Horizons Magazine

Andrea de Michaelis, Publisher
Photo taken 2005

JANUARY 2005
When everything seems to fall apart at once; getting unstuck from a pattern; personal discipline; making healthy food choices; when bad things happen to good people.

Hello and welcome to the January 2005 issue of Horizons Magazine. It's been an eventful end of the year, and this January I'm thankful for all sorts of new beginnings! The latest big news is that last month I bought a new washer, dryer and stove, replacing mine of 20 years. The dryer had been going downhill since '95 and the washer stopped working one Saturday night in December, pouring water all over my kitchen floor. I mopped it up with every towel I had, and when I later put them in the dryer to dry, found the dryer kaput also. (I thought how compassionate it was they both went at the same time. That's what we all hope for, isn't it?) I knew it was just a matter of time until I'd need new appliances. So, I gathered up my friend Trish and we went shopping at Appliance Direct. As I selected a washer and dryer, it occurred to me that I' d replaced parts in my stove in the past, so I'd better get another one of those also. I wasn't throwing money around, I needed only basic models and each appliance only cost me $250 and I'm making the payments in 90 days with no interest *yay* I love when I can do that. I'm on a savings kick right now!

While I was waiting for my appliances to be delivered, I thought I'd move my old ones out to the curb myself, so I could clean the floor beneath them. I ended up tearing out my old floor instead. It looked time for that, plus I was in the mood! As I got to the dishwasher, it occurred to me what wasted space that was, since I enjoy doing dishes by hand and stopped using my dishwasher 15 or more years ago. I took it out to the curb also. I'm going to box that space in and put my trash can under there.

While I was moving things around, I decided to create a beverage center around my Culligan water cooler. I put a small table next to the cooler, to hold cups and spoons and Splenda. I found some small shelves and nailed them up above the table, and placed out all my teas and instant cocoa mixes in colorful display. I placed all my mugs on the sturdy top shelf. I stepped away to check it out. I love it! Now I have a delightful new space to come in to every few hours as I make a cup of hot tea. How fun!
I've always enjoyed moving things around in my house and creating new spaces to work and play in. I feel it helps me make the most of what I have, plus it keeps me from getting in a rut. It's too easy to get used to going to work at the same time every day, to the same job, in the same location, then coming home at the same time to the same arrangement of furniture in the same house, just to eat dinner at the same time and watch tv until you all asleep at the same time, and wake up to do it all over again. Every day. For the rest of your life.

When I feel I'm getting too comfortable or too stuck in a pattern, I start looking around for what I can change around me. I count this as a personal discipline; something I can consciously do to make beneficial change happen around me.

When I regularly follow a personal discipline, things flow smoothly and effortlessly in my life. My discipline consists of waking up each day and doing a puja, which is basically prayer time, followed by some stretching and yoga, after which I meditate. This takes about an hour, and I do it again in the evening before bed. At several points during the day, I'll take 10 or 20 minutes to send prayers to those I know, and to visualize beneficial outcomes to various projects I'm involved with. I'll visualize on behalf of friends and clients, seeing them have the outcomes they desire.

The more steadily I stick to personal discipline, the more readily I hear the guidance that is always there for me. Some of my best guidance comes as I'm moving furniture, as I'm putting the chi into motion. I begin to reflect on what feels heavy in my life, what is easily flexible and mobile, what could use a little more light, what I'd like to fade a little more into the background. It is a very contemplative activity for me. It helps me extend the amount of enjoyment I have with everything I own, and I'm all about extending enjoyment!

I'm making exciting new discoveries in my nutritional journey. I want to keep my fats at below 15 grams a day as I'm dissolving my gallstones naturally, so I'm reading labels on foods for the first time. I'm surprised to find that many of the products marked low fat or Healthy Choice are actually higher in fat than the regular version. I compared my former favorite canned soup, Campbell's Chicken Noodle to Campbell's Healthy Request version, marked 98% fat free. It had nearly twice the amount of fat and saturated fat than the original version. So once again I'm reminded to not judge a book by its cover, and to not believe everything the media shows me *smile*.

I just discovered Land O' Lakes Fat Free Half and Half and it's very good. Publix carries it. Now I could be biased because I haven't eaten true animal fat since October 10th (ah, those were the days!) and my taste may be way off, but here's my experience: I used to be mostly against all the fat free dairy products, thinking they contained chemicals I didn't want in my body. Now that I am looking for fat free and low fat alternatives to everything, my mind is altering to accomodate and proces new information.

