that everything is in bloom at once, all the colors, the reds and yellows, are brighter, more brilliant than ever before. It makes me want to sing a song and dance for them. And the fragrances, night blooming jasmine and honeysuckle, smell more heavenly than ever. I feel drunk on their scent. When I'm in this space, even cooking the simplest of soups becomes an orgy of sensation: sights, smells, flavors. The crunch of each green bean, the happy chop, chop, chopping on the favorite cutting board. The high flavor of the organic carrots and onions and celery and potatoes. Sometimes it's all I can do to stay in my body. I am so glad I get to live this life. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

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Tue, 27 Oct 2009 21:04:37 +0000

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Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:32:43 +0000

Ted Andrews, acclaimed author of Animal Speak, dies at age 57

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:15:03 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5554" align="alignright" width="144" caption="1952 - Oct 24, 2009"][/caption] Ted Andrews, acclaimed author, most notable for Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small, born 1952, died on October 24, 2009. He is survived by beloved wife Kathy, other family, friends and fans too many to count. Everyone in the metaphysical genre knows his Animal Speak as the most comprehensive book on animal totems. Andrews said, "...all animals speak to those who listen. When we learn to speak with the animals.....the animals are no longer our subordinates. They become our teachers, our friends, and our companions." Through the years I have bought dozens of this book to share with friends. Ted Andrews and his work will be missed. Ted Andrews is an internationally recognized author, storyteller, teacher and mystic. A leader in the human potential, metaphysical and psychic fields, he has written over 40 books which have been translated into more than two dozen foreign languages. He is featured on many national and local TV and radio programs every year. He has won more Visionary Awards than any other author. Ted is a worldwide acclaimed speaker and teacher. He presents sold-out seminars to thousands of people throughout the US and Canada every year, and his appearances are just as popular and in demand in the United Kingdom, Europe and parts of Asia. In May 2002 he was specially invited to speak to the UNSRC at the United Nations in New York for his writings and work with animals. This award winning and best selling author has been involved in the serious study of the esoteric and occult for more than 40 years, and he brings to the field an extensive formal and informal education. He served the public school system for ten years as a teacher and counselor, 7 of which were spent working with disadvantaged students, creating a special needs reading program for which he received both local and state recognition. Called a true Renaissance man, Ted is trained in music, playing the piano since the age of 12. He has composed, performed and produced the music for ten spoken audio recordings. He can even scratch out a tune or two on the violin/fiddle. He is a long time student of sacred dance, ballet and kung fu. Ted is also schooled in a variety of related holistic healing modalities, including music therapy, herbology, hypnotherapy, acupressure and other alternative techniques. A clairvoyant since childhood, he has also been a certified spiritualist medium for nearly 30 years. Probably best known for his work with animals, Ted holds state and federal permits to work with birds of prey. He performs wildlife rescue and he works with wildlife rehabilitation and education. He conducts animal education and storytelling programs with his animals in school classrooms throughout the year, giving freely of his own time and expense to help young people discover the wonder of animals and nature. In his spare time, he enjoys hanging out with his menagerie of animals, training and playing with his horses and ballroom dancing. Books by Ted Andrews: Ted has authored 23 books and products for Dragonhawk Publishing : Treasures of the Unicorn More Simplified Magic Music Therapy for Non-Musicians PsychicProtection Animal-Wise Animal-Wise Tarot Nature-Speak The Nature-Speak Oracle The Animal-Speak Workbook Ted Andrews' Animal-Speak Calendar The Animal-Speak Pocket Guide Feathered Omens Art of Shapeshifting Animal Inspiration Cards I Animal Inspiration Cards II Ted Andrews' Animal-Speak Runes Magic of Believing Psychic Power Spirits, Ghosts & Guardians Faerie Charms Secret Doors of the Qabala The Occult Christ The Intercession of Spirits 17 titles for Llewellyn Publications: Simplified Qabla Magic Imagick Dream Alchemy Sacred Power in Your Name The Magickal Name How to See & Read the Aura How to Heal with Color How to Meet & Work with Spirit Guides How to Uncover Past Lives How to Perform Psychic Readings through Touch Enchantment of the Faerie realm The Healer's Manual Magickal Dance Crystal Balls and Crystal Bowls Animal-Speak Sacred sounds The Occult Christ Other Ted Andrews Products: Dreamsong of the Eagle (Published by Hampton Roads) Animal-Speak - An Audio Workshop (produced by Sounds True) Steward of the Earth Medallion, Animal-Speak Charms, School of Magic Charms and more (Deva Designs) Ted Andrews info from Dragonhawk Publishing website and from my friend Margaret Lembo, owner of Crystal Garden Post by owner and chairman of Llewellyn Worldwide about Ted Andrews ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Learn about Animal Spirits & Totem Animals

Being Happy With What I Have

Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:05:03 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5546" align="alignright" width="108" caption="Laughing at my happy life "][/caption] A friend asked the other day if I wanted to go shopping with her. For me, that's usually an automatic no unless it's to Home Depot or the produce stand. I'm not a shopper type of person. I used to be. Back when I worked at law offices and had to be at the courthouse very few days for 20+ years, I dressed more professionally, more fashionably and more competitively. I'd acquired the habit of buying new outfits on a regular basis. When I became my own boss in 1992, the dress code drastically changed. It might be pajamas or a swimsuit for weeks in a row. It might be sarongs and jeans. I came to realize I had an entire closet full of clothes that I liked, that all fit, and many of which I may not have occasion to wear again. Given the choice, I am not a corporate suit kinda gal. So in the first several years, I gave away a lot of my more conservative wear to friends who were still in the workforce. Little by little, I began buying more jeans and tshirts, more natural fabric goddess garb, yoga wear and some beaded ceremonial type vests and jackets of different traditions. The perfect place to wear these were the weekly classes and workshops and meetings, the conferences and expos. Everyone in our circle dressed like that. When it came time to visit Connecticut with my father in law for my husband's wake, I wished I had at least one dark pinstriped skirt and jacket hidden somewhere in the closet, but did not. I had horrors of showing up there looking like I belonged at a powwow. I remember running into WalMart as soon as we got into Hartford so I could find the black cardigan sweater coat that saved the day. That taught me to stop burning my bridges (and giving away all my clothes when I thought I was done with them.) I began buying clothes less often, and considering what do I even wear these days? I have an entire closet now full of clothes that I like, that fit all occasions, that fit perfectly. I actually have two closets full, maybe 10 each of tops, sweaters, blouses, pants, tshirts, jeans, skirts, dresses, capris, swimsuits, nightwear, hats, shoes. I have a pair of brown leather boots with 3" heels that I'll likely never wear again (size 10) but I like to look at every so often. I have more athletic shoes, more sneakers, than I do pumps or sandals. I have some serious walking shoes. As much as I like to walk, I've learned that lesson. When I go to weed outfits out of my closet, it's a hard thing to do at this point. I feel like I'm down to a bare minimum. I have not worn the 6 pair of khaki and olive capris for over a year, but they are a perfect fit and each go so well with the tops I custom made for each. Which I also haven't worn for over a year. So they are viable, current outfits. They won't fit in the back closet because that is where all the beaded ceremonial looking wear is, as well as my several jackets, coats and serious sweaters. As well as a dozen indian blankets for camping trips. I'd love to have more room in my closets but am not yet ready to release anything from them to make room. So when Frannie asked if I wanted to go shopping, all I could think of was I didn't have room for anything else at this point. At this point, I liked all I had and it was enough for me. I liked the feeling that thought gave me. Being happy with what I have. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

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Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:58:11 +0000

No Gain in Pain with Abraham-Hicks

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 01:18:50 +0000

In 2007, Abraham wrote a book entitled: The Astonishing Power of Emotions, Let Your Feelings Be Your Guide, where they explained in great detail how to understand our emotions and how to benefit from that understanding. In the months leading up to the release of that book, they commonly told the story of our human misunderstanding of people trying to achieve gain through pain and struggle as so many of them deliberately dig in, ignoring their own emotional guidance. We thought that now might be an especially good time to let Abraham help us remember that our successes or enlightenment do not come to us through pain and struggle, but through ease and allowing. This clip, recorded in Albuquerque, NM in August of 2007, has been a wonderful reminder to us. Abraham-Hicks is the original source material for the current Law of Attraction wave that is sweeping the world, and it is the 21st century inspiration for thousands of books, films, essays and lectures that are responsible for the current paradigm shift in consciousness. Here you will find accurate clarification of the basics of the Law of Attraction and practical applications as well as up-to-the-moment leading-edge expanding information regarding the Law of Attraction. (Also known as "The Teachings of Abraham"). This is the fountainhead of the information upon which the hit movie, “The Secret” was based. Related Posts: Why Does “The Secret” No Longer Contain The Secret? The Abraham-Hicks Back Story In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your Angels, Guides, Teachers Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

green-man-cropped72

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:28:11 +0000

I Switch Over To Brighthouse for Telephone, Cable, Internet

Thu, 29 Oct 2009 04:59:40 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5581" align="alignright" width="125" caption="My door knocker"][/caption] After about a year of contemplating and speaking to friends about the pros and cons of switching from AT & T to Brighthouse for telephone service, I made the switch yesterday. They gave me an 8:00 to 10:00am appointment, which I thought meant he'd show up anytime between those hours. Before he arrived, I made sure to clear the areas he'd be working in, so he'd have plenty of room. I moved 4 rolling tables out of the office and moved everything away from the wall. I glanced at the clock and had time to vacuum the room again, so I began doing that. Sure enough, as soon as I turned on the vacuum cleaner, he knocked on the door. Had I not had such a heavy brass door knocker, I would not have heard him. As he went about installing new connections, I couldn't go online so I went outside and pruned back a few more turk's cap around the utility box outside. Then I planted the cuttings along the ongoing front hedge. Another layer of privacy! He showed up at 7:55am and was done at exactly 10:00am. It was weird trying to find things to do while I couldn't go online, but I didn't know it would take him two hours. I didn't know what all was involved, or I would have planned my time better. I smiled to think of how put off my schedule I was being unable to go online or use the land lines. I love my cell phone but only use it when I have to, like when I travel. For most of my calls, the land line is a much better choice. So, I thought, if I didn't have the internet and didn't have phones, how would I do business? For some reason that didn't really freak me out. I figure if that ever happens, I'll figure out something from whatever I've got on hand at the time. Like Alan Cohen's teacher Hilda Charlton told him, "Take what you've got and make what you want." Had I known how long it would take to hook up the cable and phone connections, I would have planned for it. I thought how many times in the past I unexpectedly had a big bank of time and was unprepared for it, so it went to waste? I thought of how many weekends did I end up having free time, that I could have gone on a short vacation? How many days do I fritter away in unorganized busy work, when Having a Game Plan Leaves me More Time For Fun Adventures? So maybe my time today was not wasted, since I made me bring this to mind again. It's about time to plan a vacation. I wish I had somewhere I really wanted to go. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

Sex Scandals, Busted in Affairs

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:03:25 +0000

Sex scandals, busted in affairs Who cares?

Another layer of decluttering

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 04:55:08 +0000

I've just finished cleaning my office yet again and rearranging the furniture in it. I now have absolutely zero clutter in there and no excuse not to come in and sit down to work right away each day. Part of my routine is typically to rearrange my stacks of Work To Do in separate piles around the desk area. My desk faces my southwest corner, and I look out a south window to my left and the west window to my right. Under each window is a long credenza, and on each credenza are stacks of the current projects I am working on. I like seeing everything in one layer like that. But sometimes I get a lot of mail and some of it gets placed on top of the credenza, just until I get to it. And 5 and 20 deliveries later, my credenzas are filled with mail and supplies and I finally have to deal with it if I want a clear working space again. I stay fairly clutter-free, especially for someone who receives as much mail as I do. People send me a lot of things that I would love to look at, when I have time. I used to shuffle these from one stack to the next until I finally just created an entire drawer for "Stuff to read when I have time". Everything has a place and today I made sure to put everything back in its place. All supplies unpacked and to the supply closet. All books unpacked and stacked for logging in. All mail open and sorted. All bills into the flip calendar. As usual, there were about a dozen random sheets I didn't know what I'd saved them for, but my motto is "when in doubt, toss it out," so I did. Now everything is put away nice and neat, and there is plenty of empty space as well, to begin new stacks. This room looks so huge now, especially with the 5 rolling tables put back in the shed. So now, in the morning when I sit down at my desk, I no longer have to wade through about an hour of moving papers around (a' la deck chairs on the Titanic) before settling down to work. Now I can come right in, sit at an organized station and get productive right away. Like on the billing. The billing I should have begun Monday. So this morning I've come into the office bright and early and I'll whip out the billing by the end of the day. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides and Teachers Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

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Sat, 31 Oct 2009 08:16:02 +0000

My water pump motor lasted me 25 years!

Sat, 31 Oct 2009 09:49:31 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5602" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Still working!"][/caption]

The other day I noticed water on the floor in the garage, and I followed it to my water pump motor and expansion tank. The tank was replaced 9 years ago but the motor was the original Red Jacket Quick Set Jet installed in 1984 when Uncle Jimmy built the house for me. I immediately did what any rational person facing that situation would do, and took photos of it to post on Facebook. My Facebook peeps always have helpful comments that help me save time. I got several referrals and several suggestions on what might be causing it. I got enough information that I could begin my Google search for information. The first thing I wanted to know was, what do the parts DO and how do they interact? Because when I know that, I will be able to understand what the service dudes tell me when they come out to give me estimates.

I learned my lesson many years ago that my tendency was to save time by having one person out and just going with his estimate. Only afterward would I do my research and find that the price was high or I bought things I did not need. So now I do my research ahead of time.

I took good, detailed pics of the tank and motor, both before and after cleaning it up, so I could see where new water rivulets appeared. I took the pics to Home Depot to talk to one of their plumbing guys to get an eyeball guess of what the problem might be. He said it was leaking from the seal and suggested buying a new pump instead of rebuilding the old one since it was 25 years old. He recommended a cast iron Flotec pump and I bought one for $192.

Then I returned home and Googled how to replace a water pump motor, but that gave me auto pump info. So I refined my search to how to replace a residential electric shallow well jet pump motor, and got what I needed there, and was lead to related links on how to replace the expansion tank. I read the purpose of the expansion tank and the difference between one with and without an internal bladder. Had I not read this, I'd have no idea what the service tech was talking about when he got here.

I called Stevan, my regular plumber, and got his voice mail, so I left him a message. I called a plumber referred by several friends on Facebook, and George came out an hour later out for a free estimate. Although I'd explained to the owner on the phone that my only problem was it had begun to leak at the seal, George came in explaining that the loud sound meant the bearings were going and he talked about the pressure switch. I hadn't heard any loud sound and it took me a minute to realize he didn't know anything about my job.

George took the cap off the pressure switch on the motor, and tapped the expansion tank. He said I needed a new tank as well, since the tank was heavy and it didn't sound hollow when he tapped it. That meant it was full of water, he said, a sign that it needed to be replaced. George was a nice guy, a New York type, a bit of the salesman vibe about him, but personable, even charming.

I told him the tank had been replaced 9 years ago (when it was 16 years old) citing the same reason, yet afterward discovered it did not need to be replaced after all. That was why I didn't immediately agree I needed a new tank. I'd never had a problem with the old one. I showed him the Flotec motor I'd just bought at Home Depot. He said Home Depot and Lowe's pumps and tanks were inferior. He wanted me to return my unopened Flotec pump so he could install his own Sta-Rite one. I knew from my research that Sta-Rite made the Flotec line, so I knew it couldn't be that inferior. George quoted me $795 for his pump and tank installed. I asked him if they had some kind of financing, 3-6 months same as cash or something, and he called to confirm with the owner that they did. He left.

The owner had asked me to call her back and let her know how George performed on the consult, so I called and she was unavailable. Maybe because it was almost lunch time and maybe because I was someone who wanted another estimate on a job I was going to finance. I left word with the man who answered. I went back out and saw that George had left the cap off the pressure switch, so I put it back on.

Stevan called me back and quoted me $200-$250 sight unseen for the job, depending on how complex the fittings were and he'd come out Monday if I needed him. I've always known Stevan to be fair and he's done all my properties for me for years, but I wanted one more estimate. I thought to call Shyama from the Yoga Shakti Mission since she and her husband own Indian River Irrigation here in town, so they know about pumps. She referred me to Mike at American Pump who will come out Wednesday and for $110, he'll install the pump motor I bought at Home Depot on my credit card and get 6 months to pay interest free. Mike also schooled me on pumps and tanks. He suggested replacing the tank if I could afford it (it was only $227) and he wouldn't charge me more for it. He said it was just a 45 minute job. He said the Flotec pump and tank would be sufficient. He told me that Flotec was Sta-rite's hardware brand, which I already knew. He made me feel that he had it under control. I like that.

I feel I made a good choice. 20 years ago I would have just said "do it" to the first tech who looked at it. Now I take the time to research stuff and don't vibrate in a place where I have many emergencies.

And I'm glad I vibrate in a place where my equipment all lasts me such a long time: double and triple the expected life expectancy. I expect my body and mind will be like that also.

As Abraham-Hicks says, age is irrelevant in a vibrational environment anyway.

and

In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone.

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Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

On James Ray Keeping The Silence

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 05:28:05 +0000

Cassandra Yorgey wrote at Sweat lodge survivors continue to speak out and I commented: "I agree it appears James Ray is acting without integrity after the fact. However, as a former criminal defense paralegal of 22 years, I recognize he's simply acting like someone who knows what to do when law enforcement comes on the scene of a crime in which he might be culpable. You have a right to say "I'm going to remain silent and I'd like to see a lawyer." And as long as that is all you say, you're in compliance with the law and the attorneys suss it all out later. This is a neat link to an online book that tell you how to handle yourself with law enforcement, invoking your right to remain silent and request a lawyer. That's what James Ray was doing the night of the Sedona sweat lodge deaths. Legal counsel surely briefed him, after the July 2009 death of Colleen Conaway, that he is not to speak to anyone after an incident. He knew that any word coming from him afterward about the event would have to be scripted and okayed by his attorneys first. Period. So, as a professional familiar with the justice system, I don't see his silence as sneaky. Simply strategic and orchestrated. James Ray Sweat Lodge story updated links LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your Guides Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

Why doesn't Law of Attraction always work? How do I really do it? Why two versions of The Secret?

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 10:34:20 +0000

There's still confusion over the 2 versions of The Secret DVD. I wrote in my Horizons Magazine blog post Why Does “The Secret” No Longer Contain The Secret? The Abraham-Hicks Back Story that the original version that contains Abraham-Hicks is the one with clear information on law of attraction, the least rhetoric and hyperbole. With new attention on James Ray and his connection to The Secret, I see a lot of comments and discussion online by people who have only seen the extended, revised version of the DVD, and not the original one with Esther Hicks. They still haven't learned "The Secret" because the revised DVD removed Abraham-Hicks, who were the only ones who actually explained law of attraction so it could be easily understood. The same with Rhonda Byrne's book The Secret, which came later. The revised version is like being fed a beef soup minus the beef. It might be good, but you can't call it beef soup if you leave out the cow. Of course you can't think something into being on thought alone, there has to be the subjective element of desire, expectation and belief. You can't fake those. You can desire it all you want. You can say your little affirmation all you want. Unless you believe it and expect it, you're not going to see it. It's as simple as that. THE TECHNIQUE - MY EXPERIENCE I find what works for me to attract something is simply focusing on what I like, focusing on what I want to happen, focusing on where I want to go. In a parachute, you look at where you land, you don't look at the power lines, because where you look is where you'll end up. And it's that way in life. If I look at things (the news, crime movies, economic pundits) that make me feel anxious about the state of the world, then I'll feel anxious. When I feel anxious, my view of the world will be limited to only seeing things to worry about in every situation. My remedy is by beginning to change my focus to what there is around me that is good, right now. By looking for the opportunity in every stressful situation or disastrous event. Being in that habit goes a long way in keeping momentum going in focusing upon what I want to attract. And that is what the original The Secret DVD clearly shows. But that's not the version everyone has seen. So lots of folks who've seen the movie still don't get it, so they can't prove to themselves that it's do-able. So they pay lots of dollars to go to a seminar to attract more dollars, given by a teacher who doesn't really understand the material himself, although he promotes himself as an authority in the field. As to the question of how did James Arthur Ray , one of The Secret teachers, attract this? In Steve Pavlina's James Ray Interview in 2007, Ray stated: The results you have in the third dimension are a reflection of who you are in the spiritual realm. Read that again because it’s critical. So, he clearly knows how crucial it is to realize that the results we have in the real world - the third dimension - are a reflection of who we are in spiritual consciousness. Ray says the law of attraction" It guides and creates every single result I produce… For instance, there’s been a lot of teaching about visualizing in the last decade, so a lot of people have gotten pretty good at it. I can’t tell you how many people see me in The Secret and tell me “I’m sitting in my living room visualizing my new life every day.” Let me let you in on another secret… you sit around and visualize and they’ll come take your furniture away While this person may be able to think and feel their visualization in spades they’re not taking any action. It’s not going to happen." ANDREA: MY EXPERIENCE IS: If you're visualizing effectively, you get in the moment with the feeling and the vision at the same time, and from that place you will receive thoughts and ideas that propel you into action. If you are not receiving anything compelling enough to motivate you into action, you are simply not visualizing effectively, that's all; you'll get better as you practice. And action may be making a call, it may be opening a phone book, it may be cleaning your house, it may be taking your kid to the park or escorting your grandmother on a day of errands. But whatever it is, stay alert for clues. AN ALTERNATE TECHNIQUE Abraham-Hicks, the only effective teachers of law of attraction I know of, teaches that if you are unable to muster up a visual scene of something you desire, and are unable to at the same time generate within you a feeling of the successful having or doing or being of it, along with the feeling of expectation and belief that it is possible, you can try an alternate method. Try first focusing on another topic, something you love, something you are excited and hopeful about, something wonderful that is either happening now or has happened in the past. Hold those thoughts until you generate the feeling within you, and then redirect it to your topic, like a kick start. Spend just a few moments on the new topic, to get a foothold in the feeling place (while thinking the new thought) before moving on to something else. Don't push it, don't hurry it, just do that several times a day until it becomes easier to think the thought and feel the feeling. Get in, feel good, get out. So, if you feel that because you've failed at creative visualization that you're incapable of applying law of attraction to work in your favor, that's not true. You just need to find an effective technique. If you don't feel motivated, it's simply because the ones who taught you how to visualize do not know how to teach the technique to you. That's all. People all the time promise to teach you things they themselves cannot do. Don't get caught up in blame, simply strive to learn an effective technique. The sincerity of your wanting will attract different people to you, and you'll be attracted to different websites, someone may send you an email, something will attract your attention and give you some help. And don't forget it's all related. And In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. RELATED POSTS: Using The Secret For Successful Marketing: Use Law of Attraction To Bring Business Herbert Benson’s Relaxation Response is the Transcendental Meditation technique Reprogramming inner dialogue to accomplish goals Creating The Space For Change To Take Place When Friends Criticize the Abraham-Hicks and Law of Attraction work $150 million lawsuit to keep The Secret James Ray Sweat Lodge story updated links

When Former Devotees Expose Fraudulent Gurus: John-Roger, Werner Erhard, Carlos Castaneda

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 09:25:01 +0000

I just re-read a favorite book by Peter McWilliams entitled Life 102: What to Do When Your Guru Sues You. The introduction is entitled What does a rampaging guru have to do with you? McWilliams got taken by John-Roger, a self proclaimed guru known for abusing his power. It's a fun and enlightening read, as are all of McWilliams' books, which are available online for free. Life 102 is the only book not available online for free. It's not simply an expose' of misrepresentation, scandal and fraud relative to one man, one incident. The book goes into the intricacies of the programming aspect of indoctrination in organizations that purport to be self help but are instead cash cows. The book is particularly relevant in light of the James Arthur Ray incident. I literally stayed up overnight reading it, although I did skip over the dialogue of John-Roger's harrassing phone calls and hateful notes to naysayers, and skipped over the legal findings of specific criminal acts. Essentially, the story began when John-Roger, a self proclaimed all knowing ascended guru, told Peter McWilliams that he could see in his aura that McWilliams had AIDS and tuberculosis and that he was going to die in 9 months. BUT, if McWilliams put Roger's name as co-author on some books and shared profits with him, Roger would heal his illness for him. McWilliams was under his spell from 1978 until 1994, at which time he was medically treated for depression. As his depression lifted, he began to see what others had been telling him about John-Roger, and he began to break ties. Roger retaliated, as he always did, and it is all documented in the book. Another favorite book in a similar vein is Amy Wallace's Sorcerer's Apprentice: My Life With Carlos Castaneda. Amy is the daughter of bestselling author Irving Wallace, and she recounts the 27 years she knew and interacted with Castaneda and his self proclaimed "Witches," from the time she first met him at age 16 to the time from the early 90s until Castaneda's death in April '98 when she was one of his lovers and a member of his inner circle. Here is a sample chapter that shows the hierarchical structure so typical of cultish organizations. Especially egregious when deception and psychological abuse tactics are used to intentionally beat initiates down and reprogram them to suit a financial agenda, particularly when the self proclaimed leaders well know the power of their words. Used for abuse, words are a weapon as much as poison or a machine gun. I spent my 20's in several ashrams and yes, several cults, but I secretly kept my own counsel and got out unscathed. Not so for many people, who took on the teachers as replacement parents of a sort. Another good book is Outrageous Betrayal: The Real Story of Werner Erhard from Est to Exile by Steven Pressman. Erhard's est is now owned by Erhard's brother and marketed as Landmark Education formerly Landmark Forum. So, if you feel attracted to someone's teaching, go check it out. Despite their claims, just don't think they are God or the messiah or a divine messenger or an ascended being or an enlightened master. People who allow themselves to be promoted that way have a distinct agenda. I'm thinking Jesus would like just have His first name or maybe that fish symbol on His business card. I don't think He'd have in giant neon glittery letters SAVIOR, SON OF GOD. His website url would likely be something more like www.feedthem.org/ rather than something like www.theonlywordtheonlysonofGodthereisnootherIAmLord.com. I'm not saying throw the baby out with the bathwater, I'm just saying know the difference. Stay conscious. Stay informed. Question everything. Get answers or get gone. You might find some real useful gems of wisdom and don't mind paying for some workshops, just don't buy into the hype portion of the programs. The teacher is just another person who has some useful information. If the information is useful, it will stand on its own whether Jesus said it, whether James Ray said it or whether Bugs Bunny said it. So many people have a spiritual or psychic awakening, an a-ha moment that propels them into serious research and study and seeking. Some experience receiving an overload of information and feel baffled by it. They want to find someone who can help them sort it all out. Others are able to focus their attention into the study and assimilation and sharing of the information they receive. These are the ones who start promoting themselves as teachers. Often, when the teacher has some material success, their attention and focus begins to stray and takes them out of their divine consciousness, their awakened consciousness. So while they still say the words, there is no feeling behind them. They may have been connected to Spirit for the 2 months of their life that it took them to write their book, and the other 80 years they sit back just sell their book over and over again.They may promote themselves as having the same consciousness as when first awakened, when in fact they may have only had that state of mind for 60 days of their entire life. As their intent wavers and changes, so does their mojo. They may lose it altogether or they may bop in and out of it. They begin riding out their time on the laurels of their earlier reputation. Some catch themselves and redirect their focus, and continue to be valuable teachers. Some may continually bob in and out of awakened consciousness. A desperate few use deception and trickery to manipulate and con their followers. These are the ones who have so completely lost their focus that they are no longer attached to any divine flow of information , only a divine flow of illusion and self centered, small mind thinking. For me, it's a big turnoff when someone continually refers to themselves as an authority and postures for personal accolades. Also when they try to use high pressure marketing entrainment rather than simply telling me outright what they want me to buy. It makes me immediately wary of them, because it shows they've got the hidden agenda. So, follow whoever you are led to follow. Attend every class or workshop you are curious about. Take the best of all the information available, and simply discard what doesn't work for you. But stay awake and alert. Just keep your eyes open and don't go following anyone off a cliff. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides ,¸¸,ø¤º°`°º¤ :¦:- Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Sneaky Dog Pepsi Commercial

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:37:02 +0000

I saw this and just thought it was funny. We all know people like this, don't we? Sneaky Dog Pepsi Commercial . LISTEN FREE: Stop Smoking Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

worry2

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:02:00 +0000

worry21

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 02:03:34 +0000

When Relationships Change

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:44:04 +0000

I was talking with friends, a long ago ex-boyfriend and his wife of a dozen years. She and I joked that when she was done with him, I get him back. He said "There's not enough therapy in the world for that to happen." Ah, memories... A friend wrote on Facebook: "The end of a marriage is no more a failure than the end of college is a failure." I agree. I'm friends with all my exes. You just have to morph the relationship into a new shape is all. I've been married five times. Yup, 5. And so you don't think I'm a complete loser, three of them died; and no, it wasn't the mushrooms :) All my ex boyfriends and the husbands, we had pretty amiable breakups and remained friends. I learned early on that when my ex has a new mate, she's not my competition, she's my sister if I am to remain friends with him. I am not the other woman. I am not the ex-girlfriend. I am not his friend. I am the friend of both of them as a couple. Just because people love each other doesn't mean they have to live together or even be mates. Just because they live together doesn't mean they have to get married. I think getting married simply involves the government in your finances. Just because they fight doesn't mean they need to break up. We are so used to it having to be one extreme or the other. My life is not black and white. My life has many shades of grey and the areas often overlap. I know people who are always in some drama with a friend or a mate and someone is always on the outs. Even me, 3 years ago someone who I thought was a best friend simply cut me off and won't tell me why. A year later she cut off 4-5 more of our group as well. Life's too short for that. I try to morph and go with the flow. So when my favorite spiritual brother and long ago ex-boyfriend Doug said there was not enough therapy in the world for he and I to get back together, I knew exactly how he meant it. He and I are the best as platonic buddies. In fact, when he and I split up, we looked for a piece of property that had two houses on it because we wanted to stay close. Something that could be easily bifurcated if one of us got a mate that didn't like the communal idea. We didn't find that, but the house down the street went on the market, so he bought it. It was an ideal arrangement. He soon began dating a mutual friend, which was great because we were all part of the same gang and hung around together anyway. It made it easy to morph the relationship to fit the circumstances. I didn't lose a mate, I gained a sister. I gained more than that because it was such a joy to see the two of them interact together. In fact, we are so close that I married the two of them on Christmas morning half a dozen years ago, with all our family and friends present. (Wow, my mom was right, she said I'd marry Doug :) They are truly two peas in a pod and made for each other. And it's a good role model for me for a healthy, happy, fun and playful relationship. I should be so lucky. RELATED POSTS: Relationship Or Not? Everything is Relationship Little Girls Dream Of The Perfect Wedding Good Girls, Spiritual Seekers: Why Do We Like The Bad Boys? Pop Tantra, being single and the elements of a Tantric lifestyle Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

What Does Everyone Worry About?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:58:33 +0000

The other day I asked on Facebook: What does everyone worry about? Two hours later no one had posted any comments, so I posted: I see everyone is worried that someone will judge them for commenting here :) OK, I'll start, I WORRY that despite my best efforts, I don't do enough. I worry that I'll never make time for a personal life. I worry that I'm just complaining about stuff I may not actually want to change. One friend wrote: I worry about the same things.. am I doing enough? What blocks do I put in my own way I'm blind to? I worry that my need for controlling the "bad" stuff in life consumes me in moments and blinds me from joy(like my son being not so well in moments and leaving to go to Kuwait) I worry that I am not a good enough friend and that I am not extending love when I can to help ease a burden. I worry that I complain to much and don't recognize the blessings I have and the people in my life who are a blessing to me. Another wrote: I worry that I'm settling when I should be demanding more. I worry that I'll never get it all done. I worry that the most important thing (whatever that is) is the one thing I won't get around to doing. I worry that I'll lose my keys again, or break my glasses again. I worry that I'll die alone. Another: I've got a message of hope and happiness and I worry that not enough people will hear it. I worry that I will not be able to touch the lives of 150 million people that I set as my long term goal if I don't learn how to market really soon. My fellow goofball buddy Barbara Nowak wrote: I worry that (doggie) Mr. Peanut will love (son in law) Al more than me and when I come back from San Antonio, he will refuse to come back home. Am I shallow and unspiritual?? Another: I worry that I won't get it all done. I worry that my loved ones will die before me and leave me all alone. I worry about my son's safety when he is not at home (the fact that he is 22 doesn't matter). Another: My "worry" is couched in "concern." I have concerns that my "self-induced" health issues will ultimately restrict my freedom and independence, and guilt will replace timely, effective action, like stepping up the exercise plan! And yes, like you say Andrea, is this something I want to change in the first place, and if so, what' is stopping me from acting upon it? The big question: What can I do to be okay about loving myself? If I always lived in that context, then everything else would fall into place with health and well-being leading the way... Another: I have this constant worry that I'm going to "lose" something in my life. It's not really a conscious thing, more of an underlying current that applies to everything. It occurs often when I forget to connect with my faith and beliefs. So what I learned from this brief experiment is that, well, surprise, we all worry about the same basic things. Well,we don't ALL worry that Mr. Peanut will forsake Barb for Al, but you get my drift. What do YOU worry about? LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides and Teachers Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

15 Simple Steps To Reboot A Sluggish System

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:04:49 +0000

As I go about my yard hand watering all the plants and trees, I note the bamboo grows several feet in a day sometimes. "Ouch," you might be thinking, "that sounds painful." Well, we've all been feeling growing pangs lately, haven't we? All around me I hear people talking about how time is speeding up. I believe it's not that time is speeding up, it's just that whoever thinks it is, is merely experiencing the quickening that is the psychological component of the evolution of their own consciousness. Some of us integrate knowledge by talking among friends about our new ideas. Some find writing and journaling helpful, and others meditate on new ideas to come to greater understanding. I always find my life runs smoothest when I follow a disciplined daily practice. By doing a mental review each evening, I consider my day and take note of any changes I might wanna make in the future. I give some thought as to how I'd like the next day to go. By sitting for meditation first thing in the morning, I feel more prepared for the day since I'm beginning from a centered and peaceful place. The last few years, I've been coming to greater awareness about nutrition and how the body works. Finding that when I take a break from old eating habits and even fast for a few days, it's like rebooting the computer: lots of the errors just seem to correct themselves, as long as I remember when things are going "badly," that it's time to reboot. I remember reading a few things Deepak Chopra said about nutrition that have stuck in my mind. One was that the best diet was to "eat nothing with a label or a smile," meaning of course, no processed foods, no animals. He also said, when talking about keeping fat in your diet to a minimum, to "eat only what would, when left overnight in a paper bag on the counter, not leave a stain in it." Interesting, huh? That sounds like a good way to reboot a sluggish system. One thing that surprised me years ago was that when I stopped drinking diet soda, I had lots more energy and strength, and I dropped about 5 pounds of water weight. I do yoga and bike some each day and my level of energy went up when the only thing I'd changed (up to that point) had been stopping the diet soda. It's interesting to think that we may not have to take pills to feel better but rather just "remove" from our systems anything that is not natural, and allow our bodies to reboot themselves. And we don't have to do it all at once; we can take small steps, like begin doing exercises to strengthen our will power and self discipline. You can set an intention that you'd like to be guided to foods and eating habits that naturally give you the vitamins and nutrients you need each day. That means, rather than always thinking "ooo, what would taste good tonight?" you might sometimes consider what food choices might give lots of B vitamins and magnesium. You might be surprised to find you enjoy those foods as well. I was real surprised. So, in case you want to join me in rebooting your own sluggish system, here are some things I do that you might want to join me in. And note, this is really basic information and lots of you already have a much healthier routine than this - this is for the newbies to nutrition, like me, who are considering changing from their heavy meat and processed food for years diets, and want to take it slowly. 1. Set an intention that you'd like to take authority over your own body. I didn't realize for a long time that I was in control and, once I learned that, I began to make wiser, more informed choices. 2. Set an intention that you'd like to be guided to foods and eating habits that fuel your body most effectively for the activities you do or would like to begin doing. Voice this intention during your daily prayer and meditation. This helps reprogram your subconscious. 3. As often as you are able, eat mindfully. That just means give some thought ahead of time what might be the best to eat to fuel your next few hours' activity. 4. Give your system a break from processed foods for a week. A break from fast food, burgers and fries, a break from sodas and breads. Cook that burger at home and eat it between giant leaves of romaine (lots of vitamin B - iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value.) Use mustard instead of mayo or ketchup. Make a giant salad to go with it, or corn on the cob, kale and a giant baked potato. 5. Consider cooking fatfree in a nonstick pan or using only a small amount of Pam or similar cooking spray. Take a break from butter and oils in your foods and see what your foods taste like au' natural. Experiment with spices and seasonings for flavor, or a dash of Bragg's or soy sauce. 6. Try healthy, natural substitutes for flavor. Buy some nutritional yeast flakes in the health food store and put it in a shaker to sprinkle on veggies - it has a cheesy taste and is loaded with B vitamins. 7. Snack on fruit. Grab an apple or pear for a snack, instead of crackers and cheese or chips. Organic carrots made great road trip food, and I like hanging a bunch of grapes from my rear view mirror and nibbling those as well. 8. Buy some 8 pound barbells and put them next to wherever you "sit" when you're relaxing. No, I'm not suggesting you start an actual exercise program - I'm not that radical - just have them nearby and do a few repetitions every so often to encourage your body to get active. You'll be surprised at how often you'll begin doing it and how inspired you get to be more active. 9. Take a walk around your yard or neighborhood. Notice what trees and shrubs and flowers you see. Notice if there are birds or butterflies; are the lizards green or brown? Look for squirrels. How many gardens can you see? What are they growing? You may get inspired to plant some flowers or herbs, or to set a bird feeder out. Connecting with nature in even small ways helps reduce stress and encourages contemplation. Plus it can be as fun and active as you'd like it to be. I go out to water each morning and sometimes find myself hours later up to my elbows in mud and mulch, transplanting a dozen baby loquat trees or weeding out miles of wedelia. It's nice to be carried away like that, it's refreshing to the mind and strengthening to the body and immune system. 10. Stretch often during the day. Just reach up and stretch out; twist your body from side to side and bend over and reach for your toes. Doesn't matter if you can touch them. Or your knees. Just get some good stretches in. 11. Be as active as you can during the course of your day. Even if the only physical exercise you get is housework, you can sweep vigorously. Housework is a great way to keep the chi in the house flowing. 12. At the end of the day, bring to mind all the things you did that day that you feel good about. Don't kick yourself for anything you did that you wish you hadn't done - tomorrow is a new day and a new beginning. Jus reflect and bask in all the things you did that you feel good about. This helps you become more aware of them and helps program you on a subconscious level as well. 13. At the end of the day, eat your lightest meal and make it interesting with a buffet of fresh veggies and fruits. I am seldom drawn to buy fruit, but experience tells me that if it's at home in the evenings and I walk into the kitchen, I grab the apple and don't open the fridge. So I discipline myself buy fruit. 14. At the REAL end of the day, make a decision to get up off the couch and go to bed and turn the lights out. Especially if you're in menopause with a crazy sleep schedule. This gives your body a real signal that you're going to sleep. A lot of people say they can only fall asleep in front of the tv, and lots of these same people say they have trouble sleeping. Interesting that these people have challenges with will power and self discipline in other areas of their life as well. It's not just the retina of our eyes that register light and react to it, and it's not just our ears that register sound and react to it. The cells of our body also react to light and sound and remain on active standby while we're asleep. Just as poinsettas in the garden need 6 hours of darkness every 24 hours in order to bloom and grow, just so our mind and body does better when we have quiet darkness to sleep in. And you'll be surprised how quickly you can fall asleep after shutting off all external stimuli. 15. Don't beat yourself up for your "bad habits." It's enough for a beginning that you're making small changes along the way. This time next year you might be surprised how different your eating habits are and how much more vital and alive you feel. Consider Edgar Cayce's words: Do not worry as to whether you are fat or thin. Worry rather as to whether you use your body, mentally and physically, as an expression of thy ideal. You might get inspired at my Goddess Grub website: Healthy and luscious lowfat meals for the goddess on the go. Keep me posted. LISTEN FREE: Reprogram your eating habits $10 mp3

Demystifying the IRS: It Is What It Is

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:31:32 +0000

Yesterday I'd spent the morning getting my quarterly tax documents ready for my accountant. While I was making photocopies on my all in one printer - you know how fast those are - I'd pop in to Facebook and update my status, telling my buddies what I was doing. "I'm almost through the quarterly paperwork for my tax chick. Dang, I send the IRS a bunch of $$. I guess that's a good thing though. Like it keeps me outa jail and stuff." I know if I'm paying taxes, that means I'm making money. I know taxes are a good thing. I figure it's like their tip for letting me eat. A friend wrote that it was more like the advanced version of the playground bully shaking the other kids down for lunch money. I laughed "Yes, we pay and they let us live." I got the usual comments about how the IRS and the government are doing all sorts of shady stuff, but I'm glad to pay taxes in a country that lets me live in freedom. I just figure it is what it is, and I continue on my happy life not worrying about it. I find as I do that, it's not all that hard to make enough to satisfy Uncle Sam and me, too. I refuse to give them power over my thoughts. I AM my own vortex and I attract my own experience. I attract my own experience with the Internal Revenue Service? Does that mean I can make them charge me less taxes? No, that's not how it works. What it means is that I simply realize they are not doing anything to me. They simply exist for their own purpose. I don't need to know what that purpose is and I don't need to worry about how that purpose is going to affect me. There are other people who feel compelled to tackle the job of lobbying for change, let them have at it. All I have to do is stay focused on doing the work in front of me, making sure I enjoy the work and enjoy the people in front of me, and go about having an otherwise happy life. As I do that, I vibrate in a place where the Universe delivers to me more to enjoy - since the Universe is always delivering to me more of what I spend my time thinking about. The friends who read the conspiracy theorists are always looking for problems and always worried and living in fear of what if? what if? That's pretty exhausting. I'm not saying those things aren't really happening, I'm saying so what? It's like when people talk about "avoiding probate." Why avoid probate? It's no big deal, it's some paperwork. Sure, it's easier to plan ahead and not have to go that route, but if you don't, it's no big deal. When it's something unknown, it looms larger than it needs to. When you know what's involved, it's no big deal. You just need to get informed and demystify the experience. Like when my water pump motor was leaking and I searched online how to replace a water pump motor so I would know how it all fit together with the expansion tank. When I knew that, I would understand what the service tech would be telling me and selling me. Reading about it demystified the experience for me, and I felt empowered during the process. I understood how it was done. I called someone qualified to do it. I attracted a qualified, affordable technician and it was over in an hour. So you demystify the experience with the IRS when you realize they are not out to shake you down and you don't need to worry about how much it is going to cost you. You just figure it is what it is. You adjust your lifestyle so that you can earn what you need to earn and pay everything you need to pay. You don't worry about it and you don't discuss it with people who worry about it. You don't spend time reading about it and you don't spend time wanting it to be any other way. I find that as I do that, it's not all that hard to make enough dollars to satisfy Uncle Sam and keep me and the kitties fed and living indoors. I refuse to give the IRS - or anyone - power over my thoughts. I know that I AM my own vortex and that I attract my own experience. So far, so good. :) Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your Angels, Guides and Teachers

Movies: Mindwalk 1991 vs. What The Bleep 2004

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 05:19:21 +0000

Earlier this week, I came across the movie Mindwalk on Showtime. I thought it was funny how this came out in 1991 when so few were ready for the topic of quantum field theory. Yet even a scant 13 years later in 2004, What The Bleep was made and the public embraced it. Filmed entirely at Mont Saint Michel, France, Mindwalk serves as an introduction to systems theory and systems thinking, with insights into modern physical theories such as quantum mechanics and particle physics. Below is a synopsis of this excellent and thought provoking film. MINDWALK (1991) PHILOSOPHICAL ISSUES: Philosophy of science, holism, environmentalism CHARACTERS: Jack Edwards (Sam Waterston; politician), Thomas Harriman (John Heard; poet), Sonia Hoffman (Liv Ullman; physicist), Kit (Ione Skye; Sonia's daughter). SYNOPSIS: “Mindwalk,” like “My Dinner with Andre,” is a dialogue-driven film, which explores basic philosophical questions. In this case, the principal subject is holistic vs. atomistic ways of viewing the world. The film was directed by Austrian-born Bernt Amadeus Capra, a Hollywood production designer. He also wrote the story behind the film, which he adapted from the popular book The Turning Point (1983) by his brother Fritjof Capra, noted physicist and environmentalist. This is Bernt Capra’s only film as director. The film’s setting is an island monastery in France, the Abbey of Mont Saint Michel, France, where three vacationers meet and engage in discussion. Jack, a “conservative Democrat” presidential candidate, was just defeated and, disillusioned, awaits his forthcoming campaign as a senator. Jack’s poet friend Thomas is himself disillusioned from his fast-paced life in New York City. Now living in Paris, Thomas reluctantly invites Jack to France. Touring the monastery, they meet Sonia, a disillusioned physicist who advocates a holistic view of physics and the environment. She explains her views to the two men, who find them compelling. Thomas, though, is too self-consumed to do much with the ideas. Jack continually asks for ways to put Sonia’s views into practice, and even invites her to join his staff. She refuses, wishing instead to remain in the ivory tower of the monastery. Jack leaves wondering if this is a critical turning point in his life. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: 1. A monastery tour guide makes the following statement regarding the town’s graveyards: “This is why the dead are placed in the middle of the town among the houses; death is a part of life, not separate from it.” This is similar to Heidegger’s point that human nature is defined by our movement towards death. Heidegger also feels that we all too often ignore this fact, and thus live improperly (or inauthentically). Is it really so important to continually have death before our minds, and, if so, would graveyards scattered throughout town really facilitate this? 2. Meeting the two men in the monastery bell tower, Sonia states that the clock “became the model of the cosmos, and then they mistook the model for the real thing. People got the idea that nature was just a giant clock, not a living organism, but a machine.” She says that Descartes was the primary architect of this view – particularly his conception of the human body as a machine. Would Descartes plead guilty to this charge? 3. Sonia argues that many of life’s problems – starvation, rainforest depletion, health problems – are interconnected, and they can never be solved by looking at each in isolation. Jack responds “Supposing you’re right and everything is interconnected with everything else as you say. Still you’ve got to start somewhere, don’t you. So that’s the real political question here: where do you start?” Sonia answers “By changing the way we’re seeing the world. You see, you’re still searching for the right piece to fix first. You don’t see that all the problems are fragments of one single crisis, a crisis of perception.” Why can’t Jack’s approach serve as a solution to this “crisis of perception”? 4. Jack argues that the non-holistic model of things works just fine in many areas, such as medicine. A man complains of gallstones, has the gallbladder removed, and his pain is gone. Sonia responds that the problem might have been avoided by emphasizing prevention – more exercise. Is Sonia’s solution really “holistic”? 5. Jack feels that, even if Sonia is correct, it would be politically impossible to initiate dramatic holistic agendas. For example, a special tax on beef might decrease its consumption and thus reduce health and agricultural problems. However, this would hurt businesses, which would lobby hard against such proposals. “So I do what everybody else does from the lowliest congressman right on up to the president of the United States. I pick a few crucial issues – that I think are crucial – a part of your whole, and I persist and persist until I get somewhere if I’m lucky. And for the rest I mark time, I wait, I go along, I trade off.” Isn’t this the best that policy maker can do – even Green Party politicians? 6. Sonia notes Francis Bacon’s view that “scientists with their new mechanical devices had to torture nature’s secrets out of her.” Don’t holists also have to “torture nature’s secrets out of her” to understand how everything is interconnected? 7. Playing devil’s advocate, Jack offers several standard criticisms of extreme environmentalism. Perhaps human-caused damage isn’t nearly as harmful as that which nature herself causes, such as with the ice age. Perhaps nature has a built-in healing mechanism, which allows it to bounce back from problems such as increased ultraviolet light through ozone depletion. How might a holist such as Sonia respond? 8. Sonia argues that there are two fundamental principles in nature, one male which is aggressive and dominating, the other female, which is nurturing and gentle. In the past they were kept roughly in balance, but now men “have created the tools, the weapons – both intellectually and physically – to bring these two principles way out of balance. We have been placing mechanistic tools in the hands of power-oriented patriarchal people. I’m saying you men are out of control now. I, you, we – we all are the victims. So what’s the risk? What’s wrong with giving the female principle an opportunity?” Is environmental destruction really a guy thing as Sonia suggests? 9. Thomas gives two quotations from William Blake: “May God us keep from single vision and Newton’s sleep,” and “If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is: infinite.” What’s Blake’s point? 10. Sonia explains what matter consists of at the subatomic level: there is only empty space with probability patterns of interconnections. She states, “The essential nature of matter lies not in objects, but in interconnections.” As these interconnections extend out from objects, all things are then interconnected at the subatomic level. “Ultimately, whether we like it or not, we’re all part of one inseparable web of relationships.” Even if Sonia’s view is true, we nevertheless draw clear moral and legal boundaries between ourselves and others, such as regarding property and bodily integrity. Once we grant individual moral autonomy, doesn’t Sonia’s rigid holistic view of things collapse? 11. Sonia states that she gave up her job as a physicist because, as she states, “I got tired of seeing my work fed to the U.S. Defense Department.” Most scientists would not opt out of the system as Sonia did. Is there a more realistic way for scientists to address concerns such as Sonia’s? 12. Sonia states that, as a physicist, she feels responsible for the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima – and more directly for the military uses of her own discoveries in physics. Jack responds that neither she nor other physicists were responsible for such consequences: “scientists are supposed to figure things out; its up to the rest of us to figure out what to do about it.” Is Jack right? 13. In defense of her view that scientists are responsible for the consequences of their discoveries, she notes that some Native American tribes made all of their important decisions with the seventh generation of their descendants in mind. This, she believes, is how scientists should think about their work, instead of simply as pure research. As with utilitarianism, doesn’t the Native American perspective fall prey to the problem of omniscience, namely, that we need to know a lot about how the future of the world would be affected by our various choices? 14. Kit, Sonia's daughter, says to her mother, “I can’t stand you talking about what’s wrong with the world, and your new vision of reality, when what I hear and what I think is that you’re talking about your own problems, and how you yourself feel disconnected. I mean you can’t even relate to me.” Is this a reasonable assessment of the psychology behind holism? 15. Jack asks Sonia how her ideas translate into politics: “wouldn’t it take some kind of totalitarian regime to put ideas as comprehensive as yours into effect?” Sonia responds with more theory (specifically “systems theory” which espouses ecological interconnectedness). Eventually, though, she says that we should always act with future generations in mind. Considering that businesses are oriented towards the short term, wouldn’t Sonia’s future-looking approach require a totalitarian regime as Jack suggests? 16. Life, according to Sonia, is self-organization. By this she means that it is self-maintaining (depends on one’s environment, but not determined by it), self-renewal (replacing new cells), and self-transcending (evolutionary change). Isn’t this definition of life more Cartesian than holistic? 17. Jack walks away feeling compelled by Sonia’s views. “Even the parts I didn’t understand felt right. So, should I just go with it? Is this one of those turning points?” The scene has an almost religious tone in which a sinner is wavering on conversion. Is holism the kind of thing that can be accepted in a conversion experience – or a “turning point” as Fritjof Capra titles his book? I saw this movie once, after sleeping through the first run. I think sleeping through it the first time helped peak my interest in quantum field theory and particle physics. I completely enjoyed the movie that followed, and thought the dialogue was a great primer. In fact, it was in the thinking of "more people should know this stuff" that I became involved a year later with Horizons Magazine. I thought, if I had my words on paper where thousands of people would read it, I could share these ideas and suggest books and movies that addressed these topics. 17 years later, here I AM. And the rest is history. :) In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Sleepytime Recharge and Stop Smoking Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

72-5-29-09-in-car-jb-smoothed

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 08:25:39 +0000

Gray Hair Cure Available in 10 Years; Aging Naturally

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:10:48 +0000

I read at Gray Hair Cure Available in 10 Years that acccording to L'Oreal, we could all be kissing our gray hairs adieu in a mere 10 years. The beauty company is working on a breakthrough treatment geared towards ending gray hair for good. They expect it to consist of an oral element backed by a hair care range, and be available within 10 years, reported the Daily Mail. Hair gets its hue from melanocytes, pigment cells that give color to both the skin and the hair. "When hair goes gray, there is a progressive disappearance of the melanocytes from the hair. While there are still melanocytes in the hair, there is still hope that it could be re-pigmented," Patricia Pineau, L'Oreal Research Communications Director told the paper. "Hair is an enigma," she added. "It's a fiber, a material with physical properties. It is also a living organ that grows, grays and falls out. How can we fight this? Do we need a physical approach or a biological approach?" An oral program supplemented with a hair care program would do both, she said, targeting graying from both the inside and out. "Fight this???" I understand that we've been programmed to dread going gray, because we're in a society that's brainwashed to think getting old is undesirable and less-than, but fighting against something, as Abraham-Hicks tells us, is not the way to go. I'm thrilled to be going gray because for me it just means Mother Nature is frosting my hair for me. I haven't colored my hair for years but the lighter it gets, the better I like it. When they reach about the age of 50 is when my girlfriends all cutting their hair into that phys ed teacher haircut that Miss Young had at Filer Junior High School in Hialeah in 1967. My mom did the same thing. I was horrified. She had long, at times waist-length hair all the time I was growing up. So when mom cut her hair into the phys ed teacher haircut, I vowed I would not do that. To me, it automatically made everyone look the same: like the stereotypical senior grandma. Growing up I always had baby fine hair, straight, blonde, California girl hair. As I got into my teens and 20's, everyone told me to keep my hair short and layered because that was the best for my type of hair, so I wore a layered shag type cut into my 30's. I was well into my 40's before I grew it out and discovered I had great hair. I'd let myself be programmed by what "the authorities" around me said should be. I didn't even notice that I wasn't thinking for myself. I just figured they must know better. I believed their hype. I fell under their spell, and I didn't learn the truth until many, many years later. [caption id="attachment_5787" align="alignright" width="116" caption="Not bad for 57"][/caption] Now that I've had longer hair, I know how mom felt when she said she just got tired of hauling all that long heavy hair around year after year. Shampooing and putting it up was a hassle since she had some arthritis in her shoulders. I think she mostly did it as an act of defiance when she left my dad, although she never copped to that. I have learned to roll my hair up in a sock bun by finding a sock the color of the inside underside of my hair, and cutting the toe off it. My hair has always been several colors. I had a flu when I was 33 that turned my dog ears completely white overnight. Yes, I hear that doesn't happen, but it happened. It is pale brown and darkish golden brown underneath, but pure platinum in places, such as the dog ears. So I have to use a sock that blends in with the dark hair that goes into it. I roll it up in the sock and leave it up in a bun for a few days at a time. It keeps my hair out of my way, and when I take it down, it's all wavy and full and fluffy. Had I known this 30 years ago, I would have saved all those hours trying to get my hair to look right. Indeed, with age comes wisdom. I'm going to see how long I can grow it. When it gets in my way, I'll keep it up in the bun. Another thing I notice getting older, my nails are longer and stronger than ever before. I think it has to do with the fact that I used to be constantly painting them and using polish remover and sometimes false nails and they were just a nuisance until I let them go natural. Also, I know that in 2005 I began eating a more natural, less processed diet, taking vitamins and nutrients in, and using my foods as medicine. I'm sure that helped the hair and nails grow longer and stronger. Also since I changed my diet, I've kept off the extra 50 pounds I'd carried for 8 years. That's contributed to me looking younger I know, and to being healthier. I cut out red meat, pork, butter, fried foods and since 2005 have kept my fat grams to no more than 50 a day. I've never been healthier nor had more energy. That makes me feel young, and I know as I feel young, I look young. It's a viscious cycle. One thing I notice is that my eyebrows are so faint now. I used to be vain of my heavy brows, alas, no more. They do seem to be now appearing as a bit of a goatee and fu manchu, but I've embraced that as well. I'm not going to be one of those who tweezes every stray hair and ends up looking like a bald rat. I embrace my fuzzy faced-ness whole heartedly. I'm even shaping it into a nice goatee *smile* So far I haven't found a down side to the whole aging thang. I do notice that when I'm inactive for awhile, my body lets me know. The more I stay in motion, the more mobility I'll have and the longer I'll have it. I hope to be still doing my daily yoga well into my elder years. I've learned that my sleeping patterns morph and change with the years as well. I go months where I only get 2-3 hours at a time. I've arranged my schedule so I can do that at least twice a day. I know not to fall asleep with the tv on. It’s not just the retina of our eyes that register light and react to it. The cells of our body also react to light and sound and remain on active standby while we’re asleep. I wrote in 15 Simple Steps to Reboot A Sluggish System that just as poinsettas in the garden need 6 hours of darkness every 24 hours in order to bloom and grow, just so our mind and body does better when we have quiet darkness to sleep in. Even me, I'm always surprised to be reminded how much longer and sounder I sleep after I make myself shut off all external stimuli. I'll go months just napping in the chair or on the couch and not actually making it into my bedroom, where it is completely dark and cool and quiet. Last night at 8pm when I began to doze in the big puffy chair, I made myself get up and go to bed. I didn't get up until 2am. My body needed that! So you can't complain that you're not sleeping well unless you're lying in your bed with all light and sound off. Ignore that inner voice that says you can't fall asleep without the tv on. That's just your mind tricking you. You've listened to that voice for so many years and that's exactly what has gotten you to this point of not sleeping well. Remember, as you get older, you're the boss of that voice and it does what you tell it to. With just a little practice you can re-program your inner dialogue. You will find this your biggest assistant as you get older, knowing how to keep yourself cheerleaded and motivated into each day by your own inner dialogue. I told a friend of mine, when asked how I wanted to die, that I wanted to be 120 years old, hiking in the Rockies with my 90 year old lover. He laughed. We'll see who laughs last. :) RELATED POST: Natural sleep aids In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

