Author Archives: Andrea

What Does Everyone Worry About?

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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. Continue reading →

When Relationships Change

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. Continue reading →

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

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. Life 102 is 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. Continue reading →

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

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 (they call it the EXTENDED version) 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.

Hear Esther Hicks on Oprah here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-E1hZMZWJNY explaining in her own words  Continue reading →

On James Ray Keeping The Silence

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

 

My water pump motor lasted me 25 years!

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. Continue reading →

Another layer of decluttering

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. Continue reading →

I Switch Over To Brighthouse for Telephone, Cable, Internet

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.

Continue reading →