PEOPLE DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! STAND UP!

On Monday night, the violence in Oakland hit incredibly close to home... at 9:00 pm a man was shot outside of my house as he fought back in an attempted car jacking. Hearing the shots closely followed by the sound of a grown man screaming for help is still haunting me...
Although I'm new to this part of The Town, I claim all of Oakland and I remain proud of my decision to raise my child as a son of this inspiring city. Though shaken, I will not waiver in my unending celebration of the spirit I've only experienced here.
Tonight, my neighbor is organizing an event in Adam's Point to help empower folks to feel connected to making things right. It's simple, show up, shine a light, meet a neighbor. For incentive, feel free to come by my place around 8 for wine and snacks and stay to hang out and make your presence known.

THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE: Over eighty people overcame their fear of going outside (including my friend) and joined forces, lights in hand, meeting each other a

Conventional Living...Depends on One's Perspective

Sometimes one can learn much more about life, love, and happiness, when they're single than when they're in a relationship, when they're looking for work than when they're working, when they're confused than when they're clear, and so on..  

And if they allow themselves to learn what there is to learn, rather than resist, their life will be transformed, and that which was, will be no longer.          

So happy for you,   The Universe

My sister sent this to me when I was having my latest panty-twist about not living a conventional life, which generally happens each time I leave where I currently am and having to trust that someone out there knows where I'm going next! 

Here I am, on my next assignment in Kansas City. How did I know I was going to come? 1. I was invited  2. The plane fare was $99 round-trip (yes, I had some points), but nevertheless.

I'm having a great time...staying in bed with Benny (a shitzu), working on my third book,  (A Year in a Suitcase) and taking my aunt on field trips, who is in assisted living. 

Living a conventional life well, I suppose that depends on one's perspective!:)

STUPID BOYS...LOL...TRUSTING YOUR INTUITION

Stupid Boy...the song performed on The Voice by winner Cassadee Pope, played over and over in my mind as I frantically threw my things into my car as the owner of the house I was sitting for came home right on schedule. LOL! But...trusting what others were telling me, instead of myself, I wasn't prepared! I hadn't listened to what I knew  to be true and what my intuition was telling me. 

I knew the owner was coming home on Tuesday, making Monday evening my last night in my last housesitting gig.     I knew this! 

However, after having dinner with the 82 year old male owner who was staying at a local retirement community while his wife took a vacation with her daughter told me that his wife was spending the night in SFO on Tuesday and picking him up on Wednesday morning. When a neighbor concurred I  called the son-in-law who also agreed. 

I went away for the afternoon and got a sick feeling in my stomach. I knew that I needed to return to the house. Yep, you guessed it....the wife was home with my stuff still there! YIKES! 

I like to have everything cleaned and ready when the owners return. I felt embarrassed as I ran around like a maniac trying to get everything cleaned without looking like a mad-woman! 

Of course, it had nothing to do with stupid boys...it simply was a reminder for me to trust what I know! 

Let Go of Expectations and Celebrate! Your Way!

One of my favorite books used to be The Discipline of Celebration! I was a young mother  at the time and who had time to celebrate? 

But as I've gotten older and have become a Self-Care & Transition Specialist, I have come to appreciate the power of  Celebration! 

A friend of mine was getting ready to retire from a major airlines. Her expectations of how her last interview would look and the reality of what really happened were miles apart. 

Leaving her retirement interview, she felt sort of dismissed and unappreciated for all the years of service she had provided for the company. 

My friend is the ultimate in understanding and putting into practice what celebration and self-care look like. So she went across the street from her hotel, got two chocolate shakes, a hamburger, onion rings and walked back to the hotel to split them with her husband. On the side walk she found a perfectly shaped round stone, which she quickly picked up and claimed as her gift from The Universe for the completion of many years of dedicated service and adventure that working for the airlines had afforded her. 

In life, if we can let go of your expectations of how we think something should be or look and accept them for how they are, we will save ourselves many little disappointments!

We've got to make the moments special ourselves!  Seize the moment and CELEBRATE YOU...in everything you do!  Celebrate the many micro-movements forward in life....heck just celebrate that fact that we're pointed in the right direction...or not! LOL