72-for-blog-5-29-09-cropped

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 09:16:09 +0000

8 Signs the Recession is Over

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:05:28 +0000

In Eight Signs The Recession Is Over, Peter Cohan writes: "I recently delivered a Webinar, Economic Outlook: U.S. and Key Industries, and got asked a very interesting question -- How will we know the recession is over? With Thursday's report that productivity grew 9.5 percent while the number of people added to the unemployment rolls hit 512,000 in the last week, the signals are not exactly clear. But my answer to the question is that people can follow eight indicators to know whether we're out of a recession. My best guess is that these indicators will not all flash a green light suddenly or at the same time. But if you follow these indicators over the next few months and monitor changes in them closely, you may get some meaningful signs of whether the recession is over. Before jumping into these indicators, there is one more thing. As I've posted, the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) officially decides when recessions begin and end and they dated the current one from December 2007 -- the month that jobs started shrinking. So that is one of the indicators that I am tracking. But without further ado, here are the eight: Interest rates. Wednesday the Fed announced that it would keep rates low for the foreseeable future. This means that the Fed believes that the risk of a deflationary spiral -- which leads to economic contraction -- is greater than the odds of inflation. Once the Fed raises rates, we'll know that balance has tipped. Hiring. We lost over half a million jobs in the last week. In a healthy recovery, business hires as many as hundreds of thousands a month. If things start improving in the economy, you'll start to see the hiring numbers rise rapidly. Revenue growth. As I have written, 81 percent of public companies reporting this quarter beat expectations by guiding down forecasts and by slashing jobs. If businesses start reporting double digit revenue growth, you'll know things are really improving. Underwater homeowners. We're likely to peak at 17.4 million underwater home owners by 2010, according to USA Today. It reports that some analysts think the peak figure could run as high as 25 million. And we'll know if housing is out of the woods if that number tumbles. Housing prices. Similarly, housing prices -- which have fallen nationally by 25 percent from their 2005 peak, according to USA Today -- will need to rebound both nationally and regionally. It's likely that such a rebound would come after jobs have returned. Stock prices. While the S&P 500 has risen nearly 60 percent from the March low, it is 22 percent below where it was 10 years ago. If stocks rise substantially from there, people might go from ignoring their 401 (k) statements to watching them with interest. If they start thinking of themselves as wealthier, then that wealth effect might get them to start spending. Capacity utilization. Factories are not working to their full capacity. Recently capacity utilization was running at about 70 percent -- well below the 82 percent long-term average. If factories get closer to working at full capacity, they'll start hiring to meet the growing demand. With productivity so high right now, some hiring might be in the near future. Fed balance sheet. Since the financial collapse started, the Fed loaded up its balance sheet from $800 billion to $2.2 trillion. In so doing, it is storing all the financial toxic waste that Wall Street generated during the previous five or six years. Once the Fed starts selling off those "assets", we'll know the economy is getting stronger. All this data is public, so if you care about keeping track of how we're doing economically, you might consider keeping a spreadsheet of these indicators and updating it as new information becomes available. Peter Cohan is a management consultant, Babson professor and author of 9 books, including Capital Rising. I think it's important to note where Cohan says "... these indicators will not all flash a green light suddenly or at the same time. But if you follow these indicators over the next few months and monitor changes in them closely, you may get some meaningful signs..." So once again, it all goes back to being alert for the signs around you. Stay awake and aware and take note of what is going on right in front of you. When I do that, I see that - right in front of me, with very few exceptions - everyone has a job and everyone has a roof over their heads. Despite the complaining and the whining, most of them are in about the same financial position they were in prior to 2007. So business has not decreased for them. 2008 was my best financial year to date and I paid enough taxes to prove it. So if I look right in front of me, at the people I know, my friends, clients and advertisers, despite all the complaining about it, all admit their numbers have not dramatically changed. The ones whose numbers have changed, not surprisingly they tend to be the ones who complain the most, who criticize and blame the most in other areas of their life as well. The downward spiral is their default position. Even when I look at my own neighbors on my block, the only difference is that now, after all the re-construction and re-modelling after the 2004 hurricanes, and the repaving of the roads as they widened Emerson Drive and installed the Bayside community, has really upgraded the look of the neighborhood. So our lives here on my block have actually been upgraded to a greater degree than most. Before, we were just an old school 'hood near Liberty Park. Now we're Bayside. I do tend to think, though, that anywhere I live will be a bright and shiny place, no matter what it is dropped in the midst of. Is that because I stay alert for the signs at all times? Am I just lucky, or is it me that makes it so? Come on, we all know the answer to that one. :) RELATED POSTS: Recession is almost over - it’s written in the stars Friday the 13th reframed; Approach to a Recession-Proof Life and In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

Not able to sleep? Turn Off The TV, Turn Off The Lights

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:00:33 +0000

The past few days I've been really catching up on my sleep. I guess my body knows what it needs. Once again, last night at 7:00pm I felt myself getting sleepy. So instead of just dozing off in my big puffy chair as i usually do, I got up and went into bed. I figured I'd be back up before 11:00pm to do some work, but I didn't get up until 2:30am. I woke up for a few moments every hour or so, but just took note that it felt good to be snuggled in my bed and if felt good to be so sleepy. Years ago I turned my clock in the bedroom so I have to get up to see it. Since I drink so much water, I am usually up every few hours anyway, but even in the pitch of night I can somehow always guess within a few minutes what time it is. Turning the clock away was the best thing I ever did for my sleeping room. I've never been a recreational sleeper. I mean, it feels good to sleep, but my favorite is really those few moments as I fall into sleep, and as I begin to wake up. That sleepy, otherworldy place. During times of stress, sometimes that is the only respite from it, those few moments twice a day, isn't it? Since I'm a twice daily meditator since the 70's, I can recreate that alpha wave mindset during waking hours as well. It felt good to sleep, but it also reminded me how much time is lost in sleep. I can see how people can become addicted to sleeping, both as recreation and as an escape. As a way to pass the time when their own real life is not to their liking. I wish I could tell those people to use those few moments for some fantasy thinking, some pre-paving, some personal visioning, some creative visualization. I would tell them also how to program your inner dialogue to help propel them forward in their life, to keep them motivated and enthused. Not to just sleep their life away waiting for it to magically change without them doing anything about it. So, as I get older, I realize the value of sleep as far as doing its role to rejuvenate my physical cellular structure. I used to freak out when I didn't get 8 hours sleep in a row, then I realized not everyone is on that schedule, and that sleep patterns change throughout our lives. If I can remain flexible and surf them, I do best. I wrote in Gray Hair Cure Available in 10 Years; Aging Naturally: I’ve learned that my sleeping patterns morph and change with the years as well. I go months where I only get 2-3 hours at a time. I’ve arranged my schedule so I can do that at least twice a day. I know not to fall asleep with the tv on. It’s not just the retina of our eyes that register light and react to it. The cells of our body also react to light and sound and remain on active standby while we’re asleep. I wrote in 15 Simple Steps to Reboot A Sluggish System that just as poinsettas in the garden need 6 hours of darkness every 24 hours in order to bloom and grow, just so our mind and body does better when we have quiet darkness to sleep in. Even me, I’m always surprised to be reminded how much longer and sounder I sleep after I make myself shut off all external stimuli. I’ll go months just napping in the chair or on the couch and not actually making it into my bedroom, where it is completely dark and cool and quiet. Last night at 8:00pm when I began to doze in the big puffy chair, I made myself get up and go to bed. I didn’t get up until 2:00am. My body needed that! So you can’t complain that you’re not sleeping well unless you’re lying in your bed with all light and sound off. Ignore that inner voice that says you can’t fall asleep without the tv on. That’s just your mind tricking you. You’ve listened to that voice for so many years and that’s exactly what has gotten you to this point of not sleeping well. Even me, knowing this, it takes discipline to make me get myself up out of the big puffy chair to go lie in my bed. But I've learned that, like life, it's worth the trip. RELATED POSTS: Paving neural pathways to achieve meditation and access elusive inner states Herbert Benson’s Relaxation Response is the TM technique minus the ritual Programming Your Inner Dialogue To Move You Forward Creative Visualization Made Easy LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

lemon-lone-ovens-michael

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:56:06 +0000

Dead Sea Scrolls Debated by Single Poster with 50 Email Addresses

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 05:25:55 +0000

In 2,000-Year-Old Scrolls, Internet-Era Crime, Jim Dwyer writes: Early one morning in March, the law banged on the door of an apartment on Thompson Street in Greenwich Village. Investigators had a warrant to arrest Raphael Haim Golb and seize his computer. He was caught red-handed. Mr. Golb is, or was, a guerrilla fighter in a cyberbrawl over the Dead Sea Scrolls, a war about the origins of 2,000-year-old documents that has consumed the energy of academics around the globe. He was being arrested for fighting dirty. Mr. Golb is 49 years old and had 50 e-mail aliases. He used pseudonyms to post on blogs. Under the name of a professor he was trying to undermine, prosecutors charged, Mr. Golb wrote a quasi confession to plagiarism and circulated it among students and officials at New York University. His purpose, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said, was “to influence and affect debate on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and in order to harass Dead Sea Scrolls scholars who disagree with his viewpoint.” In the classic 1993 New Yorker cartoon by Peter Steiner, two dogs are perched in front of a computer screen. “On the Internet,” one says to the other, “nobody knows you’re a dog.” For a while, no one knew that 50 different names in the Dead Sea Scrolls debate were the prolific Mr. Golb, a graduate of Oberlin College who has a law degree from New York University and a doctorate in comparative literature from Harvard (dissertation: “The Problems of Privacy and Trust in Modern Literature, and their Relation to the Idea of Freedom”). In court papers filed last week, Mr. Golb’s lawyers argued that prosecutors were trying to criminalize the commonplace. Both sides in the Dead Sea Scrolls debate, they said, use “sock puppets” — fake identities — on the Internet to make it seem as if scores of people are arguing a point. “These bloggers marshaled their legion of sock puppets to engage in intellectual combat with the sock puppets allegedly created by Raphael Golb and others,” the lawyers wrote. No other creatures in the animal kingdom behave like this, not when the stakes are lower than food or mating or survival. And here’s a bonus: a thread of the Shakespearean runs through the case. Mr. Golb’s father is Norman Golb, a professor at the University of Chicago and a critic of claims that the Dead Sea Scrolls were the work of a sect called the Essenes, thought to have lived near the Qumran caves where the scrolls were found. Professor Golb has suggested that the scrolls were actually the product of several libraries in Jerusalem and were taken to the caves around the time the city fell to the Romans in the year 70. This is not a dispute for the fainthearted. Golb the Son has taken up his father’s cause with all the vigor permitted by multiple Gmail accounts. When he was arrested, Mr. Golb was asked by prosecutors if he wrote under the name “Charles Gadda,” one of the most visible Internet advocates for his father. He would not answer directly. “They would say that my father is doing it or asking me to do it,” Mr. Golb said, according to court papers. “My father certainly never asked me to do anything of the kind.” But he allowed that “Charles Gadda” was doing pretty well. “Do you realize that the Charles Gadda articles have been read by thousands of people?” Mr. Golb continued. “I know that, because I look at them, it says on them.” The Internet is, of course, both gold mine and sludge pile, where people lie about their ages, their abilities, the world. The prosecutors say that by adopting all those false identities, Mr. Golb was trying to obtain a benefit, and so committed criminal impersonation, identity theft and aggravated harassment. But Mr. Golb’s lawyers maintain that there was no tangible benefit, and therefore no crime. “Gaining an advantage in academic debate about the Dead Sea Scrolls is not the kind of benefit required by the law,” said Ronald Kuby, one of the defense lawyers. But what about the injury Mr. Golb apparently tried to inflict on Lawrence H. Schiffman, the chairman of Judaic studies at N.Y.U.? Someone wrote from larry.schiffman@gmail.com to Professor Schiffman’s graduate students and dean, alerting them to an article that suggested he had committed plagiarism. Perhaps two things go without saying: The article was actually written under one of Raphael Golb’s pseudonyms, and Professor Schiffman has been critical of the theories of Golb père. The defense claims that the e-mail messages were transparent parodies, and that in any event, injury to a reputation is a civil matter, not a criminal violation. “He writes letters in my names in which I am admitting to horrendous offenses,” Professor Schiffman said Friday. “This is the rough-and-tumble of the Internet?” That 1993 cartoon could use an update. On the Internet today, everybody knows you’re a dog. end of article### The same goes for just about any lively discussion you may find yourself in online. Especially if there is anything in it financially or reputation-wise for one of the parties. And, In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

In honor of Veteran's Day

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:58:00 +0000

Ah, 11/11 Veterans Day. In memory of my loving dad who returned shell shocked from WWII and his bipolar self just never got over it. The physical wounds these guys returned with were nothing compared to their psychological wounds. Know that even if they don't mention it. Be kind. Care. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

Depression linked to eating processed food

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 09:05:07 +0000

Eating a diet high in processed food increases the risk of depression, research suggests. What is more, people who ate plenty of vegetables, fruit and fish actually had a lower risk of depression, the University College London team found. The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more saturated fats and sugars said Dr Andrew McCulloch, Mental Health Foundation. Data on diet among 3,500 middle-aged civil servants was compared with depression five years later, the British Journal of Psychiatry reported. The team said the study was the first to look at the UK diet and depression. They split the participants into two types of diet - those who ate a diet largely based on whole foods, which includes lots of fruit, vegetables and fish, and those who ate a mainly processed food diet, such as sweetened desserts, fried food, processed meat, refined grains and high-fat dairy products. After accounting for factors such as gender, age, education, physical activity, smoking habits and chronic diseases, they found a significant difference in future depression risk with the different diets. Those who ate the most whole foods had a 26% lower risk of future depression than those who at the least whole foods. By contrast people with a diet high in processed food had a 58% higher risk of depression than those who ate very few processed foods. Mediterranean Diet Although the researchers cannot totally rule out the possibility that people with depression may eat a less healthy diet they believe it is unlikely to be the reason for the findings because there was no association with diet and previous diagnosis of depression. Study author Dr Archana Singh-Manoux pointed out there is a chance the finding could be explained by a lifestyle factor they had not accounted for. "There was a paper showing a Mediterranean diet was associated with a lower risk of depression but the problem with that is if you live in Britain the likelihood of you eating a Mediterranean diet is not very high. "So we wanted to look at bit differently at the link between diet and mental health." It is not yet clear why some foods may protect against or increase the risk of depression but scientists think there may be a link with inflammation as with conditions such as heart disease. Dr Andrew McCulloch, chief executive of the Mental Health Foundation, said: "This study adds to an existing body of solid research that shows the strong links between what we eat and our mental health. "Major studies like this are crucial because they hold the key to us better understanding mental illness." He added people's diets were becoming increasingly unhealthy. "The UK population is consuming less nutritious, fresh produce and more saturated fats and sugars. We are particularly concerned about those who cannot access fresh produce easily or live in areas where there are a high number of fast food restaurants and takeaways." Margaret Edwards, head of strategy at the mental health charity SANE, said: "Physical and mental health are closely related, so we should not be too surprised by these results, but we hope there will be further research which may help us to understand more fully the relationship between diet and mental health." ### end of article Maybe that's why I'm such a happy camper: I eat very little processed food. Ok, I only began eating this way in 2005, but I know it has helped my health and my attitude both. I get a little sluggish when I eat pasta and bread, and my sinuses fill, that's how it affects me. A little goes a long way with me. RELATED POSTS: Exercise and Mediterranean Diet Associated With Lower Alzheimer’s Risk Higher Cognitive Performance with High Intake of Fruits and Veggies Keeping Your Muscles in Motion Keeps You at Less Risk for Azheimer's Disease and Aging in General When I'm Healthy, I'm Never Down For Long In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits $10 mp3 Visit Goddess Grub, healthy and luscious low fat foods for the goddess on the go Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

Keeping Your Muscles in Motion Keeps You at Less Risk for Azheimer's Disease and Aging in General

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 10:43:26 +0000

At Greater Muscle Strength Associated With Decreased Alzheimer's Risk: A study has found that individuals with weaker muscle strength appear to have a higher risk for Alzheimer's disease and declines in cognitive function. Alzheimer's disease is characterized by declines in memory and other cognitive functions, and is also associated with other features, such as impaired gait and other motor functions, depression and decreased grip strength. Cognitive refers to a range of brain functions, including thinking, learning and memory. "Because Alzheimer's disease develops slowly over many years and its hallmark is change in cognitive function, we examined the association of muscle strength with cognitive decline," the authors write. Individuals who were stronger at the beginning of the study experienced a slower rate of decline. Overall, these data show that greater muscle strength is associated with a decreased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment." This is good to know. Another reason to get those 3 lb and 8 lb hand weights out and use them. In fact, I keep them in plain sight in the living room so I can do a few repetitions a few times a day. When I walk out to the mailbox, often I'll take a walk around the block while I'm at it. When I shop, I park my car at the other end of the lot to give myself another good walk. I do yoga every day but really like how I feel when I use my muscles more actively as well. And you don't have to join a gym to stay active and keep your muscles in motion. I have a giant exercise ball that I use here at home, and several sizes of elastic bands. You can find some easy exercise routines online and on FitTV, Brighthouse Channel 112. I like watching them exercise. It motivates me and programs my unconscious mind to be excited about joining in. But there are ways to stay in motion without officially exercising. When I began cleaning my own house, I realized it was real work. I now take the time to vacuum almost every day, just to get a little aerobic exercise. I clean the kitchen every time I'm in there. I keep pots and pans and dishes put away. Just those few moment of extra effort has you using your muscles a little more each day. I am tall, so I store many things on high shelves. That keeps me reaching for them and that helps keep my muscles long and supple. I also still store many things in the bottom cabinets. I don't want to become one of those people who can't stoop down without getting stuck there. How many times do you do that and think, "Ok while I'm down here, what else can I do?" When I take a walk around the yard, I am always picking up the fallen branches and hauling them to the woodpile. I am always picking up small twigs and tossing them into the pile of kindling. I am always taking the fallen palm fronds to the street, or into the woods to add to the privacy wall out front. I have 2 low hanging branches that everytime I pass them, I reach up and grab the branch and swing from it or chin myself. Yeah, chin ups - harder than push ups. Don't think so? Try doing one. Also to help keep my muscles strong and in use, I am always moving furniture around. I am always rearranging the plywood and ladders and tools in the shed. I am always moving the decorative rocks and concrete stepping stones around the yard as well. Once they begin to get overgrown, I pull them up and place them once again on top. That's an ongoing process here. So, no, you don't need to freak yourself out thinking you have to join a gym and do 5 hours of zumba a week to stay fit. If the idea of actual exercise freaks you out, that just means you're not vibrating in that space just yet. Don't push it. Just get more active doing things around the house and yard. Spend less time in your big puffy chair. Turn on FitTV, Brighthouse Channel 112, and watch them exercise. Watch the belly dance class on Shimmy. Or leave it on in the background so your unconscious mind can have time to get excited about it, if you don't want to join in right now. The bottom line is Just stay in motion to keep your muscles strong. Then, as the studies show, you have less risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and less declines in cognitive function. We're living longer than in our grandparents' time. With just a little effort, we can stay strong and vital well into our golden years. That's what I intend to do. RELATED POSTS: Exercise and Mediterranean Diet Associated With Lower Alzheimer’s Risk Higher Cognitive Performance with High Intake of Fruits and Veggies Depression linked to eating processed food When I'm Healthy, I'm Never Down For Long In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits $10 mp3 Visit Goddess Grub, healthy and luscious low fat foods for the goddess on the go Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

The saga of the lone lemon

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:33:24 +0000

[caption id="attachment_5841" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Michael O's Lone Lemon"][/caption] A friend posted on Facebook the other day a photo of a tree in his yard with the caption "The saga of the Lone Lemon continues." He said it's been the lone lemon for 6 or 7 months. I took a look at the pic and told him "I'd widen the circle around this tree if you want that trunk to thicken up and grow straight, or at least center it so the one side is not so near to the trunk. I learned that with mine. That trunk will thicken up even in the next month, " I wrote, "if you set the hose to trickle on it after the circle is removed. The same with being tied to a stake, it can feel something closeby and doesn't want to intrude and grow into it so it stunts its own growth and stays slim and weak. Weird huh?" I thought how like this tree we all are. We find ourselves in a circle of people who also act as a boundary to us as well. Then inside this boundary all the ideas are thrown around and bounced off each other and come back around again, and we begin to get self contained. And in our containment often comes smallness, as we shrink ourselves down to avoid being singled out, even to having no original ideas, just going along with the group mindset. But when those boundaries are removed, we can reach our arms out all around us and spin in joy, and we are free and not bumping into what was once our boundaries. We have freedom to grow and stretch and reach beyond our current capacity. We can grow strong because nothing hovers to pin us in. And just like removing the concrete circle around the trunk of the lemon tree, we can remove those outdated notions and even friends who only serve now to limit us or hold us back, and free ourselves to enjoy more that life has to offer. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

Did Oprah go too far showing Charla Nash's face after chimpanzee attack left her blinded and without her hands, nose and lips

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:33:14 +0000

Charla Nash lost most of her face after being mauled by a friend's chimpanzee. She appeared on Oprah and the media criticizes letting her face be shown. SO WHAT. We look like we look. She's in the midst of multiple surgeries! WHO CARES. She's brave and doing a real service being seen at all. BRAVO. The article is below Did Oprah Go Too Far? (Nov. 12) -- Charla Nash has been mauled by a chimpanzee, and now we can only hope she won't be mauled by the media and general public. I would not even begin to criticize the tone and substance of Oprah Winfrey's interview with the 56-year-old woman who was beaten beyond recognition just nine months ago by her friend's exotic pet. Oprah is a genius in the art of the interview, and that comes from having a sense of compassion that can't be contrived. Even with all her accomplishments, her segment with Nash may go down as one of her finest moments. But was it really necessary to show this woman's face? Did the veil need to be lifted? Now Nash must face the ramifications of knowing that images of her will reach every corner of the Internet. Moreover, this was done on afternoon TV. Do we not even make token gestures anymore to seem like a society that attempts to shield children from things they might not be ready to see? I know many people were touched by this segment. My 78-year-old mother -- a true Oprah connoisseur -- was knocked out. "It was unbelievable. I cried," she said. "I loved when Oprah went to wipe a tear from the eye on that woman's face -- the eye that wasn't even there." My mom has been "down in the dumps," as she would say, having lost two close friends in recent weeks. Seeing Nash clearly put her in touch with her own inner strength. "To have the guts to go on TV like that!" Mom said. "Charla Nash is one of the strongest women I've ever seen. That chimpanzee didn't destroy her, not the part that was inside." Oprah had worked her magic. She lifted my mother's spirits. For that, of course, I am grateful. But my father, hardly a shrinking violet, had to leave the room. I'm sure he wasn't the only one. Now, a day later, we must deal with the ramifications of Nash's TV appearance. It's now everywhere -- posted on blogs, rehashed on morning TV and radio. Whenever disturbing media images make their way across the Internet, I'm reminded of those horrible photos of the torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib. It was necessary to expose those abuses. But by the time these images become fodder for "The Daily Show" and "Saturday Night Live," they were reduced to cheap comedy. I'm afraid that this poor woman's face is now going to become just one more image that gets shown over and over again -- and the dignity Oprah found in Nash's courage will be lost. Already we've seen the infamous New York Post headline writers dub her the "Chimp Maul Gal." The New York Daily News drolly observed, "If Charla Nash still had eyes, she too would be horrified." Brace Yourself for Tasteless Jokes Brace yourself for the tasteless Charla Nash jokes, Halloween costumes and late-show parodies. This is the age of the Internet, and the toothpaste is now out of the YouTube. Of course, it was Nash's decision to show her face. But as someone who has never been exposed to the burn of today's multimedia barrage, did she know what she was getting into? And having spent the past nine months in the Cleveland Clinic, where she is hoping to get a face transplant, was she even in the condition to make such a decision? When Oprah asked her if she was even aware of the extent of her injuries, Nash told her, "Not all the way, because it's less for me to worry about if I don't know." The chimp that attacked her ripped off her nose, her lips, one thumb, and a large part of her scalp. Surgeons had to create a hole in her face so she could drink meals through a straw. Only weeks ago did she learn that her eyes would have to be removed to quell an infection. "I don't ask a whole lot about my injuries," she told Oprah. "I know that I have my forehead," she said. "It feels like just patches of tape or gauze covering my face." Nash wore a black veil through the early part of the interview. She said she wears it around the hospital "so I don't scare people." At one point, guards were stationed at her door so paparazzi wouldn't snap a photo of her. Oprah duly warned her that once she lifted that veil, her picture would be broadcast "all over the world." "That's fine," Nash said. "I'm starting to get stronger and ready for everything." I hope that's true. But one thing is undeniable: It's nearly impossible to say "no" to Oprah. ### end of article And my friend Bernadette Carter said it perfectly: My question is...with ALL the people in the world being mauled by HUMANS why does this particular woman's story make Oprah? LISTEN FREE: Sleepytime Recharge Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

When Friends Betray Friends

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 11:36:13 +0000

I wrote on Facebook that I have two friends - 20 year business partners. I'll call them Chris and Rainbow. Chris helped Rainbow build the business, doing the appointment scheduling, the venue bookings, all the publicity and promotion, promoting Rainbow on her own time as well. Without Chris, Rainbow would not have made it big. Oh yes, Rainbow finally signed a lucrative contract a few months ago. She hired an attorney, a new manager, fired Chris and sent her a letter to move out of the home Rainbow has been renting her for last 11 years. Not only does Chris get no piece of the pie she helped bake, she now has no job, no home, no who-she-thought-was-her-best-friend. Get it in writing folks, whether you're best buddies or not. Get it in writing, even if it's your best bud, your mom, your mate or your sister. Oh, did I leave out the part that she is a metaphysical teacher and coach? And Chris just reminded me her car is in Rainbow's name also, as is the car insurance. I got some good comments from my Faceboook friends: Allyn Pier: oh sh*t, talk about cutting ties. That's shredding them. Never know who you are in bed with. Jeffery Stone: a sad commentary about the human side of greed, lack of intention and respect and its effect on the entire collective ... I'm sad for both ... Debbi Dickerson: My mom's friend bought a Lotto ticket in Texas and left it with her sister when she went to NC - the ticket won $21 Million - the sister tried to keep all of the money - Mom's friend sued her own sister and settled for 8 million - they have never spoken since (the sisters) and they are twins - go figure! This happened over 10 years ago - made the Houston paper and everything. So don't even leave your lotto ticket with anyone! Charles Scheidecker: It's baffling how people can let the steam rise to their heads like that... Lori Grear: the only way a person is really successful is if they lift others up as they themselves rise... stepping on and using people will never lead to true success or happiness. Chris asked me how she attracted this, since she was truly dedicated for twenty, count 'em 20 years to getting Rainbow's message "out to the world." She never thought this would happen in a million years, never. Now she's 48, having to start over. I figure she can either drive herself crazy trying to figure out the Universe's karmic lesson for her, or she can take it as the gift of a fresh slate. One lesson certainly is that you never know - whether by intent or circumstance - when your world will change. When everything you knew is no more. What then? What then, indeed. RELATED POST When People Change Intentions and Break Contracts LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

Are you in a Relationship or Just Filling in the Blanks?

Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:51:29 +0000

Did you ever have an argument with someone and walk away feeling like you weren't sure what just happened? Maybe felt as though the two of you were not having the same conversation? I do readings for a lot of the people I know and so I often hear both sides of a story. I know I don't always experience what the other person experiences. As far as arguing over something that happened, I can tell someone: This is what happened to me. This is how it looks to me and this is what I am reacting to. Please tell me what you experienced. Until I do that, I can't really know. How can there be so many misunderstandings between people? It's usually because they are not talking and discussing new issues as they naturally come up in life, so they are filling in the blanks and causing their mind to react to sh*t that's not really there. And if they are talking, the words they use don't always mean the same for both. Then sometimes we purposely don't talk, because we don't want to burst our partner's bubble. My friend Domino is like that. He gets into a series of relationships with women who cater to him and support him and with whom he has the "I think you're the one" talk. Actually, it's usually the women who have the talk and he merely smiles and gives non-responsive rhetoric, and he lets them fill in the blanks. Don't get me wrong, he likes these women, he enjoys being with them, and he is looking for the one. But he realizes early on that they are not the one. He says nothing because he's enjoys the current living arrangement (each time). He doesn't want to commit, but he isn't ready for anything to change. She cooks him breakfast and dinner, for gosh sakes. She does his laundry and the sex is good. Who wants to jeopardize that? He doesn't think of it as leading them on, but he's definitely letting them fill in the blanks with things that he has no intention of participating in. He says he's just letting them stay in the mystery a little longer to help fuel their creative visualization. They, on the other hand, always believe he is their fiance. I say he's limiting himself if he stays with someone he is not absolutely wild about. I say if you know the one you are with is not The One, free them up right away so they can attract The One that can be wild about them, someone they can find actual love and joy with. Don't phone it in. Don't let your partner fill in the blanks. Be there or be gone, leaving you both available for the next joy to come. :) RELATED POST: Good Girls, Spiritual Seekers: Why Do We Like The Bad Boys? Filling In The Blanks and Staying In The Mystery The Creative Visualization Process LISTEN FREE: Sleepytime Recharge Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

2012

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:26:12 +0000

2012: Disaster Movies and Law of Attraction. How To Keep From Clouding Your Psychic Centers with Emotional Interference

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 07:56:59 +0000

A friend posted on Facebook last week, along with a movie poster of the movie 2012: "If people were better educated about the power of individual and mass thoughts, words, and images, they would not make movies like this." I completely agree. I flat out don't watch violence or horror flicks, or even the daily news of man's inhumanity against man. I don't care to, even for 90 minutes of fantasy, vibrate in harmony with disaster movies, with being afraid, feeling insecure, watching everyone lose everything around them and wail in pain and fear and misery. I don't need that stuff in my consciousness. That is nothing that adds to my enjoyment of life, so I don't let it in. Why? I don't want to have to wade through the emotional filters that spring up after watching something like that, when my job depends on me being tuned in to my intuition and tuned in to the subtleties of the nonphysical world around me. I've done psychic readings as a profession since the 1980's, and I've learned what works and what doesn't, as far as keeping my signal clear. If I am digesting a meal, not so clear. It's like the food throws a filter or a screen over the lens into which I peer. I'm sure it's just that the digestive process subconsciously takes part of my attention, since where energy flows, attention goes. If I need sleep, I'm surprisingly clear. If I am doing bookkeeping, not remotely clear. The math work my brain goes through throws up a giant filter between the info, the scene, and what I end up seeing. If I just woke up, I'm pretty clear. If I smoke the rare clove cigarette, not real clear. If I am emotionally involved in thought, that's the biggest filter of all. It's also when my impressions are the most likely to be illusory: false, low level, astral impressions. What is an astral impression? People use the word "astral" in different ways. When I use it, I mean the astral plane as the plane of emotion, the plane of the collective thoughts of mankind, including their fears and fantasies. The astral plane is the plane most psychics pick up on. That's why they can pick up on your thoughts and plans, and still be completely wrong as to predictions of outcome. For many who practice as psychics, all they have access to is the astral plane and to top it off, they have their emotional filters on top of that, as well as the digesting filters and the smoking/drinking filters, etc. It took me about 20 years to learn my pattern, to learn I had to remove the filters to be most effective since I was doing this professionally full time now. Like for about ten years I kept the tv off. That removed a big layer of personal emotional thought and reaction. That practice helped me know what my thoughts and my skills are like without a constant daily emotional reaction. The first time I fasted, I become markedly clearer, so I stopped eating before sessions and was rewarded by more clarity. It took me like 20 years to figure out what works and what puts a damper on my intuition. And watching movies designed to take the viewer on an emotional roller coaster ride isn't something I need to have in my consciousness. I learned long ago to not let in thoughts and people who do not add to my experience. If it isn't a plus, if it isn't an upliftment from where I am, I simply do not consider it a priority. Period. Some good buddies say "Oh, I just like watching action movies." To each of them I say, "is everything in your life going as you want it to go?" and for many of them, the answer is a "not quite yet." When I begin watching movies that elicit emotion, or have startling, sudden scenes that surprise the nervous system, I think about those scenes for a while afterward. My experience of course does not have to be yours. I see the world with a much more focused eye than most. If I'm emotionally wound up about something, I can't be psychically clear, period. If you are experiencing any kind of lack in your life, it's connected only to your state of consciousness. If spending thought-time with the scenes from a movie such as 2012 add to your sense of well being and connection to Source, and thoughts of a hopeful future, then this suggestion isn't for you. If not, try a 30 day fast of no violence or horror or news, just for relativity. Then there is a woman I know who is 77 years old and her daughter took her to see 2012, although she didn't really care to go. She has been horrified ever since that something like that could happen. The scenes of the movie have not left her mind. She talks to her friends, who she also scares to death, and is afraid to go to sleep because she is afraid she will dream about what she saw. And she's just one person I know. People do not know what fear they put in someone else's heart by what they put out there. So as far as 2012 and other disaster movies, Jeffrey Smith said "I'm going to make my own movie called "2013 - We're still here and Love abounds." Jeffrey knows what it's all about. And, anyway, if tomorrow we lose everything we've ever known, so what? Abraham-Hicks says that "Asking what comes after death is like asking what comes after lunch? Or what comes after sleep? Or what comes after now? The answer is more! More opportunities to focus, more opportunities to compare and, gloriously, more opportunities to decide. You are eternal beings, romping about the Universe, giving your careful attention to a myriad of subjects, finding pleasure and interest and satisfaction everywhere you turn — forever!" I'm not worried. I know it will just be like going to sleep here and waking up there. I'll just wake up somewhere else and the next step will be shown to me then. I'm ready. Hey, if this was my last day on earth, I'd look back on my life and be giddy with joy that I was the one who got to live it. RELATED LINKS: The End of Death As We Know It Her Perception Upon Dying . In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience and Connecting with your Angels, Guides and Teachers Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Estate of Jack Slee vs. Werner Erhard - Death During Est Training. Set a Precedent for the James Ray Lawsuits?

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:12:31 +0000

After this original blog post months ago, I received a cease and desist letter from Werner Erhard's attorneys. Their letter appears at the end of this. I'm not out to get anyone. I figure if I don't know something, that means a lot of people don't know it, and this revised post is the chance to set everyone straight. In the ongoing investigation of the James Ray Sedona Sweat Lodge matter, more survivors are coming forward to speak out, and more incidents are coming to light. But these incidents are not particular only to James Arthur Ray. They are reported to have happened before and are documented, notably in the case of Werner Erhard, founder of est. An interesting book is Outrageous Betrayal: The Real Story of Werner Erhard from Est to Exile by Steven Pressman. Note that attorneys for Werner Erhard say, “What Mr. Pressman wrote was taken from a CBS 60 Minutes broadcast about Mr. Erhard, which broadcast has been decertified by CBS News.” Erhard’s est is now owned by Erhard’s brother and marketed as Landmark Education formerly Landmark Forum. At Death during est training, Wikipedia tells us: Jack Slee paid $425 for the seminar, and attended the August 14, 1983 est training given at the Park Plaza Hotel in New Haven, CT. Hours before the incident involving Slee, emergency responders transported another est training participant named Thomas Kruh, age 31, to the hospital. Kruh blacked out and experienced a seizure during the est training, was attended to and revived by paramedics, and transported to Yale-New Haven Hospital where he stayed for one night. Witnesses to the incident told law enforcement officials that as Kruh fell to the floor he started screaming that he was dying. Firefighter William Seward stated that while attempting to respond to the incident involving Kruh, himself and his crewmember were instructed by two est officials that they were not to enter the ballroom where the est training was ongoing. Seward and his partner had to push past the est officials in order to gain access to Kruh. According to Seward, participants in the est training were seated and facing the stage while Krush was receiving medical treatment. "They didn’t stop the program. People were standing up telling stories. They were crying," said Seward. Kruh later refused to discuss the incident with police, and his medical records were reported as missing from Yale-New Haven Hospital. Jack Slee died during the est training seminar after participating in a 16-hour session. He fell backwards while standing on stage with other est participants, during a part of the training known as "the danger process" or "fear confront" which had started at approximately 11:30 P.M. that night. During this process, Slee was supposed to confront his fear of standing in front of a group of individuals. Individuals were known to collapse during the est training, and an est graduate whose role was called a "body catcher" or "people catcher" broke Slee's fall and then went to get help. Assistants in the est training discovered that Slee was not breathing, and attempted to resuscitate him.While individuals were attempting to revive Slee, est trainer David Norris yelled to those in the hotel ballroom: "This is all right. Don't let this bother you. This has nothing to do with you." Responders and paramedics from a local New Haven fire department arrived at the hotel, but were held outside the emergency scene by est training assistants who were standing guard by the ballroom doors. Paramedic Daniel Dolphin stated that a woman met him and his crewmember outside the hotel and escorted them inside, but would not allow the room to attend to Slee. "People were laughing. They were crying. My first impression was that it was a comedy show and the guy who was lying on the stage was faking it," said Dolphin in a statement to the New Haven Journal-Courier.The firefighters pushed past those guarding the doors, and found Slee did not have a heartbeat. Dolphin's ambulance partner, Tony Deluise of the New Haven Ambulance Company, said to the Boston Phoenix that he witnessed odd behavior while responding to Slee: "They were all in seats, just sitting there and facing the stage, like an audience. Most were quiet; a few you could hear crying, a few laughing." Paramedics removed Slee from the ballroom prior to midnight, and transported him to Yale-New Haven Hospital. Meanwhile in the est training, instructor David Norris requested that participants "share" their thoughts on what had just transpired, and one of the trainees stated Norris had told est participants to think about the likelihood that Slee had "willed his own death". At 1:03 A.M., Slee was declared dead by physicians at Yale-New Haven Hospital die due to "undetermined causes". Read further about the Police Investigation, the Response from est Officials and the Wrongful Death Lawsuit against Werner Erhard for the details. ### end of Wikipedia excerpt In his book Outrageous Betrayal, Pressman details how Erhard became increasingly and obsessively megalomaniacal with not only the participants, but notably his staff. Using techniques Pressman said he took from Scientology, Mind Dynamics and other group awareness trainings, he spied on his staff, psychologically abused them, physically abused them and under duress everyone became an automaton to do the personal bidding of Erhard. The book even details that he took control of their sex lives, of which by the way they had to reveal the details to Erhard in the various mandatory audits and consulting sessions he demanded. According to Pressman, Erhard was well versed in how to program someone's mind, how to break them down and rebuild them as he would have them. Sound familiar? What also sounds familiar is how, even when during the est seminar victims where lying dead or dying on stage, the est officials assured everyone that it was business as usual, saying this has nothing to do with you. If this is true, it kind of reminds me of James Ray standing around after the sweat lodge victims had been dragged out of the lodge and were lying sick and dying on the grounds, some being attended to, some not, but all being watched over by James Ray, who did nothing to assist. By witness accounts, he did not approach anyone to offer help, he simply stood there, watching, until he left the scene altogether. I took est in the 1970's, when I was very young, very naive and very impressionable. I learned I am emotionally a very strong person, so I got a lot out of it and suffered no ill effects. Not so with many of the attendees however. It was nothing to see seemingly strong people broken down psychologically until they were lying fetal on the floor, screaming, blubbering and drooling, completely out of control, right next to me. My husband at the time was one of them. We were not allowed to sit together. We were directed not to touch them or pay attention to them. In these cases, I just figured, as did all involved, that someone responsible would be in charge at the seminar so that no real damage was done. This was not the case. My husband was never the same and took his own life a few years later. We can't change the past but we can change what happens in the future by making sure that anyone doing any kind of work like this is fully qualified to do so. And we can bring out into the open anyone who is not. Everyone deserves a chance to clean up their act and clean up their karma. Even James Ray. ### 3-11-10 After I posted the above, I received the following Cease and Desist letter from attorneys for Werner Erhard: January 19, 2010 Dear Ms. de Michaelis: This office represents Werner Erhard. Your article/blog post is defamatory to our client and actionable at law and we demand you immediately remove the article from your website. You summarize, in a particularly slanted way, some of what Steven Pressman wrote in his book Outrageous Betrayal. What Mr. Pressman wrote was taken from a CBS 60 Minutes broadcast about Mr. Erhard, which broadcast has been decertified by CBS News. In March 1991, CBS aired a 60 Minutes segment on Werner Erhard with scurrilous accusations of Mr. Erhard's character. CBS acknowledged its 1991 60 Minutes program about Werner Erhard was inaccurate. The March 1991 segment and transcript of 60 Minutes was removed by CBS from public access. You don't have to take my word for this. It was disclosed by the Los Angeles Times in December 1991 that Scientology orchestrated an attack on Werner Erhard by using private investigators to generate and feed false information to the media, including to 60 Minutes. With the truth revealed about Scientology having engineered a campaign to undermine Werner Erhard's character and reputation, by 1999 investigative journalists finally got to the truth about Mr. Erhard. There are several publications that reported that the allegations about Mr. Erhard's personal character made in March 1991 CBS 60 Minutes broadcast had been recanted and proven untrue. "The '60 Minutes' segment was filled with so many factual discrepancies that the transcript was made unavailable with this disclaimer: This segment has been deleted at the request of CBS News for legal or copyright reasons.1" "Est, Werner Erhard, and the Corporatization of Self Help", by Suzanne Snider, The Believer, Vol. 1, No. 2, May 2003, p.27 "...reports of tax fraud (which proved false and won him $200,000 from the IRS) and allegations of incest (which were later recanted)." "The Best of Est?", by Charlotte Faltermayer, Time Magazine, June 24, 2001 "His daughter recanted allegations of incest, and the Internal Revenue Service acknowledged that reports of tax fraud were false; Erhard won $200,000 in that case." "Soul Training", by Alison Bass, The Boston Globe, March 3, 1999 "She later recanted her allegations of abuse, and the U.S. government ltimately paid Erhard $200,000 over statements the IRS made..." "EST Is Back, More Popular Than Ever", by Oliver Libaw, abcnews.com, August 13, 2002 "The allegations themselves - of tax fraud and incest - quickly faded away. In the aftermath he got $200,000 from the American taxman, and one of his daughters, who had accused him of abuse on the television programme 60 Minutes, later said she had been offered millions of dollars to lie." "The Story of Our Lives", by Vanora Bennett, The Times Magazine (London), July 15, 2000 Following the disclosures of the inaccuracies made by independent journalists and as a result of their own investigation, CBS repudiated its 60 Minutes report and removed the program from public distribution because of these inaccuracies. CBS took this action at their own initiation as a matter of journalistic integrity because the accusations made during the program proved to be false, and not as a result of any legal pressure from Mr. Erhard as has been falsely reported. In addition, Mr. Pressman's book is discredited by the review Google Books chose to include in its online library listing for Outrageous Betrayal. I quote snippets from the review (Editorial Review - Kirkus Reviews Copyright (c) VNU Business Media, Inc.): "Mud-slinging expose... As his title makes clear, Pressman (a former writer for California Lawyer) makes no pretense to objectivity here... ...dogged telling here of what, surely, is only half the story." Mr. Erhard did not take techniques from Scientology. Mr. Erhard is a life long Episcopalian, and has never been a Scientologist. In fact, as by the Los Angeles Times, at the heart of the Church of Scientology's 20 year campaign designed to destroy Werner Erhard's reputation was Mr. Erhard's refusal to have any association with Scientology. According to the Los Angeles Times, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, whose "hatred" of Erhard was passed along to his followers after Hubbard's 1986 death, was jealous of the meteoric rise of est in the public perception in the 1970s. The allegation that Mr. Erhard was a Scientologist originated from Scientology itself as part of this campaign in an attempt to defame Mr. Erhard personally and co-opt Mr. Erhard's work as Scientology's. Neither the est Training nor any other work of Mr. Erhard's was based on Scientology's beliefs, principles or ideas. His work is not religious in nature and in fact contains no belief system. There are independent studies and reports that verify this, and published retractions/corrections when publications were fooled by Scientology and after researching the facts had to "take it back". Mr. Pressman has no footnotes in his book; the book does not attribute to any person the statements made in the book (except when Mr. Pressman identifies 60 Minutes, and of course 60 Minutes has since retracted their statements); and without footnotes and attribution the book can only be seen as a novel and not a legitimate or believable biography. As to the unfortunate event of Mr. Slee's death, you paint a picture of responsibility lying with Mr. Erhard or his organization, and you purposefully do not say that a Court, listening to all the facts and the evidence, found that neither Werner Erhard & Associates nor the est Training were the cause of or responsible for Mr. Slee's death. You say "it is not easy to find legal precedents to rely on", and the one case you cite demonstrates that the est Training does not cause harm. Since there are no cases in which the est Training was found to cause harm, it is easy to find legal precedents - they are all in favor of Mr. Erhard and not your malicious point of view. As to any connection between Mr. Erhard or the est Training and James Ray - there is none. James Ray's own written documents show Mr. Ray distinguishing his techniques from Mr. Erhard's. You can see this for yourself in "James Ray International document guaranteed to upset self help colleagues" by Cassandra Yorgey, www.examiner.com. January 10, 2009. Mr. Erhard has nothing to do with the "Sweat Lodge matter" or with James Ray, who is about to be charged with murder, and for you to say and imply that he does is both inaccurate and clear evidence of malice. The statements in your blog post are what we lawyers call libel per se - the most serious form of defamation. Perhaps you have been misled, like others have been, by the vicious attack on Mr. Erhard by Scientology. Perhaps you have your own personal motives to defame Mr. Erhard. Perhaps there is another explanation. The outcome to you is the same. You are on notice that the statements you published are inaccurate, and to continue to publish the statements is clear malice. The solution is for you to remove your blog post immediately. Please respond with the requested action and let me know you have removed the article/blog post by January 26, 2010. Sincerely, Terry I. Giles For your reference: The Los Angeles Times article is available in full at: http://articles.latimes.com/1991-12-29/news/mn-2102_1_werner-erhard The Time Magazine article is available in full at: http://www.time.eom/time/magazine/article/0.9171,987975,00.html The ABC story is available in full at: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=91388&page=1 The Boston Globe article is available in full at: http://www.boston.com/qlobe/search/stories/reprints/soultraininq062199.htm The London Times article is available in full at: http://www.wernererhard.com/lontimes.pdf The Believer article is available in full at: http://www.believerrnag.com/issues/200305/?read=article_snider The examiner.com article is available at: http://www.examiner.com/x-11245-Philadelphia-Speculative-Fiction-Examiner~y2010m1d10-James-Ray-International-document-guaranteed-to-upset-self-help-colleagues My initial response upon receipt of the letter was: Hello and thank you for writing. Until I have time to review the matter more closely, I have removed the blog post. I'm not out to get anyone. I think in the interest of the readers, however, it would help them to be aware of what you made me aware of, by allowing me to add your letter to the end of the blog post. Let me know your thoughts. Andrea

On 1-22-10, I formally responded: Hello, I've amended the blog post to read as follows below. I was merely giving my opinion on what someone else wrote about a matter of public interest, and forming an opinion on corelations I noticed to a current matter of public interest. I was not defaming your client. I had no idea the information in the Pressman book was in question, nor the CBS interview. If a fictional movie fit the same circumstances, I'd have referred to the movie. There is no malice whatever, I assure you.

Since many people - like me - do not know the CBS story was pulled, I'd like to run your C & D email in the blogpost itself. I will do so in its entirety, so all your links will be included. In fairness, I want to give the opportunity to set the matter straight about your client on the same page as I present the Pressman material. Unless I hear from you otherwise by the end of the month, I'll assume that's ok. Thank you. Andrea de Michaelis Email and certified letter sent 1-22-10, no response as of 3-11-10, so the above is the revised post. RELATED POSTS: When Former Devotees Expose Fraudulent Gurus: John-Roger, Werner Erhard, Carlos Castaneda Updated Links for info about the James Ray Sedona Sweat Lodge In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone.

