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Publisher Jackie Flaherty


Sales & Marketing Director Julie B. Hill


Julie@NAtwincities.com Editor


Cheryl Hynes


Design & Production Stephen Blancett Steven Hagewood


of Campfire Studio


Multi-Market Advertising 239-449-8309


Franchise Sales 239-530-1377


Sara Shrode Layout 651-485-6293


magine where you were on December 1, 1978. How about April 30, 1999? You don’t have to know exactly where you were on those dates, but consider your age, your living situation, your traumas and successes, your


worries, your dreams, your closest friend, your favorite pet. These are just random dates to help you consider your life’s path. How did you get from there to here? Where will you be in another five or 10 years? I’ve taken to looking at the dates while watching reruns


of favorite old television shows: Columbo, Golden Girls, MASH, Bob Newhart. You get the idea. I imagine myself in the place I was living at the time—city, home, people, hobbies, concerns, major life events—and recall who I was then. This was all brought to mind by this month’s feature article by Linda Sechrist’s “Conscious Dying as a Transformative Healing Journey.” At the end of the article we feature a small piece on “Writing Our Legacy.” But before you write it, you have to consider what it is. Remembrance. Journey. The path that got you to where you are. Where are you headed at this moment? Where do you want to be headed? Are they the same? For the most part, I can say that for me they are the same—publishing Natural


Awakenings, being my own boss while being a part of an amazing and supportive company with peers who share the same vision of a brighter, kinder world. Also, meeting and connecting with others in the community who also care about many of the same causes and injustices we feel compelled to stand up for in whatever way we can—stretching and growing and sending prayers or waves of light and love to those in need. What will be my legacy? Well, that depends on when I make the transition. It will be one thing if I die this year, another if I die in 15 years and another if I die in 30 years.


Who knows how long each of us has? That’s why it’s so important to dream


and act all while staying true to who we are. It’s the paradox of totally loving and accepting our self for who we are right


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4 Twin Cities Edition NaturalTwinCities.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Jackie Flaherty, Publisher


now while at the same time striving to do better—to be more patient, loving, kind, generous, forward-thinking and forgiving. And it’s more about the being than the doing. Present moment awareness—being fully present in this now moment— helps with this conundrum of striving by not striving, also known as wu wei, in-the-flow, mindfulness, heart-centered consciousness. Live each present moment completely and the future will take care of itself.


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