Mostly I don't care about eating fats right now just because I don't have much appetite (that's so cool!) But some things I miss the habit of or the mouth feel of. Like I can have a whole wheat bagel, but no butter or cream cheese. I don't use margarine and I'm not eating oils right now, and have searched for a substitute that has less than 2 grams of fat per tablespoon (instead of 16 like butter and oils). I couldn't find one, so I've been training myself to like the crunchy, fibery taste rather than crave the buttery taste I used to so love.

On Thanksgiving Day, I came across an online recipe that mentioned adding Land O' Lakes Fat Free Half & Half to the mashed potatoes. Ooooo! So I did a search and followed a few links and, although it's not technically half and half because of the no cream/no fat content, the taste is surprisingly good. And rich. Now I haven't had it in coffee, which I don't drink, but what I do is mix it with a little No Fat Butter Buds (found in the spices section of your grocery) and pour it on a baked or mashed potato or winter squash. I eat a potato every day or so, as well as acorn squash or other winter squash. I also mix it with fat free cream cheese, some Butter Buds, and add a little minced scallion and fresh basil to it, and spread it on a bagel. I have also used it as a sandwich spread since mayo is out and fat free mayo has no taste for me. The Fat Free Half & Half has been a real "bridge" for me to ease out of so much fat in my diet, but I'm mostly eating lots of vegetables and whole grains and fruits right now.

For low fat meat alternatives, I tried Yves The Good Deli vegetarian salami and it's not bad. I also tried Light Life's Smart Ground Taco/Burrito mix and liked it. My favorite non-meat right now is baked tofu. I buy the Nasoya Low Fat Extra Firm Tofu and I freeze it overnight or longer. After it thaws, you place it between 2 plates and squeeze all the water out of it, and it will be like a sponge. Then I slice it into rectangles about 1/4" thick and place it in a shallow pan in which I've mixed equal parts of fruit juice - apple, pineapple - and barbeque sauce (many brands have no fat) and teriyaki sauce (no fat content). I don't soak them in this marinade, rather I put in enough to let one side soak it up and the other side get a little on it too. Then I spray a nonstick baking pan with no fat olive oil spray, and place the slices on the sheet. Then I sprinkle some nutritional yeast on top of each one. I buy it in a small bulk package at the health food store and put it in a plastic shaker and shake it on most foods. It's especially good on greens and gives a rich, cheesy taste and lots of B vitamins. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 25 minutes on one side, and 20 minutes on the other side. I like to eat them either plain, or cut them into salads, but mostly in a sandwich with Ezekial sesame bread toasted dark, with grainy brown mustard, sliced radishes, sprouts and tomato *yum*

A friend voiced the other day that she couldn't understand why bad things were happening to me, since she knows me to be a good person and so - as she put it - enlightened *smile* I asked her what bad things we were talking about. She briefly mentioned my family and husbands passing, then most recently my gall bladder/pancreas hospitalization, discovering my roof needs replacing after Hurricane Jeanne, now my appliances all going at once. I was a little surprised and said, "Well, all that is just life; it's what happens. We're born and we die. I eat an unhealthy diet and I have a health scare. I thought 20 years was a good life for my roof AND my appliances." I certainly don't see my life as challenging or difficult.

Stuff happens. We manage to get on with it, or get over it. We realize things in the material world have a life expectancy and we begin to treat "things" with more care, and don't lament when they are gone. We begin to notice cause and effect all around us, and begin to take preventive measures to mitigate consequences.

We begin to see patterns in our lives, and have lots of opportunities to notice and correct personality traits or characteristics or habits if we want to.

We begin to realize that we do indeed attract our experience to ourselves by virtue of the focus we most often choose. We begin to take responsibility for how we perceive life and how we react to it. We begin to feel more confidence in our own power, since we know ourselves to be the attractor of our life experience. There's a real power and freedom in that!

We begin to place more thought into what we enjoy doing, and to place less thought on that which troubles us. We begin to notice what's right about everything we see, everywhere we go, and everyone we know, rather than what's wrong.

And that's what I think enlightenment is: just being able to surf through what life hands you and making it as enjoyable as it can be for everyone involved. Enjoy our offering this month. Hari Om.

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