Great Jobs for Women at Menopause: Rolling with the Ch-Ch-Changes

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:58:12 +0000

In 10 Great Jobs for Midlife Women, Aaron Crowe wrote, "More.com ran a list of 10 great jobs for midlife women. It's a short list of jobs meant to feed your passion, and I think they could work just as well for a man as a woman. They're jobs in growing sectors that don't rely on youth but on experience, and offer flexible hours and the ability to work remotely. And they pay well. These jobs may make you want to change your life, according to More.com. And if they don't, they should at least give you some ideas on how to find your passion and turn it into a job." Here they are, with a salary range and an idea of the challenge of each: 1. Chief Environmental Officer. Help a company shrink its carbon footprint and earn a six-figure salary. Challenge: Navigating politics inside and outside your organization. 2. Religious Leader. Pastors can earn from $48,000 to more than $100,000. Challenge: Being a public role model. 3. Fund-raiser. Use your networking skills to get money out of groups and individuals. Pay is $50,500 for the first year. Challenge: Making cold calls. 4. Genetics Counselor. A master's degree is typically needed to help people decide if they should get medical treatment based on genetic testing. Pay is $59,000 per year. Challenge: Helping make heart-wrenching decisions. 5. Landscape Architect. Making an outdoor space come to life sounds like an easy job, but a college degree helps. Pay is $90,000. Challenge: Local politics. 6. Tax Expert. The IRS is conducting more audits and someone is needed to help people prepare forms and handle audits. Pay is $50 to $400 per hour. Challenge: Gotta be good with numbers. 7. Education Advocate. Help special-needs children with their education options. Pay is $60,000 per year. Challenge: Bureaucrats. 8. Financial Adviser. Help people plan their financial future, earning $120,000 a year. Challenge: Understanding stocks, interest rates. 9. Online Professor. The ultimate job from home or anywhere with a computer and Internet connection, earning $70,000 a year. Challenge: Constantly being on a computer. 10. Commercial Real Estate Agent. While real estate prices are falling, the commercial side can be more lucrative. Pay is $61,000. Challenge: Working for commission Remember: These are just a start and should give anyone -- man or woman -- a good starting ground for discovering their passion and finding a job they look forward to going to each day. 10 Great Jobs for Midlife Women, Aaron Crow I loved reading this article, because I learned that I already have the job of my dreams and I already earn at the top of their scale. I would like to say it was hard work and a struggle to get here, but the truth is I pretty much just fell into it while I was pursing other interests. Sometimes it seems as though I started down the hill on my toboggan and took all these really neat twists and turns and got surprised ending up on the other side of the mountain from where I thought I was headed. Surprised to find myself in this place, but thrilled all the same. I did not imagine anything this good. I always figured I'd do something fun, something interesting, but had not settled on what I wanted to try first. It was 1991 and I knew I was going to step out of the legal profession, I felt pretty finished with that, although I continued to do non-lawyer legal document preparation for a few years. I didn't know what I was going to do, but I was beginning to give it some thought. My first thoughts were I could simply be a yoga and meditation teacher. I didn't have a lot of debt and I didn't need a lot of income. I began to make a list of everything I had the skills to do, even if they were not jobs I wanted to do: I could clean and sew and paint and do handyman stuff. I could do the legal work but wanted to stay away from that. I liked videotaping local events. I was already producing a small newsletter called Into The Light that was a product of my contemplations of the Alice Bailey work I was studying at the time. My mother saw a Psychic Friends Network infomercial on tv and told me to apply; I worked their phone line from 1992 to 1998. It was quite by synchronicity that I became involved in the beginning of Horizons Magazine. And 17 years later, here I am. What I learned from this is that it's not quite so important to know exactly where I'm headed, or what I want to do when I grow up. It's more important to find something to have an interest in, and make myself stay in motion toward it - toward something. If I need to make some twists and turns to get there, I'll just go where the river wants to go. As long as I'm in motion, I've learned, the Universe can step right in and take the wheel and steer me toward something better than my wildest dreams. Of course, I always had in my thoughts that more good was coming, more fun was coming. I had it in my thoughts that my life had always been a series of upgrades, and I expected that to continue. Then all I had to do was stay out of my own way. Hold hopeful thoughts and live with integrity. That in itself used to be a daily yoga, but now - it's my natural way of being. Who ever or What ever allowed that to happen or made that to happen, thanks. RELATED POST: When Horizons Magazine Began, Discovering Your Life Purpose Visit Sisters Of The Circe, a free online retreat site LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com Email andrea@horizonsmagazine.com

The Importance of Having Friends Who Inspire Me

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:10:59 +0000

It's great when we have friends who inspire us to be the best we can be. We love hanging out with those people, don't we? Actually, why would we hang out with anyone else? It often happens that we outgrow a group we used to belong to as our focus changes. A good rule of thumb is, when it stops being fun, be elsewhere. If the same people no longer hold our interest, it's time to seek out those who do. That happens pretty often with discussion groups. You have those that are deeply interested and it's fun to share thoughts and ideas with them. You have those that are open minded and seeking more information. You have those that are more knowledgeable and it's fun to learn from them. You have those that come just to debate without doing their homework first, and without really trying to understand, they just want to talk. You have those that spend their time theorizing yet never putting anything into practice. As Ram Dass put it in Grist for the Mill, "It's like trying to find out how many angels can fit on the head of a pin. Finally, the only thing you can do is become an angel and see how many of your friends can hang out on the pin with you." So, how many angels are on your pin? Visit Sisters Of The Circe, a free online retreat site LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

See You Tomorrow

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 06:17:21 +0000

$9.99 Jeans Look Fine on a Million Dollar Butt

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 07:07:56 +0000

Last week I ate heavier than I usually do and piled on 4 extra pounds. I usually stay within a 2 pound range so when I put on my fave jeans, they were kinda tight. I knew the culprit: I'd eaten mince pie the day before! I'd put waist darts in the jeans when I bought them 4 years ago, so I simply cut out the waist darts to gimme an extra couple of inches. I'd forgotten the reason I put the darts in the first place was because the waist stretches out in those pants. So I spent an hour at the post office while mailing packages and doing paperwork, holding my pants up with one hand. Not cute! The fact is that I have five pairs of my favorite jeans, in 2 different sizes. When the smaller size was too tight, I automatically reached for the larger size. They fit perfectly. Because of that, I refused to wear them. Because I know that's how it starts: you just one day step into a larger size. Not me. I have been down that road in the past life: no thanks. That was when I thought to remove the darts to let the waist out the extra 2". I was so glad later than I did not wear the larger size. I would have had to buy a belt or go home and change. Finally, I compromised and put two of the four darts back in. Of course, by then I'd dropped the extra 4 pounds, so I may as well just not taken them out. Then yesterday I went into Beall's Outlet to buy a belt to wear with the jeans. I used to wear belts all the time, in my 20's and 30's when I sported a 24" waist. Those days are gone but I'd kinda like to rock the belted look again. While I was in the store, I checked their jeans, since Beall's Outlet is where I have been surprised to find my best fitting jeans and swimsuits ever. I'm tall and long waisted. My waist is 12" smaller than my hips. I have a J-Lo butt. This all adds up to there are only a few stylists who cater to that shape. The straight up and down boy shape is more popular than the hourglass and remarkably, the Just My Size model 5125 jeans, even when made in Kenya or Indonesia, are the right proportion. I tried on 16 pairs of jeans, and 3 fit perfectly. They were $9.99 each. I remember paying beaucoup bucks in the 1980's for designer jeans, Jordache, Calvin Klein, Gloria Vanderbilt, Liz Claiborne, spending $150 on a pair was nothing. But, as usual, it was all about perception. My perception back then - when I was totally hot and didn't know it - was that the expensive name on the jeans made me look like a million bucks. Now my perception is that even $9.99 jeans can look good on my million dollar butt. Consciousness upgrade! Evolution! In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Re-Program Your Eating Habits Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

7 Mindblowing Tips On Getting Established as an Expert In Your Field with No Competition

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:08:54 +0000

I was speaking recently with my friend Bonnie Dubrow a/k/a The Energizer Bonnie. Bonnie is a Facebook buddy but also a real life friend of a dozen+ years. She's always full of ideas for networking and promoting and she loves to help friends make the most of themselves. Usually when Bonnie and I talk, it's after church. The New Way POD has live music and the musicians and choir really rock. So at the end of the service, my brain and my body are way over on the right hemisphere, dancing and singing for hours afterward. Love drunk. Bonnie, far more equal brained than I am, can hold a coherent conversation right afterward. I, meanwhile, am just soaking up the vibe, and smiling is about all I can do. And Bonnie, never superficial, is asking some remarkable questions she has been researching. I knew if I did my best to just focus on her and her words, even if I wasn't getting everything she said, I would have a chance at recalling it to contemplate later. Later when my left brain began functioning again. It would turn out that was a good metaphor for our conversation to follow. She used the word competition as it relates to business, and I interjected that I did not believe in competition. I don't believe anyone does exactly what I do, nor can I duplicate what they do, so it's not really competition. She talked about someone being an expert in their field doesn't have much competition. Some say I'm an expert in my field, and I can't disagree. However, I don't promote myself as an expert. If someone knows who I am, and wants what I have to offer, they will find me if it is to be. If not, I am blessed to have plenty of business without that. Bonnie asked what steps did I take to come to that place where I didn't think I was in competition with anyone, and I'm paraphrasing her from memory here. I had to give her question some thought. Because the fact is that I did not set out to become a magazine publisher or a psychic medium. I did not take steps A-Z to accomplish that, and I did not study nor struggle to get into the business. I really just fell into both careers rather synchronistically. I did not plan on either. But I knew this was a right brained answer to her left brained question. But it was all I had. I used to think I just had good luck, but then I came to discover that our thoughts create our beliefs which create our reality. I've always been an optimistic person. My mother always told me I could accomplish anything and I believed it. From the time I discovered Shakti Gawain's 1978 Book on Creative Visualization, I began doing just that. Here's an except from the process. This was years before I discovered Abraham-Hicks, whose playful exercises helped me refine the attraction process. I found after awhile that I usually attracted a situation or result that was better than the one I had set as a goal. That gave me increased faith that the Universe was indeed on my side, and wanted me to have all the things I wanted to have, and better. So I can't say that it was even a struggle to learn to have faith. Faith was the natural outgrowth after connecting the cause to the effect, time and time again, and seeing what happened. Taking note of what worked. I wasn't always so easy going. I was always optimistic, though. I learned as I mellowed and stopped worrying and started trusting that if I continued to bring to mind the fact that I have always had enough and plenty, and I would always continue to attract that, that kept that belief alive in me and that belief serves me very well to this day. I cultivate that belief. I remind myself that just as the giant oak tree comes from the tiny acorn, just so do my dollars flow out of who I am, and what I am being and doing. What other things do I do that got me to be in a place where I don't feel I have any competition? I have the skills to do what I do. I don't have personality conflicts with friends and don't have drama in my life. I've done tons of forgiveness work, so I don't harbor much unresolved baggage. I realize on a deep level that we are all one organism here on planet Earth, parts of one whole. I don't have anyone I have to report to or answer for, so of course it's easy for me, right? Well, the point is that as a result of my past thinking and beliefs, my life has evolved to a place where I don't have to report to anyone or have drama in my life or things to worry about. The one followed the other. It was a natural progression. What do I do that's different than what someone else wanting to succeed in their career, as an expert in their field, with no sense of competition, might do? Well, I don't do any mainstream business strategies for succeeding in my career, other than discovering or acquiring the skills to produce what I produce. But I do have a daily spiritual practice and I think it all flows from that. I meditate twice a day for an hour each. I do daily creative visualization. I don't fill my thoughts or my consciousness with unnecessary words, like I seldom have the tv or radio on, and never in the background. Always, if it is on, it has my full attention. Otherwise it's off. I don't have a lot of dramatic mind visuals from tv shows or movies going into my mind, or thrillers or horror shows or violence or unhappy words or images from any source. Including the news. I am very unaware of what is going on outside my little realm of existence, in other parts of the world. Unless AOL flashes it in front of me, I may not know it happened. I've cultivated this as a lifestyle choice. I mean, I watch anything I want to watch, it's just that most of it no longer holds my attention. I've got bigger fish to fry. All this simply adds up to me having a clear shot of no-outside-interference in my attraction process, which makes it easy for me to fall synchronistically into one good thing after another. Another result of my optimistic outlook I'd say. Always looking for the good in someone or something. Of wanting to help friends be who they came here to be. So, I pondered Bonnie's heavy question this morning, what do I do that helped me establish myself as an expert in my field? If I had to give someone advice to duplicate what I have done to get to where I am today, I would be hard pressed to say anything, other than: 1. Want the best - for everyone, all the time. 2. Believe it can happen - anything. 3. Have faith that it will work out better than you could have imagined. 4. Pray as if it depended on God, and work as if it depended upon you. 5. Do as much personal silence and meditation as it takes to really begin to know yourself and peel away your superficial layers. A meditation session is over when you feel that mindstate of merging. 6. Cut out unnecessary external input - unnecessary = does not add to your enjoyment of life. 7. Read No. 3 again. :) RELATED POSTS: The Creative Visualization Process When Horizons Magazine Began, Discovering Life's Purpose The Antidote for Boredom and Feeling Trapped; Spiritual Practice . In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. Visit Sisters Of The Circe, a free online retreat site LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

How to Write a Readable Article By Properly Using Paragraphs

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:06:03 +0000

I read lots of writers every day and I really appreciate someone who knows how to use paragraphs - it makes me want to read their work. So you think I'd know how to write a readable paragraph myself, right? I tend to use paragraphs like I do thoughts: short blocks of thought with a lot of white space in between. Before blogging made the scene, I wrote my daily thoughts into a journal, so I spent the first 40 years writing without editing. Now finally I'm discovering how to do it. I follow Problogger on Twitter. Darren Rowse twitters about blogging and has helpful writing tips. He also features guest bloggers on his site and, recently, at The Art Of The Paragraph, Jonathan Morrow writes: Anyone can write a paragraph, but not everyone knows how to write one that other people want to read. Anyone can write a paragraph, but not everyone knows how to write one that other people want to read. You’ve seen it: You open a book, and the whole page is one long block of text. Each sentence in the paragraph makes exactly the same point, said in a slightly different way, and you wonder why they didn’t just say it once and be done with it. Every paragraph is the same length (five lines, maybe?), whether it makes sense or not, and it gives the piece a monotonous rhythm. The paragraph makes a point without telling you why that point is important, and you can’t help thinking, “So what?” Like a little island, the paragraph doesn’t connect to any ideas that came before it or after it, and it seems vaguely out of place. We all hate paragraphs that make these mistakes. Those of us who are in the National Society of Writing Snobs (raise your hand, if you’re a member) even get a weird sort of thrill from pointing them out. Yet, somehow, they keep showing up. Not just in the work of third graders, but in the writing of people who call themselves professionals, including yours truly. It’s like Bill Murray and Richard Dreyfuss in the movie What about Bob? — every time you think they’re gone, you open the door, and there they are again, grinning and happy to see you. The question is: what are you going to do about it? It’s okay to write a bad paragraph, but publishing one will only endanger your bond with your readers. Before showing your writing to anyone, you should always go back through and check your paragraphs to make sure they are in tip-top shape. Here are some questions to guide you: 1. Does it pass the Guy Kawasaki test? You know how we all have blogging mentors who we look up to? Well, Guy Kawasaki is one of mine. Three years ago, he wrote a post passing on some of his blogging wisdom, and one of his pieces of advice stuck with me: . . . Imagine that there’s a little man sitting on your shoulder reading what you’re writing. Every time you write an entry, he says, “So what? Who gives a shiitake?” If you can’t answer the little man, then you don’t have a good blog/product. It’s true. Every time you write a paragraph, stop for a moment and see if it passes the “Who gives a shiitake?” test. If you don’t have a good answer, then delete your paragraph and start over. 2. Is it a two-headed baby? Babies are adorable. Two-headed babies, on the other hand, are something you would see on the cover of National Enquirer. It’s just . . . wrong. Paragraphs work the same way. A good paragraph has one head. In other words, it has one point, one idea, and all of its sentences work together to support that one idea. Do it right, and it’s adorable in its simplicity. If you try to stuff more than one idea into a paragraph, however, you’ll transform it into a monster. Grown men will shy away from it. Small children will burst into tears. English teachers will clutch their chests and fall over dead. Okay, maybe not. But you will confuse readers, and that’s serious business. Don’t do it. 3. Is there an echo in here? Some writers have what I call an “Echo Problem.” They start with an idea, and then every sentence in the paragraph echoes the same idea, although in a slightly different way. For example: I hate green beans. Every time I think of them, I feel nauseous. Green beans are the absolute worst. If you put any green beans on my plate, I won’t eat them. This paragraph only has one idea: I hate green beans. Every sentence in the paragraph just echos the same idea. They’re unnecessary. When you write a paragraph like this, it feels like you’re expounding on your original point. But you’re not. All you’re really doing is adding fluff and boring the reader. A good rule of thumb is to read every sentence in your paragraph and ask yourself, “Could I remove any of these sentences and retain the same meaning?” If you can, then by all means, get rid of them. It’ll make your writing tighter. 4. Are you writing in a monotone? Ever listened to a speech, and the speaker used exactly the same vocal inflection from beginning to end? It’s annoying, and it’s not just because humans are predisposed toward rhythmic language. When we’re listening, we also depend on the speaker to use vocal inflections to tell us what’s important. For instance, if they’re speaking quickly and then suddenly start drawing out their words, we know to pay attention. The change in inflection means something important is happening. Makes sense, right? But did you know it’s also possible for your writing to be a monotone? Paragraphs are the vocal inflections of the written word. Good writers vary the length of their paragraphs to show the reader what’s important. Some paragraphs will be 3-5 sentences, but every once in a while, they’ll throw in a one-sentence paragraph in order to emphasize a particular point. It stands out, and it tells the reader to pay attention. Try it for yourself. 5. Are there on-ramps and off-ramps? So far, we’ve talked about the paragraph (singular), but it’s time we dedicate some time to paragraphs (plural). Lots of beginning writers treat paragraphs like little islands unto themselves, floating in the great ocean of ideas without any connection to anyone or anything. It’s jarring. Sometimes you can see how the paragraphs relate to one another, but sometimes you’re also left scratching your head. It’s far better to look at paragraphs as if they are towns along a highway. Yes, they are separate, but they also have on-ramps and off-ramps that make it easy for people to get back on the highway and get to where they’re going. Similarly, good paragraphs use connector words and grammar to help the reader move on to the next idea. We could do a whole post on this topic (and probably will, in the future), but the best rule of thumb is to look at each of your paragraphs and see if it’s possible to understand them without reading any of the others. If it is, think about adding some connecting on-ramps and off-ramps. It’ll make your writing more readable. Are these rules that you must follow? No, they’re just guidelines. The point is to consciously think about your paragraphs and the way they affect your readers. Next to sexy topics like headlines, link building, and SEO, it’s easy to forget about them. But don’t. Like most things, it’s the little nuances of your writing that add up to create a profound impact on the reader. Your paragraphs are one of those nuances, and if you’re serious about your writing, it’s important to learn how to use them. About the Author: Jon Morrow is Associate Editor of Copyblogger and Cofounder of Partnering Profits. Get more from Jon on twitter. Original article with all the cool links at The Art Of The Paragraph. In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

James Ray's escalating patterns of abuse leading to sweat lodge deaths: Cassandra Yorgey interview with Lorena Bathey

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 10:00:41 +0000

In James Ray's escalating patterns of abuse leading to sweat lodge deaths: interview with Lorena Bathey, Cassandra Yorgey does more than give an update on the James Ray sweat lodge matter. She does more than give an interview with Lorena Bathey, who in a 2007 Spiritual Warrior Retreat in Sedona broke her arm as well as learned much behind the scenes information about James Ray and staff. Yorgey brings to light the psychological undercurrent in the targeted subgroups who are being unknowingly led through an indoctrination process for the seller's purpose. Her article is not just to do with James Ray and not just to do with calling self proclaimed teachers and experts on their coercize tactics. What Yorgey writes focuses on personal responsibility. It focuses on being conscious, being fully aware of what you say and what affect it has on those who hear it. And being aware when others are doing it to you, whether outwardly or covertly. I say just be aware. Cassandra Yorgey's entire article here: James Ray's escalating patterns of abuse leading to sweat lodge deaths: interview with Lorena Bathey LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

A day in the vortex, in the flow of well being and synchronicity

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:58:12 +0000

Yesterday I did my monthly drive to Ocala to bring magazines to Catherine Wendell from Ocala Ghost Walks. Cat makes sure everyone in the Ocala area gets Horizons and we get to catch up in person with what we've been doing the past month. I left the house half an hour later than I meant to and 15 minutes north I realized I did not have my Ocala file with me. The one with the maps and the piece of paper that had the magazine stack count on it - how many magazines I would be giving to each person I saw that day. Drat. But I did have my hard drive with me. Cat reminded me there was a Staples store right next to Mother Earth Market, where we meet. I took my hard drive into their copy center and they opened the file and printed my list out. I'd spent a few moments, when I discovered I did not have the list, weighing whether I could wing it without it. I've done that in the past and ended up keeping a few extra stacks of magazines that someone else could have used. I quickly realized that thinking in that direction was not going to bring me a solution, so I changed track. Why I just blogged the other day about having faith that things always turn out better than I imagined. So I continued north and knew I would figure it out before I got there. It's a 2.5 hour drive. I began making my list from scratch. The big missing component was I did not know the amount of my overrun and the overrun amount I like to give to Cat for Ocala. Was it one stack of 50? Was it 5 stacks? I'd written the amount on my list at the time of counting and forgot about it. That's the thing I love about lists. If I make them then I never have to remember anything. That was when I remembered I had my hard drive with me and the list was on there. Now to find someone with a pc with Microsoft Word on it. Then Cat hooked me up with the Staples copy center. Dilemma resolved, as I knew it would be. I didn't know how it would be, but I knew I was in the flow, and when I'm in the flow, life is a synchronistic dance. So, copy made, I give Cat the December magazines and we chat awhile, then I notice the Beall's Outlet right across the shopping center. I went in and found 4 tops I liked and another pair of the perfect fitting jeans I bought the other day. So I now had 5 pairs of them. I sometimes like to wear the same thing every day for weeks and when I have several pairs to swap out, I can do that. So my shopping trip was a SCORE! I was definitely in the right place at the right time on my recent shopping trips. Which is good, since I don't like to clothes shop and only go every several years. More synchronicity. On the drive out of Ocala toward Cassadaga, I tried to remember which roads to take, since the maps were at home in the Ocala file on the counter. I knew it was Hwy 40 east to Hwy 19 south, but I take the back roads in and usually follow the maps to know which street name to turn on. But I knew that locked away in my subconscious, I would recognize everywhere I had to turn. I knew when I got to the Now Moment of having to make a decision, I would get the guidance what to do. I'd have no doubt. That was my story anyway, and it worked. It's good to remember that whatever story we're telling on a regular basis is going to become our reality. But I mostly knew that I was in the vortex and that if I just went with the flow, it would work itself out. Halfway to Cassadaga, I drive through DeLand and pass, as I do every month, the Driver License office on my right. I thought, I'm in the vortex. My driver's license is dated 1992. I bet this will be a quick renewal. Fourteen minutes and $48 later, I walk out with my new driver's license. And I get to Cassadaga on time. I'm in the vortex. I had a great visit with friends in Cassadaga, and even caught Albert Bowes reading his mail on the park bench. I had a relaxing drive home and, an hour away, took a call from a client and was on the phone (hands free!) almost half an hour. During that time I let my focus be on her situation and meanwhile, had driven right into construction and drive time traffic. I knew I'd let myself slip out of the vortex. I even had to call and reschedule meeting with galpal Theresa Hudson (a/k/a Tigger). More synchronicity. I did that. I let my focus be taken in another direction, even when I knew that direction would take me out of the vortex. WHY WOULD I PURPOSELY LET MYSELF BE TAKEN OUT OF THE VORTEX? Good question. Most often it is when listening to friends who want to tell me their story. And while I usually feel free to cut off a friend and remind them of the importance of changing their focus or tell their story elsewhere, I cannot cut off everyone. I cannot cut off my 86 year old aunt and tell her just get in the vortex. NO, I do not need to listen to her story and let it bring me down. But while the listening may be mandatory, the perception that it has to bring me down is an option I don't chose. I feel honored when she tells her stories to me, her stories of how she sees her world. I know she has a pattern of thought and speech that shows her attention to critical detail, and that's how her generation was brought up and it wasn't easy for them and it's all they know. So I don't need to counsel her or reframe her past for her, I just need to be there to listen to her, and witness her life. If I allow myself to be pulled out of the vortex as a result of that, it's my fault. I'm in charge of where I let my thoughts lead me. They either lead me in or out of the vortex. It's as simple as that. And I'm selfish enuff to choose IN every chance I get :) LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

What do you do when friends misunderstand you and don't want to play anymore?

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 06:12:51 +0000

What do you do when friends misunderstand you and don't want to play anymore? YOU LET IT GO. You don't hang on to it or try to sort it out or rehash it. When friends misconstrue what you say and take something personal and cut you off? YOU LET IT GO. It's not about you. When friends feel you are criticizing and coming down on them when you're simply reminding them what works consistently for you to achieve what they wish to achieve? YOU LET IT GO. You focus your attention forward on something hopeful and pleasant. What do you do when friends perceive you as being judgmental, feeling superior and being a know it all? YOU LET IT GO. You remember it is not your job to try to fix or educate anyone. YOU LET IT GO. You get yourself back in the vortex and move on. RELATED POST: When Friends Misunderstand RELATED POST: When friends betray friends RELATED POST: Clash of the Egos Taking Note of Cause and Effect in Action to Practice Intuition Simple Self Talk Scripts To Help You Attract a Better Tomorrow LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

When friends misunderstand, because we each see things as we are

Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:06:57 +0000

I wrote the other day What do you do when friends misunderstand you and don't want to play anymore? When friends misconstrue what you say, and feel you are coming down on them, being negative, judgmental, feeling superior and being a know it all? YOU LET IT GO. You don't hang on to it or try to sort it out or rehash it. You let it go. You focus your attention forward on something hopeful and pleasant. You remember it is not your job to fix or educate anyone. You get yourself back in the vortex and move on. Since I spend half my life counseling people, I blog about it because (1) that's my process, and (2) so it can be helpful to others who go through the same things. I've done it long enough that I recognize the patterns and I know that we are all going through many of the same situations all the time. So many friends email me later thinking I was writing about them, that I made a note on my blog called About Domino. So anytime you think you know who I'm writing about, don't be surprised if you're wrong. I wrote on Facebook the other day: I have butted in, got misunderstood and alienated a friend. Ah, well. I attracted it. A typical Andrea post. Friends tell me they like when I post about "trouble" I have because it makes me seem more "human." But I don't just post the good stuff, I post it all, because that's who I am; I just don't have lotsa conflict to report. After seeing my post, a friend who took umbrage at something I'd said earlier told me he knew I was "going to write a blog criticizing me because I said something you didn't like, as you've done with people previously, and as you've already indicated is in the air by your mentioning it so quickly online in such a negative frame." I didn't know what he meant by "a negative frame." I simply stated I'd had an experience when I wrote I have butted in, got misunderstood and alienated a friend. Ah, well. I attracted it. To me, "a negative frame" would have been if I had instead written "Tony is an assh*le becuz I've told him a million times how to fix his life and he prefers to whine about it and now he's pissed off at me cuz I told him to start telling a new story if he wants a new life." Then he publicly comments why don't we just "wish each other well on our paths and with our challenges (even if you don't have any ; )" I replied, "I never said I don't have challenges, I blog about them all the time. I just perceive them diff I guess." That was my first clue that all the years I'd known Tony, he'd not understood me. Challenges come up all the time, even for me, that's part of life. And I write about them all the time, so he clearly does not read my blog. I just don't let the challenges throw me, and I sure don't see them as negative. If I'm travelling down a road and a boulder falls down and blocks my way, I don't count that as a negative event. It's simply an event. It doesn't mean don't continue on my trip; it might just mean enjoy the excitement of finding an alternative route or while waiting for the boulder moving equipment to arrive. Make use of the time in self reflection. But you can't label that a "negative" event. An event is simply an event. Your perception is what makes it negative or positive. I don't use words like negative or positive for just this reason. But by Tony making his comment about me not having challenges, I realized it went far deeper than what he initially told me he was irked at. I realized he simply did not understand all I was suggesting he do was cut his usual pattern of self talk and shift his perception so he could attract what he says he wants to attract. He took that as coming down on him in a negative, know-it-all response. I used to really get my feelings hurt when it would happen to me: friends whom I thought for years really understood where I was coming from, suddenly taking a basic belief of mine and perceiving it as a personal attack, then cutting me off because of it. But now I know it's not about me. Someone can sit across the table and shout calculus at me all day and night for a month, but they can't make me do the work in my head so I can learn it. I have to do that for myself. I don't like math but I don't think doing calculus is negative. It's what goes on in my own head that matters, and that's subjective and no one can know that but me. Albert Einstein said "The single most important decision any of us will ever make is whether or not to believe the universe is friendly." I learned the universe is a very friendly place once I figured out how it worked. So many times in the past I took things personally and harbored resentments and judgments, because that is how I perceived the world. The result of me seeing the world through that filter is that I was living in a world of struggle and just getting by. I resented that things seem to come more easily to others around me, and when my focus was there, my world was small and aggravating and I barely eeked out a living. It took me years to see the connection between my beliefs, even beliefs about what karma I'd been born into and what my current dharma might be, and what experiences I attracted to myself. When I got that, I got it slowly. It took many years to change my thoughts around, which I did via daily creative visualization. It was not a fast or easy process for me. I totally got why someone would have a hard time getting it. I had a hard time getting it. So what do I do when friends misunderstand me and feel I am coming down on them? When they feel I don't get where they are? I back away. I realize I am not being a very good teacher if what I say is not clear enough to understand. I write so much because (1) that's my process and (2) I want everyone to know what I know, since I've figured some pretty basic things out, like how to direct focus to achieve goals. It's a reminder to me to work on learning how to communicate more effectively. I'm grateful for the lesson. It's my intent to be helpful, not to hurt feelings. I used to find it easier to just make donations and stick friend's names on the healing bench. I used to think I was being helpful by paying their bills, until all too often that ultimately caused problems and friendships were lost. Then I began sharing the creative visualization process with them. Then I'd share the importance of the daily practice of programming your inner dialogue. I learned that the few dollars I gave them was nothing compared to what they attracted by doing the daily visualization work. Anyone I've ever worked with who does the work gets the results, and there are no exceptions. Anyone with a website, I always suggest they monetize it, get Paypal and have a donation button as a courtesy to their readers. Then spend daily creative viz time prepaving seeing the Paypal receipts coming in all day long. To not do so is just ignoring free money. I know, it sounds so easy that most people won't do it, although doing it can change their world. It's like the man on the roof during the flood who keeps turning away boat after boat and later wonders why God didn't rescue him. Don't ask me for suggestions on how to increase income with integrity and spiritual purpose unless you want to do it. I don't want to waste your time. A dozen+ friends a month ask me to support their cause. Some actually get resentful when I don't. I'm always updating and revising who I donate to. I want to do it mindfully, so it means something. I used to write 6 checks a week to the churches/centers I supported. Now it's down to 3. In their place, this past year I am honored to help support several elderly family members who have worked long, hard lives and raised children who are indifferent to them. I can't convince them, in their 80's, that creative viz will begin to improve their lives. I can't convince them to change their inner self talk. They are used to just thinking whatever comes into their head, and following that thought to its end. They can't imagine they can control their thoughts and, through that, control what they attract. So I'm honored I am able to work enuff to make enuff $$ to share. It's one reason I work almost around the clock. Cuz I'm honored and delighted to do it. And I don't make excuses for what I have or what I spend money on. Anyone reading my Facebook posts can figure my grocery and clothing bills. I'm not a big spender by any means but I buy what I want. I don't downplay how good my life is, being worried that anyone will feel jealous or resentful of it. I don't even think of things like that. I know that my life is my message and what I can have, anyone can have. A favorite quote of mine is from Marianne Williamson, taken from Return to Love, often erroneously attributed to Nelson Mandela, who never used it. “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We are born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” Liberated from my fear? I'm scared sh*tless, just as everyone else is. I don't pretend I'm not. I've just learned to deal with it cuz I get so much practice at it, that's all. I'm still afraid. I just don't let my fear immobilize me is all. I fake it til I make it. Sometimes I even convince myself I'm not afraid. Imagine that. But when friends misunderstand, the best thing I can do for all concerned is let it go, move past it and get on with my good life. As much as I may want them to be included, I can't piggyback them into a happy future. Believe me, I've spent a lifetime trying. Just how hard is it to make yourself put one foot in front of the other and just do the steps one by one? ? RELATED POST: When friends betray friends RELATED POST: Clash of the Egos Taking Note of Cause and Effect in Action to Practice Intuition Simple Self Talk Scripts To Help You Attract a Better Tomorrow LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

dueling

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 10:38:42 +0000

hot-air-balloon-city

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:25:43 +0000

butterflies72

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:43:35 +0000

Clash of the Egos: Battleground for the Spiritual Seeker

Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:45:43 +0000

I often have flying and dancing dreams. I love those. I dreamed this morning that I'd been walking carrying a big wooden basket around me (imagine wearing a barrel and holding it up around you). It was very heavy to drag and I had forgotten what it was and why I was carrying it. Then a wind came up and the big balloon that I had unknowingly been dragging behind me filled with air and I rose high, high over the rooftops. It was an exhilarating ride and from up there, everything was so clear. It was one of those dreams you want to last forever and wake up wanting to go back into. On Facebook yesterday, I gave a link to the day's blog post: When friends misunderstand, because we each see things as we are. I never use the real name of anyone I'm writing about because I write to show my thought patterns and how I work though stuff as it comes up. The point is not to air anyone else's stuff, just to give my account of what happened to me. I let people throw their own stuff on display if they want it out there. After my post, Sharon Kumuda Janis commented: "Hey Andrea, since many of your friends already know the conversation was between us due to the previous post that you've since deleted, it is only fair to show the actual conversation. http://www.spiritual-happiness.com/facebookconversation.pdf . I’d been coaching a mutual friend for his “2013: We’re Still Here and Love Abounds” project, and when he wanted to make it more about my cat’s name and likeness, such as making the domain name buddybaba. com, that didn’t make sense to me, and I told him so. He said okay, but then Andrea came in to push for it." Andrea replied: "Kumuda, thanks for posting our conversation so people can decide for themselves. I deleted the previous posts so that only the few who were in the thread would know who I was talking about, since it obviously bothered you. And BTW "Tony" in the post is not only you, now that you've outed yourself. With all due respect, you also misunderstand Jeffrey if you think he wanted to make the project "more about Buddy's name and likeness" - that was simply a suggested trademark icon for any merchandising. He wanted you to feel included. I am sorry this is your perception. And now as I reread our instant message, it becomes clear why you used particular language in it, not for me - but cuz you knew you'd be posting it online." Friends wrote that she'd taken her link down after several comments, so I put one online for them and wrote on Facebook: "Well Kumuda has now UN-friended me. She will next have Buddy (her cat) un-friend me and then she'll create another name to friend me by since she knows I accept everyone. That way she can make sure I don't spend my days writing all about her. Ah well, I will miss her. We all have our personality struggles with ourselves. I'm no exception." Later I posted, "A friend has UN-friended me cuz I didn't meet her expectations. To anyone I know that I may royally piss off, know that no matter how horrid your own ego makes you treat me afterward, I have no hard feelings and will never reveal any secrets you ever entrusted to me. Why? Cuz it's all God's will and if we're in the midst of God's will, how can we not rejoice? No one can weave with you a bond of discord if you contribute no strands to the weaving." And that's really how I feel. I've been through this before. Even though she promotes herself as a spiritual author, she records devotional songs, the Guru Gita and the Diamond Sutra, when you are on the path and do this kind of work, every day opportunities present themselves to let you show what you know, and who you really are. It's like when you ask the Universe to give you patience. That doesn't mean you wake up the next day with patience LOL. That means you will begin getting new opportunities to practice being patient. You may run into more traffic. You may have car trouble. You may get stuck 9th in line at Publix behind three sniffling, screaming kids. You will get lots of chances to practice being patient. Until you remember that is what you asked for and make the connection and get the lesson. The Universe may have your best friend for decades even betray you publicly in order to see just how patient and understanding you can be. That's how you acquire the patience you asked for. So, after Kumuda made her post and revealed our private conversation, I had several friends instant message me and call me to let me know what she had posted and to see if I was upset. I wasn't. They asked why someone who pretended to be so spiritual would act and react as she did, and in such a public forum. Because she's human, because she's not being mindful and thinking it through, because she's reacting through her emotional ego-self. We all do it. That doesn't mean we're not spiritual. "Being spiritual" means we're working on being more spiritual. In moments of illumination, we have realizations and we strive to achieve that point in consciousness again. If we're smart, we write down our thoughts during this time so we can refer to it later for our own further illumination. I know exactly how to do chin ups and can write all about it. I can't however, do a chin up. Those who know, do... period. It's not productive to judge, especially if a friend is doing it to me. An eye for an eye just leaves everyone blind. So will I miss her now that she's cut me off? Sure; the friendship was real on my part. But there's also a relief, a release of tension I wasn't consciously aware I was holding. It's exhausting to want for someone something they don't want for themselves. To spend time encouraging them and giving suggestions and cheering them on, even when it's one sided. This must be what it's like to have kids and want for them. I even suggested she join Facebook and befriend all my friends, so she could get a quick fan base. I tell everyone that. I felt - my ego at work - that if I could just convince her of how it all really works, then her life would change for the better and all my effort would have been worth it. Plus she'd be more fun to hang with, with a little more optimism. Oh, how funny to think it would be that simple. Clients pay me big bucks to do just that, and here I couldn't even give it away to her. And now, after being kicked to the curb, I am finally released from constantly wondering what more can I do to help her, and let the Universe deliver to her what she attracts on her own. I felt as I did when my younger brother Bobby died at age 22. He'd get into fiascos and I'd get the late night phone calls and I was always wondering if he was ok. After that final call came, I knew finally he was free to be at peace, and so was I. After the realization that she was no longer my project to worry about, my (self imposed) burden was lifted, I had new energy and I was revitalized. The good news is that I can no longer use her as my excuse to retain resistance, no longer try to figure out how to make something work by force rather than by vibrational matching. I know better, but I just so wanted to let her be right this time. Even if doing so introduced resistance into my own vibration and affected what I allowed myself to attract. [caption id="attachment_6181" align="alignright" width="108" caption="Everyone F R E E "][/caption] But she is actually the last of a particular group of friends that we were all working on similar issues the past dozen years. Her firing me releases me from that karmic tie. Funny what we do for love and friendship, huh? I'm learning I can't take all my friends with me. Good thing there is no shortage of friends. RELATED POSTS CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER: Spiritual Memoirs: Eat Pray Love and Sharon Janis Never To Return What do you do when friends misunderstand you and don’t want to play anymore? When Friends Misunderstand , because we each see things as we are When Friends On The Path Go Off The Deep End Taking Note of Cause and Effect in Action Simple Scripts To Attract a Better Tomorrow When friends betray friends People Who Lie About Who They Are The saga continues with Sharon Kumuda Janis .

Did Someone Ask For Drama? When Friends On The Path Go Off The Deep End

Sun, 29 Nov 2009 11:34:55 +0000

I wrote earlier this week in Clash of the Egos: Battleground for the Spiritual Seeker about a little drama with a friend who got miffed at something I said. In a simple misunderstanding, she'd taken something the wrong way and did a public blowup on my Facebook wall. She posted some private Instant Message conversations between us to outline her evidence, but after some comments came in, she quickly made the link inaccessible. It was clear by our IMs that she had simply misunderstood and became abusive for no reason. By now she'd stirred up a dozen Facebook friends with her story and they were contacting me wanting to know how to access the link, so I put it up. I talked to several of them, then did the blog post Clash of the Egos to let everyone know everything was ok. People misunderstand and get ticked all the time. It's no big deal. It's just life. We get over it and we get on with it. Then today I receive a comment on my post When Friends Misunderstand, Because We Each See Things As We Are and it's from Sharon Kumuda Janis, who is obviously now very inflamed although I am not sure why. She could have telephoned me, she could have emailed me but that's not her way. She wrote me: "It's fine that you didn't post my comments, but only fair for our mutual facebook friends to also hear my side if you're going to keep the nasty blogs about me up -- and I will send it to them by email if need be." I don't believe I posted any nasty blogs about her (you judge - she's the one who disclosed her misunderstanding in our private IM that she posted in the first place), but to save you from the spam, what she wants you to read is below. A caveat: I know what she writes has to do with her and not with me, so I don't mind sharing it here. I am not upset by what she writes, so there's no reason for you to be. They are just words. I edited out only her self promotional language. My responses are in blue. Sharon's are in black. Andrea is the closest thing I've had to a stalker for the past decade plus. Andrea's 3-page review (of Never To Return) was almost obsessive. I don't know where she gets the stalker part but after speaking with Kumuda the first time and hearing her $$ story, I wanted to do what I could to help. She'd asked for a detailed review and I gave her one. In her book, I particularly enjoyed one chapter and emailed her (apparently 3 pages) about it. This is an example of something I wrote to her in private that I feel is of a sacred nature that she is now for some reason publicly mocking me for. She and I both come from a background of monastic living in Indian ashrams (different traditions) and I felt particular resonance with her written account of an overnight chant she'd had during the Hindu celebration of Shivaraatri. We emailed in depth about our experiences with (our different) gurus during that particular celebration. I'm sure I do sound obsessive if someone is asking me to describe how I feel when i am immersed in the Divine Shakti during one of the holiest days of the year. But I did not think I was talking to just anyone. I was led to believe I was talking to a fellow devotee who shared my views, my ecstacy and devotion. As far as the obsessive 3 page review, I told her to take from whatever I'd written to her and edit it into a review she liked and she did. Shiva is the destroyer of all illusion, so I knew our relationship would be more archetypal than personal. And, oh, Shiva has been dancing this week. And she does not really feel that it was obsessive. She is just feeling defensive right now and lashing out saying the meanest things she can think of for you to read. I don't mind. It has nothing to do with me. She feels at the mercy of her own mind right now. I'm just a target du jour. It'll pass. Then Andrea phoned and said that she wanted to meet me - a first for me as a first time author. This was in part due to her being a fellow devotee with whom I resonated. She had a month off and was going to run an errand from Florida to the southwest, and then wanted to drive up to San Diego. I suggested that we could have dinner together. She arrived and we had dinner, and I found her vibrations, manners, and topics of conversation to be very disturbing. I was recuperating from the flu, so perhaps was more sensitive than usual. I couldn't wait for the dinner to be over, but then Andrea said that she was expecting me to spend every day of the next five days with her This is not true. Literally everyone who knows me knows I like lots of space, privacy and alone time. This is how little this woman knows me. At dinner I asked her to tell me about her projects. I made the trip for work and had business scheduled for most of the trip. I don't like to spend daily time with anyone, even good buddies *smile* I said I could make time for her anytime within the five day period I'd be in Carlsbad. Again, she knows what she is saying is not true. This is not really her recollection, she is just angry and acting mean spirited right now. I don't mind. I want her to tell whatever story makes her feel better, and lets her get on to happier times. and saying that she would like to move from Florida to San Diego so she could be near me, This is not true, though I did say I loved California and would love to live there if I could figure out how to justify doing a Florida mag from there. San Diego was never a destination, Carmel/Monterey was my focus. I'd spent 8 months in 1996 in Salinas, CA and was eager to return. Kumuda is involved with the Siddha Yoga organization in town and I didn't need to be near that like she does. Nothing against the SY teachings, their focus just seems to be more... political than I like in an ashram. and that she'd figured out how she could still do the Florida-based magazine from California. Needless to say, I discouraged this, without specifically saying how disturbing I found her, and also told her that I was not able to spend the next five days with her, although we did meet one more time because she was so disappointed and acted as if I'd harmed her deeply by rejection. Again this is not true and she knows it's not true. We both had things to do, it was just a first meeting with someone I knew I'd be working with, and she certainly never gave any indication she found me disturbing. (I know I'm Pollyanna + Doris Day, and not everyone vibes there.) Her words make me now rethink every story she told me about everyone who had wronged her, had stalked her, how they were sexual predators, how they were mentally ill and out to ruin her, how she got them banned from the ashram, how she made them famous, how she was cheated out of promised royalties. She told me oh, what a celebrity dirt tell all book she could write. I now wonder how often I just automatically took her side and now I say a prayer if I hold incorrect thoughts about anyone else she ever told me a story about. On her long drive back to Florida, Andrea became angry about the perceived snub, sent a message to that effect, and then didn't contact me for a year or two, which was fine with me. This is not true. I don't remember us speaking again that trip after we met the last time, but there was no need to. I didn't perceive we left on bad terms although she did chide me for arriving late when she had chai waiting in the oven on our last visit. Then she wanted me to help get her writings together for a book, and asked if she could hire me to do so. She sent a huge batch of her articles from years worth of Horizons magazines and I spent quite some time going through them and beginning to organize and edit them, before she changed her mind. I did not change my mind. After assessing the job, she told me she had other projects going on and couldn't spend as much time as she initially thought. I asked what I owed her and although I don't recall her response, whatever she asked for I gave her. I keep emails on file for anyone I work with, so I've got it somewhere. I did not need it done right then, but I wanted to give her some work if that was her expertise and she needed work. and decided it wasn't time for her to write a book - and she didn't pay a cent for my work, which didn't trouble me too much because I'm just not that financially focused, so am perhaps an easy target for some, and I was also relieved to not have to spend more time going through her writings, because I had plenty of my own projects to do. It's untrue I ever owed her a cent for a moment - and again I am now thinking back to the ones she told me about - and plastered all over her website - how they stole from her and did her wrong. She's revising all the Suze Orman references on her websites right now, I tried to include a link but she's got me blocked from her pages while she's working the search engines, She's an expert in search rankings optimization but chooses not to earn a living at it. Kumuda's perception is she is not financially focused but it's the recurring theme. She's made people rich, she says, and never gotten paid for it. A few years later, Andrea asked if she could include the chapters from my book Secrets of Spiritual Happiness in Horizons Magazine. I said yes and did not ask for compensation, nor was any offered. For many years, she has run the chapters in her magazine every month, plus other articles she asked me to write when she ran out of Secrets of Spiritual Happiness chapters. Once, about four years ago Andrea offered one small ad space that was available in one magazine at the last minute as she was going to press so I could advertise two of my CDs, and that was it in terms of compensation. Again, I didn't fret about it because I am happy to share my words even though Horizons wasn't exactly the kind of magazine I would have chosen. Kumuda let me know she could use some book sales and I was happy to run her writing as long as she wanted me to run it. I liked what she wrote. It had relevance to my own message. I bought her products online just to support her. No one gets paid to write in Horizons and she never told me she wanted an ad or payment. I linked her to my website for a dozen years for free. When I began my blog and Facebook account, I purposely promoted her and commented on her postings and links, just to draw attention to her and expose some real life friends to her work, dozens of which are now mutual Facebook friends. I had no idea all these years she wanted to be paid or have an ad. I would have joyfully given it had she let me know. Last year some real-life friends encouraged me to join Facebook (for some reason Andrea is now claiming that she's the one who got me to join) and after a time, Andrea and I became Facebook friends. For the past year, she has created this online illusion for her friends that we were great buddies and pals, acting like she has come over to my house many times and that we spoke on the phone regularly, even though we've only spoken by phone a few times and have not met in person since her visit more than a decade ago. When Kumuda told me I got her involved in Facebook I just believed her, that's why I wrote that. If there's an illusion we're great buddies and friends it is to signal to my other FB buddies that hey she's neat, check her pages out. I don't pretend we're anything but two people with mutual interests who've met in person and have fun online together. Anything I've written is true. I was at her place 2-3 times during my Carlsbad/Carmel trip. They were brief meetings maybe 2 hours each. She showed me videos, she took me to bookstores, we had lunch and dinner. She drove me to some town a few hours north where they had a lot of Indian clothing stores, saris and such she likes to shop at. She gave me an Agape tape. That was about it. We mostly email through the years. I work on the phone so don't do many personal phone calls. I'm not sure how much of an illusion that is or why it's an issue. Most Facebook friends don't know each other well if at all, and are glad to have friends promote them to others with mutual interests. While interacting with Andrea on Facebook, I came to suspect that the reason I found Andrea to be disturbing is because she had some kind of mental illness, but I didn't realize how nasty she could be until I dared in this private conversation she has posted to this public forum to call her on being the bossy know-it-all that she likes to play, keeper of the crystal ball and all. Red Flag; This is one of the first things Kumuda says when someone has aggravated her: " I find them disturbing and they must have a mental illness." We each have our own perception but my perception of nasty or mental illness is someone who cuts ties with person after person in their life, including, as she gloats about, her parents (who are, if memory serves, psychiatrists or psychologists - hmmm, maybe that's why her obsession with labelling people as disturbed). I simply posted a valid link to the conversation after she posted it on my Facebook Wall then made it inaccessible to me. I wanted, as she did, for people to see what she wanted them to see that got her so mad. I wanted everyone to be able to form their own opinion. I always want to see where I'm wrong. Teach me. Give me feedback. Even if you're mean, be constructive. So I am happy to not have to deal with this stalker anymore, and hopefully now that she's written quite a few messages on her Facebook page and her blog trying to cause harm to someone who has only given generously to her, she will get over it and move on to being obsessed with someone else, or perhaps to even find a real friend to play with who likes her in person. I wish Andrea and everyone else well. I rather think a stalker might be someone who obsessively keeps their attention focused on a particular person, to pursue them stealthily. I don't even have time to stalk new advertisers, nor the new owl in the patch of woods next door, much less someone I barely know 3000 miles away. I haven't written anything new on the Facebook page because that conversation was one moment in time and I thought it was over days ago. And I do have plenty of real life friends (really:) I didn't feel like I had to respond to this, but I know from past experience that she will post it on her site, so me posting this here will cut down on the calls and emails about it. She has already blocked me from her site. Interesting to me is that Kumuda wonders what her karma is for putting out such a huge body of work and getting no recognition for it. For being betrayed and done wrong by supposed friends. For having lies and stories spread around about her, designed to ruin her reputation, (so she says). She was livid when Suze Orman made it to Oprah and that she's now a household name. After years of hearing about her beef with Suze, I told her three years ago she needed to let that go, clean up her website, and get on with her life. Kumuda knows about obsession. When we're on the path, our minds will play tricks with us and make us do crazy and wacky things. The shakti moving through us will burn away the dross in any areas that need clearing up. True friends recognize this and we don't hold it against them when it happens. We don't have to hang around them anymore, but we see it for what it is and don't take it personally. I always think that if this were my 8 year old retarded sister doing this, would I get upset about it? Would I worry what she said to others? No. I would not. This is no different. Everyone is entitled to their perception and their opinion. Bless us every one. . RELATED POSTS CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER: Spiritual Memoirs: Eat Pray Love and Sharon Janis Never To Return What do you do when friends misunderstand you and don’t want to play anymore? When Friends Misunderstand , because we each see things as we are Clash of the Egos Taking Note of Cause and Effect in Action Simple Scripts To Attract a Better Tomorrow When friends betray friends People Who Lie About Who They Are The saga continues with Sharon Kumuda Janis .

Seeing Cause and Effect In Action: Practicing Intuition

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 10:59:34 +0000

I was thinking yesterday on the connection between what I've been focusing on the past week, what I've been vibrating in harmony with, and what I've been attracting. I make a point of keeping track of things like that because it helps me practice my intuition. So here's this week's cause and effect story: I get lots of requests for updates on the James Arthur Ray Sweat Lodge Deaths Matter so I'd taken time to post those. I'd been re-reading Outrageous Betrayal: The Real Story of Werner Erhard from Est to Exile by Steven Pressman, and it smacked of the same vibe as the James Ray matter. I wrote the blog post Estate of Jack Slee vs. Werner Erhard - Death During Est Training. Set a Precedent for the James Ray Lawsuits? the same week, and I was clearly in the same vibe then. James Ray and Werner Erhard were both charismatic, passive-aggressive, narcissistic self proclaimed spiritual teachers who were known by close associates and former friends to have dangerous, abusive and manipulative secret alter ego personalities. The topic was basically people proving themselves to be other than who people thought they were. Having built up these false spiritual fronts which they then themselves publicly dismantled. So that's where I was vibing that week. Now none of these things have too much to do with me personally but I was reading about it, and writing about it, and obviously vibing right there with it on some level. Because suddenly I attract a new situation, out of the blue: a friend flips out over something she thinks I've said When friends misunderstand, because we each see things as we are. I'm surprised, but then I recall she's done this in the past and I immediately think, ok, what is this really about? What is the higher lesson here? Not how did I attract it, but why. I knew HOW I'd attracted it, by giving attention to things of that nature, but I knew there was also a WHY if I wanted to figure it out. Recalling it had happened before, I did a word search in my journal to remind me of the circumstances. I saw she'd gotten angry at me in November 2006, almost 3 years to the day. I had attracted this situation out of her because of where I'd been vibing all week. I didn't take it personally. In November 2006, after being asked for advice, I suggested she: 1. Spend at least twice as much time reflecting on her past good fortune, as she spends observing her current distress. 2. Write up a script of about 5 minutes worth of self talk recalling times when dollars were flowing in the past and how much freedom that afforded and how that felt, and what she'd like to do with hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars. 3. Schedule little daily cheerleading sessions with herself, where she will read over the script or, even better, record it onto cd for herself and play it over and over as she falls asleep for a few weeks. 4. Listen to the Abraham-Hicks work, a lot of it is free online. 5. Let go of how she thinks it all works, just suspend belief for long enough to give my way a try. 6. Make her only job to create avenues for income to come in - which she has via her website, books and cds - and then unkink her hose. She knows to what extent her hose is unkinked because she will see the flow of income increase and come from several sources. 7. Keep in the forefront of her mind that God/the Universe is her supply, NOT the government, NOT the stock market, NOT the church, NOT her clients, nor the customers who buy her products, although it is typically through clients and customers that her supply shows up. Of course, she didn't follow my suggestions when she asked for them in 2006 and got ticked at me over it back then, too. So it's just deja vu all over again. Even when they are momentarily painful lessons, such as in this case losing a friend, I like keeping track of the cause and effect, so I know when I'm in the vibe for what. I mean, since that's the only thing that controls my destiny and all. The reason that conflicts come up in our lives in the first place is so that we can strengthen ourselves as we work through them. To make us strong enough so we can break out of our comfortable safe cocoons when it comes time to do what needs to be done. They are not negative events. They are just cause and effect and, once we discover how to do it, very manageable. :) RELATED POST: When Friends Misunderstand RELATED POST: When friends betray friends RELATED POST: Clash of the Egos Simple Self Talk Scripts To Help You Attract a Better Tomorrow RELATED POST: Dollars, Personal Storms, It's All Related. .LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your angels, guides and teachers Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

butterflies-and-cocoon-copy

Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:08:10 +0000

Simple Self Talk Scripts To Help You Attract a Better Tomorrow

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 11:20:24 +0000

A friend asked me to help them script them some new self-talk and I was looking through my files and came across the one below that fits their situation. If it sounds familiar, it's because everyone has the same universal dilemmas. QUESTION : I'm seeking investors for my business because I'm literally on the immediate brink of financial disaster, although I also have faith in the universe and my own destiny. I have been saved before at the last moment by either a job or a line of credit or something during these last crazy decades. ANDREA: I suggest you first prepare an official written request for funding to have on hand to give to potential investors. Compiling the request would also give you more clarity about what you need and why. Every so often I am approached by someone who is interested in funding new projects, and if I have a proposal or outline to hand to them, it makes it easy. I would definitely begin to journal about each time you've been saved at the last minute, just to get yourself vibing in that place to make that happen again soon. I would definitely spend at least twice as much time reflecting on your past good fortune, as you spend observing the current distress. You've already attracted a pretty exciting life to yourself, as well as powerful and influential people. When you meditate on the idea of what your next step might be regarding income production, what thoughts come to mind? I am a big believer in the power of visualization to create changes in my physical 3D life, especially in the area of finance. This is what I would do if I were you: I'd write up a script of about 5 minutes worth of self talk recalling times when dollars were flowing in the past and how much freedom that afforded and how that felt, and what you'd like to do with hundreds of thousands and millions of dollars, starting off with paying all your bills and buying the car of your dreams. How cool to do that every few years, huh? You're a professional speaker, writer and editor. This can be a great opportunity to combine those gifts into a new visualization project via spending some focused segments of time and attention - which would bring you into vibrational harmony with what you're wanting to do. It takes time to write up a script, and edit it, and all the while feeling hopeful about it and making it fun. And all that time is spent in vibrational harmony with what you want to attract. Since you want to attract income, you would want to spend as much time as you can 'vibrating in harmony' with having plenty of money. You want to schedule little daily cheerleading sessions with yourself, where you will read over the script or, even better, record it onto cd for yourself and play it over and over to yourself as you fall asleep for a few weeks. Until your mind begins that inner process of going deeper into the meaning of the words in the script. And since you're a teacher, this visualization project is excellent personal research for an important topic that it currently timely in the media - law of attraction. So it would be natural to weave that into your own teachings as an additional educational tool for your students. Maybe all this focusing will help dissolve whatever conscious or subconscious mechanisms are at work keeping you from a state of allowing in the area of income your life. I felt my own resistance on the topic of income was attached to my feeling that the vow of poverty part of the monastic lifestyle was such a romantic notion, and I spend time daydreaming about me living that simple lifestyle. It took a lot of scripting and self talk to re-program my thoughts and beliefs to include a continuous generous flow of dollars. Much of the change in thinking had to do with the fact that with continuous dollars, I could more easily effect positive change on a large scale. I am thinking perhaps some of your unconscious resistance may be similar, since we have similar backgrounds. If it were me, I'd script something up - heck even make it a screenplay for a 30 minute tv comedy to make the project more fun - and then I'd spend conscious time several times each day to re-program my subconscious mind on the topic of dollars. You want to upgrade your beliefs to break the spell of your income karma. You don't want that to continue in the future. So you are working on changing your thoughts so you can change your beliefs so you can attract a different experience than the past. So your future experience will be lots more dollars flowing in than in the past, because you will have released some resistance and are now more allowing. Do you keep up with the Abraham-Hicks work? It was their work that helped me discover and release resistance on the topic of dollars, and for helping me identify when I am in a state of 'not allowing'. I have many of their cds here, I would be glad to send them if you would like. See if they inspire you; they do me. So anyhow, in the doing of this project, you're achieving several goals: attracting income, gathering info, spreading the good word, having fun in the doing of it all and connecting with people who will soon be important in your life. QUESTION: A potential investor wrote a week or so ago to say how much she likes my work and asked if there was anything she could do to help me. I almost never think of whether someone can help me or not because it seems to be a not- always- fun game of chicken between God and me. Or between whatever and whatever. ANDREA: I completely understand what you are saying here and to a giant extent I agree and do the same. It's one reason I don't pair-bond, I am in the groove of attracting good things the last few years and don't want to dilute my thoughts as I know a personal relationship would. I don't share space easily or well. Well, not with someone who wants to talk or interact every day anyway. I like lots of complete silence in my personal space, and for days at a time. And I get tired of explaining that to new partners, so it's easier to just not go there at all. That prevents me having any emotional ups and downs due to a relationship. And with work, I am very aware of when someone helps me and I want to make sure they are always compensated fairly for it, so there is no dollar karma with someone who thinks I am taking advantage. That helps my dollar flow, keeping it flowing out of me. Many people in the past decade have offered to volunteer to help, and I periodically have an assistant, but I keep attracting people like me, who want to have freedom and don't want to be committed to a schedule, who want to do the fun stuff and slack on the unfun stuff. So I end up interacting for a short time with someone who is invariably fun to hang with, but basically the work load never lightens and I would have gotten farther on the project doing it myself. At least until I learn to attract help that is more competent and dependable than I am. It was a big step for me coming to realization that was what was happening. But until I am clear on that topic, I will steer clear of joining karma with others by having them help. You write: I almost never think of whether someone can help me or not because it seems to be a not-always-fun game of chicken between God and me. I was in a situation once where I had turned down several offers to help me, not wanting to get too tied and obligated to the ones who were offering it. One night during meditation, I got the message "Allow people to give you their gifts." I was infused with the message that sometimes you ask for help just to give someone around you the chance to give it. To give them a chance to serve. Not so much that you need the help, rather that they so much need to have an opportunity to serve, and want to do it with you. Like the concept of darshan, just seeing the one who so inspires you is an infusion of shakti to your system, and gives it a reboot. So consider when you allow someone to help you, them being in your presence for a short time will give them a bit of an awakening and you as well, so you're doing a service also. It's all just being in the flow of seva with whoever shows up in front of you. And maximizes the potential for you both by recognizing that. QUESTION: I just wrote a simple note to thank (the potential investor) for writing, and she just wrote back and asked again if there was anything she could do to help me and wanted to know what projects I'm working on. So I had our very nice funding request to send her -- see what a blessing you have been! ANDREA: Thanks, I know the important work was the laser focus needed to word the funding request. That laser focus for that short period of time was what began the attraction process for you on that topic. She is just the first of many that will want to help. And now you will give them the chance. QUESTION: And as for journaling about being saved at the last minute stories, it is great to have some feedback come in like what you mentioned. So thank you for being very honest and very kind all at the same time. ANDREA: I am loving what you've written, you've got a great flowing style that compels the reader to move along. I mentioned the being saved at the last minute stories so that you could spend some time in thought and on paper as part of a daily practice in the attracting of income to you. I think this can be an important time for you to do several daily sessions of having a 'creation workshop' with yourself, where you purposely stop all other thought and focus on writing a few minutes on the topic, since you want to attract that same scenario now - being saved at the last minute. Every time that you are thinking, you are in a 'creative workshop', so I find it's helpful to stop myself several times a day and do it in a more focused, official fashion. Especially to get the dollars flowing. Also, being saved at the last minute is also a prior belief that you are ready to let go of, and replace with a little higher, more expanded belief. It's nice to know you'll be saved at the last minute, but also nice to have a stockpile of whatever you need within easy reach ahead of time. So that is what you want to attract for this new segment of your life. You want to upgrade your belief so that you now accumulate a nice nest egg. If God is truly the source of all creation, then as I learned from Joel Goldsmith, God is the source of my income as well. He is sending dollars to me thru all sorts of people, and I receive it according to how unkinked my hose is, and who I chose to allow into my life. Your only job is to create avenues for income to come in - which you have via your website, books and cds - and then unkink your hose. You know to what extent your hose is unkinked because you will be seeing the flow of income increase and come from several sources. Which it will anyway because you're having an awakening on this topic currently. I buy lottery tickets every week also, just to give $$ another avenue to come in, and to let me know to what extent my hose is unkinked and I am 'allowing' my good. I regularly win 3 and 4 numbers out of 6, every now and then I've gotten 5, but it's a good barometer. As I said, you're having an awakening on the income topic right now. It may be that the end of this year will also see the end of the past momentum of old stuff, the clearing out and releasing of what no longer serves you. And with the lighter baggage, you'll move faster and farther up the trail. I am a real fan of the burning bowl as a ritual for releasing things. I sit in my firepit area, or at the chimenea on the patio depending on my mood, and I have a notebook and pen. I write down anyone or any situation I am harboring any resistance about, and say a prayer that I am ready and willing to release all conscious and subconscious attachment to them. I ask that they be blessed and the situation between us be blessed. As I toss the paper into the fire, my internal talk says "God is burning up all obstacles to me receiving my good." And sometimes I have to release the same person or situation several times. I have stopped kicking myself for having repeated unproductive or unkind thoughts about them, and I just do the work as many times as it takes. For this reason also I say write up a script of self talk and even record it onto a cd for yourself and play it, even do track one as a hypnotic induction in case you want to do one. I do this all the time to reprogram myself. I make the cds and listen to them until it sinks in to my subconscious and revises and upgrades my beliefs. It is so far working with my weight and finances. Listen to my self hypnosis cds as an example. You will come up with better phrases to script for yourself although some of mine may be useable - we all kinda want the same basic things. Some of my fave suggestions are from Sleepytime Recharge: There is a part of me that is very creative and this part of me is beginning to find more ways for me to express my creativity. I am beginning to use my own creative resources to re-organize my unconscious beliefs so I may find greater satisfaction in my everyday life. It becomes easy to find fun and interesting ways to spend my time and I have an increasing sense of mission and purpose. After we spoke on the phone - please take this as the loving observation that it is - I mean only to encourage and help you get where you want to be. I'm in your corner. It is apparent by the phrases you use in voicing your feelings over the past events with X and also the fact that you disowned your family years ago, that there are still large portions of undigested stuff in process. I'm not saying those events did not occur, I am saying that in the way you describe them, you clearly feel victimized, even now or you wouldn't want to share the story, framing it the way you do. I'm not saying don't share the story or edit it - this email isn't about that. This email is me telling you that I have recognized some thought patterns (via words and writing) that you have that are hindering the flow of good in to your life, specifically hindering your income. And I want to point them out to you as food for contemplation, as I feel drawn to help you achieve income. You may or may not want to update your thoughts. This is what I know: If you harbor any strong feelings of resistance on any topic, it affects your income and it affects your ability to attract good things. It may seem unrelated, but it is related. You may know it on an intellectual level, but if you really 'knew' it and got it, you would use different wording in describing events, past and present. I will give some examples from my own life, simply because that's easiest for me to do. I used to love the romantic notion of me being the monk living in poverty and chastity, and absolutely believed there was 'virtue in the suffering'. I have since come to know I can do more worldly good with more dollars and that God is the source of all my good, all my supply, and it is His wish to give me the Kingdom. It was a long road, but as soon as I began to really believe that, the dollars began flowing. I had to do a lot of emotional work (mostly on my own - by choice) for several years (and even now as it comes up) to dissolve feelings of resentment or jealousy or judgment, etc. with everyone in my life. Even those, and there were many, who betrayed me. Until I got to a place where I could think of them and honestly, genuinely feel that I was past the situation, that I harbored no ill will and knew that we were each in the place we had to be and I had somehow attracted it or it wouldn't be happening. And until I got to that place, the dollars would not be flowing. My hose would be so kinked that only a few pennies would trickle out at a time. And the monk part of me would say, "Oh yes, I can eek by on that, yes we martyrs can make do with that." Then I would recognize those were old beliefs playing out once again in my self talk. When I recognized that, I had to stop and discover what was putting a crimp in my hose, reducing my flow to a trickle. The crimp would always be whoever or whatever I felt aggravated by at the time. And my hose would unkink to the extent I got rid of my 'stuff'. And for me personally, the easiest thing to do is simply not let many people in my personal space, and to not get involved in personal relationships. That’s pretty easy for a celibate monk anyway. That keeps the "stuff" to a minimum. And I'm not saying you are not justified in feeling the anger, resentment, whatever. I'm just asking, are you ready to move past it and be done with it? Are you ready to say, I am going to give more attention to where I want to be next year, than I will give attention to where I am or where I have been? Because you well know that whatever you are experiencing today is as a result of what you've been focusing on and thinking about and self-talking about, and talking to others about, the past several weeks, months, years. It's time to move on to a more productive topic. You should bless the Universe for throwing the old situation into your life, allowing you to create under the most harsh and trying of circumstances. This past decade surely proves to you just how strong you really are and how much you can actually handle. You're obviously a very powerful woman, and your mere presence affects others. You know the concepts of darshan and shaktipat, and how powerful the effects. A powerful woman threatens a lot of insecure others, who then seek to use any means to tear her down in the elevation of themselves. You can chose not to play the game and be done with it. No one can weave with you a bond of discord if you contribute no strands to the weaving. Yes, you have given freely of your time and talents and dollars in both personal and professional situations, and not received fair recompense. Yes, worldly others have taken advantage of your naive good nature. Me, too. I know however that somehow, on some level, I attracted it all and God permitted it to happen so somewhere down the road I'll see that (or not). I consider each theft or personal humiliation as somehow a payback for my past actions, this life or others past, it matters not if I know where it came from. I consider each financial betrayal as a tithe to the Universe for good things yet to come, as a form of just paying my dues, not knowing what these alleged dues are nor when they will be called due. No biggie. I keep in the forefront of my mind that God is my supply, NOT the government, NOT the stock market, NOT the church, NOT the clients I counsel, nor the customers who buy my product, although it is typically through clients and customers that supply comes. But if I lose Client A, I don't lament that I've lost one, for I know that only makes room for Client B to come in - and pay the new, updated current rates. And remember I have experienced that you are not someone who easily and graciously receives what others offer. You are very much a mirror to me for that, as I used to be the same way. I've now learned to say "Thank you, how kind, I appreciate it" rather than "Thanks, that's not necessary" when I could really have used it. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that, I don't like to feel obligated by others either, but ... just a suggestion: Let people give you their gifts. Add it to your daily sadhana. Sometimes people need a chance to give, it's not always about "well I don't need them to do that". Sometimes it is about "give others the opportunity to give back to me if they feel I have blessed them in some way." Begin looking for small ways to allow others to do for you, just to get yourself used to it; to get yourself used to enjoying allowing others to give to you. When you start feeling tickled pink every time it happens, you've begun attracting more of it. So if God is continually pouring money (and other good) through my hose, I can receive it only to the extent I keep my hose unkinked. My hose stays unkinked to the extent I hold no bad feeling toward no person, place or thing. I hold no bad feeling toward any person, place or thing by recognizing that I am the attractor of my experience, and that if I want to change an experience I am having, I merely need to get clear on what I would prefer, then begin directing my thoughts in that new direction. It really is that simple. What's funny is that I wrote this to Domino a few years ago. She knows this is my ongoing advice relative to any obstacle she ever perceived. But, well, she's "not into creative visualization" and has a lifestyle she is used to. She wasn't guided to do the work so, for her, nothing's changed. She's still waiting for an investor to sponsor her so she can be free to work. She could take on 1 or 2 roommates in her house which is just blocks from the ocean. She could do a variety of internet based businesses from home to fund her other work, she could teach search engine optimization by email, but she's very focused instead on telling her old story and doing it the old way. Someone else I gave similar suggestions to at the same time scripted up some powerful visualizations and did them daily, worked on his project in spare hours between mowing lawns, painting and cleaning houses, for years. He did pressure cleaning of driveways, he sold truckloads of watermelons, he tutored piano, and he got solvent real fast by staying focused. He now has his second book out and is making a good living doing workshops and classes, and is booked two years in advance on the speaking circuit. You can lead a horse to water. RELATED POST: When Friends Misunderstand RELATED POST: When friends betray friends RELATED POST: Clash of the Egos Taking Note of Cause and Effect in Action to Practice Intuition RELATED POST: Dollars, Personal Storms, It's All Related . .LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your angels, guides and teachers Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

