After a Fashion
By Stephen MacMillan Moser, Fri., Jan. 31, 2003
SMOKE SIGNALS Dammit, I just had to quit smoking cigarettes. I was waaay too addicted; 30 years of hard puffing, and I was petrified of quitting. I'd only tried, obviously unsuccessfully, a couple of times over the years. But suddenly I was sick of smoking, as it was affecting my health in a hundred different ways. Having made the decision to quit, there was no pussyfooting around. I booked a session with Sylvi Salinas, a certified hypnotherapist and RMT. Sylvi brims with such a positive vibe that she makes it easy to believe anything is possible. She did not wave a pocket watch in front of me saying, "You're getting very sleepy. ..." Rather, she led me in an invocation to draw our personal empowering spirits to us, and we engaged is something known as holographic repatterning. It is based on principles of physics and psychology as well as the ancient knowledge of the chakra system of India and the five element-meridian system of China. Having spent a major portion of that time lying on a table with my eyes closed, I had no idea what was going on next to me -- something involving crystals and tuning forks. It didn't matter to me if I believed in it or not. I would believe in it if it worked. I just emptied my mind of all its cares and woes. I let Sylvi's oh-so-soothing voice take me away on waves of affirmations and positive suggestions. We had discussed the areas that I thought would cause the most problems: I already sleep poorly, so I was concerned about that, plus, I didn't want to turn to food. So suggestions relating to these issues were added into Sylvi's monologue, as well. I lay there consciously listening to what she was saying; I wanted to understand everything and not miss anything that could be important. But conscious reality slipped away, and while I was still hearing the words, my mind was traveling to many warm, safe places where I floated along on a breeze of positive energy. Shortly, I went into the most desirable state of being completely under. I only knew it when I came out of it briefly ... and then went back under. All the while, the words kept flowing like warm honey into my brain. Soon after coming back to consciousness, I heard the words that brought me out of the altered state. I had been under for 45 minutes. Sylvi answered the remaining questions I had, gave me a tape of the session to listen to as I went to sleep, and sent me on my smoke-free way. That was Jan. 13 ... and I haven't had a cigarette since. Not only have I not smoked one, I haven't even felt tempted. Even during the critical first few days, there were no moments of panic, nor did I scour the house looking for a cigarette. All I wanted was a cold drink of water. On a number of occasions since then, I have been around other people who were smoking, and while I was aware of it, I did not feel compromised. To me, the hypnosis is an absolute miracle, and I do consider myself a pretty tough customer. My patience for all things intangible can run pretty short, but I am totally a convert now. Sylvi Salinas (512/389-3990 or [email protected]) was simply amazing, and I can't recommend her highly enough. I'll bring you regular updates on my progress.
JINGLE ALL THE WAY It was the annual gathering of the smart set at the Jingle Ball. My favorite thing about it is that it's not "for" anything except for the guests to have a good time. With such wonderful hosts as Roy Fredericks, Laura Cisneros (in Blackmail Couture), Michael Terrazas, and Margaret Shaw, among so many others, it was time to drag out the black tie and big dresses for an evening of big band entertainment and big-time merrymaking. Guest-list luminaries included the fabulous Katherine Jones, Gail Chovan and Evan Voyles, Barbara and Brian Frisbie, Nathan Tate, Bob Sherman, Chris Wise, Karen Linder and Mike Miller, and others too fabulous to mention. Certainly the crowd I was with looked wonderful, but the same ugly trend was as rampant at the Jingle Ball as it was at the Golden Globes: daytime hair with eveningwear. It's ludicrous to go to all that trouble to assemble a great dress, wonderful shoes, beautiful jewelry ... and the same hair you wore to the gym and the grocery store! Oh, well ... for me, my favorite part about the Jingle Ball is seeing so many upstanding members of our community getting cleaned up and turned out for a rare formal outing.
