Brave Heart, Brave Soul. She who is brave is free.

    “A woman in harmony with her spirit is like a river flowing. She goes where she will without pretense... and arrives at her destination prepared to be herself and only herself.” ~ Maya Angelou    Let’s talk about Mayhem, Havoc and Bedlam, shall we? And how about the fourth sister, we call Chaos. Take a look around right now. Our world is totally and completely upside down. Chaotic right? Who knew toilet paper would be a commodity? Or birthday parties would become caravans?  I mean 2019 would’ve had you arrested for wearing a mask inside a bank or grocery store, right? But hey, this is 2020 ya’ll. Don’t worry, now it’s a legit thing. What about canceled vacations or the phrase, “you’re on mute”? Come on, let's be blunt, this new norm isn’t really normal at all. Seriously, who’s gonna forget a record breaking 30 hurricanes in one season or being quarantined? And by all means let's not brush off the Murder Hornets or Zoom bombings. Oh, and just in case you’ve b...

"Do not tame the wolf inside you just because you've met someone who doesn't have the courage to handle you." ~ Bella Estreller When you look into the mirror what do you see? Are you hard on yourself, pushing yourself to be better, to do more, to be enough? Do you think you should be skinnier, fuller, do you want straight hair, curly hair, a smaller nose, bigger eyes or maybe you simply wish you were taller or even shorter? Being honest, that's probably most of us. We all feel we're lacking, invisible or too visible at some point in our lives. Some of us choose to fight our battles privately, while others do so publicly. Many of us feel we can hide our insecurities, while others wear them on their sleeves. My question today is , do you know you're enough? I'm not talking about being conceited, of thinking you're the cat's meow, talking bad about others when they have no way of defending themselves or making someone else look bad in or...

"I often miss the little girl whose dreams had no barriers...Who believed in a world where anything is possible with a heart that was full and unbroken." ~ Anonymous I don't know how things were when you were growing up or what you wanted to be or  even who you wanted to become. We're all so different with distinct ideas and dreams but we can probably agree on one thing, we saw the world through young, fresh, wide open, bold eyes.  I remember very clearly who I was as a child and who I wanted to be. Years later, the truth is life has turned me inside out and back again. Despite those disappointments I can still hear that same little girl inside me, yelling, "Hold on tight girl, we got this." Seriously, isn't it funny how we change and yet stay the same?  I am so much the little girl I once was and yet I have changed in more ways than I can count. The reality is I have grown through those changes and in growing I've become a much stronger, pa...

"WARNING: Reflections in this mirror may be distorted by socially constructed ideas of 'beauty'." ~ Anonymous How many times as women, even as men do we look into the mirror disappointed? We feel less than ordinary even, like we can never compare to the world's idea of beauty and perfection.  How many times growing up, did we step back into the shadows, afraid of our own reflection? How many times we were scared even to be ourselves? The fear of being judged by the outside world or even those close to us was stronger than drowning many times. I don't know about you, but the mirror has not exactly been my best friend through the years. Be it as a teenager, as a young woman, during chemo and the after effects of  breast cancer or turning 40, I have never had a great relationship with the mirror. In fact I was happier when I couldn't see my reflection, nose tucked away inside a book, hidden from the outside world in my room. I hated girly magazines, n...

If you had asked me a couple of years back what I do for a living, I’d have looked you straight in the eyes and told you straight up, I’m a mom, need I say more? My resume would have included the following description and then some. Nonstop cleaning lady, 24 hour a day short order cook, personal assistant, finance adviser, loan officer, troop grocer, personal organizer, stylist, motivational coach, trainer, storyteller, fixer upper, triage nurse, detective, school volunteer, advocate, and yes teacher. I won’t mince words I loved being a stay at home mom. Looking back, I wouldn’t trade easier days for any of the difficult ones.  They say, “Love what you do and do it well.” Guess that pretty much sums me up then. Lately Johnny and I have been reminiscing, taking a stroll down memory lane, evaluating our lives. You could say we’ve really stopped to smell the roses. We’ve talked a lot about how we met, retelling stories, pulling old pictures out of our boys, ourselves, my parent...

A while back I learned a great lesson involving thankfulness. Not just an appreciation for my marriage, family and the life I lead but a real genuine heart felt thankfulness. When I least expected my world to turn sideways, it did. And it did so from a completely unthinkable direction!  The problem is more often than not we get so wrapped up, so busy in this life we forget to stop and smell the roses as they say. We end up so lost in our lists, our tasks and in our self-contained worlds we take for granted the foundation holding it all together. It's not in any way we mean to overlook our blessings, no matter how small, but we do. We slowly begin taking not just our material possessions for granted but more importantly our relationships. Sadly we stop tending our own patches of green and begin admiring, desiring, craving and wanting our neighbors sparkling gardens a little too much, a little more often. Before long the beauty in our own lives has dulled, seemingly losing the...