A Beautiful Full Moon Tuesday

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 09:13:07 +0000

I'm really enjoying the cooler weather. I like it when I can open all the windows up and turn the fans off and let the natural cool breeze run right through the house. It just changes the energy of everything. I have a cushioned rocker on the back porch, and it's facing the spot where the moon rises. There's a small foot rug in front of the chair, and the rug and the chair get moved around almost daily. That's because the moon rises just a little more to the north each night now as the sun sets way to the south in the west this time of year. I like watching the moon make it way across the sky each night. I feel it helps me stay connected to who I am. This self perpetuating cycle of physical cells that are me. Sometimes I'll take a blanket out and lie out under the night sky. I'm lucky in that there are few street lights here, so the stars in the sky often look so close that you could reach out and touch them. There are not too many cars driving by, not too many tvs or radios on, so you can hear the crickets and the critters walking along their little nature paths. The City of Palm Bay just gave us all notices yesterday that construction will begin next week on installing the city water lines in our neighborhood. I wonder if they will work around the clock doing it, or just daylight hours? The critters mostly come out at night and I like them to be undisturbed, but I can't control their lives. They'll figure it out for them and I'll figure it out for me. I'll bet the construction crews will be quick as bunnies and the new lines will be in before we know it. Bunnies, I see quite a few brown bunnies out at sunset when I'm riding my bike or wandering around the neighborhood. There's a whole bunch of us that are out and about at the same time, it's very community friendly. I like when we can all ride or walk past the rows of brown bunnies as if to say, "Yes, thank you for sharing this planet with us. You're welcome, too." :) LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

dove-1-sun-in-sky72

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:53:44 +0000

To Those Who Knew Jim Chandler (Bikaman)

Wed, 02 Dec 2009 17:57:28 +0000

I received an email from Bikaman@aol.com today but it wasn't what I expected. It read: Good Afternoon Folks. Unfortunately, this is not a joke or one of Jim's pranks. I wish it were. My name is Fred Padilla. I am a good friend of Jim's which explains why I have the password to his computer and the key to his house. This email is going out to everyone in Jim's AOL address book. Some of you already know this. For the rest of you... It is a very sad day for us. It is my sad duty to inform you that Jim passed away. It was either Sunday night or Monday. I found him yesterday at around 2:30 after concerned friends contacted me and informed me that nobody had heard from him for an unusual period of time. I myself was trying to reach him for over 24 hours and was actually planning a visit that very afternoon. He died peacefully in his sleep, apparently. The cause of death has not been officially reported yet but my guess is a heart attack. Certainly, we, his friends and family will miss him. In my opinion the world is a bit lesser now without him. We had some great times. He was always a good friend and brother. Always there to help in times of crisis. I feel lucky to have known him. If you have any questions, you can contact his daughter, Nicole at 321-506-8768. As a skydiver for nearly 20 years, I've lost some friends to sport-related events as well as natural causes. It doesn't seem to be easier one way or the other. One quote that I've unfortunately had the need for before is: "Do not despair at good-byes. Farewells are necessary if we are to meet again. And meeting again is certain, for those who are friends". I think that conveys my feelings accurately... as well as many others. God Speed, Bikaman... Till we meet again. -- Fred Note: Fred created a memorial page for Jim at http://www.c-horsesoftware.com/pics/memorial-web.jpg Andrea's note: Jim lived around the corner from me these many years, he will surely be missed. Below are the comments some friends made to this post:

Reader Comments

my name is Krista and Jimbob (as we always called him) was my step father for many years and in some ways i always felt he was my father. he baptized me when i was 12 years old. he influenced me in ways no one else will ever be able to. he was my hero! he was for real, funny, and so kind…i love him and i will miss him greatly!!! i wish i could have seen him one last time.. I LOVE YOU JIMBOB!!!!!

Written By micah798 on December 2nd, 2009 @ 1:13 pm

I got to know Jim through Cat Channel’s online community for cat lovers. He posted his wonderful family of cats, known as the Sunshine Rancho cats, Missy, Ole Gray, Taz & Zippi. He entertained us all with his incredible blogs about the adventures of his four pawed family members. We knew him to be talented, kind, caring, and generous in spirit and we already miss him. It was only months ago, Jim shared with us his excitement at his family and friends going all out for his milestone birthday. I posted a note to his cat’s pages on Cat Channel as well as on CC news page as I know Jim was loved by the whole CC community. My heartfelt sympathies to his family and loved ones. Angel Jim is certainly in Heaven watching over all of you from above. Love, Sara of Stockton and her cats Fidel, Che & Tonantzin.

Written By saraofstockton on December 2nd, 2009 @ 2:18 pm

I posted the following blog on the CC news page as Jim was well known and loved in our online community: Dear CC community! With tears we post our heartfelt sympathies on hearing this morning from Uncle Jim’s close friend that our dear CC buddy Jim, Dad of the awesome Sunshine Rancho cats Ole Gray, Missy, Zippi & Taz, has crossed the Rainbow Bridge on his way to Heaven. It was only months before Jim was surrounded with family and friends celebrating a milestone birthday. We who knew Jim from his splendid tales of adventure with his Rancho cats knew what a special, kind, talented and big hearted man Jim was to all who crossed his path. We cry at the loss of a dear furiend and member of our CC community. We take comfort knowing that he died peacefully in his sleep and is certainly in Heaven, surrounded by kitty angels. We pray that his daughter, other family and loved ones are comforted in their grief. We are certain that between all who knew Jim and his much loved cats closely, his Sunshine kitties will be loved and given a new home as they adjust to the loss of their beloved Dad. Angel Jim, our Mom looked out in the night sky after midnight marveling at the light of a full moon and a brilliant star sparkling like a diamond up above. Now she knows you were just saying goodnight. We are lighting our altar candle this evening for Angel Jim and offering prayers for him, his Sunshine gatos and his grieving family and friends. As we wipe our tears, we do not say goodbye but hasta luego amigo ~ when our paths cross again. Love, Fidel, Che, Tonantzin & Mom Sara

Written By saraofstockton on December 2nd, 2009 @ 2:20 pm

Received From JanC just now: I’m Jim’s sister. I had absolutely no idea that he was ill so I’m in a state of shock right now. Oh how I wish I had called him to say hi over Thanksgiving…….but I didn’t. I wanted to add a post to say how much I loved him & how much I’ll miss him. RIP bro.

Written By Andrea on December 2nd, 2009 @ 2:48 pm

I think of Jim at Thanksgiving since several years ago I went thru a strict vegetarian phase. It began the day after Thanksgiving when I opened my refrigerator to see this giant turkey in there that I suddenly knew I could not eat. I called Jim and convinced him to take it from me. He was stoked, so we always laughed about that.

Written By Andrea on December 2nd, 2009 @ 2:53 pm

Another post I have just received for Jim: . “Keep on picking those strings stone fingers, till we meet where ever. Captin Fudgie”

Written By Andrea on December 2nd, 2009 @ 3:03 pm

Oh Jim you will be sorely missed by all your friends. I am one of the older ones that lived in East Natick. We were about 12-13 and used to skaate on big Jennings Pond. Went to school through High School…Then met up again in Holliston. I remember when you had been in a terrible car accident and your jaw was wired shut and it was time for Thanksgiving at the Dillons and you put yours in a blender and drank it through a straw. You were always happy and full of jokes. You let Jon and I borrow your old 1954 antique Mercury to take on our honeymoon when we lived in Medway. That was only 31 years ago and seems like yesterday. I know you always had a great relationship with the Lord and know he will take care of you. Til we meet again. All our love, Jon & Shirley Dillon

Written By Shirley Dillon on December 2nd, 2009 @ 3:04 pm

To Jim’s family and friends, I came to know Jim via Cat Channel through his blogs about the “sunshine” gang, Zippi, Old Grey, Missy and Taz. I always looked forward to reading about the gang’s adventures. Jim had a great talent for writing the most amusing, entertaining blogs about his beloved cats and they always made me smile, no matter my mood or what I was going through. I always looked forward to his messages and I will miss them so very much. I was so sorry to hear of his passing and I hope those who knew and loved him will find comfort in knowing he went peacefully in his sleep. I only hope I will get the chance to meet him in Heaven someday and let him know just how much I enjoyed hearing from him. I am thankful to have had the opportunity through Cat Channel to get to know him and his wonderful cats and I hope Zippi, Old Grey, Missy and Taz will find new loving home(s) where they will be as loved and cared for as they were with their daddy, Jim. God Bless. ~Kelly, mom to Sylvester, Jinx, Angel Buddy, Max & Dex~

Written By Kelia67 on December 2nd, 2009 @ 3:24 pm

I met Jim thru the internet and I thought he was so cool, so kind, and so loved his Rancho cats. What a loss for our earthly plane. Sammie

Written By sammie43 on December 2nd, 2009 @ 4:29 pm

For Dadcat Jim, from “Da Goob”. You made my nickname so very special, you made all of us laugh and enjoy life. You have left a hole in our hearts, Jim, and you will be missed more than words can describe. Luv, Da Goob For Jim’s family and friends: he was a very special man, a very special human being, who brought such joy and life to CatChannel. I know you will care for his furbabies, for they will miss him most of all. Sandy, Felicity “Da Goob’s” Momma Until we all meet again…..

#10

Written By FelicitySandy on December 2nd, 2009 @ 4:52 pm

It is indeed a sad, sad day for me. I could write volumes about Jim. Jim and I have been friends for about 25 years. I can remember Nicole as a little girl running around the house chasing her dad. Jim was a close friend and I spoke to him on Wednesday and wished him a Happy Thanksgiving. Jim and I had breakfast frequently and we had expected to see each other this weekend. I heart is heavy and I will miss my very dear friend. I will miss his lively conversation and gentle smile. Take care my friend until we meet again. Norm Hayden

#11

Written By profmoney on December 2nd, 2009 @ 7:14 pm

To Jim’s Family and Friends, The Jim “DadCat” we all knew on CatChannel was wise, fun, a great storyteller, so much so that I actually picture him as the Native American storyteller, but surrounded by cats, not just children. We were blessed to know even this small part of Jim. Thank you for sharing him with us. He did a very special thing for me and my cats in the Irish Clan just a few days ago when we needed support - he reached out, unasked, a memory I will always cherish. I know this is not his favorite but I raise my glass of Bushmill’s to the memory of a very special man. Our Lord must have needed a very special Angel to have taken Jim home at this time. Aileen/The Irish Clan

#12

Written By Aileen on December 2nd, 2009 @ 7:38 pm

My heart is heavy with the news of Jim’s passing. I, too, knew Jim through a community of online friends called the Cat Channel. I knew from the start, Jim was extraordinarily kind with a heart as big as all outdoors, because of his love and tender care of his cats. First there was Missy, his beautiful Norwegian Forrest kitty. Then Ole Grey came to visit and Jim sat with him in the garage. Soon O.G. had his own chair, then wormed his way into Jim’s house and his heart. Soon came Taz, and then Zippi. Jim entertained us all with his fabulous sense of humor, but I saw the serious side as well. He never sounded prouder than when the Biker Group did something for charity or reached out to help a friend in need. We all celebrated with Jim over the news of his recent milestone birthday. Godspeed his precious soul. I know the angels were there to surround him with love and comfort when he made his final journey. Mary from Atlanta, GA and her Ginger Spicegirl

#13

Written By GingerSpice on December 2nd, 2009 @ 8:15 pm

I was shocked to read that Jim had passed away. I knew him from Cat Channel and considered him a good friend. His stories about his furbabies always brought a smile to my face. I will miss him more than words can say. My deepest sympathy to Jim’s family and friends and his precious kitties. I know that his family will take care of the kitties for Jim and find them good homes. I will pray for Jim and for all of us who will miss him. I know that I am a better person for having known Dadcat, Jim. Rest in peace my friend and I know that we will meet one day at The Rainbow Bridge where we will all be reunited with our beloved furry friends for eternity. Lisa and her kitties, Mittens, Minuette, Gypsy, Greycee and Angel Misty…

#14

Written By Lisa Bogus on December 2nd, 2009 @ 8:23 pm

There isn’t much that I can add to what others have already written about our dear friend Jim, known to most of us on Cat Channel as DadCat of the Sunshine Gang. He was such a wonderful, upbeat, funny and loving man and we will miss him terribly. He is now a member of the Angel Kitty Gang, and I know that he will be as caring to the animals in Heaven as he was to those on earth. If there is any way that I can help, any charity that I (or we) can give to in Jim’s honor, please let me know. I pray that his beloved cats will be looked after because I know how important they were to him. Again, if help is needed, let one of us Cat Channel people know. We all loved Jim and any one or all of us would do for Jim what we all know he would have done for us. Goodbye, dear friend. I will miss you more than you will ever know! Godspeed, Kat and her Zoo–Jesse, Anna, Miss Millie, Mai Lin, Sasha, KC, Mystie May, and Angels Mi Ping and Tiki

#15

Written By katlentz on December 2nd, 2009 @ 8:56 pm

Another post from JanC: . This is one of my most favorite poems……you’re welcome to use it on that page for my bro if you so desire: God looked around his garden And found an empty place. He then looked down upon the Earth And saw your tired face. He put his arms around you And lifted you to rest. God’s garden must be beautiful. He only takes the best. He knew you were suffering. He knew you were in pain. He knew you would never get Well on Earth again. He saw the road was getting rough And the hills were hard to climb. So he closed your weary eyelids And whispered “peace be thine”. It broke our hearts to lose you But you did not go alone. For part of us went with you The day God called you home.

#16

Written By Andrea on December 2nd, 2009 @ 9:36 pm

I am also a member of CC. We will miss dadcat Jim and his wonderful tales “As The Rancho Turns”. We enjoyed each and every one. Ole Gray, Taz, Zippi and Missy have a wonderful home we hope that they always will. Jim loved his furbabies. This has been a real shocker for all of us. He was such a great friend to all of us. He was the one that brought many of us together as he introduced himself and the sunshine gang to new members. For over 2 years we have heard loving tales of the sunshine gang, those tales will be greatly missed. Our hearts go out to all his friends and family who knew him personally we know you have lost someone very special! God be with you all. Carla and The Georgia Gang Tabitha, Mr Kitty, Princess, Scooter, Mittens, Buttons (Angels June Prancer and Sally) and the rest of the gang Augusta Ga

#17

Written By Tabitha_Carla on December 2nd, 2009 @ 10:45 pm

I am another member of CC and knew and enjoyed Jim’s wonderful stories and the antics of his El Rancho Kits.. Jim was a wonderful friend to all and even though we never met I felt like he was like a brother…we are deeply saddened by his passing…we know how much you will all miss this wonderful man…I hope that someone will take those four beautiful cats and give them a new home…Jim you were an angel on earth, now you can be your loved one’s guardian angel here on earth…God Bless you all…Carol the mom of Bandito and SuzyQ we live in the panhandle of FL

#18

Written By chache on December 2nd, 2009 @ 11:36 pm

i knew jim and the sunshine gang on CC … i can’t tell you how upset and shocked i was on the loss of dadcat Jim…i will miss his stories about all of his cats…i had tears in my eyes as i read of his loss…i hope the cats all find a new forever home together..we know how much they were loved..my thoughts and prayers are with your family…sally katz..meeko & bootz’s mom

#19

Written By kittykatz on December 3rd, 2009 @ 12:00 am

I knew Jim and The Sunshine Gang on CC. It always brought a smile if not a laugh to hear from him. Though I have never met him, I know he was a good, kind, fun loving person. I will miss hearing the stories. It would be nice to keep the cats on CC, not delete their pages, so we can all go visit them some times. I know he saw to it that they would be cared for when he was gone. God Bless and God Speed to a very wonderful man. Carol, Sugar, Easy, The Blues Brothers,Angel Casha, Starman and ALL of The V.I. Kitties

#20

Written By V.I.Kitties on December 3rd, 2009 @ 4:08 am

My heart is very heavy with the news of Jim’s passing. I, too, knew Jim through a online friendship group called Cat Channel. He was there for me during my family’s tragedies. He was one of my first friends here on this channel, he was always there for me and for all of his friends. His stories made me smile and I loved all of his “Furr Babies“. Not long ago I remember Jim saying he was getting ready his bike ready for a charity ride. He loved people. He loved trying to make a difference in people’s lives - and he did. I always enjoyed him talking about his involvement in charities, causes and helping people. This is a very sad day and Jim, you’ll always be in my heart - Cat Channel will never be the same without you. I will keep all of you in my prayers. May the Lord surround your family and friends with comfort and love. May the Lord be with you all. Good bye my precious friend. Laura, Mr. Jinks, Little Gilligan, Princess Mittens, and Symon.

#21

Written By Luv2icesk8 on December 3rd, 2009 @ 12:10 pm

I don’t know Jim as well as most of you; I had the pleasure of making his acquaintance when I was a Cat Channel blogger several years ago. I guess it was “fate” that brought the DIVA’S Missy and Daisy; two Norwegian Forest Cats; together at Cat Channel and it was through them I “met” Jim. It’s been maybe 2 years now since I left Cat Channel, yet Jim made such an impression on me, that I never forgot him. Nicole, your dad’s one cool dude; peace out and rock on Jim. Laura & the tabbies of trout towne =^..^=

#22

Written By the tabbies of trout towne on December 3rd, 2009 @ 12:12 pm

As a child growing up in the 60’s and 70’s…Jimmy Chandler was one of the “coolest” guys I ever knew…the fast..sharp…cool cars…the women…the language…he was my idol…but then he grew up and grew into one of the nicest of spiritual men who apparently loved cats as well…I am glad for that…to know that his soul was soft and mature in the Lord and he was “saved”. God bless you jimmy chandler wherever you are in the universe…how glad to know so many people loved you as do I….Vicki

#23

Written By renoadelaide on December 3rd, 2009 @ 12:45 pm

“I will miss your sense of humor, I will miss your anecdotes about the Sunshine gang, I will miss our phone conversations where we discussed everything life threw at us, I will miss you Jim.” My heartfelt sympathies to you Nicole and everyone else in Jim’s family; your dad was a true friend to so many; we are blessed to have known him. Violet, Scottsdale, AZ Peanut & Skeeter too.

#24

Written By Violet N Girls on December 3rd, 2009 @ 4:21 pm

I met Jim through Cat Channel March 2008.This is the blog I left for his cat channel friends today…TRIBUTE TO SUNSHINE GANGS DADCAT JIM….CELEBRATING HIS LIFE..”Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that’s how I’ll remember you. If you can only remember me with tears, Then don’t remember me at all.”…Many have registered on horizonsmagazine.com & left personal memories of Jim & SUNSHINE Gang on memorial page created by another of his dear friends, Andrea, entitled “TO THOSE WHO KNEW JIM CHANDLER (Bikaman)”. I hope all who knew Jim & his “AS THE RANCHO TURNS” kittehs will do the same. While we here on CC have his kittehs’ pages as an everlasting connection, those who leave messages on his memorial page will leave a keepsake for his family and many friends..JIM…BROUGHT LAUGHTER & SMILES TO ALL OF CC FAMILY EVERYDAY READING HIS WITTY HUMOROUS BLOGS..AS THE RANCHO TURNS…HE DEFINITELY WAS ONE OF A KIND…YOU COULD SEE HIS INTENSE LOVE FOR HIS FURBABIES.. OLE GRAY..TAZ ..MISSY & ZIPPI…HE HAD A GIFT WITH WORDS & AN AMAZING ABILITY SHOWN THROUGH HIS CREATIVE BLOGS..HIS HUMOR BROUGHT SMILES & LAUGHTER TO THE CC COMMUNITY & THAT IS WHAT WE WILL MISS MOST ABOUT JIM.HE BROUGHT US UP WHEN WE WERE DOWN…HE WAS A SWEET MAN WHO LOVED LIFE!..He was proud of his biker group & the work they did for charity…I AM GOING TO FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE THAT WE WILL NEVER RECEIVE ANOTHER BLOG FROM JIM & HIS KITTIES..EVEN THOUGH SOME NEW KITTIES HERE HAD NEVER MET JIM PURRSONNALLY.. THEY COULD ALL FEEL THE SADNESS & BLACK CLOUD HANGING OVER CC AS HIS OLD FURIENDS DID TOO..PLEASE KEEP JIMS DAUGHTER & FAMILY IN YOUR PRAYERS & PRAY THAT HIS KITTIES MAY STAY TOGETHER & BE CARED FOR AS JIM WOULD HAVE DONE…WILL YOU ALL RAISE YOUR FROSTY BEVERAGE TO SALUTE OUR FURIEND JIM.?..UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN..REST IN PEACE…1939-2009…NEVER FORGOTTEN & ALWAYS REMEMBERED..MAY THE WIND ALWAYS BE AT YOUR BACK JIM!..WE LOVE YOU!..Some people come into our lives & leave footprints on our hearts & we are never ever the same..That is what Jim has done to the cat channel community..To You Jim!…Fondly remembered and sadly mised…Nappy and Mom Brenda from Canada

#25

Written By bsharpe48 on December 3rd, 2009 @ 10:08 pm

From FellsmereDEBBIE: We want to express our sincere sympathies on the loss of Jim. Todd and I rode our Harley’s with Jim for several years back in the 90’s. I hadn’t been in touch with him for a while but still had him in my address book. We used to have a lot of fun with Jim. He’s riding his big Harley in Heaven with all his kitty angels surrounding him. God Bless, Debbie Cross and Todd Burdette. “Until one has loved an animal, part of their soul remains unawakened.”

#26

Written By Andrea on December 4th, 2009 @ 8:50 am

As I come to terms with the loss of my dear friend, 14 years worth of great memories come to my rescue and the tears slowly turn into a smile. Over the years Jim and I discussed everything from the behavior of sub-atomic particles to the sometimes unusual behavior of women. We invariably agreed that it was easier to understand the behavior of sub-atomic particles LOL. We’d have a good laugh and a drink. Some afternoons (not as many as I would have liked) I would stop working early and ride my motorcycle to his house. There he would be… right where he wanted to be. Sitting in the garage with a frosty mug (also refered to as a “Jim Bucket”) of his favorite beverage. A cigar in the other hand and one of the Sunshine kitties on his lap. Usually Ol’ Gray as the others are inside-cats. Somtimes he was alone with the kitties, other times there were other friends there. He looked happy. He was happy. Next to him, his awesome Harley and his pickup truck. Among many other things, I’m going to miss those afternoons a lot. A couple of years back, I owned a Ninja ZX6R “crotch-rocket” which I had modified to be even faster than they already are at birth. He could often hear me coming from about 1/2 a mile away putting that machine through the gears rather “aggressively”. He told me on a couple of occasions. “Freddy, if you kill yourself on that thing you’re going to leave a big hole in my life”. I’ll never forget those words or the calm, sincere tone in his voice when he said them. Ironic… I now know first hand exactly what he meant. Here’s a picture to help you visualize him in that mode. Sitting with his Jim Bucket in the garage hanging out with friends and his cats. Just cut and paste this into your browser. Thanks Jan for the poem. http://www.c-horsesoftware.com/pics/memorial-web.jpg We often joked about how much that “dash” matters. That little dash between the birth year and death year. “It’s all about what you do with that dash” we used to joke. Thanks for sharing some of your dash with me brother. I miss you already. – Fred

#27

Written By FredP on December 4th, 2009 @ 10:27 am

Through Cat Channel, I got to know Jim through his blogs through his beloved Ole Gray and Sunshine Gang. Ole Gray is a Russian Blue and so is my Peppermint. So it was cool to hear about his little Russian Blue. I am thrilled that the kitties get to stay together and have a loving home. He would be thrilled to know his kitties will be so well taken care of. I will miss his blogs. He lived a full life and touched the lives of so many people and kitties. As someone else from the CC said, he brought smiles and laughter to the CC with his blogs of tales of his beloved Sunshine Gang and Ole Gray. He will always remain in the hearts of those who knew him. I hope his kittie’s pages remain up on CC, and I heard that his daughter, who’s taking the kitty family into her home, may even add her cat to the CC. We look forward to that. We will miss him. Jane and cats: Peppermint, Snuffy, Sprinkles, Tippi, Tippi’s kittens and all of our angel kitties

#28

Written By angelfish17 on December 4th, 2009 @ 11:41 am

I can’t add much more to what has already been said. Jim and the Sunshine Gang truly brought sunshine to every family on Cat Channel. It was a shock to learn he had passed away unexpectedly. Reading all the tributes to Jim brings tears to my eyes. Learning that he actually grew up/lived nearby in MA when he was young brings everything full circle for me. He will be so missed. Our respect and condolences to Jim’s sister, daughter and his family. Loretta and cats Shadow & Terry

#29

Written By Loretta on December 4th, 2009 @ 2:47 pm

I did not know Jim personally, but knew of him through Cat Channel. From his blogs, I could see that not only was he a very funny guy (I loved his stories of the Sunshine Gang’s antics), but a caring one as well - from his love of his kitties to his delivering toys to needy kids. He will be missed at CC, and I wish to send my deepest sympathy to his family and friends. My prayers and thoughts are with them at this sad time. I have heard that his four beautiful furbabies will have a good home, and I hope that they will remain on CC. With a sad heart, Mary and Kitty Spanky-Jack

#30

Written By witchrose on December 5th, 2009 @ 8:21 am

I also, like many here, knew Jim only thru Cat Channel. I just told him on 11/27/09 how much I loved his humor and how he would always make me laugh, even when I was having a bad day. Mission Accomplished Jim, you’ve made a lot of people happy and laugh. I am better just from having known you. I will definitely miss Jim’s posts. I always wondered if the Rancho kitties were as bad as he said or he was just making us all laugh. Thoughts and prayers to his many friends and family during these most difficult days. Karen, Timmy, Tucker and Bella

Her Perception Upon Dying The End Of Death As We Know It

Infidelity: The Women in the Tiger Woods Scandal

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 05:31:28 +0000

I read in The women in the Tiger Woods Scandal: As the Tiger Woods story continues to evolve and escalate (see: his apology), a handful of women who aren't named Mrs. Woods have come into the fray claiming they've had affairs with the golf great. It can be quite confusing -- so many mistresses, so little time -- so PopEater took the time to break down each alleged Tiger poacher and the stories swirling around them. Then the story continued on to show pics and give some dish on each. My thoughts on this matter of his alleged infidelity was - with all due respect - who cares? Lots of my buddies won't like this part: I wrote in Infidelity; Cheaters; Sex Decoys: Love Stings that I know that just because my partner can be tempted doesn’t mean they don’t love me and that I can’t have a happy life with them. It’s not what they are doing that causes the problem, it is my reaction to what I think about what they are doing that causes the arguments. It helps to remember that intentions change, and we can live happier lives when we allow wiggle room for that. Don’t make more of it than it needs to be. Don’t jeopardize your own happy life by making it an issue and having an attitude about it. Get over it and get okay with it or get out of it. Sure, we can go all in to society demanding commitment and setting moral boundaries; into learning to attract partners that can be conscious and choose to exercise personal discipline. But none of that overrides the fact of nature that Humans Are Simpy Not Made Monogamous: A Biological View. The government can outlaw gravity, but that will not change the fact that the natural force of gravity is gonna do its work nonetheless. Tiger Woods, Brad Pitt, Joe the Plumber, it doesn't matter who it is. Do yourself a favor and stop connecting two events that don't need to be connected. He can absolutely love you. He can absolutely want to raise a family with you and be with you for the rest of his life. That does not have to change if he has encounters with other women. Remember, it’s not his cheating that causes the problem, it is your change of attitude and behavior afterward. Do you have good reason? It's not about whether you have good reason to be mad and whether you're justified, it's about do you love this person and want to continue to be in a relationship with them? That's all this is about. Everything else is just a thought in your head, and you are the one who can control those. He can be smart in all other areas of his life yet feel at the mercy of his hormones when it comes to sex. He can be completely stupid in the face of evidence he may lose his entire family and lifestyle over it. Don't take advantage of that. If he's a good man and you love him, his relationship with anyone else does not have to affect his relationship with you. The only place it can do that is in your mind and you are the one in charge of what you allow yourself to continue thinking. Of course he should be respectful and not allow anyone to call you, nor appear at your door. But don't demand to know where he is every moment, and he doesn't need a play by play of your daily events either. Don't play games. Don't make stupid, jealous comments, ever. Let him look and appreciate other women. So what? Don't cause unnecessary drama. Be as fun as you were when you first met. The less you make any controversy an issue, the more likely you are to have a long and successful relationship. And isn't that what it's all about? Of course, don't stay with anyone you feel does not respect you. But infidelity is a separate issue. . RELATED POST: Infidelity; Cheaters; Sex Decoys: Love Stings LISTEN FREE: Connecting with your Angels, Guides and Teachers

Man Controls Robotic Hand Using His Thoughts

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:40:03 +0000

ROME (AP) - An Italian who lost his left forearm in a car crash was successfully linked to a robotic hand, allowing him to feel sensations in the artificial limb and control it with his thoughts, scientists said Wednesday. During a one-month experiment conducted last year, 26-year-old Pierpaolo Petruzziello felt like his lost arm had grown back again, although he was only controlling a robotic hand that was not even attached to his body. "It's a matter of mind, of concentration," Petruzziello said. "When you think of it as your hand and forearm, it all becomes easier." Though similar experiments have been successful before, the European scientists who led the project say this was the first time a patient has been able to make such complex movements using his mind to control a biomechanic hand connected to his nervous system. The challenge for scientists now will be to create a system that can connect a patient's nervous system and a prosthetic limb for years, not just a month. The Italy-based team said at a news conference in Rome on Wednesday that in 2008 it implanted electrodes into the nerves located in what remained of Petruzziello's left arm, which was cut off in a crash some three years ago. The prosthetic was not implanted on the patient, only connected through the electrodes. During the news conference, video was shown of Petruzziello as he concentrated to give orders to the hand placed next to him. During the month he had the electrodes connected, he learned to wiggle the robotic fingers independently, make a fist, grab objects and make other movements. "Some of the gestures cannot be disclosed because they were quite vulgar," joked Paolo Maria Rossini, a neurologist who led the team working at Rome's Campus Bio-Medico, a university and hospital that specializes in health sciences. The euro2 million ($3 million) project, funded by the European Union, took five years to complete and produced several scientific papers that have been submitted to top journals, including Science Translational Medicine and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Rossini said. After Petruzziello recovered from the microsurgery he underwent to implant the electrodes in his arm, it only took him a few days to master use of the robotic hand, Rossini said. By the time the experiment was over, the hand obeyed the commands it received from the man's brain in 95 percent of cases. Petruzziello, an Italian who lives in Brazil, said the feedback he got from the hand was amazingly accurate. "It felt almost the same as a real hand. They stimulated me a lot, even with needles ... you can't imagine what they did to me," he joked with reporters. While the "LifeHand" experiment lasted only a month, this was the longest time electrodes had remained connected to a human nervous system in such an experiment, said Silvestro Micera, one of the engineers on the team. Similar, shorter-term experiments in 2004-2005 hooked up amputees to a less-advanced robotic arm with a pliers-shaped end, and patients were only able to make basic movements, he said. Experts not involved in the study told The Associated Press the experiment was an important step forward in creating a viable interface between the nervous system and prosthetic limbs, but the challenge now is ensuring that such a system can remain in the patient for years and not just a month. "It's an important advancement on the work that was done in the mid-2000s," said Dustin Tyler, a professor at Case Western Reserve University and biomedical engineer at the VA Medical Center in Cleveland, Ohio. "The important piece that remains is how long beyond a month we can keep the electrodes in." Experts around the world have developed other thought-controlled prostheses. One approach used in the United States involves surgery to graft shoulder nerves onto pectoral muscles and then learning to use those muscles to control a bionic arm. While that approach is necessary when the whole arm has been lost, if a stump survives doctors could opt for the less invasive method proposed by the Italians, connecting the prosthesis to the same system the brain uses to send and receive signals. "The approach we followed is natural," Rossini said. The patient "didn't have to learn to use muscles that do a different job to move a prosthesis, he just had to concentrate and send to the robotic hand the same messages he used to send to his own hand." It will take at least two or three years before scientists try to replicate the experiment with a more long-term prosthesis, the experts said. First they need to study if the hair-thin electrodes can be kept in longer. Results from the experiment are encouraging, as the electrodes removed from Petruzziello showed no damage and could well stay in longer, said Klaus-Peter Hoffmann, a biomedical expert at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, the German research institute that developed the electrodes. More must also be done to miniaturize the technology on the arm and the bulky machines that translate neural and digital signals between the robot and the patient. Key steps forward are already being made, Rossini said. While working with Petruzziello, the Italian scientists also were collaborating on a parallel EU-funded project called "SmartHand," which has developed a robotic arm that can be directly implanted on the patient. Dec 2 03:49 PM US/Eastern By Ariel David Associated Press Writer http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9CBD5Q01&show_article=1 ### end of article I watched Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer on the dias at a conference years ago, talking about the fact that we are all, indeed, one connected organism rather than individual, separate beings. "If that's so," asks Dyer with a twinkle in his eye, "why can I move the fingers on my hand and I cannot move the fingers on your hand?" "Because," Chopra said, "it's because you think it's my hand." :) In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience

Is Your Relationship More Financially Advantageous To You or To Your Partner? Is It Worth The Price?

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 07:29:33 +0000

Tiger Woods to pay his wife millions to stick by him by Peter Cohan Dec 3rd 2009. "Not only has Woods issued a public apology on his web site, but the The Daily Beast reports that he will pay his wife, Elin Nordegren, $5 million upfront and another $55 million to persuade her to stay in their marriage for another 24 months." I wonder how many relationships would stay intact if funds were not mingled? How many women would be with men if the men did not financially support them, (and their children from other marriages)? How many men would live with the women they live with, if they had to pay their share of the rent, food and utilities? So often in my work, I speak with women who have never had to provide for themselves. Either they are young, often with several young children, and often they are middle aged and alone for the first time in their lives. They grow up being bombarded with scary statistics about a precarious economy and begin to see the world through a filter of anxiety and fear. No wonder so many settle for the man (or woman) who is willing to pay the bills. But they don't know how much they limit themselves by doing that. I have friends that live on disability income, and I don't judge anyone for what they feel they need to do. But I feel they limit themselves. Many of them also earn income under the table, not realizing they impact what they attract by doing that. It's all connected. I agree a safety net is nice. But recognize when it's not a net but a cage. Don't limit yourself when so much more is available to you. Most of all, remember it's all related: everything. I have friends who pride themselves on living below the poverty level. Some qualify for pubic assistance and are content to live at that level because it requires no effort on their part. So many of these same people have creative ideas and skills to earn them more income and a better life. They simply don't want to make the effort. They can get into roommate situations as a source of income, and then again it comes down to the question of, "if it were not for the money, would I be with this person?" For me, nothing is worth more than my peace of mind: knowing I am self sufficient and know that anytime I spend with someone is because I want to do it, not because I can get something from them, or they pay my bills or they are helping me raise my children. I'm all about not having hidden agendas. . RELATED POST: Little Girls Dream Of The Perfect Wedding, Not The Perfect Husband RELATED POST: Dollars, Personal Storms, It's All Related

jim-chandler-for-blog

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:42:25 +0000

Effective Communication: Or Are You Simply Talking Apples and Oranges?

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 01:28:28 +0000

I wrote yesterday in Man Controls Robotic Hand Using His Thoughts that years ago I watched Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer on the dias at a conference years ago, talking about the fact that we are all, indeed, one connected organism rather than individual, separate beings. “If that’s so,” asks Dyer with a twinkle in his eye, “why can I move the fingers on my hand and I cannot move the fingers on your hand?” “Because,” Chopra said, “it’s because you think it’s my hand.” I put Today's Post on Facebook and Renee Frechette Speir Great commented: I heard about this! Do you know that they have done studies where people think about lifting extreme amounts of weight with one finger, and over time, the finger is measurably stronger? Power. Cassandra Yorgey wrote: I wonder how long it takes before they combine this with stem cell research to make long term bionic arms? and how long before the bionic arms can out-perform the natural ones? I commented: Renee, I have heard of that, also as rehab for injuries to keep muscle memory engaged. Oh I just remembered a funny story to add to the end of that post. In my Horizons Magazine editorial in September 2007, I wrote: I've been having a recent spell of misjudging my audience, with sometimes comical results. My most notable example was several years ago when I had walked into a metaphysical class at the last minute. It was a class I'd not been to before, although I knew many of the people in it. I came in and took the only available seat - next to the facilitator, just as they were beginning to go around the circle and give our names. The question we were all to answer was “name one thing you would change about your body.” Inexplicably, they began with me, the newcomer. But I was glad for the question because I'd given it some thought just that morning! I said I'd like to be able to extend my arms out so they were 2-3 times as long, to enable me to accomplish tasks that needed long arms. Either that or I'd like a tail, a prehensile tail that I could use to grip things with. You could hear a pin drop. They thought I was kidding. The next woman to speak introduced herself and said she'd like to weigh 20 pounds less. The next one never liked her hair and so she'd make it straighter and finer. A few didn't like their noses and they wanted to change that. Thighs and wrinkles were other changes mentioned, as well as bad habits and character traits. I was stunned. It didn't take long to realize I had taken for granted that I was in a different level class than I was actually in. Here I was, in a class of people I know to be metaphysical students for decades, and these were their sincere responses? I was stunned into silence. These were all things that were well within their control to change and work on. I'd known 2/3 of the group for a dozen or more years. It made me realize that with people, no matter how long or how well I know them, if we aren't communicating effectively, we could have been talking apples and oranges all along. Interesting how we can convince ourselves we are being heard and understood, when that isn't the case at all. And vice versa LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience

People Who Lie About Who They Are: Washington Redskins Cheerleaders fired up about White House Crasher Salahi

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:43:28 +0000

Cheerleaders get fired up about Salahi by Paul Farhi, Washington Post Staff Writer 12-3-09. Before she made it into a White House state dinner without an official invitation, Michaele Salahi made it onto the Redskins alumni cheerleading squad -- without ever having been a Redskins cheerleader. Salahi performed at FedEx Field during halftime of the Redskins-St. Louis Rams game Sept. 20 with a group of 150 former Redskins cheerleaders. Salahi's rehearsals with the group were filmed by a crew that has been following Michaele Salahi and her husband, Tareq, for possible inclusion on a cable TV reality show, "The Real Housewives of D.C." Several former cheerleaders said in interviews that Michaele Salahi's presence at a rehearsal drew attention because of the TV cameras, but also suspicion because no one seemed to remember her as a cheerleader for the team. Their doubts were heightened when Salahi couldn't perform some of the basic cheerleader routines, including the standard choreography for the team's fight song, "Hail to the Redskins." But it wasn't until stories about the Salahis' White House incident last week that the cheerleaders decided to follow up on her credentials as a Redskins cheerleader. "She was never at an audition, never at a game and never performed" as an original cheerleader, said Sheryl Olecheck, a Redskins cheerleader from 1986 to 1996 who choreographed the team for seven years. "When asked who her choreographer was when she performed, Salahi couldn't answer. The Washington Redskins Cheerleaders Alumni Association lists Salahi on its membership roster and indicates that she was a cheerleader during 1991 season under her nickname and maiden name, Missy Holt. However, when asked by the group for proof of her participation, Salahi was unable to supply any. The group's president, Terri Lamb, said Wednesday, "We have no record that she ever was a Redskins cheerleader. She was listed on our 1991 roster at Ms. Salahi's request and based on her misrepresentation to us." That alleged misrepresentation enabled Michaele Salahi to become a dues-paying member in 2005 and to perform with the group at two other Redskins games at FedEx in 2005 and 2007. A local video company, Half Yard Productions, showed up to film Salahi at the practice and subsequently asked the cheerleaders to sign agreements granting their permission to appear on the "Housewives" program and binding them to confidentiality. ### end of article excerpt PEOPLE WHO FEEL THEY HAVE TO LIE ABOUT WHO THEY ARE There was an incident earlier this week with a friend who spends most of her time in perception management. Domino has a local following and a particular way of wanting herself to be seen by others, and she is always revising her online biographies and back stories to fit with her ever morphing image of herself. She does this so often that she admits she's not always sure what's true and what's not. Every so often she'll decide to stir up some controversy, in the hopes that someone else will leak a juicy story of hers and the tabloids will pick it up and give her her long awaited 15 minutes of fame. But she's not real smart about how she does it, and she forgets that people have long memories. She forgets what she tells to whom. She'll make blog posts or Facebook posts and then deletes those who disagree with her, and re-write the post to remove all prior references. It leaves the ones who do want to hear what she has to say confused and frustrated. Domino has not yet learned that we are who we are every minute of the day, and everything we do adds up to the total sum of US. What happened in the past happened - we don't need to delete references to past events, we just need to accept it and move forward. It's always a red flag when someone cuts ties with so many people in their past. To carry all that resentment for so many years? But that was Then, this is Now. Get over it and get on with it. But be truthful about it. You don't need to make up a story about who you are or what you've done or what famous whoever you have associated with to be accepted by a particular crowd or as a candidate for a reality show. You don't have to pretend. Isn't it exhausting all that pretending for all those years? All you have to do is be YOU in the Now. All you have to do is be honest and don't put on airs. All you have to do is make a meaningful life for yourself, a life that brings you happiness and maybe even brings hope to others. Because if you don't, your worst nightmare is NOT your former friends and family who know the real you, your worst nightmare is being alone with you and knowing who you really are. Ouch. RELATED POST: When Friends Misunderstand RELATED POST: When friends betray friends RELATED POST: Clash of the Egos Simple Self Talk Scripts To Help You Attract a Better Tomorrow RELATED POST: Dollars, Personal Storms, It's All Related. In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. . LISTEN FREE: Program to Increase Wellbeing

The Saga Continues with Sharon Janis: Let's Get Over It Already

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 13:48:46 +0000

I thought this topic was over days ago. It began when I wrote a generic blog post What do you do when friends misunderstand you and don’t want to play anymore? My daily blog is about what lessons I learn as I travel this road of Life, but I don't disclose names and places. After reading my post, the friend, Sharon Kumuda Janis, got miffed at me and took it public. It turns out that although I'd known her for 10 years, she'd only let me see one facet of her during all that time. Hmmmph. I thought, ok, lesson learned and moved on. She then deleted me as well as several dozen mutual Facebook friends, but a week later she's still on the topic doing emails behind the scenes. I don't know who all they went out to, so I'm posting this here just to tell you - I don't know anymore than you do about why she's doing this. Don't hold it against her. We've all done public sh*t we later regretted. I initially gave her book Never To Return a glowing review in 1998 and last week Sharon publicly mocked me for it - so frankly I don't know what that's about. She has now removed the very review she proudly displayed for a dozen years on several sites. I'm glad to be free of the karma of it, and happy to have helped her in the beginning when she asked for it. She has also blocked me from accessing her websites on my computers. She has that high tech spy type software that allows her to block the IP address of any computer she doesn't want to view her site. She keeps track of everyone's computer addresses, years worth, and now I know why. So if you were a mutual Facebook friend and now cannot access her websites, she has simply blocked your computer as well. She could make a fortune using her computer savvy and editing skills for good, but likes to perpetuate the illusion of being the indigent monk. I have to smile at all the effort she's going through. I wouldn't even know about it except when I went to check my links, I was blocked. I didn't think much of it because I don't know about that kinda stuff, so I just figured her links were down while she was working on her pages. So later in the week when my cousin is working on the websites, he's proofing my text, checking links, etc. and he gets the same thing, but he knows immediately what it is. But why did his computer get blocked? He who doesn't even know her, who never even goes to sites like hers? Because he was using an old computer of mine that had been in storage for years, and I didn't even know he'd set it up in the back studio. And Sharon even knew the IP address of that computer. But she did not know the one to his laptop, so I could see the review had been removed. My cousin told me that, to him, feels pretty paranoid and stalky of her. But I know it's just her way of making herself feel like she's got a handle on things. She's written some good works. She has ups and downs like everyone else. I would not take as gospel what she says about anyone she perceives to have wronged her or betrayed her. I've learned that just like the Komodo dragon, who survives on carrion, she has a venomous bite. I would not let myself get involved in a business venture with her. But she's on the path just like the rest of us. Her books are worth reading. She has a lot of free online resources. Reading at her website, even knowing what you know about her personal conflicts, can be an excellent exercise in allowance, acceptance and unconditional love. An exercise in distinguishing the personality from the soul, and isn't that what spirituality is all about anyway? Not letting ourselves get too caught up in what clashes the personalities between us have, but rather recognize who we are and what we have come here to do and get on with the business of that? And to satisfy the personalities selves, I'll keep this page updated on this topic. And it would be even better if there ends up being nothing further to report. :) RELATED POSTS IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER: Spiritual Memoirs: Eat Pray Love and Sharon Janis Never To Return What do you do when friends misunderstand you and don’t want to play anymore? When Friends Misunderstand , because we each see things as we are Clash of the Egos When Friends On The Path Go Off The Deep End Taking Note of Cause and Effect in Action Simple Scripts To Attract a Better Tomorrow When friends betray friends People Who Lie About Who They Are .

