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.

Today was an adventure day, made more so by the unexpected rain. I seldom set out to spend a day at the beach but that was today’s plan. Growing up in Florida, my beach gear typically stays in the car: blanket, towels, swim shoes, sunscreen, insect repellent, water. I added my beach chair and umbrella, small ice chest, tarot cards and Kindle Paperwhite. I made sure my phone was fully charged. I dressed in light colors for privacy, so I’d blend in. If I’m going to be incognito at the beach, I wear light colors rather than my traditional Johnny Cash black. Swap out my black hat for a natural straw one and I’m totally beige. I typically sit high on the dunes amidst the sea oats for privacy and less sea spray, but if I use the umbrella, I stick it in the sand nearer the shore. I keep the car prepared with everything, so if I want to run to the beach on a whim, I’ve got all my comforts with me. I drove south on US 1 just as the sun was breaking through.   Continue reading →

My hands are feeling 100% better! Two days ago I made the decision to dedicate all afternoon to soothing my sore strained paws with massage, pranic healing, bongers, visualization and music therapy. I found I can listen to my favorite piano concertos and feel it moving through my nervous system like an elixir and healing my paws as it flows out my fingers. I’ve been using the headphones while sitting in front of the altar space, hands resting atop my knees. I envision myself inhaling the music in through my fingertips and exhaling the pain out my mouth. I knew it was just blocked energy, something I was holding onto that I was not yet aware of. I over strained my hands/arms by over-use and over-scrolling. That’s why I scheduled the emergency appointment to spend yesterday alone at the beach and figure out what I needed to “let go” of, what I needed to “release my grip” on. I realized I needed to get the energy moving and figure out what I was metaphorically “keeping a grip on” that I needed to let go of. Yesterday I spent several hours at the beach, letting myself be drawn into the Now, which is where my power lies. Once there, I realized there are a few things I need to drop my involvement in. Once I made that decision, I felt very free.  Continue reading →

A young friend wrote, “It feels like the happy endings in the world are fake. I can’t help going into 2016 wondering which one of my loved ones is going to die next. In 2014 my brother died, and in 2015 my dad died. Maybe this is no way to live my life, but at the age of 24 I’ve learned that getting attached to anyone is pointless since I will eventually be left.”  My dad was a suicide, so was my younger brother and, later, more friends and acquaintances than I care to count. I was in my 20’s when loved ones began dying. It made me question the point of life at all. It sent me into a very contemplative stage and also kept me at arms’ distance from those around me. In my 60+ years I have learned that everyone will die, and most supposedly good friends will betray you. What saves my sanity is to love them anyway. From a distance, sure and I get heck for that but it’s no less a love.  Loving is one thing. Being attached is another. Continue reading →

We took a ride to the beach and watched the waves under the almost-full moon. It was beautiful and peaceful out there watching the waves lap the shore. The temp was about 76 and it was breezy.  We saw a shooting star!  A shooting star is symbolic of luck, a rebirth and changes in your life. We each made a wish!