Take Back Your Life!

Hey friends,

Went on a two-week vacation, a cruise on the eastern Mediterranean with shore excursions. Something I’ve never done before. Looking out onto the vast, seemingly endless sea from my balcony reinforced the reality that we have control over nothing and it’s best to just go with it whatever the it is.

That said, I’ve stopped trying to control my bra strap. (more…)

Always fascinating how column/blog topics enter the psyche.

Was listening to one of my singing idols — Julie London — do her sultry rendition of The Door’s Light My Fire. It’s terrific. Listen to it here on You Tube.

The time to hesitate is through
No time to wallow in the mire

(Lyrics to live by.)

Just my kind of karaoke song. Unfortunately for my higher vocal range, they only seem to offer the original by The Doors. So, I re-listened to The Door’s version and learned from the CD jacket how the band got its name. (more…)

Hey rebellious friends,

I bought a bargain book about a month ago. Something about the title, “Too Soon Old, Too Late Smart” prompted me to pick it up and thumb through it. I share most of author Gordon Livingstone’s philosophy on life and have blogged often about similar topics. I love all his chapter titles, especially the one I borrowed for today’s post: We Are Afraid of The Wrong Things. (more…)

I’m constantly dreaming up new life shops. It’s in my creative blood. Sometimes I offer the same life awakening experience twice. More often, I take the “best of” material along with me to a new gig and give it a twist of creative lime or lemon.(Interestingly enough, I do the same thing at karaoke. The thrill of doing a new song, get’s my adrenaline pumping. And travel. Like to keep going to new villages and sites. Almost like I’m a modern day Lewisitta and Clarkitta). (more…)

If you’re old enough to remember Get Smart, then you may recall that when Maxwell Smart and the Chief wanted secrecy they buzzed down the transparent Cone of Silence. Ironically, the Cone louded up their conversation to the point they couldn’t hear each other while inside the cone and often had to communicate through a bystander outside the cone who easily heard everything they said. (more…)

Somewhere along the childhood line I started to lie when confronted about “doing” something. I believe it stemmed from being punished when I admitted to fairly minor household transgressions like eating the cake or tracking mud into the house. Like any kid I started to put two and two together and realized I came up with punishment 10. Unfortunately, this behavior followed me into life beyond childhood. (more…)

It’s easy to judge someone else. It’s much harder to not judge them and try to walk ten miles in his/her shoes. Do I always do this? No. I’d be lying if I tried to pass myself off as this perfect human that never puts on a judge’s face. Do I try and work on it? Yes. It can be hard but I “usually” make an attempt to figure out what’s going on, to try and “seek to understand” as Steven Covey says in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. (more…)

I’ve been doing quite a bit of research for my upcoming newspaper column on education or rather what we call education — it’s really schooling. Two very different concepts. Didn’t even know there was a difference until six years ago when I stumbled on my first book by John Taylor Gatto, “Dumbing Us Down.” Since then I’ve read tens more. (more…)

I somehow managed to hold onto my imagination, despite the attempts of various schools and places of employment to squash it. My third grade teacher banished me into the corner one science class because a large group of young boys had gathered around my latest artwork. We were all laughing and having a good time admiring my colorful imagination on paper when she said, “Julie, stop laughing right now or you’re going into the corner.” (more…)

The way I see it, every day you write a little more of your life’s autobiography. You hold the invisible pen that writes the scenes that link together to form your life odyssey. That vision reminds me of a quote by one my of favorite writers, Jorge Luis Borges:

“A man sets out to draw the world. As the years go by, he peoples a space with images of provinces, kingdoms, mountains, bays, ships, islands, fishes, rooms, instruments, stars, horses, and individuals. A short time before he dies, he discovers that the patient labyrinth of lines traces the lineaments of his own face.” (more…)