Ma Yogashakti Palm Bay, FL Schedule Dec09 - January 21, 2010

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:16:43 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4455" align="alignright" width="75" caption="Mataji Ma Yogashakti"][/caption] On December 13th, 20th, and 27th Pujya Ma Yogashakti will give a Sunshine Lecture on a Spiritual Topic from 9 - 10 AM. All are welcome to attend. On 19th December at 12 noon there will be a children's Christmas Pageant in the presence of Pujya Mataji in the Yogashakti Pavilion. Children of all ages welcome. On Dec. 25th and Jan 1st at 12 noon there will be a vegetarian pot-luck; in the presence of Pujya Mataji. All welcome to bring a dish to share (no eggs, meat, fish, onions or garlic.) Pujya Mataji will conduct Meditation Classes on December 15, 16, 29, 30th from 6.45 - 7.30 pm. Suggested donation $10 per session. Please pre-register. There will be a New Year's Retreat from 1 - 3 January 2010 with Pujya Mataji. See website for more details. On January 3, 10, 17, Pujya Mataji will give a Sunshine Lecture on a Spiritual Topic from 9 - 10 AM. All are welcome so attend. January 14th will be Ganesh Utsav, the installation ceremony for the new Ganesh murti. All are welcome on this very auspicious occasion. Pujya Mataji will leave Palm Bay Ashram on 21 January. Yoga Shakti Mission, 3895 Hield Rd NW, Palm Bay, FL 32907, 321-725-4024 www.yogashakti.org Come bask in the presence of this holy teacher, whom we are blessed to have among us in the flesh. Mataji is one of 5 living female hindu saints documented in Daughters of the Goddess, The Women Saints of India authored by Linda Johnsen. Andrea

hawk-in-pine

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:01:28 +0000

A New Crop Of Baby Hawks Are Back In The 'Hood

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 10:10:16 +0000

It's that time of year again and the new hawks are here. The one I see is rather small and whitish, which means he is a fledgling. Hawks gestation is 28 days and they fledge at 45 days. Hawk medicine has to do with being patient and observing. I spent some time at the firepit yesterday, rearranging the stones and bricks. I always have dry kindling and logs, although everything around me was dampened by the light drizzly rain of the last few days. Water droplets were still dripping off the oak leaves onto me, but the small fire burned cleanly, barely any smoke, cooking my sweet potato to perfection. I love to watch the logs and how they burn and interact with each other at the various stages of disintegration. Just like us humans as we cook the ego and become more ash, more of the essence we are, without the bark and dense fibre of our materialistic overlay. I watched the logs burn more brightly when they were together, and eventually mesh into one mass of ash. I watched a log off by itself, still burning though not as brightly. I put a marshmallow in on a stick and tried various cooking distances from the flame. I found it cooked even when just barely within the space of the pit, though of course cooked faster as it approached the flame itself. A great metaphor for my own social interaction. I am cooked faster by some people and events than by others, depending on how close to the situation I want to get, and how much I allow. When I sit at the firepit, I get to watch the sky. I couldn't watch the sky before the fire of June 2003 took all the pines in the west woods down. Or before Hurricane Jeanne in 2004 took the big oak in the back yard down. But because of those two events, now I see that big beautiful wonderful sky. As I watched the fire and the sun fading on the horizon, I thought once again how lucky and blessed I am to live here, where I can be out in nature in my own little woods anytime I want. I thought what a freedom it is to just have a space like this to roam around in. Being quiet in nature gives me a feeling of having lots of space between the molecules. I like that. Visit Animal Spirit Guidance, free links LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience

Abraham-Hicks on Thriving in the New World Economy

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:12:10 +0000

Thriving in the New World Economy. Here, Abraham helps us understand how a very subtle difference in our understanding of the Vortex and our relationship to it can make all the difference in the world, of the abundance that flows to us. It’s so easy to let the circumstances that surround us set the tone of our vibration and therefore determine our point of attraction, but it does not have to be that way. We can control our own abundance! This is Abraham’s most leading-edge illustration of how to discover what’s holding us up; identify the “missing piece” of the puzzle, and stop unconsciously disallowing the things we desire. It feels so good to understand this stuff! http://www.lawofattractioninteraction.com/video/Thriving.html This is the original source material for the current Law of Attraction wave that is sweeping the world, and it is the 21st century inspiration for thousands of books, films, essays and lectures that are responsible for the current paradigm shift in consciousness. Here you will find accurate clarification of the basics of the Law of Attraction and practical applications as well as up-to-the-moment leading-edge expanding information regarding the Law of Attraction. (Also known as "The Teachings of Abraham") This is the fountainhead of the information upon which the hit movie, “The Secret” was based. ### Enjoy. RELATED: Abraham-Hicks on the Economy and the Law of Attraction In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience

hicks-jerry-esther-72

Mon, 07 Dec 2009 20:17:10 +0000

_ScannedMedia = Kodak VPS III 160 _ImageColorType = ICTypeScene

Compassion, Constructive Criticism and the Sunburned Grinch in WalMart

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:43:21 +0000

I live in Central Florida, an hour east of Disney and 15 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. It's 75 degrees here this week; our typical holiday weather. Yesterday I was in WalMart having a fun conversation, as I often do, in the checkout line with an older gentleman, in his 70's-80's. A 30-ish woman walks up in line behind him, clearly sunburned, and he jokes "getting a sunburn in wintertime, that will make the folks up north jealous." She replied "keep your comments to yourself assh*le." He looked crushed and humiliated. I put my arm around him and said, "if we had that sunburn, we'd be grouchy too." and I let her go ahead of me. He gave me a wink. That wink made me feel so happy. I'd posted it on Facebook and got lots of comments about it, a few that "people aren't always just in pain, sometimes they are mean on purpose." But to me, that is simply how they act out their pain. I think people act as they have been trained to act. Some don't know any better. They see the smart alecky, histrionic behaviors of people on tv in public social situations and think that's the way people act. Really. They were abused psychologically as kids by parents who had hard lives and didn't know how better to handle unruly offspring. They got it worse from their parents, who had even harder lives, who likely had more children and likely had even less income. We have more luxuries than we think. Not everyone has the leisure time to think, oh, my life is hard, let me sit and contemplate how to improve, what books can I read, what seminars can tell me how to get out of this mess. No, these people often work around the clock, 2 and 3 jobs at a time. They have no leisure time to think about anything other than how to get the next meal on the table and how to pay for granddad's medicine, and please God let Jimmy's shoes last til Spring. No one gives them a break, no one is nice to them, so they gruff and grumble their way through life, working their bodies to the bone and being unaware there is any other way to be. If they knew they had a choice, they would make the better choice. But they don't have the luxury of leisurely thought time. I wouldn't say to them "oh, just think a new thought and you'll begin to live a new life". There is no empty space in their consciousness to take in anything that does not resonate with where they are right now. If I'm not speaking to them in a language they understand, they don't hear it. If I can't place myself in their shoes, if I can't say anything constructive, I am better off saying nothing. If I say something, it is meant to uplift and encourage and say "hey we're all in this together, we're figuring it out together. You're not alone." I always welcome constructive criticism, from friends and strangers alike. I define constructive as promoting improvement or development, when someone tells me specifically what they didn't like and suggest specific improvements. Otherwise it's just a complaint, and everyone is entitled to complain when their buttons are pushed. When my buttons get pushed, I know I'd better figure it out, then get over it and get on with it unless I want a molehill to turn into a mountain. And believe me, I've had enough practice at that, that it's easy for me to give the automatic kinder, gentler response when grouches get crabby in public. It took lots of years to train myself to do that, so I know it doesn't come easy. But it's easier than racking up a less-than lifetime becuz I'm too lazy to discipline myself to do better. I'm just saying. LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

Lottery Winner Abraham Shakespeare Missing in Bizarre Story

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 11:35:13 +0000

While I'm busy finishing up the January Horizons Magazine, I posted on Facebook yesterday: will all my psychic friends take a moment to read this story, tune in to this gentleman and give any specific info that might be helpful. If you email me about it, I can keep track of when more than one person gets the same info. That's not possible to do when info is being publicly posted in the comments. Lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare - Woman Says Missing Man Publicity Upended Life By Merissa Green. LAKELAND | The woman who says she helped missing Florida Lottery winner Abraham Shakespeare disappear now says she desperately wants him to come back. "I felt like I was helping a man that got taken advantage of," Dorice "DeeDee" Moore said, tears streaming down her face. "In the same respect, I ended up with all his mess. That was not worth all the money in the world." The Polk County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday posted a $5,000 reward for anyone who could help locate Shakespeare. Moore, 37, drew immediate attention because she now lives in and owns Shakespeare's North Lakeland house and other real estate holdings and assets. She said that was all part of a plan, one she helped Shakespeare craft. Some people who know Shakespeare expressed doubts and said they questioned parts of her story. His mother, Elizabeth Walker of Lakeland, said she's not sure what to think and she's just worried about her son. Over nearly three hours last week, Moore described to The Ledger how Shakespeare's disappearing act was supposed to work and what's gone wrong since he left. "He planned on running. He planned on not coming back," she said. Moore said Shakespeare, whom she met last December, left because he was tired of fighting child-support battles in court and because people kept badgering him for money. He intentionally did not want to be found. He didn't care what it took." An integral part of the plan included using Moore's medical staffing company, American Medical Professionals of Plant City, to buy Shakespeare's assets, including a house he paid $1 million for, she said. That freed him from obligations and put money in his pocket, anywhere from $800,000 to $1 million, Moore estimated. "For the way he lives his lifestyle, he's got enough to live the rest of his life out peacefully," Moore said. Moore said she also helped him set up a power of attorney, which was given to a longtime friend whom she refused to name. That meant there would be someone available to deal with legal issues for Shakespeare without his having to be involved. There was also a promise to ensure Shakespeare's mother was cared for, Moore said. But the plan turned out to be a bad one, she said. Since Shakespeare was reported missing, Moore said she's been treated like a suspect. She said sheriff's detectives have searched her North Lakeland house, the one where Shakespeare used to live, combed through her Hummer, given her a lie-detector test and questioned her for hours. Those searches included checking the house and car for signs of blood or body fluids, she said. "They (investigators) looked through all my papers. They took my computers, and downloaded the hard drives. Then, the other day, took it over the top. I had my stuff blue-lighted to look for blood. It wasn't supposed to end up like this," Moore said, crying. And for months she said she has failed in trying to collect on debts people owed Shakespeare, debts she said she bought as part of the plan to free him to leave. County records show that in January, Moore filed paperwork to take over five mortgages totaling about $370,000 that had been owed to Shakespeare. And she said there were many more debts she took over that were not recorded with the county. The problem is that many of the people who borrowed from Shakespeare have refused to pay, Moore said, and she feels threatened by some of them. To get out of that stressful situation, she said, she's sold those loans - at a loss - to someone she declined to name. "I want these idiots, these drugheads and these cokeheads to know that I've sold everything," Moore said. "Abraham sold me his mess to get a better life, and I practically gave it away to get mine back." Instead of everyone treating her like a suspect, Moore said, the focus of any investigation should be on the people who bilked Shakespeare out of his money. "Because of these people, my life has been turned (upside down) in the last two weeks," Moore said. Her friends said it's hurt them to see what's happened with Moore. Linda Kickliter, Moore's nail technician, said she can't believe how Moore has been treated. She said Moore has a caring heart and on several occasions Moore has brought needy people to her nail salon to receive services. "She should be getting good Samaritan of the year, not such bad publicity," Kickliter said. Brenda White, Moore's childhood friend, said Moore is a hard worker who comes from a good family. "I hate to see she's been ripped apart," White said. "This country should be about being innocent until proven guilty." WHERE IS SHAKESPEARE? The Polk County Sheriff's Office declined to comment on what Moore said about their investigation, including whether they consider her a suspect and whether they have searched her house or vehicle. For seven months, the Sheriff's Office said, his friends and family haven't seen Shakespeare, who won the $31 million Lotto jackpot in November 2006 and opted for a $17 million lump-sum payment. Moore has a videotape that's dated April. On it, Shakespeare is seen reviewing footage from security cameras at his former residence at 9340 Redhawk Bend Drive, where Moore now lives, and talking about his problems. He is heard saying he was tired of people asking him for money. During her video interview with Shakespeare, Moore asked where he wanted to go when he disappeared, asking about California or another country, like Cozumel, Mexico. Shakespeare's answer is hard to make out, but he appeared to ask, "Are we about to leave?" Moore said she shot that video so she could show people later that Shakespeare had planned to disappear. "I wanted some protection," she said. "I did it for my protection because of the amount (of money) and what he was doing with everything. Unfortunately I should have videotaped every step so I didn't have the controversy I had to go through, but it's OK, I'm not like O.J. Simpson. I don't have anything to run from." Moore would not comment about the last time she either saw or talked to Shakespeare, saying it was under investigation. For months before Shakespeare was reported missing, Moore had been in contact with The Ledger, saying she could set up an interview with the elusive millionaire. And last week, she said she used to have a way to contact him, but not since the storm of attention stirred up by the missing-person report. Besides telling The Ledger she could set up a meeting, Shakespeare's mother said Moore also promised one to her. Elizabeth Walker, who works in the cafeteria at Florida Southern College, said Moore and the woman who has power of attorney for Shakespeare told Walker she would see her son in August. That never happened. "Another thing that depressed me is ... I feel like he would've called me or put something in the mail," Walker said. Moore told The Ledger that Shakespeare let his mother know Moore was taking over his assets. But Walker told The Ledger she knew nothing about that. Walker said Moore has been helpful toward her and Shakespeare, though she did sometimes wonder why someone they had known only briefly was doing so much for them. Shakespeare did have reasons to want to escape, Walker said, because wealth had brought him problems. In August, Walker said her nephew, Cedric Edom of Lakeland, hand-delivered a card with a cross and $100 inside and told her it was from Shakespeare. Walker said she recognized the signature on the card to be Shakespeare's, but she said Edom didn't tell her how he got it. "When my nephew brought me the card, I relaxed that he was out there somewhere," she said. Walker said she has since given that card to detectives. The Sheriff's Office said Edom is the person who reported Shakespeare missing, but Edom has adamantly insisted to The Ledger that he didn't. He wouldn't answer when a reporter asked who had given him the card for Walker. The last time Walker saw any sign of her son, she said, was in September when his cell phone number appeared on her caller ID at home. She said that was unusual, because the call came while she was at work, and Shakespeare would not have called her during the day. "I called the number back, and it went straight to the voice mail," she said. MOORE AND SHAKESPEARE Moore met Shakespeare through Barbara Jackson, a Realtor and former Winter Haven resident. The two talked about the lottery winner when they attended a conference for business people interested in doing work for the government. Jackson, who was Shakespeare's real estate agent when he bought the Redhawk Bend house, said they discussed Moore writing a story about Jackson and Shakespeare for a local magazine. Moore said Jackson introduced her to Shakespeare because Moore expressed interest in telling his story in a book. As Moore grew close to Shakespeare, she said she noticed his business dealings were shaky, and her role expanded from book writer to being an adviser. He allowed her to review his financial books, Moore said. Jackson said she was shocked when Moore told her she had bought Shakespeare's house. "I think she saw a cash cow, because the story she said she was going to write never happened," she said. "I really feel like she misled me." Moore said Jackson and her husband, Franklin, were among the group of people who may have received unrecorded loans from Shakespeare. Moore also said Shakespeare paid too much for the house Jackson helped him buy. Jackson said she never got any money from Shakespeare; the only money she received was from the purchase of his house. "I spent so much time with that man for free," she said. "I did nothing but try and help." David Waller, the listing agent for the house, said the $1.075 million price Shakespeare paid was fair and included the parcel next to it and furniture in the house. As for the book, Moore said she has already written eight chapters. "I don't feel like I lost anything because the book is going to be phenomenal, Moore said. "I don't care what they say. The book is priceless." But in the end, Moore said, helping Shakespeare wasn't worth what she has had to go through in recent weeks. "Nobody should have to endure that in a lifetime, all over trying to help somebody else," she said. [ Merissa Green who wrote this article can be reached at merissa.green@theledger.com or 863-401-6968. ] Mmmm, the makings of a made for tv special: a lottery winner, his disappearance, an alleged druggie lifestyle, a young blondie who ends up with millions in assets while his mother works at a school cafeteria, a videotape remarkably timely made (with blondie supplying the dialogue) as alibi. A compelling storyline? Sure. Enough legal evidence to do anything about it? Now that's another story. January 6, 2010 Update Florida Police Fear Missing Lottery Winner Was Killed January 26, 2010: Florida Investigators Dig for Evidence in Missing Lottery Winner Case January 29, 2010: Police: Remains buried under driveway are of lottery winner February 3, 2010 Dorice Moore charged . In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

angelcard5-2x2

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:00:29 +0000

I'm Busy Getting the January Horizons to Press on Time

Sat, 12 Dec 2009 01:06:47 +0000

I'm glued to the computer finishing the January Horizons Magazine. Because of the holidays in November and December, I have to do two issues back to back to accomodate the press schedule. And I sure can't complain about all the ads I'm getting, nor the phone calls that are coming in at the last minute with them. But I'm sure not used to working this hard. I know, whine, whine, whine... I thought I'd share a little card I watercolored for a buddy some holiday past. These are fun to do, I should do more of these. They make me happy to draw and paint and look at over and again. I'll be back to daily babbling in a day or two, promise :) Visit Goddess Grub, Luscious Low Fat Meals

tiger-izzy-72-2x1

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:25:16 +0000

surrender-72

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:27:15 +0000

Today I'm Busy So All You Get Is Izzy and His Inner Tiger

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:28:53 +0000

[caption id="attachment_6552" align="alignright" width="107" caption="Big Kitty Izzy"][/caption] I'm still in the throes of final layout, so today's post is simply another goofy pic. This is a watercolor I did of my kitty Izzy one day. I decided to show his inner tiger. We all have one :)

Falling and Flying, Surrendering to Soar

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:36:15 +0000

[caption id="attachment_6553" align="alignleft" width="137" caption="Surrender"][/caption] This is a favorite watercolor I did years ago after having a falling dream that turned into a flying dream. In the dream, it felt pretty scary to be falling, and I thought "well, if I'm going down, I may as well relax into it and let it take me away." I flipped over in the dream, into the classic super hero flying pose, and began to soar here and there. Anywhere I looked, I automatically began flying toward. And isn't that what happens in life, too? Just like the parachutist, we have to keep an eye on where we want to land because whatever we're looking at is where we'll end up. Good to know, huh? LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience

At the computer 24/7? Emergency Remedy Mode For Stress Relief

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:45:36 +0000

Whew, I just finished laying out the January Horizons Magazine and it’s going to press at 8:00am. I usually have a week off in between each monthly issue, but in November and December, due to the holidays, the press schedule changes. That means the magazine is due to press a week earlier, which means no time off in between issues. This past week I’ve been glued to the keyboard almost every waking hour. That’s usually fine, I really dig my work – but my body likes to move around more than it got to do this week! The usual dozen+ calls a day doubled as last minute ads came in, as well as friends wishing happy holidays. I knew I’d finish and go to press on time because, well, I had to and I’ve never NOT finished on time. But I felt the stress and got to make some interesting observations. I have very little stress in my life. I have no ongoing irks with cranky relatives or neighbors or co-workers. I live a fairly worry-free life. I enjoy my home environment. I have lots of friends. I’m healthy. I’m satisfied with my personal appearance. I have very little debt, my work is fun and fulfilling. But from time to time stress comes up, like this past week being on publication deadline. Being stressed is interesting from an observer point of view. My mind wasn't freaked out. I felt mellow as usual, but the body began hot flashing like crazy. I haven’t been flashing very much the past month, so it was very noticeable. Fan on, fan off, hair up, hair down, fuzzy socks on, fuzzy socks off. If there’s a big stress going on such as having to deal with an emergency, say avoiding a car accident on the highway, I typically experience the stress as a participant and not as an observer. So it was interesting this past week to experience the stress as an observer. When I lay out the magazine each month, I work between several programs: Microsoft Word, Windows Explorer, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Mozilla Firefox, AOL and my bookkeeping program. I am in and out of these programs all day long, so periodically one will crash out. But it’s usually a quick recovery after rebooting. But this week, Windows Explorer and Photoshop both kept going down and staying down. Likely a corrupt dynamic link, said my computer dude. So I had to work between two computers when I was already cutting it close with deadline. And already feeling the stress. As soon as I became aware of the hot flashes, I knew they were an indicator that my body was stressed. So I went into my emergency remedy mode for final layout stress relief: I switched chairs and work stations every few hours. I am in a computer chair so many hours a day that swivel rockers are a must. That keeps my body flexible when I can’t take much time for stretch breaks. One less body stress. I drank some of my different teas. I typically just drink water all the time, so the tea was a double break: once when I got up to make it and again as I drank it. Plus it kept me extra hydrated. One less body stress. Stress used to be an eating trigger for me, so I prepare by having lots of fresh veggies and fruits and soup ingredients on hand. I eat a little lighter during final layout, just for one less body stress. Oh, I should mention that – all the above stress? I’m the one who puts myself through it. As an observer, it’s easy to see that and I have to laugh. Because the fact is I’m the boss and I make the schedule and I create the deadlines. I even set the print dates. During the holidays, I take my print job in a week earlier to make the schedule easier on the printer. To give them one less stress during their busiest, most stressed time. And so, as an observer, I can see that where there’s stress, I do it to myself. And, seeing that, that makes me laugh and that releases some body stress, too. The more I can make myself – in stressful times – become the observer, make myself become aware in the moment of the stress, the more readily I’m able to take steps to dispel it. Try it the next time you are stressed out - cultivate seeing it as an observer, stay hydrated and active. I’d love to hear your observations about it. After I’d done the final proofread yesterday, I defragged by going to sleep in my comfy bed for 6 hours in a row. I felt just like when I shut my computer down each day. I have a program called www.ccleaner.com and I run it at the end of my daily session and it removes all of my temporary files, as well as adware and cookies that build up and slow a computer down. It usually removes about 30-70mb of junk, but one day last week it removed 528 mb. Wow! A lot of stress had been built up in my computer, too. If it’s true that everything around us mirrors our life, this was just another example. Chuck my computer magician comes over tomorrow to update my system and begin with a fresh slate. Ah… one less stress! :) LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

out-of-body9-72

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:05:09 +0000

A Higher Perspective and Willis Harman's Three Dreams

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:05:47 +0000

[caption id="attachment_6578" align="alignright" width="142" caption="Feeling more free"][/caption] I got so much done yesterday, I was pleased with myself. I finished the January issue on time and got it off to the printer. I ran some errands: bank, post office, Walmart, Office Depot. I usually don't wait this late in the year to buy my new calendars. I keep a large one on my wall to show all events and conferences going on. Then I have a smaller one, a Llewellyn astrological wall calendar, that I note office appointments on. Until this year, I kept two Daytimer appointment books: one showing daytime appointments in and out of the office, and a second book showing my scheduled evening phone sessions. I've begun scheduling less appointments all year, so while I was at Office Depot today, I bought an entirely different appointment book for daytime. Until 5 years ago, I used one that showed every 30 minutes all day long. Then I graduated to a book that went hour by hour. The one I bought yesterday goes day by day. I feel like I have more free time already. WalMart wasn't as crowded as I thought it might be. I remember thinking that last year as well. They built one just 3 miles from me, so I pass it every time I drive out. The parking lot wasn't full, so I went inside and did my shopping. I went in for Pam cooking spray with olive oil, and left with everything but that. At the register, I was hoping as I unpacked my bags, that I had under 20 items, since I never want to be one of those people. I counted 18. I was safe. I would not be lynched by the mob behind me. Well, the mob was really just one redhead about my age and the woman behind her, who was glaring angrily at the redhead. All the while I am unloading my bags and checking out, this woman keeps looking from the redhead to her shopping cart, which was full to the top with items, and openly scowling. Then I got it. The angry woman couldn't see what I could see. I could look right down into the redhead's cart and count that she had only 7 items, but they were big items. The angry woman, from her spot behind the redhead - and being shorter - it looked like a cart full of more than the 20 item limit. Hence her nasty glare to the redhead. I'd said to the cashier earlier that I had 18 items. As she rang it up, she told me I really only had 15, as the apples counted as one item, not 3. So I turned to the redhead and said, "I'm safe, I didn't have over 20." Then I said, smiling to the scowler, "She's safe, too, she only has 7 items." It took a moment, but the scowl dropped and she smiled and the redhead smiled and I smiled and the cashier was smiling and the sun was shining and life was good all over again. Friends remind friends when life is good. Friends who have a higher perspective are just a little taller is all. They may just see a bigger picture and want you to see the bigger picture, too. What I find is that as I go on and get taller and taller and see the ever-increasing bigger picture, the little things just drop away. I am reminded of something Willis Harman wrote: ThREE DREAMS by Willis Harman IN THE FIRST DREAM I am walking along a very rough terrain, on the way to climb a high and rather forbidding mountain, the top of which is concealed by mist and clouds. It is clear that the ascent of this mountain symbolizes my whole life. Clambering over the rubble in front of me is not too daunting, but as I look ahead I see that my way is blocked by several cliffs that appear to be around ten feet high. Beyond those are some still higher cliffs, the farthest being perhaps hundreds of feet high. I have no idea how I will deal with those when I get to them, but meanwhile there seems nothing to do but forge ahead. However, although I didn’t know notice it at first, I am growing in stature as I go along, so that by the time I finally reach the ten-foot cliffs I am tall enough that I can simply step up over them. The same with the hundred-foot cliffs. IN THE SECOND DREAM I am in a cafeteria. I take a tray, place it on the rails, and proceed to move down the food line. At the end of the line is a door. Somehow I realize that this also symbolizes my life, and the door at the end is what we call death. Behind the food line is a gigantic figure who is ladling out the food; I can’t see his head, he towers so far above me. I notice that the persons in the line on either side of me have trays with large round holes in the middle, so that the food simply falls through the holes onto the floor. This seems to me a strange way to run a cafeteria, and I ask the food handler about it. He replies that the food is available to everyone, and the choice of tray is optional; some people just choose the trays with holes. IN THE THIRD DREAM I am in a solo spaceship which has somehow become a derelict, destined to travel around the Earth for centuries. There is no way to deflect its orbit and manage a return to Earth. It is clear that I have only two choices. I can stay alive as long as possible, eventually run out of air, food, and water, and die a slow death. Or I can open the hatch and let the remaining air rush out, the cold come in, and have it all over within seconds. It is an agonizing decision, but I finally decide on the latter. I open the hatch and feel the air rushing past, and immediately find myself in a space which is not cold and black, but wonderfully illuminated and somehow “loving.” I seem to be everywhere in this space, and nowhere in particular. I had never given the idea of heaven much thought, but this seems to fit. I feel intensely alive, supported in every sense, and totally content to stay here forever. Reprinted from the Institute of Noetic Sciences Review, Spring 1997. :) In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience

out-of-body9-721

Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:10:02 +0000

The Bamboo Growing in the Tropical Florida Wintertime

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 09:32:36 +0000

I was outside watering the bamboo yesterday, and taking a look at the yard. I’ve been glued to the computer almost every waking moment the 10 days, working. I usually wander around my property at least once a day, but this past week I didn’t get a chance to. I went to walk down some of the trails, and they are already overgrowing with palmettos and grapevines. This is Florida. It is December 16th and it was 85 degrees yesterday. I have my air conditioner on because of the humidity. So, tropical Florida, when it’s rainy and 80+ degrees even in Christmastime, still has the greenery growing. I decided to not prune the palmettos and grapevines, but to see how much they overgrow during the next few weeks. I might want to forge a new path. The rain and heat is also making the bamboo grow like crazy. As bamboo grows, the outer sheath leaves (I call them the boots) fall to the ground. I hadn’t been to that part of the yard for a few days, so the path into the east garden was strewn with the fallen boots. I kicked them back under the bamboo stand as I watered in the new shoots I could see peeking through. I always rake the boots and leaves back underneath the bamboo stand if the wind sends them flying. I know that what falls from a tree is Nature’s fertilizer, and it feeds the tree it fell from. Just like us. We’re nourished by what falls away from us. If we’re smart, we use it as fertilizer, we use it to thrive. A friend said once, “When we’re broken in half and stuck in sh*t, we can’t help but grow.“ Every year I live, I learn something new and a part of my old life falls away, a part that has served its purpose. As I consider the fallen leaves and boots as fertilizer to help the healthy new bamboo shoots emerge, just so do I consider the parts of my past that had to be shed so the Me Who Is Now could emerge. I don’t send those parts flying off willy nilly into the wind. I keep them close and as a forever part of me, just in a different form now. Today’s dried bamboo leaves will become a future new bamboo shoot. So it all comes down to responsibility: learning to manage our own sh*t and grow from it. Imagine that. :) LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience

My Festival of Sleep

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 11:11:09 +0000

I've been sleeping a lot lately and enjoying the feeling of my bed. I've never been a recreational sleeper, sleep is just something I do when I need to recharge. I just as often fall asleep in my office chair as I do my recliner or the fainting couch in my studio. Lately I've been making myself walk into my bedroom and go to sleep in my bed. And stay there for a minimum of 6 hours. Right now my body is working best when I make myself take extra rest, so I've been dawdling in bed as I wake up. Instead of just jumping up and into work, I make myself stay in bed until I've been there 6 hours in a row. That usually means two hours left over. I've been really enjoying the feel of the sheets, and the softness of the coverlet. I have a feather pillow and I like to scrunch it into just the right position under my head and neck. It's warm here, so I have the fan blowing on me, and I enjoy the feeling of that. I listen for the sounds of the crickets outside, or the birds, or the dew dripping from the oak and bamboo leaves onto the ground. I take the time to prepave my day, to go over my list of things to be done, and see myself moving through them quickly. I take the time to wish friends well and say some prayers for the peace of the world. But the point is I make myself stay prone for the entire six hours. And I feel better at the end of the day, I have more energy by doing that. I saw friends Susan and Gajendra Giles, and others, at the Yoga Shakti Mission the other day, and it's good to see everyone is slimming down and staying fit. Susan has the body of a 25 year old. We're getting older, ah so. And so what - we're getting better. If we make ourselves do what it takes to get there, that is. Related Posts: Not able to sleep? Turn Off The TV, Turn Off The Lights Gray Hair Cure Available in 10 Years; Aging Naturally LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

A note about why I keep track of the James Ray matter

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:35:21 +0000

I've gotten several messages from Facebook friends telling me that my re-posting of the James Ray info when it comes up is something it surprises them to see, coming from me. I only re-post the info that comes to me since I've got lots of Facebook friends and Horizons readers sending me private messages asking me what I know about it. I assume for every one that contacts me, there are likely a hundred or thousand more that want the same thing and don't contact me. From now on I will simply update the link at New Updated Links for info about the James Ray Sedona Sweat Lodge Deaths and everyone can go there. This is a new link that allows you to leave comments and questions. Please do not contact me privately for more info about this, I don't have it. I simply update this since so many ask me for it. I’m not personally out to get anyone, but I believe people who do this type of work need to be responsible and accountable. This matter going public has drawn out past participants who were afraid to speak up on their own. This is my good and fair use of the media: giving a voice to those who feel they don't have one. Don't shoot the messenger :) The End of Death As We Know It

Ram Dass: Still Here, Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 06:39:08 +0000

Ram Dass, in his book Still Here, Embracing Aging, Changing and Dying (at this link, go to Search Inside This Book at the left and type in "Loss of Role/Meaning" and it will take you to page 48) writes: "Instead of honor and tender care, many of our aging population experience boredom despair and emptiness, with no outlet for their suffering. It is important that we not wait until we find ourselves at such an impasse before seeking an alternative means of confronting our aging years. The sooner we begin cultivating a mind that can work with such heavy mental states as meaninglessness and depression, the better able we will be, later on, to escape them. Again, we can begin by noting our thoughts as they arise, and by prying loose the Ego’s hold, slowly, diligently, with great care, As our minds begin to quiet down, we notice that the thoughts and feelings associated with meaninglessness come and go, and that there exists, in the space between these arisings, a way of being that is not affected by these mind-states.

Behind the machinations of our brilliant, undependable minds is an essence that is not conditional, a being that aging does not alter, to which nothing can be added, from which nothing is taken away. The more we become aware of this being, which is our Soul and the source of our strength, the less we will be prey to the illusion of meaninglessness. This is not an abstract concept; it is real as the breath moving in and out of your body, and real as the spirit that animates you. The greater your mindfulness, the more you will come to know this truth, and to rest in it when painful thoughts threaten to hide it from view.

As you will see, it is possible to experience this spaciousness even as painful events occur. As we try to practice mindfulness, we see that the Ego does not cease to exist - it simply ceases to tyrannize us or to offer the only version of experience available. Not being wholly dominated by our feelings, we are, in fact, able to feel them more deeply; knowing that a ight exists, we may not be so afraid as before of peering into the darkness and discovering what it has to teach us. When we cease to resist our grief, for example, we learn that, painful though it may be, grief is an integral part of elder wisdom, a force that humbles and deepens our hearts, connects us to the grief of the world, and enables us to be of help. Grief need not paralyze the heart or become a garment for the Ego. I’ve met older people for whom grieving becomes an identity, the only role they feel fit to play. As Saul Bellow wrote of such people in his great novel, Seize the Day , “They’re afraid that if they stop suffering, they will have nothing.”

Depression and fear about aging both focus on losses. How much lack of Awareness we have when facing the losses determines how much we suffer.”
### end of book excerpt

This is an enjoyable book, as all of his books are. Through the decades, Ram Dass has been a consistent voice of my generation, talking in that autobiogaphical way that is easy to listen to and easy to read. I've seen him in person dozens of times and read all his books. He's older, so I see him as a teacher who is further along the path than I am, so I heed his guidance. Especially when he says:

"Behind the machinations of our brilliant, undependable minds is an essence that is not conditional, a being that aging does not alter... The more we become aware of this being, which is our Soul and the source of our strength, the less we will be prey to the illusion of meaninglessness. This is not an abstract concept; it is real as the breath moving in and out of your body, and real as the spirit that animates you. The greater your mindfulness, the more you will come to know this truth, and to rest in it when painful thoughts threaten to hide it from view."

Mindfulness is so often the answer, isn't it.

In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone.

LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

Driving in the rain all afternoon

Fri, 18 Dec 2009 21:08:37 +0000

Well, now that I'm off the road from driving in it for hours, the rain has stopped. I like the way my little Toyota Prius handles on the wet roads. It's very intuitive with my brake foot and me at the helm. We move together like dancers getting to know one another. Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

Writing your book? Vanity presses, self publishing, publishing

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 09:12:28 +0000

I emailed last week with Cassandra Yorgey upon the topic of friends who self publish, to understand the implications of using LuLu, a vanity press, versus a traditional publishing model. It's important to be clear on what it is and what the differences are because vanity presses are sometimes deceitful. I told her that I have friends all the time who are working on books and ask me about book publishers, which I know zilch about. But some seem to think Lulu is the way to go. Not wanting to be an author, I don't care enough about it to want to research it myself. I asked her is there somewhere I could refer them to? Is there a good site or blog post that gives helpful basic info to the ones who ask me to be referred somewhere for info? Cassandra Yorgey responded: "I generally send people to Writers Beware first. Self-publishing doesn't tend to get credit as a professional reference and rarely earns back the money invested into it. A general rule of thumb is that money should flow *towards* the writer, not away. I would suggest to anyone who has a completed manuscript that querying a literary agent would MOST LIKELY be a better use of their time. Not always, but most likely. Very recently Harlequin, a noted romance publisher, made the mistake of opening a vanity-pub branch and got kicked out of all the respectable groups like SFWA and RWA. Here's a pretty accurate discussion of how the industry feels about that." I get so many requests about how someone may get their book published, and I was glad to get this info to share. I'd like to hear your experiences. Thanks, Andrea In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

When Friends Criticize the Abraham-Hicks and Law of Attraction work. Talking about things you don't have personal experience of.

Sat, 19 Dec 2009 11:55:19 +0000

I was trying to find something earlier by Googling it, and one of the pages contained a link to an Abraham-Hicks reference. It took me to a forum page of evangelical Christians who were slamming multi-level marketing, AmWay in particular, and someone posted that Jerry Hicks is a former AmWay salesman. The writer then proceeded to talk all about Jerry's newest scam being the Abraham-Hicks "empire". That led me to more and more forums of people who had complaints about people they've known that they've lost to the "cult of Abraham-Hicks." Then I had a realization. Most of the ones who criticize the work do not have personal experience of it. You can tell by the meanings they assign to the words and phrases they use. It looked like they went to Google "Abraham-Hicks" and the first choice that came up was "Abraham-Hicks scam" and they did all their studying at those sites, rather than reading at the Abraham-Hicks website itself. That explained a lot to me. Having listened to the Abraham-Hicks cds monthly and experienced them in person many times in the past dozen years, I get their message clearly. But I had read many books for many years before that, books that had prepared me for the ideas that my thoughts have power and that I attract in accordance what I most expect and believe. I would be surprised if someone who had not read a variety of topics, who was deeply entrenched in any Bible based faith would be as receptive to the ideas, nor would I expect them to easily understand them. For them, more easily understandable is the language found at these forums. That's where their expectation and belief has them resonating right now. What does surprise me is when friends - who are smart and well read and understand complex concepts about matters I can't begin to fathom - friends who could benefit by the information, when these friends don't understand the Abraham-Hicks work and actively criticize it. And now, having discovered the above forums, and seen what first choice Google suggests if you want to search the name "Abraham-Hicks," now I recognize that these friends have read at these forums and took as gospel these posters knew what they were talking about. In the forum language, the slammers also refer to the Hickses and that there are Two Versions of The Secret movie. Then they go on to confuse the second movie with the Abraham work and it sounded nutty indeed, since when Abraham-Hicks was edited out of the original the Secret movie, they edited the actual "secret" out of the movie. But in the forums they confused the message of the second movie with the Abraham work, so the concepts are incomplete and the examples they give are contrary to how it all works. Simply misinformation. I mean, this is years later I have heard the arguments of these friends and did not know until just now that this is where they got their information. This is why their situations never changed and why they never wanted to discuss any of the ideas in the cds or the articles. They hadn't read or listened. I know that now because of the language they use and the examples they give. If the information those writers post about were true, I would believe the same thing they do. But I rely on my personal experience. One post said the Hickses built their empire by heavily marketing themselves. This has never been true. I don't believe they have ever advertised anywhere, even in the beginning. They have a lot of products at their website now, almost 20 years later, sure. They have built a body of work that people have been asking for. Their website is free and has many, many free resources. Their cd of the month, which I get, is just $15 a month and the price hasn't changed through the years. Their works are more affordable than most. Hearing someone else's words are like a gift, you either like it or you don't - but everyone is allowed to speak what they think. Most think they're doing people a service by "letting others know about scam artists to beware of." But the fact is they don't really know for themselves. They want to help and be of value, but they don't know they are spreading a mis-truth or they would not do it. I have done it in the past myself. I've even seen it in some of the Abraham forums themselves, someone trying to paraphrase Abraham's words, meaning well, but making some very inaccurate statements. In one, someone wrote in saying they were 2 months pregnant and the heartbeat could not be detected and wondered what Abraham thought they should do in the week they waited for a second test to see if it was a viable pregnancy. An Abraham fan wrote to try "soothing thoughts like, "wouldn't it be nice if a heartbeat can be heard next time?" WTF? And these are people who are trying to help and they're getting it wrong. Thankfully other Abraham fans wrote in with more practical suggestions for better feeling thoughts. You could tell by their words they understood how law of attraction actually works. Otherwise it's just the blind leading the blind and everyone hopes the one next to them will have the answer, so they don't have to find it themself. That's how we start to rely on blind leaders and well, you can see how easy it is for misinformation to spread. The answer is simply to experience something yourself before you talk about it. Don't look for "how can I tear apart this message this friend thinks I'm so stupid I need" but rather look for "what does Andrea find so compelling and practical and helpful about this body of work?" Because we always find what we are looking for. What would Jesus do? In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. Related post: Two Versions of The Secret movie

Your Daily Spiritual Practice & The Company You Keep

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 08:23:31 +0000

The other day I was reading at Fit Yoga Magazine and I read the Letter From The Editor, Rita Trieger, entitled The Company You Keep. She wrote: "As a younger woman I never really had a lot of girlfriends. A prepubescent, rather nasty snub from the sixth-grade female “in-crowd” had soured me on the trustworthiness of other women that lasted well into my third decade. And although I had one or two or three very fine “best” male friends along the way, I never could seem to cozy up to the idea of confiding in another woman, which, by the way, was fine with me. Then, a few years ago I started to form a friendship with a group of women at work. There were five of us in all, and we came from very different paths. That didn’t seem to matter though; and even as we scattered to other jobs, we regularly planned get-togethers and always had way too much fun (kind of like a more cerebral, creative Sex and the City, without the expensive shoes). It was at this point I realized what I had been missing. All those years of shutting out female companionship had left a hole in my heart that was becoming joyously filled with female camaraderie, when, suddenly, my beautiful, womanly world collapsed. The details require a few hours and some good red wine, but the result was me with a broken heart and no best girlfriend[s]. Sixth-grade redux. But lucky for me this time around, I had yoga to turn to, and I did. I stepped onto my mat as a pitiful victim and pouted my way through a few weeks worth of practice before I began to realize that I had choices in this whole scenario— and also responsibilities. Situations, both good and bad, don’t happen to you unless you let them. Slowly, I began to realize I had certainly had a part in the collapse and that I could choose to forgive them—and myself—and remember the lesson learned instead of harboring bitterness and blame. That realization helped me make better choices about the company I keep, and today I am regularly astonished at the breadth of my female companions. They are each of them warm and loving and full of grace, and I adore them with all my heart. As for my former friends...well, I’ll always be grateful. Because I do have some wonderful memories, and because what happened between us made me examine my own intentions and actions, and at long last allowed me to have the strong female companionship I always craved. Love you girlfriends [You know who you are!], Rita " ### end of excerpt I really felt connected to the words she wrote, so I emailed her: "Rita, I am writing as I just read your current Letter from the Editor at www.fityoga.com, on The Company You Keep. I admit it was my first time at your pages, and I enjoyed reading your words. I will return often. I am a long time yoga devotee and I publish Horizons Magazine, Spiritual Solutions for Florida since 1992 which is Florida's body/mind/spirit publication. I really resonated with what you wrote, as I had the same scenario in my lifetime. I grew up with good looking brothers, so as I was growing up, the girls who wanted to befriend me had a hidden agenda. That lasted into adulthood as I worked for handsome attorneys in prominent Miami lawfirms. I'd of course get dropped as soon as their purpose had been accomplished. I've never had many close friends. I married five times and my mates often became my sole close friends and confidants; for 3 years at a time anyway. My daily yoga practice since 1970 has been about the only constant in my life. After I left the lawfirms in 1992 at age 40 and began doing the magazine, I got involved with several womens' groups and would attend many weekend gatherings each year. I quickly felt bonded to women in a real way and found an emotional balm I did not know I needed. I, too, thought of what I'd let myself miss all those years by being wary. Then I began to see the hidden agendas of some within those groups as well. The underlying politics and constant positioning for favor. The constant wanting, by some, to be noticed and promoted. I lost several serious friends during that time. Those I thought were serious friends of 10+ years. I knew my part in the collapse, but I won't pretend the emperor is clothed, even at the risk of a friendship. As you say, what happened between us made me examine my own intentions and actions and I, too, began making better choices about the company I keep. I now know some fabulous women and my schedule keeps me from getting too personally close with them. That's a good balance for me right now. Just last month another decade-long friend showed another face, which is why I was led to find your article. The words you spoke were simple but helped me feel closure. My daily yoga and meditation practice anchors me and keeps me emotionally full, and I'm learning to enjoy the sisterhood camaraderie a little better from a distance. For now anyway. Thank you and bless you for the work you do. Andrea de Michaelis She emailed back to thank me and said "It's always nice to know that your feelings resonate with someone else and that someone you've never met can be so empathetic." Her blog can be found at http://ritatude.blogspot.com/ She also let me know they are getting ready to re-launch Fit Yoga as "bookazine" and it will have more pages. I'm very excited about that as well. In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness Visit Sisters Of The Circe, a free online retreat site

earth-72

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:12:35 +0000

Actress Brittany Murphy Dead at 32

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 10:34:38 +0000

December 21, 2009 - Actress Brittany Murphy Dies at 32. I always liked her, she was cute and quirky and had that fragile beauty that reminded me of Marilyn Monroe. Not Monroe as her character parts, but Monroe doing interviews and speaking with the public and the press in person, on her own. The easy smile, the bit of shyness. This past month I saw a few movies on Showtime with Brittany Murphy and really enjoyed her in her roles. See you in the next go 'round, kid. The End of Death As We Know It

It Can be Exhausting Everyone Pretending To Be Happy At The Holidays - Moving Up The Emotional Scale

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 07:44:37 +0000

A week before Christmas and we're well into the stressful end of the year and just waiting for it all to be over with. I just finished hearing from 4 friends, one after another, none of whom know each other, and it was the same conversation from each. These are spiritual people who are just overloaded with the commercial marketing part of the holiday season. They say how exhausted everyone they know is from pretending this is such a happy time of year. They say they don't know anyone who's really happy now, that it's just a season to be filled with obligatory gifts, unwanted visits and flare-ups of family tension. These are fairly conscious people. They know these flare-ups show what they really know and what they really believe. They show us how far we've come in cultivating unconditional love, when we go home again and the same siblings try to start the same arguments. But these gatherings allow us to respond differently, these gatherings give us the opportunity to test out our new skills of patience and smiling non-response. Not everything someone says needs us to comment on it. It can be a real yoga just withholding comment, when to do so would cause more discord than happiness. My 4 callers also realize that since the holidays push their buttons, it is natural that they will attract people and circumstances for which that holds true, since they are all vibrating in the same place. They know there are really some for whom the holiday are fun times. But they point out that is not happening around them, and they can't get themselves to a place where it can happen for them. I know what they mean. Abraham-Hicks would say simply find a better feeling thought and work your way up the emotional scale. These four friends feel they are so busy with added duties right now, that they don't have the few moments of silence of mind they need to self talk themselves up the emotional ladder to a better feeling place. Of course, that is just another thought, and we are in charge of what thoughts we allow to pervade. I am not a fan of the commercial aspect of any holiday season, and for the most part I don't participate. I don't put a tree up, I am not into gifting since it turns into a political decision making process, I'm not a big shopper anyway, it's been years since I've been to a mall, about 20 minutes of traditional Christmas music is all I want to hear - per season. I can't relate to any of the snow references. Bah, humbug right? But in my own way, this is a very holy and special time. The years I worked with Psychic Friends Network and often did 40-60 readings a day, I'd always offer to be scheduled during the holidays. That was fine since most of the other readers wanted the time off then. I wanted to be there for the ones who felt alone and stressed during this time. I counsel with so many people during the holidays who feel so pressured by it. Their children have been programmed by tv to want the latest and best toys, they feel obligated to buy what they cannot afford and feel they are digging themselves deeper and deeper into a hole. They feel frazzled, and like a combat victim they just want the bleeding to stop. The best feeling thought they can come up with is, "I'll be so glad when January 2nd rolls around and life goes back to normal." Since that's their thought of least resistance, what I can do for them is listen to what they want to do in the new year. Help them move their thoughts onto the topic of something more hopeful. Help them stay focused there long enough that they are moving up the emotional scale to ever-better feeling thoughts on their own. All I'm doing is holding the space for it to happen. So, to me, that's what the holidays are really all about. I hold the space to let them talk themselves into a happier new year. As I meditate, I hold the vision of a more hopeful tomorrow. Not just for friends and clients and family, but for all of us. I believe it is true that there is just one of us here. It is just like reconciling all the various facets of our personality to make up who we are, all parts working in harmony to produce an individual who is happy and pleasant to be around. So, while we have all kinds, we have the peaceniks, the tree huggers, the politicians, the haters, the manipulators, we also have the ones who know the power of their thoughts. These are the ones who choose, as a spiritual practice, to do what they can to help mitigate the fearful thoughts being put into the global mental field by those who do not recognize that we as humans are all one single organism. What we do to another, we do to ourselves. Once we realize that, we can upgrade our thoughts and upgrade our behavior, which will then attract more desirable results. When people begin to see the cause and effects, more will believe it and find it to be true. The more who do it, the more who see the world and everyone around them in a more uplifted and joyful place, the more those thoughts begin to pervade the global mental field. [caption id="attachment_6691" align="alignright" width="144" caption="We all live here together"][/caption] A line in a Hindu prayer asks "May noble thoughts come to me from all corners of the Universe." The more noble thoughts, the more uplifting thoughts of compassion, unity and empowerment that we can think, the more we can affect the global mental field. The more we can permeate all corners of the Universe with hopeful and joyous thoughts. You can make it part of your daily spiritual practice to just sit for a few minutes each day and hold hopeful thoughts for the planet. I have this poster of the Earth taken from outer space that faces where I sit in the living room. I see it every time I look up. It reminds me that we're all in this together. And what I want for me, I want for everyone else, too. That's how I move up the emotional scale. :) The End of Death As We Know It

Trump To Divorce For The Fourth Time. The Razor's Edged Path: The Walk Between Seva and Self Nourishment

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:07:21 +0000

AOL flashes the headline before me: Trump To Divorce For The Fourth Time then I read: Ivana Trump was hoping the fourth time would be the charm when it comes to marriage. No such luck. The socialite and former Mrs. Donald filed for divorce Friday from Italian guy Tossano Rubicondi, citing their busy schedules and time apart. In a statement, Trump said her husband has spent much of the past two years in Italy, while she has been running around the globe tending to hotel and resort development projects. The lack of time together took its toll, she said. Trump, 60, married the 37-year-old entrepreneur in April 2008 in a lavish wedding at her ex Donald's Florida estate. They had been dating for six years. What do I think of her getting yet another divorce? I think she's a smart business woman; I think she has prenuptial agreements in place, so joint property is not an issue. I think she's intuitive enough to know when a relationship has run its course and it's time to free each other up for the next perfect partner. I think if she likes to get married, she should be able to do it as often as she wants. I've been married five times. My typical relationship term was 3 years, then I liked a break. Then I'd do it again. And take another break. Repeat and repeat again. The more of a workaholic I became, the less it made sense to share physical space with someone. It got in the way of work. Work wasn't just what I did from 9:00am to 5:00pm each day, work wasn't just publishing Horizons Magazine. Work was the fulfilling of my mission in connecting with people and spending much time on the phone with them and I always made it a priority. I figured I could either give all my energy and juice to one person - my mate - or I could give it to all the many people I talk to and write with each day. I didn't think I could do both. Pretty arrogant to put that above my relationship, huh? To think I made such a difference in these people's lives that I devoted majority time to them, at the expense of spending time with my mate. I think it would be unconscious of me to be unaware of my effect on them, in helping them expand their own perception of their lives, and what is truly possible for them to do. That's why they call it the razor's edged path, this walk between seva and self nourishment. How do we know if we're being guided by the Universe or when it's just our ego selves wanting attention? When do we know we have the right balance? I'm happy being the solitary one, but I've been remembering how fun it can be to have a boyfriend again, too. As this year closes, I am open to change. I'm also into taking time to get used to new ideas, so I'm mostly doing some prepaving here. As usual, I reserve the right to change my mind upon the further illumination of my own consciousness. RELATED POSTS: When Relationships change Online dating: E-Harmony vs. Match.com My Thoughts on Dating, Mating and Pair Bonding A Fly On The Wall Of A Dating Site Hook-Up Online dating scams; hot singles are waiting for you In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone.

Relationships: What Is My New and Improved Type?

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 10:04:47 +0000

I was sitting on my 80 year old uncle's front porch the other day, rocking in our chairs, and he asked me, "Don't you want someone to sit with at the end of the day, just to watch the sun go down and drink tea with?" I thought, "Sure, I do. It's the other 23 hours a day maintenance that is too big a price to pay." He was married to the same woman his whole life, until she died a few years ago. After their kids were grown, they did everything together. I like so much alone time and quiet time, that kind of life isn't for me. My man would have to be able to entertain himself on his own half the time and be happy not chatting very single day. Uncle said my punishment will be to find a boyfriend just like I am. He might be right. Of course, the next two counseling sessions I had after that are women who want to attract a relationship into their life. Vibrational match coming on the heels of Uncle's talk. And during our sessions, in uncovering the sources of their resistance, doing the process will make me lay bare my own as well. We proceed to go down the list of what qualities are important, and what we notice about men that we like. Whether we see them at work or on tv or at the movies or just out in public, what about them attracts our attention? We do this to begin vibrating in a place of attracting choices. We look for what we want. We take note of what is pleasing around us. We spend a little time basking in each thought. I like the confidence of that one, I like the humor of that one, I like how that one dresses, I like the physical appearance of that one, I like that this one is artistic, I like the spontaneity of that one. "Thinking thoughts like this", I coach my two callers, "gets you resonating in that vibrational stance that will attract more of the same to you. Most of the evening was spent talking on this topic, to give them a kickstart to begin their own attraction process. Every time I do this work, I begin to notice the men around me. I don't have someone else do a process that I'm not doing myself. Some of the things I notice I like are: Men with good hygiene, who can look presentable when it's called for. Shaggy or buttoned down, height, weight, age are not an issue, but I appreciate someone who is relatively healthy and mobile. I am enlivened by someone who has a lively interest in... something. It could be computer things or garden things or things I don't understand. His interest in it will spark my interest in it. I like when someone shows they are interested in me as a person. I appreciate that Chuck my computer guy knows all this neat techie stuff that I would like to know more about. I like that Beth's husband Gerald is the strong, silent type; always nearby willing to lend a hand, just out of sight, working on his own things, never one for idle chitchat. I like how cute Beth and Gerald act together, you can tell they have fun and are glad to be partners. I appreciate that in Doug and Trish as well, and how they are always going on little local adventures together. I appreciate Doug's resourcefulness as a steward of the land, always doing garden projects, always doing wood projects and solar projects, always finding something to tinker with and fix. I appreciate his flexibility in going with the flow, and I appreciate his courage in forging new paths. I appreciate him being a goofball and fun play pal. I appreciate my brother's dedication to his family and that he's a wizard at making things work out. I appreciate my neighbor across the street who walks 8 miles a day. I appreciate Gajendra's devotion to teaching yoga and to Mataji. I appreciate how Bo plays the fiddle and guitar. I appreciate that Frank will sit and study esoteric philosophy all day. I appreciate that Doug likes to talk things out and never argues. I appreciate that while Tom likes to have a drink and a smoke, he does it responsibility and it's never an issue. I appreciate Paradise Dave's Alabama accent. I appreciate that while Ed and I have different political and spiritual views, we simply stay off those topics and it's never an issue. I appreciate that Noah, while too shy to talk much in person, will email and instant message me fun conversations about his day. I appreciate that these men all have a form of income that lets them support themselves. These are not men I date, these are the men around me, husbands of friends, neighbors, and this is my sample list of what I appreciate about the men around me. That's part of the exercise I'm doing with the two new clients, finding things to appreciate about the men where you are on a daily basis. To get in the vibe. I'll have to give some thought as to what my type is anymore. I've learned there can be so many variables. It's not what it used to be - always falling into the fixer uppers. I can fix this one. I can fix that one. I don't fix anymore. Now I look for what feels easy and drama free. Of course, the shy geek and the scholarly monk type is always a contender. As I keep an eye out on purpose now, I will see who I attract because that will tell me where I am vibrating. What do you think my type might be? Seriously. There will be prizes for good answers. :) Visit www.horizonsmagazine.com

This Week's Ocala Cassadaga Trip - Seeing Synchronicity in Action

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:57:06 +0000

The Tuesday before Christmas, I drove to Ocala and Cassadaga with galpal Theresa Hudson a/k/a Tigger. It would be her first time meeting Catherine Wendell of Ocala Ghost Walks and the three of us got to hang out and chat awhile. Cat delivers the magazine to the Ocala area for me, which I so totally appreciate! On the drive to Ocala, I tell Theresa about my two clients and my earlier blog post Relationships: What Is My New and Improved Type? And I told her that part of the exercise I am doing with the 2 clients are to keep an eye out for what I appreciate about the men around me. Any men we run into all day long. As we drive from Ocala toward Cassadaga, I tell her I wanted to see what I attract out of Cassadaga since I know some of the guys there yet not much interaction in all these years. And sure enough, we walk into the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Bookstore, and I run into Luke, a friend I've emailed and spoken with for years and just never met in person. As soon as I saw him, he looked very familiar. We were stacking the January Horizons in the corner and I kept trying to place him. Finally I just walked up to him and said, "Do I know you?" He smiled because he knew it was me before I knew it was him. Brat! I was happy to meet my pal so synchronistically. We work with some of the same friends and customers yet have never run across each other in person. I was at the bookstore a week earlier than usual and no one ever knows when I'll be there until I show up, so the Universe arranged that one. Also to show me, as I had asked, something to appreciate about the men I already know. That's what the week's exercise was. It's important to remember what you've been asking for, so that you recognize when you get it. More synchronistic happenings: Theresa is a very handy person, car stuff, plumbing stuff, she looks like a little slip of a girl but she's got some serious skills. I'm fairly handy myself but not in comparison to T. I'd given that some thought the past few days. As we park at the Cassadaga Hotel, I hear my bumper touch the concrete curb stop. As we pull away, we hear a real crunch and, once on the street, we can hear that we are dragging something. Theresa knows what it is right away. We get out and look and part of the undercarriage cover had come loose, just as she said. We go back to the bookstore and park on the concrete and have a look at it. I'm on the ground looking at it because T is wearing a girley dress. Plus the Universe is giving me a chance to show that I can be as handy as T is. She said the parts of the undercarriage are fastened by screws and clips, so I ask Katie in the bookstore for a screwdriver. My only tool is one little wrench I carry that seems to fit most stuff I need it for, like a magical wrench. It just now occurs to me that a set of wrenches might be in the car's own tool kit along with the jack equipment, hmmm, I should check that out. Anyway, 20 minutes later, me rolling around upside down in the parking lot, unscrewing the part that had come off, I cut the remaining part around the bolt that the magical wrench did not fit, and we're on our way. Then we're heading home, albeit late at 4:45pm, and we stop for dinner at Durango Steak House on Hwy 50 and, before going in, I realize my wallet is gone. I have never lost my wallet or my keys; I don't lose things. We look through everything in the car, somehow I manage to drop my cell phone and out of the corner of my eye see it in several pieces on the parking lot. As Theresa reaches for it, my thought is, "whatever's happened to the phone, she'll fix it" and went back to retracing my steps and searching the car until Theresa hands me the phone she put back together. She's like Inspector Gadget, I'm not kidding. I called the Cassadaga Spiritualist Camp Bookstore and Becky answered. She'd been witness to the earlier car fiasco. I asked if she could check to see if my wallet was on the ground somewhere, and sure enough it was. It must have come out of my jeans pocket as I was crawling around under the car. So, here we were, at I-95 and Hwy 50, the store was closing in 30 minutes, we were an hour away and I don't like to drive after dark. We're on the phone trying to figure out if I should just drive up again in the morning. Then I hear my friend Luke was still in the store and he volunteered to drive the wallet out to me at Hwy 44 and I-95, which was about a 30 minute drive for each of us. How perfect, how synchronistic - and how gracious, since he lives in Orlando and it was completely out of his way. I love the name Luke, it means "bringer of light". Now he was the bringer of the wallet, too and the savior of the day. I joked to Theresa, since Luke had given me a small gift with a heart logo on it. I held it up and said, "Great, is this another sign? I'm here holding my heart and the man is miles away with all my money." BTW: The gift he gave me was a Love Candle, and when he handed it to me, I said jokingly, "Oh No!, a Love candle... what if we end up getting married?" Our plan was to get to the intersection to I-95 and Hwy 44, park somewhere and the first one there calls the other to say where we are. As we get close to the exit for Hwy 44, I tell Theresa there’s a Chevron there I need to get gas at, and I go to call Luke to tell him that’s where we are headed and about 5 minutes away. But the call says "error in connection." I try three times. Same error message. I’ve got the right number. Then the phone rings, and it’s Luke and he’s at the Chevron waiting for us. We get there one minute later. More synchronicity. We leave and head back home and we're talking about our fun adventure and how good it feels to have a little challenge and work through it, to let us know how capable we really are. And good to have a friend along with us to witness it, to make it go even smoother. By now, we decide to skip dinner together since it's getting late. Which then reminds T that she may have tentative plans for dinner otherwise and just now remembered. I don't know how she juggles her schedule without an appointment book. Then it hits me. Theresa caused this entire day! The Universe wanted her to be un-fed by sundown and on her own way to another destination. Because had the daily events not unfolded as they did, we would have eaten dinner about 4:00pm and she would have been home an hour later. And I saw the results of doing my week's homework. It was a most delightful day.

