I’m starting to get a sneaking suspicion that the most enlightened people on the planet are not the pastors and self-help authors and spiritual teachers and famous gurus, but the people who tend to go unnoticed and unappreciated for their spiritual wisdom — the gardeners, the nannies, the housekeepers, the janitors at the workplace, the stay-home parents, the kindergarten teachers, the dry cleaners, the waitresses — the ones who have nothing left to prove and are only here to serve and love and be present, to demonstrate how even the small things can be viewed as miracles. Maybe we get seduced by the others, but it seems to me that the showy ones are often just that — full of bravado and charisma and good intentions, but not necessarily full of real wisdom. Is it just me or do others sense this too?  Lissa Rankin  Find Lissa Rankin on Facebook 

The February Horizons Magazine has finally gone to press. This time took me a little bit longer because I am resting my right arm and trying to do everything with the left. That just means things take a little bit longer. What I’ve been doing the last 2 weeks while I have been in final layout is to simply forego a lot of daily chores such as cleaning, cooking. I’ve let boxes stack up in the living room so that I can later take them to the garage and break them down flat for recycling. Basically anything not related to getting the magazine out was set aside for two weeks.   Continue reading →

My brother knows I’m awake in the midnight hours so he texted me at 2 a.m. from the gym. He just joined a gym for the first time in a decade or more. He retired from Honeywell Aerospace in 2012 and spent the last three years remodeling his home and his kids’ homes and now finds himself the time on his hands. He likes to stay active so the gym was an obvious choice. He said he had to get back in the gym after retiring because “I had become part of that damn recliner. Just sitting there waiting for the Grim reaper.” I have the same thought if I spend too much time hanging in the recliner. A friend of mine says she sleeps so much because she keeps hoping that when she wakes up everything will be different. But that’s not how it works. Nothing changes unless she changes.

Last night I saw an episode of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and witnessed a classic example of misunderstanding between friends. Bethenny Frankel was in this episode and, coming from modest beginnings, she’s not only built a multi-million-dollar empire with her Skinny Girl Margarita Mix, she’s become an expert in branding. She meets  Erika Jayne and Erika is married to a very wealthy man twice her age.  A former cocktail waitress, she’s sassy and she’s built a niche for herself an erotic performance artist. In last night’s episode, the girls get together and Lisa Rinna, who always makes sure everyone knows everybody’s business, start showing Erika’s video called Painkillr to everyone in the limo on the way to an event they are all attending. Later at dinner, Erika asks Bethenny what she thought of the video so Bethenny offered her opinion.  Continue reading →

GSnow writes: “Alright, here goes. I’m old. What that means is that I’ve survived (so far) and a lot of people I’ve known and loved did not. I’ve lost friends, best friends, acquaintances, co-workers, grandparents, mom, relatives, teachers, mentors, students, neighbors, and a host of other folks. I have no children, and I can’t imagine the pain it must be to lose a child. But here’s my two cents.  I wish I could say you get used to people dying. I never did. I don’t want to. It tears a hole through me whenever somebody I love dies, no matter the circumstances. But I don’t want it to “not matter”. I don’t want it to be something that just passes. My scars are a testament to the love and the relationship that I had for and with that person. And if the scar is deep, so was the love. So be it. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are a testament that I can love deeply and live deeply and be cut, or even gouged, and that I can heal and continue to live and continue to love. And the scar tissue is stronger than the original flesh ever was. Scars are a testament to life. Scars are only ugly to people who can’t see.” Continue reading →

Dr. David Rindge’s laser on my arm

Miracles are simply laws of nature that transcend our familiar band of perception. I saw Dr. David Rindge yesterday for a 30 minute LOW LEVEL LIGHT laser light treatment, then returned to the office for several hours of using the mouse. For the last two months, mousing for hours has caused me wrist, arm and elbow pain. This is 24 hours after LOW LEVEL LASER LIGHT treatment and not only do I have no pain, a friend asked me how my arm was after treatment and I showed him by picking up my guitar and holding it at arm’s length. I couldn’t hold a pencil like that before without pain. David healed my paws with laser after a car accident that caused trauma-induced carpal tunnel in 2000. Years later I developed trigger thumb on the right hand, painful for two weeks and he healed it in one session, never to return.  David is an acupuncture physician and doctor of oriental medicine as well. He’s a magic man. UPDATE: He’s now retired.

Giving my hands and arms a rest the last two weeks has gone a long way in healing The Great Carpal Flare Up of 2015. Overwork was burning me out mentally and physically. Never underestimate the power of simple rest, fun and play to rejuvenate a burned-out system. I’m going into 2016 100% curious, excited and hopeful.