eNewsletter for February 2013
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FEATURED ARTIST

BRENDA BOLES
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Balanced Life Online Magazine



NEWS and VIEWS

A New Beginning   

Barbara Williams

  

Everybody wants to get enlightened but nobody wants to change. - Andrew Cohen

 

That quote says it all: nobody wants to change. And so when the light went on for me last year, and I realized I just couldn't keep the print magazine going, I didn't want to let go, I didn't want to change. I loved, and love, the magazine. It's been such a gift and change is hard. Yet, the last few years have been moving so fast, things changing in mid-creation, and the truth is that I didn't let go of the print magazine, as much as I just lost my grip. I wasn't keeping up and staying relevant as a promotional business in today's world.


 What happened after that...after I decided that the Spring 2012 would be the last print issue? Someone showed up to take it over and make it an Online Magazine. But that didn't work out, and the magazine came back to me. It was like the line in the poem, "If you love something, let it go. If it comes back to you, it's yours." 
Read more...  

CONSCIOUS RELATIONSHIPS by Allan Hardman

The Challenge of Intimacy

Allan Hardman 

 

Probably the biggest challenge to those of us wanting to live conscious spiritual lives in these rapidly transforming times is the changing form and expectations of romantic courtship, relationship, and marriage. The traditional models are rapidly disappearing, and the foundation for new forms is wobbly.  In this series of columns, I offer you my thoughts and experience in this realm. Your comments and feedback will be an important part of a vital dialog that will contribute to new and expanded possibilities for modern love and relationship.

 

Let's jump right in with a look at intimacy. When my dictionary defines intimacy, it begins with "a close personal relationship," and after a few less interesting ideas, ends with "sexual intercourse (used euphemistically)." Unfortunately, the same dictionary does not define any derivation of "euphemistically," but it means using mild language to tone down something harsh or offensive. So, we use the word "intimate" as a way of obliquely referring to sex. Or, of course, a close personal relationshipRead more...  



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ASTROLOGY FORECAST by Tom Lescher
Astrology Forecast for February 2013
Tom Lescher

Life is a series of transitions. We grow from young to old, climb from bottom to top, and circle back again to start another round. This month, as the Sun moves through Aquarius into Pisces, it signals that we have made it over three quarters of the way around the track and are headed for yet another finish line. Since the solstice of December 21st and through much of the month of January, the Sun, Mercury, Venus and Mars have made their passage through Capricorn and now into Aquarius. This is a special time of the year.

 

It is a time when we have been reflecting on the gains and the losses, the spreadsheets of our lives so to speak, and looking at the balance that remains. Read more...

 



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PEACEFUL PARENTING by Amy Edwards
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Who Are You, My Child? (Part One of Two)

Amy Edwards

 

As human beings, our brains are wired to compare. Research has shown that the developing brain of an infant builds its knowledge base by taking in information, comparing it to what it already knows, and thus determining how/where to store it. As adults, we continue to employ this technique in our dealings with other people. This is the source of our judgments of others. When somebody says or does something, we compare it to what WE would say or do, and this helps us determine our affinity (or lack thereof) for that person. The people we call our friends, or the people we admire, are usually people who we have determined to be more like us, or more like we hope/want to be. We applaud when somebody does or says something that we agree with. And we are incredulous when they do something we would never dream of doing.

 

As parents, it is difficult (although not impossible) to avoid working within the same judgmental framework in regard to our children.  Read more...  

 



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CHOICE POINT by Harry Massey
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Is Today Your Choice Point?

Learn from Sir Richard Branson and Other World Leaders

by Harry Massey, founder of The Choice Point Movement

 

What do Sir Richard Branson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Paul Mitchell founder John Paul DeJoria, bestselling author/speakers Jack Canfield, Gregg Braden, and Barbara Marx Hubbard, three-time Nobel nominated Dr. Scilla Elworthy, philanthropist James Caan, former financial fund manager Alison Poithier, drug-addict-turned-addiction-counselor/life coach Brian Moran, 12-year-old natural food advocate Birke Baehr, and myself have in common?

 

Each one of us faced a "Choice Point" in our lives - a seemingly negative life event or crisis that proved to be an opportunity for change. Faced with this challenge, we each opted for something better...a choice that led us down the path toward serving the greater good on a large scale - and dramatically increased our satisfaction with our own lives. Read more...

 



The day the power of love overrules the love of power,
the world will know peace. 
- Mahatma Gandhi  

FLOWER ESSENCES by Dr. Natalia M. Schotte
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The New Flower Essences:

Combining Ancient Technology with Future Science 

Dr. Natalia M. Schotte 

 

Flower essences are a profound form of energy medicine and have long been part of the tradition of Earth-based and Shamanic healing. For millennia, healers of all descriptions have accessed and utilized the intelligence inherent in Nature for a variety of purposes, particularly personal transformation. From Ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome to the Aborigines of Australia, civilizations around the world have revered the power of flowers and used flower remedies for emotional, physical and spiritual healing. Paracelsus, the 15th century botanist and physician, wrote specifically about collecting dew from flowering plants, diluting it and using the liquid to treat imbalances in his patients.  Read more...    

 



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WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? by Scott Kalechstein
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Who do you think you are, young man?

My mother would ask me at times

She didn't expect an answer, she was just trying to draw the line

But now that I'm much older, I am ready to respond

Hey, that's a juicy question, here's my best shot, dearest Mom

 

I'm a Divine Being unfolding, not a child needing scolding

I'm a love-light that's evolving, not a problem needing solving

I'm beyond all definitions, spun from love without conditions

I'm a blank page, the world's my stage, I'm beautiful at any age

I'm infinite, unstoppable, limitations are a lot of bull

I'm a risk taking fool and a huge hearted lover

So thanks for asking, I love you, dear mother!

 





BALANCED LIVING by Michael Peter Langevin
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What Could South America Teach Us About More Balanced Living?

Michael Peter Langevin

 

Hello from Cusco, Peru. I lived and worked in Northern California for 30 years. Then one day my life just needed a major change. I was soon to turn 60 and I just did not want to live the rest on my life the way I had been in recent years. So I resigned my job, took my meager savings, sold my car and a few other things of value that I had and did not really need. I told my family and friends I was going to live and travel and write in South America for six months and bought a round trip plane ticket to Cusco.

 

I have learned many things in my journey through South America that may assist the readers in living more balanced lives.  Read more...


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xx
Barbara Williams
Balanced Life Magazine
 
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