And … a huge thank you to all the folks who have steadily supported me and liked, commented on and followed my stories. I appreciate you so much! 500! Never in my wildest dreams a year ago would I have imagined I’d be writing over 100 stories in ten short months, and be honored by […]
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Tag: courage
My Queendom for A Bag of Cookies
Yesterday, I was graced by the help of a young man who had no clue how much his assistance meant to me. Due to a funky situation with my back, I don’t walk — I hobble. And it hurts. All day, every day. So when I had to actually get a ride and go to […]
GIVE IT UP!
(Published in Small Craft Advisor Magazine) Sailing is more than ‘just a skill.’ It’s a life-and-death adventure every time you go out, and if you have even one smidgen of smarts in your head, you know you have to be prepared every time you go out onto the water. Since my parents took me sailing […]
TULE MAMA
A week camping near a lake, lava tubes, a mountain of chunks of beautiful black obsidian and volcanic tufa resulted in this carving… I never liked walking, so any time friends asked me to go hiking, I’d say no. But when my friend Bee, who lived all the way across the world from me, said […]
My Garden, My Angels
I kind of felt bashful, and laughed as I opened my eyes. I realized right away that I was expecting some kind of white-robed, human-shaped being to come into my view. Pretty silly of me – I know that angels take many shapes. It was slightly overcast that morning, the light mellow, muted. As I […]
The Spirit Door
Suddenly, the plastic sheet in my hands quivered a little, and there! There it was! The Door! In a dream, I was with a man who was kind of Tibetan looking, but not. He was showing me a piece of sheet plastic — about a foot square, clear, shiny. He was shifting it around in […]
SOME DAYS JUST SUCK.
You know me – I’m the one who wishes she could heal the world of all pains and wrongs, help people feel good, see the gold in every mud puddle – blahhh blahhh blahhh – Yeah. Well, not so much today. I’m the one in the puddle today, and it seems nine miles deep. And […]
WHAT TO DO with OUR ‘DARK SIDE’?
“…We all have darkness and light in us, but we also have the ability to choose love over hatred….” . Yes! In a video I watched a few days ago, Jordan Peterson was saying that unless you face and accept your dark side, you will just be a weak person. I agree. It’s not that […]
My Thoughts of Peace Fly Out Far Beyond M...
Because love is a verb. And it acts a million times more powerfully than our puny little minds can imagine. At 13, my dentist decided that deflowering me right in the open, right on the dentist chair, would be a cool thing to do. I was so shocked, so surprised, so absolutely flummoxed that I […]
Hope Is A Beggar. Or Is She?
I once knew a fantastically popular, immensely powerful man. Once his swooning fans had left for the night, he would retreat to his den. He’d try to bend his skeletal frame around the huge, impossibly soft pillows on his couch, and he’d sit there, scowling and frowning, gazing blindly out into the night. He’d hear […]
What’s the Difference between jpg, tif an
What do the different file type names mean and how do they affect your images? These explanations of file types will help you understand what kinds of files to use for your documents, print books, ebooks or websites. Cover of my book, The Etsy Image Guide This is an enhanced excerpt from my book, […]
Am I Really the Person I Thought I Was?
A radical twist in my self-perception happened recently…. My mother died early, at only 69. She was one of those always-takes-care-of-others-first people, so you never heard about her, as a person. I have felt cheated for almost 40 years, not having a better picture of who she really was. I didn’t want that to happen […]
Why Do Some Men Think It’s OK to Be Such
What can be done about it? How do we deal with it on a daily basis? I can hardly believe the things men oh-so-casually do to women. The things they have the nerve to say. Even after decades of observing and experiencing their stupidity, I’m still astounded. I’m in my late 70s, and men still […]
THE WAY YOU LOOK TONIGHT
Grab your power and dance and sing and cry and laugh and have a loud, colorful, delicious full-on life – why the hell not? My friend commented on my post about how what I had thought would be a romantic first-time love tryst turned into a complete horrible abusive farce. She said, “…you sure don’t […]
My First Time Was A Total Disaster
And I know you know what first time I’m talking about…It was freezing cold on December 6th, 1963, the night before my 18th birthday. I was on my way with my date, flying as fast as we could through the west side of NYC to his apartment. Hands tightly clasped together, our palms crackled with […]
Does Your Partner Have the Right to Strik...
No. Not Ever. I could feel my body start to contract into itself, shrinking, freezing. My head fell, my chin pressing against my chest. I vaguely noticed my feet press down and anchor themselves to the floor. I wondered if it would be a punch or a slap this time. Even if I had thought […]
No More Letting Baby Cry Herself Out!