'Balloon Boy' Parents Richard and Mayumi Heene Sentenced - Sphere News

Thu, 24 Dec 2009 10:06:19 +0000

FORT COLLINS, Colo. (Dec. 23, 2009) - The parents who pulled the balloon boy hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show were sentenced to jail Wednesday - 90 days for him, 20 days for her - and barred from profiting from their newfound celebrity status for the next four years. The sentencing was the culmination of a saga that transfixed the nation in October with the sight of the silvery balloon hurtling through the sky on live television. In the end, it was all a publicity stunt by a family broke and desperate for attention and money after networks kept rejecting their reality TV show pitches. "What this case is about is deception, exploitation - exploitation of the children of the Heenes, exploitation of the media and exploitation of people's emotions - and money," District Judge Stephen Schapanski said. The Heenes were also put on four years' probation, during which they cannot earn any money related to the stunt. That means any book, movie or reality TV deals are off limits. Jay Leno said it best when he said, 'This is a copycat game.' And people will copycat this event." The Heenes "need to go to jail so people don't do that. Read entire article here On the upside, in four years and one day they can re-commence hawking their story and after 4 years time to write it, it could be a good one. :) In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone.

What Is My Message from the Undercarriage Incident?

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 02:59:31 +0000

During last week’s Ocala Cassadaga Trip, I managed to dislodge the plastic undercarriage cover on my 2007 Toyota Prius and, since it was dragging, I had to remove it before I could continue on my way. I got to wiggle around underneath the front bumper of the car and locate the screws and bolts and remove the panel in two pieces. One of the screws was so loose I could remove it by hand. That made me think that the whole reason for the casing to drop was likely that a screw came loose and worked its way out. I contemplated what my message was from that. It wasn't like I had no warning. Since I got the car, I could hear a scraping as I parked at a concrete curb stop, and if I went a little fast over a bump. I looked and saw nothing hanging down and figured I just needed to get used to the Prius being a low to the ground car. But what was happening was that I already had a screw loose and didn't know it. No, that's not my metaphor. Stop laughing. Almost every time I drove the car, I'd hear that sound, and each time I'd look and just see the low bumper and figure all was well, and go on my merry way. Not until the other day did I actually look all the way underneath the front of the car, where I would have clearly seen that one of the screws was working itself lose and I could have nipped the problem in the bud. But I didn't look far enough or deep enough, although it would have only taken a few moments. I wanted to be happy with my superficial observation, and I was. However, due to the vibration of the car each time I drove it, the fact was that one of the fasteners to my protective covering was dislodging and I didn't know it. This gives me a message about what I may think my protective shells are, and how I act and react because of that belief. Do I feel metaphorically that my protected underpinnings are coming undone, or that my sensitive underbelly is being exposed? Perhaps just a message that if they do begin to come undone, I can - with vigilant and deep observation - eliminate any problems before they arise. There are times for the casual, superficial glance and times for the deeper inquiry and it's up to me to know when to do which. And sometime we need an old foundation to fall away if it's getting a little unreliable, and a new foundation needs to be laid. Otherwise we're just walking on wobbly ground. Andrea In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

Christmas in Florida, Happy Birthday Jesus

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 14:53:59 +0000

It's 10:00am ET on Christmas Day in central Florida. It's 75 degrees out there, 89% humidity, a 12mph breeze going, so it's not sticky and the windows are all open. The windchimes are singing away out there and squirrels just now running across the roof to raid the acorns. I heard the rain coming down during the night and I walked outside wearing my rain poncho. I barely saw the moon. It's a lovely Christmas Day. Happy birthday, Jesus.

yinny-head-scratch-0072

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:06:15 +0000

Is Bipolar The Root Of Genius?

Sat, 26 Dec 2009 04:03:48 +0000

A fave friend has been taking their new bi-polar meds Symbyax for a year now and is happy with how their moods have evened out. They don't get depressed and they've had no adverse side effects. I miss their manic upswings though, their wild ideas, their inspirations and musings. Their hare-brained schemes, as his wife calls them. But while they may have been simply grandiose babblings from a clinically manic state, to my ear they sounded like messages of inspiration. They sparked ideas which often evolved into projects that earned both of us income. When I look back, after my friend was first diagnosed as bi-polar a couple of years ago, and think of all the ideas for projects that never materialized, I still can't see that as being grandiose - one man's absurd exaggeration is another mans' actual life. During the same time frame, I think of all the ideas for projects I have left undone. It's about the same, so you can't blame it on bi-polar. Part of the fun we have together is chatting about what might be possible to achieve between the two of us. That's not grandiose, it's simply enthused pre-paving. At Is Bipolar The Root Of Genius? Riley Hendersen asks, "it seems that as we look through history, some of the most creative people who have shared our planet have suffered from Bipolar Disorder. So does the emotional instability of Bipolar disorder bring about genius?" I've known emotionally unstable people who did not display genius. I've known some geniuses I considered emotionally unstable. It's always a balancing act, isn't it? Andrea LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness The End of Death As We Know It Read Horizons Magazine online

Talking in my sleep

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 00:46:01 +0000

I was napping earlier today and woke up talking on the phone to my friend Joy. Well, I thought I was anyway. I purposely keep the phone (usually) where I have to walk to it answer it, but this time it was next to my big puffy chair, where I'd fallen asleep proof-reading. I answered the phone automatically in my sleep. I thought I was making sense, saying real words. Apparently not. I always tell friends, the wake-up trigger phrase if that happens is to ask me, "Are you awake? Do you want to wake up?" It was kind of like in a dream where you understand what someone is saying and you're talking back to them, or you're writing something down? I've done that to later wake up and see my notebook scrawled with jibberish, when in the dream I am writing clearly. I guess the sleep talking is like that. I wonder how often I do that in my waking time as well? Think I'm making perfect sense, conveying an idea, when all the other person hears is jibberish? Hmmm. LISTEN FREE: Sleepytime Recharge

bookcase-2-12-08-72

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:29:27 +0000

Keeping Track of Stacks of Books

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 02:37:26 +0000

[caption id="attachment_6795" align="alignright" width="144" caption="One wall of bookshelves"][/caption] Whew! I just put 51 new books on the low shelves next to the reading nook. I have lots of books. One way I keep track of them is to keep an ongoing list of all the titles, so in case I want to know if I have something, I can do a word search for it. I have 589 on the list right now. Actually, this number does not include the maybe 100 books of my own collection from before I began my list. They get moved around quite a bit. When books first arrive, I log them in and then I put them on the lower shelves by the main reading nook. I have several areas for sitting and reading, all next to different bookshelves. After each has been read, they move on to a more permanent location, typically by topic or author. Now if I could just keep track of where each title actually is, I'd be set. LISTEN FREE: Out of Body Experience The End of Death As We Know It

Pakistan Recognizes Third Gender

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 04:20:16 +0000

Pakistan Recognizes Third Gender by Ria Misra: The Supreme Court in Pakistan ordered that the government officially recognize a separate gender for Pakistan's hijra community, which includes transgendered people, transvestites, and eunuchs. The court told the federal government to begin allowing people to identify as hijras when registering for a national identity card. Not having an identity card, or having one with incorrect information, leaves a person vulnerable and easily excluded from society. In India, voters are required to identify their sex both on their voter ID cards and at the polls. The insistence that they identify as male or female effectively barred many transgendered and transvestite people from the polls until late this year, when the government declared that for the purposes of voting it would recognize a third option. In addition, a warning was issued that the hijras' rights of inheritance would be enforced, and that police harassment would not be permitted, a sign, perhaps, of rulings to come. Gosh, even Pakistan is more progressive than we are? A friend asked why I care about this stuff if I'm neither gay nor transgendered - it's cuz I'm HUMAN. If the government is going to make us check a box for gender (or ethnicity), then we need to have relevant choices. The old male/female only, or black/white/asian only choices no longer apply. And jeez, how do we keep track of ethnicity these days anyway? In another two generations we'll all be Winsor & Newton Raw Umber anyway. That will make it hard to know who to hate, huh? Bummer. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

The Zen of Farmville on Facebook? WTF?

Sun, 27 Dec 2009 12:41:44 +0000

Facebook is an idle relaxation time for me, when I have a few moments free, but am not free enough to actually leave the computer. It lets me check up on what real life friends are doing, when I don't have time to telephone and visit with them. It lets me feel I am in the social loop, even if I can't attend the local events. Lots of my Facebook friends I don't know at all, but am glad to expand who I interact with to be exposed to a variety of viewpoints. A lot of them post motivational quotes, which I usually skip over unless they include a personal comment. I've been reading one liners like that my whole life - I'm on Facebook to learn what someone else thinks, not to hear a rehashing. Post a quote, but also comment on what made you choose that one, right now. I mostly like to know what people are doing in their ordinary lives. That's what lets me get to know them and want to follow what they say. Those are the people who are on my Facebook News Feed. I've never been one for computer games, so I don't use Facebook for their Applications: like sending gifts, or My Zoo, although I will take the occasional quiz. But when I began to see a bunch of my friends playing the Farmville game. I wrote: "Farmville must be like the new solitaire. Illuminate me, what does everyone get out of Farmville?" I got some illuminating responses. Timothy Martin: I grew up on a farm and hated it, now I have 4 online! It really does put me in a total zen like state of relaxation and I feel connected to all my neighbors though I have no actual interaction with them. DiAnna Hinkley: I used it as a tool at first to create my center. Like a treasure map. I have seen changes in my perspective, it gives me a daily awareness of organizing and building an abundant life, with the satisfaction of doing it on my own and with other people's help. It really has been wonderful. Jean Maurie Puhlman: I enjoy relaxing and growing. Yes, it helps with prosperity consciousness like a treasure map as DiAnna says. I didn't think I wanted anything to do with it at first and I'm surprised how much fun it is. Jeanette Astorino: It's like a bottle of wine. You can use it to toast and celebrate with family and friends, or you can wake up face down in the gutter. Do you control it, or are you controlled by it? As someone who cannot keep a simple potted plant alive, I do get a certain sense of satisfaction when I harvest a few thousand dollars worth of produce before breakfast. If I ever find myself scrolling down the news feed trying to score a pink cow, then I'll know it's time to quit. Perhaps they could make it more of a spiritual experience, by letting you feed the little homeless cyber characters and animals that wander off from the other games. Now that would be cool. Janice Scott-Reeder: It started as a small family farm, but I had to buy the groovy barn because it was so pretty which led to growing the medicinal herbs and then the crop circles showed up and a UFO crashed with green cows. I didn't think that was unusual but some elephants showed up and then ducks suggested I could make more money with a carnival and bull riding. Somehow that led to the great reindeer invasion of '09, which I am sure my neighbors are putting on my farm every time I sign off. Now I have calves in four colors, lambs and some strange penguins that produce ice cubes and a couple of guard geese. I have two golden chickens but all they lay are eggs with fuel tanks in them...... I told Janice: "Farmville sounds like a bad acid trip." But the realization really came when a real life friend who is like a sister to me made her comment: Denise Marr said: You should view my farm and see how I have designed it according my life daily situations. IE: I have a circus tent and other things you will notice that I have put on my farm related to my daily living. So come join as a neighbor. It is my serenity. Having known Denise for lots of years - she's my ICE (in case of emergency) contact - I know her life and I know her thought processes. So when she said the words, "It is my serenity," I got it. I got what Farmville - and other games - are really about. It's about doing an activity that puts your mind to work while it allows you to release stress, to release resistance. I could see Denise having a circus tent, to lighten things up. She's an organization freak, so I can see her having fun designing her farm. Denise has to hear other people talking all day long at work, so I can see how it would be a peaceful evening to just click around on the computer, organizing it as you wanted. I could totally see how it could be used as a treasure map and stimulus for creativity. But before I asked, I just secretly thought all my friends were playing stupid, mindless games. And then I remembered that mindless can be good. The practice of No Mind can be very relaxing, whether you use a No Mind Meditation or - as I see now - you play Farmville on Facebook. And we could all use a few more alpha waves. In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not the Body I'm just discovering Facebook Managing Incoming Information; What Is Facebook For? Facebook quizzes; every little bit of insight helps Facebook posts; I’m in charge of what I attract Facebook friends to the rescue, helping me Excel If a Friend Asks For $$ In Facebook, Ask A Personal Question You Want To Be My Friend On Facebook? How To Stop The Stupid Facebook Posts On Your Wall Are Your Facebook Friends Really Your Friends? Don’t Assume Mine Are Either What I post on Facebook Finding childhood buds on Facebook, flashback to age 18 Putting personal details on Facebook and Myspace Is it ok to break up with someone over Facebook? Why I like Facebook

Tying Up The Loose Ends. Setting Change in Motion.

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 11:17:49 +0000

So, here you are at the end of 2009 and you have got about 3 days to tie up any loose ends you may have for the year. Lots of friends this year left their long time careers, sometimes without another job to go to. Many friends are also moving now, lots of nests being emptied, and lots of garbage, too! It seems to me that we're getting less tolerant of the garbage in our lives and are taking active steps to toss it out, and this usually means big lifestyle changes. When we start working on getting rid of our garbage, there might be friends that drop out of the picture in the process as well. My experience is that the friends we meet and interact with are in our lives for as long as we are of value to each other. Once we're no longer growing or learning from the relationship, we naturally drift apart. I say naturally because it needn't be a traumatic event when relationships change, as long as we realize that there will always be people in our lives that reflect some aspect of ourselves. Pain and heartbreak only come when we try to hang onto something which is no longer ours by right of consciousness. As a culture, we tend to leave claw marks on situations and people that we've long outgrown, simply because we fear there will be nothing after they leave. Or we fear we will be nothing after they leave. So, the more we vibrate in that space of who we really are and what we really want to do, the more people like that we attract to ourselves, and the more fun we have and the clearer we are to follow our dream. So know that you "welcome" others into your experience by virtue of your vibrational stance, and the only way to change how you're vibrating about something is to change your mind, i.e., change your thoughts about it. Change your self talk about it. YOUR WORLD REFLECTS YOUR THOUGHTS. Whether we believe it or not, we are all living out today the result of every thought we've had up until now. Realizing that is the good news. The better news is that we can change it if we don't like it. There IS no bad news. Rather than thinking what a jerk your boss is and telling all your friends about what a jerk your boss is, begin to consider that perhaps she's just doing the best she can, perhaps she feels overwhelmed with more responsibility than she can handle, perhaps you could help lighten her load and try to see past the outer drama to the person beneath who needs your love and understanding. Ouch, tough one, huh? The way to change a situation is to change your attitude about it. Fake it until you make it? Yes. BURNING BOWL CEREMONY. So, here you are nearing the close of yet another year. You've made progress in some areas, found a level of comfort in other areas. You're ready for some changes. I've found the burning bowl ceremony to be a helpful process to help me release what I'm ready to be free of, and to set change in motion. I do one at each full moon but the important one is at the end of the year. I have a chimenea I use, or sometimes the outside firepit. First, I sit and make a list of all things in my life that I'm ready to come to conclusion with. I write as much about each subject as it takes to feel that I have gotten my feelings about it on paper. I usually write that I'm grateful for the lesson each person or event has brought me, and that I want all parties to have peace about the matter. I write down the lessons I've learned from it and then I write about what I'd prefer to be happening rather than what is happening. Then I make a small fire in the chimenea. I take all my pieces of paper and state my intention that in burning each page, I am resolving the issue and putting it behind me. That any time my mind turns to this subject, I will consciously remember and self talk to myself, "this matter is being handled by a higher authority, so I can let go of my thoughts about it." WRAPPING IT UP. Okay, you've made your lists, begun to consider your priorities for 2010, and decided to unload a little more baggage every day until the New Year. So each day you will wake up and consider, "What small step can I make today that will help lighten my load? What little act of patience and understanding can I do with the one who troubles me most?" and each night you will consider, "What progress did I make today? What act or word would I take back if I could, and redo another way? How would I redo it?" I love daily and nightly exercises like this; they help me stay on purpose. And for 2010, my intended purpose is to have lots of fun and spend time with friends and share lots of new ideas with them. My intent is to spend lots of time writing and drawing in my backyard. I want to have lots of moonlit dances on my street at midnight and spent lots of time cuddling my cats and foraging in the woods with them. And, most of all, I intend to spend time with those who are closest to me, and who share my life and love. And to recognize that can be an ever-changing thing. And that it's all good. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not the Body

Renters Plan for Christmas Cash - Skip a December payment

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 04:28:49 +0000

My tenant just had a great idea and I agreed. We divided her annual rent by eleven months, instead of twelve, so she'll pay January thru November. That way she gets to skip a December rent payment, and that gives her more money at Christmas time. Neat idea!

Seeing My World Through Someone Else's Eyes

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 08:00:24 +0000

A friend stopped by yesterday, and they'd never visited before so I had to take them on the tour. I always like the chance to see my place with new eyes, as I do when I show it to a new visitor. But it can also put me in that mode of doing a frantic show and tell, wanting them to not miss one magical thing; all the while knowing I may be the only one who sees enchantment of it all. I surprise myself by getting nervous with new visitors, mostly since my home is not decorated in typical style. I never know what they really think of all the altars and art and guru/saint portraits, with the meditation area and the bookcases of books being the focal point. I realized at the last minute that I had no sitting area where 2 people could sit and face each other to talk. We're usually all facing the same way during meditation, or in a circle on the floor, sitting on cushions. I never presume that a new guest is comfortable sitting on the floor, so I quickly arranged a sitting area at a table, like normal people have. Our plan was to make my newfound love, my homemade french onion soup and visit over lunch. I'm so stoked about this soup, I want to share it with everyone. And I wanted Lu to see how easy the soup was to make, so I was explaining the steps as I went through them. Until I realized I'd been incessantly chattering the entire time - my nervous reaction: the frantic show and tell. So I let my guest speak and, as usually happens when I shut up, I learned something. Lu kept making jokes about me being a control freak, and I can't disagree. It's something I work on when someone reminds me I'm doing it. I had a new postage meter to install, and to package up the old one to return via UPS, and we tackled the project together. The new meter had been sitting here for 3 weeks because I just didn't feel like dealing with it. I find that for some jobs I like to have someone there as a witness and helper if need be. So a bunch of my control freakness came out during the installation process. I wasn't aware of it until Lu pointed it out. I always laugh to bust myself doing that. I'm so used to doing things on my own that I automatically take over. Not good. Another obsessive kind of thing I guess is that when I cook, I like to clean as I go along, that way I never have a messy kitchen to deal with afterward. So half of our visit was me chopping onions, stirring onions, chopping salad stuff, making curry roasted chickpeas for the salad, and washing dishes. I may not have looked relaxed from the outside but all that ritual and bodily activity is a natural stress reliever for me. Lu joked about my rituals and I thought how quirky they must seem to someone else. For me, I find comfort in them. But I Iike being reminded what it looks like to someone else as well. I like being exposed to friends' observations and perspectives. It helps me decide if it matters how they perceive me. And it makes me consider if any course corrections are in order. There usually are :) The soup was delicious and I sent Lu home with 2 quarts of it. Barely payment enough for reminding me to loosen up a little.

On Still Seeking Referrals for Accurate Psychic Readers

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 17:27:04 +0000

In May 2009, I did a blog post at Seeking Referrals for Accurate Psychic Readers. I posted the following on Facebook: “Most of you know that I publish Horizons, and have a psychic reading practice as well (http://horizonsmagazine.com/Phone_sessions/index.html). In that practice, I am booked months in advance and need someone to refer appointments to for psychic readings (not spiritual counseling). Someone who can give accurate, detailed info about what is happening now and predictions for the future. If you know someone (really) real, let me know.” I got several responses back right away. My reply for each was, “Thank you for your response to the above Facebook post. Here’s the deal: I get calls for far more readings than I can schedule. I want to build a network to refer overflow callers to. If you want to be considered for referral by clients who call me for a reading, this is what I need from you: Give me a sample reading on any area of my life. For the sample reading: Just a quick 10 minutes (or 20 lines of email) is fine, nothing extended. No readings about writing, publishing, teaching or health. I won’t ask any questions, I’ll just ask you to tell me the first impressions that you pick up about me. I won’t tell you if you are correct, I will just either refer clients to you or not. If you are incorrect and I choose to not refer clients, I know that is no reflection on your skills with others. Horizons Magazine was designed to pay for itself, but not to create income. My personal income is from my psychic reading practice. I have an ongoing group of regular clients. I'm now booked into next year. I'd like to have a few psychics I could refer callers to, not just to lighten the load, but to offer others a quality of service I can personally testify to. While many readings may also include spiritual counseling, mentoring and coaching, my clients are seeking a straight psychic reading. This is where they expect me to give accurate and detailed information about what is going on in their lives right now, and predictions and forecasts for the future. I encourage my clients to keep notes and record our readings, and to check their notes every few months. They have gotten too many vague and general and counseling-type readings through the years, and that is not what they are calling me for. Some clients also want psychic mediumship, to contact loved ones in spirit. This is where they expect me to give detailed info about who appears for me, describing the visitor, describing their dress and anything that is around them (especially animals), giving names if I have them, giving relationship, giving details such as childhood nicknames or events. I am seeking a reader who is able to do the same. I understand not everyone works the way I do. So then I got several responses. You tell me which one you would want a reading from: Reader No. 1: You’ve been through much strife The Universe is pulling at you. You’re reflecting what you came here for. The next year will be one of expression and creativity. Teamwork will be strong this year. Spirit is preparing you to be open and receptive. Reader No. 2 If you don’t move, you will move your energy in another direction. You will be totally in synch with your prosperity this year. You will meet a successful man who is a love interest. (18 months later, not yet) The next phase looks like happiness, love and travel and money. Does the word “doll” mean anything to you? (no) Anything about your mother and a doll? (no) Reader No. 3: You’re being pulled in many directions. You’re going up the ladder, pushing hard to get there and determined. Something about Cocoa Florida. Nothing passes you by, you are very shrewd and sharp. You trust hardly anybody but yourself. Your guides are very proud of you. Reader No. 4 You are on psychic overload and that’s why you get headaches. (I don’t get headaches) Your left foot needs to be aligned, with massage near the third toe. A past life connection is interfering with your alignment. There is a constriction in the solar plexus. The 3rd eye chakra needs to be cleared. Your body is functioning on a higher vibration and needs to have more rest and relaxation. Reader No. 5 Very soon a journey by plane. (18 months later, not yet) Don’t cry over spilled milk; let go of things because better things come, let the past bury the past. You are balancing choices between 2 people and finances have to be considered. (18 months later, not yet) You have to avoid a masculine character who uses energy in a negative way. There will be changes for you bringing great happiness. Falseness will be revealed to you, someone will be presenting a false front. The eye of God is watching over you and you see what you need to see. Reader No. 6 Right now your life is exactly the way you want it. You have clear vision. You decide what you want you put it out there. You have become proficient at allowing the delivery of that which you desire. You know what is coming for yourself. There is a gentleman on the way and he is truly gentle... brilliant and great and fair in business. Additionally, fun is very important to him and to you so that you will know the joy that you are. You compliment each other in a myriad of ways....love of adventure and nature. Reader No. 7 A low hanging branch, someone on a bicycle. A black pickup truck and a mailbox. It’s a holiday. A contract rescinded, then reinstated in another name. Someone named Becky; two pets with the same name. Moving big rocks like a puzzle; a joke about Barnie Rubble. Ok, seven readers. Which style of reading do you prefer? Bearing in mind that within the past 3 weeks, these things have occurred: I've have run into a low hanging branch on my bike while riding after dark. On Mother's Day, I watched from the office window as 2 kids in a black pickup truck took my mailbox. A client rescinded a contract and just called Sunday to resubmit the contract using a corporate name instead of the client's individual name. The contract is with Becky, who has two dogs named Ceasar. (Her daughter got the same kind of dog and named it the same thing, then moved, so Becky ended up with both dogs.) Last week a friend stopped by while I was in my garden, moving some heavy rocks around. She said she has a man she wants me to meet. I said I wasn't interested unless he was Barney Rubble and brought his crane to help me move the rocks. So which would you think might give the best reading? Remember, I wasn't asking for a detailed reading, just a quick few lines of impressions. I get this all the time. Most of these readers have been doing readings for many years. It makes me wonder who is it that is satisfied with such vague and general information? Who would pay for a reading like that? Granted, there is some basic good advice across the board for everyone, but it’s not a psychic reading. And I don’t believe everyone needs a psychic reading. And I don’t believe real psychics are necessarily good advisors. Some people see and don’t know, some know and don’t see. The most satisfying combination is when they are both, like John Edward, who is both an excellent psychic and a wise counselor. And while it is true that real psychics are hard to find, they can be found. My criteria is simply that they are able to tell me anything they have no other way of knowing, such as a childhood nickname or some business detail. I am daily involved in many things I never write about or talk about. (Hard to believe since I blab so much on Facebook, right?) If they can give me a solid anything, then I am glad to refer clients to them. If they tell me something that could apply to 50-90% of the population, that’s not telling me anything. No matter how flattering and hopeful it is. If I want spiritual counseling, I know some good ones to call. And as for psychics, maybe I'm just surprised people seem happy to settle for so little. When we settle for the smallest drop, we don't make room for the ocean that is waiting to flood us. Didn't your momma tell you not to settle? Email me or post a comment. If your comment includes a link, it will not be published. Andrea RELATED POST: How do you know if a psychic medium is really connected to your loved one?

full-moon-clouds-tiny

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:16:03 +0000

Happy New Year's Eve Eve

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 10:20:39 +0000

[caption id="attachment_6855" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Full Blue Moon New Year"][/caption] Yesterday was a productive day. After the Undercarriage Incident of last week, I took my car to Brian at B & B Automotive, referred by my pal Bo Frazer who also has a Toyota Prius. It was neat seeing the car up on the rack, checking out what all was underneath. It was easy to see how the undercarriage part fit together and how it had become free. So Brian ordered the replacement part from Toyota and he can replace it for me next week. I'd spoken to Brian first thing in the morning and he told me to stop by about 5pm and see if he had a lift free. My spidey sense alerted me at 3:30 to get in the car and drive over there an hour early. As I arrived, Brian said it was good timing, that he just now got a lift available. I love it when I listen. After my phone call to Brian, I went to the post office to mail some stacks of magazines off, then to WalMart. They had smoked turkey legs in the warmer where they keep the rotiserre chickens near the checkout counters, so I bought one. They only have them during holiday time. I posted on Facebook that it was so big I think it was really a pterodactyl leg. I drove home about 6pm and saw the almost full moon rising high in the east sky. I parked and came inside and changed into my sweats since the air was pretty chill - about 55 degrees at sundown. I took a quick walk around the property to make my nightly rounds. I like to see if the armadillos have uprooted any more animal bones, they nose around all night long. Remember New Year's Eve is full moon and a blue moon (a real blue moon), at that. I'm getting ready for my burning bowl ceremony and I'm going to eat light today and tomorrow to make up in advance for any overindulging I might do during New Year's Eve. I wish I'd thought of that 30 years ago. Happy New Year's Eve Eve.

credit-cards

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:18:05 +0000

Getting Clear on Finances to Begin the New Year

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 08:26:25 +0000

Yesterday I did all the dreaded administrative stuff I save to do until I can't put it off any later in the year. I mean, it being December 30th and all. I spent 2.5 hours filling out a 250+ questionnaire for my merchant provider to make sure I have a secure system. I called my computer genius Chuck to help me through the techie parts. The rest were pretty simple since I'm just one person and not a big company with networked system computers and other personnel. I passed - yay! I wrote on Facebook that I was getting ready to open all my credit card notices that would tell me rates are changing unless I opted out. I have mostly debit cards, I didn't know if I even had a credit card anymore. But if so, I'd find out if they were raising the rate and would opt out if I needed to. Then I pulled out all my credit card files to remind myself which account number was for what card, and put the right notice with the right file. I knew most were closed, paid off or inactive, but I wanted to have it all in front of me when I made the calls. It took all afternoon, but I called everyone and got a pleasant surprise. All accounts were already closed when I paid them off, except Advanta at 7.99% fixed and a small Chase balance I'll pay off this year. I even activated a new MC card for emergencies, with no fee if I don't use it. I feel good. I've learned that for credit cards, I always pay at least twice the minimum plus the finance charge - that's my formula. I learned my credit card lesson years ago. A friend wrote on Facebook: Andrea, give us new entrepeneurs more good advice! My business is 1 year old now, but I haven't done much with it yet. Spent the year getting my house in order. Next week I'll be diving into my world of business! I do have everything set up with Fed and State. Now it's time to DO! I responded that my advice is: (1) figure out what you like (2) do it (3) do it well (4) don't worry about "what does the public want to buy?" They'll want to buy whatever you whole heartedly embrace and exude, if you've got good intent and a passion for what you do. Oh, and (5) don't run up debt or live beyond your means. Go after your debt like a mama tiger paying your cub's ransom. And if you're doing 1, 2 and 4, your internal guidance system will kick in like never before and lead you in the right direction. For 2010, lots of friends are going back to school to learn new skills. If you can't keep up with your bills, it's a smart thing to do. Happy New year's Eve Begin again in 2010 Andrea LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

johnedwardcrossingover

Thu, 31 Dec 2009 13:45:58 +0000

1-10-cover-peace-for-blog

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 02:14:44 +0000

Our New Year's gift to you - the January Horizons now online

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 10:55:41 +0000

[caption id="attachment_6888" align="alignright" width="114" caption="Our January issue"][/caption] Our New Year's gift to you - the January 2010 Horizons Magazine is now online. Enjoy, and happy New Year's Day Begin again in 2010 Andrea

72-5-29-09-in-car-crop-jb-smoothed

Fri, 01 Jan 2010 13:36:30 +0000

When Spiritual Types Try To Blend 3D Life With Inner Guidance

Sat, 02 Jan 2010 07:13:21 +0000

The other day at Getting Clear on Finances to Begin the New Year, I wrote that I was getting ready to open all my credit card notices that would tell me rates are changing unless I opted out. One Facebook friend commented: "Can I add here without everyone getting their knickers in a twist? There is no debt-this whole gig with the banks, and the economy just proved that for those at the top. There is NO debt- you owe No one! Believe, and it is so." I asked her what her advice be to someone who has $20,000 in credit card debt, bad credit, who just got laid off and has no savings, and can only make the minimum payments on half the credit cards they have? I asked her, "What would you advise them to do?" She replied, (and I have edited for space): I think civil disobedience is what we are being asked to do on a spiritual level! In the big picture there simply is no such thing as debt. In the 3D there is an illusion of debt those at the top want you to believe. But, then it was witnessed to us big time with the game they just played out for all of us to see. I'm counseling people to simply stop paying the banks— they have been unconstitutional for ever, but now, it's even easier— as a group to simply stop paying them. The Angels told me there is no debt. David Icke got the same message. The hardest thing for us Spiritual types to do, is to blend 3D life, with Angelic guidance—yet, if we are truly on our path, (we're) protected and provided for—that IS the teachings, right? I deposited faith and trust into my account with the Universal Bank of God, and I was paid in synchronicity and people and places who were willing to support me (as I travelled). So, I tell people now ... to stop paying their credit cards; and stop leaving their foreclosed homes. It's simply the 'right' thing to do, but that's what we have to do—to pull our energy cords out of the 3D—Get it?" ### end of Facebook comment This is where every teaching is open to interpretation. I don't believe that is the teaching at all. I don't believe it's hard at all "for us spiritual types to blend 3D life" with inner guidance. I agree, if you start from zero and simply follow your guidance, you will encounter synchronicities that will carry you through life without having to have a dime on you. But that wasn't the question. The question was "What would your advice be to someone who has $20,000 in credit card debt, bad credit, who just got laid off and has no savings, and can only make the minimum payments on half the credit cards they have? What would you advise them to do?" The premise of the question being someone who for 30 or 40+ years has had a different belief system and for whom her advice is of no practical help. That's what so few people have an understanding of or an answer for. They know how to start from zero, but they don't know how to tell you to get from where you are to where you want to be. They are unable to tell you the simple steps to unravel the mess you've created for yourself so you can begin to move forward from there. They are unable to provide a bridge. Experience tells me you've got to bridge your old belief with something to give the new belief time to sink in. That's where I think the Abraham-Hicks work is invaluable. In my experience, it never works to just tell someone something. You have to say it in a way that makes them understand it, or you haven't even engaged their interest enough to make them consider it. In my experience, the way it worked for me was that I "woke up" and got aware as I was in the midst of a challenging relationship with mucho debt and yada yada, typical American life. I didn't start from zero. There was no Abraham-Hicks back then, but I did have a daily meditation practice. I began to study the books of Catherine Ponder and Napolean Hill, the theosophical authors and later Alice Bailey, some of whose books are still available online. Bailey and the theosophical writers were not an easy read but were excellent fodder for contemplation and led to a huge personal awakening. When Abraham-Hicks came along, my mind had already been plowed open and was ready for what they had to say. So I had a LOT of bridges to gap my old belief to the new belief that my thoughts indeed created my world, my circumstances and brought people, events and synchronicities to me. They were the bridge I needed to make my way to that new belief. It also taught me that there need be no hardship in blending my spiritual life with the outside world, the 3D physical world. It was only hard if I thought it was. Once I KNEW that if I got my mind in the right place, if I could stay focused without resistance, as Abraham-Hicks says, I could literally watch the circumstances around me change for the better. Above, my Facebook friend wrote that it "there is no debt-this whole gig with the banks, and the economy just proved that for those at the top." I don't know what that refers to, likely something that was on the news, which I don't watch. But experience tells me that none of that matters. I don't need to watch the news and do thoughts to counter what they say. I can skip the watching of the news and stop having something to worry about. In the meantime, since I am a spiritual being living in a physical body on planet Earth right now, I find the path of least resistance is simply to go with the flow. How to go with the flow when you're knee deep in debt with no job where you used to have two, and 3 kids, a wife and a grandmother to feed - today? You take it one day at a time. While you begin to trust the Universe to keep a roof over your head and food on the table, you keep looking for a job. You begin to help other people, even if only to give them hope. You repeat to yourself that you want to change your thinking to allow you to experience a fuller life for you and those around you. You ask that your thoughts be changed. You remember that it's all related. You begin to take steps every day to clear up what the momentum of the past has deposited into your Now. And soon you'll find that you are getting your debt under control, without withholding payment on your credit cards. You'll find you don't have to refuse to leave a home that is being foreclosed upon. You'll find opportunities every day to clear up just a little more past baggage, whether emotional, physical, or financial. You'll begin to enjoy the journey of it all and not feel you have to fight against anything anyone is doing "to" you. That's how you blend your "spiritual" life with the 3D physical world. My experience is: it's that simple. Andrea LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

Who John Edward Refers Callers to for Psychic Readings

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 04:07:12 +0000

When I get calls for referrals to psychic readers, I only refer from personal experience. About 10 years ago I met John Edward, psychic medium of Crossing Over fame, and immediately he was giving me information and details that no one knew. This is who John Edward refers people to: For contact with the Other Side (Mediumship readings): Robert Brown 516-867-0433 www.robertbrown-medium.com Jonathan Louis 1-888-368-1242 www.jonathan-louis.com Char Margolis www.char.net For Psychic Readings and Astrological forecasting: Lydia Clar 321-253-6156 Psychic Readings Sandi Zak 248-478-2596 Psychic and Intuitive www.higherconnections.org Sandy Anastasi 941-743-2529 Astrological forecasting Lydia Clar was the name of the psychic who told John Edward at 15 that he would go on to become a medium. I tried to find her name for someone last month and could not. I thought she was in Kissimmee near Disney, but it's a Melbourne, FL phone number. She's also got some good free info on her website, such as this one on developing your psychometry skills. Also, I always suggest everyone go to the Abraham-Hicks website for a lot of free info on connecting with your inner guidance system because, once you do that, your psychic centers begin to open and you'll never need another psychic reading again because you will trust your own inner guidance. Wouldn't that be cool? RELATED POST: How do you know if a psychic medium is really connected to your loved one? On Still Seeking Referrals for Accurate Psychic Readers

dad-sabby-for-blog

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:42:15 +0000

Back to Work and Happy Birthday Daddy

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 10:49:20 +0000

[caption id="attachment_6936" align="alignright" width="113" caption="Daddy and Sabby"][/caption] January 4, 2010. On this date last year, I wrote Today Is Our Father's Birthday. January 4th, for me, has always signalled the end of the holidays, more so than the day after New Year's. It signalled for me the end of any forced smiles and required card giving since it was Daddy's birthday. I've never been a fan of conventional commercial holidays where you were expected to exchange gifts and cards. I saw so much thoughtless giving and insincere Hallmark sentiments early on that I'd had enough. As soon as I was able to escape that routine, I did. That's the thing about growing up around other kids. If you heard the cool kids in school saying they hated their parents then heck, you did, too. If they talked back to them, you'd go home and do the same. Except at home it wasn't cool, it was simply disrespectful and hurtful. We'd get this movie running in our head about how oppressed we were (as kids) and how unfair the parents were, all based on what we heard other kids talk about at school. Without knowing it, we took what they said was the gospel of How It All Was. Then we'd return home from school with our new teenage attitudes, lost in our own movie no matter what was playing out at home. We'd get mad when the parents would try their best to engage us in family doings - because that would take us out of our movie. Because our (collective) movie was that we were trapped by oppressors, without rights but plenty of duties. Some kids learned to separate the two movies, the two personality aspects of themselves: they could play the rebellious teen at school, while at home be the model child. The best of both worlds. But not everyone could do that. Some would get so lost in their own movie that they stayed in character so long they began believing it, and only brought more hardship down upon themselves. This would be the point where I say that's what happened to me but I led a pretty easy life. I mean, I got bratty and smart mouthy when I thought that was the cool thing to do, but I got used to being restricted to the yard or my room, or no phone privileges. My mom would always let me sneak on the phone when Dad wasn't around but of course I wasn't smart mouthy to her. I treated her as she treated me. Daddy treated me as I treated him. I recognized years later that he had a hard life, he worked hard labor to keep us kids fed and we smarted off to him and taunted him, then whined when we got smacked for it. We drove his bi-polar self to drink and then mocked his drunkedness as weakness. Typical kids. No big deal. Psychologically and emotionally crush the ones who provide for you without a second thought about it. No biggie. That's what we tell ourselves. But then we wake up to reality and realize our part in that past scenario. Had I not been such a smart ass, how would he have treated me differently? We can only imagine. I mean, if he's still around you can ask before it's too late. Don't carry something like that unasked for the rest of your life. You could be giving him a chance to say something he hasn't been able to say before now. By now I've done plenty of daddy forgiveness work and feel free of what I let bind me. And I think of that again each year on Daddy's birthday, which for me is the official end of the holiday season and marks going back to "work." He was born in 1925 and died in 1987. As I was doing the math to figure how old he would have been today (85), I realized that it was he who taught me how to subtract by adding. I never cared for math and found it difficult and only took the required basic classes. This was pre-computer and pre-calculator math we're talking about, back in the 60's. Last millenium. As a carpenter, he was always drawing up designs and measuring them. He could build anything he could draw, and he could draw anything. Sometimes I'd draw something, a panda shaped chair or similar, and want him to show me how to make it into a blueprint. After he measured it and was figuring the scale, I could see he was not subtracting when doing the math. He was adding. I knew this because he always did the math out loud. Somehow it always worked out. Happy birthday, Daddy. Free at last. RELATED POSTS Today is our father’s birthday How were you programmed by language as a child? Vibrational matching: Read the news or read the funnies, it's your choice LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body The End of Death As We Know It

Like in Joan of Arcadia - Everyone I See Could Be God

Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:03:40 +0000

The other day I turned the tv on and a rerun of Joan of Arcadia was on the SciFi channel. I loved that show where God talks to this teenage girl (played by Amber Tamblyn) through all these wacky folks around her. I can relate. A favorite quote: Joan says: “I’m nobody important, just somebody digging around in the garbage trying to find something that matters.” I loved that show. Because of it, I now look at everyone in front of me to see what message they might have for me since they are really God in disguise. I'm never disappointed. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body What the Crossing Over Experience Was Like as Reported by Those Who Made the Transition

Keeping Your Brain Young and Working Well Into Your Golden Years By Making Yourself Experience New Viewpoints

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 05:14:37 +0000

How to Train the Aging Brain asks "can an old brain learn, and then remember what it learns? As it happens, yes. Over the past several years, scientists have looked deeper into how brains age and confirmed that they continue to develop beyond middle age. The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways. The trick is finding ways to keep brain connections in good condition and to grow more of them. “The brain is plastic and continues to change, allowing for greater complexity and deeper understanding.” Educators say that, for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own, says Dr. Kathleen Taylor, 66, a professor at St. Mary’s College of California. Continued brain development may require that you “bump up against people and ideas” that are different. In a history class, that might mean reading multiple viewpoints, and then prying open brain networks by reflecting on how what was learned has changed your view of the world. Dr. Taylor says. “We need to challenge our perception of the world. If you always hang around with those you agree with and read things that agree with what you already know, you’re not going to wrestle with your established brain connections.” Such stretching is exactly what scientists say best keeps a brain in tune: get out of the comfort zone to push and nourish your brain. Do anything from learning a foreign language to taking a different route to work. “As adults we have these well-trodden paths in our synapses,” Dr. Taylor says. “We have to crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up. And if you learn something this way, when you think of it again you’ll have an overlay of complexity you didn’t have before — and help your brain keep developing as well.” “As adults we have all those brain pathways built up, and we need to look at our insights critically,” he says. “This is the best way for adults to learn. And if we do it, we can remain sharp.” ### end of How to Train the Aging Brain excerpt When I read things like the above, I listen. I am always moving my furniture around, taking different routes, switching which hand I use the mouse with or dial the phone with, anything to take me out of a mental rut and make me think a different way. In Internet use good for the brain they find that "For middle-aged and older people at least, using the internet helps boost brain power. A University of California Los Angeles team found searching the web stimulated centres in the brain that controlled decision-making and complex reasoning. The researchers say this might even help to counteract the age-related physiological changes that cause the brain to slow down. The study features in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. "A simple, everyday task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults." Professor Gary Small, University of California Los Angeles said: "The study results are encouraging, that emerging computerised technologies may have physiological effects and potential benefits for middle-aged and older adults. Internet searching engages complicated brain activity, which may help exercise and improve brain function. A simple, everyday task like searching the web appears to enhance brain circuitry in older adults, demonstrating that our brains are sensitive and can continue to learn as we grow older." Rebecca Wood, chief executive of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust, said: "These fascinating findings add to previous research suggesting that middle-aged and older people can reduce their risk of dementia by taking part in regular mentally stimulating activities. Frequent social interactions, regular exercise and maintaining a balanced diet can also reduce dementia risk. ### end of Internet use good for the brain excerpt Good to know! LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body The End of Death As We Know It

meditation_72-2423670

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:00:35 +0000

Meditation Twice a Day Keeps the Outside World at Bay

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 11:22:20 +0000

[caption id="attachment_6959" align="alignright" width="86" caption="Every 12 hours"][/caption] At 4:00 each morning and afternoon, I sit for meditation. For me, an hour twice a day keeps the outside world at bay. That doesn't mean I deny the existence of the outside, physical, material 3D world, simply that I keep a safe distance from it. No matter what is going on around me, every 12 hours I take time to sit and re-connect with that deep, peaceful place within me. I have a place of deep inner peace because I take daily time to cultivate it each time I sit to meditate. Meditation can be likened to the fog that you walk in and then are surprised to arrive home soaking wet. Each time you sit to meditate builds upon the last time. Each time you relax into it a little more. Each time you become a little more receptive. You know you're making progress when you recognize that your initial boredom is simply a trick of your mind revolting against you, as it recognizes you taking away some of its power. The mind, left on its own, unfocused, will fire thoughts continually if you let it. That's good. The job of the mind is to make observations about your environment, form opinions and judgments, and it's good at all of that. It just needs a little discipline to become quiet at will and to focus when you direct it to, such as during your creative visualization practice. Twice a day I remind myself that I am not my mind, but my mind is mine to use and direct. I'm the boss. So now when I find myself thinking I am bored when sitting for meditation, I remind myself that is just another thought. And I let it go and continue to sit and breathe. And another thought, and again I let it go, and continue to sit and breathe. RELATED POSTS: Preparing For Relaxation; Preparing For Meditation; Daily Practice Herbert Benson’s Relaxation Response is Transcendental Meditation minus the ritual Paving neural pathways to achieve meditation and access elusive inner states LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

As a Journalist, How Do I Spin My Stories and Why? Why Do I Choose to Focus on What's Right With the World?

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 07:21:13 +0000

Everyone has their own agenda for how they want the world around them to work. The media knows the best way to get people to think and act a particular way is to proclaim publicly that people already think and act that way. Have you noticed that? The media is smart. They know if they can draw enough attention to a particular thoughtform, that thoughtform becomes strengthened and takes on a life of its own. What this amounts to is self fulfilling prophecy. The weatherman talks about gloomy skies and rain and we all get bummed out and attract more gloomy skies. The news anchor talks about everyone pulling out of the stock market, so everyone starts pulling out of the stock market. Someone publicly proclaims a certain ethnic group as terrorists and… you get my drift. When people hear it and see it often enough in print that they begin to believe it’s true. An amazing number of voters believe that what they see in the media is accurate. And that's what they count on, "they" being the big dollar wielding buyers of advertising, who have their own agenda of what they want you to believe. And they always want you to believe you need what they are trying to sell you, whether it's a product or a politician. I’ve learned to stay away from the news. As a journalist, I recognize the hype. Journalists, by definition, put information in their own words and make it creative in their own way so it will draw attention. Personally, my attention is never drawn to doom and gloom. My attention is drawn by the most hopeful “what if?” My attention is drawn by demonstrations of unwavering faith in the face of adversity. If, as a journalist, it is my choice as to what I wish to draw the reader’s attention to, then this is it: What I’d like is for everyone to realize you are a soul encased within a body, a body which is your vehicle to use for this lifetime, This means keep the vehicle running efficiently. You’ll save on repair costs and get a longer run. A soul encased within a body also means you have control of the mind, and it is yours to use and command. Your mind operates outside the physical brain and survives it after physical death of the body. What I’d like is for everyone to realize is keeping the vehicle running efficiently also applies to keeping your mind active with interests, goals and curiosities. You bored? Unmotivated? Do something about it. What I’d like is for everyone to realize they participate in creating the reality they experience. This means you. You create and attract into your own experience. Not that of your mother or your father or your ex or your mate or your children or your coworkers. Just you. Stop wasting energy thinking about what’s going on with them and begin to delve deeply into getting your own act together. They will then miraculously also fall into place. What I’d like is for everyone to realize is that no matter what is going on with anyone around you, you can have a different experience. No matter what the media says is happening to the economy, you can have a different experience. What I’d like is for everyone to realize is that if you simply keep your attention focused on what is going RIGHT in the world, in your community, in your neighborhood, in your home, you will bring more of that to light and you will help it increase and grow. This is what is meant by participating in creating the reality you experience. Look for the positive aspects, think the more hopeful thoughts, daydream the most fanciful, fun “what if” best case scenarios. Don’t worry about what anyone else is thinking or doing. I spin my stories this way because it's the way I have learned to see the world, and how I see the world and respond to it determines my experience. I put this spin on my words because it makes people hopeful, it gives them a glimpse of what can be, it gives them a respite from their constant bombardment with everything that's wrong with the world. I want to give them another view, from standing in my shoes, of how the world can look and how life can be. And how about you? What spin do you put on the things you talk about with friends? That the world is a friendly, loving place or that we should all be shivering in our boots waiting for the axe to fall? How do you spin your stories? What are YOU trying to convince everyone in YOUR world of? Andrea LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

Feeling Used

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 08:47:33 +0000

YinYang won't even look me in the eye tonight, she will only acknowledge my hand. I feel so used. Welcome to cat ownership, huh?

Are You Starring in the Right Movie? Are You in a Horror Movie or a Success Story?

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 15:38:14 +0000

The other evening I was finishing up work and turned on the tv to see what was showing. Since it was after midnight, I turned to the Showtime channels so I wouldn't have to mute the commercials every 11 minutes. I use the mute button a lot on my remote control. I often watch entire shows with the sound muted. For work, I have to hear so much that I like a break from sound as often as I can get it. On my personal time, I am vigilant over what I allow to come into my consciousness. That's why I always look at the preview guide, to see what's coming up and see if it's something I want to watch. I'm not into violent movies or gore or gratuitous sex. I don't even care for tear jerker sentimentalism. I like suspenseful stories and funny movies, although I'm not into slapstick comedies. It's not just that I'm not into the emotional roller coaster rides many movies take you on, it's that the less of that input I get, the better I am at my job. Period. For a few days, I'd seen American Psycho 2 on the lineup and of course avoided it. Then I saw it starred Mila Kunis and William Shatner and watched it because I like the two of them. It was funny and suspenseful and I was glad I watched it - although I would not have, just based on the name or the description of the story. Nothing said it was a comedy but it clearly was. You can't always trust those movie descriptions (or reviews), can you? So the other night I see there's a movie coming on and it sounds watchable, so I turn it on. I can't recall the name of it. I missed the beginning with the title and movie credits, but caught it from the first scene. The preview guide listed it as about a woman trying to find her identity. So as the movie unfolds, that's what I'm looking for. And nothing is making any sense. There doesn't seem to be a central female character 1/3 of the way into the movie and it's just about narcissistic men who make bad decisions. I checked the preview guide again. Then it dawned on me that they are simply listing one movie yet showing another. So, armed with this new information, I tried to backtrack and remember what all the characters were doing so I could catch up with the rest of the movie. But it's not so easy since I started out watching it with one idea in mind of what I was watching. Armed with inaccurate information, I couldn't make sense of what was in front of me, since it didn't match what I was told to watch for. And watching what I was told to watch for preventing me from seeing what was really unfolding before me. I thought how often do I do that in real life? In thinking the movie was about something else, I was trying to make the wrong pieces fit. How often have I encountered situations that someone had told me would be a certain way, and found the pieces did not fit? Then I try to figure it all out based on a faulty premise. Kind of like seeing the world through the eyes the popular media would have you look at it: as a scary place full of fearful cataclysmic events, with terrorists lurking in every dark corner. That's not a movie I want to star in. I don't have to and you don't either. We can take in the information others give us but we don't have to rely on it to tell us what to experience. We can stay awake and aware in each moment and determine for ourselves what is unfolding before us. At any point it seems we're trying to fit a square peg in a round hole, we can drop the info we've been given and try another puzzle piece. We can try as many puzzle pieces as it takes until it makes sense. We can listen to as many other perspectives as it takes until we find our own fit. We can entertain as many notions as it takes until life begins to make sense for us. This is how we take charge of what movie we are starring in. Albert Einstein said, "The most important question facing humanity is, 'Is the universe a friendly place?' This is the first and most basic question all people must answer for themselves. For if we decide that the universe is an unfriendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to achieve safety and power by creating bigger walls to keep out the unfriendliness and bigger weapons to destroy all that which is unfriendly—and I believe that we are getting to a place where technology is powerful enough that we may either completely isolate or destroy ourselves as well in this process. "If we decide that the universe is neither friendly nor unfriendly and that God is essentially 'playing dice with the universe', then we are simply victims to the random toss of the dice and our lives have no real purpose or meaning. "But if we decide that the universe is a friendly place, then we will use our technology, our scientific discoveries and our natural resources to create tools and models for understanding that universe. Because power and safety will come through understanding its workings and its motives." My experience is that the world is as friendly a place as I believe it to be. My experience is it's a wondrously friendly place, always waiting to delight me. That's the movie I'm starring in. How about you? What movie are you starring in? LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

Florida Record Low Temps Changing My Perception of Cold

Sun, 10 Jan 2010 11:13:58 +0000

The past couple of weeks we've had record low temperatures here in east coast central Florida; in the 30's, with 28 degrees two nights ago. We native Floridians are not used to temps below 40 and seldom for more than a few days each year. I saw snow in Paonia, CO on my birthday in 1996 for several hours. When I woke up and looked outside, I saw it snowing and so I ran outside to be in it. I was wearing sweats but was barefoot. I knew it would be cold, but as soon as it touched my body, it melted and I was surprised it was wet. I saw snow again as we drove across Donner's Pass, where it was waist deep. Other than those two days, that's the coldest I'd been. Until this week, here at home in Florida. My cold weather wear this past week has been sweatpants, warm socks, my Cabela sheepskin booties, my Cabela sleep silk top with a flannel shirt over it, and my sweat jacket over that. I've worn my hair down, and had on one of my hats. That keeps me warm and cozy when I'm inside. I like keeping the house about 60 and wearing more clothes, since that's a novelty for us Floridians. Yesterday morning I went for a drizzly, chilly walk around the neighborhood, so I put my rain poncho on top of everything else. I looked like one of those kids you send out to play in the snow and they are so bundled up you don't know whose kid it is until you unwrap them. It was drizzly and about 35 all day. I went out to the shed and brought in my small oil filled radiators. No need to turn on the central heat when only 2 rooms need to stay warm. Also, upon the advice of friends who know this kinda stuff, I went around outside the house and wrapped up the pipes in case we did get a freeze overnight. I figure the animals are safe and warm in their burrows here, and under the shed; it has a crawlspace under it and is protected from the wind. There are lots of fallen pine needles on the ground to make a nest with. I'm happy to have some natural property as a sanctuary for our native critters. Today is the first time I ever decided which door to go out dependent upon its proximity to the space heater. I now understand the meaning of "Don't let the heat out". I always thought: if the heater is on, it'll be warm again as soon as the door is closed, right? Well, no, I found it might take another hour to warm it back up if I leave the door open like I usually do when I run outside for a few minutes. Lesson learned. I wrote on Facebook: Who all is getting their perceptions changed due to the unexpected cold? I sure am. I took a walk outside in the 33 degrees rain to get the mail. Coming back in I realized how warm and toasty 62 degrees really is. Inside the freezer doesn't seem all that cold today. It's all about perception and relativity, isn't it? My friend in Alaska, Chris Mahoney, said: "Try minus 40-60 degrees and your perception will tell you nothing's cold after that. That's when zero is a heat wave." That sure gave me some relativity. As I was on my rounds covering up the outside pipes, I walked into my formerly lush west garden. I could see which plants had been frostbitten and which had made it. Let's just say the view is no longer obstructed and I can see right into my west woods and the firepit circle. All the turk's cap is gone but only half the arbicola. My giant pothos is hangin' on for dear life, but I can see it's blackfrosted. It's ok, little tropical plants, the cold is simply hastening you onto your next evolutionary stage. Yes, it's all about perception and how we react to what Life throws at us. Even after a hurricane, I've never seen my plants so devastated. It shows me how heavily I relied on turk's cap to give me privacy. Now my turk's cap is frostburnt to the ground - gone. Yes, this time next year it could be back to where it is now, but that leaves me months of exposure, with half my privacy hedge gone. Yikes, that means neighbors passing by can look into my yard. Oh no, what could be worse? I have to laugh at myself for this train of thought. Everyone is so wrapped up in their own little world, I am sure no one pays any attention. And so what if they do? I'm friendly and gregarious when I am out and about, but I tend to be very private and keep to myself at home. I like having a barrier of shoulder high turk's cap and arbicola between my front yard and the street. It helps me feel protected from inquiring eyes. I wonder what I feel I need protection from? So now my turk's cap bushes are all gone. It makes me wonder what else I count on for security that could be gone in a flash. I remember 20 years ago being afraid to work for myself, I couldn't imagine making as much as my paycheck paid me. And now I make lots more than then. Granted, for half of it I never know when it's coming. I never know where it's coming from. But it shows up and on time. To me, that's an indicator that I'm on the right path: that it all clicks into place with synchronicity, grace and ease. Knowing that is my security now: that when I'm on the right path, it all clicks into place with synchronicity, grace and ease. If I'm encountering obstacles or feeling weird about what I'm doing, that doesn't always mean don't do it, but it means pay attention and gather more information before making decisions. This Spring, my decisions will include: what plants shall I replace the turk's cap with? I won't know until the end of the season how many plants have made it through. Maybe I'll just create a line of loquat saplings, I have so many of them. They are very cold tolerant and my 3 newly planted 30" high saplings all got new blooms this past week. Or maybe I'll just go for the new look, having a clearer view of the street. Hmmmm, do I want what I'm used to, what's familiar, what I know I like? Or am I ready for change? How about you? RELATED POST: The Florida Frost Bite Changes My Landscape In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body The End of Death As We Know It

