In My Head

Trick Candles on Mars

Birthdays can be tricky. Do you have a party? Do you stay at home? What presents do you want? Do you buy them yourself? Have you grown? Are you going to grow any more? All of these questions and more arise as The Wellpoint passes the one-year mark.

Mars came closer to our Earth this summer than in 60,000 years. Even in our light-drenched city night, it was brilliant. Perhaps even more amazing was that this heavenly body, floating in the incomprehensible vastness of space, generated no light of its own to shine out for all to see. Everything we saw of the red jewel in the black of night came to us from our closest star, the sun.

This simple fact blows me away. How can anything shine so brightly that it illuminates objects so far away and still makes them visible to us on our planet? Or even more simply, how can the moon shed enough light, reflected by the sun, that I can walk effortlessly in the darkest night through an October cornfield? There is a mystery here that I will never fully comprehend, but of which I will remain forever in awe.

We do the same thing. We are our own suns and moons. The world we see is a reflection of our own blaring internal thoughts, beliefs, biases, understandings. It is the grand illusion in which we participate every day. We believe for certain that we see another for who he is, but we are only seeing our reflection in his face. And as moons, we act as passive participants, appearing to others as the very banes of their existences or the perfect partner, but, in truth, only reflecting the biases of those who are judging us so. We are everyone, and everyone is us.

How can be we clear? How can we see only that which is, and not what our petty egos tell us is truth? The spiritual masters tell us years of meditation and hard work, constant vigilance, and keen observation are the only solution. And, of course, owning our problem is always the first step in solving it. Learn from your judgments about who you are and detach yourself from the judgments others hold about you. There is much work to be done and the longest journey begins with a single step in every moment. Shine on.

The Wellpoint has grown and evolved with the addition of new advertisers, new departments, and new writers. Even as I begin to believe that we might be helping the city to emerge in a new direction, I am humbly reminded that these types of publications have come and gone since at least 1985 in the central Ohio area. We are continuing a process that has its own momentum in the community and are just attempting again to continue what has already been.

We will continue to grow into next year. Plans include beginning a quarterly printing schedule, increasing the size and number of advertisers, and working hard to include others in the city who are doing good work but remain unnoticed. We are a publication supporting personal self-transformation, and as that remains an individual process, it reflects out into the community, creating a better place for all of us to live and become more fully who we are.

Very truly yours,

Stevan A Walkowski, D.O.
Editor