I had to slowly slowly convince myself to open to receive any thoughts at all that I might be worthy, and even lovable. In a reel I watched tonight by a gal whose name I never caught, she explains how parents used to be advised to ‘let the baby cry itself out.’ That the baby […]
How I Was Rescued from My Dreary Reality,...
There have been several times in my life when Angels boldly stepped in and picked my sorry arse up and sent me packing to other, better places. This was one of them. Her name was Cynthia, and there is no one else like her anywhere. My dear friend Cynthia and I met at a week-long […]
Once in A Lifetime
They were jumping in and out of the water so smoothly, so fast, that it looked like a fountain of silvery sea flesh. When my boys were young, we lived in Hawaii on the island of Kaua’i, in Kekaha, a tiny little sugar town. The main residents were mostly Filipinos and Puerto Ricans who worked […]
I Was Damned if I Was Going to Allow Hard...
Nights when magical swaths of stars would span the entire ceiling above, making it seem as light as noon. Bright evening lightning shows burst through the dark evenings on the far horizon… Living in New Mexico in the early 1990s was one of the darkest times of my entire life. I was perpetually depressed, never […]
Our Disconnect from the Cycles of Life
We allow little mundane BS things to distract and steal our attention away from what’s important: being with and cherishing the ones we love most, caring for those who need and want our love, attention, and affection. Lately I see so many posts on facebook by folks who have lost friends and family from covid […]
Freezing to Death for 3000 Miles On the B...
Semi trucks started edging us sideways, pushing into our lane, trying to run us off the road. Gas stations and roadside restaurants saw us coming, switched their ‘open’ signs to ‘closed’ in their windows and front doors. 1966. I was 21, living in an upstairs apartment on Mason Street in North Beach, San Francisco. I […]
“Something Amazing Is About to Happen,” H
It can be painfully hard to let go of the what-ifs and the blame/shames, he-did-it-to-me’s and the she’s-such-a … — or the what-am-I-going-to-do . . . I’ve been a devoted student of metaphysics for decades. One of the most basic things I learned when I began to study the beyond-ordinary is that what you give your attention to turns up in […]
Your Work Doesn’t Speak for Itself
It was only after that decision that people started seeing things through my eyes. They started comprehending the value of art – the effects of color, the harmonizing of life through good design, the pleasure a painting or sculpture could bring . . . I’m a stone carver, painter, author and book designer— among other […]
The Tale of Frank and Lilly of Desolation...
In a frozen stand-off, all three halted, just a few feet from each other. Like wooden soldiers, they stood silent in the middle of the street. Slowly, Frank reached up and tipped his hat, took Lilly’s hand and walked on. “No, Frank, don’t! He didn’t mean it!” Lilly exclaimed. “Don’t hold me back this time, […]
HELPING LITTLE TINA STOP HER TANTRUMS
My friend Rachel had two grand-daughters, aged 2 and 4. The two-year-old, Tina, was prone to throwing some mean tantrums. Rachel was concentrating on finishing up a 3-year back-to-college program, and found it difficult to deal with the kids’ high energy — especially the tantrums — when the girls came to visit her. She was […]
SIGNALS that THERE’S SOMETHING GOING ON U
Recently when I was speaking with my advisor about a business and marketing plan we were creating for my coaching, I started to get really sleepy. I felt like if I didn’t lie down right now I would simply collapse on the floor in a big ole slippery puddle. I had been blazing wide awake […]
WHAT’S YOUR REAL JOB?
A friend tells me life equals pain. I say life equals love. It’s all in the focus of attention. I got a call from an artist friend, all upset and depressed and crying because of recent world events. She said, “When I look at how the world has gotten, I think why bother with making […]
PATTY CAKE
Ahhh, yes! A bunch of innocent delightful critters playing in a lovely world where things are the way they’re supposed to be: open, loving, caring, fun, creative and compassionate…. PATTY CAKE, PATTY CAKE, BAKER’S MAN – Run away! Run Away! Fast as you can! How I wish I could. With the BS happening now across […]
HOW I DEAL WITH DESTRUCTIVE MONEY BELIEFS
Annie and I allowed ourselves to face the debilitating beliefs we had about ourselves, money, and business. Here’s what happened. Not too long ago, my buddy Annie and I got together on zoom, and did some inside work on our relationships with money. Hahaha — no, we weren’t going to get a divorce from money! Quite the […]