The Florida Frost Bite Changes My Landscape and Causes Serious Reflection

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:33:00 +0000

Floridians who have plants that died of frostbite this week, do not cut them back now. In a few weeks - after you see new growth on the live parts - would be the time to cut them back. You'll handicap the plant if you cut the dead looking stuff off right now. What looks dead isn't always dead. Yesterday I wrapped my surviving arbicola up in wine colored sheets and indian blankets. The frostbitten turk's cap bushes made great frames for draping the fabric over to cover the tall plants. Some good news is that with so many plants dead to the ground, I now see I have hundreds of loquat seedlings, and they are cold hardy to 10 degrees. With so many plants gone, do I make the choice of being in the Now or prepaving the future? Can I do both? Yes, I can do both. In the Now, my plants under the oak and palm canopy are free of frostbite. In a few months, everything that was not under the canopy will be back green and strong. But I also appreciate the soft, dark, blackfrosted leaves that will fall any day now; they have an exquisite beauty all their own, telling of a life well lived, and they will become mulch for the new growth in Spring. If I can't see the beauty in the Now, if I can't look at my frostbitten plants and feel good about them now, then I can turn my thoughts to being hopeful about what they will look like soon. It's helpful to remember, when looking at death, that it's simply a cycle and that Spring always follows Winter. It was thought provoking walking around the yard yesterday and seeing the cold kill for the first year since Uncle Jimmy built me this house in 1984. It's like another chance to start from zero with the landscaping. I can do anything I want with it now that I'll be starting over. I like having insights and corelations pop into my head when I am doing the most mundane things. It makes me realize there are no mundane things. My dad used to say, "You know, not everything means something else." He wasn't wrong, he was just telling his truth and his experience. My experience has been that everything has many meanings on many levels. I've learned that everything I see in front of me is reflecting something to me that I can learn from, if I look at it with an inquiring eye. Anytime I ask, "what can this scene or situation teach me?" I am always answered. The trick is to remember to ask. (Smile) In my teens, friends and family around me began dying. As I studied Eastern philosophy, I gained a different understanding of the cycle of death and rebirth. It answered many questions for me. As soon as I discovered meditation, I began getting flashes of insight that deepened my understanding. So for me now, the thought of death is not so shocking, not so devastating. Even as I looked at my garden yesterday, now frostbit to the ground, I could not lament its loss but rather celebrate the new opportunity to begin again from scratch. Zero = infinite potential, right? But seeing the scene before me made me reflect, "If whatever I have, that I have seen flourish for years, decades, were to be taken to the ground tomorrow, how would I rebuild? Would I do the same thing again? Knowing it could be taken away again at any time? What would I change?" I wondered yesterday at Florida Record Low Temps Changing My Perception of Cold "do I want what I’m used to, what’s familiar, what I know I like? Or am I ready for change?" I'm excited to see what I decide. Stay warm. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body The End of Death As We Know It

When I Get Distractions Instead of Answers

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 12:39:21 +0000

I'm once again in final layout week with the magazine, so this will be short since I have to jump right into work. Three days ago I posted on Facebook "I have ten 12-16 hour days at the computer ahead of me for the February mag layout and now in between my shoulders is aching. I know it's my chair, cuz it's an executive lean back chair. I have lots of little pillows - what area of my back needs support to relieve the ache is between my shoulder blades?" I got lots of comments back giving me different exercises to do stretch the muscles involved, one comment saying it may be related to a weak heart, but none answering my question. But, I got distracted by their answers and Googled "doorway stretches" that Jeffrey Stone suggested, and began doing some of those. I do yoga every day, but find myself in my chair for sometimes 5-6 hours without getting up. The exercises helped and I'll do the doorway stretches from now on. I liked those. But half an hour back in the chair I got the ache again. Because the problem lies with me spending too many hours in a chair that doesn't support my back. For half of each month, I don't notice it because I am up and down and moving around. But for 10 days a month I'm glued to the chair all day every day. And why am I sitting in the wrong chair? For 2 stupid reasons: (1) is that it's my favorite chair to read in when I can sit back and put my feet up on the desk and (2) is that it's such a large chair, to take it out of the office I'd have to move the astrology bookcase out of the hallway and that means unloading all those books to do it. I can move a second chair into the office and sit at it instead, but that crowds my office space. I Googled "office chair back support" and found a page that told me lumbar support was crucial. I put a pillow at the lumbar region of my back and it immediately corrected my posture and made me sit correctly. The ache went away. But my bigger point here is that I asked a question and got distracted by all sorts of input and suggestions. So distracted that it took me awhile to realize my question had not been answered. In this case, the distractions were good, since I learned about doorway stretches. But it made me think. How often, when I am seeking an answer, do I let myself get so distracted by what others are saying that I don't notice I'm not getting an answer to my question at all? I'm sure it's happened with salespeople, since that's their job, to stick to their agenda (the sales pitch) at all costs, no matter what you're saying. Pretty soon it's easier to just go with their story because it's easier to follow, and that's what they count on us doing. Just going along with it and forgetting we had any questions about it. Politicians do that as well. If I think about it, almost anyone with their own agenda does it. I mean, not my Facebook friends who answered my post, they were giving me good suggestions. I'm talking about the times it happens that you don't realize until later that it happened. Like early on in church, I used to have questions and I got the ole bait and switch when I tried to get answers. I learned working for attorneys about the importance of answering the question asked. So now, when I ask a question, if the question is important to me, I will keep asking until it gets answered. And I won't let myself be taken off my own agenda and into someone else's, and waste time on that. Unless it's something fun of course. There's always time for that. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits Visit Goddess Grub, Luscious Low Fat Meals

arbicola-berries-72

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 10:21:22 +0000

Welcoming Transformation: The Gift of Change

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:32:35 +0000

[caption id="attachment_7040" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Another frost survivor"][/caption] Even though only temps of 33 were forecast for last night, I went out at dusk and put pillowcases over all the surviving plants, kind of as a test run to see if I have enough to cover them all if I need to. Synchonistically, I do. There are more of them than I thought. The pillow shams work the best. The next season we get a freeze, I'll have a plan and be prepared. The other day when I wrote Florida Record Low Temps Changing My Perception of Cold, I mentioned the devastation to my plants. Now I see that was an over-reaction, as well as short sighted. Because when I look for the devastation, I see it. When I look for what all survived, I see that it's more than 3/4 of my yard. All the bushes under the canopy escaped the frostbite and are still fine, and it looks lush. When I really look at it, overall I have less than 1/4 of my plants killed by the freeze. I just have to remember to always look for the good. Even I temporarily forget that. As I was covering the remaining plants and taking inventory of the survivors, I thought briefly, "if I covered them all from the first night, they would not be gone." Was I playing God, getting to choose who lives and who dies? Was it neglect that laid waste to the turk's cap and arbicola in the outside yard? So why did I not cover them up the first night a freeze was forecast? Because I don't want to have the kind of yard that requires so much attention. I'm not into high maintenance. I'm into the natural, wildish look and native plants. I am glad now that I let them have a night or two of freeze to harden up for next season. Tough love! I posted some pics on Facebook showing how lush the yard really still is. I was outside to take photos of the City of Palm Bay guys laying the pipes down for the city water to come in. I'm covering that hot breaking story as it happens for my Facebook friends. Anyway, Mark from the City knocked on my green man knocker today and told me they'd have to remove the palm tree and silver necklace pod bush out at the street by the mailbox. "Anything between the culvert and the street has to go." I'll be sorry to see them go, but I've seen so much change that I'm used it. For me, that's one of the keys to happiness, is being open to change. To welcome change. To learn to honor the things that have passed, and to see the gift in whatever is to come: the forced-upon-us re-creation of our very own selves in relation to our very own environment. Marianne Williamson, says, in The Gift of Change: "We are being challenged by world events to develop a more mature consciousness. Who we ourselves become, how we grow and change and face the challenges of our own lives, is intimately and causally connected to how the world will change over the next few years. For the world is a projection of our individual psyches, collected on a global screen; it is hurt or healed by every thought we think. To whatever extent I refuse to face the deeper issues that hold me back, to that extent the world will be held back. And to whatever extent I find the miraculous key to the transformation of my own life, to that extent I will help change the world. "Today, we can stand in the midst of the great illusions of the world and by our very presence dispel them. As we cross the bridge to a more loving orientation - as we learn the lessons of spiritual transformation and apply them in our personal lives - we will become agents of change on a tremendous scale. To some this might feel like the period of a Great End, perhaps even at times an Armageddon, but in fact this is the time of a Great Beginning. It is time to die to who we used to be and to become instead who we are capable of being. That is the gift that awaits us now: the chance to become who we really are. And that is the miracle: the gift of change." Right now, the change in my life is coming in the form of landscape. Six years ago, the changes came - thankfully - in the form of a health wake up call, giving me time to make changes and divert trouble. I'll take the landscape transformation any day :) Actually, I'll take whatever Life throws at me and make it something I can love. That's the easiest. And that's how I can best be an agent of change in my life. Right here and right now. Andrea In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

I'm Too Busy for Unannounced Sales Pitches

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 06:50:15 +0000

A publicist called me earlier in the week, interested in "speaking about some out of the box ways we might work together in co-branding efforts." He's the publicist for a popular author whose work I support. And if you're reading this, I mean no disrespect, it's just a good example to share. I emailed back that "I don't sponsor or barter advertising, so I guess that means I don't go out of the box or co-brand." He called again last night, 15 minutes after I closed the office, and was leaving for a meeting. My mind was completely on what I was doing and where I was going, yet I answered the phone automatically when it rang. He'd earlier asked for ad rates and we were up on deadline, so I wanted to make sure to get him in if he wanted in. But I was on the way out the door with other matters on my mind, and frankly, I did not have time to hear a press release about why I should donate an ad to his client. I mean no disrespect, but that's always what that boils down to: Someone wants me to partner with them, meaning I give them ad space in return for me being listed as a sponsor in their workshop handouts, and having the magazine available at the venue for attendees to pick up. But they won't come right out and tell me that's what they want. They want to give me a verbal press release as if they have to convince me of the value of their work. They don't begin by asking, "do you have 3 minutes to listen to a business idea?" That is their first mistake if they are calling a busy person. Don't they teach this stuff anymore? I knew this author's work and I knew their process was effective. Nonetheless, I'm old school, I don't jump in with a sales pitch to anyone. If I'd like a few minutes to pitch someone an idea, I ask them if they have the time for it. Just because someone sees me in public or gets me on the phone does not mean I have time to discuss their idea. So I cut the call short, and later emailed him: "I apologize for the short phone call yesterday. I was headed out the door, scribbling notes into a file in my hand, at the end of a 14 hour day. My mind was completely on what I had to do in front of me, and not on the words you were saying. I knew I could not give you the attention your topic deserved right then, that is why I had to cut you short. The reason I need you to email me about what you have to discuss is that (1) I'm on the phone constantly and so I prioritize phone time and (2) I'm very visual, and only if I have something to read at my leisure will I make a decision about partnering with someone. Even an unofficial, informal, off the record email; I'm not talking about an official proposal. For instance, you use a lot of terminology that I am just now becoming familiar with. Most people I know who use those terms are network marketers and people wanting me to sponsor or otherwise barter/donate ad space in return for association with them. I don't use those terms and phrases, and they are confusing to me. I want to make sure I understand quite simply what someone is asking me. At the end of our 3-4 minutes yesterday, I did not know what you wanted other than a chance to talk again. It is for just that reason that I don't discuss partnering over the phone. I want to give your idea the attention it deserves. I hope you don't think me rude or abrupt, I certainly do not mean to sound like that. I support the work you do. I simply have a lot of work each day and have found how it works best for me to get through it all easily. Like here it is 1:00am and I am making the time to write to you. I don't typically partner with anyone; I've learned that's easiest for me. And with the amount of work I do each day, I'm all about what's easiest. The more we can email in simple language, the more likely a long term association can be built. I understand you have events worldwide and that you are the contact for that. I appreciate the significance of the work you do. Thank you for understanding. I look forward to hearing more from you. --Andrea I guess I'm not a sophisticated, savvy business person. I just want to do my little thang, spread some good words, enjoy friends. It's not that I don't see the value in all the networking and marketing scenarios, it's just that it's not my thing. And if you've got a business proposal, I always welcome an email. Simple language, please, and don't make me have to watch a video. If you make me sit through an unannounced sales pitch, the answer is always no. But I'll adore you just the same. :) LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

On Political Correctness

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 11:36:51 +0000

I woke up ready to dive into final layout for the February Horizons, so I wasn't going to take the time to make a blog post. Then a friend sent me this and I thought it too cute (and relevant) not to share: Sometimes you are encouraged about our country's future when you see something like this. Specifically, there was an annual contest at Ohio State University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term. This year's term was "Political Correctness. The winner wrote: "Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."

monkey-angry-72

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 09:45:38 +0000

When Jealousy and Competition Raise Their Heads in Your Face

Sat, 16 Jan 2010 09:56:20 +0000

Today I got an email from Mark Becker blaming Shannon Burnett of Conscious Living Partnership for the cancelling of his Florida New Life trade show. If you got one, I probably don't need to tell you it's not true, but it's not. A first email he sent out a month ago - also untrue - told everyone that the Expo of Heart had been cancelled when in fact it had not been. Becker bills his event as America's largest mind body spirit expo, however it's a trade show - and there's nothing wrong with that. The feedback I've gotten through the years is that although he features a few popular speakers, most of the presentations are info-mercials and a majority of the booths sell supplements in network marketing downlines. Again, there's nothing wrong with a good trade show, just call it what it is and don't try to deceive your patrons. And it's probably good business for someone who promotes himself as a serene yogi, to not send out scathing emails that make you sound like a scorned lover. We've all done it. Gotten angry in the moment over some perceived wrong and then created an entire scenario about it in our head, blaming someone else. But when we're conscious, when we're on the Path, we take the time to contemplate what is going on in our life. We take responsibility for what we've put in motion. We know that whoever we think is to blame is just someone we are allowing to have some power over us. Power over our thoughts and emotions. Allowing your thoughts and emotions to go there is a choice. Let me re-phrase that. Your thoughts may appear out of nowhere. You can't stop that from happening. What you can decide is how long you will continue to dwell on that thought. You have the choice of staying on that thought long enough to get pissed off about it. You have the choice of moving to a better feeling thought, before you attract something you don't want. If you haven't yet trained yourself to pivot your focus to a better feeling thought, you can learn how by reading at the free Abraham-Hicks website. If you want to gain clearer understanding of why you do what you do in particular situations and how you can see the other perspective, ask yourself Byron Katie's Four Questions. Shannon and I have talked before about jealousy and competition, which runs rampant in the personal growth/self help genre no less than it does in all other genres. Shannon agrees when I say there is no competition and that we each attract what is ours by right of consciousness. No one steals business from anyone else. If a client leaves you and goes somewhere else, that's fine; they are not your target market anyway. You want the people who are attracted to what you have to offer, plain and simple. You don't have to go all car salesman on someone to talk them into buying what you've got. You don't want 200 people to attend an event if only 11 are going to buy. Your market is the 11 who really want it. Remember that the next time you look out into your audience of 12. And if you don't think you can make an honest and lucrative living with just 12 clients, then you just have short vision. It's not a numbers game; it's a consciousness game. And that's one thing I have that sets me apart from some others: I know that. I know that I will be able to create a fine happy living for myself, no matter what anyone else is doing or not doing. No matter what someone is saying or not saying, whether it's true or not true. Since I know who I am and I know what my thoughts are capable of attracting, I don't feel the need to blame anyone else for anything I experience. I know it's unproductive to be emotionally attached to what anyone says about me. I've never been so free as when I gave that up. Now it's easy for me to just let that stuff go. It's my favorite new habit. Forgive him, for he knows not that he knows not. He'll learn. We all do. I'm still learning. Every day. You Tube Video Response from Shannon Burnett

dui-72

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:21:26 +0000

DUI, DWLS, Probation, PCP and False Positives

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 10:22:04 +0000

[caption id="attachment_7108" align="alignright" width="141" caption="Don't risk it!"][/caption] A long time friend went to court this month for a DUI - driving under the influence. She's not a regular drinker, she doesn't do drugs, she's as straight arrow as they come. Christmas Eve she had one glass of wine at dinner with friends, and her slow driving back home got her pulled over. She did the breathalyzer test and was charged with DUI. Afterward, we had the talk about don't get caught driving - anywhere. But the week after the DUI, she drove 6 blocks to the laundromat since the one in her building was out of service. She got stopped. So now it's a DWLS (driving while license suspended) as well as the DUI. I wrote on Facebook, "It snowballs! Don't risk it!" So last week she goes for her court appointed random drug test, and her urine tested positive for PCP. Which she does not do. Really. I told her get another test right away, within 24 hours. She did, with the same lab, and tested positive again. The lab told her to call her pharmacist, which she did. He said nothing she was taking should cause a PCP positive result. She wondered if she could have eaten something with it in it. I told her NO, it is a mistake and just get another test ASAP from a different lab. And right away so it doesn't look to a probation officer like she was biding time for the drugs to leave her system before re-testing. She had not even been to her initial appointment with her probation officer and could not get her on the phone. It's sad, she was wrapped in her story of "it's not fair" - but fair or not, I told her, it IS and must be dealt with now. I told her to just get to another lab quick. She said she really didn't have the money to find a ride or pay for a test on her own. I told her to find it quick. I made a post on Facebook asking if anyone worked at the Probation Office, to try to see if my friend could come right up there and talk to anyone else. I gave the story and I learned some interesting things I did not know. Some of the Facebook comments said: "Pristique or Effexor may cause false positives for PCP and also OTC cold medications, dextromethorphan, diphenhydramine, ibuprofen, imipramine, meperidine, mesoridazine, or thioridazine. In other words... I'd be getting other opinions and doctor/pharmacist backup." "Generally antihistamines, pseudoephdrine, Sudafed, and Chlorpheniramine Maleate, Primatene, dextromethorphan, certain anti-depressants, and diazepam, etc. can cause false positives on a specific type of test for PCP. This has been known for years now. Demand additional testing and sue the company that makes the testing kits. Or maybe some one already has. See for example : http://www.clinchem.org/cgi/content/full/48/4/676" "I checked with a friend who works for a drug testing company (and has for 15 years). He said he knows of nothing that would cause a false positive for PCP." "I just googled "PCP false positives". Your friend should do the same thing. Antihistamines and also Effexor and many more medicines can cause a false positive for PCP. Tell your friend to research some online and she may find the cause of the problem." These were all excellent comments. My friend does not have a computer (despite me giving her two laptops in the last 10 years). She said the reception person at her walk in clinic who has known her for years told her that false positives for PCP have happened before at that lab. My friend found a lab within walking distance to her home and went down and paid $45 to have the new urine testing done. She had to wait 48 hours for the results. I knew it was a fluke. She got the results back and of course they were negative. The first two tests from Prevent of Brevard gave false positive results. This would have affected her for life. She does not do drugs. This could have ruined her. Just a heads up. The lab said Prevent of Brevard must have had a bad batch. A bad batch?? Yes, a bad batch of karma just waiting for whoever vibes there to attract it. Hard to remember that good people have a hand in attracting the weird stuff they experience. She says she can't wait to see what the lesson is for this one (and for the DUI one). Me, too. Hmmm, stay conscious, do good, harm none. Is that so fricking hard? Andrea RELATED: Domino attracts another false positive for PCP

Facebook Shenanigans

Mon, 18 Jan 2010 15:07:07 +0000

I shared on Facebook yesterday that a particular person keeps ending me a friend request and my spidey sense goes off each time. Twice I've accepted and saw I was her only friend and she had zero info listed, so I unfriended her again. I don't know why I care really. I'm just discovering Facebook Managing Incoming Information; What Is Facebook For? Facebook quizzes; every little bit of insight helps Facebook posts; I’m in charge of what I attract Facebook friends to the rescue, helping me Excel If a Friend Asks For $$ In Facebook, Ask A Personal Question You Want To Be My Friend On Facebook? How To Stop The Stupid Facebook Posts On Your Wall The Zen of Farmville on Facebook? WTF? Are Your Facebook Friends Really Your Friends? Don’t Assume Mine Are Either What I post on Facebook Finding childhood buds on Facebook, flashback to age 18 Putting personal details on Facebook and Myspace Is it ok to break up with someone over Facebook? Why I like Facebook

72-3-08-firepit-4-big

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 01:38:14 +0000

Overnight Camping In My Backyard Woods Defrags My Stress

Tue, 19 Jan 2010 05:39:26 +0000

After a high of about 72 yesterday, it went down to 50 degrees last night, when I thought it was going to be 60 again. There's not much difference between 50 and 60 now that I got a taste last week of what 27 feels like. I'd forgotten to glance at the weather channel, but I was in a hurry. I'd finished up the February Horizons Sunday and had cabin fever from being glued to my desk for 10 days straight. I went outside and set up a lean-to tent in my west woods, so I could be outside in the open, in nature with the trees. Out under the stars, where I could be "out of the box" - out of the house of full of wires and electricity and equipment. No clocks, no phones, no computers. Yes, I was in a hurry yesterday evening to set up a little camp outside so I could defrag from final layout week. Nothing relaxes me more than watching the night sky and the small critters make their nightly way up and down the paths in my little patch of woods here. In Palm Bay, we cannot have a fire unless we're cooking, so I wrapped a sweet potato and an ear of corn in foil and placed them in my firepit as I made a small fire. Just an hour's worth, enough to cook my midnight dinner. I'd napped earlier after finishing the magazine, and proofread the pages again upon waking up. Then I took my gear and headed outside to decompress, cook my dinner and watch the sky. I'm lucky in that where I live there are no street lights. It makes it easier to see the stars. Since the hurricanes of 2004 took down the big backyard oak (right onto my back porch :) I now have a clear view of the north sky. With the sky so dark as it is now, I can lie on a blanket in the grass and the stars look so close I could almost touch them. I feel like when I look up at the big sky like that, it just lifts the tensions of the week away from me. The same as sitting at the firepit. I love to sit in the wrought iron chair or on a blanket on the ground, and look into the fire. I am an expert fire poker. I love to rearrange the logs and embers and my little foiled packages. Last night I sat back in the chair and put my Timberlands up on the brick wall of the pit. I liked how the heat felt on my boots. I made my camp near the firepit, under the giant oak. I lay down a tarp and some blankets and pillows, and ran my canvas between the overhead branches to break the dewfall, and one wall down against the wind. Both kitties came out to visit and watch me eat my fire roasted dinner. I love a sweet potato and ear of corn right out of the fire, no butter or salt and pepper, just au natural. It makes me feel like such a wilderness camper out there. Well, I can pretend enough that it relaxes me just the same. And we get our share of woodland creatures here, too. As I sat up and soaked in the clear night sky, I watched the nightly procession: 3 raccoons, a mom and 2 youngsters; a pair of armadillos, a lone opossum. I could hear some birds in the tree overhead but didn't recognize what they were by their sounds. I could hear the owl in the oak hammock down the street. The crickets were singing, and with each new visitor to the scene, they would momentarily go quiet, so I knew someone was there. This went on all night long. I get some of my best meditation sessions in when I do these in-my-yard retreats. Sometimes I sleep like a baby. Sometimes I barely sleep all night long, like lying at the side of a lover and not wanting to sleep because you don't want to miss a moment of the magic. It's all pretty magical if you think about it. All of it. I just need to make time to see it.

A Stranger Buys My Lunch

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 05:01:15 +0000

Yesterday was a day of errands. I went to the bank, the post office, to Office Depot, to The Waterman, to the produce stand for carrots, celery, scallions and mushrooms. On the way home, I went to the new Thai Thai House on Palm Bay Road at Hammock Landing for an early lunch. I had their volcano roll, which is a California roll with baked seafood "dynamite" on top, and a cup of miso soup. Only one other diner was in there - it was only 11:15am - and so we talked as we ate. He's down here helping out his grandparents and is job hunting. It was his first Thai food experience. When my dish came, I placed a portion on a separate plate and shared with him so he could taste an extra dish. He was young, maybe 30. I was going to secretly buy his lunch on my way out. He left first and secretly bought mine! And what a cool kid. I wrote on Facebook, "What a cool kid, he read my mind. Yeah, read my mind and - typical man - got it backwards." Patricia L Bell wrote: "Animal totem - cougar hmm maybe a match made in heaven. Enjoy the vision. Good company, good food can't ask for anything better!" David Marchand wrote: "Interesting, you like to describe him as KID, but as you know we are all ageless. WE all knew each other from a spirit plane, before we walk our first steps here on this plane......... Shall we dance???" I agree with David, who I know in real life; it is interesting to see in retrospect I referred to him as a kid. I think I have fallen into that habit of referring to anyone who is young enough to be my spawn as a kid. That might seem disrespectful. Kind of like when 20 year olds "ma'am" us or when young restaurant servers call us "honey". No harm meant, just automatic phrases we've heard for years. I'll have to watch that in the future. Not calling someone younger a kid. Not referring to age at all. But I guess in this case, had he been someone my age, I would not have thought to secretly buy his lunch. Hmmm, I wonder why that matters. And no, I'm not a cougar! I think he just thought I was a cool old chick. Oh heck, there I did it again. Andrea In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone.

Keeping My Mouth Shut When My Neighbor Puts Leaves in Plastic

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:22:29 +0000

With the February Horizons having gone to press, this is the week I coordinate my drivers and distributors, and update all my addresses before the mag hits the streets next week. I've got about 150 small stacks of mags that get mailed each month because postage is cheaper than paying a mileage to a driver. Last year, the U.S. Postal Service changed their rules about mailing, and I had to get an imprint permit and start doing a bunch of paperwork each month. They used to charge me $14.25 to come pick my job up. Now I have to separate by weight, sort by zone, count by zip code, and put into mail sacks weighing no more than 36 pounds per sack, and put the correct routing label - according zip code - on the mail sack itself. That's a lot of math. But now I've done it for 5-6 months, I'm getting the hang of it and find it's not all that hard to do, after all. That happens a lot. After doing the paperwork 5-6 times in a row, I became more familiar with it, and it wasn't just numbers on a page anymore. It began to make sense. At first, I let myself be baffled by the number of boxes I had to fill in and what numbers went where and how to figure them and in what order to figure them. Then I made one of my famous checklists, so it would walk me through what I had to do each time until I got the hang of it. Now it's down to a one hour job and it's no big deal. I find if I can simplify something for myself with a step by step checklist, and make myself do it, I get used to the changes before I know it. Afterward, I went outside to play in my yard a little. I know not to prune the deadwood yet on my frost bitten plants. Cutting off what looks dead right now will stimulate the plant into growth, just in time for the next frost to kill it for good. As it is now, it's likely just dead to the ground, so I'm letting mine sleep and conserve energy. What looks dead is not always gone, trust me. The mailbox area now looks quite stripped and bare since the city workers took down the palm tree and the powderpuff bush. I noticed coming back from the market that it looked like it could use a little TLC, especially since it is the entrance to my home. So I wandered around the yard wondering just what I could do to spruce up that SE berm behind the mailboxes. I took two of my giant aloe plants from the east garden and transplanted them into the berm, facing the street. I watered them in and then moved a bunch of large stones from around the garden into the face of the berm, around the aloe and along the baseline. I raked a bunch of ficus and oak leaves and used them as mulch. I stuffed moss and airplants into the crevices. Now it doesn't look quite so ravaged. As I was coming in last night, my neighbor pointed out that the 4 giant plastic trash bags he put out at the street all contained leaves he raked from his yard. I held my tongue but was horrified he'd rake leaves into a plastic bag to sit at a landfill rather than let the leaves be mulch for his yard. I so wanted to ask if I could pour the leaves down on the fresh dirt the city workers left after covering the new pipes up in my front easement area, but I knew it would not be well received. Part of being a good neighbor is knowing when to keep my mouth shut. I can't let what he does be my excuse to vibrate in a place I don't want to be: blameful, judgmental. It's a good exercise in seeing how allowing I can truly be :) Hafiz: Happy before I have a reason LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

A Psychic Reads the Auras of the Real Housewives of Orange County

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:22:30 +0000

Last night I caught the Housewives of Orange County on Bravo TV and Vicki had a slumber party for the gals. As a surprise to them, she invites over psychic Dougall Fraser who gave them all aura readings. It was pretty funny, since everything he told them he could have learned on last year's show. Particularly comical was when he told Tamra she had "a blue aura, indicating truth and wisdom." Yes, Tamra who does nothing but diss and lie and connive. Of course, Tamra and Vicki, who invited the psychic, are best buds now and still ganging up against Gretchen. The psychic of course had a caveat over the relationship Gretchen has now with Slade Smiley. Coincidence I guess since Vicki and Tamra don't like Slade. Despite Gretchen saying she didn't want a reading, Fraser had to play to the camera - and to whoever paid him - and give her a very public one. Gretchen has a point when she says in her blog "I don’t want to have someone instill doubt in me about a relationship or my future." And I think it's always amusing to hear anyone tell someone what their aura looks like, what color it is and what it means. Don't get me started on that. Anyone who's done any amount of energy work or actually sees auras will tell you that not just one color is involved. It's more like ongoing fireworks that change with each thought and each emotion. It's not a flat color. It's even limiting to call it everchanging color in motion. You may not even see the color with your physical eyes, but rather intuit the color with your inner sensing. For me, in person or in photos, I can see a film strip running through the aura, kind of like a ribbon weaving in and out, and it is in that film strip that I am given particular scenes. And no, of course this is not something I do with every person every time we meet. That would be as time consuming as determining the fabric content of your clothing, your size, your height and weight, the cmyk value of your skin, hair and clothing. Then it becomes work and not a social visit. As far as Tamra having a blue aura, well, he obviously was looking past her personality self and into the deeper, inner, higher Self of her. Wow, he's good. Andrea RELATED POSTS: Seven Sample Psychic Readings, Which Reader Would You Choose? How Do You Know If A Psychic Medium Is Really Connected To Your Loved One? How One Clairvoyant Sees The World Exercising Your Spidey Sense Describing The Aura In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

fortune-teller3-72

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 03:30:09 +0000

Clementine Oranges Prove We Don't Have The Same Experience

Fri, 22 Jan 2010 21:48:26 +0000

Did you ever wonder why two people sitting side by side doing the same thing can have such different experiences? A couple of Januarys ago, a friend and I were sitting in a sunny clearing in my woods eating clementine oranges. We had a little basket of them between us. Tony can be a real pouty puss sometimes, although he's a really cool guy. But he does seem to focus on things around him that are not going well. So we're sitting and eating the clementines, which I'd been buying all month. He complained that "these tangerines were good but they had so many seeds." Yet I'd eaten 2 dozen of them in a 2 week period with nary a seed. He was getting seeds and I was not. He was not fibbing; I saw him spitting out seeds. So I hand him my clementine and take his. He bites into mine and finds a seed. I eat the rest of his with no seeds. We did the same with two more clementines. So take notes that being a pouty puss pretty much guarantees you'll come across seeds, even in seedless fruits. I SOOO know it's about vibrational matching. Yes, even when I am the one getting the seeds. Especially then. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

clementines

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 08:24:01 +0000

How to Get Lots Done Even When You Feel Low Energy

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 05:41:26 +0000

I got lots done yesterday, despite feeling kinda low energy and sloth-like all day. I woke up feeling kinda like in a dream where your body is going slow motion, and objects are very heavy. I didn't know what it was all about, but the day before was the heaviest physical workday of the month for me, at the end of 2 weeks being nose to the grindstone, so I figured I needed to hydrate after all the muscle use, and that was making me feel sore and slow. Whatever it was, it lasted all day, so I ate light and didn't go into the office Saturday as I had planned. Day off! I went outside to water the new sod in, and the sprinklers each felt like they weighed 20 pounds each. I just kept drinking water and green tea to hydrate the muscles, if that's what it was. I felt like I barely had enough energy to stand up and walk around, everything made me feel pretty exhausted. I didn't feel sick, just low energy. I looked at my SE landscape berm with the frostbitten turk's cap sticks, and decided to transplant a loquat or two in front of it. I wondered, as I went to get the shovel, if I had the energy to do this, or if I was being too ambitious. I figured my body would tell me when it had enough. So even though it was slow going, I managed to dig 6 holes and transplant 6 loquats about knee high and water them in. I located a few more big rocks and moved them to the berm. I moved a few ferns and some tall spikey looking greens and planted them where the spaces looked bare. After that, I felt ready for a nap. But a nap was not to be had. Instead, I went to the market for some fresh asparagus to make a mushroom and asparagus soup for lunch. Publix had the Bolthouse Farms Bom Dia Natural Acai Berry juices on sale two for one, so I got the Pomegranate mix. I felt like I could use some antioxidants. Wow, even walking through the store tired me out! I didn't worry about it, I figured whatever it was it would pass through me soon enough. Abraham-Hicks says that if we took lab tests and xrays and MRIs every day, we'd be surprised at what all moves through our body and resolves itself on its own. I figured the best thing I could do for my body was to keep moving and drinking water, so that whatever it was could move out of my system quicker. I knew it could also be something I'd eaten. I'd had bread and chicken and pasta all in the week before, heavier fare than I'm used to. Whatever it was, I figured I wasn't sick since I didn't feel icky and I could still move around, albeit slowly. I came home and made a simple soup of mushrooms, scallions and asparagus in a fat free chicken broth with some fresh parsley. I drank some of the Acai Berry juice and even watered down it was strong and deep red. I made sure to brush my teeth afterward. Since I don't like the idea of artificial whitening, I simply avoid dark foods and drinks, like colas or coffees. I had 2 cups of the soup, and it was simple but good. Then a friend came by to pick up the small fainting couch I was giving her; she and her son drove up with a trailer and we got it loaded. I was surprised the couch didn't feel heavier, I took that as a sign my muscles were going back to normal. Yay. I still felt low energy, but by now it was 4:00pm so I'd made it through the day and gotten a lot done. But I wasn't finished yet. I came inside and vacuumed where the couch had been, then vacuumed the entire living room. Then I began dusting bookshelves and ceiling fan blades (if I stand on tippytoe, I can hold one blade while I Swiffer another). I like the look of the living room with its new, emptier space. Ah, freedom. By the time I stopped to reflect on my day, it was 8:00pm and I had basically been up and moving around doing things all day long. Yes, even though I felt low energy and in slow motion, I actually stayed in motion all day and got a lot done. It wasn't like I was pushing my body, it was more like I did not take the lethargy as a signal to stay in bed all day. Proving I can still get stuff done if I feel low energy and not in the mood for it. All I have to do is take one step at a time. Andrea In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. RELATED POST: How to stay functional as you sit out the bleak times LISTEN FREE: Connecting with Your Angels, Guides and Teachers Visit Animal Spirit Guidance, free links Visit Goddess Grub, Luscious Low Fat Meals

Inverted Body Scanners in Airports Show Entire Naked Body

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 04:49:24 +0000

At Inverted Body Scanner Image Shows Naked Body In Full Living Color, it is reported, "The full body scanners to be rolled out in airports across the country not only produce detailed pictures of your genitals, but once inverted some of those images also display your naked body in full living color. And you don’t need to be a graphics wizard to pull off the trick – inverting a photo is a simple process that takes one click and is an option available even in the most basic image editing software. Airport screeners will have access to huge high definition images that, once inverted, will allow them to see every minute detail of your body. Even without being inverted, the images already break child porn laws in the UK. Reassurances that airport screeners won’t be able to save the images will provide little comfort to parents who know that the crystal clear image of their naked son or daughter being ogled by a TSA thug can merely be snapped with a handheld camera for their enjoyment later. TV news reports have been deliberately misleading viewers by blurring out faces and genitals of people in images produced by the scanners. When it comes to the real thing, your sexual organs and those of your children will be on full display to officials in back rooms, and with a simple inversion trick, your daughter’s naked body in full living high definition color will be there to be enjoyed by screeners." After reading this, I wrote on Facebook, "Who cares??? I say, hey some time ago I know I signed up for this crazieness, so I'm just enjoying the ride however it presents itself in front of me. If I've gotta fly, it's easier to just accept it and focus on my next good thing, rather than fuss and fight about man's rules." I've got friends who fly frequently and they are not happy about the new airport security rules. Some of them complain long and loud about what they're not allowed to take on board anymore. Others just follow the rules, even if it's an inconvenience. I'm with the second group. I mean, I would be if I had to fly, which I seldom do. I'd simply find out ahead of time what is permitted and do that. The Transportation Security Administration even has a guide online How To Get Through The Line Faster. It doesn't seem so tough to conform. Is it the same as it used to be, back in the day? No. Is it an inconvenience and an embarrassment for some? Sure. Would it be easier to drive? Not usually. People fly to save days of driving time. People fly to get there quick and return quick. For me, the quickest way to get anything done is to find out ahead of time what rules there are, get myself in compliance and get on with my happy life. That includes not whining about any unfair or inconvenient rules. And that includes not worrying about airport scanner personnel seeing a detailed pic of anyone's nude body. You gotta hand it to the guys who decided to make people feel shame about their bodies. They knew what they were doing. They knew the way to control people is to shame them and guilt them into submission. You're a sinner and this is why and only via my (fill in the blank) church/group can you come to salvation and that will be $$ per week please - but it buys you salvation. Then, they are so worried about their salvation and get wrapped up in fighting for what someone else told them is right that they forget that all they wanted to do was get to Seattle in the first place. But complaining about the guys that put all that into motion is just something else to waste time complaining about. The bottom line for me is: Whatever is happening is happening, and if I want to do it, I follow the rules to get where I want to go. And I get my mind back on my happy things to come. Andrea LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

James Arthur Ray Defends Himself In Q & A by New York Mag

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 07:36:01 +0000

I keep of the track of the James Ray Sweat Lodge Matter since I get many requests asking about it. I was reading at the latest Q & A with James Arthur Ray by New York Mag's Michael Joseph Gross the press interview that Ray attended via phone with his attorney. I'll give you a few minutes to read the interview. The info is a typical press release response to a public clamboring for him to address the matter. His account differs from witness statements. He does does not answer any of the deeper questions, referring the questioner to the James Ray White Papers. But what caught my attention was his responses to the following questions: QUESTION: In a conference call after Sedona, a woman ... who was identified as a kind of medium or channeler, said that the victims had been having out-of-body experiences and were having so much fun that they chose not to return to their bodies. What do you think about what she said? RAY ANSWER I have no comment. I don’t think I’m qualified to talk about channeling. ANDREA: I think this is important. It's not a question about channeling. It's a question about "What is your opinion about the words you allowed her to speak on behalf of JRI? What is your opinion about how the words she spoke might affect the listeners to the call?" James Ray well knows the power of words and re-framing to cause changes in perception. The main question everyone has on their minds is "What thoughts were going through James Ray's mind as he did the things he did as the events were unfolding?" In my opinion, to not answer that question but to say "read the White Papers" which also do not answer that question, turns the interview into a promo piece. QUESTION: So it might be true and it might not be true: You don’t have any sense either way? RAY ANSWER: I really don’t, no. I think that’s up to an interpretation of each individual. ANDREA: Again, he knows the real question is either “What did you hope to accomplish with the call, what thoughts did you hope to instill in the minds of the listeners?” or simply, “What is your opinion?” QUESTION: Do you think in some divinely or cosmically ordained way this was the victims’ time to die? RAY ANSWER: I don’t think I’m qualified to answer that. I think that’s something that everyone would have to come to their own conclusions about. ANDREA: He doesn't need to be qualified to answer that, he is being asked for his opinion. QUESTION: How has it changed your personal beliefs? RAY ANSWER: I don’t know how to answer that. That right now is not the important issue. ANDREA: This is one of the most important issues. Ray is in the business of changing personal beliefs. His own personal beliefs are morphing right now and it would probably be good press for him to admit he was blinded by bad judgment and is now getting a really serious wake up call. A public rehab would satisfy those in the coliseum who love the gladiators, but I think Ray is still pondering how he attracted this to himself. QUESTION: A basic principal of your teaching is that the universe is at your command; you speak of the power of intention. I wonder how you perceive the tragedy in Sedona in light of those teachings. Did you in some way cause this to happen? RAY ANSWER: Well I don’t … What I’m really focused on right now... ANDREA: I think this is important, since Ray knows that manifestation is all about focus. So he consciously intends to whenever he directs focus away from the important questions asked and back to his agenda of portraying himself as a concerned friend. The simple answer is that he - with no malice and no prior intent - allowed his focus to be directed elsewhere, by whatever means and for whatever reason, at crucial times that resulted in tragedy for others entrusted to his care. That's the simple answer. It only gets complicated when Ray pretends what happened didn't happen, and acts in ways that defy logic. Maybe those alleged steroids fried his brain so he couldn't use good judgment, or maybe it's just upon advice of his defense counsel. Having worked for high profile criminal defense attorneys for 22 years, I recognize the drill when I see it. But I also recognize that when you find you've screwed up, cop to it, tell the truth about it, do what you can to fix it. It all goes much easier that way. This is where the pedal hits the metal. Do you tell the truth and trust the Universe to deliver you a vibrational match? Or do you slip into the unconscious mindset of deny, deny until the end? This is a big lesson for everyone who talks about the law of attraction without really understanding how it works. The law of attraction lets you know moment by moment - by what you see in front of you - what you are attracting. We get a lot of warning ahead of time when we start going off track. If we pay attention and stay conscious, that is. This incident has helped me be more conscious. For a chronological timeline of this case from the beginning, see our Updated Links for James Ray Sweat Lodge Matter. Some readers don't like that many of the articles are by Cassandra Yorgey and to that I say, yes, she's snarkee, but she's had the inside track on this story from the beginning and her articles include lots of relevant links. Andrea The End of Death As We Know It

The Healing Power of... Asparagus? Why Not? Brain Imaging Shows Beliefs Can Cause Biological Changes

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:17:51 +0000

The other day I wrote in How to Get Lots Done Even When You Feel Low Energy that I'd woken feeling very lethargic, feeling as though I had 10 pound weights at my arms and legs, and like I was in slow motion, underwater. Picking up the lawn sprinkler, it felt like it weighed 20 pounds. Mentally I felt a little foggy but mood wise I felt great. Every move I made exhausted me, yet I felt compelled to keep moving (and hydrating). I also felt compelled, at the end of the day, to drive to the market for some fresh asparagus to make an asparagus and mushroom soup for dinner. I've learned to follow my cravings, it is my body talking to me. I had a fridge full of food and felt almost too exhausted to drive, but felt compelled to run out for asparagus. I made a beautiful light soup for dinner, a seasoned low fat chicken broth with mushrooms and spices and an entire bunch of fresh asparagus. I nibbled the soup all evening and awoke the next day feeling completely restored to health. Okay, so don't have a chronic illness, but my guidance was saying asparagus soup, and I've learned to follow it. Especially when I don't feel well, which is rarely. But I've seen a pattern that when I feel low energy, I crave asparagus and feel improved the next day. I did some quick research and found: Asparagus is one of the most nutrient rich foods. It provides 60% of the RDA for folacin. Folacin is utilized in the body for blood cell formation, growth, and prevention of liver diseases. Asparagus contains no fat, no cholesterol, it’s low in sodium, high in potassium, fiber rich, thiamin, vitamin B6, and is one of the most abundance sources of rutin, a nutrient that that helps strengthen capillary walls. * It is high in vitamin K and Folate * Eat asparagus when you are pregnant or thinking about conceiving – being high in folic acid it helps prevent birth defects such as spina bifida * Great for your heart * Helps with menstrual cramps and fertility problems * Great for your gastrointestinal tract and your colon * Great food to help treat depression * Has been known to increase the success rate of chemo therapy * Is considered a diuretic which means it is a good anti-inflammatory – best for arthritis, asthma rheumatism, and even water retention…PMS * Help get rid of warts * Helps detoxify your body * Add more asparagus to your diet to lower cholesterol * Great for nursing mothers stimulating milk production * Has antioxidant agents – prevents the effects of aging * Has antifungal and antiviral qualities * Great for your kidneys – cleansing your body by stimulating urination and preventing kidney stones * Helps prevent bladder and urinary tract infections * Known to be used as an a aphrodisiac – increase sexual and comforting feelings * Helps with treating HIV * Helps prevent multiple sclerosis * Helps prevent scurvy * Asparagus has anti-cancer agents – especially lung cancer * Helps fight chronic fatigue syndrome * Helps fight off high blood pressure * If you bruise easily – eat more asparagus * Is considered a laxative – eat an asparagus if you have diarrhea and constipation * Great for your capillaries – eat more asparagus to avoid varicose veins * Great for your eyes preventing cataracts * If you are experiencing hair loss- eat more asparagus * Helps treat toothaches (The above excerpted from from Food of the month) It was interesting that I was guided to eat the asparagus before I read anything about it. The next day a Facebook friend made a post about asparagus as a miracle food . I thought wow, confirmation that I was wise to follow my body's craving for asparagus when I felt icky. Then I saw that Snopes was unable to confirm the origin of the story, although they didn't refute it. I thought, hmmm. I know that what I read about ahead of time will be the filter through which I perceive something. But I'd had the experience with the asparagus before I read anything about it, and that made me research it further. But I didn't need experts to convince me of something that my experience already told me might be true for me. So it wasn't The Placebo Effect , although I am a great believer in that as a healing tool. Brain imaging shows that beliefs can cause biological changes and affect levels of chemical messengers and stress hormones. "If it were not for the placebo effect, physicians would not be nearly as successful as we are," said Dr. Thomas Schnitzer, a Northwestern University arthritis specialist. He helped lead a big study that found glucosamine and chondroitin supplements were no better than dummy pills for arthritic knee pain. In Baltimore, the University of Maryland Medical Center's anesthesia chief Dr. Richard Dutton said: "It's all about creating the right mental state in the person." I'm willing to be tricked into thinking a situation will improve, if it helps me keep my expectation and belief in a place that attracts the improved situation to me. I do self hypnosis on myself all the time as an aid to keep my thoughts laser focused during particular projects. So, did the asparagus heal me, or do I simply think the asparagus healed me? For me, the bottom line is: I felt icky, I craved asparagus, I ate asparagus, I felt back to normal the next day. Do I believe in its benefits more now than before I researched it? Absolutely. The recipe for Andrea's Healing Asparagus Soup

asparagus72

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 11:21:30 +0000

busy-desk72

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 00:13:02 +0000

Goal Setting: How I Shoot Myself In The Foot

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 08:43:17 +0000

[caption id="attachment_7250" align="alignright" width="144" caption="Too many goals?"][/caption] My boss is a real slave driver. At it or on call 24/7. Yes, I'm self employed, so how do I make it hard on myself? Things such as: Not scheduling enough time for sleep, so a good night's sleep puts me behind schedule. Or, my biggest one, I set a goal for myself that I'll do the billing on Monday and then I schedule other duties to be done the rest of the week. So when Monday comes around and I choose to instead take the day off, now the pressure is on because the billing isn't done and I need to move on to other chores first thing Tuesday morning. Or so I tell myself. I get so good at tricking myself into getting things done by deadline, that I can forget what's a real deadline and what is just a flexible goal I set for myself. Like yesterday, I'd set the goal to finish Monday the billing I felt too low energy to do Saturday. Instead, I woke up feeling like I just wanted to run errands. I enjoy driving around in the sunshine on a beautiful day. It's a favorite thing to do. By noon I decided to stop pretending I was going in the office to bill, and just allow myself to goof off the rest of Monday. Doing that allowed me to relax and keep from beating myself up for not finishing the billing. There was no reason I couldn't do it the next day. I've learned to only schedule about 4 hours of "work" a day, knowing that mail and emails and phone calls will create another 4 hours of work to be done. But I keep forgetting to factor in more than 4 hours sleep every 12 hours. This morning I slept until 10:30am. Instead of waking up thinking "Oh phooey, I overslept", I woke up thinking, "it sure feels good to oversleep when I don't have to be anywhere else". That helped me lighten up and set the tone for the day. So, I shoot myself in the foot with my goal setting by failing to figure into my schedule my down time, plenty of sleep time, plenty of rejuvenation time (translation: me blissfully alone in the silence). When I remember to schedule in time to rejuvenate, then the billing will be a breeze -- whenever I get to it. Nothing has to change except my perception of how much work I have, how much time I believe it will take me to do it, and how I feel about doing what must be done. I can make it easy or hard, my choice. I love my life. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

I Get Reminders to Keep Eating Healthy - Deja Vu All Over Again

Fri, 29 Jan 2010 02:04:19 +0000

I see I wrote at Tummy Bug, I Can Control My Perception a post that almost mirrors this week's experience. Wednesday night I came down with a little tummy ick that had me down for the count for 24 hours. I think it was really the fact that I'd eaten too heavy rather than a bug, but then I had a fever and chills and sweats all night, so who knows? The body does all sorts of things when it is ridding the body of toxins. I also see at Getting to know how my body works that reminds me that I've been overdoing it with the Chinese food and chicken & rice again, too. Hmmm, once or twice a year I see I've let myself do that. I'm glad I blogged about it so I could have a record to learn by. I find what works best for me is to keep my meals light, with maybe a hearty meal no more than twice a week, and not two days in a row, either. I have to remember that at my age and level of physical activity, I don't need to have a hearty meal - ever. That also means separating what I eat from what brings me emotional comfort. I can't just sit and mindlessly ingest snacks. I have to remember that bread and rice moves through my system slowly. I have to remember that if I eat bread or rice, 5 hours later it is still in my stomach. That is something to remember if I am going to eat 5 hours later - that my stomach may already be half full even though I feel hungry. When my system is overloaded, it's not just that I can pack on some extra pounds, it's that my body is the vehicle that allows me to move around in this world. The fuel I put into it determines how easily and how long I can do that. I wrote at When I’m Healthy, I’m Never Down For Long that when I use food like I use firewood - adding to the fire only the amount of wood that is needed when it is needed - the more easily it is converted to fuel for me, and the more efficiently it burns. This fuel is what I use to feed ALL of my biological processes - everything, for all organs and body parts, so it’s important. At the campfire, you don’t pile all the firewood on at once, you add each log as the fire burns down and makes room for it. You can make 8 logs last 8 hours or you can start the fire with all 8 logs. If you stack it all up at one time, you get a big smoky mess that has no air to breathe. That makes it burn unevenly and then it’s gone in just a few hours. Same as big meals. They just clog you up and don’t leave you energy to do the long term work. The long term work of fueling the cells of your body properly, so you metabolize properly and stay healthy. Digestion isn’t just about digestion. Healthy cells also look younger. I know I set some pretty stringent dietary guidelines for myself. I know that I can eat anything at all, in moderation. But I'm not naturally an "in moderation" kinda person, so it's easiest for me to simply avoid certain foods. I make myself remember that the reason for eating in the first place is to fuel my next activity, so my food has to contain substantial vitamins and minerals. I'm grateful for these little reminders the Universe gives me when I've gotten off track. When I eat my daily soups and salads, I feel healthy and nourished and vital and alive. When I begin eating sandwiches and chicken with rice, I feel slower, I feel less alert, I go into that getting-comfortably-numb stage. So why do I do it in the first place? If I feel so much better when I eat right, why do I stray off course? Because I let myself be tempted by something that I ate for years as a comfort food. Because old habits die hard. Because I like the taste of chicken. Because I want the convenience of a sandwich. Then I do it the next day and the next, not giving it much thought until the Universe gives me a wake up call and says ENOUGH! :) I'm learning. LISTEN FREE: Reprogramming Your Eating Habits

Intuitively Helping Myself

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 02:05:36 +0000

Yesterday I sat down to do my billing and got a pleasant surprise: I'd forgotten that I began the billing last week, as soon as I sent the February mag to the printer. I didn't want to send bills out that early, because I always want the advertisers to have the current issue in their hands before they get a bill for the next issue. So, seeing that my job was half done - I was stoked! Simply by forgetting I'd begun the billing earlier, I felt like someone else did half the job for me. Then I noticed I was running out of the pastel paper I print my invoices out on. I hoped I had enough for this month's billing. As I was putting a new delivery of envelopes and labels away in the supply closet, I noticed an unopened ream of baby blue paper, as well as one of yellow and one of orange. I'd forgotten I had them, so it was as though the Universe just sneaked them into the closet to delight me. I love it when I can intuitively help myself like that. Like yesterday, after my bout Wednesday with a tummy bug, I wasn't eager to ingest anything yet, although I had a hard boiled egg at 6:30am. About mid afternoon I began thinking of making a soup, a light kind of bland soup just to give me some fuel while my tum recupes. I opened the refrigerator to find some asparagus I'd bought earlier this week. I forgot it was in there. I wrote about The Healing Power of Asparagus just earlier this week. I suddenly craved an asparagus soup. Hmmm, more intuition? So I got out my one pint saucepan and sauteed half a yellow onion, 2 small carrots and one celery stalk in Pam Spray with olive oil. I filled the pot with water and added 2 bay leaves. 25 minutes later, I added a handful of chopped asparagus and cooked another 25 minutes. I added just 1/2 tsp sea salt and a shake of pepper and basil to keep it lightly spiced. I nibbled on this soup all evening and felt rejuvenated by it. Note to self: Next time, remove the bay leaves before pureeing the soup. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Eating Habits Visit Goddess Grub, Luscious Low Fat Meals

valeries-house-sml

Sat, 30 Jan 2010 21:04:42 +0000

Let's Buy Valerie Saurer A House

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 06:30:23 +0000

[caption id="attachment_7303" align="alignright" width="144" caption="The magic fairyland house"][/caption] I had a blast today with Valerie Saurer, a real life friend I met first on Facebook last year, who turned out to be a real find. I've been running her Prosperity Project in Horizons Magazine each month and enjoy the insights at her blog: The New Book of Clues. Last week she made a post on Facebook "I am joyfully and gratefully holding the vision of myself living in my beautiful new home. It has a huge kitchen with lots of storage, beautiful wood floors, a purple reiki room, and a huge screened in porch. It is nestled in a secluded garden filled with fairies and mango trees. I am happy there, surrounded by love. I hear laughter and singing among the wind chimes." She posted a link to pics of the house and sounded so excited about it. When friends are excited about something, that joins me in the excitement with them and I want to help them achieve it. You're the same, aren't you? In doing the Prosperity Project, I could tell that Valerie knew her stuff. She gets focused, she gets out of her own way, she doesn't try to figure out details like how or when, she just sees herself where she wants to be. And she gets there. Her life the past year has taken on a magical quality, with synchronicities and unexpected gifts and blessings. And she gets it. She gets how it all works. She knows the connection between holding her thoughts in a focused place, and achieving an outcome she wants. And when I see friends that focused, that determined, I want to help them get where they want to be. You're probably the same as me. We want to help our friends get to where they want to be, just as they do for us. So if, like me, you wanted to be part of her latest manifestation project, I created a webpage at Let's Buy Valerie Her House. There's the story of what she's doing and a Paypal donation button that goes to her Attitude of Gratitude Project. BTW, none of the donations are filtered through me. My only connection is I got interested in her story and thought what a great example of law of attraction at work. Since that's the theme of Horizons Magazine, Spiritual Solutions for Florida Since 1992, Applying The Law Of Attraction each month, I just thought after hearing her story that it was a cool project and I love doing experiments of this sort. It was easy to create a quick website using info she'd posted on Facebook and in her blog. I think friends do what they can to help friends. Valerie has never asked me for help, and she's given me much benefit, not the least of which is allowing me to run her column in Horizons each month. She's fun, she's quirky, she's aware, she's conscious, she's insightful, she's intense, she's delightful, she's creative and musical and multidimensional. She makes no excuses. Who wouldn't want to help buy a friend like that a house? She'd freak if she came home tonight to a hundred donations. Even a hundred of just $25 each, or just $3 for good luck and karma. A drop in the bucket, but every drop counts. Within an hour of my Facebook post being seen by all our friends, she'd already received a $50 donation. People want to be of help when they support what you do. Valerie Saurer is a great inspiration. Let's all donate to her. What goes around, comes around. You will be so blessed! Andrea

birds-fighting

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 11:59:09 +0000

Spiritual People Squabble Over Personality Stuff Because It's How We Learn. Some Learn Faster Than Others

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 05:12:17 +0000

A new FB friend posted the other day: "Well, it a new day, time to laugh at our individual and collective seriousness. There is nothing here that cannot be beautifully raised into the light of dawn....who's ready to let go their version of the ancient hatred?" I commented: "Hatred and grumpiness is too time consuming for me. I have squirrels to watch and birds to feed. I see the humor in their squabbling amongst themselves. Who wants the biggest seed? Who ends up with the most seeds? From here it's just comical. For them, maybe not so much." I'm not sure how he took that, but he replied: "Andrea, you have to remember that this hatred is not a "human" condition, meaning that the ego is constructed so that you don't see this... it is a spiritual condition, in that it points to our disconnection with the radical and radiant truth of who we are... as long as you think of yourself as human and love this human world you are lost to paradise... our function is to be the ing between this paradise and earth, what is called the Christ... so you may think that you avoid your self-hatred by turning toward the squirrels, but this is only a delaying tactic. but enjoy yourself!" WTF?? This is a new Facebook friend, I'll call him Grumpy, that I requested to add after seeing a comment of his on a mutual friend's page. A mutual Facebook friend whom I do not know and, although he's a popular writer of current spiritual books, whose work I am not familiar with. I'll call him Gary. At conferences I have always somehow not attended Gary's talks, not by design, always by having another priority scheduled at that time slot. Yet friends rave to me about his work with A Course in Miracles. I've seen their lives change through the years, so I have no reason to doubt when they say Gary is a profound teacher. My experience is people who study the The Course - or any intellectual teaching - deeply often find themselves embroiled in the same type of personality conflicts as occurred at the origin of The Course. Vibrational match, no biggie, it passes. So I was a little confused when Grumpy wrote me that "as long as you think of yourself as human and love this human world you are lost to paradise" and "you may think that you avoid your self-hatred by turning toward the squirrels, but this is only a delaying tactic". Self hatred?? Me? Then I remember, this man does not know me nor anything about me. He can see we have only one mutual Facebook friend, Gary, so Grumpy likely assumes I am Gary's fan or advocate and takes what I say as somehow sarcastic or caustic. I decide to read more at Grumpy's Facebook page and that seems to be his way, so I didn't take it personally. And I see now we have 81 Facebook friends, so he's culling my friends list. And an hour later 104, now 152. LOL I gotta laugh, you know how that goes. :) Anyway, to my comment "Hatred and grumpiness is too time consuming for me. I have squirrels to watch and birds to feed. I see the humor in their squabbling amongst themselves. Who wants the biggest seed? Who ends up with the most seeds? From here it's just comical. For them, maybe not so much." I got some good responses. One commented: Maybe Andrea is laughing at the squirrels because she understands that there is no ancient hatred and never was. Nothing to let go of, nothing to do, look at the squirrels and laugh like a child...all is forgiven now - what is there not to smile and laugh about. Andrea replied: Scott got it right - what's to hate when I know who I am in the greater scheme of things? It's all good. I think of my Self as being stuffed into this tiny human body on this tiny planet of humans but I am not fooled thinking that is all I Am - au contraire. Someone else wrote to Grumpy: "You insist on seeing sarcastic dragons and contemptuous monsters... Well all I can say really is that your cry for help is always heard." To whom Grumply had to say, "enjoy your little fiefdom, where you rule without any interference." LOL Does that not sound like the squirrels and the birds, fighting over who wants the biggest seed? Who ends up with the most seeds? We see stuff like this in the people around us all the time, don't we? We've heard friends say "he's not spiritual" because he does this or doesn't do that. Everyone has their own definitions. You can be spiritual and not be consciously aware or enlightened. Spiritual folks likely spend more than 51% of their time on the path, being kind and helpful without seeking recognition for it, knowing we're all connected. They can be compassionate caretakers without being what the labellers would call consciously evolved. Intellectual or self actualized doesn't mean you're spiritual or not spiritual. We've all got lots of parts to ourselves. I think self help or seeking enlightenment or whatever you call it is all about consciously choosing to make it part of your daily plan to work at reconciling the various aspects of your personality into as cohesive a whole as you are able. Get some goals in mind, and keep moving in the direction of them. I'm not conscious all the time, but I stumble less than many and far less than I used to. I no longer kick myself for my own lapses because I don't hold anything against anyone else for theirs. Amazing how that all just works itself out when you stop feeding it and just focus on doing the next right thing. And that includes treating everyone around you as if you know you are all connected, the Golden Rule and all that. That includes not getting into pissing matches with anyone for any reason. Let the personality differences slip away. Don't respond to anyone who goads you. Don't vibrate there and they will soon slip out of your experience. And when that happens, everyone wins.

The February 2010 Horizons Magazine is now online

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:09:24 +0000

The February 2010 Horizons Magazine is now online. Horoscopes on page 44. Enjoy!

Where are All the Spiritual Stores in Florida? Especially in the Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice Florida area

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 06:28:30 +0000

I had a mystery solved this week. I'd suddenly gotten a bunch of new subscriptions from the Sarasota area, and whenever that happens it's usually because a store that carried them moved or closed. That wasn't the case this time, simply that some locals were having conflicts with a particular store. I didn't want to get into who or why, but their conflict meant more subscribers for me. I don't have salespeople visiting all the stores, so I rely on the Horizons readers to let me know where the new locations are. I'm glad to send Horizons out to any stores as a gift for their customers. So West Coast Florida friends, I am asking you to tell me where the current metaphysical, new age, or pagan and feminist bookstores are in the Sarasota, Bradenton, Venice areas are. You can email me andrea@horizonsmagazine.com. For that matter, let me know your favorite local bookstore for spiritual fare, located anywhere in Florida. Let's share the Love.

money-in-hand-72

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:02:57 +0000

Paying Myself for Saving Money

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:40:54 +0000

Last month at Wachovia Bank the teller asked me if I wanted to open a free savings account that would have $1.00 deposited into it each time I used my debit card. I thought, "what a great idea" and asked her to email me info about it. "How can they do that?" galpal Sally Carmany asked me. What they do is deduct $1.00 extra per debit card transaction, and that $1.00 goes into your savings account. I still thought that was a cool idea. Tricking yourself into saving your own money. I decided not to do it, since I didn't need another bank account, but I liked the idea. I like the idea of saving money in general, but I wasn't always that way. For years I lived paycheck to paycheck and the only way I saved was by claiming zero on my W-2 at work so they would withhold the most taxes, so at the end of the year I'd always get a refund. I dressed competitively at the law offices I worked at. What I spent on clothes and shoes in the 70's and 80's could have been a downpayment on a house. But I never thought of that until years later. An episode of Sex And The City had that theme, much to the chagrin of Carrie who so loved the $600 Manolo Blahnick shoes. On some level, I could relate. When I bought my home - Uncle Jimmy built it for me in 1984 - my extra dollars began going into home projects rather than wearing current fashions. The fact that I was building equity in real estate didn't play into it. I was merely nesting and building my home. Even now I am not a big spender. I buy whatever I want, but I don't want much. Even now. Then twice this week I was going to eat lunch out and later choose to stay in instead. I thought, "if I transferred from my checking to my savings account every time I chose to eat IN, I would build up a nice fat kitty." So twice this week I've transferred to my savings account the amount the lunches would have cost me. And I did the same with The Farmer's Almanac I didn't buy, but read online instead. I figure I'll do this each time I decide to buy something, then don't buy it. It will be like paying myself for saving money. And I'm not talking here about stopping your flow of cash into the economy. I'm not saying don't go out for lunch. I'm not saying there's not enough and you have to hedge against a fear of lack. I'm just saying, when you catch yourself having made a decision to make a purchase, large or small, and you decide against it, transfer that amount into your savings account. If you stop buying cigarettes or alcohol, put that amount in your savings account every week. If you read the newspaper online, put the amount of a subscription in your savings account. It's the little things that add up to surprise you later in life. Make them good surprises. In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding.

Taking a Few Days Off

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 09:30:49 +0000

Last week I took a few days off work, then I took another, and then another. Being my own boss is good in that I can make time for everything I need to do, and get the work done as well. Yes, I also tend to overwork myself and spend way too many hours at the computer, but this year I am working on that. Really. As witnessed by my taking the entire last week off. At first it began as me just catching up on sleep, then I began the furniture arranging and housekeeping and gardening. A few days in to my stay-at-home vacation, I pondered the idea of going somewhere for a few days. Get out of Dodge for awhile. But there was really nowhere I wanted to go and nothing I particularly wanted to do. Other than what I was doing already. I spent the week eating light foods and slept outdoors several nights, watching the full moon cross the nighttime sky through the oak leaves of the tree I was camped beneath. I cleared a new path through the west woods, cutting through the palmetto fronds, weaving in between the sunlight and the shadows. I noticed yesterday that my yellow necklace pod bushes, which all got frostburnt in last month's freeze, now all have tiny buds appearing all over. My turk's cap all appears burned to the ground still, but I know it's too soon to tell. I know to not prune anything yet. My loquat trees all have blueberry sized fruits on them, one tree for the first year. My mulberry tree is heavily dormant since the freeze. The green overgrowth of wedelia and grapevine everywhere is no more, the brown vines lying limp from tree to tree. It's a different landscape for sure. I enjoy spending time in my yard, no matter what it looks like. Of course I prefer the lush, overgrown look, but when it's sparse like now, when I can see into my neighbor's yards, that's okay too. "Love it like it is," Ma Yoga Shakti says, "wherever you are, make a heaven of it." So that's what I've been doing this past week. And today I go back to work. And that's okay too. So did I get this cool job and this amazing life as my reward for loving it like it is, or did I just attract more to love by loving? Hmmmm.

raj-patel-by-andrea-ismert

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:18:38 +0000

maitreya-1988

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:52:06 +0000

Wacky Groups and Unlikely Messengers. The Messiah Maitreya Found?

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 10:22:46 +0000

[caption id="attachment_7397" align="alignright" width="118" caption="Photo by Andrea Ismert"][/caption] Raj Patel reported to be proclaimed the messiah Maitreya by followers of Share International. Mr. Patel has emphatically and publicly denied being Maitreya. Bad move, according to NY Times writer Scott James. According to the predictions, “Maitreya will neither confirm, or will fail to confirm, he is Maitreya,” said Cher Gilmore, a spokeswoman for Share International. Ms. Gilmore said SI founder Benjamin Creme would not say if he believed Mr. Patel was the messiah. I have followed this story for the past 20 years, and was a little surprised at this. [caption id="attachment_7399" align="alignleft" width="118" caption="Maitreya 1988"][/caption] Hmmm, if he is The One, who was this one who was The One back in 1988? I posted the question on Facebook. Facebook friend Jeanne Crescenzo wrote: Hopefully everyone will use discernment. There will be no "the One". WE are the "Ones" who are going to be the guiding force of light on this planet. We are the gods and goddesses. We should be more responsible with whom we share our "power" with. Thanks for this post hopefully it will open some eyes if not our own! :) Wise words. Another wrote: "In my view, Creme is not to be trusted one bit. I believe he is a tool for the NWO/ Illuminati / Luciferians... Creme was a devotee of Alice Bailey (who) founded Lucis Trust established in 1922 as Lucifer Trust as the publishing company to disseminate the books of Bailey, (Helena) Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society." There was a bit of a rant about Bailey, copied from conspiracy theory websites, stuff I know to be untrue. My (real life) friend Joan Crutcher said: Thanks for all that info. I'm not a "Lucifer" believing kind of person, but I sensed the negative vibes too. I was also getting periodic newsletters about Maitreya and "predictions" for the future from Creme, and it never quite resonated...let's put it that way :) I am confused tho' that anyone connected with the Theosophical Society would be as ominous as this Alice Bailey appears. Steiner's philosophy emerged about the same time as Baker-Eddy, Holmes and Fillmore's "New Thought." And I'm sure we agree they are all positive and light-filled :) You can read the entire Facebook thread in its entirety here The Whole Facebook Thread I knew my reply would be too long for Facebook. Alice Bailey is not ominous, I read what the conspiracy theorists have plastered all over the web about her Lucifer Trust. Just because someone types it doesn't mean it's true. A few computer geeks who know search engine optimization can make it so that when you Google anyone's name, it can direct you to their 200 websites as the first choices. So I can't blame someone for reading something they thought was true because they saw so many websites criticizing it and saying the exact same thing. What these masters of misinformation lack in independent thought, they make up for in keyboard time. They live for this stuff. I studied the Alice Bailey books in depth years ago. I know her work and found it to be immensely helpful. I saw Benjamin Creme in 1991 or 1992. Benjamin Creme turned me on to transmission meditation, which I have found to be transformative. I knew and attended transmission meditation groups with a former assistant and secretary of his. I never got any impression that he or she were anything but honest, devoted and wanting to be of service. If the info you read at the websites seems weird and flakey and airy fairy and just plain stoopid, consider it an exercise in translation and reading between the lines - what can I bring away from this experience, from this unlikely messenger? Bear in mind that messages do not always come to you in a form you expect or even recognize. When I study something, I thrown myself into it. If I sat with these groups and thought "how absurd" or whatever, I had no chance of experiencing what they experienced so I could know what they know. At the time I was studying the Alice Bailey books, I understood why they used the phrases they used, and the exoteric and esoteric meaning and implication of each. The writing is a wonderful mechanism for training the mind to organize information, read between the lines, contemplate words spoken and unspoken and see the bigger picture. They give processes or call it techniques or call it rituals or call it exercises the reader can do to stimulate thought in particular directions, and directing thought within a group setting. The value in directing minds to be alert for a coming Messiah brings hope to lots of lives. Just as the conspiracy theorists who flood the internet about Alice Bailey, likely 98% of them have never read her work. They don't properly cite the text they attribute to her. That means they don't tell you on what page in which book she said what they claim, so you can't check it for accuracy or context. But, back to the remarkable headline that Share International announced the Messiah Maitreya was here. Well, Share didn't exactly announce it. The media headlines said they figured out "from clues" who it was. So Share International DID NOT make the announcement. It could be just another example of the media trying to get someone to make a comment on the record to prove or disprove something they've made up. We don't know yet. I can see why Benjamin Creme will not say if he thinks Raj Patel is indeed the Maitreya he has heralded for lo these many years. Creme has always talked about the importance of not removing free will. If he were to say yes, Raj is the One, that would automatically remove free will from thousands of followers. They would automatically stop seeking truth from all corners of the Universe. Having a large group mind focused together in hopeful anticipation can be a very powerful force. That thoughtform alone attracts an upliftment to everyone it comes in contact with. We all want to be part of a solution. We can do that without removing anyone's free will. That's the trouble with having someone tell you who to watch for, who to have faith in, who to believe in. What if they're wrong and their guy turns out to not be The One? Have you only lost faith in your friend's ability to discern truth for you, or have you lost faith in all things for all time? Can you keep it in perspective? Do you thereafter think everyone is lying or misguided and not to be trusted? Or do you stay hopeful, and strive to extract the truth and the goodness from whatever you come in contact with? Do you read between the lines, knowing that Divine messages are found everywhere, even in seemingly wacky groups on unorthodox subject matters by unlikely messengers? I will not let what the media reports be my guide for whether I believe there is hope for a better tomorrow. I don't listen to music on a regular basis, so when I have a song running in my head, it's always relevant to what's going on In The Moment. As I contemplated all the people who read headlines that may or may not be true, and devotees who put their faith in the One they are waiting for, Steve Perry's Foolish Heart began playing in the background in my head. I listened for awhile, then had to find the lyrics. FOOLISH HEART 1984 Steve Perry, Randy Goodrum I need a love that grows I don't want it unless I know With each passing hour Someone somehow Will be there Ready to share I need a love that's strong I'm so tired of being alone But will my lonely heart Play the part Of the fool again Before I begin Foolish heart Hear me callin' Stop before You start fallin' Foolish heart Heed my warnin' You've been wrong before Don't be wrong anymore Feelin' that feelin' again I'm playin' a game I can't win Love's knockin' on the door Of my heart once more Think I'll let her in Before I begin Foolish Heart Hear me callin' Stop before You start fallin' Foolish heart Heed my warnin' You've been wrong before Don't be wrong anymore Foolish heart So how do you not be wrong anymore? I do it by recognizing the divine perfection in every moment, yet staying expectant for even more grace to come. That works for me. What works for you? In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone.

The Last Night Time Shuttle Launch

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 08:24:08 +0000

It was chilly and sunny here yesterday, a nice clear day. After last week's rain, I noticed the new sod is now green out at the easement where they put in the city water pipes last month. Wow, that was less than two weeks ago. Now it looks as though it's always been there. The bamboo have all lost their leaves, they make such a nice feathery carpet on the garden floor. Many of the oak leaves are down right now as well, giving a bit of a bleak look to the garden, but it also lets me see what is really there, not hidden behind giant leaves of green. It was also a time I could re-evaluate how I wanted to change the landscape for the coming year. I stood in my formerly completely-hidden-from-outside-view front garden and looked right out onto the street and into my neighbor's yard and front door. I like to give people their privacy, especially at home, so I looked to see what I could do about that. I moved a pvc table over to the barest spot, and piled on top of it all the potted plants that like to be under shade. Some I hung from oak branches. The spot I moved the table from was now large enough to be the new front pathway into the garden, so I raked the path clean and lined it with fallen branches. Using my pruners, I carefully cut some low hanging oak branches to give headroom. I wanted to make sure to leave them long enough in the front for privacy when the leaves began to grow back in, yet short enough behind the front row to easily walk into. I like for all my paths to be hidden from street view. No one walking by the house needs to be tempted to peek into my magical secret garden. I moved some dried bamboo poles over to the front property line, stacked them against the oaks. It gave a nice gazebo-like feel to the space, and created privacy as well. I moved a pvc chaise lounge out of the garden and wheeled it to the patio outside my bedroom. I moved the bamboo windchime to the front inside area as well. I picked up about 40 dead palmetto fronds and some fallen oak and pine branches. I love spending my time doing things like that. I don't kid myself that I'd like to live on a farm, because I can imagine that is hard work, but I sure like having a hunk of land that is my own, and doing my little landscaping projects. 4:39 am Shuttle Launch this morning was scrubbed, resecheduled to tomorrow morning, depending on the weather. I turn on channel 13 for the countdown then step out the back door, where I'll see it in the NE sky. I used to have to walk down the street to get out from under the tree line to see it. Then in 2004 the hurricane took a giant oak down in my back yard, so now I have great view of the northern sky, which is very cool. I can watch storms roll in, I can watch the shuttle, all from my back porch and back yard. From my kitchen window in fact. The last night time launch of the shuttle program. One more in July ending the shuttle era. Lotsa changes this year. Change is good. LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

Undercover Boss - Finally: a Relevant Reality Show

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 05:00:26 +0000

Undercover Boss is CBS primetime's newest reality show. The show, from executive producer Stephen Lambert (Wife Swap, Secret Millionaire), follows CEOs from major companies as they go undercover to see how their companies really work. I saw the first episode, centered on Larry O'Donnell, president and chief operating officer of Houston-based Waste Management Inc., as he donned a WM jumpsuit; the cover-story for the camera-crew accompanying him was that WM employees were told it was a documentary about someone trying out for entry-level jobs. He was so slow at gathering trash on a Boca Raton, Florida landfill that his supervisor fired him. Here's an Undercover Boss review by Ken Tucker, who didn't particularly care for the show. I really enjoyed it. O'Donnell worked on an assembly line with a woman who had to gobble her lunch down in 30 minutes and race to clock in lest she be docked 2 minutes for every minute she was late. He worked with a woman who smilingly did the job of 4 people, and who invited him to her home for dinner with her extended family of 6 or 7. They were about to lose their home, but everyone was pleasant and genuinely happy. When O'Donnell came home from work each day, he was bone tired, back aching, and he lost sleep over thinking about the way things are for the people who work for him. The ones who have to rush through their jobs and lunch breaks and scurry like mice to get it all done, when he was the one who initially sent down the order for increased productivity. He was clearly moved as he did the after hours debriefing to the camera. He was so moved that he wanted to make changes. And he was in a position to make those change, and make them he did. To me, that's what good reality tv is all about. I like shows with a message, especially a message that shows people how capable they really are, that what they do really matters, and that you never know who your words will reach - and who your good attitude inspires - that can help you make changes that benefit everyone. I think it's a good idea to act at every moment as if your boss is watching you, because that makes you want to do your best. Work as if you are working for the very Beloved itself. I feel inspired when I do that. So I give Undercover Boss a big thumbs up. Yes, stupid people will say stupid things, but reality tv and undercover cameras teach us that there are consequences to what we say and do. It gives people the chance to take responsibility for what they say and who they say it to. It also gives people hope that the new one alongside them may be a 'mole" reporting back to management, so why not just do the best job, and have the most upbeat attitude and go out of your way to get along with everyone. What if everyone, everywhere did that? Wow, I want to work there. Oh wait I already do. Andrea In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

brian-weiss

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:35:06 +0000

Dr. Brian Weiss in Florida - Release Anxieties and Fears By Unlocking the Doors to Your Past - February 20th in Orlando - March 13th in Ft. Lauderdale

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:51:52 +0000

[caption id="attachment_7443" align="alignright" width="126" caption="Dr. Brian Weiss"][/caption] Two chances to see Dr. Brian Weiss in Florida - Release Anxieties and Fears By Unlocking the Doors to Your Past - A highly experiential intensive workshop Many Lives, Many Masters: Experiencing Your Past Lives February 20, 2010 10am to 5pm Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL Click Here to Register! Many Lives, Many Masters: Experiencing Your Past Lives March 13, 2010 10am to 5pm Broward County Convention Center in Ft. Lauderdale, FL Click Here to Register! Dr. Brian Weiss astonished the world of psychiatry with the theories of past-life regression therapy detailed in his best-selling book, Many Lives, Many Masters. Brian has become known as the nation’s foremost expert in the field. This highly experiential intensive workshop explores the latest in hypnotic regression therapy. When we discuss what happens before we are born and after we die—and our possible future lives—we awaken from the constrictions of our past conditioning to release anxieties and fears. This intensive includes large and small group exercises, using techniques such as hypnotic regression; healing visualizations; and intuitional and right-brain training. There will be ample time for questions and answers, and personal interaction with Brian. Click here for complete tour details. Join Brian Weiss as he opens unexpected doors into the astonishing realm of past-life regression, and guides participants through the process, step by step! Plan a retreat with Dr. Brian Weiss and other amazing Hay House authors for a life-altering weekend at the 2010 I Can Do It! conferences: I Can Do It! San Diego, CA May 14–16, 2010 I Can Do It! Toronto, May 28-30, 2010 I Can Do It! Tampa, FL November 11-14, 2010 Hay House Wisdom Community Members receive 30% off Hay House online products and 10% off Hay House events (excludes cruises). Wisdom Community Members will automatically receive the highest discount offered on any specials. Click here to become a member of the Hay House Wisdom Community™ and receive your free gift! Discounts valid for online purchases only and while supplies last. Hay House, Inc. • PO Box 5100, Carlsbad, CA 92018 • (800) 654-5126 View the online version here Andrea In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body The End of Death As We Know It

Taking What I Have and Making What I Want

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 11:31:33 +0000

I've been enjoying having a week out of the office, and I've been moving furniture around like crazy at home. Last month I gave away my little fainting couch and that opened up a whole lot more of the living room. I like to walk into a room and see big open spaces. I moved a white credenza out of the living room and into my room, since it it really the headboard that matches my bedroom set. I have several small rolling tables in the living room, and I rearranged those. I swapped out some tall lamps for short ones. I moved the bed to accommodate the headboard. One good thing is it gives me an 8" buffer between my head and the west to east wall where the electrical wiring is. On the other side of that wall is the refrigerator. I usually sleep with my head in the corner, diagonally on the bed, to be away from the electrical outlets. Or sometimes with my head along the north to south wall. Mostly I sleep diagonally, head to the NE. It just feels better somehow. Now that I've moved the couch and credenza in the living room, when I do my yoga I have lots and lots of room around me. I see I still have 7 chairs in there, as well as 6 sitting pillows, and 9 small tables, but now it's more open. The more years that pass, the more I like to keep the spaces around me open and clear. I used to like to have all sorts of knicknacks around, my beloved momentos, everything looking very full and cluttered. Now I appreciate bare and sparse. Years ago we'd have meditations and discussions here a few times a week. That ended in 1996 when I went to California. When I came back eight months later, I wanted a break from it. I stay a lot busier now than I did then. Now I like when the meetings are held somewhere else. Then I can leave when I want - it's always easier to say "I have to go," than it is to say "You have to go." And no clean up. I never care for eating during meetings, that's my personal preference. I think people are distracted enough in ordinary conversation without juggling coffee and cookies, too. I do miss the camaraderie of attending different groups and meetings. My schedule the past few years has me home by 4:00pm so I can nap a few hours before doing evening and midnight phone sessions. That means I miss all evening events, everywhere. One reason I book my schedule so heavily is because I love paying off my bills and I know these are my big earning years. Last year I took on helping two elder family members and I'm honored to do that. Only a few extra hours on my part, of work I love to do, allows me to help them out in what they feel is a big way. I'm thrilled they think so and I'm honored to do it. It felt good to take time off last week. I'm still basking in the feeling of that. I love having time off to just play in my garden or do whatever I want to do. I like to bask in thoughts about the things I'm doing that feel good. I know that attracts more of the same to me. Yesterday I moved more of the cut bamboo and potted plants to the east garden, just giving it all a new look. Since, due to the frostbite, it can't look how it used to look, I can take what I have and make it look like something else. That way it doesn't look quite so ragged and war torn until it begins to grow back in. Like Alan Cohen's teacher Hilda Charlton told him, "take what you have and make what you want". As my own believed Ma Yoga Shakti says, "wherever you are , make a heaven of it." Andrea LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

Doctors Stunned When 3-Year-Old's Brain Tumor Disappears

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:05:25 +0000

Doctors Stunned When 3-Year-Old's Brain Tumor Disappears A 3-year-old girl has stunned her parents and doctors after fighting off an inoperable brain tumor all by herself. Liberty Rose Finn was given 18 months of chemotherapy to try and shrink a growth behind her eyes which was sending her blind. The grueling treatment only halved the tumor, leaving parents Carl, 34, and Dawn, 32, fearing the worst for their daughter's future. But nine months after the chemo stopped they were stunned by the results of a new brain scan taken last week, which revealed the growth had practically disappeared all by itself. Scans at Nottingham's Queens Medical Center revealed she had optic chiasm glioma, a tumor wrapped around both of Liberty's optic nerves, which was making her blind. Her parents were told the growth could never be removed because of its size and location and a pioneering chemotherapy was the best option. Chemo began in October 2007, but by the end of the treatment, a scan showed the tumor had only shrunk by 50 percent. Doctors said because the treatment had made her so ill they could not give her any further sessions. Dawn Finn is convinced Liberty somehow fought off the tumour that the chemotherapy could not. "I literally couldn't believe it when I saw the scan -- it was bizarre," Dawn Finn said. "The tumor that had looked so large before had just gone. I had to ask the doctor over and over again: 'Is this Liberty, are you sure?'" ### end of excerpt So what made Liberty's tumor disappear? Maybe because she knew she was sick and was told all these people and procedures were going to make her better, and so she believed it. It feels good to believe that it's going to be alright and that people are working on our behalf to make that happen. We all want that, right? And if we begin to believe that, we will begin to attract that out of the people around us. People will begin to work more obviously in our behalf. We'll feel as though a miracle has taken place in our own lives. And we'll be right. The miracle is knowing when you choose to believe the best, that's what you'll attract out of everything and everyone around you. That's the miracle. That's the secret. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body

gregg-braden-08-72

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 09:20:52 +0000

pattistanger72

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:16:44 +0000

http://www.bravotv.com/the-millionaire-matchmaker/bio/patti-stanger

Revisiting Millionaire Matchmaker

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:04:02 +0000

I wrote last year at Millionaire Matchmaker ~ On Mating, Matching and Pairbonding my thoughts on the show. Now I see there's a new season and I watched an episode last night. The first thing I notice is that Matchmaker Patti Stanger has either slimmed down since last season, or is wearing less frumpy outfits. BravoTV has her promo photo wearing a short, tightish dress and she looks good and her legs look great. Great choice of image! She'd look younger without the tan and frosted shadow and gloss, but she goes for that ethnic look. The show is edited to highlight Patti's abrupt way with people: she verbally cuts them off and cuts to the chase. There are ways to do that and be diplomatic and gracious, but Patti often seems to delight in being rude and disrespectful. Granted, 90% of the people she seems to work with are posers, but that's the territory, it's Los Angeles. Historically, rich men have never had a problem finding beautiful women, and vice versa. The show is an entertaining watch and I'm sure the millionaires and the beautiful women all are eager for their 15 minutes of fame on national tv. In Patty's defense, she is dealing with lotsa gold diggers that she has to train into some semblance of how to not appear to be a gold digger, at least not during the first meetings. With the millionaires, there are a lot of ego driven, narcissistic men that Patti wastes no time in cutting down to size. She's got that sarcastic, caustic Jersey Shore, I'm a tough chick kind of personality and she speaks her mind. Often she brings in a life coach and does a makeover. Some of the guys are definitely more refined by the time they get to the date, because Patti has some good advice. The problem, of course, is that neither party is being themselves on the first date, although some are - to their detriment. I always think a first date is to see if there's enough chemistry or interest to schedule a second. I believe in keeping it casual the first few times you hang out, talk to each other about real things happening in your life - more about your hopes and ambitions, than about your past and your exes. I think when men, as Patti suggests, do pull wildly romantic stunts on first dates, of course it's going to sweep some chicks off their feet and help the man gain an emotional advantage. If that's all you're going for, go for it. But don't set a precedent you're not going to keep up with. You don't really need to get a first date's attention with hundreds of roses and a helicopter ride. How do you know thereafter if she likes you for who you are, rather than what you can provide for her? I had a boss, circa 1971, who loved to tell a joke to all the sassy new young secretaries that he liked to cut down to size. I paraphrase, but you'll get the drift: A man takes his first trip out to Las Vegas, it's his first trip anywhere out of his hometown. It's also his first flight. he's got a window seat, a pretty flight attendant is serving his lunch and drinks, "There's sure nothing like this in Hoboken," he thinks. He gets into Las Vegas and asks the cabby to take a drive down the strip and take him to a casino. "There's nothing like this in Hoboken." he says. He gambles all night, he wins lots of money, he's got girls hanging all over him. "There's sure nothing like this in Hoboken." He choses the best looking girl, they go drinking and dancing and end up at his hotel room. She's beautiful. "There's nothing like this in Hoboken," he says. The entire trip has been a surprise and delight, so many new experiences. He can hardly wait for what's to come. She undresses. The lights go out. "Ah," he says, "just like Hoboken." While I agree it's wise to put your best foot forward during your initial meetings, make sure it is still the real you. Guys, don't give an inventory of what you own. That just ensures you will never know if she'd like you without that being dangled as bait. One male friend tells me, "I don't care, as long as I feel it's a fair trade off." That's fair enough. Women, don't give a sob story of how you're barely paying your bills. Savvy men don't fall for that wounded bird take me under your wing please storyline. You're worth more than that. Your partner is worth having more than that. Be real from the beginning and let that take you where it will. If I were to go on a "first date" with someone, I would allow myself to be In The Moment with them, learning what their interests are, sharing mine, and if I felt a connection I would let them know it. That doesn't mean they are my future husband, but it means I feel a connection and would like to explore it. And if I feel it and they don't, or vice versa? Oh, well. I don't take things like that personally. Rejection is protection. So, Millionaire Matchmaker, it's a show I'll watch. Although I'd really like to see Patti soften up a little although, having said that, I realize that's her schtick, that's is part of her draw, kind of like the simon Cowell personality. And if I find her personality (maybe edited to seem) abrasive, I'm sure they won't mind. I'm not their target audience. I don't buy their products. I like Bravo TV and watch many of their shows. They are smart; they know who the consumers are and they target their audience. So if I don't like something, that's ok. They don't mind. We both know it's my problem. It always is. In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body The End of Death As We Know It

The Women's Center in Melbourne, FL needs your help

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:23:01 +0000

The Women's Center in Brevard needs your help, Facebook fans. Their food pantry is nearly empty. When you stop at the grocery store this week, please take advantage of the buy one/get one free specials and donate a bag of non-perishable food. Food can be dropped off Monday thru Friday, between 9:00 and 4:00pm at The Women's Center offices at 1425 Aurora Road in Melbourne. Their Vision: To help women and families help themselves to develop safe, healthy and self sufficient lives. Thank you.

mom-baby-hand72

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 17:30:54 +0000

When you receive in the mail a con artist invitation from the Biltmore Who's Who Executive and Professional Registry nominating you for the privilege of becoming a member, Read this Rip Off Report.

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 18:02:07 +0000

I just got an "invitation" from these folks and this is what it looks like. I figure if I got it, you might get one also. Don't fall for it. I read this at Ripoff Report Search Results for Biltmore Who's Who: "I was contacted by Biltmore Who's Who and was told I was nominated for the privlege of becoming a member... I did give my credit card number and was charged over $1000 dollars, but have gone to my bank to file a fraud report on this company." The report continues: "I normally never act on one of these, but she had me convinced that my company would be seen by thousands from this publication. She provided all their numbers, her name ect. Two weeks later I called to cancel, but no one returned my call. They really make you think they are for real. To date I have received nothing. I did receive a phone call a month later asking me if I would like to spend more money and REALLY get my company promoted. This time a man called. I declined and told him I had never received the initial package I was supposed to get. He assured me another one would go out. Signed: Cec, Cave City, KY" Are you also a victim of the same company or individual? Want Justice? File a Rip-off Report, help other consumers to be educated and don't let them get away with it. Links to other reports of people who have been ripped off by the Biltmore Who's Who Executive and Professional Registry. Biltmore Who's Who Inc. 4601 Sheridan Street Hollywood Florida 33021 Phone: 954-893-0114

The Real Housewives of Orange County and Lynne's Eviction Notice - Get Your Finances Under Control, People

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 09:34:10 +0000

Last night I watched the Real Housewives of Orange County and Episode 12, entitled You Can Dish It But You Can't Take It, has Housewife Lynne Curtin and her husband Frank discussing the eviction notice they just got served. I see this show as often as I can and I always liked Lynne since she's so easy going. But boy, not in this episode! The last show ended with a sheriff's deputy handing Lynne's daughter an eviction notice at the front door. This week, the segment begins with Lynne walking into an outdoor public park where she confronts Frank at a picnic table and asks about the eviction notice. Lynne is really pissed. WTF is going on? Why is this happening to us? She has clearly rehearsed some things she is going to say to Frank (and the camera) and, no matter how Frank responds, she's going to have her say. When asked how did we get evicted? Frank, whose construction business apparently screeched to a halt some time ago, said there were other issues, other monies that were owed that he needed to pay on time. The big issue seems to be there was a deposit owed on the Laguna Beach home they rented when they downsized, that he wasn't able to pay on time. Hence the eviction notice. "A deposit??!!??" Lynne blows up at Frank. "You lied to me. You told me that was why this place was such a good deal, because there was no deposit." Frank tells the camera, "I didn't tell anyone the money was owed." Well, we figured that out by now, since last season had Lynne and Raquel going in for cosmetic surgery, and since the beginning Lynne has been known as a compulsive shopper. She jokes and calls herself a sports shopper and spoils daughters Raquel and Alexa with lavish gifts. Frank might have saved himself a lot of aggravation (and joint marital debt) by fessing up years ago. I completely understand how a man in the construction business, historically a cash flow business, would simply think any day now the market will bounce back and we'll be in gravy once again and I'll get everything paid off. The construction market has never not been good. He's a man who wanted to provide for his wife and daughters to make them happy, and suddenly his income changed and he thought it would swing back before it became a problem. He wanted to keep any 'bad news' from his family as long as he could. After all, if his business began booming again, there would be no problem and no reason for them to have known about it in the first place, right? During the eviction conversation, Lynne immediately brings up that she was feeling good about things, she had the surgery done, and she left it to him to take care of it and he didn't do that. Frank told her, "we need to be on the same page and start saving money." Lynne replied, "You're not going to victimize me. I'm your wife and you don't even care about me and I can't handle it." WTF? Frank said. "You live in a little microcosm and it's not even real and you don't know what's really going on." Lynne said, "I just want to know the truth." Frank replied, "You don't want to hear the truth." End of picnic bench segment. Later in the show, after lunch at a 5 star restaurant where Lynne told the other housewives about the eviction notice, they all go shopping and Lynne as usual is charging purchases and joking about it. She is so wrapped up in the shopping and filming that she apparently forgets she is now supposed to be saving money. So, if you found yourself in Frank's position, would you have done as he did, hide the truth and bear the burden alone? Is that the kindest thing to do for your family? Or is it wiser to let everyone know everything involved in the running of the family? Even if you're going to designate yourself as sole breadwinner, it's simply good basic financial training to let everyone know what everything costs. To let them know how much manpower on Dad's part is expended to buy Lynne's facelift, Raquel's nose job or her $1200 purse. To let them count the available hours in a month and figure how many of Dad's waking hours must be spent working to get all the bills paid every month. And to figure into that how many hours he will have left to spend time and enjoy the family he is working himself to the bone to support. I'm not saying the sole breadwinner needs to constantly rail on about every penny all the time, I'm just saying it is good financial training to let your children grow up knowing how much things cost and how many manpower hours go into the creating of the dollars to pay for it all. You're doing them a real disservice if you do not prepare them. If Raquel had to buy her own purse with her own money earned from working her own job, I guarantee she would not have spent $1200 on it, as her mother did. She would have had some basic training in dollar management, which would over the years save her lots of money. Money she can spend on fun doings, rather than simply having a closet full of items with the tags still on them to show for all her hard work. Of course, more valuable would be an understanding of law of attraction, but learning some basic financial skills is a step in the right direction. Your finances, get a grip on them before they get a grip on you. Andrea A Psychic Reads the Auras of the Housewives of Orange County RELATED: Getting A Handle On What I Spend Money On RELATED: Getting Clear on Finances to Begin the New Year RELATED: Organizing My Finances, Practicing My Script From Think and Grow Rich In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding.

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Fri, 12 Feb 2010 17:57:53 +0000

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Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:00:12 +0000

Life In Balance at The Crystal Center in Ft. Pierce Saturday Feb 13th

Fri, 12 Feb 2010 18:02:35 +0000

[caption id="attachment_7524" align="alignright" width="104" caption="Life in Balance"][/caption] From Rev. William McNeely Jr: "Life In Balance" will be at The Crystal Center of Illumination 2705 Sunrise Blvd. in Ft. Pierce, Florida 34982 on Saturday night, February 13th at 7:00pm for a crystal bowl sound healing meditation session. For this experience you can bring a blanket or pillow and lie down or sit. Ami plays many crystal bowls and Steve performs with flutes, synths and other instruments. The sessions are incredible. Drop in and levitate with us. www.lifeinbalancemusic.com Email: tranzen@bellsouth.net. Join Ami and Steve Sciulli for an amazing evening. This Energy Transmission Session begins with a short explanation of the quartz crystal bowls and the Shakuhachi flutes. The participants are then invited to lie down to relax while a short meditation is spoken to engage the left and right brain hemispheres. The quartz crystal bowls and flute music is performed, surrounding the listener, allowing them to re-awaken feeling refreshed. Participants will also have time to share their experience or to sit in stillness. Life in Balance has performed their sound healing sessions in almost every state in the country. Ami and Steve Sciulli are sacred sound healing musicians who use quartz crystal bowls and electronically enhanced world flutes to create an environment for healing, expansion, and relaxation. Life in Balance is committed to using sacred musical instruments merged with current technology to create an integrated sonic environment for transformation. They perform both Sound Healing Meditation (Inbreath) and Dance/Music Concerts using global rhythms (Outbreath). The cost is $20 in advance and $25 at the door. Please also join Life in Balance at the Crystal Temple of Illumination for the Sunday morning service at 10:00am on February 14th. I love the sacred music performed by these folks. Make a point to attend. Andrea

Doomsday? Gregg Braden Clarifies Meaning of Apocalyptic 2012 Date

Sat, 13 Feb 2010 04:36:54 +0000

[caption id="attachment_7473" align="alignright" width="118" caption="Gregg Braden"][/caption] It's the end of the world as we know it, and Gregg Braden feels fine. Maybe it's not quite that simple, but according to Braden, who has spent the last 22 years studying nature's cycles and the scary predictions behind the year 2012, it's not as cataclysmic as we've been led to believe. "I'm not a doom and gloom person," said Braden in a recent phone interview from his home just outside of Taos, N.M. "We're facing some of the greatest challenges of 5,000 years of recorded history and seeing that when we work together we empower ourselves to leave the worst behind and head into the best," Braden said. "2012 isn't the end of the world; it's the end of a great world age. The end of one cycle is the beginning of another." The New York Times best- selling author will give a lecture Friday at the Lincoln Center on what Dec. 21, 2012 - the end of the Mayan calendar - really means for the Earth's future. Known as a pioneer in bridging science and spirituality, the former geologist and aerospace computer systems designer has spent the last 22 years studying nature's cycles as they unfold into historical, environmental and sociological patterns and what these patterns can tell us about our potential future. This generation is facing the greatest number of challenges and greatest magnitude of threats to its existence ever in recorded human history, he said, citing examples such as climate changes, the addition of new, incurable diseases, the global economic collapse and the threat of regional and, potentially global, war. Braden, who attended Colorado State University, tracks these cycles of time, which he calls "time codes." "Somehow our ancestors knew about these cycles before GPS and satellites," Braden said. "They knew that the Earth would undergo changes based on cyclic changes; they had just experienced it in their time." Using mathematics to calculate the rhythm of the cycles, Braden was able to look for "big picture" events in the past to see what our future may hold. "May" because, Braden said, this window to the possible future is society's key to determining its true future. Many people are looking at 2012 with fear and anxiety because of the misinterpretations of Armageddon that they've seen played out in the movies, he said. But 2012 marks the first year of a new cycle and the potential emergence of a new way of being. Time codes indicate that the planet is already well on its way through the most frightening changes, so rather than waiting for the future to happen, we're already dealing with it, Braden said. "It looks frightening until we realize that this is an opportunity to forever change some of the most frightening aspects in our time - our choices have greater potency," he said. "It's not about a date but about a time in our civilization," Braden added. "It's a global reality check; we can look at the events leading up to it and decide which choices worked and which didn't. "This is the opportunity that we have right now," he said. "For me, the end date 2012 marks not only the end of a great cycle; it also marks the beginning of another. Right now, we're making the choices personally and collectively to say what the (next) world age will look like. The stage is set, the choice is ours and the time is now." Original article here New York Times best selling author Gregg Braden is internationally renowned as a pioneer in bridging science and spirituality. Following a successful career as a Computer Geologist for Phillips Petroleum during the 1970s energy crisis, he became a Senior Computer Systems Designer for Martin Marietta Defense Systems during the last year of the Cold War. In 1991 he was appointed the first Technical Operations Manager for Cisco Systems where he led the development of the global support team that assures the reliability of today’s Internet. For more than 22 years, Gregg has searched high mountain villages, remote monasteries, and forgotten texts to uncover their timeless secrets. To date, his work has led to such paradigm-shattering books as The Isaiah Effect, The God Code, The Divine Matrix and The Spontaneous Healing of Belief: Shattering the Paradigm of False Limits. In case the FTC is wondering, I am not endorsing anyone. LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: You Are Not The Body The End of Death As We Know It

Vibrational matching: Read the news or read the funnies, it's your choice

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 05:47:35 +0000

Remember when you were a kid and the newspaper would come, and dad would take the front page, mom would take the lifestyle section and the kids would get the comics first? We'd all sit at breakfast and Dad would fuss at the news headlines, and mom would comment about what she was reading, to lighten the mood. As kids, we'd just be reading the comics and not paying attention to much of anything either of them said, lost in our own little world of Dennis the Menace, Peanuts, and Calvin and Hobbes. For the kids, Sunday morning was for reading the Sunday funnies (in color!) and thinking of what fun things could be done with a day off. For Dad, Sunday morning was for catching up on the bad news of the week all at one time. What he read in the paper determined what his mood was going to be all day. After reading the Sunday paper, we kids were ready to play and have fun while Daddy was bummed out and disheartened over the state of the the world. Not a vibrational match for a fun day. Or a fun life. I'm not saying it's all about fun, and I did not have a tormented childhood. I grew up in a working class family with my father a carpenter and my mother a phone clerk, both employed full time while we were growing up. Our dad was a slow reader, having only a 6th grade education, and that added to his frustration when reading the news - having to take time to figure out what the words were, then what they meant. He always woke up in a happy mood, but it went downhill fast after reading the headlines. We didn't grow up knowing that what we think about and read about and vibrate in harmony with is what we would attract into our life. We didn't know that if we focused on something cranky at the beginning of each day, we would see the whole day through a cranky filter, and attract more to be cranky about. We just grew up knowing that we wanted to do what felt good and do what made us happy. Like reading the comics on Sunday morning. It put us in a good mood for the day. It added to the fun we had. Seeing the fun the cartoon characters were having made us imagine ourselves in their place, having the fun with them, doing the things they could do. Again I'm not saying it's all about fun, but it kinda is. It's about vibrating in a place that helps us attract more of what we want to attract. We vibrate in a place when we think about it, when we ponder it, when we daydream and imagine scenarios about it. Reading the Sunday funnies was the first time I imagined I could be more than I was. I'd read Brenda Starr and imagine myself going off on her adventures. Growing up, I wanted to be either Brenda Starr or Della Street. It was kind of like crime fighting, because I'd get to bring truths to light through what I reported, or I'd get to help justice be done behind the scenes. I guess in retrospect, I did become both Della Street and Brenda Starr through my career as a criminal defense paralegal and now as a writer and publisher. I'm teaching my 80 year old aunt to use the computer so she can go online and expand her world outside her sitting room. I've made a cheatsheet of topic headings (cooking, crafting, genealogy) on a sticky note at her monitor, as well as bookmarked for her some of her favorite places to visit online. I love when she comes out excited about what this friend or that said in a forum, or some exciting new something she saw online. What I don't love is when she comes out quiet and timid and somber, because she got distracted by some news headlines that disturbed her and she can't get it out of her mind. At 80 years old, she has never tried to train her mind to stay focused, so it does not come easily to her. She has to be reminded to go back and look for the good, so that her worried mind can settle down and remember that all really is well. Why would she choose to read the bad when the good is bookmarked and sticky noted for her??? Why would she continue to read the headlines when she knows it is just upsetting to her, and something she regrets later when she's worried all night long? I'm the kind of person that gets totally engrossed in whatever I am doing, and I know it helps me to have sticky notes or a list telling me what it is I want to stay focused on. Like during final layout week, when I get wrapped up reading what my Facebook friends are doing. It helps me to see the sticky note that says "finish downloading all email ads and return calls". That gets me back to work when I stray. Even I sometimes need to be reminded to go back and look for the good. Read the news or read the funnies? It's your choice. Andrea RELATED POSTS: How were you programmed by language as a child? Today is our father’s birthday Back to Work and Happy Birthday Daddy LISTEN FREE: Re-Program Your Consciousness

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Sun, 14 Feb 2010 12:05:15 +0000

Recalling Past Valentines and Why I Don't Have One Now

Sun, 14 Feb 2010 14:27:34 +0000

True Valentine's Day story. I had a 3 day weekend one President's Day in the early 80's and decided to go on a cruise out of Miami to Nassau. I didn't even consider that it was also Valentine's Day weekend. The entire cruise was couples, with very few solo. The Greek crew members all paid special attention to the single women and it was quite a fiasco, since I like hanging out alone. I also got seasick for the first time ever, after having been on small boats my whole life. Also, when I went into Nassau, I saw my father and his wife on the cover of the The Sunday Miami Herald when I'd not been prepared for the story. It was quite the memorable Valentine Day weekend. The card to the right, which I posted on Facebook, says: Happy Valentine's Day. Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond. (From Essential Rumi by Coleman Barks) I’m grateful for each one of you, sent to me as a guide. You are truly my valentines. So why don't I have a valentine today? I don't have a valentine now because I'm a workaholic woman with a mission and that takes up my days and nights. The past dozen years anyway. It mostly happens because I place priority on the things I am most interested in and passionate about. When that happens to be a project rather than a boyfriend, that's where the trouble comes in. I think it comes down to a conscious choice of where do I want to place my attention? What draws me the most? I don't meet the wrong men. I've never had a bad boyfriend or husband. In retrospect, each one of them was a vibrational match to me at the time. I've had fun with all of them, we got along fine. It's just that, in looking back, my pattern has been for mates and employers to last about 3 years each. After that I was ready for a job change and ready to live alone again. Sometimes I just woke up and didn't feel it anymore. Having a monastic background makes it easy for me to think of men as my spiritual brothers, and no lover wants to hear, "Hey pal, I just think of you as a friend and brother now". Big buzz kill. When I figured out there was a pattern, I stopped pair bonding so I could ponder the meaning of it. I found an astrological corelation with the planet Saturn as it travels through my zodiacal houses; a corelation to lessons being learned at that time as evidenced by my daily journal entries. But I mostly found I like to spend time doing the things that catch my attention in a strong way, things that are fulfilling to me. Every few years I'll run across someone and we'll really click and hang out for awhile. In getting to know someone, I can tell how alike or dissimilar we are. I have very few Dont's about the guys I hang out with, but they are important and they are deal breakers. Don't show up drunk. I don't care if you drink, but don't show up drunk. I want someone I click with that I share some mutual interests with. I want someone with thoughts and ideas and the ability to express them. I don't want someone who is always drunk or high or sitting in front of the tv. I want them to be financially self sufficient; to have a job that pays their bills. I don't want to spend time with someone who is critical, complaining and pessimistic. I want someone who is fairly conscious, optimistic, with discipline over their emotions. I don't want someone who is so neurotic they can't function, or won't work to keep it under control. Not such a long list, is it? Let me list some of my favorites through the years. This is not chronological. RH was a lot like me, a writer, a 12th house Aries, an intense interest in meditation. He had a brilliant mind and he took Lithium for his Bipolar Disorder. My dad was Bipolar, so I knew the drill. RH would alternate on and off his meds, and in and out of being socially functional. I was tiring of the roller coaster ride about the time he became more reclusive. Years later, we are still friends and email from time to time. RG was a favorite husband of the 80's, handsome, fun, financially stable, good common sense, but he had custody of a daughter who was hell on wheels from age 10 to 13, when I finally said ENUFF. I was so NOT made to be a mom. From the day they moved out, we've never spoken. He no longer lives in town. MD was a very fun favorite boyfriend of the 80's. He was a bartender and server at an upscale restaurant and all his fellow workers were very fun, get off work at midnight and party people. Peter Pan at his finest. We had a blast together. His downfall was he began doing coke and I'm kinda square and think that's a bad drug. His story is I tossed him out. My story is it took me three days to find him to give him his stuff back. We're friends today and laugh about everything now. Who else? There was CR who had a 9 to 5 job and was interested in many of the things I was. We spent hours talking on topics and just hanging out together in the evenings. We are both interested in personal growth and so early on told each other what our bad habits in past relationships have been. He told me he had self esteem issues and in the past had allowed women to take care of him. That tipped the balance of power and changed how he felt about them, and made him lose respect for them. He did not drink or drug but spent a lot of time gambling at a local club. He always had money problems. A few months in, a week after I told him I wasn't going to pay for everything all the time anymore, he sent me an email saying he did not want to spend time with me anymore. Rejection is protection. Years later, we're still friends. DG was a real favorite, kind, sensitive, thoughtful, caring, industrious, smart, creative, fun, adventurous. His downfall was wrong time, wrong place. I was going through a period of wanting solitude and he was coming out of a period of solitude, wanting a forever partner. I wanted to want that. He married a mutual friend and they are both very good friends of mine and we speak often. MB was the most recent, we had gardening and native plants in common, we had fun doing a newsletter together and we liked the same kind of music. He told me he didn't drink alcohol and that he took prescription drugs for depression. His downfall was he could be very pessimistic and oh, right, showing up drunk at my door, after being told Don't show up drunk, call and cancel and it will be cool. My bad was not letting him know the first time how serious I was, especially since he combines the rx and drinking. After the second time, I told him I wouldn't do that again. We're still friends and speak from time to time. They were all the perfect boyfriend at the time. It took me a long time to realize that boyfriends don't have to turn into husbands and marriage doesn't have to last forever and fighting doesn't mean you get divorced. I've learned to just enjoy the Now, whatever is in my Now at the time. That means whether I have a Valentine or not. And mostly I don't have a Valentine because I've learned: if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it. Andrea Relationships: What Is My New and Improved Type? Is Your Relationship More Financially Advantageous To You or To Your Partner? Infidelity: The Women in the Tiger Woods Scandal Are you in a Relationship or Just Filling in the Blanks? LISTEN FREE: Connecting with Your Angels, Guides and Teachers

Keeping Your Dollar Karma Clean by Being Honest on Your Taxes

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 09:35:47 +0000

Cash is hard to come by these days. So it's not unusual to see barter arrangements between taxpayers. You've probably even done a little of this yourself: No money actually changes hands, so it's almost as if the transaction didn't happen, right? Not exactly. The fair market value of goods and services that you receive in exchange for those you provide must be included as income on your tax return even though you don't receive payment in a traditional way. If you're not sure how to start bartering, consider a barter exchange. A barter exchange is an organization with members that contract with each other to jointly barter for credits. Since they are strictly regulated by the IRS, you'll receive a form 1099-B from the exchange indicating the amount of income to be reported. What are tax consequences of bartering? On the other hand, if the IRS finds out you've been doing a substantial amount of work under the table, they will audit you so fast it will make your head spin. I know people who barter goods and services, and they don't keep track of it. Many of these same people also work under the table, earning unreported income. I'm not judging their choice of what to do with their life, however, when they complain about income being slow and blaming it on the economy, I can't let them get away with that. I have to remind them that it's all related, and that they play a part in attracting what they experience. If they are working under the table because they think Uncle Sam takes too big a cut, that is poverty conciousness and that is fearful thinking. If you are receiving disability income yet work several off the record jobs, you are holding yourself back from the greater good you could be attracting, if you didn't have that lie hanging over your head. And it's only a lie because the IRS has a rule against it, and you don't want to mess with the IRS. Period. It's much easier to upgrade your belief, and learn to be glad to comply, than it is to constantly be looking over your shoulder, dreading the consquences of being caught. With tax season coming up, keep your income/dollar karma clean by being honest on your tax return. Don't be creative, keep it simple. If you feel you must work under the table, consider the message you're sending the Universe. You don't want to vibrate there. In the 80's, before I moved up to Melbourne, FL from Miami, I worked as an independent contractor for several attorneys, meaning they would give me 1099's at the end of the year and I'd file my own taxes. A few years, some 1099's came late and I didn't want to take time to amend my return and refile, so I didn't. That happened several years in a row. It wasn't a giant amount, just a few thousand dollars. But by the time the IRS caught up with me years later, the penalties and interest had skyrocketed what I owed into such a big mess I had to call in my mom to help bail me out with a loan. And she read me the riot act. I was 30. It took me 7 years to pay her back. I was glad I got that lesson early. So now, when friends let me know they are working under the table and staying off the grid and being low profile - what is this? a sleuth drama? - I tell them, clean up your act. Start right now doing everything the right way. Know that without having to look over your shoulder and worry, you have just removed about 80% of your resistance regarding the topic of dollars and income, and the Universe will begin to abundantly deliver to you. You're the only one holding back your good. The economy has nothing to do with it. Just you and how much resistance you have, consciously or unconsciously, to everything going on around you. Everything, because it's all related. It's just something to keep in mind. Here's what Abraham-Hicks has to say on Thriving In The New World Economy Andrea LEARN FREE: The Secret2Dollars. No cost, no kidding. LISTEN FREE: Sleepytime Recharge

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Mon, 15 Feb 2010 10:49:25 +0000

Heart Journey - Join FM Odyssey's Fred Migliore Live in Person This Sunday Feb 21st at 10:45am in Cocoa, FL

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:29:00 +0000

[caption id="attachment_4040" align="alignright" width="108" caption="Fred Migliore"][/caption] Fred Migliore, host of WFIT’s (Melbourne, Florida) nationally syndicated radio show, FM Odyssey, will share his inspiring story of quadruple bypass heart surgery on Sunday, February 21at the New Way, 238 Peachtree Street in Cocoa. On Sunday, November 1st, Fred Migliore jogged on the beach to convince himself that nothing was wrong with his body. Five days later, he underwent a seven-hour quadruple bypass surgery. How did Fred’s relatively normal life turn into a nightmare so fast? Fred will be talking about the events leading up to his life-saving operation, and all that has happened since. “The story of my journey will have something for everyone. It's not just about the procedure and the physical road to recovery. It’s about making changes in your life that you know you need to make, but avoid facing because you are afraid”, said Fred. "So much of what I have learned and am still learning is great emotional and spiritual food for other people. I feel that our own personal experiences are not just lessons for ourselves, but for everyone around us. My incredible experience can help others take inventory of their own lives, and potentially save them from having to be whacked by their own cosmic two-by-four." The talk will be held at the New Way in Cocoa beginning at 10:45a.m. on Sunday, February 21st. Fred will make available a limited number of autographed copies of his three-hour Heart Awareness radio show that was broadcast nationwide during Valentine’s Day week. For more information on this speaking engagement, email Fred at Fmodyssey@aol.com. Directions to The New Way at 238 Peachtree Street in Cocoa: Peachtree Street is off US 1, the first traffic light north of 520 (by the water tower). Go East to The Aquarian Cultural Center. It looks like an aquarium with fish painted on the sides of the building.